Ostriches

I haven't written for a while, but I am going to stop apologizing for that because it has become the norm. Someone asked me this week whether I was still blogging and my reply was that I am finding the world very uninspiring at the moment. And I am. It is more than that even, I don't want to think about all the things that are going terribly wrong. I want to stick my head in the sand and think about the little white eyes fluttering outside my office window or about what I am doing this weekend or what the next (happy) book I will read will be (suggestions welcome - but rainbows and happiness, OK?)

I definitely don't want to think about the Guptas, Nkandla, Thuli no longer being Public Protector, SAA, SABC, poor Pravin, the Nuclear deal, Bexit, Trump or #Feesmustfall (which is particularly difficult because I really want to give UCT a big hug). It is very difficult to avoid thinking about these topics though but I know little about the intricacies involved, so I won't even try to talk about them (because I only really know what the media tells me). 

I do know a bit more about the environmental issues I would rather not have to (but can't avoid) think about. For instance, I know that I want to bang the door down of the Namibian environmental ministry and ask "WTF" (possibly even in the full words, even though I am not a fan of the last one). What are you thinking NAMIBIA? WHAT? First, there is the company wanting to catch LIVE AND FREE marine animals to put in to an aquarium! Ridiculous. How dare you even consider it. And while the CITES conversations are happening in Johannesburg? How can you think it is a good idea to catch ENDANGERED African Penguins and dolphins from what is probably a small, (~100 individuals) closed population resident in Namibia. It is crazy! But how can you think it is a good idea when there has relatively recently been such public outcry about marine mammals in captivity (even those born in captivity)? (I haven't even watched Black Fish because I know it will make me too angry/upset). 

And now, they are considering (? or allowing?) marine phosphate mining! Huh? You can check out the Safeguard Our Seabed website for details on how terrible an idea this is, but let me just say that it is open strip mining but in a marine environment it will impact the whole marine ecosystem and the scale of it is INSANE. All for something that is actually available on land and shouldn't be used in such huge quantities because it contributes to eutrophication (Google definition: excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to run-off from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life.) which is a whole other set of problems. 

I am not meaning to pick on Namibia, South Africa is also doing silly things! And one of the reasons (although one of many) I am worried about phosphate mining in Namibia is that it sets the precedent for the same to occur in South Africa. 

And now this blog is already too long and I haven't gotten to the other thing that is making me mad (mad enough to rant about to my poor, wonderful mom when I was meant to be just wishing her a very happy birthday - The rant came about because we were chatting about the crazy weather, particularly in Bloemfontein).  Climate Change! I feel like South Africa is acting as though the drought was a surprise to them when meanwhile, the El Nino event (that are associated with droughts) was forecast and climate change modelling has shown increased likelihood of drought and extreme weather events in South Africa. And yet, what measures are South Africa taking to deal with this? I know that the people in power have their hands full with all the things I listed in the second paragraph, but climate change is an issue we NEED TO BE PROACTIVE and NOT REACTIVE to. And yet, we haven't ratified the Paris Agreement. Let's be clear, Climate Change isn't a luxurious problem, it will impact the poor and marginalised communities the most. 

So, unfortunately, we can't be ostriches. We need a rational and active citizenry who hold the government to account for both its economic , social and environmental (which will impact social and economic conditions) decisions.... without throwing faeces or petrol bombs.

Update on 28th October: We also need this