Truth or fiction?
I wish to thank those of you who read my column regularly as this is my last column.
It’s that time of the year again that we all have to be at our sharpest and have our wits about us.
Yes, it’s April Fool’s Day on 1 April and almost everything we hear and read has to be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt.
Many theories have been put forward about how the tradition of April Fool’s Day began. Unfortunately, none of them are very compelling. So the origin of the “custom of making April fools” remains as much of a mystery to us as it was way back in time.
Mainstream daily newspapers are especially fond of taking their readers for a ride by reporting on some far-fetched concocted story, generally aimed at goading readers into a carefully laid trap of nonsense.
This generally leads to plenty of ranting and raving by the readers and a flood of phone calls and letters to the editors, not realising that they have been taken for fools.
What these stories are going to be or how to differentiate between the truth and fiction on 1 April remains a mystery, although in many cases the attempt at misleading the readers is so feeble or far-fetched that only the most gullible of the gullible will fall for the stories.
With the advent of radio and television and especially nowadays with social media, the fake stories grow wings in no time at all and are spread among friends and relatives around the world within seconds.
So beware and don’t take everything you hear, see or read for the truth.
With that said, I wish to thank those of you who read my column regularly as this is my last column.
I have joined a dance company and will soon be touring the world, dancing the lead male role in the stage production of Ipi Tombi opposite my co-star, Helen Zille, who we all know is already quite an accomplished dancer.
