My father-in-law, Howard, is big into fair trade goods. This means that goods are generally bought directly from the farmer, labourer or artisan, at a fair price, before being sold to you.

I can understand completely why he likes to support fair trade, and I have decided to see if I can do similar. Unfortunately, I can't always, as money is tight and generally the cheapest option wins for us (especially at the moment).

Recently, however, Cadbury's in South Africa had some huge news as far as fair trade is concerned. Their milk chocolate bars (the plain chocolate ones) are certified fair trade, and proudly display the Fair Trade logo on their wrappers. I was even more delighted to see that I could buy them at my local grocery store, and at the same price its always been. How awesome is that?

Below is a photo of the bars with their green and blue logo:

Last Monday I posted a blog entry about how former president Thabo Mbeki had resigned from the presidency, and Izak commented and said I was over reacting with my assumptions and statements. To be honest, he's probably right. I know I have a tendency to over react at times, especially when it concerns the safety of those I love, like my wife.

So here's a second perspective, a week later.Read more »

This afternoon the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, resigned due to pressure from his political party, the ANC. This leaves our country in a large deal of uncertainty. The main person behind this is Jacob Zuma, a man known to be a people-pleaser, and previously accused of large-scale fraud. Many South Africans are scared of a country ruled by Mr Zuma, as they fear that South Africa could easily turn into another Zimbabwe.Read more »

South Africa often likes to think of itself as a First World country. Unfortunately this isn't the case. Every now and then we get a gentle reminder that we aren't First World, and that we're deceiving ourselves if we think we are.

So last night we had another reminder.Read more »

So I finally got through to Home Affairs this afternoon. At this stage I'm really frustrated with them, and all the hassle I've gone through.

After trying all the normal numbers at my disposal, I decided to try this other number I was given, which is for Ms Allie, the head of Home Affairs in Wynberg. Mrs Coetzer, the lady who deals with the immigrations applications, answered, and I told her my story. She wasn't sure what I was talking about, and said that she would look, and then phone me back.Read more »

WOW!Read more »