Monday 18 June 2007

Are we positive or negative

I was watching Zola 7 one Thursday night helping a young woman unite her baby with the father who was also young I must say. What struck me was how Zola was bragging about having two kids by different women and happy to be part of their lives blah blah blah. I respect Zola for his work, he is one of the very few celebrities who give back to their communities… I mean literally giving back to the poor. Giving back to the community makes him one of the most influential artists amongst our youth. It is a very good thing that he owns up, but that is not enough because it discourages the use of condoms amongst those who look up to him as their role model. South Africa is facing a serious threat of Teenage pregnancy… couple that with the scourge of HIV/AIDS and poverty we have a crises in our hands. Media is promoting sex as a cool thing but real people like you and me are the ones who must lead our youth by example because we are the real people they can relate to not billboards. Everyday we hear of celebrities having kids left right and centre. One who comes to my mind is Hlomla Dandala whom last time when I checked he was married the next thing I hear has about three kids out of marriage and to add salt to the wound these kids are all from different young women. Like Zola he owns up,but is it enough? what kind of South Africa are we building here? Is there any chance of defeating the AIDS epidemic when it is clear that prominent people don’t really believe they can contract HIV if they sleep around without condoms? What is wrong with our society? We are sending mixed massages to our youth let us be consistent and build a better South Africa with no child headed homes. There are celebrities who are doing a good job the likes of Kabelo, Romeo Khumalo, Shoes Moshoeu and others lets build on that.We are a great nation let's not destroy something this beautifull.

3 comments:

Toto said...

And the latest revelation being Arthur Mafokate. Yha but they are humans hey just like everyone exceot that they happened to be celebrities otherwise we all make mistakes. Why are we cricifying them like this? I am sure they too feel bad enough, the measuring scale that society uses to judge celebrities should be same one that is being used by general people. Lets not be harsh. I do not condone what they are doing though.

Muzi said...

Hey Toto
Thanks for your input I agree with you these guys are humanbeings and we all make mistakes, but these are desparate times for South African if each an everyone... not only celebrities can behave responsibly,(stop talking about taking shower after unprotected sex) that will go a long way in saving our lives and that of kids who look up to us for their inspiration.

Anonymous said...

Hehehe... It is a tough discussion this is you know and as Toto says, celebrities are human and make mistakes like the rest of us.
I think celebs should take cognisance of how messages are received and almost use a disclaimer for lack of a better word. What I mean is if celeb X says “I had 5 kids with 5 women”, they should add to say, “it is wrong and don’t do it!”…
On the flip side we should learn, and the youth should be taught, to be responsible when interpreting a message as well as what to take from it.

L8r!