The chronicle of apartheid in South Africa
Apartheid which means apartness was a racial discrimination system in South Africa. The white has long been dominating the South Africans, so the advent of apartheid was just to make the economic and political dominance legal. Therefore, the practice of apartheid can be seen as a continuation and expansion of domination of the former white colonist.
Apartheid was enacted into law, the reservation of separate amenities Act was toughly enforced into law. Such as;
▪ Blacks were not allowed to live or work where the whites are unless they have a passbook.
▪ Blacks were not allowed to own and run a business where whites reside.
▪ Transportation and various civil activities were separated.
▪ Hospitals were separated, the whites hospitals are fully modern equipped with trained staffs while the black hospitals lack so many modern equipment and staffs.
▪ Different buses and train, the whites have their buses and train different from the black.
▪ Facilities like libraries and public toilet, beaches etc were separated, leaving the black with no pools and libraries while the whites have the best of all.
The presence of Europeans in South Africa in the 17th century is majorly to exploit them of their lands and resources i.e. ore, diamonds and gold etc. Sometimes in 1910, the black was disenfranchised as a result of a group called Union of South Africa founded by the white. This union gave the white the minority control of the country. Although South Africa was majorly black but the white minority living there qualified for the succession of land acts which at the end they were able to acquire 90 percent of the lands in South Africa leaving the natives with only 10 percent. The Land Act brought about apartheid forcing the black to be living in taciturnity or restraint of freedom in actions or words.
Apartheid was fully known in South Africa between 1948 and 1994. Apartheid is a racist system of government, promoting racially classist system under Afrikaner National Party. In 1953 when apartheid became a law, this law restrict the movement of blacks into certain places without taking their passbook. The whites dominated the parliament a bill was passed which segregate public spaces like school, toilets, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, churches etc. south Africans were grouped into four racial categories: (the natives of south African, the mixed, the white and the Asian). Apartheid system divide member of the same family as different racial sets. This system forbids interracial marriage and also sexual relation among the racial groups.
The natives of South Africa were being deprived of education because one of the law guiding apartheid keeps the skilled jobs for only the whites. The natives only go to school to learn how to perform manual and agricultural work. The white minority succeeded by dividing the black population. Their lives was sold out to the whites, they don’t have a say also they couldn’t form any political group or association. The blacks were chased out of their home leaving them to wallow in abject poverty and despair.
Conclusion, apartheid shouldn’t be allowed in any system because it makes the oppressed weak and vulnerable.
Dealing with depression: symptoms, causes and solutions
Do you know lots of people are helpless to depression because they are in a phase in life in which they have to become independent and make tough decisions on their own without anyone interfering i.e like which college to attend, switching career, looking for new job, relationship issues, relocating to new cities and so on. Also, there are times you have to face the hurdles of life, experience setbacks, feeling lonely and rejected; we face a lot of uncertainty about who we are, where we are going and where we want to be in life. Believe it or not isn’t easy.
The symptom of depression ranges from mere to severe symptoms; it is always advisable to talk to a therapist. Let’s look at the common symptoms we have;
▪Change in behavioural attitude: when you lost interest in what makes you happy. When you contemplate suicide a lot and feel weak often, you drink more than usual and you are been exposed to using drugs this is one of the symptoms that need attention.
▪Lack of focus: when you lack focus and ability to put yourself together, when you are always lost in thought and you find it difficult to contribute and to process information during conversation with people this also can be a symptom.
▪Feelings: when your whole life feels dull, always sad, lifeless, desperate, lack of enthusiasm, unconcerned.
▪Mood swing: when your mood swing easily, you pissed off easily and get irritated regularly, getting restless regularly.
▪Change in sleeping habit: when you experience changes in your sleeping habit i.e. finding it difficult to sleep or you sleep a lot more than usual and also waking up at odd hour and you find it difficult to sleep back.
All these symptoms do not come in a day, they show gradually and if you are experiencing any of this you might need to seek help.
There are various factors that causes depression, a certain range of psychological and biological factor can cause depression. Let’s talk about few causes of depression:
▪Defeat, delay, loss and repudiate: there are so many uncertainty in life that makes one feel powerless, when you are aiming high in life and suddenly the dream didn’t come to reality you feel defeated and beaten. Life is full of breakdowns which could be losing a job or a family member or friend, unable to attend college, failing in school etc all these can trigger depression in people.
▪Certain lifestyle factor: a certain way of life i.e. drinking with friends can cause depression. Drinking may result as a result of peer pressure and this could be linked to distress, uneasiness and trouble.
Let’s look at the most effective solutions of depression;
▪Get it off your chest: the first step to overcome depression is to speak it out, go see a therapist and talk it through, study shows that when speak up on any issue bothering you, peace of mind set in. Your healing process start immediately you decide to get issues off your chest.
▪Talk to people around you: i.e. your parents, siblings or friends. Talking to people most time can help you ease tension and improve your healing process out of depression. Send a text message or pick up your phone and talk to someone close to you about your feelings.
▪Exercise regularly: studies show that when you exercise regularly every day, your depressed state can be healed. Regular exercise guard you from depression.
▪Focus more on doing things: you might probably find it hard to keep doing things because you won’t have the suppose energy to keep doing it, but in order to fight depression you have to fully set your mind on different things. Channel your mind to new things i.e. meet a friend for a meal, take a walk, write a book. The purpose of doing this is not to give room for depression.
The habits of effective leadership in an organization
Leadership require hard work, as you work hard daily in order to make a great choices, those choices you make transform to your habits and the end result is leadership transformation. Let’s take for example you decide to be nice, kind, thoughtful, compassionate, diligent, calm and hardworking in every phase when you are consistent about it in the long run you will eventually be. Habits are developed by constant practising. To be an effective leader, never do away with these 3 traits communicating, thinking and acting.
▪An effective leader clearly define success: a clear definition of where the organization is heading, how you are working to achieve this, the strategy you are using in order to achieve it must be stated. Defining success is not an easy task you must be willing to put all your hands to work in order to achieve it. Defining success is not something you do at your own leisure time, it must be part and parcel of you, and defining success has to be a habit at every phase of your life. If you are embarking on a project, launching a new system of administration and whether you are preparing for something big in the organization, have a clear picture of what success is and always look forward towards achieving success. This habit is important if you want to be a great leader.
▪An effective leader always stay positive: there is no leadership habit that surpass this, no matter what you may be facing even in your darkest hour always be positive, when that project is not forth coming, when the employees are not functioning, when the running of the organization seems tough, when incurring debt never give up, always stay positive that it’s only a phase and surely it will pass. Not that you ignore difficulties or set back, it simply means accept the set back and look for a way to solve it.
▪ An effective leader ask questions: as a leader you need to ask various questions about the facts or ideas you have at hand. By doing so you have established a strong goal for your purpose. And only then can you decide on how you will carry out this purpose i.e. your leadership style. As a leader always make it an habit of asking question before commencing a conversation, rather than providing solution straight away.
▪An effective leader plan for the future: this is also one of the great habits of a leader, they plan ahead, and a great leader look beyond what he/she can see now, by doing this they envisage a great future plan. Therefore a good planning of an organisation always yields a positive result.
▪An effective leader bring out the best in others: leadership is all about bringing out the best in others. As a leader always have the habit of empowering your employee, not only assigning work to them but also guiding them on how to carry it out effectively. Bringing out the best in others allow you to grow together and it foster relationships that can’t be broken.
▪ An effective leader treat others the way they would prefer to be treated: a great leader learn and understand what motivates his employee, what makes them happy and what makes them sad. Instead of treating others the way you would prefer to be treated why not treat them the way they would prefer to be treated. Take for example an employee prefers not to be praise amongst other colleagues but choose to be praise behind closed door where only the employer is present. A great leader adjusts and adapt to the behaviour of his/her employee.
