Sometime lastweek I responded to Toxic's blog. Her blog was about the amount of time it took her to get to work and the desperate situation on our roard which we take on a daily basis to and from our different places of work or schooling.
I simply said:
So Tox who was driving for you while you took the pics?
Road congestion is a serious problem in the big city ... maybe we should all invest in scooters...No really!
My cousin recently came back from London and people there use cycles, they even have a lane reserved for cycled on the high -way. But those are white people and you know bo Ndaki ba yang...No one would abandon the comfort of their car for a seat on the scooter.
And i'm actually glad that Max Du preez, who is actually one of the experts in his field echoes the same sentiments when it comes to : considering riding bicycles or scooters.
Below is what he said. And this is in Today's Pretoria News. I think you can check the whole paper online. I've highlighted the part i'm talking about.
I'm not one to be fascinated my innumerous responds from other bloggers, but i'm all for awerness. South Africa belongs to all of us and if we dont act not, it will turn into another Zimbabwe. Enjoy.
We need to come up with a plan
I have, over the years, heard many humorous addendums to the old Afrikaans saying “n Boer maak ‘n plan.” Like “yes, but a coloured has a plan that actually works” or “nonsense, he didn’t make a plan, he simply stole his plan from the black man”.
The point is we South Africans fancy ourselves as innovative people who come up with clever solutions.
I’m not only talking about tech innovations like cheaper and more efficient solar panels or inventions like wind-up radios and torches, automatic swimming pool cleaners and mine-resistant vehicles.
I’m talking about the many low-tech solutions ordinary people have come with for problems on farms, in the home and in the work place. One only needs to go to the annual Nampo (the maize producers’ organisation) show at Bothaville in the Free State where they exhibit new inventions and home-made implements to see the genius of our farmers, or to any squatter camp to see what unorthodox building methods – and materials people come up with.
Well, we are going to need every ounce of innovation and unorthodoxy we have if we want to survive in the difficult months and years ahead of us. The world-wide economic recession, the oil price rapidly climbing towards the $150 a barrel mark and food prices spiralling out of control are just some of the dangers lurking. Our crumbling infrastructure and huge energy crisis are additional challenges, and then there is global warming.
Don’t sit back and wait for government to do something. It’s going to be up to ordinary citizens, lobby groups, non-governmental organisations, stokvels, clubs and religious and cultural associations to take the initiative.
Food is going to be (well, is already) the biggest problem. Our first line of defence is our commercial farmers, the majority of whom are still white. We have to strike a deal with them. If they promise to produce as much food as they can as cheaply as possible and treat their workers with respect, the rest of us should promise to stop badmouthing them and threatening them with expropriation and land grabs. We should also assist in making them feel safer from criminal attacks.
But I’m afraid with high input costs like fuel, implements, fertiliser and labour, the food these farmers produce will still be too expensive for a large number of our people. We need another solution.
That solution can only be that we all start growing our own food for our own consumption and to share with others or barter with. If you have five square metres of garden, you can grow enough vegetables to feed a family of five.
You can use your bathwater to irrigate your garden. You can make your own compost from scraps from your kitchen and plant rests from your garden, so you won’t need fertilisers.
Why not grow some vegetables yourself and donate what you don’t consume yourself to the Salvation Army or a soup kitchen?
You can also lobby your local council to make land available to those without gardens to start a vegetable patch. This is an ancient tradition in Europe and I’ve seen it working very well in cities such as Amsterdam and Manchester.
The meat eaters among us should find a way of keeping chickens, or look for someone who keeps chickens and would trade them for vegetables. A few chickens or ducks in the back yard are also a source of eggs.
When it comes to expensive fuel and unaffordable or unavailable public transport, we will have to go back to bicycles in a big way, like so many other African cities – and First World cities like Amsterdam. Where the distances are too great or too hilly, the new cheap Chinese and Indian scooters could be the answer – again, look at cities like Ouagadougou and Mumbai.
The amazing thing about adjusting in this way to the food and fuel crises is that it makes a huge contribution towards limiting your carbon footprint. And there is a bonus: it makes you feel good about yourself.
What's you say dear blogger?
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