LEWENSKIEKIE
Dream big and be the agent of your own life
In a world shaped by systems one's mindset is the one thing that can set one free, and set one apart. It's not your background, your bank account, or even your education that determines your future; it's the way you think. All these things are useless when the mind is blind. When you dare to think differently, to question what's around you and craft your own path you step into your power. That's what truly separates those who succeed from those who settle.
I learnt this early, not from textbooks but from watching people accept the life they never chose. Where I come from in the Boland it's common to see young people finish school only to end up in predictable jobs on farms, in restaurants, behind counters. Honest work, yes, but not always born from dreams. Too often it's just what's available. Just what's handed to you.
But what if we didn't accept what's handed to us?
At the age of 10 I began dreaming of a life beyond what I saw, beyond my colourful essays. I didn't know where exactly I was going, but I knew I couldn't allow my environment to shrink my imagination. I crafted a universe in my mind, one where I could break cycles, define my own success and live with purpose. Even at this age I do that.
Life is by no means easy. Life tests you in subtle and serious ways, through finances, health, limited access, just to name a few.
It throws you a general dish, a one-size fits all blanket and tells you to be grateful.
.. DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE DIFFERENT; IT’S OFTEN YOUR GREATEST STRENGTH.
But I refused to accept the idea that this was all there was. And that refusal became my strength.
My father once told me "smooth seas never made skilled sailors, and when you are born into a system your first act of freedom is to question it." That quote has never left me. It's guided the way I move through the world.
Systems, political, economic, educational, the media don't just shape what's possible for us, but how we think what is possible. And if you don't break free of the script you were handed you'll play a role you never auditioned for.
June is Youth Month and this year's theme, "Skills for the Changing World, Empowering Youth for Meaningful Economic Participation", points us towards the future.
Mindset is the hidden engine driving our choices, fuelling our creativity and expanding our vision. It's that small spark that says "there must be more than this." Thoughts are powerful. They come from what we consume in our conversations, our culture, our environment. But when you start thinking independently everything changes.
You stop chasing appearances and start building substance. You stop measuring your worth by what you wear, where you live or what you drive and start defining success on your own terms.
After all, one of the greatest traps of our time is an obsession with looking successful.
What sets you apart, really, is how deeply you think, how courageously you act, and how consistently you build, what you're planting when no-one is watching. That's the difference maker. You know, "be the change you want to see."
If there's one thing I want young people (like myself) to take from this Youth Month, it's this:
Don't be afraid to be different; it's often your greatest strength. The world doesn't need more copies. It needs more creators, people bold enough to question, think and build on their own terms. I'd love to hear from you.
- NAMHLA MONAKALI
BRIEWE / LETTERS
’n Ode aan Gordy seeleeu
Liewe Gordy Jy bevind jou op droë grond by Gordonsbaai toe jy skielik moet uitswaai vir 'n nare haai. Is jy toe almaskie na dié plek vernoem of het jy jou op burgemeester Hill-Lewis beroem? Nou is jy Mzansi se bekendste oujongkêrel, eens verborge skat uit die see, soos 'n pêrel. Danksy 'n veearts en die ratse ADT was jy ná 'n gestoei terug in die see, net om wéér jou verskyning te maak en selfs nóg meer harte aan te raak. Nes detyds, toe Just Nuisance, ewe so slim
op die dek sou lê waar matrose moet klim, kies jý ook koers na Simonstad: wie weet waarheen is jy volgende op pad. Met oë en snorbaarde van 'n labrador geseën, mag ek vra waarom swem jy steeds alleen?
My wens is dat jy spoedig 'n maatjie sal kry wat saam met jou deur die Suidwaters sny. Eersdaags kom spog jy dalk met jou kroos: dít sal help om ons verlange te troos. Lank lewe Gordy, die oseaan se prins! Mzansi se trots, ons almal se wins. RETIEF LOUBSER, Bellville
Sopkombuis krap inwoner om
Ons wil almal graag diegene wat minderbevoorreg is help, veral in die wintertyd waar ons warm en knus binneshuis is en omstandighede dit nie vir almal toelaat nie
Wat is dan nou lekkerder in die koue weer as 'n warm koppie sop en 'n vars stukkie brood, ek stem, maar ten koste van wie en wat? Dit is vroeg Saterdagoggend en die plaaslike kerk is aan die gang met hul restaurantjie, maar ook dan 'n sopkombuis.
By all means, maar:
1. Ek kan nie in of uit die straat om by my eie woning te kom nie, want die motors parkeer al wat 'n oprit is toe.
2. Net waar jy kyk is al wat Jan Rap en sy maters voor my voertuig oor die pad - stappend met 'n koppie sop in die een hand en 'n sny brood in die ander, en
stap kwansuis voor my in. Ek kry vuil kyke asof ek iets verkeerd doen, amper waai sop en brood! Nou moet ek vinnig die hek toekry agter my, want so lok ons hulle in ons "veilige" area. Waarom nie na hulle area gaan en dit daar gaan uitdeel nie?
3. Die ding wat my die horriepieps gee en laat uiting gee hieraan, is hoe die hele straat waar die kerk is - tot ver, amper in Voortrekkerweg - jy net wit foamolite koppies die wêreld vol sien lê. Dit lyk soos 'n kombers voor ons erf; ons hele skoon tuin alles daarmee heen. So, ek moet nou agter hulle die gemors ook gaan skoonmaak en gaste oorkry wat dink, "Joh, hoe morsig bly die mense hier!"
Nee sies man, waarom nie dan in Voortrekkerweg gaan staan as jy nie na hulse area toe wil gaan nie?
BEFOETERDE INWONER, Boston
Who benefits when property prices explode?
An absurd budget yes, a home bought in 1990 for R132 000 is now suddenly R4 million worth. Most of us could afford a home of R130 000 in 1990 but not a home of R4 million today. In the meantime most became pensioners too, and some with zero pension. So what have gone up in the last 30 years of bond period? Building, material and labour cost? So my home still is worth R130 000 because we could afford it, not the property, but the monthly bond payback premiums.
Also, are the property marketing companies flairing up the value over the years by comparing property values with replacement cost to earn more sales commissions?
The difference between a R130 000 property and a R4 million property monthly bond premiums is way out and for most of us unaffordable! Those fixed tariff benefits can't be legal, because why do pay a monthly property tax? For what?
We bought the plots to build, according to the municipal rules and regulations, by the developer or private owner and it's registered on our name, so why the property tax?Is their a binding contract between
home owners and the municipality?
Does the contract make room for future additional tarrifs? No, because they think they own us and can do as they feel and get away with it because they think they are every propery owners government.
I declare here and publicly that I refuse to pay an extra monthly tariff fee for clean-up. In many property owners's opinion, it's daylight robbery and people are fast asleep (the frog in already boiling water).
The City "Masters" must choose: either the property tax go or all the extra tariffs go.
I clean my street in front of my paid-up property myself. We are not the waisters.
Us property owners are not going to fall for or accept it a communist fools game.
We're not here to subsidice the poorly controlled influx of "illegal alien immigrants" or growing squatter camps. That's not our problem. Most of us live on tight budgets and have our own free choice of living standards - surviving on our own leftover savings, not free handouts.
PENSIONER AND PROPERTY OWNER, Northern Suburbs
Is honde nou slegs vir status?
Dit is verstommend hoeveel mense honde aanhou, maar daar word nooit met die diere geloop nie, kry nie eers aandag nie, en mag nie in die huis kom nie.
Ek sien daagliks hoe die honde op die koue plaveisel lê en smag na aandag.
Wat van die erge koue wat nog kom?
Nou vra ek waarvoor 'n hond aanhou of is dit ook status?
Ek voel as jy 'n dier kry, moet hy liefde en aandag kry. Kos alleen is nie genoeg nie. Asseblief mense, hulle kry ook koud en voel ook alleen.
ELIZA, Ridgeworth
Rus in vrede, Christa
Pligsgetrou en hardwerkend was Christa Cronjé van Parow-Noord haar lewe lank.
In die jare sewentig was sy baie lank die saalsekretaresse by Tygerberg-hospitaal se hartsaal A6, waar sy 'n leeftyd se vriende gemaak het. Prof. Helmut Weich was haar hoof.
Sy was ook een van die eerste mense wat met prof. Chris Barnard gepraat het nadat hy destyds die wêreld se eerste hart oorgeplant het. Dit was in 1974, toe Barnard direk ná die operasie die hoofkardioloog by die Tygerberg-hospitaal, prof. Helmut Weich, bel met dié groot nuus.
Baie lank daarna, toe ek as pasiënt by prof. Weich se privaat praktyk was en hy hoor ons is susters, het hy met groot lof van A6 se mev. Christa Cronje gepraat, met baie groete ook aan haar. Kort daarna is hy oorlede.
Nou onlangs met my suster se opname in die Mediclinic Panorama se hoësorgeenheid, het sy seun, ook prof. Helmut Weich, die laaste prosedure op haar uitgevoer. Christa is op 19 Mei oorlede. Sy sou op 9 Julie 90 word.
Christa was 'n bekende by die markte in Milnerton, Parow en ook by die oudhedehandelaars daar. Sy was baie gesond, het geen kroniese medikasie gebruik nie, het geen oog- of gehoorprobleme gehad nie, maar het begin ly onder rugpyne, wat haar mobiliteit en kragte verswak het.
Cronjé was die ensiklopedie en dagboek van haar hele groot familie ... en 'n staaltjieverteller van formaat! Sy was werklik legendaries in haar kringe. Rus in vrede, Christa! CORRIE LAUBSCHER, Durbanville