[Applause]
san bonanni I’m Charlie good evening
hello hola Bonjour okay so like every
other South African that stood up here
on the stage and including our consider
yourself a freaking now I’m gonna ask
you I’m gonna be using a concept of
telling you about a young man’s life who
basically grew up in this very city of
pietermaritzburg I’m also going to ask
you to raise your hand when you relate
to things in the story personally okay
so a good example I’ll just start and
taste you guys whoever you have got a
heart
okay some didn’t lift their hand
sometimes okay so out there now my talk
this evening is also based on the topic
of immigration however I’m gonna be
focusing on three main elements that I
consider makeup a human being and this
would be one’s body which is the
physical parts that we see and they help
us do things a practical our mind so
what makes us do the things that we do
and decide upon decisions that you make
within our journey or our life as we
here on earth and the last one is your
soul so what is the core foundation of
your being to the reason why your mind
and your body does or acts and does
things that you end up doing now the
story starts back in the year 1987 if
you look at those numbers going the
other way it’s 1987 but in October in
this very city where a young man was
born in a community while gone to a
community which is woodlands I don’t see
any hands here so there’s on from
woodlands and with that he grew up
basically with first two years of his
life under the watch of his grandparents
without his parents day and if you think
about this at the same time again South
Africa and in Africa at large a lot of
liberation stories were coming with
different countries we are looking at
passing colonial systems throughout the
continent and so when I’m speaking to
you as well with my story
think about Africa at large and not only
South Africa in 1990 the young man’s
three years old his parents farm work in
Johannesburg as many other people in
South Africa Johannesburg being the
economic hub and place that attracts
many other young people to work there by
1994 which was a big turning point for
South Africa but also for the region as
many people looked at South Africa at
that time as a huge good story to tell
transformation and inclusivity not only
around race groups but also religious
groups as well and what I want you to
think about is how there was a lot of
politics around it but also personally
many people’s lives correlated with
exactly with the exact same feelings and
emotions and decisions that were
happening
many people needed to be forcefully or
projector included in their systems so
people began to integrate through
different schooling systems
urban areas rural areas I’m gonna pause
the story here and ask how many of you
have ever lived in a place that you
weren’t born in ok so you know that
feeling of it’s a difference you’re
learning stuff at the same time which
we’ve heard from previous speakers yeah
you feel insecure because you want to be
accepted you want to be acknowledged and
you want to be part of that same system
back to the young man he’s 6 years old
and he spends his first year of
schooling right here in Merritt’s Berg
and his granddad passes away his
grandfather at the time remember he
looks at him as a father figure because
his parents are living in great and in
the next year because of the changes and
the financial stability and his great
country look after him alone he ends up
moving to an unknown space in
Johannesburg with his two new adults and
two new people that he has to look at as
a mom and dad when he’s used to his
grandparents as a mom and dad and alone
that brings and holds us an aspect
because he’s really used to what his
grandparents taught him the way they do
things and yet to change into the system
water in Johannesburg what language do
you think is mainly spoken Lee
okay
so I’m sure it will be testament to high
these stats
it’s Afrikaans yes
so Afrikaans
and so a six-year-old and if you think
about people as you grow up when we
young kids and I want you to all do this
now close your eyes and think back to
when you were a kid what can you picture
yourself back then and realizing that
did you enjoy what did you enjoy and
what didn’t enjoyed did you know the
difference between good and bad did you
know the difference between black and
white did you know the difference
between Christian and Muslim do you know
the difference between wrong and right
okay you can open your eyes and that is
how this this young man got transformed
and will fast track to the end of
primary school was an average student
went on to high school but then his
parents got divorced
due to the infidelity of his father and
there were two children out of marriage
and his children also happened to be
from a foreign person from Swaziland so
here comes the adapting of and I know
reading your minds because I’ve said the
area that this person was born in the
city they from
so you really have a perception of in
your mind how this person looks and yeah
they have to now learn to adapt to this
new role that they play and because
their mom suffered from schizophrenia
what the divorce case they had to stay
with their father so they were forced to
adapt to the new family system with a
person who’s not his mother as soon the
death to two new sisters one being three
and the other being one and learning
another new language as well within this
household and I’ll try again and adapt
to those changes after that his father
gets very ill
and in 2003 if all of us were here
answer that because that was the height
of the HIV epidemic and there was a lot
of stigma discrimination around it and
in your minds I’m hoping that parallel
you are flowing with the life of this
young man and the life of our country
and the life of our continent in the 90s
Uganda South Africa Zimbabwe and
Swaziland and the suti had the high
strengths of HIV others countries today
Uganda has totally turned that around
and have a prevalence rate of a mere
four percent well as he and South Africa
haven’t really had much change what was
what was everything that we have and the
resources that we have give me one
second I need water
thank you now on this beautiful vast
continent of ours there’s 1.2 billion
people richest in resources we should
all heard this rate trick but it seems
that we cannot become using the
channeling those resources to overcome
such things of HIV tuberculosis malaria
or fighting different statements and
discriminations but back to the story
the young man’s 15 years old and his
father passes on but due to the stigma
discrimination is not made away of the
reasons why so of course it’s been
covered up by pneumonia and nobody keeps
it you know so all these opportunistic
infections are to blame and it’s made
seem normal but then this the gossip
it’s the talk yet this person needs to
be resilient and continue on their path
and the story goes that that was
probably one of the biggest sweating
points in this young man’s life like for
many and I don’t see hands here so I
don’t think many of us affected or
infected by HIV
but you have to decide to take on this
baggage and make it a negative part or
channel it into a positive part you also
have to make a decision now the lady who
was his stepmom they didn’t really have
a good relationship so he had to decide
between as he returned to
Pietermaritzburg and survived with his
mom who was on a social grant due to a
mental illness and live really just
getting through stuff and let go of the
life of attending a model C school and
knowing the opportunities that he could
be missing out on if he shall set out
amazingly while that is going through
the mind and souls of those around this
person save him without him even knowing
at that time his school offers him
freeness to stay there he’s not a top
performing person not a sporty person
and says that you know what you can stay
here and finish off your schooling after
school he had to because forced to
return back to me we came from him
eriksberg
and in that very year then he returned
his mom passes away and from that he
well there was also this guilt from what
I understand I’m feeling as if I should
have moved three years ago after his
father passed away now I wanted to
compare that to South Africa we heard
about the euphoria and the rainbow
nation in the early 90s we’re going
through many divorces on our political
landscape and we sort of try to pass
things and keep them together and even
on the African continent if we look at
the case that happened in Sandton with
one of our leaders first ladies you know
and so these relationships
they sell sensitive when they do affect
us not only as individuals for us as a
community and society as a country and
as a continent and that young man is me
I know me never like I knew it I don’t
know why it took us on that journey
and I’m gonna tell you the pot after
that and the reason why I think I’m here
today I’m not a I’m not a degree
graduate a lot of Nonna’s graduates not
a master strength I don’t have all these
academic approvals but yet I constantly
find myself being chosen or selected to
speak to people like yourselves on
stages like this and when I was given
this opportunity by the team I was
really humbled but also confused because
I was like and I looked at the other
people speaking and us like this is way
out of my league but okay
if you if you think I should be gonna be
here and I also think I’m not going to
use these two topics that were very the
one is very scientific and the other I
could sort of adapt I thought you know
what I’ve had to emigrate so many times
over and over again and that’s the story
and all of us sitting in this room have
gone through those immigration processes
and I believe that the the more
challenging your immigration process is
the better you will come out because
you’ll know the struggles that the most
difficult and the most downtrodden and
most vulnerable and most marginalized
individuals go through so that you can
have empathy and you have and you come
in with a reference of understanding
rather than and orally for John said
like of misconceptions and judgments and
both everybody into saying all know
which one to use because people might be
offended but they said all gay people
fit in this box why is this person not
in that box and it’s confusing yeah I am
a gay man just to clarify
[Applause]
and
but I don’t allow such things to define
who I am because we each are individuals
and we have the room and I also believe
that I’m so holistic and inclusive and
that’s why I put in my brief that I want
you to use them and African counter
intuitive lanes and if you look at
counter intuition those of us who drive
when you get to the Marion Hill Plaza on
a very busy afternoon which line do you
go behind the line of the trucks or the
line of the cause so the people with
trucks are smart here because actually
that truck cue goes much quicker because
there’s like ten trucks that are
equivalent to 20 30 cars so it goes much
quicker so well then and that’s what I’m
talking about
stop questioning how you in your space
and with your actions and your thoughts
react to the outside so my question I
will leave you with is how are you
immigrating other people into your space
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
san bonanni I’m Charlie good evening
hello hola Bonjour okay so like every
other South African that stood up here
on the stage and including our consider
yourself a freaking now I’m gonna ask
you I’m gonna be using a concept of
telling you about a young man’s life who
basically grew up in this very city of
pietermaritzburg I’m also going to ask
you to raise your hand when you relate
to things in the story personally okay
so a good example I’ll just start and
taste you guys whoever you have got a
heart
okay some didn’t lift their hand
sometimes okay so out there now my talk
this evening is also based on the topic
of immigration however I’m gonna be
focusing on three main elements that I
consider makeup a human being and this
would be one’s body which is the
physical parts that we see and they help
us do things a practical our mind so
what makes us do the things that we do
and decide upon decisions that you make
within our journey or our life as we
here on earth and the last one is your
soul so what is the core foundation of
your being to the reason why your mind
and your body does or acts and does
things that you end up doing now the
story starts back in the year 1987 if
you look at those numbers going the
other way it’s 1987 but in October in
this very city where a young man was
born in a community while gone to a
community which is woodlands I don’t see
any hands here so there’s on from
woodlands and with that he grew up
basically with first two years of his
life under the watch of his grandparents
without his parents day and if you think
about this at the same time again South
Africa and in Africa at large a lot of
liberation stories were coming with
different countries we are looking at
passing colonial systems throughout the
continent and so when I’m speaking to
you as well with my story
think about Africa at large and not only
South Africa in 1990 the young man’s
three years old his parents farm work in
Johannesburg as many other people in
South Africa Johannesburg being the
economic hub and place that attracts
many other young people to work there by
1994 which was a big turning point for
South Africa but also for the region as
many people looked at South Africa at
that time as a huge good story to tell
transformation and inclusivity not only
around race groups but also religious
groups as well and what I want you to
think about is how there was a lot of
politics around it but also personally
many people’s lives correlated with
exactly with the exact same feelings and
emotions and decisions that were
happening
many people needed to be forcefully or
projector included in their systems so
people began to integrate through
different schooling systems
urban areas rural areas I’m gonna pause
the story here and ask how many of you
have ever lived in a place that you
weren’t born in ok so you know that
feeling of it’s a difference you’re
learning stuff at the same time which
we’ve heard from previous speakers yeah
you feel insecure because you want to be
accepted you want to be acknowledged and
you want to be part of that same system
back to the young man he’s 6 years old
and he spends his first year of
schooling right here in Merritt’s Berg
and his granddad passes away his
grandfather at the time remember he
looks at him as a father figure because
his parents are living in great and in
the next year because of the changes and
the financial stability and his great
country look after him alone he ends up
moving to an unknown space in
Johannesburg with his two new adults and
two new people that he has to look at as
a mom and dad when he’s used to his
grandparents as a mom and dad and alone
that brings and holds us an aspect
because he’s really used to what his
grandparents taught him the way they do
things and yet to change into the system
water in Johannesburg what language do
you think is mainly spoken Lee
okay
so I’m sure it will be testament to high
these stats
it’s Afrikaans yes
so Afrikaans
and so a six-year-old and if you think
about people as you grow up when we
young kids and I want you to all do this
now close your eyes and think back to
when you were a kid what can you picture
yourself back then and realizing that
did you enjoy what did you enjoy and
what didn’t enjoyed did you know the
difference between good and bad did you
know the difference between black and
white did you know the difference
between Christian and Muslim do you know
the difference between wrong and right
okay you can open your eyes and that is
how this this young man got transformed
and will fast track to the end of
primary school was an average student
went on to high school but then his
parents got divorced
due to the infidelity of his father and
there were two children out of marriage
and his children also happened to be
from a foreign person from Swaziland so
here comes the adapting of and I know
reading your minds because I’ve said the
area that this person was born in the
city they from
so you really have a perception of in
your mind how this person looks and yeah
they have to now learn to adapt to this
new role that they play and because
their mom suffered from schizophrenia
what the divorce case they had to stay
with their father so they were forced to
adapt to the new family system with a
person who’s not his mother as soon the
death to two new sisters one being three
and the other being one and learning
another new language as well within this
household and I’ll try again and adapt
to those changes after that his father
gets very ill
and in 2003 if all of us were here
answer that because that was the height
of the HIV epidemic and there was a lot
of stigma discrimination around it and
in your minds I’m hoping that parallel
you are flowing with the life of this
young man and the life of our country
and the life of our continent in the 90s
Uganda South Africa Zimbabwe and
Swaziland and the suti had the high
strengths of HIV others countries today
Uganda has totally turned that around
and have a prevalence rate of a mere
four percent well as he and South Africa
haven’t really had much change what was
what was everything that we have and the
resources that we have give me one
second I need water
thank you now on this beautiful vast
continent of ours there’s 1.2 billion
people richest in resources we should
all heard this rate trick but it seems
that we cannot become using the
channeling those resources to overcome
such things of HIV tuberculosis malaria
or fighting different statements and
discriminations but back to the story
the young man’s 15 years old and his
father passes on but due to the stigma
discrimination is not made away of the
reasons why so of course it’s been
covered up by pneumonia and nobody keeps
it you know so all these opportunistic
infections are to blame and it’s made
seem normal but then this the gossip
it’s the talk yet this person needs to
be resilient and continue on their path
and the story goes that that was
probably one of the biggest sweating
points in this young man’s life like for
many and I don’t see hands here so I
don’t think many of us affected or
infected by HIV
but you have to decide to take on this
baggage and make it a negative part or
channel it into a positive part you also
have to make a decision now the lady who
was his stepmom they didn’t really have
a good relationship so he had to decide
between as he returned to
Pietermaritzburg and survived with his
mom who was on a social grant due to a
mental illness and live really just
getting through stuff and let go of the
life of attending a model C school and
knowing the opportunities that he could
be missing out on if he shall set out
amazingly while that is going through
the mind and souls of those around this
person save him without him even knowing
at that time his school offers him
freeness to stay there he’s not a top
performing person not a sporty person
and says that you know what you can stay
here and finish off your schooling after
school he had to because forced to
return back to me we came from him
eriksberg
and in that very year then he returned
his mom passes away and from that he
well there was also this guilt from what
I understand I’m feeling as if I should
have moved three years ago after his
father passed away now I wanted to
compare that to South Africa we heard
about the euphoria and the rainbow
nation in the early 90s we’re going
through many divorces on our political
landscape and we sort of try to pass
things and keep them together and even
on the African continent if we look at
the case that happened in Sandton with
one of our leaders first ladies you know
and so these relationships
they sell sensitive when they do affect
us not only as individuals for us as a
community and society as a country and
as a continent and that young man is me
I know me never like I knew it I don’t
know why it took us on that journey
and I’m gonna tell you the pot after
that and the reason why I think I’m here
today I’m not a I’m not a degree
graduate a lot of Nonna’s graduates not
a master strength I don’t have all these
academic approvals but yet I constantly
find myself being chosen or selected to
speak to people like yourselves on
stages like this and when I was given
this opportunity by the team I was
really humbled but also confused because
I was like and I looked at the other
people speaking and us like this is way
out of my league but okay
if you if you think I should be gonna be
here and I also think I’m not going to
use these two topics that were very the
one is very scientific and the other I
could sort of adapt I thought you know
what I’ve had to emigrate so many times
over and over again and that’s the story
and all of us sitting in this room have
gone through those immigration processes
and I believe that the the more
challenging your immigration process is
the better you will come out because
you’ll know the struggles that the most
difficult and the most downtrodden and
most vulnerable and most marginalized
individuals go through so that you can
have empathy and you have and you come
in with a reference of understanding
rather than and orally for John said
like of misconceptions and judgments and
both everybody into saying all know
which one to use because people might be
offended but they said all gay people
fit in this box why is this person not
in that box and it’s confusing yeah I am
a gay man just to clarify
[Applause]
and
but I don’t allow such things to define
who I am because we each are individuals
and we have the room and I also believe
that I’m so holistic and inclusive and
that’s why I put in my brief that I want
you to use them and African counter
intuitive lanes and if you look at
counter intuition those of us who drive
when you get to the Marion Hill Plaza on
a very busy afternoon which line do you
go behind the line of the trucks or the
line of the cause so the people with
trucks are smart here because actually
that truck cue goes much quicker because
there’s like ten trucks that are
equivalent to 20 30 cars so it goes much
quicker so well then and that’s what I’m
talking about
stop questioning how you in your space
and with your actions and your thoughts
react to the outside so my question I
will leave you with is how are you
immigrating other people into your space
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
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