WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-06-28 Time: 15:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By Susan Comrie
Controversial kwaito star Zola is considering a career in politics, seemingly following in the footsteps of Irish musician-turned-political campaigner Bono.
With many South Africans losing faith in our young leaders, could the 31-year-old former gangster be the antidote to reckless political upstarts like ANCYL president Julius Malema or – with his love of money and fast cars – just another part of the problem?
We spoke to the man behind the moniker, Bonginkosi Dlamini, to find out how he sees his role in these turbulent times.
“I’m deep in politics, but my version of politics – like Bono’s politics and the kind of politics that Mandela did before he even became president.”
When asked if he’d ever enter formal politics, Zola becomes serious.
“Politicians have one weakness though,” he says. “They follow protocol. They talk, they put things into diplomatic mish-mash. They spent one month talking while 500 000 people died in Rwanda.”
“I want to help individuals and help groups – that’s what I’ve been trying to do through Zola 7.
“What worries me is that the requests I’m getting from people are the things that are supposed to be done by the government.
“People have completely lost faith in their own government, and that’s scary.”
Zola is openly critical of the ruling ANC, but passionately devoted to the likes of Mandela and Desmond Tutu. He’s an idealist, reluctant to give up on the idea that the country can change for the better.
“The problem with South Africa is that we’ve become a consuming nation,” he says. “Look at the Rooivalk – it’s 100% a South African helicopter.
“The Boers used to build things, and this is where we as black people look really bad.
“We used to be leading technology during apartheid; now we’re suffering load shedding.”
Having grown up in Soweto, Zola turned to gangs and crime before finally discovering he had a talent for kwaito music.
As someone who grew up without much education, Zola, who in 2006 was appointed a goodwill ambassador for Unicef, has made compulsory education a core theme of his crusade.
“I see things a little differently from everyone else,” he explains.
“I must be the lowest educated person in my family – most of [them] have been put through school and university on kwaito money.
“In South Africa, kids have the option of going to school – it’s not law – and then you ask why we’re paying R9 for bread and spending most of our money buying antiretrovirals.
“We’re paying more because of some people who decided not to go to school at some point.
“These people are entitled to all these things, but meanwhile your tax and my tax is going up.”
Zola’s statements sometimes border on naivety, but there’s no denying that his apolitical style appeals to people who are sick of polished press statements.
“If we take the little ones to school now, those kids will not be problem,” he says.
It sounds easy, but then, like most politicians, Zola has some experience with how easily good intentions can be sidetracked by scandals in the press.
Zola has survived his fair share of tabloid debacles, but seems unable to escape the stigma.
Model and tabloid favourite Garnet Maseko has been the biggest story trailing his career. The couple have a 2-year-old daughter, and Zola recently announced that Garnet is pregnant with his third child.
But their on-off romance has been peppered with allegations of child abuse and neglect.
“I think there are a few personal issues, but the monster called the tabloid has grown and it’s big and it’s hungry,” Zola says.
The latest allegation – of assaulting a 19-year-old whose late mother owed an outstanding debt – may be harder to shake off.
But Zola is hoping that people will emulate the less sensational examples set by him – his work with charities, the feeding scheme for orphans he runs in Soweto and his pledge to personally help 200 kids to make it to university this year.
What worries him most about the future of this country?
“How many people do we have who had military training in another country?” he says.
“I was speaking to this guy, an older man, the other day who was saying ‘you know, we figured out how to fight the white government – the problem is we haven’t figured out how to do the same thing with the black government.’
“He said ‘It feels like the struggle is coming back’.”
“This country is a ticking time-bomb. And it’s waiting to go off.”