TJ, Author at 1Africa | Page 9 of 18

E-Tolls: The Story of Africa

TJ

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May 22, 2015

South African news is buzzing with a story that has been bubbling under, particularly in the mineral-rich province of Gauteng, for quite a while now. An announcement was made Wednesday by the country’s deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, that there would a new dispensation on the controversial highway management system, known simply as E-tolls. Courtesy of biznews.com, here are the key elements of the new E-tolls structure:

Public transport remains exempted. This applies to buses and taxis with operating permits.
A single, reduced tariff will apply to all motorists. As an example, the current standard tariff of 58c per kilometre for light motor vehicles will be reduced to 30c per kilometre. This single tariff will apply to all motorists within a vehicle class whether they have an e-tag or not.
The monthly cap has been dramatically reduced. Users of light motor vehicles will not pay more than R225 a month. This is half the current monthly cap of R450 a month. Revised caps will also be introduced for other vehicle classes.
There will be no charge for infrequent users who make less than 30 gantry passes a year. If a user exceeds 30 gantry passes in a 12-month period, they will be liable for the usual charges.
E-toll fees that are currently outstanding will be discounted by 60%. Users will have six months within which to settle their debts dating back to December 2013 at the discounted tariff. This does not disadvantage users who have been paying e-tolls all along.

There will be a monthly cap on the penalty for accounts in arrears. All users who do not pay tolls within the required 30 days will be obliged to pay double the toll tariff. To protect users from incurring high amounts of debt, this will be capped. In the case of light motor vehicles, for example, the monthly cap for accounts in arrears will be R450.

Settlement of e-toll fees will be linked to motor vehicle licence renewal. To further simplify the process and ensure better integration of road management systems, motorists will need to settle any outstanding e-toll fees before vehicle licence discs are issued.

More payment options and a simplified administration system are being introduced. Alongside a substantial decrease in the cost to users, the new dispensation will integrate existing information systems to improve ease of use, accuracy of information and coordination between different agencies. This will make it easier for vehicle owners to pay their toll fees at different points. These will include SANRAL kiosks, Post Offices, provincial licensing offices, retailers, vehicle dealerships and online.

As someone who may not be affected by this, either as someone nowhere near Gauteng or living in another part of Africa, you may be asking yourself why this should be of concern to you. Believe it or not, it does.

Africa has, for a long time, suffered the scourge of leaders who do not listen to the voices of their people. When it comes to the issue of e-tolls, in various ways, the people of Gauteng have demonstrated their disapproval of the plan and yet their elected leaders keep pushing ahead with it. What sounds like a wonderful plan outlined by the Deputy President, has been dismissed by the opposition as yet another sign that the government will not heed the electorate’s concerns.

Is this not exactly what we have seen all around our continent for a long time? It’s what we saw in Burkina Faso at the end of 2014 with Blaise Compaore seeking to change the constitution in order to be be able to stand for re-election, and it is what we are seeing right now with Pierre Nkurunziza in Burundi.

You think e-tolls is a small thing and doesn’t affect you? Think again. It’s all part of the same pattern.

Africa, when will we learn?

Overcoming Your Fears

TJ

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May 22, 2015

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For reasons we don’t always understand, we find ourselves constantly carrying fears in life. Fears fall into various categories and it’s believed that the majority of those fears come about as a result of childhood experiences or traumatic moments. While there are tonnes of things we fear, it’s generally accepted that the huge ones tend to be:

Fear of people
Fear of death
Fear of rejection
Fear of failure

But, how do you begin and go about overcoming your fears? Is fear just a normal part of human life or is it actually something that needs to be managed and even eliminated? The thinking is that it needs to be a little bit of both. There is healthy fear and there is unhealthy fear.

Healthy fear is that which enables us to act against threats to our safety, security and well-being. For example, if you are out in the bush and you hear the growl of a lion and it’s very clear that it’s approaching you, it’s the trigger of fear that tells you to ‘get the stepping’ and make your way out of there, fast. Without that healthy fear, you’d be lunch. On the flip side, unhealthy fear is a negative, trapping force. For example, we all know that we will die sooner or later. But when that consciousness becomes so gripping and obsessive that it prevents you from enjoying the life you do have, that’s a problem.

Healthy fear is fuel for positive action; unhealthy fear is limiting and paralyzing.

Here are a couple of things to think about when it comes to overcoming your fears, specifically the unhealthy ones:

Identify what it is. Ever been in the house and heard a sound that freaked you out? The best thing you can do for yourself is look for the source so that you can know what you are dealing with. Only when you know can you develop a strategy to beat it.
Ask questions. Fear can be such a controlling force that it even takes away the ability to think straight. If possible, step back from the heightened emotions and ask yourself this key question, “What is the very worst that could happen to me if what I fear plays out?”
Get help. Sometimes you can’t go it alone. Get a deeper understanding of the nature and source of the fear and use that to arm yourself. It could be through reading on the subject or being part of a support group or supportive community.
Be patient with yourself. Anything worthwhile generally takes time. It may take a while to overcome those fears but, with persistence and determination, it will happen.

In the Bible, it is stated that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind”. If you would like to know about a God who can walk with you to help you overcome your fears, please click on the banner below.

Do I Deserve Love?

TJ

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May 21, 2015

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Have you ever found yourself alone somewhere, asking yourself the question, “Do I deserve love?” Because all around us we’ve seen love go wrong and we are fast running out of stories that speak of undying love, we lose hope and completely give up?

One of the things that causes us to think that we can never be loved truly is because we feel that love is something we earn. We feel we have to deserve love to be loved.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The following video is the powerful story of a gangster and drug addict who received love he felt he didn’t deserve:

Grant’s story is amazing in that it makes it clear that, though people judge us for what we’ve done and on the basis of external appearance, God doesn’t do that. No matter how far we go and no matter how bad the things are that we’ve done, He loves us unconditionally.

He calls all of us to come to Him in the very state in which we find ourselves. He doesn’t expect us to clean up our act first then approach Him. It’s about relationship and, like Grant says in the video, it’s about hearing God speak in your heart. Remember, no matter what you’ve done or how lost you think you are in porn, drugs, violence, depression, poverty or anything else, He is willing to give you another chance.

If you’d like the conversation to carry on with us about this, please click on the banner below.

If you have a turnaround story of your own and would like us to hear about it, and maybe even share it here on 1Africa, get in touch with us on [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.

Is God Always Good?

TJ

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May 19, 2015

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If you’ve ever been inside the walls of a mainstream Christian church, you’ve probably heard this catchy slogan. It usually goes a little something like this:

Preacher: God is good!

Congregation: All the time!

Preacher: All the time!

Congregation: God is good!

It’s certainly a wonderful thing to state and it sure does a great job of getting people worked up and excited. But, when you really go deep and ask the question calmly and logically, something seems not to make sense. If God really is good all the time, how is it possible that all these negative and horrible things happen in the world?

So many people have asked “Is God always good?” and so much has been said about the claimed goodness of God versus all the evil we see in the world but, amazingly, it’s in the simplest things that we find the answers to our deepest fears, anxieties and questions. Check out this video:

The words at the end of this video are powerful but they also offer a personal challenge. “God is good, but He wants real people like you to know Him but the free choice is yours”. Make a choice, for yourself, to believe and trust in God today. If you’d like to know what next steps to take, please click on the banner below.

How To Survive A Broken Heart

TJ

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May 18, 2015

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Ah, the joys and pains of living on planet earth and being part of that race called the human race. Life can be as much a thrill as it can be full of heartache and pain. Whether we like it or not, sooner or later, all of us will go through the experience of having our hearts broken. There are so many things that can break our hearts and leave us feeling helpless. It can be something as tragic as losing a loved one or it could perhaps be the pain of rejection one feels after an unsuccessful job interview. Whatever it is, it’s never really possible to measure things on a scale when it comes to matters of the heart. When it hurts, it hurts.

We all want to know how to survive a broken heart. When something comes across our paths that makes us feel like we’ll never recover, how do we deal with it? The following list isn’t the definitive be-all and end-all but it certainly is some stuff worth thinking as we get on the road to recovery:

1. Deal with the issue of ‘why me’. Often, one of the stumbling blocks to dealing with heartbreak is the feeling that we’re immune to bad things. For some reason, we are all guilty of believing that bad stuff shouldn’t happen to us. The reality, though, is that, for as long as we live on earth, we will come across both the good and the bad. Coming to a place of accepting this reality will, in some way, help us recover from broken hearts.

2. Respect the power of time. Let’s face it: When we’re going through something difficult and traumatic, it’s nearly impossible to feel that we’ll ever recover from it. Today feels like it will never end and days feel long and hard. But, somehow, through the power of time (depending on what we do with it, of course), we get stronger and realize that we can make it after all. It seems somewhat cliché to say this but “hang in there”.

3. Keep hope alive. At 1Africa, if there’s one message we’ll never stop pushing, it’s the message of hope. In a world gone strange, hope is the only thing that gives us energy to keep believing that things will improve. Probably the biggest enemy we have, when our hearts are broken, is despair. Whatever you’re going through or have gone through, don’t let the flame of hope die out. Somehow, some way, believe that you will make it through.

We hope these 3 simple but powerful pointers will help you if you are currently trying to get on the mend after a heartbreak. For us, coming specifically to the last point, there is no greater hope that we have than a conviction that there is a God and that He loves us. When we turn our hearts over to Him, He doesn’t guarantee us that the ugly stuff of life won’t happen to us but He promises that He will never leave us through it all.

If you want to know more about God and faith and want Him to help you if you have experienced heartbreak, please click on the banner below and check out our video there.

BB King Dies

TJ

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May 15, 2015

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Legendary blues guitarist, BB King, has died at the age of 89. Born Riley B. King, he inspired and influenced an entire generation of musicians in general and guitarists in particular. King died quietly in his sleep, having recently been in and out of hospital due to diabetes-linked illness.

A CNN piece on King’s death (we’ve embedded it for you below) begins with the words, “It’s hard to imagine the blues without BB King”. That’s a powerful statement about his legacy and achievement. How many of us are so committed to what we do or so talented that that area wouldn’t be the same without us?

Something worth thinking about.

What Do You Believe?

TJ

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May 14, 2015

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You’d be hard-pressed to find somebody in this world who would tell you that he or she doesn’t want to succeed. I don’t think I’d be generalizing much to state that, in one way or another, we all want to succeed. What may differ and what makes us unique as humans is our definition of success and the level at which we want to be successful. If it’s true that we all want to succeed, how do we go about getting there?

Much has been written about success and, generally speaking, much of it has centered on steps, keys and ways. “Let me show you 10 steps to getting what you want”, “Here are 7 ways to climbing the corporate ladder”. Very little, however, has put emphasis on the spiritual dimension of success. For all the advice on things we can do, there hasn’t been much said about what must happen in our hearts. The reality, though, is that much of what we see on the outside is a manifestation of a journey that started on the inside.

The key question we want to challenge you with very simply in this post is, “What do you believe?” If you can work out very clearly for yourself what your beliefs are – those fundamental values you hold within you as truth – you will be well on your way to getting to where you need to be.

Celebrated billionaire, media mogul and philanthropist, Oprah Winfrey, shares her thoughts on this very powerfully in the video below:

Ultimately, only you know what you really believe. If you want to achieve great things, you must believe great things about yourself. As Oprah mentions, there is a belief system that tells us that “With God, all things are possible”. You too can get on a path where God becomes central in your life and shapes the way you see yourself and the very things you believe. If you want to know more, please click on the banner below this post. We’d love to talk to you about God and faith.

Funny Accents?

TJ

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May 13, 2015

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Whenever we hear someone speak a language we know well but that’s ‘foreign’ to them, we tend to find it really funny. Though the person is really doing his or her best to fit in and be familiar with something that’s unfamiliar, we still point fingers and laugh. I remember going to a private school where everyone was ‘supposed’ to speak English a certain way and were punished – with mockery and derision – if they didn’t. Sad childhood, right? Well, not really.

Apparently, it’s all quite normal and it’s a part of understanding humour. It’s called schadenfreude, which is a German term referring to ‘malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else’s misfortune’. It’s said to be the lowest human trait. It’s why we have a giggle when we see people fall or hit their heads or why we have a roar when we hear people speak in what we refer to as ‘funny accents’.

On our Lighter Side feature today, we’re sharing a video that shows a lady have a really hard time pronouncing a word. It’s one of those videos where half of you is saying “Oh dear, poor lady” while the other half can’t stop laughing. Fortunately, the lady in the video is quite relaxed about things so our guess is that it’s all good!

Overcoming Porn Addiction

TJ

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May 11, 2015

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If you’ve ever been addicted to anything, it’s likely that one of the emotions you’ve been haunted by is a continuous sense of guilt. It could very well be that you’re dealing with an addiction now and have tried everything possible to find your way out. Addiction changes us and, in many instances, causes us to hide further and further away from those we care about. Addiction messes with our relationships. Without realizing it, we become the very people we swore we’d never become – the people we despised and labelled as out of control; the people we used to drive past and shake our heads disapprovingly.

We often think that, the deeper we get into a lifestyle of addiction – whether it be the open addiction to alcohol in a pub or the secret room of addiction to porn – the more unlovable we become. We curse ourselves and no longer believe it’s possible to be accepted. “What would people think of me if they were to find out that I’m addicted to pornography?” Some of us may even go as far as to say “If there is a God, he couldn’t possibly ever love me now”

This video of an upcoming movie, Hearts of Men demonstrates, from the mouths of men who have walked the road of overcoming porn addiction, that God doesn’t look at us the way others do. He doesn’t condemn us when we fall.

You may have struggled with addiction to porn and still be trying to break free from it even now. The place to start, oversimplified as it may be, is that God loves you. While there are many things we need to do to overcome addiction – including taking responsibility – the greatest thing we can do is embrace the fact that God loves us unconditionally. If you want to know more about this love, we invite you to click on the banner below and find out more.

Jesus Christ: A True Leader

TJ

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May 7, 2015

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One of the best things about being part of a community is that ideas can be shared, which have the potential to add value to lives and makes that community a better place. Without a doubt, young people in Africa and around the world are looking for a better life. They want to see their dreams realized and many want to feel, at the end of the lives, that they have made a difference in one way or another. Amongst the things most talked about when it comes to Africa’s failure to progress in certain areas is the issue of leadership. Everywhere you look, whether at the family level or in the corporate world or the national political level, leaders can make or break an organization or entity. A good leader can mobilize people around himself and turn a troubled company around. Similarly, a poor leader can take over a perfectly functional and successful organization and, by his poor choices, sink the entire operation and guarantee that it never achieves its objectives. Leadership is central and it’s something that preoccupies us all as young Africans.

A few weeks ago, we reached out to you on our Facebook page and asked you what your opinions are about what defines a good leader. Though we would have wanted to hear from more of you, we received some really great responses and feel it’s worth posting them here:

A good leader is “a servant of the people” (Joshua ‘DJ-Shrek’ Mkalasa II)
A good leader “puts [the] interests of the nation first” (Notty Dee)
A good leader has “love for others, with patience and understanding” (Stephan L. Mayila)
“A good leader is that person who understands and perform[s] the role of servitude to his nation” (Mccthony Destiny)
What makes a good leader is “the sacrifices they make to please others” (Andreas Peter Mufwata)

In this article, I’d like to expand a little on these thoughts about leadership by looking at a few qualities that made Jesus Christ a true leader and a great leader. It’s not by any means an exhaustive list of all the leadership qualities that he possessed but it’s definitely enough to get us to think a little more about leadership, especially as it is done here in Africa.

He was clear about his vision. Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man [referring to himself] came to seek and save the lost”
He didn’t put his interests first but was committed to the task at hand. Luke 22:41-42 – “He… knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done'”
He understood the power of role modelling. He didn’t expect his followers to do what he himself wasn’t willing to do. John 13:14 – “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet”
He operated from a strict set of personal and moral guidelines. John 12:49 – “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment – what to say and what to do”
He had a clear plan for the future and communicated it to his followers. Acts 1:4-5 – “And while staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many'”
He didn’t see people as numbers but as objects of his compassion. Mark 6:34 – “When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”

Jesus Christ is the greatest leader to ever have lived. The good news is that he lives still and can become real to everyone who trusts him in faith. All that he ever taught and lived for can be a part of our lives today. More than just being someone whose principles we can admire from a distance, he can be our guide in everyday life.

If you have been asking questions about the place of God and faith and have come to a point where you want to take the next step, please click on the banner below and watch the video that follows.

TJ

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