Currently we stand at 55.91 Million in South Africa! We Are 55 million strong and we have sat back and betrayed our country. The land of milk and honey, where gold fills the earth and fish fill our oceans, wildlife grazes and 55 million people each have their very own unique story to tell. There is similarity and we are all connected by choice, because we choose to live here, we want to be a apart of this land, we are a part of this land. It is not in the nature of humanity to hate each other, a wise old man that so many love to insult, trample on his hopes and dreams and destroy his legacy, but greatness never dies. The man in body is gone, but his spirit lives on in the hearts and lives of all who love him. He knew none of us are born hating.
There is a story that must be told, it must be put to paper, for the ghost that stands now, demands to rest in peace, but will not go until the story is told.
There is a homestead burned and destroyed somewhere in the Eastern Cape. The farm lands lie silent. The roads where once farmers traveled is now overgrown as nature reclaims it. The farms once where cattle grazed was once productive, vibrant dairy farms, Here farmers worked, socialized and workers lived, a peasant living, but how much do we really need? after all the money in the bank, what is it that our Soul craves, but the sound of nature, the quiet of the land and the sound of our families with us. Humanity is not complex. For those that long to taste the fast life, there should and must be this choice, but for us, the ones who sit in wonder at a sunset, the simple values of life is all the riches we require and now the land stands dead. Yes, the government has purchased this land. But nobody lives here. The people of the farms, the workers have moved to live in squatter camps near the local shops. When you take away the farmer, you take away the transportation for the people. Instead of homes out on the land, they live huddled together, more miserable now than ever and this is the future our government wants for us. These squatters of no man's land that the government has failed to recognize have no ground to cultivate, no means to make their own money and no hope for a better future. In taking the land, the government abandoned these people and offered them no alternative but to live in these squatter camps.
All the degrees in the world will not buy happiness. These people were once fed by the farmers, enjoyed the luxury of free transportation once a week to town and every month, they were collectively driven in to the nearest town to purchase their groceries. They lived on land that was worked, they toiled and they were strong. These farm workers knew the value of hard work. They planted and watched as crops grew and they did not know hunger and poverty. These farms are now abandoned. No one works the land. I know because I lived one one of these farms and I took a drive down memory lane. The house that was used as an Inn in the 1800's, where horses rested and carriages stood is now ashes and gone with an era that everyone wants so desperately to forget, but along with the bad, there was a measure of good. There were farmers that committed unspeakable crimes against their staff and there were farmers that provided and cared for their staff.
No one can imagine the freedom of walking and collecting fire wood, of watching crops grow and knowing there will be milk from the dairy and food from the farmer and now the land stands and only the grass grows and nobody knows and no one cares, it's written as a crime and it's all washed away in shame and disgrace. Only it was not all shame and disgrace. There was compassion. There was love and respect. There was attendance of each others funerals and there was understanding that hard work is what puts food on the table.
The homes of the farmers are in tact and cannot be hired out as the electricity to these homes is no longer supplied. The boreholes cannot pump water, there are over grazed camps and the land stands, the grass grows along with the anger.
Soon the farmers in the Cape will face the fight of their lives as Cape Town will demand the water that feeds the farming community of the Western Cape. The price of fresh vegetables will soar, as though they have not already, wine will become a luxury and the drought created by weather control will tighten it's cruel merciless grip. The farmers have gone from the land. The workers huddle in squatter camps. There is much potential, but laws made by biased bought corrupt politicians is killing the dreams and lives of South Africans and all the while, no one cares!
Plant one seed and watch it grow and multiply that by 55 million and understand the importance of our farmers, and the fight that they encounter just to stay alive. We have no idea the determination of the heart of the farmer and his workers and today, I salute you and thank you and pray you all stand firm. Every farmer is required! For without our Farmers, we starve, can anyone grasp this?
Maybe someone will come along some day and restore the old burned down Inn that lies in ashes, a ghost story that no one will ever know, though it lives in my heart and is my sorrow and my memories. 55 million realities, who is right and what is wrong? I don't know, but I know we need to eat. Food trumps starvation any day. Remember our farmers.....
There is a story that must be told, it must be put to paper, for the ghost that stands now, demands to rest in peace, but will not go until the story is told.
There is a homestead burned and destroyed somewhere in the Eastern Cape. The farm lands lie silent. The roads where once farmers traveled is now overgrown as nature reclaims it. The farms once where cattle grazed was once productive, vibrant dairy farms, Here farmers worked, socialized and workers lived, a peasant living, but how much do we really need? after all the money in the bank, what is it that our Soul craves, but the sound of nature, the quiet of the land and the sound of our families with us. Humanity is not complex. For those that long to taste the fast life, there should and must be this choice, but for us, the ones who sit in wonder at a sunset, the simple values of life is all the riches we require and now the land stands dead. Yes, the government has purchased this land. But nobody lives here. The people of the farms, the workers have moved to live in squatter camps near the local shops. When you take away the farmer, you take away the transportation for the people. Instead of homes out on the land, they live huddled together, more miserable now than ever and this is the future our government wants for us. These squatters of no man's land that the government has failed to recognize have no ground to cultivate, no means to make their own money and no hope for a better future. In taking the land, the government abandoned these people and offered them no alternative but to live in these squatter camps.
All the degrees in the world will not buy happiness. These people were once fed by the farmers, enjoyed the luxury of free transportation once a week to town and every month, they were collectively driven in to the nearest town to purchase their groceries. They lived on land that was worked, they toiled and they were strong. These farm workers knew the value of hard work. They planted and watched as crops grew and they did not know hunger and poverty. These farms are now abandoned. No one works the land. I know because I lived one one of these farms and I took a drive down memory lane. The house that was used as an Inn in the 1800's, where horses rested and carriages stood is now ashes and gone with an era that everyone wants so desperately to forget, but along with the bad, there was a measure of good. There were farmers that committed unspeakable crimes against their staff and there were farmers that provided and cared for their staff.
No one can imagine the freedom of walking and collecting fire wood, of watching crops grow and knowing there will be milk from the dairy and food from the farmer and now the land stands and only the grass grows and nobody knows and no one cares, it's written as a crime and it's all washed away in shame and disgrace. Only it was not all shame and disgrace. There was compassion. There was love and respect. There was attendance of each others funerals and there was understanding that hard work is what puts food on the table.
The homes of the farmers are in tact and cannot be hired out as the electricity to these homes is no longer supplied. The boreholes cannot pump water, there are over grazed camps and the land stands, the grass grows along with the anger.
Soon the farmers in the Cape will face the fight of their lives as Cape Town will demand the water that feeds the farming community of the Western Cape. The price of fresh vegetables will soar, as though they have not already, wine will become a luxury and the drought created by weather control will tighten it's cruel merciless grip. The farmers have gone from the land. The workers huddle in squatter camps. There is much potential, but laws made by biased bought corrupt politicians is killing the dreams and lives of South Africans and all the while, no one cares!
Plant one seed and watch it grow and multiply that by 55 million and understand the importance of our farmers, and the fight that they encounter just to stay alive. We have no idea the determination of the heart of the farmer and his workers and today, I salute you and thank you and pray you all stand firm. Every farmer is required! For without our Farmers, we starve, can anyone grasp this?
Maybe someone will come along some day and restore the old burned down Inn that lies in ashes, a ghost story that no one will ever know, though it lives in my heart and is my sorrow and my memories. 55 million realities, who is right and what is wrong? I don't know, but I know we need to eat. Food trumps starvation any day. Remember our farmers.....
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