Personal Notes 

It's time we took responsibility.

As you know I have just spent some time in Windhoek in Namibia. I had a wonderful time presenting workshops and giving business advice to clients of the company that organised my trip, thewinwingroup is one of the fastest growing advertising and corporate promotion companies in Namibia and I will be doing a lot of work with them as, just like here in SA, there is a huge shortage of management skills.

What I want to talk about however, is not my trip there but my experience on returning. If you have ever been to Windhoek you will know that it is a very neat little city. It is also a very CLEAN city. The contrast between there and here was a huge shock. I left a really clean environment and returned to a garbage pile. I am serious. This country is filthy. I wonder if there is anywhere that we have not defiled with our litter. And yes I say We. Where do you think it comes from? Do you think that aliens drop it?

I wasn't nearly as shocked at the state of our nation when I returned from London last year. I suppose that is because you expect a 1st world country to be clean and you expect a 3rd world country to be dirty. I don't know why, but this is the picture that is portrayed in all the media. But returning from a small "3rd world" country that is as clean as anything in any 1st world country I realised that it has nothing to do with physical location or wealth but everything to do with attitude and mindset.

Anyone who litters tells me 3 things about themselves:

1. They have no respect for themselves and think that it is OK to live in a rubbish dump.

2. They have no National Pride. They don't care what their country looks like.

3. They have no respect for their creator. Whatever their religion they show that they are hypocrites singing their creators praises in church but happily trashing the creators creation at every opportunity.

But wait, it gets worse. I was listening to a program on the radio about the infestation of rats and how concerned, worried, frightened, terrified and angry people were. The cause of the rat infestation is the perfect breeding conditions caused by all the litter.  A number of people phoned in and blamed the government, because they don't clean up. I was amazed. Our government certainly has a lot to answer for, but blaming them for our irresponsibility is a bit much and there are just too few of them to have caused all this mess.

Now I know that in many areas the municipal services are that in word only, in deed they are a non service and no they don't clean up. (But in some areas they do, remember the compliments corner) But wouldn't it be nice if they didn't have to clean up. Wouldn't it be nice if all of us "Proudly South African Patriots" actually behaved in a responsible manner and didn't dirty the streets in the first place. Wouldn't it be nice if we showed the rest of the world what a great bunch we really were and that we are really worth visiting.

And just think if the municipalities didn't have to waste so much time cleaning up after us they might just have enough time to do the really serious work. Like fix the roads (I didn't see any potholes in Windhoek either. They're possibly all visiting their families here) But I think that if I was a municipal cleaner I would become very discouraged because it seems as if we (the citizens) like a place to be all dirty and strewn with litter. I have seen the crews clean up the streets at night so that in the morning we are greeted by clean, litter free streets but do we appreciate it. Not at all. Just look at what the streets look like by the time we go home at night. It's disgraceful!

Perhaps if the streets were left the way that we left them then by about the 3rd day when we are neck deep in waste we would realise that it is time to clean up.

Here's the deal. Lets clean up our act. Keep your litter, including the stompie of your cancer stick, to yourself. Don't share it with me. Take it home and dispose of it responsibly. Share this message with as many people as you can and encourage them to do the same. Realise this, a clean environment starts with you respecting the environment and accepting your responsibility to future generations who must inherit your legacy.

Hey, if the Namibians can do it so can we. If the Londoners can do it so can we. And I believe that we deserve to live in a clean and attractive environment.

To live your best life be true to the YOU, that you want to be.

Live up to the reputation that you want to have.