All the sins and success of our past have a hand to play in who we are and who we'll become today.

1. Volksrust Recorder - Column / Rubrieke8 Recorder 25 November 2016
Change
Your
Story
With Jacques de Villiers
Our Past Narrative
shapes our Future success
from page 7 ...
children or people did not often come
knocking on the tent flap except for business
with her dad and in such cases, the kids
disappeared. At school she was terribly shy
and it did not help having an older sister to
turn to instead of being forced to make
friends. She had no social skills and her years
training to be a nurse at the college in
Nairobi were the loneliest years of her life.
By todays standards life was not easy but
very hapy and one wonders how many of
todays people could survive – and love –
that way of life. Tony and Nel, growing up
in neighbouring countries but having similar
childhood experiences and then as a couple,
enjoying a similar life style, so obviously
did love it – I do not think they regretted
one minute of those years “being so far from
towns and just “having to cope.If a kid got
sick, one of the three remedies used were –
caster oil; liquid paraffin or Epsom salts –
or Mum’s stick, in case it was playing up”!
And of course you fixed the vehicle with
whatever was available.
Next month I will include some of the stories
they had to tell and which at times could
have meant very different outcomes for their
futures. ~ Glenn Ramke ~
Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has
delivered the “magic number” for the
national minimum wage in South Africa –
R3,500 per month, or R20 per hour. This is
how it compares to other national minimum
wages across the world. Acomparison done
inApril by theWorld Economic Forum found
that countries like Australia, Luxembourg
and Belgium offered citizens the highest
minimum wages (between US$8.50 and
US$9.50 an hour) – while countries like
Mexico and Latvia had some of the lowest
(US$1.00toUS$1.50anhour). Theminimum
wages are in terms of purchasing power
parity (PPP), which shows the income level
relative to the cost of living in any given
country. Using the World Bank’s PPP ratio
for South Africa (R5.52/$) we are able to
calculate how the country’s proposed
minimum wage compares to the rest of the
world. AminimumwageofR3,500translates
to R20 per hour over a typical work month
(160 hours, over 20 days/4 weeks), which in
PPP terms is $3.62 per hour. At this level,
SouthAfrica’s minimum wage would be on
par with countries like Poland and Turkey.
While this is on the lower end of the
comparison countries, it is still far higher
than those at the bottom. The graph below
details how the minimum wages compare on
a PPP basis:
HowSouthAfrica’sproposed
R3,500 minimum wage com-
parestotherestoftheWorld
Notably, South Africa’s current average
minimum wage (taken from all sectors’
collective bargaining) of R2,340, is US$2.65,
while the highest recommended national
minimum wage of R8,000 per month (as
suggested by Pacsa) translates to over $9.00
per hour – which would have placed South
Africa as third highest on the list.
Not the end of the debate
According to Ramaphosa, the figure of
R3,500 is not the official “final” number that
will be implemented, but rather the starting
point for the national minimum wage debate.
The deputy president has called on all South
Africans, from businesses to workers to
government, to debate the issue to help find
the best way forward.
The national minimum Wage is set to be
implemented by July 2019 – however the
government has said that this is not a rigid
timeline and is subject to change.
~ Source ~
https://businesstech.co.za/news/general/143853/
how-south-africas-proposed-r3500-minimum-
wage-compares-to-the-rest-of-the-world
I was chatting to some friends the other
day and we got onto the subject of a
peculiar and powerful tribe. There’s an
estimated 67 000 of them living in South
Africa. That, of course would be our Jewish
brethren. We speculated as to why
proportionally they’re the most successful
body of people on the planet. Just in case
you have any doubt let me put it into
context. There are around 2,2-million
Christians and 1,6-million Muslims on this
planet. Cape Town and Gauteng have a
bigger population than the entire Jewish
community worldwide which is estimated
at 16-million. If the most powerful economy
on this planet, the USA is considered the
head of the world, then the Jewish tribe must
be the neck. A neck that turns the USA in
any direction it chooses. What interested
me more was what has shaped this tribe
into such a formidable force. I have a notion
that what sets them apart from most of us is
their ability to endure and survive, no
matter what. And, they’ve had to survive a
lot whilst they’ve been persecuted and
hounded from one end of the earth to the
other. From as far back as 250 C.E. when
they were expelled from Carthage a litany of
atrocities befell them … forced conversions,
book burnings, synagogue burnings, stake
burnings, property confiscations,
massacres, pogroms, forced to wear badges,
forced to wear horned hats, mob attacks,
executed, slaughtered and enslaved. And,
of course the final attempt to eradicate them
from the planet; the Holocaust from 1938 to
1945 where an estimated 6-million souls were
taken before their allotted time. This history
of subjugation and suffering has shaped the
Jewish tribe into what it is today - tough-
minded, indefatigable, focused and proud.
No matter how harsh their circumstances,
they’ll carve out something that works and
works well. I think every tribe is shaped by
its history. Those experiences become part
of their DNA. Many tribes have a backstory
of perpetuating tyranny, colonisation,
genocide, slaughter and slavery. In it’s quest
to colonise the world, the British tribe has a
spectacular record when it comes to cruelty.
America and Belgium (Under King Leopold
II) are neck and neck when it comes to
genocide. They make Hitler look quite tame.
Each accounted for the death of around 10-
million souls. The former wiping out the
Native Americans through plague and
sanctioned killings and the latter,
slaughtering mothers, fathers, brothers and
sisters in what was then known as the Belgian
Congo. Almost no tribe is without blemish
when it comes to mass murder, subjugation
and slavery. Some that can take a bow:
Romans, French, Chinese, Spanish, Dutch,
Portuguese, Japanese, Koreans, Russians,
Germans, Zimbabweans, Zulu, Xhosa and
Afrikaner. All these tribes and more have a
stain on them. It’s a stain that plays out
today. Most tribes today are still trying to
dominate, subjugate and enslave so that
they can better their lot. Most tribes compete
for limited resources instead of collaborating
so that everyone can win. And, of course,
asindividualswemirrorourtribalDNA,don’t
we? Most of us compete. Most of us want
to win at the expense of the other. Most of
us only think about the short game and
don’t give a damn about the long game and
what’s left after we depart. We really do
just pay lip service to the oft quoted, “We
do not inherit the Earth from ourAncestors,
we borrow it from our Children.” Can we
change our path? Of course we can. Our
history and our DNA shouldn’t just define
who we are in this moment, but should
shape who we can become.And, of course,
there’s something more powerful than our
tribal history. We’ve just forgotten about it
and maybe it’s time to remember it. It’s
called our soul. It’s older, wiser and more
powerful than any tribal history. It has the
answer to every question we have and the
solution to every problem we have. Go to it
and hear it whisper. You’ll be awestruck,
humble and grateful when you hear what it
has to say. Then you’ll be free to be who
you were meant to be.
Minimum
Wages across the world
Per Hour, PPP$
Forfurtherinformation:
Jacques de Villiers 082 906 3693
www.jacquesdevilliers.com
JOK
Inspirational
YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES
All you need to discover who you are is a
positive attitude. Sometimes going to
different places can be stressful on the
body, mind and pocket so why not discover
the “inner you” by staying exactly where
you are?
Take a moment away from people to reflect
on your life, your positive and negative
attributes, and consider the possibilities
which God has laid out for you. Negativity
comes in all shapes and sizes and the
voices that discourage are the same ones
holding you back from realising your
dreams. Be honest with yourself if you
want to achieve something. Knowing your
faults and concentrating on your strengths
allows you to set realistic goals and limits
the negative aspects holding you back
from greater things in life. Prayer,
dedication and commitment are the keys
to attaining a better future.
~Mr John Oscar Kubeka,
Cell : 072 0796 796, Fax:086 544 7844
Email: jokubeka@yahoo.com ~
Minimum
Wages across the world
Per Hour, PPP$
Persons of Interest - Those were the days ...