In most African cultures, old age commands respect. Sadly, the elders in charge of our beloved Eskom are the exception to that African rule. They instead demand undeserved and unearned respect. Back when our ancestors could sit in the shade while solving the problems of the day, they placed much store in polite submission to the elders among them. Such deference to older tribesmen and women was unquestioned and unquestionable simply because to have a long life — to grow old — was a reward from the Creator, the god of the nation. Thieves and fraudsters never reached old age, irrespective of their material wealth. The Creator gifted long lives to the chosen few so they could guide the nation through the complications of life. The Creator gave those chosen senior citizens of the tribe great faculty of mind so they could remember the most complicated details of events long past to help current generations deal with similar complications. The tribes of Africa valued such memory, and trav...

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