What do I wear.....? To cover this

What do I wear to cover the pain I feel inside when I am going to church?

Will the long skirt covering my knees cover the pain?

The pain of rejection because of the fact that I got my baby at 14?

Will the cape on my shoulders cover the fact that I am dying inside?

Dying every day from the fact that I am still in this marriage for the kids and worry

Of what the community is going to think of me  if I leave?

Will these starched garments cover my wounds?

What do I wear?

What do I wear when I go to work?

Can this suit hide the sadness from the fact that I am being abused at home?

Will it cover the fear I have, that I might get back home to a crying daughter who’ll tell me that

“Mama, my teacher raped me”

Can this work uniform cover the anxiety I have on reaching the target this month, because if I don’t

I might lose the job; I won’t be able to feed my kids.

What do I wear?

What do I wear in order to convince this hopeless person that it will be well?

The Designer dress that I am wearing does not convince her/him enough

My confidence when I talk only tells her/him that I am just trying to be nice

I try to give her/him a hug, but all she/he thinks is “Don’t ever think your happiness is contagious”

So what do I wear?

What attire would you recommend to me to put on when I still feel filthy after the rape?

Two decades ago.

Which garment would ever convince the community that I am not a killer, he wanted to rape my daughter, I had to protect her?

What kind of clothes would I wear to wipe my tears from the eyes of the woman whose heart I broke years ago, what clothes would ever convince her how sorry I am?

What do you think I should wear?

What do I wear so that I look like I’ve got it together too?

When in actual fact inside, I’m a total wreck, a complete mess.

When I am sitting right here, and feeling like I do not fit in?

When I hold my head high, walking in these stilettos but my knees wants to let me down

What do I wear, because even if I try to wear a smile, it fades?

Now tell me, what do I wear?

By: Nombuyiselo Pamla

Kahle Kahle South Africans are no Xenophobic

Kahle kahle South Africans are not Xenophobic

Yes, it’s that time of the year where our teenagers will finish their exams and start looking for part time jobs. They will be doing this for different reasons. Some being forced to get the jobs to feed to entire family because Gog’s pension money is not enough. Some so to avoid being just idly in the Township streets doing nothing. Some so that they can have enough pocket money when they start at the Colleges or Universities at the beginning of the next coming year.

But who is going to employ them? If you are talking about job creation, who are the jobs created for? Are the jobs in the Restuarants in the Johannesburg high society Malls created for the Non-South Africans? Is every Restaurant at the Food Court in Rosebank Mall, Hyde Park Mall and also Sandton City to name just few created to hire Non-South Africans only?

If you ask any South African the reason why they do not like Foreigners, the common answer you will get is, “They take our jobs” well if is true. How many times have you visited a Restaurant and triad to ask for ityiwa, usawoti or le tswai (salt) and one just looks at you with questioning eyes not understanding what you saying, then you  have to translate that into English because the  so called Waiter or Waitress is not a South African and does not understand what you are saying?. How many times have you been in a Restaurant and it’s some ones Birthday, there is song sang in a Language that you have never heard, and worst, there is even Drum beating while you are still enjoying your meal in (hopefully) peace with your family?

I personally do not have a problem with Foreigners being employed in this Country. My problem is their behaviour when they get those jobs and there is one lucky South African employed with them. They do not steal but they take the entire stock. The do not talk bad about the South Africans but conspire against them and who will the Employer believes ?, the majority of course. They get together and in turns take the when stealing, and you as a South African has to just shut up and tend a blind eye or else “sizo tshela lo mlungu ukuthi wena uyantshontsha” ( we will tell the boss that you are stealing.)

I know a lot of people who have worked alongside with Foreigners and most of them can not close their mouth with the way Foreigners can steal in the business. They do not care to wake up very early in the morning and be the early birds at work, which will eventually make them gai a trust of being given a key to open up before Umlungu gets to the shop. That is the time they actually attack, stealing until they can steal no more. Then they get the praises of being workaholics, early birds, while South Africans are labelled for being lazy and worst late comers.

My point is, South Africans are not xenophobic. They know what is going on when the Boss is not around. They see the vans coming to carry the cooking oils, the spices and all sorts of stock away to Town or Township then across the borders. They see when the customers are told to pick up the staff they want in the shop and wait outside with cash to pay the foreigners instead of paying at the pay point. They are the ones who witness money taken from the cash registrars and straight to back pockets.

Now hints to the employees, yes continue to hire foreigners but make it a point that you also hire someone who is a South African and is going to be a strong eye in your business. Do not hire a bouncer who is going to help with the exit for your stock because he will have a fare share. Hire them and be worried of the lifespan of your business, do check if you are making profits or a loss and do not carry on doing a business for the sake of doing it.