Poor Whites (SC for sale?)

[vuyo]

welcome to the third world. South Africa is a capitalist country,the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor . poor whites poor blacks is all the same to me. the press is sensitizing something that always existed .If you dont have cash you f#Ck ed

[eben]

I come from "die platteland" and I remember how poor kids where sent to boarding-school in our town because it was cheaper for welfare to do it that way and in some cases social services wanted the kids away from one of the parents....

Most of the kids adapted quite well, they didn't really have a choice.... but the parents.... oh the parents

The parents were subsidized by the government and in a lot of these cases they paid FIVE RAND (R5.00) quarterly, yes only 4 times a year, for 3 meals a day and lodgings for their child.

My dad was the superintendent "koshuis-vader" of the girls' hostel and I remember clearly one afternoon, I was about 14, Mr Joone, one of the parents in question, slithered over to my dad with a can of Coke in the hand, and taking a deep draw from his cigarette.....

He told my dad he is sorry but he won't be able to pay the R10.00 for his 2 daughters for that quarter because he couldn't afford it.

You get poor people and then you get poor people....

[Dutch_Diver]

If you are going to do a run then do it.....I'll happily donate like Henry......but the final comment I have is on this thread is the title.....it goes to the point that has been made already. Why does it have to be colour related?

Personally I support 2 charities......

1) Family Care Foundation - My friends in Somerset West run Projects for African kids - http://www.familycare.org/whatwedo/whatwedo.htm
2) Smile Charity - http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServer & http://www.operationsmile.org.uk/

There's far too much talk and no action, as usual on these types of topics. Just do something!

[1972]

T.I.A

This Is Africa

[Barry]

Have compassion for these people and hang your head in shame for your pompous, arrogant attitude, because I have seen that it is possible to be forced to join the ranks of the poor in less than a year.....

Assuming that your remark is directed at me Johan, let me restate what I was saying:
I am absolutely in support of having compassion for these people. It does bother me that there seems to be an insinuation that there should be MORE compassion for "these" people because they are white. That is bullsh!t.
I am actually taking it further and saying that on balance their whiteness actually should make them more able to do something about their situation. That pisses many people off, but remains a truth.
Surprise surprise - I actually rose out of a situation that for many people attracted pity. Another surprise - at one time I lost everything, and again was able to lift myself out of it.
But I was white in South Africa and by virtue of that alone received enough of an education (both at home and at school) and was able to take opportunities, to put me at an advantage over someone who was born black. My whiteness allowed me opportunities to get somewhere in life and I firmly believe that this would not have been the case if I was black. How is that fair?
What irks me further is the perception I'm getting, that because these people are white, they shouldn't be in that situation. As people have stated, there are poor from every group. If they had been black, coloured or Indian very few people would have batted an eyelid. Many would probably have thought they were actually doing OK. Cars, laptops and all. How arrogant and pompous is that?

And it is a VERY different scenario to fall on bad times, than to exist like that for your whole life. Having been in a position to fall is a privelege in itself, no matter how hard it is for the indivduals concerned. Don't confuse the two issues.

And from personal experience - the need or want to help someone else is laudable. But if you don't want to be dissapointed, you'd better make damn sure that your understanding of the "help" they "need" is at least similar to their perception of what they need.

And this is not a colour thing. This type of scenario plays out in our country daily with White, Black, Coloured and Indian, Male or Female. You have no guarantees.

True. I didn't make it a colour thing - the title of the thread did. I merely picked up on it. And it's something we in SA need to talk about more (not less) no matter how uncomfortable, if we are ever going to get past it.....

[jmvv]

Assuming that your remark is directed at me Johan, let me restate what I was saying:
I am absolutely in support of having compassion for these people. It does bother me that there seems to be an insinuation that there should be MORE compassion for "these" people because they are white. That is bullsh!t.
Black, Coloured and Indian, Male or Female. You have no guarantees.[/quote]

Barry,

My comment was not directed at anybody in particular. It was meant as a general comment, because, very often, it is so easy to sit at the robot, look out your car window at the beggar outside and judge that person from your experience reference. You have a fifty fifty chance of being right.

Maybe the person outside is a shyster who is there by choice, but maybe it is a decent, honest human being that stands there as a last resort.

Yes, it is true that there are disadvantaged people that believe the "haves" owe them as "have nots".

But there are others, that are trying their level best to claw their way out of that desperate situation, back into society.

Again, I say, have compassion and try and consider how you would like to be treated or considered if you were in that situation.

[BUSBFK]

Hi all of you are someone going to organise a charity run or not? I will help if anyone needs help.

[Klaus]

Lets do a can run to the Cradle (same route as the KKK Breakfast Run) Donations in the form of non perishables - cans of soup, fruit etc. Plus a can on dog food for the pets !

18th Looks good for me. Meet up at intersection N14 and Beyers Naude 9:00 (on Beyers lots of hard shoulder). Breakfast at the same spot as KKK

Those with tow hooks let us know and we can organise a trailer for collections. Someone can then deliver it to the relevant place.

Who's Keen !

[BUSBFK]

I'm in. . The settlement mentioned is about 10 minutes drive from the N14\Beyers Naude intersection so we might be able to go past it on the way to breakfast?

[Skymac]

I am in

[Skymac]

well I would have a tow hook if you dropped your price

[Tony Z]

I wont be there, but I'll donate some money if someone will buy and donate things on my behalf - I dont ever donate cash

[Hubcap]

I do not want to discourage anyone from helping these people in Coronation Park, Krugersdorp, but you need to be aware of some facts - these were highlighted on Carte Blanche last year. Admittedly there are people there that do need help, but the "gangsters" that are in charge (one of them was/is Jimmy Abbotts sister) help themselves to most of the donations and sell it and keep the money for themselves/booze. Some of the residents that stand at the street corners do not want to work - if they are offered work, they will decline and get abusive. Also a lot of the donations are piling up and not getting distributed to those in need. This I have personally witnessed and I also knew someone that stayed there for a while.

[vfront]

Springer great idea to do the charity run.

I think the best is not to actually go to the settlement but to collect at a nuetral venue and then take it across at a later stage. Suggest handing the food to the people running the feeding scheme there apposed to causing pandemonium and just handing out food.

[Klaus]

100% with you on that one.