Posted on 02/25/2005 8:32:50 AM PST by MikeEdwards
Just as desperate kids in nearby shantytowns lined up for water at standpipes as Earth Summit delegates converged upon Johannesburg in 2002, H20 is still a scarce commodity in the region.
According to the London Sun, 80,000 bottles of mineral water quenched the thirst of 60,000 delegates to the Johannesburg Earth Summit on Sustainability.
While the delegates from 182 countries have long since gone home, the children of Alexandra, a shantytown just down the road from the wealthy Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, still go thirsty.
Chronicled in the Corporate Watch video, White Gold, Alexandra is "a settlement of largely self-built homes of poor black Africans, hardly changed since the apartheid era, where unemployment and AIDS are rife."
In poignant fashion, White Gold points out that "just down the road from the Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, home to the World Summit on Sustainable Development venue, a human and environmental tragedy is being played out that has nothing to do with sustainability and everything to do with big businesses' push for profits at any cost."
Some of the huts in Alexandra have mains water, but since the city's water services were sold off to French-based multinational Suez (formerly Suez Lyonnaise) the bills have tripled and many people can no longer afford to keep the water flowing.
Drinking untreated river water slakes their thirst. One year before the Earth Summit, Alexandra fell victim to a cholera outbreak, which claimed four lives in February, 2001.
Starting to evict the squatters was the initial government response. . . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ...
Some of the huts in Alexandra have mains water, but since the city's water services were sold off to French-based multinational Suez (formerly Suez Lyonnaise) the bills have tripled and many people can no longer afford to keep the water flowing.
classic.... the govt. sells out their people and the french exploit them.
This "government" and the people who formed is never had anything to offer the people. The only promise they made was to allow the black population to be exploited by blacks. Apparently they aren't even sticking to that if they are selling their assets to the Euros.
This "government" and the people who formed is never had anything to offer the people. The only promise they made was to allow the black population to be exploited by blacks. Apparently they aren't even sticking to that if they are selling their assets to the Euros.
Great. I wait five minutes for the post to go through then repost. Both come through together.
I have a friend that grew up in south africa. He was from a very wealthy farm family. He and his family always had good relations with the nationals that worked on their farm. He and his family walked away from thier home and farm that had been in their family for over 100 years. Not that he hated blacks but he said that the nationals had really no idea about how infra structure worked. His friends would tell him ... Some day we (blacks) will own all the stores and not have to buy any food we will be able to walk in and pick out what we want and just take it..... and all the gas stations.... we will just fill up our land crusiers any time we want..." and my friend said..." Who will fill the tanks under ground and stock food on the shelves? national... " Huh?" "Who will refine the petrol and can the food and bring it to the stores etc.?"
The man had no clue what my friend was talking about. They believe it just is there, gas is just in the ground, stores are full of food, no idea of the logistics it takes to run and maintain the infrastructure of a modern society. I think you are seeing this in south africa, zimbabwe . HEY take all the white farmers land...... without the thought that you are taking the livelyhood of the people that clothe and feed you.
All self inflicted I'm afraid.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.