Very bad behaviour by photographers must be stopped

A picture says a thousand words, so they say. It is not flattery when the picture saying so many words is about you and it does not project you in a positive light. Former South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni was accused of being "over-sensitive" “unreasonable” and “unfair” after he had barred press photographers from attending the announcement of the repo rate decision.

Mboweni, who has made it to the list of South African, that have had songs coined after, had beef with photographers because they had behaved “very badly”

Their very bad behaviour was that of “taking pictures when I was wiping off my sweat”, he was quoted as saying.

As u Gqugqugqu, Dukanamahlathi, Qhinebe, uMkhomazi Omhle, I never thought I will fall prey to this very bad behaviour. Handsomeness is something that I am born with, it is inherited by each generation of aMakhomazi. But to my shock and disbelief, those who carry the long-lensed machinery found a way to Mboweni me by taking a picture of me in action and it does not say a thousand wonderful words. Now I understand what the former governor felt like many moons ago, these photographers are tjatjarag and out of order.

I salute Mr Mboweni for seeing the negative impact caused by photographers earlier, he was not being over-sensitive" “unreasonable” and “unfair”, he was just protecting his image. To you Tito Mboweni, I say “sha sha”.

Umhlobo ongenosithwa zintaba

A close friend made many people proud by summiting Mount Kilimanjaro on the 18 July as part of #trek4Mandela. Before she left she asked me to write something  she will read during her journey in the mountain.  As stated in the letter to her, just writing for the sake of writing  can be hard sometimes. Kodwa ke as the late grate Brenda Fassie once sang " bhala bhala mabhalane iyohhhh". This is the letter below, proud of you Neiba.

Dear Tebogo Monama

As I write this letter I am wondering how far you will be in the adventure of climbing the Mount Kilimanjaro when you read it.

I have written a paragraph of this letter in white. The information on this paragraph will lead you to precious treasury left by my ancestors in that mountain many years ago when they embarked on the journey to the south of Africa. To decode this message you will have to find a tree to colour the paragraph and see the directions to the treasure. The best way to find this tree is to taste all the leaves from the trees in the mountain. The one that turns your tongue pink will be the one to use on the white written words below. 

Enough about the treasure, let’s get into something that does not have monetary value. Ok before we get into that that let me start by sharing excerpts from poems Susan Makin wrote while in Mount Kilimanjaro. A blogger named Wizards Wireless dedicated them to his brother who was about to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Since you are already there, I hope they inspire you.  These are the three extracts from her poems

 Kilimanjaro, Day 4/1

Equal when challenged

Challenged when Equal

The Day is long

The body becomes strong

And so too the mind

In her other poem on Day 5 Susan Makin wrote

Step by step

Minute by minute

Ache by ache

We’re close to our goal

After her success to ascent Kilimanjaro she said

Those who can

Those who can’t

Those who could

Those who could

Those who would

Those who did

With that being said now let me return to writing something that you can read while you are on the mountain. I must state that saying you are on the mountain has all sorts of different connotation like you have gone there from some sacred initiation. Secondly it is hard to write for someone who is also a sub editor, you got me stressing about grammar and punctuation.

The interest thing about you being in Kilimanjaro, is that your journey  is a product of hard work and starting slow. In this fast paced world of technology and instant gratification starting slow has become a myth told around the fire by the elderly.

Your new found love of mountain climbing  made me think about  new love . This is because many people turned their old love into careers. The love of reading and writing leading to being an author and or journalist. The careers then has its up and downs and that leads to the old love becoming more of a responsibility. Reading newspapers and writing is no longer that enjoyable as it is synonym to work.

This has led to some to neglect their lover, as it is now not about being happy but a duty that one has to do or face sleeping on an empty stomach. But with new love, there is joy and endless possibilities. It open avenues one has never thought of exploring. It gives hope. It gives strengths and allows one to be dedicated to love again as it is not forced.

Like everything else on the planet, new love also has to be natured, and most importantly has to be respected. As you enjoy the open sky, (hoping no Moloi flies by to disturb your view), I can only wish you all the best with your new love and that you nurture, respect, love and enjoy it.

Having looked at the word count I have realised I have passed 500 words, and I fear being long and boring but then  I realised the extracts from the Susan’s poems are not my words, so I am going to continue writing. I also realised that as much as this is boring you will be stuck in a mountain when you read it, so you will have to read it or face another form of boredom as other kids will also be reading their letters.  Now that I have passed the 500 words then I need to think of an ending.

Before I end though let me urge you to put safety and your health first in whatever you do up there. We still need you down here. Do enjoy every second of your journey Neiba. When you return we are going to open a consulting room which will have a sign that reads. “Tebogo -the great Sangoma who was initiated in Mount Kilimanjaro”. Please take as many pictures as possible, we are going to need them as proof that you are a true Sangoma from the tallest mountain in Africa.

Enjoy.

Ozithobileyo

Luzuko Pongoma (“The BFF”)