We found another great voice from South Africa for you. His name is Mario Olckers and he is not your average kind of guy. He is a webdesigner / programmer (we met online of course;-),  and he is also fairly outspoken about political issues in his country. Mario lived for three years as a Buddhist monk in Myanmar (Birma). He belongs to the sometimes forgotten fraction of “colored” people in South Africa – belonging to neither other ethnic group.

Note:
We are using the term “colored” repeatedly in this article. South Africa’s old regime established this term for everyone that was not “black”, “white”, “indian” or “asian” during the segregation days of apartheid. We are trying to tell the story as it is an therefore decided to go ahead with this odd convention. Please learn more at this Wikipedia Article.

We are certainly not trying to hurt or offend anyone and thank you very much for your understanding.

Let’s move on to what Mario has to share with us:

How would you introduce Mario Olckers? What are you most passionate about?
I’m obsessed with computers…? Joking aside, I spend most of my time in front of a computer screen and are very passionate about utilizing Information and communications technology as a mechanism for social upliftment in socio-politically challenged communities, and since I come from a community that is notoriously challenged by gangs, guns, drug abuse and violence, I feel all the more strongly about getting kids and young people off the streets and into the computer lab.

Even in the “new” South Africa only the corrupt few have benefited and while everyone focuses on the large black majority and their plight, everyone seems to have forgotten about the descendants of the legitimate right-holders to the beautiful Southern African region. If there is one thing that would define my passion, it would be a recognition by all the role players and politicians in South Africa today that the descendants of the Khoi and San indigenous peoples of Southern Africa, nowadays referred to as Coloured people, have been given a very raw deal by everyone and that we should start to include them at all levels of the political process and spend more time and attention in the Western Cape and the socio-economic challenges facing that community there and elsewhere in South Africa.

How have your feelings & perceptions about being South African shifted over the last 5 years?
I have become increasingly disillusioned and I would even go as far as saying disgusted with the way South Africa is turning into a haven for criminal and corrupt politicians who work the illiterate majority into a murderous frenzy to introduce disastrous policies based on outmoded socialist and communist theories that have been discredited and failed in practise elsewhere in the world.

Only in Africa do the political leaders insist on being headstrong and I believe it is ego-based and manifesting the worst aspects of human nature by showing a disregard for respectable human conduct and conducting themselves like an organised criminal gang enriching themselves and their loyal lackeys at the expense of the poor people who had faith in them and voted them into power.

I am ashamed to be a South African sometimes, especially when complete idiots are running the show and I feel powerless to do anything because it is not my vote and my will and my wish that is being carried out but the will of an illiterate majority that has been manipulated by a few dishonest crooks who treat the state as their own personal cash cow and use state power to play out their own criminal ego games.

How does being colored feel different from being black or white? At what times in your daily life is it the biggest factor? Do you at times forget the color of your skin?
Being coloured is a totally different experience than that of a white or black person. The white people in South Africa have a more European orientated cultural outlook and their daily lives also reflect that, whether they are of English or Dutch heritage.

The black people experience a totally different cultural life as well, depending on which ethnic group they come from, I know Xhosa people in the Eastern Cape and Zulu people in KwaZulu Natal and they all are very proud of their heritage and even though they live in a Westernized society, they still insist on keeping their cultural values and respecting the “old ways”.

The coloured community are in a twilight zone culturally, they mostly speak and act culturally in a more Westernized way since the ancient Khoi and San languages and cultural practices have been destroyed and wiped out with the advent of colonial domination by both the Bantu tribes and later European colonial settlers.

While being mostly Westernized, we have seen an upsurge in indigenous pride taking hold amongst some intellectuals and politically conscious individuals in the coloured community and the old Khoesan languages and history being talked about again, but it is very low-key and some coloured people are very ashamed to know they come from Bushmen and Hottentot forefathers, a result mostly of history lessons and misinformation during various political epochs dominated by peoples who would love for the indigenous culture to vanish off the face of the earth so they can complete their genocidal projects.

What is your take on the current rulers? What needs to happen to resolve the current crisis?
The current rulers are people I have neither voted for nor supported in any way whatsoever. I do not support their policies and their political outlook. I do not identify with them and I do not believe they have the best interest of my people and my cultural heritage at heart.

I do believe they act and conduct themselves like an organised crime organisation with all the corruption and criminal scandals surrounding them and the way they channel scarce resources that all the taxpayers have contributed, now being funnelled to finance their corrupt lifestyles and their families and friends’ business interests.

Also the way they whip up majoritarian sentiment in the masses of uneducated people to vote them into power through sheer number majority, nevermind the fact that those majority with voting powers are not educated or sophisticated enough to understand the issues at hand or have not contributed to the economy in a significant enough manner, which is the responsibility that comes with the right to vote.

You do not just hand over the decision-making process over your and your loved ones’ lives to a faceless mob that has none of your interests at heart and unfortunately that is what happened in the case of South Africa.

What are your suggestions on better dealing with minorities in South Africa in the future?
Give them equal representation at state, provincial and municipal level, do not simply overrun and overwhelm everything with majoritarian glee and spite. Just because your population is exploding out of control does not mean you must overrun and demand and consume all available scarce resources at the expense of minorities in the country.

Other people demand a decent quality of life and they should be granted that right too, just because they lack the numbers to make a significant impact at the polling booth does not mean you can disregard their needs as a people and a community with different values and cultural priorities.

What is you think of grassroots organizations in townships trying to make a difference? Do they have a chance or will they be swept away?
Education is key, education is key, education is key! Grassroots organisations are good, but if they lack education in the leadership, they become nothing more than an emotionally frenzied mob and a criminal gang that erupts to destroy property and intimidate people at election times.

Also psychological therapy needs to be a pre-requisite for people who wants to pretend to be political leaders , community leaders and organisers. Many times it is people with frustrated personal lives and inadequate psychological development that gets voted into positions of power because their deep emotions and hurt and unresolved issues enable them to tap into that energy and whip people up into frenzied activity without necessarily understanding the complexities of the issues involved.

We then have a situation like you have with the present South African political leadership, people with unresolved traumas and unconscious psychological material from living in an apartheid state now suddenly being thrusted into positions of power and having to manage and allocate huge amounts of scarce resources and then you get the result you have at present, corruption and incompetence and everything falling apart and the competent few having to carry the burden and the corrupt majority grabbing what they can while things fall to pieces around them.

What are your thoughts on South Africa Project – Time for Ubuntu? Does our focus on rape prevention and empowerment make sense or would you rather focus on different subjects?
Every project that aims to help those less fortunate and those who have been victims of some sort of injustice or criminal behaviour should be commended and supported, that is a compassionate thing to do and should be supported.

It is just very important for us to examine our motivations and intentions in doing so and if we are willing to tell the truth and work toward justice, otherwise it becomes another marketing and PR campaign to serve the egos of whoever it is that runs these things.

What is your take on the Soccer World Cup 2010? Just a little party or an opportunity to turn things around?
I am not a fan of soccer, I do not play soccer and I am not supporting the South African soccer team because I do not know those people and the culture surrounding the game, it is something completely removed from my sphere of interests.

I believe and have said so on occassion in the past, the only people who will benefit from the 2010 World Cup is the politicians and the contractors who build the stadiums and the couple of businesses licensed to sponsor the event.

Afterwards, the South African taxpayer will sit with the bill as they already do from the huge expense in building the soccer stadiums and infrastructure to host such a type of event.

I believe the SA government is being overambitious and overplaying their hand and the whole thing will blow up in their face and the people of South Africa will have to bear the burden because of a few politicians’ hubristic attitude and overblown egos.

Mario, thanks very much for your time and your honest words!

You might also want to follow Mario on Twitter @marioOlckers.