The Helderberg Basin

The Helderberg Basin lies at the foot of the Hottentot Holland Mountains East of Cape Town draping itself down to meet the warm waters of False Bay. Ironic that this massive arc stretching between Cape Point and Pringle Bay would be called 'False Bay' - nothing false about 5km of pristine white sand beach to me! This view was shot from the 15th floor of Xavier McAuliffe's stunning 'Hibernian Towers' developed by his Spectra Group of Ireland. In every place I visit or live I am reminded how frequently it is the foreigners who see the future much brighter than the locals. The abundance of opportunity is mind-blowing.

As the economy grows here in South Africa it reminds me of what might have been possible for Kenya had the governments done things differently. And the South Africans I am meeting have no idea how much better off they are than most African countries - that even though there are critical issues here - the social and economic progress is decades ahead of Kenya, Congo, Uganda.

Because there has never been a social revolution in countries like Kenya and Congo, the African citizens are still being held back by their own post-colonial governments. Kenya got close during the 2007 post-election violence but the unrest was silenced very quickly before any real internal change could have become possible. They say that in order for a social revolution to take place, a 'trigger point' must occur to finally tip the scales in favour of the people and without that change will not occur. This trigger provides a focal point or target for the emotional build-up within a citizenry to unleash itself towards; something that finally proves the truth of unrest unequivacably, without question, forever.

The students being shot in Soweto, and the vision of Hector Pietersen's body being carried in a black and white photograph that was sent around the world was the trigger point that began the end of apartheid. And now the nation is rebuilding itself upon a new foundation of accountability that never existed before. The social revolution worked. I don't know if this will be tolerated in countries like Kenya or Congo. The people are so heavily weighed down by the system that keeps them either uneducated or uninspired (I can personally attest to that!) and things maybe just haven't gotten bad enough yet. Kenya needs a trigger point and unfortunately really awful things are going to have to threaten to destroy the country as is before it will get any better.

Photos - Stellenbosch buildings / Cape Point & False Bay as seen from Xavier McCauliffe's 'Hibernian Towers' / town of Strand & Hottentot Holland Mtns