Cllr Truluck, David Bullard & a Rotary Peace Fellow

Our speaker last week was Tim Truluck, the City Councillor for Ward 117 that covers Parkhurst, parts of Parktown North and little bits of bordering suburbs.  He was elected, for the first time, in the recent local elections and came to tell us about what it was like functioning as a councillor. Obviously he was questioned about some aspects of his constituency by some of our members whom he represents but much of the discussion was on the nuts and bolts of the job and how a councillor can try and get problems sorted out.  Somebody asked how much he was paid.  As a part-time councillor he is paid R30 000 per month which we thought was an enormous amount of money, roughly twice what some people earn who run NGO's.  Especially when you think that there are councillors who do absolutely nothing for their constituency.  We didn't ask about expenses!

As you can see we had a good time.  Greta Schuler, our latest Ambassadorial Scholar, takes pride of place in the photos.   She will be doing her Masters at the Wits School of Social Sciences in Forced Migration Studies.

Under last week's post there is a comment from Alex Gano, our previous Ambassadorial Scholar.  Just click on the link.

This Week

Our speaker is that well known racist David Bullard.  On the right you can see the handshake that saved a R6 million lawsuit following his apology to the man on the left, or is it the right?  It must be the right because that is where Bullard stands.

He has recently produced a new book and will happily sell it to all right-leaning Rotarians on Wednesday at a discount!

Here's a little more about him:
   
Bullard studied English and Drama at Exeter University, failed as a barrister and became a trader on the London Stock Exchange before emigrating to South Africa in 1981.

In South Africa he continued his career in financial services before starting a column entitled "Out to Lunch" for the Business Times section of The Sunday Times newspaper in 1994. It was thought to be one of the most widely read columns published in the country, at least in part because of Bullard's habit of insulting and infuriating the rich and famous.

On 10 April 2008 Bullard was fired as a Sunday Times columnist after the publication, the previous Sunday, of a column "Uncolonised Africa wouldn’t know what it was missing" the newspaper subsequently described as racist and insulting to black people On 13 April Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya apologised for publishing the column, saying that "by publishing him (Bullard) we were complicit in disseminating his Stone Age philosophies"   The same issue of the paper carried an entire page dedicated to letters regarding the column and firing, roughly equally divided between support for the paper and support for Bullard.

Bullard linked his firing with a column (Run out of gas) published in Empire magazine in February 2008, in which he was highly critical about the Sunday Times and its editorial management. Makhanya denied any connection.

After a week of sustained media interest Bullard apologised for the offending column, but said the next day he would sue for unfair dismissal. At least three complaints were laid against him with the South African Human Rights Commission.

Asked about Bullard in a press conference subsequently, arts and culture minister Pallo Jordan said his writing amounted to defecating on Africans and that "Bullard is the sort of person South Africa does not need within its borders."

Folk singer turned peace fellow is changing the world

By Arnold R. Grahl
Rotary International News – 20 January 2012 

 Rotarians who support the Rotary Peace Centres program are helping to change the world by investing in young people with a track record of good works. 

 

David LaMotte, a 2008-10 Rotary Peace Fellow, thanked Rotarians for supporting the Rotary Peace Centers. Rotary Images/Monika Lozinska

Rotary International on Facebook

That’s what David LaMotte, a 2008-10 Rotary Peace Fellow, told attendees at the International Assembly, a training session for incoming district governors. He thanked Rotary leaders for giving him the opportunity to broaden his skills and become part of the network of peace fellows. 

Unlike many academic scholarships, LaMotte said, Rotary Peace Fellowships require applicants to be more than promising young leaders. "Rather, it targets people who are midcareer and already have a track record of doing good work." 

He added that Rotarians "are making a big investment, and it is wise of you to make it carefully, in order to maximize the return. Based on the peace fellows I know, you have been choosing very well." 

LaMotte described himself as an unlikely candidate for the program. A folk singer, he has performed 20,000 concerts on four continents and released 10 CDs. But because of his interest in working for peace, he took a break from his singing career to pursue a master's degree at the University of Queensland as a Rotary Peace Fellow.  

"I never let go of my passion for peace," he said. "I continued to look for opportunities to learn and to contribute." 

One opportunity had arisen in Antigua, Guatemala, in 2004, when he and his wife visited a school that served 218 children, with no running water. He was told that the facility did not have the US$125 it needed for the water. Lacking government funding, the school relied on parents to raise money for basic necessities like electricity and plumbing.  

That day, he said, he came up with the idea for PEG Partners. The nonprofit organization, which he directs as a volunteer, collects small donations, mainly at his concerts, to help schools in Guatemala. In the last two years, it has distributed almost $100,000. 

"That’s not a lot of money in the United States, but it is a great deal in Guatemala," he said. "We built a one-room schoolhouse for $2,500." 

LaMotte conceded that when he’d told people he was suspending his musical career to pursue a master's in peacemaking, many scoffed at his desire to change the world. But, he said, "change the world" does not mean "fix the world." 

"The fact is that you can’t be in the world and not change it," he said. "Everything you do changes the world, whether you like it or not, and the small changes often add up to big ones. The question for us, then, is which changes we are going to make. 

"What you’re doing through the Rotary Peace Fellowship is leveraging change," LaMotte added. "This isn’t about changing my life, though it certainly has. It’s about changing the lives of everyone I can reach on your behalf."