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Last Update: March 4,, 2002 |
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Start of probe boosts rand Johannesburg - The rand firmed to its best level in three months on Monday as an official probe into its sharp slide last year began public hearings, reinforcing an upturn in sentiment in recent weeks. Traders say that speculative flows had been curbed by the probe, which was set up by President Thabo Mbeki on January 8 after South African Chamber of Commerce chairperson Kevin Wakeford alleged there had been "dubious" manipulation of the markets. The rand's 37% plunge against the dollar in 2001 was caused by a "range of economic, political and confidence factors and not the actions of a few market players, Rand Merchant Bank chief economist Rudolph Gouws told the inquiry. "Attributing the fall of the currency to any specific transactions would be difficult and perhaps pointless given the magnitude of factors last year," he added. Gouws was speaking at the start of public hearings in the controversial probe into the currency's plunge, which was seen as unjustified by South Africa's economic fundamentals. The rand's rapid descent has fanned imported price pressures, pushing domestic inflation up sharply early in 2002, and prompting the central bank to raise its key repo rate unexpectedly by 100 basis points to 10.50% in January. As expert witnesses began giving their evidence, the rand firmed by 45c - nearly 4% - to 10.85 against the dollar, its best level since early December. It has now recovered by about 22% from a record low of 13.85 against the dollar reached on December 20 - wiping out nearly all the losses which unnerved investors in the last few weeks of 2001. The first public hearing was attended by both Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni - who last week described the inquiry's task as "near impossible". Mboweni slammed Wakeford's claims that there had been "dubious manipulation" of the markets. Mboweni and Manuel are both set to testify next week. Earlier Robert McCauley, Deputy Chief Representative at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Hong Kong, told the inquiry that a decision by any central bank to more strictly enforce exchange controls would be likely to reduce trading volumes. He was responding to a question from a member of the official inquiry, who was referring to an announcement which the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) made in mid-October. Analysts say the SARB's move sharply reduced liquidity, which was one of the factors behind the rand's rapid descent. "Typically the immediate effect of such measures is a short-term appreciation of the currency," McCauley said. "There are longer-term effects which may be to leave certain players less inclined to do transactions in the market or invest in its underlying assets," he said. In a reference to public comments from Mboweni in late November, McCauley was asked whether a statement that the central bank would not intervene to support a depreciating currency was helpful or harmful. "It depends on how effective you think intervention would be," he replied. In the global emerging markets crisis in 1998, the SARB bought billions of dollars and raised interest rates sharply in a vain attempt to curb speculation against the rand. McCauley also said that unlike trade in major currencies, turnover in South Africa's rand rose between 1998 and 2001, both in real terms and as a percentage of the global total. Domestic trade in the rand averaged $8 billion a day in 2001, up from just over $7 billion a day in 1998 and $4.5 billion in 1995, according to BIS data. Total global trading in the rand - measured for the first time in 2001 - amounted to $11.3 billion a day, he said. McCauley said it was interesting to note that swap deals - which combine both a forward and a spot trade - accounted for 75% of the trade in the rand, compared with 60% of the global total in foreign exchange. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Kytie Koekblik ColumnKytie Koekblik Washington D.C. - Ongeveer nou-net, 2:10pm op ‘n grou Saterdag-middag in SA tyd, het my pa se SAA vlug van Johannesburg na Kaapstad op die Kaapstad Internasionale Lughawe geland. My pa sal afklim en deur die glasdeure stap en my ma met haar bruin bob hare sal daar wag op hom en hulle sal mekaar druk en hande hou vas terwyl na die kar toe stap. En sy sal vir hom se, Geluk met jou verjaarsdag maatjie. Dis wat my ma en pa mekaar noem. “Maatjie.” Ek het nog nooit gehoor iemand anders noem hulle man of vrou so nie. My pa, Johannes Jakobus Pretorius Jacobs, het Woensdag op die 27ste Februarie 50 jaar oud geword. Vyftig. Dis ‘n Monumentale Ouderdom. Dis een van daai bakens in jou lewe, soos 16, 21, 25 en 30, 40 en 50 nou maar eenmaal is. My pa se naam is Jakes. Almal noem hom so, net mam en my ouma noem hom Jacobus. My pa was nie by die huis op sy verjaarsdag nie. Ek het hom gebel op die selfoon en daai stem gehoor. Daar is net een stem soos my pa se stem in hierdie hele wereld wat vir Kytie Koekblik se storms, drange en buie kan laat bedaar. Met sy min woorde kry hy dit altyd reg om die regte woorde te se, sonder om lange toesprake te maak som hy situasies op, laat alles minder kompleks lyk en laat dit lyk asof als ‘n silwer rant het en hy is gewoonlik reg. Ek weet nie eers waar om te begin om oor my Pappa te skryf nie. Of Pap, soos ek hom soms noem. Hy’t ‘n spoorweg lewe gehad en nooit regtig in een plek gebly nie maar rondgetrek oor die hele land saam met sy ses broers en susters. Ek dink hy is die fondament waarop ek en my ma al ons drome en ideale bou, hy is die een wat ons voete op die aarde hou as ons te hoog of te ver wil vlieg en hy is ook die een wat ons optel as ons moeg en moedeloos op die grond gaan neerval - Om nou erg corny te klink. My pa hou hom nie taf nie; hy doen hom nie voor om iets te wees wat hy nie is nie; hy het ‘n stil selfvertroue en ‘n pragmatiese uitkyk op die lewe en ewige geduld en hy hou sy humeur in toom en hy het altyd ‘n grappie gereed en almal hou van hom; hy intimideer niemand nie, almal kom met hom oor die weg en hy is net een van daai soort mense wat jy oombliklik laaik en respekteer. Hy’t ‘n slag met kinders, nugter weet hoekom maar hy’s soos ‘n magneet wat die goetertjies vir hom laat glimlag, sommer kinders wat verby hom loop in die straat glimlag en almal klim altyd op sy skoot. Een van my eerste herinneringe aan my pa, is toe ek klein-klein was en ons in Krugersdorp in die ou Transvaal gebly het. Hy het ‘n ou blou Anglia gery en die trein ingevat stad toe. Eendag het hy huis toe gekom en hy het sy snor afgeskeer en ek het begin huil want ek kon nie my pappa herken nie. Dit was heeltemal traumaties…Dis een van daai herinneringe wat jou laat lag en huil. Die ander storie wat ek altyd onthou is die Een Keer in My Lewe Wat Pappa My ‘n Pakslae wou gee. Ek dink ek en gebroeder het baklei en my pa het die paplepel uitgehaal en ons elkeen ‘n tik op die boude gegee, so sag dat ons vir mekaar gekyk en begin lag het, ons het ‘n bietjie meer pyn verwag. Hy kon homself nooit sover bring om ons te slaan nie en sover ek kan onthou het hy ook begin lag. Ek sit nou en tik en ek giggel en wil ook net huil want op die aarde maar ek verlang. Ek is officially homesick. As ek aan Suid-Afrika en al sy klein dorpies en sy stranddorpies en die N2 wat tot in alle ewigheid in dwarsdeur die Vrystaat instrek dink, dink ek aan pa en ma. En as ek aan pa en ma dink, dink ek aan die Berg en Blouberg strand en Hangklip en St Helenabaai en die Forest Falls in Mpumalanga en Tergniet en Waenshuiskrans en rugby en droewors . My pa is soos g’n ander Suid-Afrikaanse pa nie. Hy braai amper nooit nie, ek is een van die kinders wat grootgeword het met die minster braais in my skool. Hy brom altyd saam in die kerk as almal sing, soms hit hy by chance die regte noot en klink soos ‘n waffers tenoor, meeste van die tyd sing hy sy eie wysie. Hy speel nie kitaar of gholf nie; hy speel nie rugby nie; hy praat nie politiek nie; en jy sal hom nie met geweld in die gym indwing nie. As my ma dieet, dieet hy saam met haar en maak sy eie reels. Hy loop saam met my ma langs die strand en elke Sondag was hy die potte na ons Sondagmiddag-ete geeet het en hy is my ouma se favourite skoonseun en hy kla nie oor te min of te veel geld nie en as hy worry weet ons dit nie. Hy is soos ‘n stil sielkundige wat jou beter ken as wat jy jouself ken en hy is een van daai mense wie se “wit” en insig ‘n mens nooit moet onderskat nie. Sy trots en sy ego kom nooit in die pad van sy verhoudings met mense nie. Hy is waarskynlik die enigste man in Suid-Afrika wat my en mam se hipersensitiewe geaardhede verstaan en met ‘n grappie ons weer kan laat “uitlevel” en kalm raak. Hy is een van daai stil mense wat dalk ‘n secret tot die lewe ontdek het terwyl ons almal swoeg en sweet en spartel; dit moet wees hoekom hy altyd content en stil en happy en kalm voorkom. Hy’s rustig en het niks NODIG nie, nie ander mense of vriende nie want hy is sy eie beste vriende en juis daarom is hy elke mens wat sy pad kruis se vriend. Niemand het ooit ‘n slegte woord te se oor hom nie. Op ‘n stadium van sy lewe het hy geduik en visgevang en grasgesny met ons ou antieke grassnyer toe ek vir my Amerikaanse vriende ‘n foto wys waar hy met ‘n glimlag grassny toe wil almal weet watse ding hy oor die gras stoot. Van altyd af kies hy vir my klere uit wat nie my smaak is nie en trek sy gesig op so ‘n funny plooi as ek se, “Dis nou nie eintlik my smaak nie pap.” Hy spot oor ek soos ‘n hippie lyk en kla oor ek by tweedehandse stores my klere koop. Anders as ander dogters wat gladly hulle klere by Edgars en Foschini en al daai Young Designers Emporium type stores koop, en hulle pa’s wat oor die Groot Rekeninge kla, probeer my pa my met die best of times oorreed om tog maar ‘n draaitjie te maak by ‘n ordentlike klerewinkel… Ek het op ‘n stadium sy army bruin truitjies gedra en toe sy ou sweetpakbaadjies. Ek daai mos my hare elke keer as ek begin bored raak so my pa se voorstel, tot my verbasing was, daai dit swart. Eendag het ek vir hom gevra of hy opgewonde raak oor goed, toe vra hy, “Soos wat?” Enigiets, se ek. Raak pappa opgewonde oor die naweek? As pap nie hoef te werk nie? Ag wat, se my pa, ek is mos nie juis ‘n opgewonde soort persoon nie. EN dan lag hy so ‘n droee laggie. Vir elke verjaarsdag en Kersfees persent maak hy altyd asof dit die grootste surprise van sy lewe is. Hy noem my sy Bokkie en soms noem hy my ma “Mossie.” ‘n Mens weet nooit regtig wat in sy kop aangaan nie, sy eenvoudige filosofie in die lewe is “Its all a state of the mind.” (Hy’t nie verniet ‘n meesters in sielkunde gedoen nie.) Probeer jy hom pols oor sy uitkyk oor die lewe lag hy so drogerig en se “Ag net studente het die tyd om te filosofeer.” Hy meen ook die storie van sy lewe is “Too little too late” en lag as hy met homself spot. Hy sien altyd die positiewe kant van enige situasie raak en ek het hom nog nooit in my lewe iets slegs oor iemand hoor se nie en ek het hom nog nooit regtig kwaad gesien nie mskien so half vies oor ons vergeet het om my ma te help om die skottelgoedwasser uit te pak maar hy raak nie kwaad nie. Hy vermy konfrontasie en dokter ons almal se lang/kwaai gesigte reg met ‘n grappie. Hy raak nooit siek nie en kry hoogstens ‘n verkoue. Toe ek hom laas gesien het het ek opgemerk dat sy hare darem soos effens silwer raak. Hy vertel staaltjies soos min ander mense kan en praat trots Engels met ‘n Afrikaanse aksent. Niks maak hom juis besonder opgewonde nie en niks maak hom juis depressief nie. Ek het hom nog nooit ‘n leun hoor vertel nie en hy maak nooit fun van mense nie en hy praat nooit groot nie. Ek het hom nog nooit sien huil nie maar soms raak sy oe agter die brilglase so waterig. Soos die laaste keer toe ek uit die land uit is. Ek dink hy is die enigste mens wat ek ken wat niemand probeer manipuleer nie en wat nooit slegte intensies het nie. Maybe is hy ‘n bietjie hardkoppig en dan sal my ma haar skouers optrek en se “Jacobus.” En ons sal almal lag as ons verdwaal omdat hy nie vir haar ‘n kans wou gee om die navigator te wees nie. Eendag het my ma hom opgesom toe sy se, Hy is consistent. Daar is maar min consistent mense in hierdie lewe. Ek dink die enigste rede hoekom ek as Kytie Koekblik so sinies is oor verhoudings is omdat hulle so ‘n perfekte ideale verhouding het, die ma en pa van my. Dink ek deesdae aan hulle, sien ek hulle hand aan hand myle langs Blouberg se strand stap met die twee ou brakkies langs hulle. My pa het vir ons Suid-Afrika gewys. As anders kinders na hul strandhuise sou gaan of elke vakansie na dieselfde kampplek gaan, het ons kruis en dwars deur Suid-Afrika gegaan van klein plekkie na klein plekkie. Soms sou ons oppad terug huis toe ry en dan besluit ma en pa, tyd vir ‘n ekstra surprise-vakansie. So is ons een jaar Golden Gate toe op die ingewing van die oomblik en een jaar Knysna toe in mid-Desember. Die hotelle was almal volbespreek en ons het vir 8 ure rondgery terwyl my pa grappies maak en op die ou end van die nag, teen 12 het ‘n hotel vir ons ‘n karavaan gegee en die viertjies van ons het rustig geslaap en vir ‘n lekker ekstra wekie vakansie gehou. Ek het ook my politiek aan hom en my ma te danke: Pa was ‘n dosent by die Universiteit van Wes-Kaapland tydens die boikotte en hy en my ma was amper die enigste mense in die hele Kuilsriver wat PFP en toe DP gestem het en ons soms na sogenaamde “colored” kerke toe geneem het. Ons was ook amper die enigste “happy-clappies” tussen die NG kerkers. Hulle het ons grootgemaak om nie lelike woorde te se nie en alle mense as gelyk te sien en nie skaam te wees as ons anders as ander mense dink - of is - nie. Vandat ek in Amerika bly, het ek actually op ‘n manier ‘n ander kant van my pa ontdek, want nou deesdae is ons kommunikasie gebaseer op e-mail. So stuur hy vir gems aan, ek bere al sy e-mails. Sy lewenswyshede laat soms vir Tough Tank Girl aan hierdie kant huil en terseltertyd lag. Sy raad vir die nuwe verhouding met die Mysterious Rollerblader is. “What ever will be, will be. As Timothy nie die regte ou vir jou is nie sal julle wel op een of ander manier uitmaak. Jy moet net nie onseker van jouself voel omdat jy bang is hy hou nie van dit of dat nie: wees net jouself want jy is TOPS net soos jy is. Relax net en wees net jouself. En as dinge dan nie uitwerk nie, nou ja, dan is dit seker maar nie so bedoel nie.” Sy ander boodskap was: “Sê vir die ou mans jou pa klim op die eerste vliegtuig en kom sort hulle uit as hulle jou nie uitlos nie.” My ander favourite boodskappie is sy Krismis boodskap 2000: “Ek wil ook net vir jou sê dat ons spesiaal aan jou gaan dink hier oor Kersfees. Maar ek wil vra dat jy dit moet geniet daar in die vreemde. Moenie alles vir jouself spoil deur homesick te raak of te stress nie. Dit sal seker maar goor wees so op jou eie, maar bly maar positief en maak die beste van die saak.” In elk geval, verskoon maar ou Kytie Koekblik se sentimentel boodskappie hierdie week. Soos ek se, ek is officially homesick en ek moet eintlik my pa se advies volg en “nie alles vir myself spoil deur homesick te raak of te stress nie.” So ek traai maar om positief te bly en ek lees deur sy e-mails en lag en maak maar die beste van die saak. Dis dan wat ek sal doen op hierdie goor Saterdag middag terwyl my hart met ‘n punt huis toe trek sodat ek saam met my familie in die Spur kan sit of voor die TV met ‘n sak grondboontjies en ‘n stuk droewors terwyl ons WP rugby opgevolg deur “Noot vir Noot” kyk. Kytie K. Kytie Koekblik would like you to respond to her tongue-in-cheek running commentary on suburban life in America in this editorial. Fresh off the boat, she is ready to explore and experiment with American bath plugs and to drive on the other side of the road. You can contact her here. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] Excess troops to join SAPS Messina - The defence force is to transfer 7 000 surplus soldiers to the department of safety and security to combat crime. Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said during a visit to rural communities in the Messina and Levubu areas that there was no room for these soldiers in the existing structure of the defence force. "Their transfer will empower the police in their fight against crime. They are trained soldiers in their 30s and 40s. As such, they are too old to be utilised as infantrymen [foot-soldiers]. "They can, however, make a valuable contribution to the police." There are approximately 81 000 soldiers in the defence force currently, of whom several thousand have not been appointed in posts due to downsizing. Lekota said the plan should be progressing well for implementation by July this year. The soldiers will be transferred to the police with all their pension and other benefits. The move will simultaneously bring relief to the defence force - which has been assisting police in combatting crime during the past few years - as it will therefore have to surrender less soldiers for this in future. Lekota said the defence force was also looking at how it could better apply its daunting number of generals. The defence force currently has more than 207 generals - the most generals per number of subordinates in the history of the army and in the world. "The integration of the non-statutory powers in the defence force has inevitably led to us having too many people in the top structure of the defence force. "It is, however, also true that South Africa's responsibilities in Africa are increasing drastically. This applies to the political and military sphere. "We have senior expertise at our disposal, which we can use in the execution of these duties. In this regard there are several armies on the continent that have already expressed the need to acquire some of our expert officers to help train their soldiers." "We are looking at even transferring some of our top soldiers to these countries for a number of years. This will mean that these countries will be paying their salaries for these periods, which will mean relief on our personnel budget." Lekota said some of these countries were Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the armies had just fought a war and needed to be re-orientated. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] Mugabe's fate now in hands of SA and Nigeria Coolum, Australia - The leaders of South Africa, Nigeria and Australia have been mandated by Commonwealth leaders to take strong action - which could include suspension - against Zimbabwe if Commonwealth observers find this week's election is not free and fair. The chairman-in-office of the Commonwealth, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, made the announcement at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Australia on Monday. This compromise position was agreed during the Commonwealth leaders' retreat in the Queensland Sunshine Coast town to try to end the divisions between African and Western countries over Zimbabwe. It effectively gives the African leadership the casting vote on deciding what to do about Zimbabwe and turns the spotlight especially on South Africa as Zimbabwe's most important neighbour. The CHOGM decision falls far short of earlier demands by the leaders of Britain, Australia and New Zealand that Zimbabwe be suspended immediately because of repression taking place in the country. Howard said the Commonwealth Observer Group which is currently on the ground in Zimbabwe would issue a report about the fairness of the election within four days. Secretary-general Don Mckinnon would then discuss the matter with the present, past and future chairmen-in-office of the Commonwealth, President Thabo Mbeki, Prime Minister Howard and Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo respectively. Howard said Commonwealth heads agreed to mandate the three men "to determine appropriate Commonwealth action on Zimbabwe in the event the (observer) report is adverse, in accordance with the Harare Commonwealth Declaration and the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme, ranging from collective disapproval to suspension". Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Nel's KitchenRagel Nel Ragel Nel Washington D.C. - Before foreigners undertake their pilgrimage to this land of the free and home of the brave which is the United States, many of us have fantasies (or at least a fleeting image) of what things would or should be like here on the west side of the Northern Atlantic. My preconception was – and I remember it fondly – that the United States would be like a giant, well-oiled machine of efficiency, filled with 24/7 everything (including service!), movie-like gadgets like flying cars, robotic surgeons who never tremble, slip up or get tired during a fourteen hour operation and… Okay, so maybe I get a little carried away sometimes. I realised my naïveté soon after my arrival in the U.S., when two South African friends and I couldn’t find a single decent restaurant open in Washington D.C. on Christmas night. It quickly dismissed my "24/7 everything" misconception. We ended up going to the train station’s food court where we had a delightful Christmas dinner of greasy pizza, which we rounded off with take-away coffee from the 7-Eleven. (The only place, other than a hospital Emergency Room, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And what makes the 7-Eleven far better than the ER – apart from fresh coffee – is that you don’t actually have to wait six hours to get help. Well, apart from those times when the lottery is $500 million, and everyone queues up there to buy tickets, but that’s another story…) Anyway, back to the original issue of service in the States. Last week, my Internet service provider decided to stop providing. Just like that. Entirely out of the blue. One minute I was having a normal, completely erratic day, cruising cyber space and checking my e-mail like any "with-it" or hip person. The next thing I was locked out of the Internet! My Windows on the world were bolted shut, the curtains drawn very tightly. Okay, so perhaps it didn’t happen quite so suddenly. I admit, I did voluntarily log off at first, quite innocently, just to have a quick caffeine fix. It was when I tried to log back on a few hours later that I got the following fiendish message: "ACCESS DENIED!" At first I was in denial. I couldn’t believe that I suddenly couldn’t gain access to the Internet as I have been doing every day for months and months. (It also has to be said that I hate change, especially if it is thrust upon me without any due warning.) So for a while I stubbornly persisted and continued trying to log on time and time again, to no avail of course. It was almost as productive and painful as banging my head repeatedly (and very hard!) against a brick wall. I knew that I had a few grim choices: I would either have to remain e-mail free for the rest of my life, chew off my wrists in frustration, or call the unproviding service provider’s toll-free help-line. Seeing that being without e-mail forever would be both impractical and inconvenient, it’s not even an option, and well, because writing without any hands would also be a tad difficult, I decided to use them to dial the toll-free number instead. Now, I’ve heard the horror stories of how other hapless humans have been held hostage for hours by the electronic voice recordings on the other end of so-called help-lines. Although I’ve always listened to their harrowing tales with great sympathy, I also thought that it was the sort of thing that would always happen to other people and never to me. So, when the phone kept on ringing in my ear for a while without any machine clicking on, I was confident that my Internet service provider company was a warm, friendly place (as they claim to be on their commercials). A place where real human beings let the phones ring for a little while longer than necessary before answering it, because they are taking their mid-hour coffee breaks. Imagine my shock, therefore, when the phone stopped ringing (about an hour later… I have patience and sympathy with extended coffee breaks, okay?), and an electronic voice said: "You have reached your Internet service provider. If you are absolutely certain that you have a problem with us, your perfect, problem free and friendly Internet service provider, you may proceed by pressing 0. If not, HANG UP IMMEDIATELY." "If you can log onto the Internet, YOU DON’T NEED US, SO HANG UP IMMEDIATELY!" (It really sounded quite menacing for an electronic voice.) "If you have problems getting onto the Internet, press 1 and prepare to stay on the line for an additional hour and a half." "For English, press 1, for French, press 2, for Spanish, press 3… but no matter which one you pick, we will make sure that you won’t be able to understand a word we say anyway." "For problems with your account, press 1, for problems with accessing your account, e-mail or remembering your password, press 2…" and so of course, I pressed 2 immediately. Soothing elevator music started playing in my ear. Finally the music stopped… "Hello!" I said, the hope evident in every syllable. A recording of a cheerful female voice said: "Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line, even if it’s for the rest of the week, and an operator will be with you shortly, or not for another year. But, just so you know, we don’t guarantee that the above-mentioned operator won’t be another recording." Sadists! So my red hair slowly turned grey. Day turned to night and I dozed off, my hand frozen around the receiver of the phone which was still emitting the hateful elevator music. I woke up when the music stopped. "Hello?" I managed, sounding like a woman on the brink of being murdered in a horror movie. The same female recording came on: "This phone call may be recorded for customer service purposes or merely for our personal listening pleasure later on." Then finally, before I could scream or collapse: a human voice! Not a monotonous pre-recording; but a natural, real human voice. I was so relieved that I cried. Well, not really, but I was very grateful indeed. After getting over my shock and trauma, I managed to recall and then explain why I had called them in the first place, and my problem was fixed. (Actually, it wasn’t quite so simple. The human operator had to patiently talk me through a series of step by step things to do (with lots of unnecessary computer jargon thrown in), leading me into parts of my computer that I had never known to exist before. That, I soon discovered, was the language barrier part the recorded voice had so sadistically promised much earlier on.) Later, when I managed to log on successfully again, and my service provider’s eerily familiar electronic voice said: "Welcome!" I experienced an awful sense of déjà vu. I haven’t logged on since. I think it will take me a little while to recover. So, next time, when someone shares a story similar to the above with you, pay close attention, because: IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU TOO. © RSA-Overseas [ Top ] How to fix South African sport Cape Town - Although only in the first week of March, the year 2002 is shaping up to be an annus horribilis for South African sport - with sport fans despairing and wondering where a "fix" for the nation's sporting ills will come from. The national teams of cricket, hockey, soccer and netball are turning in below-par performances on a weekly basis. Add in the past weekend's Super 12 results and the picture becomes bleaker by the minute. Only the individual sportspeople in golf, boxing, athletics and tennis are performing consistently well. The mental toughness of South African teams has been questioned as there is no shortage of talent available. Australian paceman Glenn McGrath taunted the South African cricket team last week - by declaring that Australia have the Proteas beaten - even before they leave the dressing-room. "They don't have that hard toughness," McGrath said. "They're only a young team. They can build that in, but they definitely need that to beat us." Former SA cricket captain Kepler Wessels says the three steps to be taken to ensure mental toughness are fitness, discipline and basics. "Players who are fit and work together on their fitness, suffer together - this, in turn, builds team spirit. Fitness breeds mental toughness." In South Africa, none of the major sport teams have a full-time professional helping with the mental aspect of the game. Cape Town psychologist Greg Miles, who specialises in sport, says the problem with not using sport psychologists is that coaches and management are not sure where they should fit into the team setup. "It is important that the input from a psychologist happens consistently. There is no specific recipe across board that works in every situation. "Individuals within the teams should be able to identify what their problems are and why they are not performing against certain opponents." Wessels feels sport psychology works only for certain players. "They (the psychologists) should be available if and when players require their input." Asked how South African teams could break the mental block that they seemed to have regarding certain teams - the Proteas against the Australians, Bafana Bafana against any European team and the Springboks against the All Blacks - Miles said the identity of the team should be changed. "It is important to break the links with past bad experiences. Experienced players play a crucial role here as they can carry on a myth, or break it." Miles also feels the impact of actions by management and administrators should be looked at in the way that they have an impact on players. "The balance between players and management is skewed against the players and should be restored", he said. "When you look at a clinical setting, when there is a problem with a child - psychologists look at the family (to see where the problems are) and not just at the child." Where South African sport teams have started to employ professionals to help them with fitness, diet, technical analysis of opponents, the amateurs are still taking care of the psychological side of things. Wessels emphasises the importance of the physical aspect to obtain mental toughness, while Mills focuses on the mental requirements. A combination of both is probably needed to treat the sick patient that South African sport has become. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] |
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