Even though I mentioned the following more than twice" This is not an attack on Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and English". It still did not help but it created this situation. “.i understand your concern but i dont like this part. it may be true but it sounds so...”
heavenly“ouch...that hurts”
TheLady
“truly hurts”
Cande
“but for you to insult us like this The Observer, is uncalled for”
andi01
“I agree with Heavenly, this doesnt sit right with me..”
Krissy
“highly pissed off”
Nonny
“The Observer if possible, i beg you to edit that statement. And now i am crying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
andi01
“this sounds as if The Observer isn’t worried abot the number of orphans that are caused bcoz of Aids, but he is rather glad that in those couple of years, Zulu will not be the dominant language anymore”
andi01
“killed the article for me and I am not even Zulu. HIV/AIDS same as porvety in this country has no face it affects all groups”
goldii
“Everything had made sense to me & I agree with until you put this statement. THIS IS VERY SENSITIVE MAN. Can you do something abt this”
AkaS
“Maybe you will die faster than the person in KZN of HIV/AIDS”
Nanazile
These are some of the comments which were a result of the blog about language on television. Most of you had a problem with the paragraph in question which reads:
“An argument is always made about the large numbers of Zulu people in the country, especially in KZN but no one in the same sentence would admit that the population is ravaged by HIV/AIDS which means in a couple of years it will probably be the lowest language group in the country.”
The paragraph was not meant to insult Zulu people or the province, but it turns out it did... for that I apologies. The Observer meant to highlight the fact that the language is faced with perhaps the most dangerous of attacks from a disease which is spreading faster in that province than any other. That may very well render the population a minority if nothing is not done by the languages dominance to influence much needed change.
That idea or notion does not give me pleasure in any way, fashion or form. The fact that children are growing up without parents due to the disease, is not a pleasant notion to me or anyone for that matter. Unless you are really twisted!
This issue affects us all, because eventually the problem will spill-over to other provinces and language groups. WE HAVE THE HIGHIEST INFECTION RATE IN THE WORLD…. THE LARGEST IN KZN…………………but it has never been declared a national crisis!
Research states that the province that recorded the highest HIV rates was KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Free State. As you can see KZN is not exclusive to the issue but due to the topic of the blog, focus was made.
For more you can read
http://www.avert.org/safricastats.htm
http://www.avert.org/aids-projects.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/tb/XDRTB/update.htm
There is a lot of research on the subject, you can google your way to some of it.
Even the CDC (Centre of Desease Control) arranged a consultation which was “convened because of concerns raised by recent reports from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province, describing a recent outbreak of XDR TB in an HIV-infected population, characterized by alarmingly high mortality rates.” Although some of those infected were quarantined as required because XDR is a seriously infectious condition, some escaped. Where are they... how many have they infected no body knows!
When we consider the fact that TB is spread through a simple cough and can infect the entire taxi. The worst is that the TB virus can be in your system for months before it shows any symptoms, making it difficult to point out when and where you got it. It gets better…..XDR does not have a CURE!
When you take HIV + AIDS + XDR TB = NATIONAL EPIDEMIC and this has nothing to do with being Zulu or living in KZN. This is about humanity. With great power comes great responsibility... One would think that the great progress done by the language group would bring to light the true power of the much supported notion of “A Person is A Person through Others” with an aggressive move to fight this disease to a point of lower infection rates or NO infection rates.
It is troubling to think that people thought I was on an attack mode and vicious in my intent. I assure you that’s not the case, I dont derive pleasure from insulting others or watching people not mention using my language or position to bellttle others. I observe and share….
To heavenly; TheLady; Cande; andi01; Krissy; Nonny; andi01; goldii; AkaS; Nanazile and any other person who was offended by the paragraph………accept my humble apologies for upsetting you in anyway…it was not my intention. The Observer
For the very first time The Observer will remove the paragraph including all comments related to it. The article will remain less the paragraph and such comments.
Thanks to all those who commented and shared their experiences and opinions on the blog. Additional commentary by The Observer will be carried out on this blog.
By The Observer
Related Links
The Observer: Language on TVThe Observer: Are You Safe
Disclaimer
The information provided here is not journalistic but simply observations and the opinions expressed by The Observer, and guests are strictly their own. The Observer claims no credit for some of the images featured on this blog. All visual content is copyright to it’s respectful owners. If you own rights to any of the images, and do not wish them to appear on this blog, please mailtheobserver (at) yahoo.com and they will be promptly removed.