What's on Mthoko's mind?

  UBUMBANO LWEBHASIKETHIBHOLI YAKWAZULU Zulu basketball based on same model as I. Y. I. L. E. sports programme : • Professional players play in team closest to place of birth. • All schools have basketball offered as extramural sport & best players can opt to go professional. • Pre-season Challenge: 1) Three point contest [Court positions <three attempts>: Right, Left, Centre & three half-court shots from Left, Right & Centre] 2) Dunk contest [Four dunks (three attempts given): a) From left of hoop, b) From right of hoop, c) From free-throw line, d) Up & under dunk, e) Freestyle dunk] , 3) Six obstacles zig-zag dribbling & finishing contest [From left & right of court starting from mid-court, finish with lay-up, time/speed challenge]. Conjectural national team kit. Objectives:   - Be in Top 10 in FIBA Africa rankings. - Qualify for FIBA World Cup.  Twitter

Recenty, former Tottenham Hotspur striker Darren Bent showed us his top five favourite strikers & there was some upset that he left out the prolific striker, Sergio Aguero from his list. I'm going do as he did & do a top five list of my own but go further & do a list for midfielders, defenders & goalkeepers as well. You are welcome to comment below if you disagree or just want to comment. Strikers:   Personally, I like strikers that can score anywhere & anyhow. I'm fond of Italian-type strikers as opposed to dribbler strikers because I want a finisher as opposed to someone that will waste time eliminating defenders in the penalty box then lose his chance to score as well as the ball with unnecessary dribbling. I've decided to leave out the likes of Pelé, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo Nazario, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo & Messi in my list because they have transcended our realm & are football deities at this stage so here a...

I think a land's national pride is most visible during sporting events but in South Africa national pride is tricky when there are groups that dislike each other & believe that they should benefit more in South Africa than others. We look at our national football team in South Africa, Bafana Bafana . I often feel that the players in Bafana Bafana are given a raw deal, because they are expected to play for a land that isn't really for them. Many of the players in Bafana Bafana don't even speak the same language & many times don't even speak English as it's said to be the country's lingua franca & they come from indigent families so they'd feel a little disenfranchised in the heights of national team football because very little reminds them of home. Compare this to the Springboks (South Africa's national rugby team), who all come from similar backgrounds (i. e. most of the players have had a Model C education & have similar rugby philosoph...

If I was President of South Africa, I'd follow the Thomas Sankara model of leadership & be a hands on president. I'd obviously focus on things that will improve the land & things that will benefit me once I retire. I would be a people's president because I like a land run by a nation as opposed to an individual. Here are a few things that I'll focus on were I to obtain power. • Create provinces according to pre-colonial nations:  Anyone who knows me, knows I'm bit of a socialist nationalist who favours individual freedoms so I'd give every land in the country back to the people who inhabited it originally including my very own Mpofana clan . The provinces would be autonomous & would be given full right to a referendum to gain independence or independence from South Africa if that people's traditional leader (i. e. their monarch) wishes.  • Transport:  We always complain of the transport system in this land & some foreigners even think the...

When we are younger we all want to be famous & want everyone to know us & be "popular". This is not a new thing however, it goes back to the times of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is a story of how we want to live forever like the famous song in the musical goes,  "Fame! I want to live forever!"  Roman Emperors sought to be remembered forever through their deeds both horrible & great. But what does it really mean? You'll be remembered & some years later, people will joke about you or remember you fondly when you are no more but what will it mean to you? Is pleasing people enough for your life or should you not be pleased yourself? Pleasing the masses is a vortex because you'll never do enough to please everyone. The most famous humanitarians & philanthropists can tell you that you can't please everyone, there is always someone ready to hate you out of the blue. Once you're famous or important many of your contemporaries will dislike t...

A map showing countries with the most ethnic diversity & countries with the least ethnic diversity. There's this concept of nation-building going on in the higher spectrums of South African society where mixed-ethnicity people are celebrated & mixed-ethnicity couples, especially one with a Zulu female & a non-Zulu male are publicised. You'll see in soapies where families will have a Xhosa grandmother, a Zulu parent & a Sotho child all in one family. I cannot say I condone this concept because put simply, it does not sit right with me. It seems perverse & honestly quiet disgusting. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I still believe in pre-colonial African states but there's a scientific aspect to it as well. Children of mixed ethnicities often grow up conflicted, luckily there is a English-speaking middle ground in South Africa those children could grow up in but most often than not that child will grow up isolated & not feel like t...

  Maasai traditions.    Nilotes / Nilotic people are east African people. Nilotes are said to be descendants of Nubians that once conquered ancient Egypt. Nilotic people include Maasai, Dinka tribe, various Kenyan & east African tribes. Nilotic features (i. e. lanky, dark-skinned physical appearance) are common along the east African coast right down to southern east Africa.    Nubian flag.  One of the tallest basketball players in the world at 2.31 metres tall, Manute Bol (of Dinka descent) alongside former teammate Muggsy Bogues (1.6 metres tall).

ABOVE: A common slogan & imagery when people rebel against oppressive, corrupt or foreign governance. We have a problem. We just simply can't mind our own business. I'm referring to this concept I learnt in the past decade, sovereignty . According to my dictionary, it is:- "The state of making laws and controlling resources without the coercion of other nations" for a country or for the individual,  "The liberty to decide one's thoughts and actions." And I understand that. An individual is their own sovereign, a family is sovereign over their own day-to-day practices, a romantic couple is sovereign in things happening between them, a nation is sovereign over the politics of their land. I have always seen things this way for as long as I can remember. It's your life & you will meet your fate, where will other people be when you're in the dumps by yourself? They won't be there because they have their own lives to live. Li...