Some people said they were scared of Jacob Zuma, the president of the ANC who faces a court hearing surrounding his corruption trial this week, and, more specifically, that they were afraid of his supporters. Hardly an irrational fear. This sparked a discussion surrounding Julius Malema, the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) and why it was necessary for them to protest Jacob Zuma’s legal standing if they do respect the independence and decisions of the judiciary, as claimed.

Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate in the upcoming US elections was also discussed in the light of actor Matt Damon’s recent concerns voiced over her position on creationism and the fact that she only recently received her first passport. Barack Obama compared McCain’s economic policies to those of George W Bush’s in a speech yesterday saying (of the policies) that you could, “put lipstick on a pig, but that didn’t change the fact that it was still a pig.” Republicans retaliated suggesting that he was calling Palin a pig since she compared herself to a “pit-bull with lipstick on.” Is right-wing America losing its mind? Or did that happen a long time ago?

Other topics covered included places in South Africa that deserve more attention in terms of tourism and local travel, superstition and the work being done at the Large Hadron Collider. Particle physics were discusses with some attempts at explaining quantum mechanics.

I also got Julius Malema’s age wrong, along with the date of the US elections and several other things, despite knowing the correct information. Clearly I need a holiday. Which is why I will not be on the air next week, but return the following Thursday morning before 00:00 and 04:00.

We also received another call from Sue in Mondeor who does fantastic charity work. She requested that someone help her with a bakkie or other means of transportation she can use to pick up donations to charities and distribute food and other items. If you can help Sue by donating a vehicle or even just using your own to get things to her, please call her on +27 11 680 0651.

I’m off to the KZN South Coast to try and get my brain back in working order. Can’t wait to get back on the air as soon as possible thereafter.

We also had callers raising the issue of service fees being introduced by Eskom. General opinion is that the fee is largely unwarranted, although one must remember that we pay far less for electricity than most of this rest of the world. Analysts at this year’s Gartner Symposium in Cape Town touched on the South African energy situation and the fact that we pay less for electricity, along with other observations, which I related on the show. I was at the Symposium this week and found the trends analysis to be pretty interesting, especially in terms of cloud computing and the integration of new web tools into corporate environments.

Then we discussed Bafana Bafana, with the team taking on Australia in England earlier this week. The stadium was packed, the game was good. Bafana managed to draw 2 all with Australia – so why did we see so little coverage of the game in the media in general? Was the lack of hype the fault of the SABC, apathy from the SA public or a result of Bafana’s crappy recent performances?

We also touched on the Krugersdorp sword murder and the frenetic speculation that has sprung up around it. Music and Satanism are the scapegoats, as usual. But what about the psyche of the killer? We know he was of a small stature, was bullied and teased by his peers.

The discussion led to an exploration of immunising children against the influence of their friends, the media and music. Children can’t be kept away from music, video games et al, so isn’t equipping them with the skills to make their own decisions surrounding right and wrong more effective than limiting their exposure?

As always, the Olympics in Beijing were a talking point. We discussed less popular events like men’s walking and BMX cycling. And during the show we had the women’s volleyball on. America versus China. In the rain. Sweet.

Finally, we had some fun talking about what you would do with super-powers. Scientists in the US are close to finalising nano technology that would allow for the creation of invisibility devices. If you had one, what would you do with it? Funny how most suggestions are criminal in nature…

Oh, and Ray called in ask if women liked men shaving and grooming their body hair. Metro sexual is out.

I’ll be back on the air next Thursday from 00:00 to 04:00.

Some will say that this is a global problem and I would agree to an extent, but my commitments lie in South Africa, hence my focus on the local situation.

A side-effect of being involved in a medium such as live radio, as I am, means that you are constantly aware of criticism. At the talk radio station where I host my shows we have an SMS line that runs 24 hours a day where listeners can send their messages to add to the on-air conversation. This channel is more regularly used to abuse presenters, however.

On the SMS line I have been called everything from useless to racist. Black listeners have called me a ‘euro pest’ and white listeners have called me an ‘armchair liberal’. The abuse is unrelenting and flows throughout the show. On the flip side, other listeners compliment me. Fortunately the good outweighs the bad. But the bad is very, very bad and often includes personal attacks adorned with expletives.

Now I could let the negative criticism I receive get to me. I have on occasion. And it has dragged my whole being down, along with my show. But I prefer to try seeing it as something positive. My view on life is that negativity is self-perpetuating and unproductive. I have never seen a negative person solve any form of problem. So I’ll have no part of it. Instead I look for the positive in any situation. As such, I see criticism as a seed I am being given by someone. I can swallow it and choke on it, or plant it and unlock the energy it contains. Criticism is fuel. The more I receive, the greater my incentive becomes to improve, to prove the criticisers wrong, to show that I am not shaken. I see my ambition as a fire; there is good fuel and bad fuel but they both help the fire to grow.

A colleague of mine in talk radio, Udo Carelse, has a good take on this. He says that he goes into shows with his “core” and a commitment that it won’t be shaken. I like this description and I am continuously amazed at how Udo manages to remain positive and upbeat at 4 in the morning – even when I know he has had the kakkest of days.

But I digress. My point is that South Africans need to learn to both give and take criticism. And to see it for what it is and accept it from whence it came. And don’t refrain from labeling something as banal, mediocre crap if that’s what you think it is. Alternatively, when criticism aimed at you comes from a drunk moron mouthing-off at 3 in the morning, merely toss it on the fire. But don’t engage. As my friend Daniela always says, “When you wrestle with a pig you both get full of mud – but the pig enjoys it.”

Without criticism creatives in South Africa will continue to be just OK with the few odd exceptions, when they could be great if pushed – or stop what they’re doing if they really are hopeless at it, which would be a desirable outcome too.

Some of our music groups are poop, our official political opposition party is a joke while our governing party is beyond adjective description in its inabilities, and our blogosphere is full of link-loving morons who love marking their own homework. Are you going to sit back and say, “well, at least they’re doing it” or are you going to mouth off? If you aren’t going to target your criticism at individuals, then you can’t whine about the collective.

But make it constructive and try to execute your criticism in a way that encourages the target to grow and improve. Unless that target really needs to be stopped in its tracks.

And give credit where it’s due. We have some good politicians in South Africa. Not many, but some. There are some excellent bloggers in South Africa and musicians that are world-class, to say the least. South Africa has given the world its most expensive female artist and the greatest revolutionary leader of modern times. We are not short on talent, but it needs encouragement. And sometimes it needs to be guided in the right direction with some positive crit.

Post your criticism below

I have since been contacted by listeners wishing to know more about the substance, especially with regards to its apparent success rate at curing heroine addiction.

Ibogaine is called ‘The Tree of Life’ in its native territory of the Congo. It supposedly has a 60 percent success rate in curing addiction, but since the drug is illegal in most countries I doubt this number has been derived from any serious study.

There are two websites dedicated to the plant at www.ibogaine.org and www.ibogaine.net both containing a wealth of information.

Please note that I am not advocating the use of Ibogaine. It is a powerful psycho-tropic substance and could pose a huge health risk. For help with drug addiction please visit Narconon’s website at www.stopaddiction.co.za