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Listening to the NEC media briefing yesterday made me think of my childhood. We had family who, although distant, were quite popular with my parents. Now, coming from the Afrikaans persuasion, I will put it this way “We loved Oom Biera, and Tannie Bella”. But you see, as was the culture of the time people who worked in the mining industry “help themselves” to mine stock from time to time, and it is as result of this that Oom Biera and his son got caught for stealing copper cable. And with that the “Oom” and his son were jailed for 18 months, with all the shock and real misery that goes with it.
Imagine, my mother inconsolable, the cousins taken out of school to prevent shame, etc. And with this we kids were threatened with anything but death, if we talk about it or show that we know about this terrible dilemma.
The result being that when we go visit Tannie Bella, and the discussion goes in the direction of the dastardly deed, we as children stared downwards in one perfectly synchronised move. If we were sitting at the dinner table, we would almost try to hide our faces in the food.
But the fact is this…we knew, and we knew that they knew. And we also knew that they knew that we knew. Because you see, what has been said or done cannot be unsaid or undone… you cannot un-ring a bell.
And it is here that I would like to say to Comrade Mantashe: ”Sir, South Africa knows, and we know that you know, and we also know that you know that we know.”
