Painful youth

Poor boy. He is now a man.

Thanks to a Xhosa tradition, his education and disparaged upbringing; he possesses the mother of all determinations. His personality launches him to the elite. And you wonder how he got to taste and love dry red wine.

He works. He loves his colleagues. He’s dubbed the best thing to ever happen to corporate communication, since the invention of corporate institutions.  His strength of mind directs him ahead; that is where he sees a ladder. Hence he holds close the intention to climb.

His work may have to speak for him, he is confident. The impertinence flowing from allies does not faze him, yet it clouds his footsteps.

Happy read!

Oh Twitter, thy excellence is a charm

The masses have dubbed Twitter good while some see it as bad and very ugly; with a tinge of backstabbers, groupies and ass-kissers. Nonetheless, judging by its ever accelerating membership, it is only fair to agree that Twitter is popular.

A number of ordinary South Africans have celebrities because of this form of social media. Certain people’s egos and personalities have become bigger and more ostentatious due to how smart, rich and important Twitter people have measured them.

I’m thinking, this is the reason some companies have taken up this platform with the aim of promoting their services and products. Twitter brings an audience that carries some power in regards to publicising something without being paid to do so. This is exactly what some companies sought after.

Many companies have succeeded is utilising this tool while some have struggled and, to some extent, failed dismally.

Their mistake, in my opinion, has been to emulate the typical angles big corporates have already worn and tired. They failed to build their subsistence outside the box.

I believe that the lack of creativity (in these companies) can be blamed to not completely understanding the majority of people who dominate on Twitter and how they can actually take advantage of their presence in the sphere.

Case in point, many companies tend to associate their brands and products with musicians, actors and whoever is always on television. The intention here is to make sure that their product is always spoken about or at least seen on television without having to go the traditional way of advertising and selling it.

That is good and it works. Sometimes.

However, these companies fail to understand that Twitter exist on their laps free of charge and with it comes a number of people (let us call them Twiples) who are willing AND able to promote certain products to a reasonably large audience.

The majority of these Twiples have ordinary jobs – that which we never consider exciting – and some of them are just students. But, their tweets are read, and considered important, by many followers who are impending customers for these companies.

For example, I have less than 300 followers on Twitter and many of them are industry individuals. But, I follow – and get followed by - two people; Tendai Sean Joe and Lelo Boyana.

When Lelo and Tendai comment or retweet a photograph I have tweeted it gets viewed by thousands of people. Sometimes, if they retweet one of my tweets or comment on it I will get tagged on comments by a several people, whom I do not even know from bar of Twitter soap. At times I would get follow requests based on their one and only comment.

One more example: I usually tweet English translations of Xhosa terms and expressions. So, a few weeks back, Lelo was asked by one of her followers as to where can s/he get Xhosa lessons. In response, Lelo tweeted my name. From that one response, I got loads of follow requests within one hour. For me this was unusual and very scary. Thanks to having locked my tweets, I was able to opt for people I thought were of interest to me.

These are the people many companies, public relations agencies and products should be associated with. I know only two, but I bet you there are many where they come from.

While they might not be musicians, actors or leak nude photographs of themselves to get attention, they carry a very useful audience on Twitter.

So, using them comes in handy, literally.

Besides, many of these musicians, actors and ‘celebrities’ (God only knows of what) do not have many followers on Twitter. Of course, this can be blamed to the fact that they hardly tweet anything remarkable. Not even something that helps their image.

Possibly, I have just blogged about something many people have already said or tweeted. But, I see no harm in repetitively preaching this kind of gospel. Especially after receiving more than two thousand views on a photograph I tweeted last night simply because Lelo commented on it while I usually get less than five.

Happy read!

Family time

December is just two months and a few weeks away, and I am faced with two options on how and where I should spend it. Either I go home, and spend my December holidays with family or, have my two younger siblings come over in Joburg to spend the holidays with me.

The latter, is of course, appealing, not only to me but to my mother as well. However, when I sat up at night thinking of the costs and comparing the two options, going home came up less costly than having my siblings up here.

As parsimonious as I am, I considered the expensive option and came up to a conclusion that I want my siblings to come up here.

I want them to see the world, and I want them to get the experience I got when I went to East London for the first time. That same experience broadens its self when I came to Joburg to follow my dream. I want to help them get rid of the mentality  that, a person from the Eastern Cape has to hide or run away from home to come and make money in Joburg.

The first time

The very first time I came to Joburg, I saw a place full of opportunities. A place so diverse, it takes people of different tribes to help a Xhosa folk find himself. This place has taught me so much about family value because I have bumped and made friends with people who left their homes and never went back. But of course, now they need their families because they have nowhere else to go for the reason that their friends have abandoned them.

This place has showed me just how to have a good time. Yes, Cape Town offers a very high class way of living. But Johannesburg is a perfect example that a black person can make it and will make it if only that person chews on hard work every day.

This is where I took note of just how much young (black) people are hungry to be independent, be successful and responsible of their families and loved ones. As a result, every time I have to do anything for my family and loved ones, I feel that sense of pride accentuating the mere fact that, I am making it and I am a responsible young black man.

Now, who am I to deprive my siblings all this inspiration? Why procrastinate a deal I can sort out in the present moment? Will I not be to blame when my siblings find crime or sleeping around more rewarding than getting education? What if I die today? Will they ever get to see and experience what made their brother yearn for Independence?

I am the most selfish person on this planet, but I refuse to be so in this regard. I love my family, and loving them means, I must (especially if and when I can) help them get the inspiration I think they need to succeed and be happy in life.  Of course, my primary aim here is to highlight just how much access one can have when one endures education and believes in it.

I know it’s been a while since I have been home, but I feel that this is a one of those things I have to do while I can still afford (or be indebted) to do. I don’t know what tomorrow holds for me. The best I can do is making my siblings happy in the only ways possible. After all, I am a celebrity in their eyes. So, why not Oprah-fy them up?

Happy read!

Making money eGoli

From an early age, I knew of three places in South Africa where one can make money regardless of whether or not one is educated. Those places are Gauteng, Western Cape and Kwazulu Natal. From what I heard, back then, Gauteng was the best place to get jobs, with the mines supported by hard rocks that are made solid by the sweat of every broke illiterate black men.

My turn came to come and see this place my fellow Xhosa peeps dubbed eRhawutini. Of course, before coming here, my perception of the place had changed from that which I had when I still wiped my snorts with a tongue. I had grown and therefore all that I saw and still see is of the view of a grown up.

The young

There are many young people here and most of them –if not all- possess the same aim of making and having lots of money. Yes, they are inspired by the old and rich people of this city and they want to vacate their homes for better houses in Sandton, Kyalami and Fourways.

To a few, this is a feasible plan while to many it’s a dream and an impossible one to attain because of the lack of one of the most important useful tools for success; education.

With that being said, uneducated youngsters do manage to make this money. A few do part-time jobs in Petrol stations, in the retail industry, supermarkets and restaurants. A lot, however, get this money from practically pick-pocketing people on the streets. The latter, in my opinion, possibly makes the same amount as the young men and women who are ill-treated by attention seeking celebrities in restaurants. They merely chose this path in life because for them it is the easiest, despite the danger it involves. Funny enough, most of the people who do the pick-pocketing end up living on the streets. It is then that the dangers of this path prevail.

The business people

I am not referring to business people in the corporate sphere nor am I talking about street vendors but disabled people on the streets who live to beg people for money on freeways. Yes, I consider them business people because to them what they do is way of making money. Of course, they don’t have to work. Showing the car drivers driving by that they are blind, crippled and homeless is enough to earn them a living.

I look at these women and men and ask myself as to why do they go and beg on the streets instead of walking to government’s social departments and apply for disability grants.

In my opinion, if they have the minds to get into a taxi all the way from Soweto or Joburg CBD to Sandton streets, Fourways or Randburg just to merely stand all day long and beg for money, they are smart enough to know where to go in order to apply for free money.

I am thinking, they realised that the easiest way to get money is to manipulate pity and guilt out of those with good hearts. They know how to stand for one to pity them, they know just what to say for the old grannies to feel sorry for them and they know what kind of expression they need to apply on their faces just to get that one young man feeling guilty.

Many years back, this business was rolling. These days, however, people do not buy in it. I think maybe they have come to realise just how much of a scam this is. Only a few people submit to it by giving money to these people. Some went as far as taking some of these people into their homes in an effort to provide sustainable help to these beggars.

Sadly, those who helped live to tell a very shocking tale of someone whom – after being helped – found a way to rob the helper of every valuable possession s/he had. As a result, these people end up going back to beg for money on the streets.

I have come across two people who tell you upfront that R5 or coins are not enough. I found it surprising that at such a state they could be so choosy.

Happy read!