Helen suzman Foundation Contents 2 Profiles
6 introDUCTION BY Raenette Taljaard
8 Raenette Taljaard Chairperson
10 jonathan FAULL Senior Researcher: IDASA
14 sanDRA BOTHA, MP Parliamentary Leader: Democratic Alliance
18 general bantu holomisa, MP United Democratic Movement
20 PROF sipho seepe Trustee: Helen Suzman Foundation
24 DENIS KADIMA Executive Director: Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA)
26 norman DU PLESSIS Deputy CEO: Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)
30 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
34 media coverage
36 relevant ARTICLES
This Quarterly Roundtable Series monograph is published by The Helen Suzman Foundation. ISSN 1996-1170 Board of Trustees: Hylton Appelbaum, Wendy Appelbaum, Doug Band, Colin Eglin, Rachel Jafta, Patricia de Lille, Temba Nolutshungu, Sipho Seepe, Mary Slack, Richard Steyn and David Unterhalter, Gary Ralfe, Jane Evans, Modise Phekonyane Director and Editor-in-Chief: Raenette Taljaard Managing Editors: Lore Watterson, Chris Watterson - DeskLink™ Editorial Board: Wendy Appelbaum, Gillian Godsell, William M Gumede, Raymond Louw, Howard Preece, Lawrence Schlemmer, Sipho Seepe, Mary Slack, Alfred Stadler and Richard Steyn Cover picture: Given Makhubele's The Road to Democracy is reproduced with the kind permission of Iziko Museums. Moving towards the new democratic order, the return of exiles and Umkhonto weSizwe cadres to the country was viewed by many blacks in an optimistic light, in the same way parents greeted the return of their children from initiation school. Images commemorating the return of 'freedom soldiers' are depicted here. Design & Layout: DeskLink™ Media Photography: Kenny Pinnock Printers: Colorpress (Pty) Ltd Cartoons: The Helen Suzman Foundation is grateful to Zapiro for allowing us to reprint so many of his cartoons. The Helen Suzman Foundation is grateful to the The Star, Business Day and Sunday Times for allowing us to reprint their articles. Funders: The Helen Suzman Foundation is grateful to the Open Society Foundation for South Africa for their support.
1 Profiles
Bantu Holomisa Denis Kadima
Major General (Retired) H Bantubonke (Bantu) Mr Denis Kadima took up the position of Holomisa co-founded the United Democratic Executive Director of EISA in December 2002. Movement (UDM) in 1997 and currently serves as He worked for the National Democratic Institute its President. In 1999, within a period of twenty for International Affairs (NDI) from 2001 to 2002 months since the UDM was established in 1997, as the Senior Programme Manager in Windhoek, he together with thirteen other members of the Namibia and Resident Director in Lesotho. Before party was elected to Parliament. the NDI assignment, he was EISA’s Research Manager (1998-2000). Since rejoining EISA, Previously, he was the Commander of the Mr. Kadima has expanded the organisation’s Transkei Defence Force and Head of the Transkei geographic and programmatic scope, which now government (former independent homeland covers the whole of Africa and encompasses between 1987 and 1994) up to the first national not only elections but also selected areas in the elections in South Africa in 1994. Democracy and Governance field, including Political Party Strengthening, Legislative Work, He was one of the first two black persons accepted Decentralisation and Local Governance and by the South African Army College to do a one- the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). year senior staff course for officers in 1984. A former banker in his country, the DR Congo, Mr. Kadima is currently completing a PhD Between 1988 and 1989, the government led on political party coalitions in Africa at the by Mr Holomisa un-banned approximately University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 33 organisations that were banned by his in South Africa. He has published extensively on predecessors and his government worked closely elections, democracy and governance. In 2000, he with the liberation movements. As a result, founded EISA’s Journal of African Elections, an Transkei had a smooth transition prior to the South accredited journal. Mr. Kadima speaks French, African national elections of 1994. Mr Holomisa English and basic Portuguese. also led Transkei delegation to Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) negotiations. Mr. Kadima is the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Southern Africa Trust and a He was chosen by the African National Congress member of the IFES Executive Advisory Council. (ANC) Election Committee to campaign nationwide alongside Mr Nelson Mandela, Mr Thabo Mbeki, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, Mrs Winnie Madikizela- Mandela, the late Mr Joe Slovo and Mr Steve Tshwete during the democratic election in 1994.
2 Jonathan Faull Prof Sipho Seepe
Jonathan Faull holds a Bachelors degree in Politics Professor Sipho Seepe holds a Dip Sci (Ed – Unibo), and Economics and an Honours degree in Political B.Sc Ed (Physics – Unibo), M.Sc (Physics – Wits), Philosophy from the University of Cape Town. M.Ed (Harvard University), PhD (Physics – Uni. Jonathan worked as a parliamentary researcher, Nwest), and Advanced Management Programme before moving to Johannesburg to help found and (Henley UK). work for the economic think-tank, the Economic Development Growth and Equity (EDGE) Institute. He is the Director and Head of The Graduate Jonathan joined the Political Information and Institute of Management and Technology. He Monitoring Service (PIMS) in 2004 as Political has served as the Academic Director of Henley Researcher. His work focuses on inter- and intra- Management College, Southern Africa, and as the party political dynamics, the politics of the tripartite Acting Vice-Chancellor of Vista University, and was alliance (ANC, SACP and COSATU), electoral and appointed in 2002 as Deputy Vice-Chancellor at parliamentary strategy, inequality and social justice. Vista University.
He held teaching positions at various levels both locally and abroad and writes extensively on a wide array of matters of public interest, and was a columnist and an associate political editor of the Mail & Guardian.
He is a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright South African Researcher Grant and Harvard South Africa Fellowship.
Seepe was involved in a number of research capacity-building initiatives among the historically disadvantaged institutions in South Africa and has served on several committees in this regard.
Prof Seepe serves on the HSF and SAIRR boards and was invited by the Presiding Officers of Parliament to serve as member of a panel tasked with reviewing Parliament’s performance with regard to its constitutional mandate.
3 Profiles
PumuleleSandra Malu Botha Norman du Plessis
Sandra Botha was an activist for many years Norman du Plessis started his career in educa- in the Free State Province before becoming tion and served in the diplomatic service of South a candidate for elected office. She became a Africa for thirteen years in London and Paris. Member of Parliament in 1999 and has had a He returned to South Africa in 1985 and was stellar career in Parliament. appointed Regional Director for the Department of Home Affairs. He became an Electoral Officer She served on various Select and Joint for the 1987 and 1989 general elections for the Committees of Parliament and served as Pretoria region – House of Assembly. Norman the Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance organized the referendum in 1992 widely seen as Parliamentary Caucus. In 2004 she was a key precursor to the negotiated political settle- honoured by being appointed as Chairperson ment. He participated in the multi-party negotia- of the House, a position she has subsequently tions as a technical advisor; Independent Electoral relinquished. Botha was elected as the Leader of Commission Act, Electoral Act and Schedule 2 of the Official Opposition in the National Assembly the Interim Constitution (electoral system) and by the Democratic Alliance Caucus in 2007. assisted with the setting up of the 1994 IEC and was responsible for political liaison with partici- Her policy interests vary and include women’s pating parties in those elections. Norman was the issues, issues affecting the African continent, Executive Director of the Steering Committee that human rights and economic policy. Her personal led to the Electoral Commission Act, 1996 and the interests embrace art, architecture, travel in appointment of the permanent Commission. He Africa and reading. was appointed Deputy CEO of the Electoral Com- mission in 1998 and his duties have covered all ac- tivities over time including serving as a Member of the Slabbert task team on electoral system review (the ETT).
4 Helen suzman Foundation Electoral Reform and Responsive Representation
5 Introduction
he Helen Suzman Foundation thought it prudent – with an election campaign mere months away – and the Electoral Task Teams’ call for a new mixed electoral system to be in place by 2009 to convene our second QRS this year to discuss TElectoral Reform and Responsive Representation. The debate around electoral reform in South Africa has had a distinct journey with constitutional negotiators opting for a system of closed-list proportional representation at national and provincial levels of government with a mixed system at local government level.
Over the years we have seen clear gains – inclusive parliamentary compositions – but also clear losses – a lack of accountability and a growing distance between the electorate and public representatives – a trend that is very dangerous in a 14-years old democracy. We have also seen perversions such as the introduction of floor-crossing provisions in a PR-system, with the concomitant consequences of alienating the electorate even more from elected public representatives and Parliament, with a 20% drop in confidence levels in the House this year alone, and a lively debate about an end to this near-mercenary measure.
At the ANC’s 52nd Polokwane Conference there were once again gains and losses for representative democracy from a reform perspective – floor-crossing would be abolished but the electoral system would stay and maintain the status quo despite the calls in the Van Zyl Slabbert Electoral Task Team’s report, and delegates made no significant strides on the regulation of party funding and financing reform with the exception of some small changes to tax-payer funded finance through the Represented Political Parties’ Fund.
6 In July 2008 the Executive tabled the Constitutional Fourteenth Amendment Bill, the Constitutional Fifteenth Amendment Bill and the General Laws Amendment Bill in Parliament Introduction and the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development (PCOJCD), chaired by Yunus Carrim, MP, has deliberated on these initiatives to abolish floor-crossing.
Importantly, during the deliberations the question of broader reforms always featured prominently. Indeed as HSF Panelist Jonathan Faull observed in his submission to the PCOJCD: “…this legislation should form part of a greater review for the Committee. In passing these three bills the Committee will essentially restore to our electoral system not only its integrity, but some of its faults that ostensibly informed the passing of the original legislation in 2002; namely , that individual representatives elected through the pure proportional, closed party-list system, are beholden to their party’s for their seat, and effectively cannot vote on conscience. A greater review of our electoral system has the potential to revisit some of the weaknesses relating to the accountability of representatives to their constituents, and enhance South Africa’s democratic edifice”. Given the comments made by Committee Chair, Mr. Carrim, during deliberations on these three Bills it seems possible that a broader review could be contemplated.
Whilst the Helen Suzman Foundation welcomes the initiatives taken in the various bills before Parliament to undo the egregious consequences of floor-crossing as it has been implemented in our system, it is incumbent on government to consider the proposals of the ETT on electoral reform in a more substantive form preferably prior to the 2009 poll.
7 8
Raenette TaljaardChairperson T year lastyear,and alsohosteddiscussions represented. Ithad itstenthanniversary Independent ElectoralCommission (IEC) but I'mdelightedtoseethatwe havethe Norman duPlessisforbeingwith ustoday, haven't hadtheopportunityyet tothank to welcomemyfellowpanellists today.I With thoseintroductorycomments,I'dlike South Africa. sound, ethicalpartyfund-raisingin the rulesandregulationsneededtoensure also inrelationtoparty-politicalfundingand – notonlyinrelationtothesystemitself,but a moreenhanceddebateonelectoralreform scrapping floor-crossing,theremightalsobe on thetableaboutpossibilityof that perhaps,alongwithdecisionswere Polokwane becausetherewereindications The debatewasverylivelypriorto views, evenonthisscore. accountability. We'regoingtoheardifferent cultivate, but,atthesametime,enhances representation listsystemistryingto representation whichtheproportional- a systemthatmaximisestheminority electoral systembeadoptedforSouthAfrica, Zyl Slabbert,largelyrecommendedamixed former memberofParliament,Frederickvan on electoralreformchairedbya quite sometime.Thecommission South Africahasbeenactivefor he debateonelectoralreformin share withus. that he'dliketo provocative ideas has anumberof because Iknowhe with Jonathan, I'm goingtostart (IDASA). in SouthAfrica for Democracy from theInstitute Jonathan Faull to her,wehave Botha oftheDemocraticAlliance(DA).Next Democratic Movement(UDM),andSandra General BantuHolomisaoftheUnited colleagues inParliament,andstillfriends, no introduction.OnmyleftIhaveformer columnist, author,writerandthinker,needs (EISA). ProfessorSiphoSeepe,asa the ElectoralInstituteofSouthernAfrica Next tohim,wehaveDenisKadimaof conference, andIwasdelightedtoseethat. along theselinesinquiteavibrant a mixed electoral system.” electoral mixed a Commissionrecommended “The V an Zyl an labbert Slabbert “The electoral reform and party-funding reform debate was very lively prior to Polokwane.” Raenette Taljaard 9 10
Jonathan Faull Jonathan Faull I are duties and responsibilities for parties, parties, for responsibilities and duties are there that however, argue, also would I politics. Africa's South benefit would elections, between accessible are who individuals identifiable of election the through communities to accountability political devolving and representation, to face" a "putting that ETT, the of reports majority the with together argue, would I representation. accountable and responsive ensure to ability their on reflecting systems, electoral debate to asked been have we Today, system." electoral an in sought be cannot behaviour such for Redress ways. of number unimaginable an in parties and representatives cliques, leaders, by abused be can variety whatever of systems "Electoral directly: report the quote To politics. accountable manufacture not do themselves, of and in systems, electoral that report, the of sections minority and majority the both in repeated assertion, the by struck was and days, few past the over report team task electoral the re-reading was I analysis, having prepared a very different very a prepared having But, me. forgive will audience the and Foundation the hope I which for tangent, a of bit a on off gone 've politics.” manufactureaccountable inandofthemselves donot assertsthat electoral systems “ document, having inherited those ideals ideals those inherited having document, living a as breathe should Constitution the whom within those transition, the of children by perpetrated Largely consternation. and disbelief by board the across met was example, for Cape, Western the and Gauteng in violence xenophobic The surprising. completely and inexplicable both be to appeared have that events by beset been has Africa South weeks, and months past the In development. Africa's South for point important very and fundamental a is it so illegitimacy; and opacity impunity, institutional of experiences and memories lived citizens’ of face the in capacity representative and transparency accessibility, their assert to structures democratic and institutions new for need the by compounded is challenge this democracy, to government authoritarian and democratic anti- from transition a of context African South a In citizens. its of trust the maintain and earn must it itself, sustain to democracy for that say to trite seems It government. accountable of delivery the and responsiveness of measure greater far a ensuring system, current the enhance can that – government representative of institutions the for and – institutions and citizens T he E lectoral T ask T eam through the ideological state apparatus of potential to choose and pursue lives of the new state through their education opportunity and betterment. Whatever the and socialisation, this practical material truth of these perceptions, they manifestation of the violent rejection of the exist in the mind of many South Africans values that should frame South African life and have to be addressed politically for is very worrying. democracy to sustain itself. Representation and accountability, and the responsiveness Yet, the collective of our political leadership, of leaders to citizens, are crucial to the party branch structures and the relevant this end. institutions of local government appear to have been caught entirely off guard, their A twin tragedy implicit in the events over leadership adrift from the currents of the past months is the complete lack of frustration and perceived injustice that democratic agency evident in the easy drove people on to the streets and into return to violence on the part of citizens. violent frenzy.Representation of the When consultation, representation, civic concerns, grievances and aspirations of engagement and community fail to citizens in these instances failed, together mediate tensions, violence is the last and with the transmutation of values to society final solution. by leadership. South Africans have a long tradition of Many poor citizens of South African cities violent confrontation to solve communal, feel under-represented or unrepresented, material and family problems, which is buffeted by the tide of poverty, [** ?] deeply entrenched in our society, and criminality and desperate competition for democracy has failed to stem systemic resources and opportunities that play in social violence. Violence, needless to say, the shadows of our extensively inclusive undermines the authority of the state and representative country. Many youth It undermines the development of social feel that this polity has abandoned their capital and tears communal bonds. Jonathan Faull Citizens, I would argue in this context, Congress of Azania would not have had must claim their political right to elect any incentive to cease violence and run for accountable and responsive leaders within office. Almost by definition, the most political parties, and ensure a transparent extreme or militant organisations have the and accountable political practice on the least electoral support. Through part of politicians through civic activism representation in the National Assembly, and civic agency. The power of citizenship these small, often extreme, groups swear and civic activism was evident in the allegiance to the Constitution and are aftermath of the xenophobic violence, subject to its prescriptions and vision. where many ordinary people involved themselves in important humanitarian and PR has ensured the representation of a civic work. In short, government, leaders multitude of views in Parliament. As a and political parties will not be responsive consequence, we've seen the number of or accountable in the face of a facile, parties elected to Parliament increase from demobilised, un-networked and apathetic seven in the first democratic Parliament, to citizenry, no matter what the electoral 13 in the second, and 12 in the third. Of system is. course, that has mushroomed considerably through the stupidity of floor-crossing, but That said, the principles that underpin our thankfully that will now come to an end. current electoral system, of fairness – that every votes counts and all votes are equal The single-party-dominant system enables – inclusivity, demographic political South Africa to enjoy the benefits of inclusivity, simplicity, and accountability, proportional representation, as I've should not be forgotten or undermined. already mentioned, without many of the costs, [such as] the instability and
Jonathan Faull The benefits of the current system are self- paralysis of collapsing coalitions in evident. Internal party processes ensure contemporary Poland and many other post- that lists are representative, sometimes Communist countries in the Eastern Bloc, overly representative, of marginal groups and Argentina. in the country. Gender equity in Parliament is one of the highest in the South Africa has become immune to a world, and in local government it is now at situation in which the ruling coalition is 50% within the African National Congress held hostage to unreasonable demands by (ANC), and this will be extended to other small and extreme parties in a coalition. In legislatures. Proportional representation Israel, for example, where the ruling party (PR) and party-list systems ensure that in 2002 had 14% of votes and the leading ethnic, racial and linguistic minorities are opposition party had 20%, when a small represented in the legislatures. party, often representing marginal or extreme views, threatened to walk out of Minority groups in the ANC are over- the coalition, the ruling party was held represented relative to their proportion of hostage to their demands and had to membership of the party, and generally concede in order to avoid losing power. minority groups are over-represented in Parliament relative to census data. The Christian Science Monitor has argued Inclusive representation importantly cuts for a range of other benefits accruing to voter apathy and encourages participation PR, which I think are important as well. from groups who may feel alienated from PR virtually eliminates the swing factor dominant opinion. whereby a small percentage of voters tilts elections one way or another, in a winner- The key benefit of the current system was takes-all scenario. This addresses two accrued through the first years of the further scourges, gerrymandering and the transition, where it helped enforce a cease- influence of money. If a swing vote of 5% fire across a deeply divided society. Had can be leveraged into 100% change – we're the previous constituency system been seeing this play out in the United States retained, militant national groups like the context at the moment – it pays to Freedom Front and the Pan-Africanist manipulate district boundaries and
12 concentrate campaign funds into close and the dominance of its executive power, races. With PR, these efforts are far less is usually singled out as the example. rewarding. This is a very significant criticism, and one PR also undermines the other great at the heart of calls for some kind of scourge of American politics, of many electoral reform in South Africa. As with constituency systems: pork-barrel politics, our ultimately successful enterprise – the whereby representatives conspire to abolition of floor-crossing – through the approve each other's pet projects for their actions of civil society institutions, calls for constituencies in order to secure change will have to emanate from the re-election. This effect is diluted by the mouths of ordinary South African citizens. much larger voting districts used for PR, I would argue, fundamentally, that gaps in and by freeing politicians from the need to responsiveness and accountable win majority support. government in South Africa lie far more in the gutters of apathy, cynicism and The primary problem, highlighted by perceptions of powerlessness than they do critics of the PR closed-party-list system in with the current electoral system. South Africa, is the power of the party in determining representation and the We do need change, I would argue, but we contingent benefits accruing to persons need to make that happen with the basics elected to positions of leadership in of democratic citizenship, which has to be legislatures. It is argued that this scenario internalised by the citizens. Parties must creates a political milieu whereby it is in be democratised by the engagement of the interests of aspirant and elected citizens in party structures, through the politicians to behave in ways that please election of accountable and responsible the party leadership, rather than leadership, and, in turn, the insurance of constituents. And this is a fact of life responsive, transparent and democratic across the board in South African politics, institutions. although the ruling party, given its size Jonathan Faull
13 “Now that we are facing an election quite soon, in 2009, it’s time that we re-think our electoral process.”
PamelaSandra SBteinotha
think the most important thing to which we're hoping would lead to freer and understand about electoral reform fairer elections in 2009. and responsive representation is I that it's not really about elections. It's crucial for civil society to be involved Elections are simply the culmination of a in this important debate, to hedge against wide range of philosophical, sociological, the high probability of undue political economical and historical processes. All interference in the electoral process. This these are intimately interwoven in what is a key difficulty the world over. In most we understand by the concept of democracy cases the electoral system benefits the and the role, if any, the individual sees for incumbent party, making it unlikely that herself in that process – and that is what the party in power will agree to reform, happens before we enter the ballot box. except, of course, if it sees itself as the beneficiary of that reform. The ANC has I'm glad that you have given us the illustrated this; they're no exception to the opportunity once again to speak about this rule. The Cabinet decided to endorse the issue, because if it weren't for you, we'd minority recommendations of the electoral possibly push it on to the back-burner for task team, which basically advocated that quite a while and not think about it until the status quo be maintained. somebody in Parliament raises it, and there's a sudden flurry of interest. Whereas, In the meantime, I believe that this debate particularly now that we are facing an is largely of an academic nature at this election quite soon, in 2009, it's time that stage. It's not on our agenda in Parliament Sandra Botha we re-think our electoral processes. for discussion. And I think the report from Van Zyl Slabbert is very, very dusty, I read something about Jody Kollapen wherever it may have been put. saying that [Zwelinzima] Vavi and [Julius] Malema's utterances are unacceptable in The DA doesn't believe there's anything a run-up to an election, and, clearly, make wrong with the core values of the current no contribution to the establishment of electoral system, or that the current system democracy. That is part of the objection should be radically altered. However, that we have against what both of those the system has had some unintended gentlemen said, that they are destabilising consequences, which does indicate the a process instead of creating an atmosphere need for some change to be made, if it is to
14 function optimally. The key question is: how of line. So it was, unfortunately, a temporary responsive is our representation to the needs sort of aberration which I wish could have and the demands of the voters? lasted longer.
What I've seen in Parliament – and I In terms of the work in the National must share some personal experiences – Assembly, the system has had clear negative is that quite a number of commentators repercussions for the role of Parliament, were delighted when the Zuma-ites took as I've said, in helping to promote sound over after Polokwane, saying that there's governance, to ensure the maintenance of the something like a Prague spring to be seen in Constitution. In the example of the Scorpions, Parliament. The members are now actually our list system has had an effect on organised questioning legislation, and questioning crime in the country, if you want to draw the Executive in terms of its performance, the conclusion from start to finish. Had we and holding it accountable. My view is that not had this kind of sycophancy our system that's absolutely not true. Whereas what operates on, it's quite possible that issues we had before was people who were totally such as Travelgate, arms deal corruption and cowed into submission by Mbeki, we now the disbanding of the Scorpions would have have people running for positions. And so been handled in a manner that was much the moment they realised that their next less damaging to the people's perception election was dependent on being on the right of Parliament, and therefore Parliament's side, they started acting in a way that they standing in our democracy. thought [would benefit them]. It's quite extraordinary, and it remains I am quite sure we have seen nothing of a extraordinary to me, that a political party change of attitude, because we are still very can have such power over its voters – and much the captives of a list system. If this not only its voters, over its representatives. were really true, we should see, on the issue I was at a debate last night with Andrew of the Scorpions and the Scorpion legislation, Feinstein and I asked him whether he still a variety of views emanating from the ANC had a job in England, because he is travelling benches, because we know they weren't the speaking circuit of this country. He quite unified in their views on what should happen openly says that he's not courageous enough to the Scorpions. And I will eat my hat if you to remain in South Africa with Mbeki and hear anybody from the ANC say anything out Zuma as presidents. He won't live in this Sandra Botha
15 country while that is the case, because he In the light of these findings and obstacles, has got small children. Those were his words. the DA has since its first submission to the electoral task team advocated the I thought how extraordinary it was that he institution of a PR system of multi-member can still say, then, that he is a supporter of constituencies, combined with party lists, the ANC. So if your voters have that kind similar, of course, to the one we have at of approach, and these are your informed local government level. voters, then it's clear that you will find no independent movement among the people Our second proposal is for a minimum who are dependent on that party for their threshold. I'm not sure if, actually, this is cheque at the end of the month. my party's proposal. It's my proposal. I get highly irritated by the fact that we have I think it's accepted that an electoral in Parliament people who are actually system, in and of itself, cannot force greater representing nobody, who have a speaking accountability or improved responsibility, turn in every debate. To my idea, that is but a system that provides a more direct not democracy – however much it may linkage between the voters and the public have been useful in the beginning years, representatives will be more conducive to as Jonathan was saying. I'm very much in a bottom-up representation, as opposed to favour of having a threshold, probably a 5% the bias towards representation by decree of threshold as they have in Germany, if we leadership of the political parties. continue to have our proportional system.
More crucially, a more direct system may And then, apart from the cross-overs
Sandra Botha give voters the opportunity to reject specific that gave us these one-person parties, candidates, even if they represent their you also have parties like the Minority preferred party. That is, they may provide Front, which used to have one and now the voter with a modicum of control over has two representatives in Parliament, the party list within a defined geographical and they speak in every debate. Even region. In terms of the current system, if they'd like more time, the fact is that the quality of the prospective public they are represented in the public eye representative does not earn the party's as valid representatives of the size of votes. You vote for the list, so the quality of the constituency. That is, at least, the the list is not a consequence of the vote. impression I think they are giving, and I don't believe that is actually a correct view An example that really struck me was a of who the people voted for. lady who was the Free State representative in the NCOP [National Council of I also want to speak about the lack of Provinces] before the previous election, government response, particularly to the 2004. She told me that she didn't think she xenophobia that we've just seen, which was going to make it again. And then lo in itself is evidence of the fragile state and behold, she said, “You won't believe it, of our democracy. But it's the prime but I've just seen my name on the Gauteng example of our government and our public list.” Which, you can imagine, is not how I representatives, especially those of the think, ideally, your representatives should ruling party, who were nowhere to be seen be chosen. It's a purely mechanical and near refugee safety sites for weeks after the probably power-play process. first violence broke. And you all know when our President spoke out – nine days into The popularity of political parties is the event. It is clear proof of a lack of the largely dependent on the voters’ emotional responsibility that Dr Mamphela Ramphele connection with the parties as a whole, implores us to develop. and their perception of the parties’ leaders. Since aspiring candidates have to compete It's the result, unfortunately, of an within parties for high places on party lists, unchallengeable majority. It simply makes the recruitment of high-quality candidates representatives too far removed from the may be discouraged. electorate, and they don't see a need to
16 respond expeditiously, as they do not feel And yet we say it would be short-sighted to that their power is threatened at all. If any view our own electoral situation in isolation, proposals that we make here today can help or with a view that reaches no further to change or break that unchallengeable than the next two or three elections. Both nature of this majority, I think that will in Zimbabwe and in Kenya, we've seen only serve the long-term good of the country. electoral systems favourable to a formerly democratically elected majority party being Also, the fact that we are now elected on the subverted by a self-interested core, as list means that we [effectively] don't have the ruling parties of these countries have constituencies. Tied to this is the fact that started to lose their grip on the electorate. the parliamentary programme has changed This phenomenon is not uncommon when dramatically from before '94. It is almost a nationalist movements come crashing down full-time, or a four-term, stay in Cape Town. under their own weight. Previously, elected representatives spent six months in Cape Town and six months at I hope that we in South Africa may be their home. in a much more favourable position, because, regrettably, I think the nationalist I live in the northern Free State; my movement in our country could still be constituency is Bloemfontein. Practically, gathering weight. That is what we'll be for me, it means I've got to go home over seeing in the next election. Hopefully not, a weekend, which is to a farm two and a but it's still possible. But I think it is for half hours away from an airport, where this reason, because we are not immune I don't see too many voters – and in any to what has happened in our region, that case, it is not my allocated constituency. we owe it to ourselves to re-look at the So either I go home, or I go to my electoral system, and in the run-up to the constituency in Bloemfontein, where I election, which Mr du Plessis may be able hardly know anybody. And therefore my to answer for. interaction with voters, I find, is pathetic. It certainly isn't at the level people think [We need to do that] if we don't want to of as ideal for democracy, where you can land ourselves in what hopefully is not actually experience what your voters the rule for Africa, but which, regrettably, experience. You almost parachute into your has turned up in our part of the world, constituency, and you leave it again in a and which I think we may ignore only at very unsatisfactory manner. our peril. Sandra Botha
17 “We fully agree with the recommendations of Dr. Slabbert about looking at a mixed system. ”
Gen Bantu Holomisa
e were excited when, several asked the IEC, as political parties, if we years ago, Dr Van Zyl Slabbert could establish our own multi-party forums was appointed as the with a view to identifying the inherent Commissioner to look into our difficulties in our electoral systems. We met W last December to begin that process, which electoral reform. Indeed, he finished his task. However, as you have heard, that culminated in a meeting of the leaders of report is still gathering dust in the offices of political parties or their representatives Mr Mbeki. Perhaps the reason why it was early this year, with the IEC, under the never debated or published by the leadership of Ms Brigalia Bam. government, or accepted, is because it was introduced by Minister Buthelezi, who was We agreed in that meeting that we needed to from the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). Had identify areas that could be addressed in the it been spearheaded by an ANC cabinet short and long term. We have finished that minister, we might long ago have changed exercise and handed it over to the IEC, and a some of the electoral grey areas in our few weeks ago Ms Bam replied that she has system of government. referred the points we've identified to the PLC [Political Liaison Committee] and the During the processes of the commission, it IEC CEO, Advocate Tlakula. But our became apparent that these and a host of experience is that the PLC is a toothless related concerns were shared by most of the body because it doesn’t have executive political parties. We fully agree with the powers. It is there merely to table whatever recommendations of Dr Slabbert about comes from the various parties. [Its looking at a mixed system. We believe that members] cannot take any decisions; they this will greatly reduce the number of normally make recommendations to the IEC unaccountable public representatives who commissioners, and the commissioners take ride into the councils, legislatures and a final decision. Parliament on the coat-tails of their more visible colleagues or the reputation of their But the IEC is a body dominated by the party. However, the ruling party felt at that ANC and its nominees. I was not in exile stage that they were the kings. when we were negotiating the Constitution of this country; I was part of that process as Last year we were invited by the IEC to early as 1991/92. In 1993, the ANC, the IFP debate the need to look at our electoral and the National Party agreed to second reform. Most of the parties present at that people to the first IEC. Later on, the conference agreed that there is a need to representatives of the IFP were no longer review our electoral system. We therefore there, and you were left with mostly people Gen Bantu Holomisa
18 from the ANC, and those who were from the party. For instance, when they launch their National Party. When the National Party manifesto during elections, they are covered decided to join the ANC, [its live for three hours by the so-called public representatives] still remained, and they're broadcaster. And then their main closing there today. So it's anybody guess where rally is also covered live. When you ask for their allegiance lies. the same privilege, they ask you whether it is newsworthy. So, in this document we identified the IEC’s level of independence and the PLC’s Then we talked about elections, and we also decision-making level, as well as said floor-crossing must go – and I wish, how party funding. I wish, Ms Botha, that this floor-crossing legislation had not been removed this year. We are also addressing the media. We're I'm sure we would have seen some people attending meetings with the Independent beginning to move from the ANC, especially Communications Authority of South Africa as there are those who are not sure whether (ICASA), as well as the IEC, with a view to they will be in Jacob Zuma’s list, if he addressing the abuse of power by the ruling becomes President. Gen Bantu Holomisa
19 “These were the four key principles: it had to be fair, simple, accountable and inclusive.”
Prof Sipho Seepe
'll try to avoid going over what seems racial, and towards a democratic society. to be a consensus on the pros and cons of the present system, save For instance, many people on the ground Ito say that some of them would be would not have supported floor-crossing, applicable in any political system. but somehow the people in Parliament agreed to it. So you have to ask yourself, And one of the concerns I've always raised is how can, especially, the ANC be the very that whatever theoretical models you have, party to ignore that notion [inherent in they will always be tested in the realities floor-crossing] that the people will no longer of pragmatism. The issue would be to what dictate? And then you get back to the notion extent we are devoting some of our best of elite transition: there are the people, but thinking to what is most likely to happen. there are also the elites. A few years ago I wrote a piece, "Why the ANC succeeds as it fails", that speaks to So our approach, in terms of a critique, some of the points that have been raised on must be based on those pragmatic the system. One was the issue of emotional considerations. Simply condemning what connection that Sandra mentioned. we have will be inadequate, because it takes away the intellectual challenge of Another is, how do you present a proposal in trying to make sense of why things are the such a way that it is not seen as a proposal way they are. And, of course, if one goes from the DA, or the UDM, or any other to 1994, pragmatic considerations led to a party? One of the frustrating things in this situation where, given the fact that people country has been people's inability to look at had wanted to vote and they had waited a proposal as it is, but rather to locate it as for so long, you needed a system where Prof Sipho Seepe a proposal that comes from the opposition. every vote would count. That was one of So the merits are not considered. If you do the paramount issues for those who sat and not understand that and bring it on board, crafted the present system. you will not be able to move forward. It becomes very important to understand what And, of course, we also prepared a system constrains the possibility of moving towards that would be fair, simple and inclusive, a system that we can say is consistent with given our history, and it was not simply what the Constitution envisages as non- because we wanted to accommodate. We had
20 a history of exclusion, so these were the four of: ”This is what we have been waiting key principles: [it had to be] fair, simple, for.” But at the same time, one should accountable and inclusive. People have made not underestimate the fact that when the mention of why the issue of accountability ANC came into power, it had unimaginable is still a challenge. But without addressing political, social and historical capital that these other issues, our discussion becomes other people did not have. simply an academic exercise.
I think Bantu Holomisa is correct to say What that did was to say to people that that if floor-crossing had not been scrapped, when these guys came from prison and back there would have been very interesting from exile, our job was simply to elect them dynamics next year. If we'd foreseen that, to take over. And, fully understanding the some people would have said, let's wait a vacuum that had been created, they took bit on this issue. But the long and the short over. But, of course, people continued to of it is that we need also to realise that, have faith and to believe in the leaders, fundamentally, democracy is an experiment, and it was only through experience that and it becomes very important for people to they began to say that maybe that was not seize the moment when it is possible to push sufficient, maybe we need something else. certain ideas. I'm of the view that at the moment, there is far greater chance than we So, for instance, at that point in time had in the past. it was very easy for Van Zyl Slabbert's recommendations to be rejected. But I could There was a time when questioning argue that if that proposal had been put authority was unthinkable; today you can to the ANC strongly before Polokwane, it do it. The space may be limited. As Sandra would have been easy to get it adopted. indicated, people might be pursuing self- So there are times when good ideas need interest and self-preservation, but others a better ground, a better space for them might be pursuing this from the perspective to germinate. What was very clear for the Prof Sipho Seepe
21 Prof Sipho Seepe President (at that time) of the ANC was that present a proposal in such a way that it is such a system would diminish the power and not seen to be party specific? control that they had over the organisation. But I'm one of those who believe that now is Polokwane decided to say, among other the time to exploit the space. It may be too things, that the President of the ANC short-lived, but it's a space where we can should not have so much power, and it start talking about representation. And, of became a moment for us to start talking course, the idea of constituency. With the about democratising. The point was raised people vociferously demanding to be heard, by Jonathan that nothing can replace this is the time to say that the reason why citizen activism. So we are at the stage they are not going to be heard is that the where our own history has given rise to a system inherently makes it difficult for certain level of protest when people feel that them to be heard. their interests are not taken into account. One should also remember that it was not But, of course, we have put this as if it so long ago, in 2005, that we had about 800 were the responsibility of the parties municipal protests countrywide, and most themselves. We have also to acknowledge of those were against municipalities run by that civil society, the NGOs and the the ANC. media have been more obsessed with the contestation, rather than the education So, effectively, beyond simply putting that should happen in society. proposals that are correct, you need to latch on to this experimenting and experience. We tend to think that just because people But the challenge remains, how do you have been engaged in the struggle for
22 democracy, they have a high degree of of what kids should be involved in. And democratic consciousness. Often you find yet we perpetuate this as something that that people should know better – I mean, should continue to happen. That's why when when you go to the courts, you find they're Malema says something, there is almost not even aware that we actually have a a national outcry, when in fact we should Constitution. The behaviour of some of at least be saying that Malema should be the judges questions or undermines the spending most of his time at school. principles in the Constitution. So we need to approach the matter from the We are trying to normalise society. We perspective of asking what the challenges appreciate the role that the young people are, beyond simply determining the right played in '76, in the '80s, but our challenge thing to do. How do we create a society? For right now is: how do we create a normal instance, one of the things that bothers me society, and how do the youth in a normal is how this country is getting trapped in society behave? But we seem to be trapped in the madness of 1976, when the kids were the discourse of the past, and the failure to engaged in what is anomaly, an aberration understand that democracy is an experiment.
23 Prof Sipho Seepe “If we change the electoral system in South Africa, what would that mean in terms of the level of inclusion the country has now.”
Denis Kadima
he debate about electoral system Let's take the case of the Western Cape sometimes reminds me of Province. When the alliance between marriage: how, in a sense, that the DP and NNP collapsed, the NNP Tthose who are not married want was able to go with the ANC, and there to get in, and those who are married want was a new government. We could have to get out. The electoral system is exactly that kind of situation at a national level. the same. We are never happy with what One of the factors, when we look at the we have. electoral system, is the issue of political or governmental stability. If South Africa is seen as a miracle from the outside, it's also because of its electoral We also need to do some projections, system, which is quite unique. With, let's to look at the results that we've had say, 0,25%, you can have one member over the recent elections and see, if we in Parliament, which means very tiny change the electoral system in South minorities can still be part of the system. Africa, what that would mean in terms Out there in the region, in the continent, of the level of inclusion that the country the mere fact of having people who are from has now. These are some of the details political or social minorities as part of the that we need to look into. system is on its own a miracle. Of course, the issue of accountability, the To accommodate various groups is what we link between the elected leaders and the are not able achieve in Zimbabwe. That's electorate, is very important. But much what makes many of the countries on the of it has to do with theory, because in continent struggle: they can't accommodate practice, although I would like to know Denis Kadima each other. So we need to put things my MP, members of Parliament don't deal in perspective. with issues of their constituencies. They discuss national issues. People deal with I think that one of the things that has helped constituency issues at the ward level, at the the PR system maintain itself in South municipality level . But even there, I asked Africa is the dominant-party system. If we a few colleagues of mine if they knew the had a soft balance between political parties, names of their ward councillors, and none of we would have government instability. them did.
24 I'm not trying to say that you should not very excited about that man and elect him. look into the constituency system, combined When these people go to Parliament, they with PR. I'm just saying that it should not are unable to articulate the issues that be theoretical. You must look at the reality. Parliament must discuss. And because the opposition have the PR list, all their leaders Anyway, changing the electoral system are in Parliament, and are very good at comes with its own challenges. It has parliamentary debate. been said that the case of Lesotho is very interesting. They have a very good system – Just to bring things to their conclusion, Botswana and other countries look up to it – [in South Africa], as much as we say we but at the last election it came with its own need to reform our electoral system so that challenges as well, issues of alliances that the elected leaders stop accounting to their didn't work very well. They had also the bosses, but rather to the constituency, to issue of floor-crossing. In the past the Prime the electorate, the same will apply for party Minister has crossed the floor and started a finance. We don't want leaders who account new government. to big businesses, to interest groups; they should account to the electorate. So let's Also, in Lesotho they have a system they be consistent and make sure that at all call multiple-member proportional, so some levels, if you want really representative MPs come from constituencies, others come governance, it must not only apply to from the party lists under PR. The ruling electoral systems, it must apply throughout party is very strong in the constituencies, – in terms of party finance, how we account and then the opposition is compensated to people, and how we disclose the money through the PR system. But the elected that we've received. members from the constituencies are people who have a lot of support at the grass- In conclusion, what we need is to balance roots level. Sometimes someone may be what we want, without losing what has very good at identifying the animals on made the existing electoral system a success the farms, and the people in the area are to some extent. Denis Kadima
25 “Electoral systems evolve over many years, decades. Personally, I am not despondent or negative about the debate as it is evolving in South Africa.”
Norman du Plessis
Let me at the outset say that I am from the The short-term issues that put the debate in IEC, but I don't represent the IEC in this the newspapers and on the political agenda particular context. Three members of the refer to issues such as crime and IEC served on the Van Zyl Slabbert task unemployment, and immediate short-term team, and we had a fairly lively debate on political problems. And then that is the whole issue of electoral systems. We all immediately related to the question of came to different conclusions with different accountability and politicians who don't look points of emphasis. Advocate P Tlakula and after the electorate, and an electorate that S S Van der Merwe signed the minority feels helpless. You then get proposals that report, which basically stuck to the outlines centre on those political issues, rather than of the current system, whereas I took an dealing with what is right and wrong. opposing view, and supported the multi- member constituency proposal. When you are dealing with politicians selected under a particular system, and As an institution that supports democracy, their natural inclination is to support the we permit debate among ourselves and system that got them where they are, it differing is not an issue. So I am proposing becomes difficult. And if you add the or advancing my own views on the subject. political element to it, where you start criticising, then you run into natural If you look at electoral systems and their resistance. I think we need a little bit of effects worldwide, you very seldom come patience in dealing with it over the long across cases where people arrive at an ideal term, where logic, and what is right and solution in the short term, or even in the what is wrong, starts having a greater medium term, for that matter. Electoral impact than purely dealing with the short- Norman du Plessis systems evolve over many years, decades. term issues. Personally, I am not despondent or negative about the debate as it is evolving in South An illustration of where short-term Africa. I think in the fullness of time one measures get you is the issue of floor- would come back to elements, and get to a crossing. Some political parties saw situation where it probably would not particular short-term benefits in it. And if remain static in the long term. you see a benefit, then you support it. If you don't see a benefit, then you don't support
26 it. That's how the political process works, Now the simple matter of fact is if you start rather than whether it's right or wrong. It talking about 200 representatives being was an initiative aimed at a particular elected on a single-member constituency short-term benefit, and in the end, of course, basis, then you're probably talking about the chickens came home to roost. three parties making it into Parliament, statistically: the ANC, the IFP and the DA. One needs to understand gravity, and where Perhaps one seat for the UDM in the things gravitate to, if I can make that Transkei, but not more than that. To analogy, if one wishes to get involved in explain that, if we talk about wards and those kinds of debates. Sometimes I'm municipal elections, you need about 16 to 20 amused and sometimes I'm amazed by what adjoining wards where a party dominates I see in the press of people’s comments on before you start getting to a single this particular subject, including members constituency that could equate to one of 200. of the task team themselves, and the extent to which they understand what is actually So people are advancing issues without written there, and what the consequences of realising what underlies them. And I think it are. that bedevils the debate. One needs to be informed in a technical sense exactly what Public comment centres on constituencies, one is talking about. and almost invariably people talk about single-member constituencies, not the multi- There's also the compensatory side of it. You member constituencies referred to in the would still have the division between report itself. The interesting thing about constituency MPs and other MPs. The that is that people are talking about two status difference between a ward-elected approaches. One is where half of the member of a local council and a list representatives are elected in their own member of a local council is very right and half on the proportional system, interesting. The simple fact of the matter is without a compensatory element. you can't just kick out a ward Norman du Plessis
27 representative because then there's a is not a question of accountability. I think by-election. The list guy you can just it's an issue of centralisation as opposed to suspend and get rid of, and replace with decentralisation. That, invariably, somebody else. So there is a fundamental inevitably, brings accountability into it, difference whether you come from the but it's not the upfront issue. I think that compensatory or the directly elected portion. there is not really an avenue in a centralised system for people to participate
Norman du Plessis Sandra, you mentioned quotas – just by the in the political process, or for way, the DP wouldn't have made it to accountability to come into it, because it's Parliament in '94 on the quota that you're all far away. proposing. Nor, General, did I see you reacting to the fact that she suggested that And an interesting fact is that in '99, the your party should not go back to peak number of voters was in the 23–27 Parliament, with the 5% threshold that was year age group. In 2000, that moved to suggested. This is an issue of inclusion or 25–29; in 2004, 28–32; and in 2006 it was exclusion, whether one has an inclusive or the 30–34 age band with the highest an exclusive approach to the whole issue, number of registered voters. It's exactly the whether people are part and parcel of same group of voters that's moving on. And politics. I have said what I've said, basically, what that tells you is that there is nothing because I want to come to a first happening behind them. fundamental principle, which is that one We have to keep in mind that by 2014, needs to understand proportionality and the that's the next election but one, the majority maths involved in combinations, and how of potential electorate would be post-'94 kids you need to play around with that. that did not participate [in those elections], and where there are different issues, and The second point that I want to make, and different sentiments, and different here I see perhaps a different emphasis backgrounds and issues. And I would from the other panellists, is that for me it suggest that because of the centralised
28 nature of our electoral system at this point them on the list, rather than the party in time, there is no forum for those people to bosses choosing. get involved in the system. In the Democratic Republic of Congo The Van Zyl Slabbert report suggested multi- election, one constituency, I think, had 793 member constituencies. It is silent on candidates, representing 20-odd parties. I whether the people that represent those don't think it worked. In a large number of constituencies should come from those areas cases, people just marked the first guy on or not, and it also still proposed a closed list. the list, regardless of which party he We had a bit of a debate among ourselves, represented – and they were in different because we said if you're too radical upfront, sequences on different ballot papers, then you start having difficulties getting because not all parties participated politicians to look seriously at the matter. everywhere. So I think one can't get to a But it follows, the moment you have a too-complicated system too early. If, for decentralised approach, multi-member instance, you look at a Danish ballot paper, constituencies, that if it's not legally provided you have three/four parties, and they each for, ultimately the pressure for local people to have three/four candidates. It's simple for get involved in who those representatives on people to distinguish and to elect their own a list should be becomes an issue. Whether representatives among three or four it's five or ten years later, it will happen. nominees. I don't think we could even Polokwane proves that, I think, in terms of vaguely propose that kind of thing at this the influence of people from outside wanting stage. With a little bit of patience, getting to be part of that process. the first thing in place, whether that takes a A closed list is a simple way of dealing with few years or whether it takes a decade or things now. But in the fullness of time, the two, it will follow. It invariably follows, system could evolve to an open list where because, largely, logic takes you to an the electorate would choose. On election day evolving situation. they would choose who would represent Norman du Plessis 29 Questions & Answers
Peter Horwitz: I was once a Councillor and once a member of the Gauteng Legislature. I want to comment on something Norman has said. The trouble in municipal caucuses is that, inevitably, the list councillors are the most powerful politicians, and the DA, in fact, has mechanisms to deal with that. The ANC doesn't, and the result is that ANC ward councillors effectively don't do their work because they are treated like dirt. That's a major problem. They have a riot in a constituency and nobody knows it's going to happen, everybody's surprised. So it actually works in reverse. And frankly, if you're a ward councillor, as I was for five years, the burden of not having a proper constituency MP and a proper constituency provincial MP makes it a very difficult and time-consuming job to do. It's just not a fair burden.
Richard Steyn: I'd like to ask Sandra Botha and other panellists, if this is such an important issue, as I believe it is, and it's not on the national agenda at the moment, with an election coming up, how do they suggest we project it on to the national agenda? General Holomisa has done this preliminary work – there are some proposals, but how does one keep it in the public mind? This will help, but we need a lot more. Anybody got any good ideas? How do we take this discussion forward?
Ms Botha: I don't think, at the moment, probably because our system works fairly well, that it's going to become something of a burning issue. It is an important one, but not an immediate one. And therefore I think it will happen more into the future that we will start looking at these refinements. At the moment, there are other more imminent and direct burning issues that we need to address.
30 Gen. Holomisa: movement willputitontothepublicagenda. So I'mafraid,Richard,Idon'thaveanybrightideas.thinkperhaps aspecificcivil-society I knowofnobodyintheANCwhoatthisstagefeelsthatthere's aneedtomakechange. You wouldneedthatkindofleadershipfromthegoverningparty, oratleastaminister.And [the thenMinisterofHomeAffairs,Mangosuthu]Buthelezi.Heproposedthediscussion. If Iremembercorrectly,theissueofVanZylSlabbertCommissionwasbroughtinby sioner [toact],because wearemajorstakeholders there. make nomistake. Someelementsmayevenforce ustogocourtforcetheIEC commis the multi-partyforumI'mchairing [**?]nowisgoingtomakeabignoisebeforeDecember, report toParliamentthattheydid spendmoney.Butimplementationisvery,verypoor. But yougetasensethatpeople hold theseconferencesjusttobeablesubmitanannual political parties,andthisishow shouldwemoveforward. is howwehaveimplemented,thistheviewfromotherstakeholders intheparticular systems, shouldnowcallanotherindabaandsay:wehaveidentified thoseproblems,this international institutionswherebyitisexpectedthateachcountry shouldreviewelectoral IEC, whichhostedtheconferencelastyear,inlinewith[guidelines ofthe]AUandother is embeddedinthestatedepartment,notindependent.However, Iwouldsuggestthatthe We'llcontinuetohavetheseproblems aslongtheIEC -
31 Questions We have asked how on earth town managers can be appointed as electoral officers. These are political appointees. Why do you continue to want SACTU members to be presiding officers in various areas? SACTU is an affiliate of COSATU, and COSATU says publicly that all its members must vote for the ANC. Is that fair? So we are going to raise the bar, don't worry.
Mr Faull: I don't think it is completely off the agenda. Both the South African Communist Party and COSATU have endorsed calls through their national conferences for the reform of the current electoral system, to incorporate some kind of constituency-based representation. As the popular imagination would have it, the left is ascendant within the ANC, so that may find resonance elsewhere within the rank and file of the lead alliance member.
I was very disappointed that the debate, both at the policy conference and at Polokwane, did not seem to get very far and was very dogmatic, and all talk of reform was dismissed. But I think there is a foothold within the ruling party that can be exploited by citizens and civil society, and if the majority of opposition parties are already supportive of reform, there is no reason for not seeking out co-operation with other forces in society. There is a significant opportunity at the moment with the debate about the scrapping of floor-crossing, which was an appalling way of dealing with the problems with our current system. The proper means of addressing those concerns would have been electoral reform. And now, having achieved one victory which, essentially, was the restoration of the faults of the previous system, one needs Questions to push the envelope further. And having more political consciousness of the current system, as a result of the floor-crossing debate, means that pushing the envelope further is now more possible than it was, say, in 2000.
Prof Seepe: To piggyback on what Jonathan has said, that it's also about timing, I cannot find a more appropriate time to raise these issues than now. But the way you raise them has to be such that you try to indicate how the system can assist in the resolution of the so-called material challenges that people face. For as long as you do not connect what- ever you propose with material interest, the issue will be sidelined.
32 I do think that, because of the infighting or, probably, the growing sophistication among our people and also within the ANC, we are moving to a stage where our politics are now less oppositional. There was a time when you would not even hear the President acknowledging the opposition. But we have moved to a stage where the President will even agree with the opposition leaders, sometimes in an effort to undermine some of the views that are shared by his own party members.
So we are at the stage where the notion of “enemy” is fast becoming no longer relevant in our politics. For me, it's really about making sure that we avoid what Norman refers to as short- termism, simply saying “this is in our interest”. We need to connect every proposal to being a vehicle that will resolve a number of our problems. Answers
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BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA AN CY 3 Page 25-June-2008 Y, DA BUSINESS
NATIONAL NEWS BUSINESS DAY, Wednesday, June 25 2008 3
ANC youth Allies turn up heat on Zuma trial IN BRIEF want to Yengeni to meet lawyers for Kebble’s As August court date approaches, tripartite alliance is driving campaign to have charges dropped estate to resolve R260 000 claim avoid FORMER African NationalCongress chief whip Tony Yengeni is to Karima Brown recommendations of the public meet lawyers ofthe trustees of murdered magnate Brett Kebble’s ...... protector. But the most serious estate to resolve the repayment of nearly R260 000 Kebble is said chaos Political Editor is their silence on the Special to have paidhim. Thisfollows apostponement yesterday of acase AS AFRICAN National Congress Browse Mole report that effec- in the Cape High Court in which the trustees have applied for (ANC) president Jacob Zuma tively said that Zuma was Yengeni torepay themoney to Kebble’s estate. Yengeni was one Hajra Omarjee continues his charm offensive involved in plotting to over- of a number of high-profile celebrities and politicians who ben- ...... aimed at business and minori- throw the government while in efited from about R25m in Kebble largesse. Chris van Gass Political Correspondent ties ahead of next year’s elec- cahoots with some African lead- THE African National Congress tion, his foot soldiers in the tri- ers,” he said. Municipalities want departments to pay up Youth League (ANCYL) had partite alliance are trying to put While the state said t h at taken “extraordinary measures” forward a cogent argument why “rogue” spies were responsible GOVERNMENT departments must to ensure the resumption of its his corruption trial — due to for peddling the information settle their outstanding debts to adjourned national conference start in August — should be and that they were to be arres t- municipalities, the South African Local on Friday did not descend into s c ra p p e d . ed, nothing has come of this, Government Association(Salga) said violent chaos again, party Efforts to mobilise support Nzimande said. yesterday. “A special callgoes to gov- leaders said yesterday. for Zuma — who has to answer Centre for Policy Studies pol- ernment departments to settle their Even former opponents of charges including corruption itical analyst Aubrey Matshiqi debts with municipalities soonest as ANCYL president Julius Male- and racketeering — have moved said there were two ways of this move will go along way in assist- ma denied media reports that into high gear, with the tripar- interpreting the call for the ing municipalities to be financially they were planning a motion of tite alliance secretariat driving charges to be scrapped: “It seeks viable and be in a position to provide no confidence in Malema’s lead- the solidarity campaign. to reinforce the idea that Zuma sustainable services,” Salga chair- ership, saying that would be tan- Zuma’s supporters say they is a victim of political conspir- man Amos Masondo said. The call tamount to “diminishing the au- want the charges dropped acy and a victim of manipula- was made during Salga’s national t h o r i ty ” of the ruling ANC. because of what they call the tion on the part of state institu- executive committee meeting in Tlok- Amos Masondo The ANCYL’s conference in systematic abuse of state organs tions, thus the message that we, formerly Potchefstroom. Masondo April in Bloemfontein was by Zuma’s political opponents Zuma cannot get a fair trial.” said the municipalities represented at the meeting had indicated adjourned after the election of and the denial of Zuma’s consti- Another possibility was that they were facing rising debts, not only from residentsbut also from its leadership was contested tutional right to a fair trial. desperation had set in among businesses and government departments. “This situation is hav- fiercely. The conference failed to The ANC’s national bodies the Zuma coalition. ing a negative impact onthe qualityof service being renderedand pass a single substantive resolu- have yet to comment on the call Newly elected ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairman Zweli Mkhize with party president Jacob Zuma at the “If this is the case, what has it also threatensthe financial viability ofthese municipalities.” He tion relating to the league’s that Zuma’s trial be scrapped. weekend. Picture: THEMBINKOSI DWAYISA set off this desperation? Does it said every effort was being taken to recover these outstanding political programme or elect a But calls for the case to be mean they are privy to informa- debts. Sapa complete national executive dropped were growing as ANC The league has said that con- massive mobilisation effort some state organs abused their tion that Zuma’s legal woes may c o m m i tt e e . provincial organs and its leftist ditions for a fair trial for Zuma with our people to explain why powers against the ANC presi- be worse, and because of this Union seeks security for petrol attendants do not exist. South African Com- we believe that Jacob Zuma’s dent as the public protector they are trying to mobilise sup- Shortly after the conference, allies have started to rally PETROL attendants neededmore security, the National Unionof munist Party (SACP) secretary- right to a fair trial has been com- found when he said that the Na- port to either prevent the trial the ANC’s national working around Zuma ahead of his trial. Metalworkers (Numsa) saidyesterday, following a fatal attack on a general Blade Nzimande con- promised,” he said. tional Prosecuting Authority from proceeding or mobilising committee upheld the election The ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal Soweto petrol attendant. Numsa motor sector spokesman Elias firmed yesterday that support Nzimande said the state’s under Bulelani Ngcuka had against a conviction?” of the ANCYL’s top five, under conference resolved at the Kubheka said theunion had held preliminary discussions with the for Zuma during his trial was on eight-year probe of Zuma had abused his position, a view Matshiqi said the ANC could Ma l e m a ’s stewardship. weekend that charges against Fuel Retailers Association regarding the attack and the overall the agenda of the tripartite been riddled with abuse. He shared by the findings of the divide further as factions dif- Since then, ANCYL branch, Zuma had to be withdrawn. Ear- safety of petrol station workers. Sapa regional and provincial general lier, the ANC Youth League went alliance secretariat. said analysts whoM criticisededia the Khampepe commission,coverage” Nzi- fered about how best to provide councils have been convened to public over its plans to seek “We are united on this issue call for charges againstBUSINESS Zuma DAY, 25 toJUNE 2008mande said. “These analysts support for Zuma. bring the organisation into line. legal opinion on how to get the and it has to be finalised soon. be dropped were disingenuous. were also silent over Parlia- SA ‘needs inspirational leadership like Mandela’ Last week, the ANC held a charges against Zuma dropped. We are going to embark on a “They were all silent when ment’s inaction following the Charges ‘i nva l i d ’: Page 4 SA NEEDED inspirational leadership, strategist andauthor Clem successful KwaZulu-Natal elec- Sunter told a conference in Johannesburg yesterday. “If you have tive meeting. Now the pressure a developed country, you have systems that keep the country is on the ANCYL to ensure it going and you can survive a bad leader,” he said. “But if you’re a does not plunge the party into developing country like SA, you need inspirational leadership. another public relations Armscor head ducks MPs’ Electoral systems Mandela must be considered an inspirational leader.” Sapa nightmare. With public nudity, violence Foreigners moved to new Boksburg shelter and chaos a feature of the first ‘evolve over time’ leg of the ANCYL’s national con- questions on CEO’s ‘abuse’ MORE than 600 fo r e i g n e r s affected by xenophobic attacks had ference, and Malema having re- been moved from the Wadesville shelter to a new facility at the cently caused an uproar by say- Wilson Johwa with constituencies to ensure Leon Ferreira fire stationin Boksburg, the Ekurhulenimu n i c i p a l i t y ing the organisation was pre- Wyndham Hartley ed by a parallel legal probe, says tions it wanted to ask. However, ...... that the majority of public ...... Political Correspondent said yesterday. A study by the Gauteng provincial government pared to “take up arms and kill” T homo’s comments to and Molefe said the report might representatives had a clearly Parliamentary Editor showed that some places of refuge were dangerous because of for party president Jacob Zuma, about Borotho were “insensi- prejudice the parties involved, THERE is no need to worry defined constituency that elect- high levels of metal in the soil. Moses Mabele the league will be under pres- CAPE TOWN — Embattled Arm- tive, derogatory and, in terms of and evaded the questions. about flaws in SA’s electoral ed them. sure to get its house in order. scor CEO Sipho Thomo yester- Armscor policies, could be Acting committee chairman system since developing a near “We believe that this will Phelophepa Health Care Train wins UN award The ANCYL’s Eastern Cape day survived an attempt by a regarded as sexual harassment". African National Congress MP perfect system takes decades, greatly reduce the number of chairman, Mlibo Qoboshiwana, parliamentary committee to get Molefe said the matter was Samangamane Ntuli wanted to says deputy chief electoral unaccountable public represen- THE Phelophepa Health Care Train has won the United Nations said yesterday he was “p ray i n g ” details of the findings of a hard- off-limits because those know why, when the board had officer at the Independent tatives who will ride into the Public Service Award in the category of improving the delivery of for “sanity to prevail” at the con- hitting report which allegedly involved had not been given a been given its report in March, Electoral Commission (IEC), councils, legislatures and services. The awards are given to mark United Nations Public ference, this time being held in recommends he be suspended chance to comment on the Molefe was unable to answer Norman du Plessis. Parliament on the coattails of Service Day, which celebrates public service to the community. Johannesburg . and investigated for victimisa- report and they were not pro- questions. He also reminded This comes with an increas- their more visible colleagues or The Phelophepa train takes clinic services to some of SA’s poor- “The ANC has spoken on the tion of staff members. tected by parliamentary privi- Molefe that the committee had a ing number of calls for SA to re- the reputation of their party,” est and most remote communities. Tamar Kahn issue of Ma l e m a ’s leadership. It Armscor board chairman lege. He suggested he brief the right to get answers. adopt the Westminster con- said Holomisa, who is also is our responsibility to defend Popo Molefe angered MPs when committee on the processes be- Borotho alleges she has been stituency system to make MPs president of the parliamentary Witchcraft Suppression Bill ‘needs research’ our president. All that is left to he told Parliament’s defence ing followed and, once the pro- victimised in her performance more accountable to voters. multiparty forum looking into do now is for us to pray,” Qob- c o m m i tt e e the matter of a cess was concluded, Armscor assessment and had been hu- Du Plessis said electoral sys- electoral reforms . MPUMALANGA had put the drafting of the Witchcraft oshiwana said. report on Thomo’s behaviour would return to the committee miliated by public comments tems emerged over many years Leader of the Democratic Suppression Bill of 2007 on hold, spokesman Simphiwe Kunene The ANCYL’s Gauteng secre- was “sub judice” and he would with a full report. This should be made by Thomo. Press repor ts and therefore there was no need Alliance (DA) in Parliament, said yesterday. “We are at a stage where we think more tary, Lebogang Maile, yesterday decide whether or not to answer possible by about mid-July. claim the report deals with an to be despondent. “In the full- Sandra Botha, said the present consultation and research needs to be done,” he said. The local dismissed media reports that a their questions. Thomo has Molefe said it would be a incident at a “m a n a ge m e n t ness of time one would come electoral system promoted syco- government department would further consult interested parties motion of no confidence against been accused of abusing Arm- travesty of justice if those board happy hour” where back to elements … it probably phancy at the expense of quality such as traditional healers. Sapa Malema was “s tirring” in Gaut- scor’s GM for corporate affairs, accused read about it in the Thomo allegedly made jokes would not remain static in the l e a d e r s h i p. eng. However, ANCYL KwaZu- Ntahli Borotho. press before they had respond- about being the father of long term,” he said during a However, Botha said Very briefly … lu-Natal secretary Mxolisi She has been on leave of ab- ed to the findings of the report. Borotho’s baby. panel discussion on electoral re- electoral reform was presently Kaunda refused to say publicly sence for more than 10 months Democratic Alliance MP The report apparently rec- forms convened by the Helen not on the party’s agenda in THE health department was planning to publish a draft policy if he accepted Malema’s because of the breakdown of her Sayadelli Shah asked Molefe ommended she be allowed to Suzman Foundation. Pa r l i a m e n t . framework on African traditional medicines, director-general l e a d e r s h i p. relationship with Thomo. It has what court proceedings were return to work and her perfor- Leader of the United Demo- “The DA doesn’t believe Thami Mseleku told Parliament yesterday. Tamar Kahn “I cannot pre-empt what will been reported that the under way that made the report mance be reassessed, and cratic Movement (UDM) Bantu there is anything wrong with G A U T R A I N ’s media management strategy received a Gold Quill happen at conference,” he said. investigation into the matter, sub judice. He insisted the com- T homobe suspended while dis- Holomisa said he was in favour the core values of the elec toral Award of Merit from the International Association of Business “What you are asking is a matter launched by a subcommittee of mittee had the authority to ask ciplinary proceedings were of a “mixed system”, combining system or that it should be Communicators in New York on Monday. Business Day Reporter for internal ANCYL structures.” the Armscor board and support- and get answers to any ques- mounted against him. proportional representation radically altered,” she said.
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BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA AN CY 12 Page 26-June-2008 Y, DA BUSINESS
12 BUSINESS DAY, Thursday, June 26 2008 OPINION & ANALYSIS
PO Box 1745, Saxonwold 2132, South Africa Tel: (011) 280-3000 Fax: (011) 280-5505 e-mail: [email protected] BUSINESSDAY Letters to the Editor Thursday, June 26 2008 Mugabe no ‘hero’
SIR — It's important that the African Bankable advice National Congress (ANC) and other African liberation movements con- LMOST two years, 418 sub- better. But it has also put pressure demn Robert Mugabe for what he missions and a 588-page on the banks to clean up their acts, has done to the Zimbabwean A report later, the inquiry and during the two years there economy and what he is doing to into competition into banking has have already been some changes. opposition forces in Zimbabwe. at last completed its work. And The crux of the inquiry, It's embarrassing that Mugabe anyone who expected some sort of however, is the list of 28 recom- has used the African struggle and big-bang finding implicating SA’s mendations. Several require black emancipation to perpetrate such abuses and violence on his own action by other regulators, such as big four banks in nefarious anti- people. There is no way we can look competitive practices is going to the Reserve Bank, or government at what Mugabe is doing and re vere be disappointed. Chances are that departments, rather than by the him as a liberation icon. The ANC the commission’s recommenda- commission itself. So this is just and other movements must call tions won’t necessarily cut bank the beginning of a process. But Zanu (PF) what it is, a mutation of charges by all that much either. some can be implemented soon, the struggle. But for all that, this has been a and especially ifthe banks agreeto There is nothing admirable useful and important process, one do so voluntarily. The panel about Mugabe's racism, violence and that needed to happen in SA, just recommends that regulators evil. There is nothing African about as this kind of inquiry has impose a R5 cap on the charge for what Mugabe continues to do. He happened in other countries. And processing rejected debit orders. has been the worst president of the outcome is a good one, for Regulating prices in this way is a democratic Africa and does not consumers, for SA and, if they slippery slope — the competition deserve any respect from any rea- sonable person. handle it right, for the banks. authorities have always shied Takunda Hondo The inquiry, headed by Judge away from doing so, and for good Chegutu West, Zimbabwe Thabani Jali, did reach the conclu- reason. But there’s no reason the sion that bank charges in SA were banks couldn’t commit them- “higher than they would be at selves to this. Similarly, there’sa Missing in action competitive levels”, whatever strong case for them to get those might be. And it did sound a together (far be it from them to SIR — A few years ago during a time warning that the structure of the collude!) to implement the of heightened international crises, market was such that banks did proposal for a transparent method from Iraq to Zimbabwe, I a s ke d have the ability toabuse their mar- that allows customers to shop where Foreign Affairs Minister ket power. But if the panel mem- around and switch between Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was. At bers weren’t previously aware of banks. The inquiry calls for the the time, the only rattling we could just how sophisticated and com- Banking Association to es tablish hear was from permanent deputy plex SA’s banking sector is, and “generic customer profiles”, and minister Aziz Pahad, who nowadays seems to have been reallocated to just how central it is to the the banks should, ideally, bring the Zimbabwe desk. economy, they certainly are now. the competition commission a I cannot remember hearing from We have yet to see the full report. proposal on this soon. Dlamini-Zuma for a very long time But yesterday’s press conference Changing the way ATM fees are — save for her Polokwane attempt at at the Competition Commission’s charged, to the direct model that an African National Congress office. chronological age but instead draws offices, and the recommendations the inquiry proposes, will take That was also the last time I saw her its name from the fact that of the inquiry panel, reflect a clear time but can be done. And open- on television. We must live up to our promises pronouncements such as yours recognition that the competition ing up the national payments Is it that we have run out of closely resemble the puerile out- issues in the banking sector are system to new players, as the in- affairs of foreign interest or t h at SIR — Despite the constitution’s the rule of law in 1994, it is now bursts of a pimply pubescent who is difficult and often very technical, quiry suggests, is complex and will foreign entities are no longer lofty promises of rights and dig- incumbent on South Africans to incapable of contemplating the con- and in addressing them, regula- require the Reserve Bank’s nod. interested in us? Or maybe ministe- nity and the goal of substantive rise to the challenge of making the sequences of his actions. tors must keep the stability of the Yet Jali estimates these changes rial matters in that department are equality, the lived praxis falls dra- vision of our bill of rights real, On a continent such as ours, banking sector firmly in mind. could save consumers up to R1bn matters of quiet execution? matically short. and to defend the constitution where violence and war keep There are many examples: and its institutions. millions in misery, your u tt e ra n c e s So one important outcome of in fees. That’s significant. More I would once again like to ask: Where is D l a m i n i - Z u m a? xenophobic attacks; the unaccept- We need to guard against are completely at odds with what the inquiry process is that the is- significant still is that the inquiry BUSINESS DAY, 26 JUNE 2008 Stephen Twinoburyo able level of political debate with political forces that seek to sub- leaders of integrity and good sues have now been aired, publicly process could see retail banking Pretoria threats of violence; and leader- vert the constitution for their conscience should be espousing and and at length. That may help all of become a little more competitive ship crises in the police, public immediate power agenda and they place you in the same camp as us understand the banking sector and a lot more transparent. broadcaster, National Prosecut- those who attempt to subvert the that well-known tyrant to our imme- Another reason ing Authority and Scorpions. law to protect their ill-gotten diate north. Even the apparently small mat- gains. Where rights and freedoms Simon Carpenter SIR — That President Thabo Mbeki ter of parking bays for the dis- are undermined and ins titutions Wo o d m e a d would not take or be party to action abled in Mafikeng can act as compromised, a constitution can Electoral reform of any kind against President Robert metaphor for the crisis e n g u l fi n g end up as a worthless piece of Mugabe has been obvious for years. us: they are usually occupied by paper, signifying nothing. Snap him up HE ruling party’s belated stituencies — we shouldbe wary of The only question of interest it government vehicles, police vans, we will end up with leaders who As Thomas Paine said in Rights agreement that legislation making wholesale changes that leaves is why Mbeki has clung so or the luxury German sedans and regard themselves as above the of Man (1790): “A constitution is SIR — Dr Lucas Ntyintyane always Tthat allows elected represen- merely reintroduce the problems stubbornly to his doomed quiet SUVs of the self-important. law and entitled to the fruits of not the act of a government, but of contributes such interesting letters tatives to cross the floor to other they were designed to fix. diplomacy, and again you skirt it, The whole point of democracy power, regardless of how they a people constituting a govern- to your pages. Is it not perhaps time parties without having to consult It is common cause that when Failed diplomacy (June 24). is that the leaders are there to govern and the consequences of ment; and government without a to offer him a permanent column? the electorate undermines democ- the National Party came to power Has Mbeki, as many believe, sim- serve the community, and are not their policies. constitution is power without a You have excellent columnists, anointed to lord it over their “sub- Having achieved a great polit- racy and must go, has been broad- in 1948, and on more than one ply been the willing lackey of right.” much better than the drivel you find Mugabe all along? jec ts”. Because we do not fight for ical and moral victory in estab- Gideon Rossouw in many other publications. He occasion thereafter, it did so with- ly welcomed. However, the unde- How can your charge of “a chill- this basic principle of democracy, lishing a constitution based on Golfview, Mafikeng would be a fine asset. niably distasteful unforeseen con- out a majority, even of the then ing cynicism” towards democracy in Come on; make him an offer he sequences of floor-crossing should whites-only electorate. This was Africa be the full explanation? can’t refuse. not be allowed to obscure the fact possible because of the first-past- Mbeki is an ideologue, an African icy, but as his difficulties gathered at from wanting to defend himself in would be much better off hearing Herman Lategan that the practice was introduced the-post constituency-based sys- nationalist who at home routinely home with Zuma and his union sup- court to trying to avoid the facts him dedicate his life to peace or Sea Point for a reason, and scrapping it will tem. Those advocating the scrap- quotes the poet of decolonisation, porters, with their close links to becoming public knowledge democracy. Perhaps he could live to not make that reason go away. ping of proportional representa- Yeats, and abroad combats the union allies in Zimbabwe, it was — through a trial. root out corruption, or maybe even The writers of the constitution tion should bear that in mind. forces of neo-imperialism he and remains — an irresistible extra. Where you see smoke … spend his life striving for peaceful Not just Amazon recognised the need for a mecha- There are both beneficial and believes still threaten his dreams. Paul Whelan Joffre Papenfus coexistence between all South nism to cater for inevitable splits detrimental aspects to propor- Has this tied him to the dinosaur Umhlanga Pretoria Africans, free from the threat of SIR — I read James Winter’s letter and mergers of political parties tional representation, just as the Mugabe, come what may? v i o l e n c e? with interest, Amazon value (June between elections, and left it to Westminster-style winner-takes- Mbeki is also a resourceful and Awkward yet true Strive for peace Now that would be something to 23). the legislature to make a plan. all system has its pros and cons. ruthless politician, born and bred in live for. It is not only Amazon that will no the African National Congress. As Ari Mandelberg longer use the South African Post That plan has clearly backfired, Combining the two in such a way Mugabe has gone from bad to worse, SIR — Either journalists are s u ff e r - SIR — Much has been made of Julius Raedene Office but a host of other dealers as with floor-crossing bringing out that their worst effects are nulli- it would have been second nature to ing from reasonably widespread Ma l e m a ’s “kill for Zuma” comments, well. These are the ones I have con- the worst instincts in some politi- fied is an idea worth pursuing, and draw back from the intransigent amnesia, or they seem to be afraid of as well as the subsequent fallout. tacted: Camden Books UK; On cians, but there is still a need for a the Helen Suzman Foundation is Zanu (PF) leader. After all, Jacob Zu- stating the inconvenient truth. As far as I was concerned, how- Infantile Malema Tracks UK; Route 66 Federation and solution to the original problem. to be commended for keeping the ma has done so easily enough since In the not-so-recent past, Jacob ever, Malema’s admittedly violent Route 66 Super Store. Similarly, while there are debate alive. Whatever direction Polokwane. Why has Mbeki not? Zuma repeatedly called for “his day affirmation barely elicited a stifled SIR — Thank you, Julius Malema, A notice on Route 66’s website aspects of our proportional repre- this takes, the bottom line is that The truth is Mbeki has always in court" to clear his name. y aw n . for helping me to understand why reads: Continuing problems with sentation electoral system that the outcome of elections should known that his policy of maintain- Now, as the National Prosecuting The world is full of people who it's called the African National South African postal services have have failed to live up to expecta- give as many people as possible a ing the regional status quo carried a Authority slowly gathers more evi- are willing to “kill” and “die” for Congress Youth League. caused us to suspend deliveries of tions — specifically that MPs owe voice in Parliament, and MPs must domestic advantage for him: it kept dence and there is a very real pos- their causes. I was always a bemused by the any kind to that country, their loyalty to party bosses rather be directly accountable to those an opposition party of the left from sibility of a prosecution that could I am far more interested in what term “youth” when most of the inde finitely.” than being accountable to con- who voted them into power. coming to power in his own back derail Zuma's expected presidency Malema is willing to “live” f o r. members appear, physically, to be Dennis G Edgar yard. It was not the basis of his pol- of SA, he has changed his stance I believe the youth of this country adults. Clearly it has little to do with Johannesburg
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Mugabe bought their loyalty with land and other government largesse. heading SA’s industrial revolution. Only very personal punishments — THE INSIDER This happened at the expense of Z I M BA B W E ’s presidential runoff freezing their foreign bank accounts black consumers, but this was “not election is still scheduled for Friday. and denying visas — will make them specifically unusual.… If you read But President Robert Mugabe has recalculate their self-interest. Charles Dickens … you know that all already stolen the vote. We are also waiting for SA’s pres- industrial revolutions happened at For months, Mugabe’s henchmen ident, Thabo Mbeki, to act. Instead of the expense of someone.” have brutalised opposition politi- defending Zimbabwe’s people, he has He disagreed with remarks from cians and voters who dared to shamefully chosen to protect Muga- ANC president Jacob Zuma earlier imagine an end to the dictatorship. be. If SA again blocks the security in the conference, hosted by Radio On Sunday, Morgan Tsvangirai — council from condemning Mugabe, 702. “You cannot correct what hap- the opposition leader and winner of Washington and London must pened in the past, you can stop it the first round — withdrew from the demand a vote on a formal security from continuing, but you can’t cor- runoff. On Monday, he took refuge in council resolution that will force SA Maverick-minded brother rect the mistakes,” he said. Broad- the Dutch embassy while police and any others to go publicly on based black economic empower- raided his party headquarters. record as Mugabe apologists. of the more famous Thabo ment was a case in point. “There is in This cannot continue. The US, If the council fails to act, the US, ENTREPRENEUR and political my view no such thing as broad- Zimbabwe’s neighbours and the rest Europe and African governments analyst Moeletsi Mbeki does not based BEE…. It only benefits the of the international community must must all make clear that if the runoff seem to have much in common with people who are in power. The poor immediately press for a postpone- election is not delayed — so Ts va n g i - his brother, President Thabo Mbeki. don’t benefit from BEE … that is why ment of the balloting. We fear it will rai can campaign without the threat He told a business conference we are starting to see conflict among rapid-fire name changes the entity feeding the children…. It is that kind burning of property in the streets of take more than words to save Zim- of violence — they will no longer this week that the African National black people,” he said. has been through in recent years. of thing that we must turn around as Durban during an IFP protest. babwe. The international community recognise Mugabe or his government Congress had done an “e xcellent” “We are trying to kill a ghost, the It started out as UUNet, then part of a national call,” Manuel said. must back that up with punishments and will use all their powers to punish job designing SA’s political system past is past, it’s gone, you can’t bring became Verizon, and is now going to Wise words for Mu g a b e ’s generals and cronies. and isolate them. New York, June 25 but had not performed35 so well with it back to fight it.” be merged into MTN’s operations. Punch and counter-punch the economy. “But I never expected Mbeki concluded with some oth- “Their signage should use Velcro “An intellectual is a person who has them to do a good job of running the er unorthodox observations, backed backing, the name changes so BUT Manuel was not going to allow discovered something more inter- economy because none of them ever up by graphs and data. When he fin- of ten,” he said. the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) to esting than sex.”— English writer ran a business,” he said. ished, he was asked by the 702 pre- paint him into a corner about the Aldous Huxley (1894-1963). PRESS OMBUDSMAN: This publication has committed itself to maintain the Only his brother, who used to senter what topic was discussed at highest standards of journalism as embodied in the Press Code of Professional Profit not always healthy “kill for Zuma” threat made by Practice. If you believe we have failed to report news and comment accurately, work in their mother’s shop, had any family get-togethers. Mbeki smiled African National Congress Youth More wise words honestly and fairly, you may lodge a complaint with the Press ombudsman either by business experience before going and said: “The school performance ONE of the things wrong with South League president Julius Malema. e-mail, fax or letter, or by telephoning the office for the procedure to be followed. into government, he said. “And of our younger family members.” African society, Finance Minister Taking the punch, he agreed that “God made everything out of noth- when he gets kicked out next year by Trevor Manuel said in the National such statements were a “big ing, but the nothingness shows Tel: 011 788 4829/4837 Zuma … there will not be anyone left Velcro is on the Verizon Assembly this week, is that every- concern”, but delivered his own by through.”—French critic and poet Fax: 011 788 4990 who has even run a spaza shop!” thing has to be done for a profit … emphasising that other parties Paul Valery (1871-1945). e-mail: [email protected] Mbeki gave the country’s former NEWS that the networking compa- including such activities as school should also take responsibility for [email protected] National Party credit for setting up ny Verizon is being sold to MTN nutrition schemes. the statements and actions of their � E-mail gossip to: website: www.ombudsman.org.za for the press code top-class universities, and spear- prompted one wag to recall the “So profit is more important than members, such as the recent i n s i d e r@ b d f m . c o . z a
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BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA AN CY 9 Page 3-Feb-2006 Y, DA BUSINESS
OPINION & ANALYSIS BUSINESS DAY, Friday, February 3 2006 9 Only one HAMAS VICTORY/Patrick Seale Arts&Leisure way to KITCHENBOY policy — to be infinitely flexible. It has sustained its revolution- Israel needs to talk, not fight ary image with weapons of com- mercial entertainment: sex and deal with contrived critical controversy. There is no guarantee of any LTHOUGH last week’s Pales- Sheikh Yassin, a paraplegic in a profit in the theatre business. Yet T e h r a n tinian elections were widely wheelchair, was killed by an Israeli the experimental productions recognised as a model of missile. Dr Rantisi, Yassin’s successor as showcased at the Laager and the democracy — despite being leader, was also assassinated. Barney Simon have always pro- Quentin Peel conducted in the difficult Other Hamas leaders fared somewhat moted a view of society, relation- ...... Acircumstances of Israeli military occupa- better. Khaled Mashaal survived an ships and an abrasive use of lan- tion — the immediate western and Israeli assassination attempt by Israeli agents in guage, which is of the present and HE danger looms over US policy reaction to the spectacular victory of Jordan in 1997. The Israelis bombed the thus immediate and alive. — or rather, nonpolicy — Hamas has been one of rejection. home of Mahmud Zahar in Gaza City in Of late, there has been a dis- towards Iran, that if it goes The US and several European 2003, killing his son and crippling his turbing development. Dark eroti- wrong, and leads to an countries have said they would stop all wife. Muhammmad Deif, head of the cism and sexual perversions are inexorableT spiral of sanctions and aid to the already bankrupt Palestinian Hamas military wing, is said to have been S IF we understand any- explicitly explored in radical, military action, it could prove far more Authority if it were to be controlled or partially blinded and crippled by an thing that far back in time, visually provocative plays, which costly than the war in Iraq. It would serve dominated by Hamas, unless Hamas Israeli assassination attempt in 2003. A this is the year 4073 on the deliberately set out to make an only to justify any ambitions that the renounced violence and recognised This is by no means an exhaustive list. Chinese calendar, and the year of impact, to question and to shock. Tehran regime may have to acquire Israel’s right to exist. Scores of lesser figures have been assas- the dog, as it has been in 1958, Although often brilliantly staged, nuclear weapons and reinforce the Is this a sensible reaction to the rise of sinated or rounded up. Yet the move- 1970, 1982 and 1994 during my lovingly written and extremely power of the mullahs who dominate it. the militant Islamic movement? Or is it ment today dominates Palestinian pol- wretched life span. Some charac- well acted, their undertone of This week’s agreement to report yet another example of western — and itics. Israel and its western allies will have teristics of the dog are respon- social, moral and political com- Iran’s nuclear activities to the United Israeli — blindness to the political to deal with it, whether they like it or not. sible, compassionate, reliable, mentary is defined by violence. Nations Security Council, without any evolution of the Middle East? As Khaled Mashaal explained at a honest, pessimistic, anxious, A new generation of play- clear strategy about what to do next, is a In seeking to explain the emergence press conference in Damascus on overwhelming and nosy. wrights deliberately confronts a dangerous step in the dark. of Hamas as the leading force in Pales- Saturday, Hamas policy is to protect the Spring rolls are so well known self unprotected by a cocoon of In his address to congress, President tinian politics, some analysts have resistance, to free prisoners from Israeli in South African Chinese fast- respectability, restraint and affec- George Bush sought to make a clear pointed to the exhaustion, corruption jails, to reform Palestinian institutions, to food outlets and restaurants tion. In works that are original distinction between the activities of the and incompetence of Fatah, the national express and fight for Palestinian (mostly Cantonese), that few of and inventive, Mpumelelo Paul Tehran regime — “a small clerical elite movement that has dominated Palestini- aspirations, and to co-operate with Arab, us pause to ponder their signif- Grootboom, Mike van Graan and isolating and repressing its people” — an politics since the mid-1960s. Islamic and international partners. icance, as with most regional Lara Foot Newton reproduce and the “citizens of Iran”. To the former, This is certainly part of the answer. In Resistance, he declared, was a nation- foods from this ancient cuisine. largely aberrant behaviour with he said, America would “rally the world” contrast to Fatah, Hamas has shown al right, so long as Palestinians were They are eaten as a festive food at searing accuracy. Their aim is to to stop it acquiring nuclear weapons. To itself to be disciplined, dynamic and under occupation. this time, the beginning of the provide a general source of the latter, he declared: “America respects honest, and has built a network of social To those who called for Hamas to Chinese New year, which also enlightenment as well as intellec- you and we respect your country. We services that has gone some way to an armed resistance movement such as The Israelis maintain that there is no disarm, Mashaal said that the movement marks the advent of spring. tual stimulation. For some rea- respect your right to choose your own alleviating the hardship of a population Hamas. But there is another important moral equivalence between their own was prepared to form a Palestinian Though ingredients vary con- son, audiences abroad cannot get future and win your own freedom.” That under harsh Israeli occupation. factor that the west has been reluctant to state violence and the violence of their national army, in which all Palestinian siderably over that vast country, enough of these flawed, passion- was more than a hint that regime change Other observers have noted that the recognise. Notorious for its suicide opponents. But the truth is that murder forces would be merged. spring rolls invariably include the ate stories of our national life. remains on the US agenda. so-called “peace process”, conducted bombings of Israeli targets, Hamas is in is murder, whether it is perpetrated by The point is that the triumph of first young bamboo shoots and Yet there is another and on- Yet in all the debate over Iran’s under US auspices since the Madrid fact a reaction to Israel’s policy of the Israeli state, by an Israeli settler or by Hamas marks a Palestinian wakening — mushrooms of the season, as well going dilemma: who will travel to nuclear ambitions, far too little attention peace conference of 1991, has yielded continued state violence against the a resistance movement such as Hamas. a closing of Palestinian ranks around a as bean sprouts, water chestnuts, Newtown to watch these tales of is paid to why the country should want to nothing of substance to the Palestinians. Palestinians and their leaders. What the violence and counter- responsible but militant programme. spring onions, celery, carrot and fear, discrimination and resent- embark on such a confrontational path, On the contrary, Israel’s expansion It is a truism that violence breeds violence illustrate is that, in the asym- If Israel is sensible, it will deal with other new produce, paired with ment, of uncomfortable truths, and therefore how it might best be into the occupied West Bank has violence; that state terror and the terror- metric warfare between Israel and the this revitalised Palestinian movement by whatever meat is at hand, like argument and affront? For these persuaded not to. Nor is there much continued relentlessly. In 1991, there ism of armed groups are mirror images of Palestinians, nonstate actors such as dialogue, negotiation and concession, pork, ham, beef, chicken, prawns, are, unavoidably, emotional awareness that the policy is popular. were fewer than 100 000 Israeli settlers each other. Hamas — and Hezbollah in Lebanon — rather than by brute force, because force crabmeat and oysters or combi- issues, and it will take serious and More important still is Iran’s abiding on the West Bank. Today, there are US President George Bush has called are seeking to establish a system of alone will not give Israel security. nations thereof. clever marketing and a publicity sense of insecurity. It has nuclear-armed 260 000, and a further 200 000 in and on Hamas to renounce violence and mutual deterrence with Israel. Their Interestingly, I haven’t found a team alive to possibility to per- states to the east (Pakistan and India), around Arab East Jerusalem. recognise Israel’s right to exist, but he message is: If you kill us, we will kill you. � Seale is a leading British writer on the recipe with fish, though vegetar- suade both the innocently inter- north (Russia) and west (Israel). It was Fatah has been powerless to stop failed to call on Israel to renounce state Israel’s policy has been to eliminate Middle East, and the author of The ian versions abound. ested and the theatre freak to buy forced into a devastating eight-year war Israel’s massive encroachments or to terror and to recognise a Palestinian state Hamas by killing its leaders, but the Struggle for Syria; also, Asad of Syria: The The easiest spring-roll pastry tickets for plays that deal with with Iraq, which cost hundreds of protect the Palestinian people, which with its capital in East Jerusalem. One election results have proved this policy to Struggle for the Middle East; and Abu to use is the frozen commercial physical abuse and verbal cruelty thousands of lives. Above all it feels also goes some way to explain the rise of appeal is useless without the other. be counterproductive. Nidal: A Gun for Hire. square sheets, or one could make and appear belligerent and threatened by America. “What is the only thin pasta dough from egg and dispiritingly negative. country in the world, apart from Canada, flour. The real thing is round and During February, COAL YARD, that has the US on every border?” they it is practically impossible to largely in Sotho, is on at the ask in Tehran. “Iran,” is the wry re p l y. ISRAEL AND PALESTINE /David Bruce mimic the specialists who grab a Laager; and Foot Newton’s HERE Because Washington refuses to talk to big handful of sloppy water-flour AND NOW, a study in eccentric- Tehran, that vital security question is paste, dexterously wipe a thin ity, fractured relationships and simply never addressed. Britain, France film of paste in a circle onto a hot loneliness, runs at the Barney and Germany, the group which sought to skillet and almost instantly lift the Simon. Book at Computicket. negotiate a diplomatic solution, cannot paper-thin wafer off the heat. Mary Jordan offer any reassurance that Bush is not Strange crossroads in a holy land bent on overthrowing the government. CANTONESE SPRING ROLLS Israel is the one country that feels FILLING: 1½ cups shredded meat FILM directly threatened by a nuclear Iran, but HE establishment of the state be able to effectively administer Pales- little choice but to work through mech- state of Israel carried not only the psychic (chicken, pork or prawn); 1 cup Israeli leaders are desperate not to be the of Israel in 1948 took place in tinian territory. anisms that involve co-operation and scars of the Holocaust, but of centuries of bamboo shoots, shredded; 6 wa- S OTS I must be the most ones to take unilateral action to bomb the immediate aftermath of Recognition of the Israeli state would dialogue with the Israeli state. persecution in eastern Europe and ter chestnuts (shredded); 1 cup dynamic of recent local suspected facilities, even if they could. the Nazi genocide, a time of appear to be a difficult step for Hamas to Its own assumption of power in the elsewhere. Palestinian violence, and the bean sprouts; 1 cup spring T productions. Its momen- They know they would face renewed desperation for Jewish peo- take, particularly if this is in the absence Palestinian territory therefore presents a refusal on the part of groups such as onions, shredded; 4 dried Chi- tum and sense of purpose come international isolation, even if there were pleT. But the process of establishing a of any Israeli commitment to making major challenge to Hamas. Recognition Hamas to acknowledge the Jewish state, nese black mushrooms, soaked from its skilful, focused use of sympathy in Washington. Jewish state in Palestine involved tram - serious concessions to Palestinian of the Israeli state would appear to reinforce the insecurity of Jews in Israel, for 20 minutes and shredded. emotional and dramatic intensi- Most analysts doubt that military pling on the rights of the Palestinians, claims. Even if one finds compelling the constitute a denial of everything that thereby serving to buttress the entire MARINADE: Salt and pepper; 1 ty, rhythm and, of course, the action could do more than delay Iran’s and its existence is experienced by Pales- Jewish motivation for wishing to estab- Hamas has stood for. In the face of an system of beliefs which reinforces the tsp sugar; 2 tblsp cornflour; 2 tsp desperation and dislocation of its nuclear ambitions. Sir Michael Quinlan, tinians as an ongoing injustice. lish the state of Israel in 1948, it is pos- opponent whose rule has consistently existence of the Israeli state. light soy sauce; 1 tblsp oyster antiheroic protagonist. former permanent undersecretary at the From a view that accepts both sides sible to see the justness of the Palestinian been maintained by overwhelming force, Suicide bombings may have chal- sauce; ½ cup chicken stock; 1 Basing his script on an Athol UK defence ministry, told the Herzliya have a moral validity to their claims, rejection of the state it may have seemed lenged the Israeli state on a military level, tblsp rice wine or dry sherry; 1 tsp Fugard novel which, at a guess, conference outside Tel Aviv as much last what then is the significance of the of Israel. While some that violence was a but every suicide attack also reinforced sesame oil. had a different racial impulse, week. “To be lastingly effective, such victory by Hamas in last week’s Palestinians have necessity if Pales- Israeli fear and insecurity, and the inabil- PASTRY: 12 frozen spring roll writer-director Gavin Hood has action might well have to approach the Palestinian elections? accepted the idea of ‘Its own assumption tinian goals were ity of many Israelis to see that there is any sheets; oil to deep-fry; 1 egg, updated the plot from its original Iraq pattern of imposed regime change,” Hamas was created in the late 1980s a two-state solution of power ... therefore ever to be realised. possibility of a future that isn’t beaten (to seal edges). setting in the ’80s, to the present. he said. But given the far greater size and and early 1990s with a stated commit- this has been a But while one guaranteed by their ability to dominate Quickly stir-fry the meat for a Tragically, as far as prospects national cohesiveness of Iran, it would be ment to establish an Islamic state political and practi- presents a major cannot say that vio- the Palestinians militarily. minute or two in a lightly oiled for young black men and women a much tougher job, he said. He also throughout the territory of Israel-Pales- cal compromise. On lence has been use- Circumstances may therefore force wok over high heat, separating are concerned, there has been suggested that if Iran used nuclear tine. It rejected the idea of engaging in the level of historical challenge to Hamas’ less in pursuing on Hamas some grudging recognition of the strips with chopsticks. Add little improvement in their weapons against its regional neighbours peace talks with the Israeli government — if not contempo- Palestinian claims, the state of Israel, and compel it to the vegetables and cook for an- circumstances, black economic it would be committing “regime suicide”. on the basis that it rejects the legitimacy rary — justice, the violence has rein - relinquish violence as a means of pur- other minute. Open a hole in the empowerment and the rise of a The problem in dealing with Iran is of the Israeli state. It has also been Palestinian people forced Israeli inse- suing its ends against the Israeli state. If middle and pour the marinade middle class notwithstanding. that threats no longer seem to have much associated with violence against Israel, have a legitimate claim to authority over curity. While it may seem to the Hamas can find the political space to do therein. Cook until thickened and Tsotsi (Presley Cheweneya- effect. Economic sanctions that might hit most recently through suicide bomb the territory in its entirety which is po- Palestinians that violence has been their this it may help to dissipate the stran- add sesame oil. Transfer to a hol- gae) is a member of that disaffect- Iranian oil production seem very unlikely against civilian targets. Though it agreed tentially greater than that of the Israelis. only effective bargaining chip, violence glehold of the ideology of fear among Is - low bowl and cool completely. ed, frustrated, undereducated in present market conditions. China, to a self-imposed cease-fire last year it But now that it has come to power it reinforces the Israeli ideology of fear and raelis and break the log jam in the Israeli Place a spring-roll skin in front and neglected generation: with Russia and India are all opposed to such has not relinquished violence as a legit- would appear that Hamas will invariably the belief that Jews will always face political imagination deriving from it. of you with one point to you and few, if any, options, he leads a sanctions because of their own imate tool against Israel. have to acknowledge Israel’s existence to persecution unless able to ensure their To many Israelis Hamas represents spoon two teaspoons of filling criminal gang. commercial and energy ties to Tehran. So Having now assumed control of the some extent. It will have to establish safety through military force. the personification of their worst fears. across the bottom half, just below One night, he hijacks a car, are many European Union countries, Palestinian Authority, two big dilemmas some type of relationship with the Israeli Similarly, in the mind of many Jews, Could it ironically be the case that its the centre. Roll from your point, leaving the woman driver seri- and the Iranian regime knows it well. which Hamas faces relate to recognition a d m i n i s t ra t i o n . rejection of the idea of Israeli as a state assumption of control in the Palestinian folding over filling, and fold over ously wounded. The discovery of The reality is that the Iranian regime of the state of Israel and its commitment Also, it appears that Hamas will have seems to imply a rejection of the right of Author ity could constitute the break- the sides, tucking in under the a baby in the back seat creates a does not believe the big stick is going to to violence as a means for pursuing its to make some commitment to relin- Jews to live as people, the legitimation of through that would create the potential filling. Brush the edges of the re- testing situation for David (his Rbe used. So theelevant only answer lies in ends. Role players such as the European articlesquishing violence as a primary means of persecution against them, and to carry for greater fluidity in the situation, and maining flap with egg before fin- given name). persuading the government that it has no Union have indicated that they will cut achieving its objectives. As the govern- with it an implied threat of annihilation. eventually a more enduring peace? ishing and sealing the roll. Deep- He has to weigh the conse - need of nuclear weapons, because it no off funding to the Palestinian authority ment of Gaza, and the set of terr itor ies Along with the biblical legends, the fry in medium hot oil until gold- quences of what to do, not the longer faces a threat of regime change by unless Hamas recognises Israel and which form something of a patchwork belief that Jews are a threatened and � Bruce, a senior researcher at the Centre en, drain and serve with your least of which being the probable BUSINESSforce. Only the DAY, US is capable3 FEBRUARY of giving 2008renounces violence, and it appears that quilt with Israeli settlements on the West endangered people is foundational to the for the Study of Violence and Reconcil- favourite dipping sauce. reactions of his cohorts who such a guarantee. Financial Times both steps will be necessary for Hamas to Bank, it appears that Hamas will have very state of Israel. The founders of the iation, writes in his personal capacity. Braam Kruger admire him for his macho, no- [email protected] nonsense approach to crime. His newly found tenderness — a sure CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRA- sign of weakness — might well TIONS, February 11: The official result in a leadership struggle. New Year’s Day was on January But the inadvertent kidnap- 28, but February 11 will be a blast ping and ensuing dilemma not Time to bring democracy back to Parliament with fireworks displays, dragon only bring unexpected responsi- dances and food galore. Note the bilities, but also offer David an streets will be closed for traffic. opportunity for redemption as he E THE people are our thinking about what voting to the current proportional parliamentary term. The preterm qualities we, not the party, seek in NEW CHINATOWN: from sunset wrestles with unfamiliar feelings allowing South Afri - Parliament really ought to be representation party list system. meeting would serve as a means an MP. The founding 1994 elec- in Derrick Ave, Cyrildene. Tables stemming from the abuse he can parliamentary doing, not just with respect to its This has the potential to better of previewing the business of tion propelled candidates on to outside @ Fisherman’s Plate, 18 suffered as a child. democracy to fail pallid record of executive facilitate local democratic link- Parliament, including forthcom- party lists on the basis of a host of Derrick Ave. Tel: (011) 622-0480. There are other considera- Wus. To illustrate the point, how oversight but in its relationship ages and electoral accountability. ing bills and committee meet- qualities — ranging from their KITCHENBOY SUPER CLUB. Im- tions, too: Miriam (Terry Pheto) is many readers of Business Day with the electorate. Indeed, it may even produce MPs ings. It would serve as a clear and role in the liberation struggle, possible to organise, but many forced into becoming a surrogate have participated in Parliament, While Parliament’s constitu- incentivised to act with the democratic means of renewing loyalty to party leadership and will go, including those of us at a mother and it is she who awakens attended a parliamentary port - tional oversight powers are integrity and bravery on matters the mandate from the electorate. voter sex appeal. The ensuing 12 table outside Fisherman’s Plate, David’s conscience. folio committee meeting, or even considerable, for it effectively to of principle and c o n s c i e n c e, Four constituency clinics per years have seen the steady haem- so swing by and say hi. Compelling and unsentimen- met the MP who is assigned to hold the executive branch rather than as sycophantic term should be held to hear and orrhaging of talent out of Parlia- LIST OF RESTAURANTS and tal, Tsotsi has a climactic final their constituency? accountable presupposes the TIM m a n i k i n s. consider concerns, complaints ment. Some have been eased out SHOPS of New Chinatown sent to confrontation. After some deeply Our constitution requires that electorate itself holds the legisla- HUGHES Beyond urgent electoral and proposals from constituents. by party leaders, others promoted your return e-mail address. affecting scenes, David has to the National Assembly facilitate ture accountable. It assumes a reform, however, the people need All candidates would have to pre- to higher office and many more decide whether doing what is public involvement in the legisla- clear relationship between the to exercise real power over their sent themselves to an annual have caught the all-stations gravy T H E AT R E honourable is worth the risk or tive process and the work of people and their public represen- public representatives. One way public meeting to give an account train to self-enrichment. whether he would be better off committees. It has done this to an t a t i ve s. system has contributed to the of achieving this would be of their attendance and work in Twelve years into our democ- reverting to ruthless type. exemplary degree, yet the public Yet the democratic deficit of growth of a yawning and danger- through the introduction of a Pa r l i a m e n t . racy it is time open a national dis- HANKS to a core of com- With its convincing, natural is failing to exercise this consti- the South African Parliament is ous void between MPs and the social charter between publicly MPs would be required to cussion about every aspect of our mitted performance mak- performances, atmospheric pho- tutionally protected privilege, that MPs are accountable princi- electorate which diminishes our elected representative and the publish and outline what they MPs’ behaviour, character and T ers, the Market Complex in tography and splendid, appropri- and not just from apathy but also pally to parties, not the people. democracy. It leaves the mar - electorate. All prospective MPs had achieved for their con- qualities. This process will require downtown Johannesburg has ate soundtrack, the powerful because Parliament is increasing- This pathology can be addressed ginalised little choice but to b y- should be required to sign a stituents and to set out their pro- all MPs themselves to place pub- long been the cradle of ground- Tsotsi certainly merits the ly irrelevant. Public faith and trust in a number of ways. pass Parliament by going to the candidates’ charter. Failure to do posed programme for the forth- lic service, ethics, professional- breaking new drama. Detailed accolades it has received as well in this cornerstone of represen- The first is electoral reform. streets, and it allows the powerful so ought to preclude nomination coming year. Further, candidate ism and diligence at the core of work on the craft and quality of as any future ones. tative democracy has diminished The 1996 constitution merely to avoid Cape Town and lobby and election. Failure to adhere to MPs should be required to pub- their day-to-day activities, rather acting has been developed Phillip Altbeker to the point where Parliament requires that the electoral system directly in Pretoria and Sandton. the provisions of the charter lish and declare their direct and than milking the system and the through workshops set up in the needs to be scrapped in its cur- should produce representation in For the health of our parliamen- would trigger a constituency right indirect interests and assets to rule book for all they’re worth. Laboratory; and all the hidden � Much of the above review rent configuration or else funda- Parliament in proportion to tary democracy it is thus time to of recall. their constituents. These should To achieve this will require the activities that go into the pro- appeared in September when mentally reconceptualised. voting. While proportional repre- revisit the recommendations of The charter ought to contain a also be published on the parlia- South African public to rekindle ducing of plays go on unper- Tsotsi was released in order to A starting point would be a sentation tends to produce a the electoral task team chaired by set of basic iron-clad undertak- mentary website. All flights and the fire in the belly for democracy. ceived and largely disregarded, qualify for an Oscar nomination. national debate on the reasons more inclusive and fair electoral Van Zyl Slabbert. ings. MPs would be required to trips undertaken at public It is time for the people to bring but result in the encouragement It was noted that the film would for public faith in Parliament outcome, party-list systems The majority recommenda- attend all sessions of Parliament, expense must be declared in a democracy back to Parliament. of new writers. be re-issued this year to capitalise plummeting and what can be g a l va nise party discipline and tion of the task team was for SA to save for accepted labour law public register and accounted for From its beginnings in 1976, on the hoped-for nod from the done to resuscitate belief in the tend to diminish constituency move to a mixed electoral system provisions. All candidates would at constituency level. � Hughes is parliamentary re - the whole programme of work Academy, which this week named institution. The hardest, yet most l i n k a g e s. that would introduce multi- undertake to conduct one public Finally, we need to thoroughly search fellow at the South African and influence of the Market has it as a contender for the Best For- fundamental, shift required is in The South African electoral member, constituency-based meeting before and after each re-examine and enunciate the Institute of International Affairs. rested on a consistent general eign Language Film Oscar.
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BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA AN CY 10 Page 1-Feb-2007 Y, DA BUSINESS
10 BUSINESS DAY, Thursday, February 1 2007 OPINION & ANALYSIS
PO Box 1745, Saxonwold 2132, South Africa Tel: (011) 280-3000 Fax: (011) 280-5505 e-mail: [email protected] BUSINESSDAY Letters to the Editor Thursday, February 1 2007 Join the club Selective news
SIR — Peter Bruce is welcome to the SIR — Your editorial does not deal High-cost airline developmentalists club, a small with the most important element of unheeded group of development public perception — how the news is NCE again, our national propped up by its parent despite economists whose voice is seldom reported to the public, Politics of carrier, South African Air- ongoing insistence that it’s a stand- heeded in the new SA, The thick end perception (January 30). Oways (SAA), finds itself in alone entity. of the wedge (January 29). A case in point is your opening financial trouble. And again, the Erwin’s rationale is that SAA’s Bruce is surprisingly outspoken for paragraph, which refers to several of national treasury looks set to wade balance sheet needs to be strength- someone in charge of SA’s most the crime-related stories that have in and rescue the ailing airline. Just ened so the airline can buy more conservative business paper and been prominent over the past week. how much longer can this go on? planes to take advantage of growing which has consistently preached the All of them have been reported in sub - The answer, quite simply, is for as passenger numbers. To do so, SAA primacy of the free market. Now he stantial articles in your paper, except long as the state continues to own will have to be recapitalised, prob- says: “Our capitalism is rotten… it for the Institute of Security Studies’ sows distrust… our economic system report, which has made no other the airline. It was not that long ago ably to the tune of R4bn. Last year, faces a chronic crisis of legitimacy… appearance in your paper. that the treasury and Transnet had SAA CEO Khaya Ngqula indicated too many people are poor”. This is astounding for two re a s o n s. to bale SAA out after it lost billions the airline would raise this cash on Bruce wants a “more democratic First, this is an independent analysis due to a disastrous hedging pro- the capital markets. The fact that the capitalism, much wider ownership,” based on reported crime data; in other gramme which saw it dipping into treasury is being asked to consider and to “give poor people the means to words based on facts, not perceptions. technical insolvency twice. supporting the airline suggests join the economy”. How correct he is. Second, the good news this repor t Those were exceptional circum- finance from the markets would We do need to recraft our capitalism, suggests should be part of the infor- stances and it is quite clear that had have come at a punitive cost, given sit down, and chart a new economy. mation the public processes when it is government and Transnet not the state of SAA’s balance sheet. Some of us have been arguing for developing perceptions. By not re- stepped in, SAA would have gone So once again we have excep- years and years for just such an porting on it you are not allowing your bankrupt. Apart from the obvious tional circumstances and SAA has to approach but orthodoxy prevails, readers to access real information and distress, loss of jobs and loss of past be saved. This time around, howev- strongly supported by the media, so possibly adjust their perceptions. investment, there is actually a case er, government needs to set SAA that almost all of SA is now stuck in a This is the type of manipulation of to be made for allowing SAA to go management clear targets that are record which goes, “growth, growth, information for which you criticise under. With a true open-skies publicly agreed to and known. wealth, wealth, and the devil take the government and others. policy, the slack would quickly be There is no need for yet another new hindmost”. The rich thinking of deve- Can you honestly say that this does taken up by private operators, a sce- strategy aimed at turning the airline lopmentalism has died on the altar of not influence your readers’ (the nario that would allow for far greater around. There have been more than growth and profit. public’s) perception in a certain competition, improved customer enough of those, and Ngqula’s focus Yet even the World Bank’s own d i re c t i o n ? auditing arm has confirmed what Leonard Seelig service and stable, possibly even on people, patronage and profit is anti-poverty campaigners have been Cape Town lower, prices. perfectly acceptable. A plan based saying for a long time, “growth That, quite clearly, is not going to on raising morale, boosting ser vice, strategies have not always helped happen. Government is obviously cutting costs and i m p rov i n g enough to improve job opportunities SAA’s price war determined to keep SAA afloat efficiencies is the right way to go. and living conditions of the poor”. Like prisoners in our own homes whatever the cost to the taxpayer, But it needs to be implemented In short, growth must go with SIR — Whatever Alec Erwin says arguing that it performs a strategic by focused, dedicated managers development or it only benefits the SIR — I believe the top guns of this When corruption is uncovered it’s should be tested through the principle function in establishing business who understand the business. The rich, steadily polarising society. country need feedback once in a blamed on either apartheid or of what you cannot verify is a lie, New and tourism links. That being so, the problem with the many turnaround Prof Ben Turok MP while. political conspiracy and is no fault of SAA cash mayday after ‘very tough’ challenge is to implement a strategy strategies adopted by SAA is that Cape Town In the past few years we have seen theirs. year (January 31). His statements that will lead to the airline making none has been given enough time to a political freedom that has led to There have been casualties since about SAA’s money problems will sustainable profits so that it can take hold. Each time a new CEO has crime oppression; a more liberation. Rapes of women and probably prove as true as the support ultimately be sold off. been appointed — and there have De Soto lite unbalanced distribution of the children have sky-rocketed. Yet local of Eskom almost a year ago. Despite several turnaround been five since 1994 — a new strat- economy that favoured a few; and a police stations are under-resourced Recent media reports have high- strategies, the airline remains in egy is adopted. Enough already. SIR — Peter Bruce is correct in his basket full of aspiring pieces of as cops flock to political events to lighted several issues at SAA, among financial trouble. At the interim So while we support the plan to assertion that “our capitalism is legislation that only work against the ensure that one precious minister is other questionable payouts to exec- stage, operating costs were up 7% ensure that SAA is commercially rotten”, and “if we value our democ- poorest of the poor. safe. In the meantime, millions have utives, and most notably the manner while the net loss stood at more viable, the end goal must be the sale racy we should recraft our capitalism A lot of our brothers got no one to look after them. Millions in which SAA is in effect waging a themselves black economic empow- who ought to be enjoying this liber- than R650m and its balance sheet of the airline. Last year, Ngqula to buttress it,” The thick end of the price war in the domestic market. wedge (January 29). erment jobs that earned them ation are prisoners in their own As any reasonable businessman was decidedly shaky. The signals suggested that SAA should be listed But I’m not sure about his money and allowed them to live in homes, afraid even to sleep at night should realise, price war tactics rarely coming from Public Enterprises by 2010. Erwin has left the door “modified De Soto” solution. Sure, we mansions, drive fancy cars and rub lest they become crime statistics. prove worth the long-term cost — this Minister Alec Erwin are that SAA is open for a listing, but is vague on the should make poor people wealthier, shoulders with their former Baas. While a few are grateful to has been clearly proven by US car heading for a significant loss for the timing. Setting a clear deadline for a but collateral just makes banks lazier Unfortunately, it deprived them of President Thabo Mbeki and makers’ woes. full year. It is unclear how much listing, subject to market condi- than they are already. the most important thing — respect . government for 1994, for black I believe the true reason behind business day, 1 februarySAA’s 2007 low-cost carrier, Mango, has tions, is the best way to ensure Also, if you give the state’s assets to I have observed the business empowerment and affirmative SAA’s money problems is bad contributed to this, but suspicion management pulls out all the stops the poor, most will on-sell them to world blossoming at the expense of at the politicians who participated in action, for grants and reconstruction management, plain and simple. remains that Mango is being to get the airline back on track. anyone with the right money, local or African people — who are sinking the struggle, despite their faulty and development programme They are asking the taxpayer to f o re i g n . further and further into debt — to ways. If anyone dares to do so, the houses and infrastructure, many are foot the bill for their price wars and The state is the guardian of SA’s live like a white man. same group has vowed to overlook wailing silently. the recent launch of a low-cost arm, assets that the constitution says A number of people have pledged any crimes committed by the Phumla Khanyile and this is nothing less than direct belong to us all. If we get to under- never to point a finger of accusation liberators and defend them to death. Soshanguve state participation to the detriment of stand what this truly means, we could other carriers and the travelling Electoral reform start collecting the rent and get rid of p u b l i c. the taxes that impoverish us all We have more than enough true HE African National Congress any rebels to defect. Why, then, is (especially the poor): VAT and PAYE. priorities for tax revenues. (ANC) is remarkably relaxed the ANC-led parliamentary com- Michael Jacques that by definition, corruption and im- proxy on “terror” ( January 30). Freedom-loving people need to Joffre Papenfus Tover the continued existence mittee tasked with reviewing floor- Craighall Park morality are unacceptable. Period. Was it “terror” or was it terror when vote into power governments they can Pretoria of the floor-crossing provision, crossing dragging its heels? If it is felt that such things as ac- my son’s young friend Nicholas Rowe trust in these circumstances. given that it has an increasingly Much research has already been ceptable levels of corruption and im- and nearly 4 000 other innocent This is why George Bush has lost angry tiger by the tail. done on floor-crossing, its implica- A fine point morality exist, then government people were killed in the September much of his support but even a less I’m not listening The last national election held in tions and the alternatives. An elec- should legislate and tell citizens what 11 “incident”? Was it “terror” when radical government in the US, and SA the country — last year’s municipal toral task team headed by Frederik SIR — Deputy President Phumzile the “acceptable” levels are. hundreds of innocent Africans were for that matter, will be unable to SIR — It is with dismay that I read poll — sent out a strong message Van Zyl Slabbert made recommen- Mlambo-Ngcuka should be taken to This message under the page one killed in Nairobi and Mombasa by contain terror in a fully open way. I about John Perlman’s resignation and task for her apparent poor choice of photograph is in stark contrast to the hidden bombs? Need I go on about would rather see a man lose his visa that of Nikiwe Bikitsha, Perlman quits that the practice of allowing politi- dations in 2003, and Parliament’s language, as quoted in your front- headline proclaiming zero tolerance. London and Madrid? than a child lose his l i f e. SABC after list furore (January 30). cians to change party allegiance own research section recently page caption and Thieving officials Zero tolerance hardly equates to “a No matter how the US may define I would also like to ask Brown why In Perlman’s case, even though without the inconvenience of hav- released a report on the subject. Yet “cross the line of decency” (January level of immorality that cannot be terror, there is no doubt that certain the Hamas government should be one does not always agree with his ing to get a mandate from the elec- the Slabbert report has been left to 31). And I really want to believe that it tolerated” and perhaps in this case Islamic groups, including al-Qaeda, recognised by any other state. sentiments, his programmes are torate is deeply unpopular. The vast gather dust, and committee chair- is exactly that: a poor choice of words. Business Day is just as guilty as the are waging a campaign which would Hamas has an official policy of not always honest and objective. Which is majority of opportunistic “crossti- woman Vytjie Mentor said this week If it is so that she “criticised public deputy president in sending confus- be defined as terror by any sane only refusing to recognise Israel, but more than one can say about the tutes” who stood in that election that the most recent document had servants who stole from the poor, ac- ing signals. person. also of refusing to recognise Israel’s management of SABC. In my opinion failed to retain their council seats. convinced her the issue was so cusing them of corruption of the high- Giovanni Lorenzi The problem with dealing with right to exist. Snuki Zikalala’s reporting, even from The way floor-crossing has been complex that a solution would not est degree, a level of immorality which Cape Town such a campaign is that it is, by its very Hamas wants Israel obliterated, his early days on the SABC, has left a implemented is raised repeatedly in be found before the next floor- cannot be tolerated, and must be nature, highly secretive and insidious. which seems sufficient reason to lot to be desired so how he can head political opinion polls as one of the crossing window in September. rooted out” as reported, then the mes- It is therefore extremely difficult to refuse recognition to Hamas. lf more up the news department is a mystery. issues that is undermining ordinary She is correct in saying that floor- sage that is being sent is that a “certain One-sided terror contain and, as much as f re e d o m - countries had refused to recognise the When Perlman leaves, so will I as a people’s faith in democracy. Ana- crossing cannot be considered in degree” of corruption and immorality loving people may hate it, not all equally legitimate Nazi government at listener to SAfm, which I have woken lysts have also pointed out that if the isolation from the electoral system is acceptable. SIR — Karima Brown’s column is far counter-measures will be taken in the an early stage, millions of lives might up to every morning from Charles schism that has developed between — that is what Slabbert said too. If Clearly, this is not the message that too one-sided and ill thought-out to open and with due process of law. have been saved. Fortune’s days. the ANC and its alliance partners that demands a drawn-out negoti- she wants or intends to convey. be taken seriously and does her no What process of law did Rowe and Richard Becker Donald Thomas ever results in a new party being ation process, a moratorium on The deputy president should note credit, Government willing to be US thousands of others enjoy? Muldersdrift Illovo formed in opposition to the ANC, floor-crossing should be declared floor-crossing will make it easy for while it is being thrashed out. YOUR LETTERS: Business Day welcomes letters from readers. Normally, all letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. The shorter a letter, the more likely it will be published intact. Letters should be sent by e-mail to [email protected] (no attachments please) or faxed to (011) 280-5505. E-mailed letters are preferred. Only signed correspondence will be published. Writers should include a daytime phone number. SECOND TAKE
the AU when it was launched five years ago was to show the world that Africa could look after itself. It has travelled a THE decision of African leaders meet- long way since the days of the Organ- SA needs leader with ideas that ing in Ethiopia on Monday to block isation of African Unity, which earned Sudan from assuming the leadership of the reputation of being a dictators’ the African Union (AU) was good news club, concerned only with policing bor- for the credibility of an organisation ders and not what went on inside them. dedicated to promoting democratic But good intentions are a far cry lie beyond the tired old binaries governance on the continent. To have from effective peacekeeping, and chosen Sudanese President Omar al- having performed well in their first Bashir to head an organisation tasked military deployment in Burundi, the DURING the subject to persis- which is what makes Roussouw’s therefore seek to incorporate in my isation. By extension, I am suggesting with stopping the crisis in Darfur, AU’s 7 000 peacekeepers have not course of his tent disregard by warning all the more important. own thinking Rossouw’s critique, I that whoever inherits the leadership which his own troops have fomented, covered themselves in glory in Darfur, critical response most leaders and He urges us to go beyond the still think that leadership plays a mantle must go beyond the party and would have been self-defeating. where 200 000 people have been killed to last week’s t h i n k e r s.” trappings of eastern collectivism and crucial role in whether societies reach mobilise the public around his or her A further sign of the AU’s maturity and 2,5-million driven from their column, Johan It is indeed a western individualism to construct a their promise or not. John F Kennedy vision. After all, the ANC does not rule was its decision to give the homes. What is needed now is a cease- Rossouw makes long time since a new South African modernity rooted was president for only a good three the country for its own sake, or at least chairmanship to Ghana. This was not fire. Tens of thousands of people are at an exceptionally fresh idea has in the experience and ideas of all our years but, through word and deed, set should not be doing that. just for sentimental reasons, such as risk of dying because the aid agencies important point come to motivate communities. In many ways the black the US on an innovative trajectory for Surely, so much has gone wrong the 50th anniversary celebrations this cannot get through. about the lack of and galvanise consciousness movement was one the remainder of the 1960s. He over the past few years that any year of Ghana’s independence, or the Somalia is another source of the innovation in our South Africans on such attempt, and it can also be said declared that Americans would put reasonable men and women would return home of its most celebrated son, AU’s peacekeeping migraine, although political culture. a large scale. Even that the Freedom Charter was our someone on the moon before the end pause to take stock. Great leaders are Kofi Annan. Ghana has emerged well the performance of US troops with the He argues that XOLELA the once-promis- own way of adapting modernist, of the decade, and they did. often those who are able to break from from the peer review process, a scheme warlords in Mogadishu hardly provides the tripartite MANGCU ing idea of the universalist, liberal ideas to our What I would like to know from all the provincial stranglehold and in which African states voluntarily a role model. In both Darfur and alliance is charac- African renais- conditions, and it can further be those who want to run this country is interests of their constituencies to assess each other’s political and Somalia, the AU needs to establish a terised by a clash sance faltered argued that African Marxism was an simple and straightforward: what is embrace a larger and broader public. economic management. military as well as a political track between two under the weight attempt to adapt an eastern philos- your animating idea, outside the age- What this means of course is that One of the founding principles of record. London, January 31 imported 19th- of bureaucracy, ophy to African conditions. old tropes of liberalism, nationalism whoever takes on this task must be an century ideologies:37 “In the one corner technocracy, cronyism, nativism and The question is, where is that kind and socialism? ANC heavyweight— someone whose we have liberalism’s starry-eyed belief corruption. And all of those things of innovative thinking in the here and How will that animating idea voice is likely to carry weight inside in the market as highest arbiter of all have been explained away by calls to now? What are the animating ideas of inspire our children and their and outside the party. It will not help PRESS OMBUDSMAN: This publication has committed itself to maintain the spheres of life, represented by the one kind of collectivism or another. our times? What are we doing to children? In my view you can take the to be influential just within the party, highest standards of journalism as embodied in the Press Code of Professional Mbeki inner circle. In the other, It is indeed truly amazing how harness the collective genius of our race stuff only so far — whether you or influential only outside the party. Practice. If you believe we have failed to report news and comment accurately, socialism’s lingering faith in the state individual self-interest is passed off as communities in this era of global want to hold on to it as a defensive The new leader must thus be a tran- honestly and fairly, you may lodge a complaint with the Press ombudsman either by as the source of all progress. Both the collective interest without as much as innovation? The reliance on tech- mechanism against criticism or as a scendent leader who belongs equally e-mail, fax or letter, or by telephoning the office for the procedure to be followed. market and the state in fact weaken anyone raising any question to the nocrats and consultants or a few way to hold on to privilege. to the ANC and to the rest of us. Tel: 011 788 4829/4837 people by treating them as atoms would-be guardians of the collective individuals in government has proved At a certain point our society is Fax: 011 788 4990 without a communal identity. interest. Both those who seek to hold to be a dead end. The ANC’s call for going to make or break on the basis of � Mangcu is visiting scholar, Public e-mail: [email protected] “Meanwhile, the greatest resources on to power and those who want to community is nothing short of an the quality of ideas that emerge from Intellectual Life Project, at the [email protected] for truly inventing another form of take over rely on the trope of admission that its technocratic all of our communities. University of the Witwatersrand. He is website: www.ombudsman.org.za for the press code modernity in SA — our communities collectivism to make what are essen- philosophy of rule has not worked. One such idea could be how to also a nonresident WEB DuBois Fellow and indigenous languages — are tially individualistic grabs for power, However, while I take seriously and make the ANC a truly public organ- at Harvard University.
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Relevant articles BUSINESS DAY, Friday, August 31 2007 15 BUSINESS DAY, 31 AUGUST 2007 OPINION & ANALYSIS Blossoms Economy’s belly too vulnerable to global stings
and floor Shawn Hagedorn less than capital flows seem to suggest. Such constrain future spending without inciting The regulatory debates in the US and supplied rather evenly by Mexico, the Middle ...... decision makers have allocated more funding bankruptcies. Defaulting subprime loans Britain are focusing on decreasing reliance on East, Africa and Venezuela. Whereas the US to emerging markets across asset classes. account for about 1% of the total US variable-rate lending. Have we forgotten how taps the Middle East for about 13% of its oil, UNISHING SA for imprudent US These top-down strategies then allocate home-loan market. the Asian currency crisis rapidly drove local SA is dependent on this region for 75% of its crossing in lending practices is unfair but speaks funding proportionately across emerging Where the US economy is virtually home-loan rates from 12% to 22%? needs. According to a recent Wall Street volumes about “shifting sentiment” nations with modest over- and under- immune to a declining dollar, the South If such threats were managed by investment Journal article, “Iran supplies almost half the in international investment flows. weighting. Capital flows increase even to African economy is hostage to rand volatility. committees, as in the US, and not oil SA uses”. The US and others are advancing the spring PThe excessive exposure of SA’s underlying countries where funds are neutral or bearish. The best gauge of long-term investor overleveraged home buyers, the risks to the sanctions out of fear Iran could set off a economy to market swings justified Large funds interrupted their executives’ confidence is foreign direct investment (FDI). economy would be modest. nuclear arms race in the region. i n ve s t o r s ’ re a c t i o n s. holidays to recalibrate portfolios in response Regulation-supported pricing power has Regional challenges and potential The common misperception is that oil is In a steady market, investment to the US home-lending crisis. Volatility been the common characteristic of SA’s large financial or political upheaval in any corner fungible and that a supply disruption can be HE coming of spring in this country committees delegate more risk taking to surged as long-term fundamentals gained FDI deals. Excluding the investments in the of the planet discourages long-term capital managed by buying contracts on oil coincides with the season of political subordinates. Portfolio managers and traders greater sway. Local markets remain attractive telecommunications, banking, airline and flows into SA. The effect on SA of the Thai exchanges. But oil that flows through courtship. The political hormones that dominate flows through searching for for speculators but key fundamentals automotive sectors, FDI has been currency crises was contained — at pipelines invariably travels from point A to are responsible for the desire to switch incremental returns. When markets suddenly deteriorated during the long bull market. insignificant for 20 years. SA today still substantial cost. But there were never policy point B. The geopolitics of oil involve many allegianceT from one political party to another recognise a large underanticipated threat, Housing is a prime example. reflects the broad strokes of a sanctions- options that would have spared SA’s virtual pipelines. tend to flow investment committees assert more A top criticism now directed toward US based economy — myriad competencies economy from the emerging-market The US credit markets appear to be heavily in the authority to focus on capital preservation. regulators and bankers is that they permitted with global competitiveness lacking. contagion. That won’t be true if the next stabilising. But when the next global shock month of Septem- South African assets have been attractive loans to low-income individuals with The local economy has few safeguards. political crisis is Tehran-based. The US would hits, expect South African assets to be ber, resulting in to investors over the past few years of unusual questionable credit histories at variable rates. Avid consumerism has been funded through again be at the centre of such an event and repriced downwards, reflecting the behaviour that is global stability. International capital chased Such loans account for approximately 10% of variable-rate lending and interest rates are again investors would appreciate how deeply underlying economy’s excessive exposure to generally offen- returns with the expectation that, in a down- US home-loan lending. These exposures are increasingly tied to emerging market sheltered that economy is from global shocks swings in the oil, currency and bond markets. sive to the voter. draft, liquidity would be adequate to exit minor in the US relative to the corresponding sentiment as the trade deficit puts increasing — particularly compared with SA’s. The US It will be termed “a shift in sentiment”. Because of the positions, and that a flight to safety could risks here. US consumer loans are usually reliance on international investment flows. receives just more than half its oil from the politically amo- trigger gold buying and support the rand. fixed-rate. Thirty-year home loans remain the Local capital markets’ sophistication two most stable countries in the world — � Hagedorn is an independent strategy AUBREY rous conduct of SA has impressed international investors norm. Rising interest rates primarily accommodates short-term speculation. t h e m s e l ve s and Canada. The remainder is a d v i s e r. some of our MATSHIQI public represen- tatives, leaders of “victim” political parties have in the past been moved by their chagrin to use sexually explicit language. One LAND OWNERSHIP/Zweli Mkhize described the floor-crossers as prostitutes, while Arts&Leisure another spoke of how these politicians treated voters like used condoms. The main beneficiary FILM simply reminds us that the law allows it. Person- ally, I am all for political romance as long as it is within a system that exposes politicians to the inconvenience of by-elections. The current pro- When larney land grabbers portional representation and floor-crossing sys- tem treats parliamentary seats as dowry to be offered by the crossers to political parties that benefit the most from these arranged marriages. Because ours is a system characterised by the colossal dominance of the African National and Nimbies get talking Congress (ANC), it is not surprising that the ruling party is so deaf to the outpouring of opposition from ordinary citizens to floor-cross- SHBURTON is a small, peaceful people who felt inadequately compensated ing. Single-party dominance and the weakness of suburb 10km southeast of Pieter- and still wished to lay claim to the land from Sandra Oh and Heather Graham in Cake. the opposition have lowered the appetite of the maritzburg. It has an a t t ra c t i ve which they were evicted. These people ANC for electoral reform of the kind that would view of the bushveld over the returned when they felt the land they were HE serious/adult filmgoers who have ensure that floor-crossing is sanctioned by voters. hills and valleys across both sides evicted from was again available. been complaining that their tastes and Aof the N3 freeway. The properties are large, These are distinct from those who were T needs are being neglected by local NE is not blaming the ANC for its with good h o u s e s. offered alternative land by the commissioner distributors and exhibitors will definitely not dominance but for its failure to use its Having been a farming area in the past, for land claims and restitution, but have not be cheered by this weekend’s releases. Omajority to give effect to a more demo- some properties have had land claims yet had such land made available to them. Only two movies open today. Of these, cratic model. For me this should be a model that registered against them. Recently, more This group wished to know that the govern- Rush Hour 3 (which will be reviewed in The is partly proportional and partly based on the blacks have settled in the p re d o m i n a n t l y ment would not overlook them, in this Weekender) is a rehash of a tired formula. The constituency system. But the greater danger is white community. The property boom and climate, while they waited patiently for the other offering is CAKE, a film that is not only a that of the possibility of single-party dominance recent plot subdivisions have stimulated the restitution process to run its course. couple of years old now but also seems to for too long, and the effect this might have on the suburb to grow rapidly, attracting new Similarly, there was a category of informal have failed to obtain a commercial showing quality of our democracy. I must hasten to repeat owners. Because of urbanisation, many farm- dwellers, who settled illegally much later but anywhere else; nevertheless, the Ster Kinekor that the ANC is not to blame for single-party ers left and sold to developers. Parts of the are now protected from eviction by land weekly e-mail claims that the company is dominance — it results from the democratic land have remained vacant while owners owners through the Prevention of Illegal Evic- proud to bring it to our screens. determination of the will of the majority of South await rezoning applications for industrial and tion Act. According to the act, after occupying The reasons for the deservedly ignomin- Africans. It results also from our history of colo- residential development. land for six months, alternative land has to be ious fate of Nisha Ganatra’s movie e l s e w h e re nialism and apartheid and how the majority was A few months ago, Ashburton was visited made available before they are evicted and are obvious — it is a romantic comedy that is affected by these evils. Furthermore, these evils by a curious phenomenon. People, mostly their matter is before the court so they cannot not only even more predictable than most prioritised race in a manner that, even in our young, clad in expensive clothes, leather be touched by anyone. other films in this abused genre, it is also postapartheid context, is partly responsible for jackets, gold chains and designer clothes and Many of my neighbours expressed relief unfunny, packed with stereotypes verging on the coincidence between race and electoral out- driving sleek cars, descended on Ashburton, and surprise that both the local ANC and the caricatures, and totally unoriginal. comes. The chickens have come home to roost. cut up plots, marked them and started municipality took a stand against the illegal For the record, Cake stars Heather This does not mean, however, that the ANC is erecting shacks on privately owned land. occupation, as they inwardly suspected the Graham as Pippa McGee, an adventure- the only party that benefits from the coincidence It was a small group to start with, but illegal occupation was being politically loving, independent-minded commitment- between race and electoral outcomes. In this re- numbers grew to several hundred as the instigated. It has to be said that during phobe who has to take over the editorship of gard, the ANC and the Democratic Alliance (DA) weeks went by. The crowd featured many apartheid, many laws were defied and illegal one of her father’s magazines after he gets ill. are two sides of the same coin and the DA must self-employed workers, civil servants, police actions were directed at an illegitimate Given her antimarriage opinions, the laws not deny its contamination by the outcome of the and municipal employees — all were visibly institution. Today, no government will stand dictating the course of rom-coms demand 1999 elections. In this election, the DA benefited wage earners. aside and allow such illegal activities. Those that she be put in charge of Wedding Bells, a from the coincidence between electoral out- The crowd was so well informed that who were fearing a repeat of occurrences that nuptials-centred publication. comes and the voting patterns of white people. when mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo went to have taken place in Zimbabwe must know She immediately sets about undermining Having said all this, it is not my view that the caution them, they told her to leave them that we are different countries. the periodical’s ethos by promoting articles ANC and the DA will always be the main alone. Since they were on private property, The main lesson for me was that there are about the high divorce rate and the beneficiaries of current voting patterns. If I am they did not need her services, they said. many people who are affected by market consequent need for women to ensure that correct in thinking that in the long term there are But, they coolly pointed out, she should failures in the provision of accommodation. they protect themselves by entering into a shifts that may occur among black and white not worry, because as soon as they were set- Since Pietermaritzburg was declared the pre-nup (the equivalent of an antenuptial people that may alter current electoral realities, tled they would approach her for water, san- capital of KwaZulu-Natal, demand for prop- contract) so that they are not left penniless the possibility exists that other political parties itation, electricity and other municipal ser- erty has caused rents and prices of residential after their marriages end in divorce. will in future benefit from the coincidence vices, at which time her attention would be accommodation to skyrocket. There is a Tassie Cameron’s screenplay introduces between race and election results. we l c o m e. category of low-income earners who are Ian (David Sutcliffe), on whom Pippa’s father The growth of a black middle class As residents, my wife and I received calls excluded from obtaining government low- had relied, and, in accordance with the rules increasingly removed from the reality of from several people living in villages outside cost subsidised houses, while commercial of the game, he and Pippa dislike each other apartheid offers opportunities for the DA, in the the area, asking if we could confirm land has not happened. One by one, property Lack of communication creates fear, mis- stock is unaffordable to them. personally and professionally. medium to long term, to gain greater access to availability in Ashburton and whether some owners waited for their property to be trust, uncertainty, unrealistic expectations How do we solve their problem? Many Various cliched characters are thrown into black voters. The corollary is the possible land could be reserved for them before occupied before the court granted them and serious grievances, which pose a risk to suburban dwellers have developed a the mix, the most offensive of these being emergence in future of an impulse among black people took it all up. eviction orders. nation building. There is a need for dialogue “Ni m by ” (not in my back yard) attitude . Frank (Keram Malicki-Sanchez), the manda- voters to support new or old alternatives to the Meanwhile, a few of my neighbours called One creative entrepreneur from to understand the challenges of the new The attitude of Nimbies is that these tory gay friend and ally; others on Pippa’s ANC after a long period of withdrawal from active frantically to ask what residents should do. Mkhondeni reported a business boom as the democracy and the sacrifices communities market failures are not their concern. Yet the side include Lulu (Sandra Oh) and Roxanne participation in the political process. Was it the municipality or the African demand for building material outstripped need to make to sustain the rainbow miracle. solution lies in an integrated housing (Cheryl Hines); while Taye Diggs, rejoicing in For the DA, the challenge is to avoid positing a National Congress (ANC) that was sending local supplies — poles, nails, corrugated iron, There is inadequate knowledge among approach. We all need to change attitudes, the name Hemingway Jones, is there to vision of a postracial future simply as a means to people to the area? If not, what was being the lot. Inevitably, all property owners hired many in the black community about how and property owners need to be prepared to complicate, or ra t h e r delay, the i n e v i t a b l e. avoid dealing with the fact that race still remains done about it? private security to expedite the evictions. many government processes work. The help the government to find solutions to Graham has proved herself to be an able a predictor of the social and economic position of The sense of panic and frustration was Emotions ran high as bulldozers flattened recent land invasion was fuelled by accommodate such categories. Otherwise comedienne — she had an unforgettable turn many who are part of the ANC’s support base. If audible in their voices, similar to that in the structures and insults were exchanged. misinformation that the land was freely there may come a time when no authority as a terrible actress willing to do anything to Helen Zille’s idea of an “opportunity society” is voices of property owners who called for When all was quiet, a meeting of residents available through a scheme the government has enough power to stop such illegal land get a part in Bowfinger, opposite Steve Mar- based on the illusory notion of postapartheid advice on resolving the crisis. was convened. It turned out to be a popular had approved. Hence, many of those who i n va s i o n s. tin, and left a fleeting impression in Boogie starting-gate equality, black voters will continue The police commissioner was emphatic show, with residents, property owners, came to mark plots were decent and Serious accommodation problems in Nights as Roller Girl — who should be offered divorcing their interests from what they believe that this was a matter between the land informal settlers, government and recently respected citizens who did not associate poor black communities are as much their better parts in better movies than this the DA stands for — dishonest engagement with owners and the occupants. The police would evicted land occupants all attending. The themselves with criminal activities. problem as they are a problem for suburban derivative claptrap. issues of race. For the ANC, the challenge is to not enter unless the landowners applied and crowd spilled o u t s i d e. While informal settlements are associated dwellers and wealthy property owners. If Cake is released on the Cinema realise that black people, as the key “m o t i ve were granted an eviction order by the court. This was the first ever meeting of black with poverty, many suburban citizens The secret that made our 1994 “m i ra c l e ” Nouveau circuit, it will be final proof that the f o rc e ” of the “national democratic revolution”, In that case, police, armed with a charge for and white community members to come associate an influx of black people with possible is the realisation that SA belongs to brand is being demeaned but, wherever it is have free political will, which they will exercise to trespassing and a court order, would evict together in large numbers to discuss a crime. Yet being poor and black does not all who live in it, black and white. shown, it exemplifies the current practice of the benefit of a party other than the ANC if its occupants and demolish shacks. common problem. The meeting started at an make you a criminal. We need neither Nimbies, nor larney land foisting inferior or inadequate products on government fails to give satisfactory effect to the The procedure was duly followed but no emotional swing, heated to a climax with There is frustration associated with the grabbers. To sustain our democracy, we must the paying public. promise of “a better life for all”. sooner was the order granted than the cheers and heckles until, at last, reason injustice of past evictions and the extent to all make a contribution. Another instance of an attitude that occupants migrated to the next vacant plot. prevailed and allowed us to extract lessons which the current government land restitu- borders on contempt for customers o c c u r re d � Matshiqi is senior associate political analyst at The law is clear, no urgent court order can be from the whole saga. tion process satisfactorily addresses the � Mkhize is the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for on Saturday night at the Joy of Jazz Festival 38 the Centre for Policy Studies. granted in anticipation of a land invasion that I can sum it up in a word: communication. trauma of dispossession. Hence, there were finance and economic development. when the Count Basie Band, imported at great expense, played for only about 30 m i n u t e s. One would expect that whoever was inspired enough to get the main sponsors motivated will now become involved in explaining why the audience was short- changed in this way. The shallow lessons of recent books on business On the other hand, it may be up to the publicists who, having done such a great job attracting a house that was less than half full HE poolside is twice as ers to do it are completely different. yourself that your own experience The business people whose If you look at the reader reviews on even with all the guests, could apologise or pleasurable this year because That lesson seems relevant to the shows that anyone can do it. insights I value mostly think that busi- Amazon you find touching public explain why the musicians and the fans were swimming is so much more pile of bad books by my deck chair. After all, anyone who is Spitz can ness is complex, that there are few expressions of gratitude for the insulted so outrageously. enjoyable. The credit goes to I have been skimming the clutch be an Olympic swimming champion, universal recipes for success, and inspiration people say they have There is an old story about someone who, pioneersT of new methods of of recent guides to entrepreneurship. and anyone can be a lottery winner if explain that much of their time is found in them. This is the role such having sat through a series of trailers, swimming instruction, Steven Shaw Most are spin-offs from television they buy the right ticket. spent gently coaxing the best from books can play. remarked that all the good movies are coming and Terry Laughlin. p ro g ra m m e s. There is nothing to be learnt from people. Such entrepreneurs do not No one can seriously imagine that next week. As it happens, this happens to be In my experience, most swimming The message of all is that anyone memorising the banal tips provided make it onto the small screen. Those by reading the memoirs of a sporting true because the fare will pick up a bit soon, lessons are delivered by charming can do it, which is indeed the title of by these books — aim to succeed, who appear on television are, of hero they will learn how to be good at albeit from a pretty low base. young Australians, excellent swim- two of these books. show determination, have a good necessity, people with outsized per- football. But some kids who read Phillip Altbeker mers who have been at home in the I do not know whether skill or luck idea, work hard. John Paul Getty, sonalities who exude confidence and these books may be fired with ambi- water since they were young children. was the more important contributor asked for the secrets of his success, possess a talent for one-line answers. tion to succeed at football, or in life. They regard those who flounder in the to the development of Coffee Repub- said it all: “Strike oil.” If you are look- JOHN That is how Sir Alan Sugar and The mistake both authors and water with incomprehension. They lic, the success of cellphone magnate ing for common characteristics of KAY Donald Trump become the public publishers of business books make is say “watch me” as they vanish Peter Jones, or of publisher Felix these successful entrepreneurs, you face of business. It propagates the to confuse a book about “what I did” towards the other end of the pool. Dennis or the coups of property learn that none of them can write well idea that the main quality required is with a book about “how to do it”. The But what bad swimmers need is to speculator Duncan Bannatyne. Nor and all of them are vain. I am sure you Television finds an even more aggression. This emphasis is result gives us insight from someone’s be taught to do the things good do these authors know. do not need to write well to succeed in unrepresentative sample of those misleading for those who want to go biography only accidentally and has swimmers do naturally. Bad But whether you are successful business. Perhaps you need to be who have made it in business. Only a into business, and reinforces the little to offer in terms of useful advice. swimmers must overcome their fear because you are skilful, like swimmer vain: or perhaps vanity is just a few entrepreneurs aspire to be movie prejudices of those who are instinc- The skills of the coach are not the of water and learn to balance and Mark Spitz, or successful because you characteristic of the self-selected stars. Fewer still commend tively hostile to it. same as the skills of the practitioner. float. The skills of being good at some- are lucky, like a lottery winner, you sample of entrepreneurs who write themselves to producers as having Perhaps I am too hard on these That is true in both the pool and the thing and being good at teaching oth- can easily, and mistakenly, convince books about their experiences. star quality. books about entrepreneurship. boardroom. Financial Times
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BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA AN CY 13 Page 17-Oct-2007 Y, DA BUSINESS
OPINION & ANALYSIS BUSINESS DAY, Wednesday, October 17 2007 13 Why we World dare not ease pressure on Burmese junta
must keep David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner The immediate priority is to end the Association of Southeast Asian Nations commercial dealings with specific state can only be part of a wider process aimed at ...... violence and secure the release of all of the (Asean) countries express their revulsion at companies with close ties to the regime. On creating a genuine process of reconciliation political detainees. At the same time, it is vital the recent violence by the security forces. Monday, the EU agreed to target those sectors in Burma. The key role must be played by the HE world has reacted with horror that the regime works urgently with the China, as well as joining the security council from which the regime draws much of its Burmese people themselves, in all their our eyes on to the Burmese regime’s brutal United Nations (UN) special envoy, Ibrahim statement, directly supported Gambari’s revenue, including timber, precious metals diversity. This will be demanding; Burma, as crackdown against its own people. Gambari, to establish a genuine process of recent visit to Burma. Other neighbours — and gems, and made clear that whether some scholars have said, is a fragile Monks, nuns and ordinary citizens national reconciliation. That process will, of India and Thailand, for example — can also further measures are imposed will depend “unfinished mosaic”, with dozens of ethnic the ground tookT to the streets peacefully in protest at the course, need to be very different from the play a vital role in helping to build a better entirely on the regime’s willingness to allow minorities, idioms and cultures. deterioration of the economic situation in the widely discredited National Convention future for the people of Burma. genuine political progress in Burma. Bur ma’s regional partners have country. They were met with guns and Pro c e s s over which the regime has laboured It is clear that, for Asean in particular, All the signs point to a regime that clearly understandable concerns that the necessary batons. We cannot know for sure the number for many years without winning the turning a blind eye to such a repressive feels under pressure. These new measures political changes should not endanger UR national debate is vigorous, inde- of those who were killed but it is likely to be confidence of Burma’s population. It must government would jeopardise the whole will help to maintain that pressure, by regional stability. So the process must be pendent — and often blind to the lives many more than the regime is willing to involve Aung San Suu Kyi and the leaders of process of democratisation and development focusing on the business interests of the broad-based and inclusive. And, as Aung San of grassroots South Africans. Over the admit. The whereabouts and welfare of many all Burma’s political opposition and ethnic of this region and damage its credibility. regime rather than the wider population. Suu Kyi has herself said, the county’s military past few weeks, those of us who report, who have been detained remains uncertain. groups: and it must have international Last month, as the demonstrations grew The EU also expressed its readiness to must play an important part in a future O analyse and com- And meanwhile the persecution continues: legitimacy, with the UN and Burma’s in intensity, the European Union (EU) made help Burma in its process of transition: democratic Burma. But the military ment have been por- the security forces carry out new raids and neighbours closely engaged. it clear that it would not hesitate to impose should the regime show its willingness dictatorship must end. ing over claims that new arrests every night. Everyone who has influence on the tougher measures against the regime if it genuinely to work for reconciliation, we will The Burmese people have been denied Vusi Pikoli’s suspen- It is vital that international pressure is Burmese regime must now use it to convince resorted to force against peaceful remove restrictive measures, engage more democracy and economic development now sion was an abuse of maintained on the Burmese regime. The it of this new reality. The regime has now seen demonstrators. Sadly, the regime failed to fully on development and look for new areas for 45 years. They have taken to the streets power. And so we generals may have hoped that by shutting off a very strong statement by the UN Security heed this and many similar warnings. So of co-operation. once again, and in the face of horrific should — we need to the internet and targeting the media they Council deploring the violence, calling for the Eu ro p e ’s foreign ministers met on Monday to In the meantime we will continue to violence, to demand a better future. It is high know whether politi- could hide their crimes from the eyes of the release of all political prisoners and a discuss how to toughen up sanctions against provide vital humanitarian assistance to the time their leaders responded. STEVEN� FRIEDMAN cal interference was world. If so, they have failed. This horrific supporting genuine dialogue with all the Burmese regime. Existing EU sanctions Burmese people in order to alleviate the used to protect the repression has provoked disgust and anger concerned parties and ethnic groups in already included a travel ban and asset freeze suffering of the population. � Miliband is British foreign secretary. police commissioner across the globe. Burma. The junta will have heard the on specific individuals and a ban on EU sanctions and incentives, of course, Kouchner is French foreign minister. because we cannot trust our justice system unless we know that everyone is subject to the law. But, while we have been doing that, we have been ignoring claims of a far more immediate threat to citizens’ rights — allegations that police directed violence against STUDENT PROTESTS/Henk Kriek people using their right to protest. Arts&Leisure Claims that police use violence to put down demonstrations and strikes have been made con- WINE stantly since the current wave of urban protest began. (Even before then, social movements said police were victimising them when they exer- OME time in the mid-1990s the cised their rights). Official reaction insists it is the Lack of state support puts Australian wine industry produced a protestors who are violent — President Thabo S document — Strategy 2025 — designed Mbeki has condemned demonstrators for resort- to serve as a blueprint for the next 30 years. It ing to violence. Given these conflicting accounts, turned out to be more than a p re s c i e n t it was unclear whether police were violating scenario planning exercise. Focusing on the c i t i ze n s ’ rights or simply enforcing the law. ground that Australia needed to traverse if it It may be a lot clearer now, after a re c e n t universities in no-win spot was to meet its objectives, Strategy 2025 be- march on municipal offices in the Durban area by came the key driver of the country’s national members of the shack dwellers’ m ove m e n t wine effort. Its vision was simple: by 2025 the Abahlali baseMjondolo. This time, a Sunday TUDENT protests at the University Finally, in addition to the considerable industry was to achieve A$4,5bn in annual newspaper reported witnessing police attack the of Johannesburg (UJ) and Wits costs attendant on supporting under- sales by being “the world’s most influential marchers without warning. And a statement by University over the past two weeks prepared students, UJ has the burden of and profitable supplier of branded wines”. 11 church leaders, including Anglican Bishop have underlined the financial correcting for the apartheid deficit by Ten years after it set the course, Strategy Rubin Phillip, also based on eyewitness accounts, constraints under which the man- spending large amounts of resources to 2025 saw the Australian wine industry arrive insisted marchers were victims of “a completely Sagement of universities are having to operate. upgrade the former campuses of Vista and at the destination it was expected to reach 20 unprovoked violent attack (by police) on people They have also exposed the systemic crisis the Technikon Witwatersrand. The govern- years later. Wine sales passed the $4,5bn gathered to submit their demands to the mayor”. within which universities are located. ment, of course, had provided some but not threshold, though profitability criteria had The statement is the clearest indication yet by At UJ this past week, student protesters all resources for this upgrading and the not been met. The planting programme to an independent source that, in some cases at prevented access to three of the university’s institution has been forced to dig deep into provide the fruit for the massive litreage least, police are, as they did under apartheid, us- four active campuses, which led to university its own pockets to make up for the deficits. increases necessary to achieve the turnovers ing force to suppress peaceful protest by citizens management obtaining an urgent court Given these realities, UJ is confronted by a was fast-tracked by the export roller coaster. exercising their essential democratic right to di- order from the Johannesburg High Court to financial deficit. This deficit arises because Total tonnages available to producers rect their concerns to their elected government. prevent further disruption and threats to life UJ is obliged to pursue a number of projects doubled in this first decade. Perhaps it was and property. Subsequent clashes with the critical to the promotion of academic excel- the unexpected speed of this advance, or F WE care about protecting our freedoms, the police led to the arrests of 40 students and a lence. We are trying to address this by actively crises beyond the control of the Australians, church leaders’ statement should have trig- number of injuries as police resorted to seeking third-stream income opportunities, which left their key customer markets more Igered urgent calls for a full government ex- rubber bullets, water cannons and, on one among them research and innovation part- fragile than any stock tidal wave could have planation and a national debate on how to ensure occasion, stun grenades. nerships with commerce and industry, and anticipated. Either way, from 2003 onwards that everyone enjoys the right to tell the govern- At residences outside UJ’s Doornfontein scholarships and bursary funding from a the pipeline was running just a little too full ment what they want from it as long as they act campus, which is just a few hundred metres variety of stakeholders. But it must be recog- so that deep discounting became the norm. peacefully. Instead, it has been greeted with from Ellis Park, one of the 2010 Soccer World nised that the possibilities are limited. The success in terms of value sold would silence. While the incident was reported in local Cup venues, tyres were set ablaze and police Research and innovation partnerships are have been sufficient reason for the stakehold- newspapers, it has not featured in newspaper stormed one of the residences to arrest constrained by high student numbers and ers who drafted Strategy 2025 to get together opinion pages or radio and television talk shows students who were pelting police with bottles the burden of teaching that this imposes. again to tweak their blueprint. But the com- in which we discuss our national concerns. and other objects from their windows. One Moreover, unlike in the US, SA does not bination of volume and revenue targets being This should trigger serious soul searching student jumped from a third-storey window have a culture of philanthropy. Despite the met at the expense of profitability made the among all of us who try to influence the national to escape the confrontation and at least one growth of corporate social investment, it gathering inevitable. The next stage of the debate. Have we become so intrigued by the bystander was injured by police action. remains largely disjointed and ad hoc. process was convened by Kevin McLintock, manoeuvrings of politicians ahead of the ANC’s The protests also came at a time when Besides, universities are but one of the vast former marketing director of Douglas Green December conference that we do not notice students are preparing for final exams and number of institutions requesting support and deputy chairman of McWilliams Wines. when credible sources claim that police launched while, for the most part, academic life pro- from corporations. The tax formula also does Directions to 2025 was released a few an unprovoked attacks on citizens? We must de- ceeded at all UJ campuses — except for two not encourage large-scale corporate giving to months ago and is essentially a necessary bate and analyse whether politicians are threat- days when two of the university’s campuses, universities, with the result that third-stream modification. It has been produced with the ening the freedoms we won in 1994. But we need Doornfontein and Bunting Road in Auckland income will not for the foreseeable future buy-in of all the major Australian industry also to remember that those freedoms are real Park, were formally closed — student leaders compensate for declining state subsidies. bodies and it will see in place a programme to only if they are enjoyed by all of us; that means and management were having difficulty Ultimately, it has to be recognised that the market wine at a higher price point than pre- that we must take a lively interest in whether the finding common ground for negotiations state owns the public universities in SA. It is viously. “Di re c t i o n s ” also undertakes to rights of grassroots people are respected. around the substantive issue behind the the sole shareholder and it has an obligation streamline the way the different sectors of the There is a certain irony in our failure to take protests, fee increases. to ensure that its universities have sufficient industry interface with each other. seriously allegations of police violence against During this fortnight of discontent at Wits funds to deliver on their mandates. I spent last weekend working with my demonstrators. During a weekend discussion of and UJ, the education department kept a low At a time when the country is starved of Masters students at the University of Cape threats to media freedom, an ANC representative profile but Education Minister Naledi skills. At a time when there is great need for To w n ’s (UCT’s) business school attempting argued that media were out of touch with most Pa n d o r ’s public comments that management the development of thinking and responsible to draft a comparable plan for the South South Africans, who were concerned about their should be engaging student leaders on the future leaders. At a time when there has never African wine industry. A document — V ision daily battle for a better life, not the issues which issue of fee increases and that they should be been greater pressure on universities to leave 2020 — was produced five years ago under interested journalists and analysts. sensitive to the plight of disadvantaged no learner behind by opening their doors to the auspices of Winetech, the body charged His goal was to get the media not to worry students were unfortunate. It was interpreted any learners with potential. At a time when with the industry’s research and technology about protecting our freedoms. “Ordinary peo- by student leaders as a sanction for their the state is generating a surplus, its subsidy to transfer. No one — to my knowledge — took ple”, he implied, “do not care about alleged abus- protests and as support for their position. In higher education is being reduced. this blueprint seriously. Certainly, no es of power, only about what the government is the light of this, it is important to highlight This is the zero-sum game that inevitably organisation looks to it as a performance doing to better their lives.” We should take up his the state of affairs at universities, and the leads students to the barricades, provoking directive. This is partly because, unlike the challenge to reflect the experiences of most South conditions that forced UJ’s management to defensive actions that only put increasing Australian document, it contains little which Africans. The irony lies in the likelihood that this take the decisions that it did. pressure on university management and would serve to target volume, value or any will open up far more claims of abuse of power. At UJ, where fees are on average about disrupt the higher education environment. other quantifiable result. Of course, grassroots people care about 30% less than some of our peer institutions, So, as the dust hopefully settles over UJ Up until now the Cape wine industry has whether their lives are improved — we all do. But the university council approved an 8% and Wits this week, and as management and been distinguished by its lack of unifying the distinction between concentrating on abuses across-the-board inflation adjustment for student leaders seek accommodation on the institutions or a sense of common purpose. It of power and the concerns of the majority is false 2008 and an additional 6% for first-year fees issue, it is time for the education depart- is hardly surprising that there is no game because, unless power serves the people, the ma- incoming degree students over the next three would have imperilled the financial sustain- a 7,7% decline in real income. ment and the government to look long and plan, and that the gap between us and our jor ity’s lives will not improve: if grassroots people years — in effect, a 14% increase in real terms ability of the university. Fourth, the state subsidy formula works hard in the mirror and rethink the funding competitors widens every year. do not enjoy the freedom to express themselves for incoming degree students over three Third, the decision to increase fees was against institutions that support large num- formula for universities. The industry nominally enjoys access to a to government, their lives will never change. years. For incoming first-year diploma and forced on the institution by the real decline in bers of poor students. These students come In life you get what you pay for. If the forum which used to be called the South Afri- We need a national debate that far more certificate students, an additional 5% is to be state subsidies to the university over a into the higher education system without gover nment wants the universities to can Wine and Brandy Company and more accurately reflects the concerns and experiences levied for 2008 only. number of years. Since last year, state subsidy adequate academic preparation, a result produce the skills and future leadership the recently changed its name to the South of the majority. It needs to start not by ignoring Second, the council made this decision to UJ will have, in real terms, declined by largely of a dysfunctional school system. country requires, it’s time to put its money African Wine Council. This body is chaired by abuses of power but by highlighting them when only after management had explored all more than 8,7%. This real reduction Government officials often say the return where its mouth is. This is one of the great Kader Asmal and there are signs that vision, they affect the poorest and weakest among us. other options. It recognised that the decision translates into a 4,8% decline in total real on higher education investment is marginal development challenges confronting us as a rather than narrow-minded self-interest, may would increase the hardship on poor families income to the university. As the net effect of given the high failure rates but do not take countr y. play a role. Reporting on the first year of � Dr Friedman is a research associate at Idasa in particular. As a result, the council came to the proposed fee increase is only 1% above into account that such failures are in part a operation, Asmal highlights a few areas where and visiting professor of politics at Rhodes its decision reluctantly, and only when it UJ’s internal inflation, the net effect of the product of conditions outside the control of � Prof Kriek is deputy vice-chancellor: there may be grounds for cautious optimism. UnBUSINESS i ve r s i t y. DAY, 17 OCTOBER 2007recognised that not to make the decision subsidy reduction, after the fee adjustment, is the universities themselves. finance at the University of Johannesburg. A meeting with the science and technology minister over research funding has been mooted. This is a long way from a real con- tribution, but it would be a cheering sign that the government was willing to give a little to maintain its R3bn annual fiscal cash cow. There is also talk of meeting with the European Union (EU) over wine-related is- Hats off to IEC and a dream too easily forgotten sues. If this gets the EU to pay over the à15m it still owes as part of the trade agreement signed five years ago, that would be a win. AST week, I was privileged to is beyond question. The critical role North West premier Edna Molewa at our universities and the Se l e b i - upon as the most appropriate one to Finally, Asmal confirms that the point be part of the 10th anniver - played by the IEC in normalising put it elegantly: “The IEC has Pikoli-Mpshe drama conspired to take SA through the transition from raised in this column recently about Riesling sary of the Independent society is easy to appreciate if one discharged its mandate with distinc- eclipse the IEC celebrations. an oppressive and divisive form of is being investigated. If this leads to SA join- Electoral Commission (IEC). considers that many African coun- tion and confidence. In the process, If there was a space to renew our government to a true democracy. It ing the world and calling Riesling “Riesling” LInstead of the usual razzmatazz, tries are either in a state of conflict, or the IEC has taught many of us about commitment and re-ignite optimism, was seen as supporting and and Cape Riesling “Crouchen Blanc” we will the IEC convened a multistakeholder preparing for conflict, or engaged in the values of independence, fairness the IEC celebration was it. That we promoting reconciliation, nation- have seen a small step of giant implications. conference. Represented were postconflict deliberation. and political tolerance. Thanks to the continue to enjoy political stability is building, the pursuit of peace and research institutions, political parties, Our own first elections took place IEC and our appreciation of the testament to the collective foresight of s t a b i l i t y, ” she said. � Fridjhon is visiting professor at the UCT private and public institutions, labour against all odds, with many parts of meaning of electoral contest, as the architects of our democracy. The irony is that, having consol- Graduate School of Business. unions and civil society and sectoral KwaZulu-Natal engulfed in violence, political parties and voters we have Indeed, our very electoral system was idated political stability, the African organisations. Delegates reflected on the absence of a voters’ roll, a short- learnt and accepted to be gracious in informed by the historical context. In National Congress threatens to new approaches to creating an age of ballot boxes and a lack of defeat and humble in victory.” discussing the electoral reform, chief unravel its achievement by its failure enabling environment for participat- trained staff. The IEC has produced by Indeed, elections in this country SIPHO electoral officer Pansy Tlakula to deal intelligently with its own ing in democracy; political party far the most effective electoral ma- have become so routine we take them SEEPE reminded delegates of the continuing political squabbles and its failure to funding, the role of the media, know- chinery on the continent. This is nei- for granted. Underscoring this, Mole- relevance of the pillars underpinning entrench intraparty democratic ledge management and stakeholder ther an accident of history nor a mir- wa observed: “We are one of a select our electoral system — fairness, sim- practice. We have come so far, we involvement in democracy, democra- acle. It is a product of determination group of countries in the world where ence deliberations and the platform plicity, inclusiveness, a c c o u n t a b i l i t y. should not let the fault lines of the cy and development, floor-crossing, and commitment by men and women the freedom and the fairness of an for public dialogue initiated by the “The proportional representation current crisis set us back. coalitions and the role of alliances in entrusted with this responsibility. To election is taken for granted, assumed IEC were lost to the media. Weighty system was chosen in 1993 against the entrenching electoral democracy. its credit, the government has provid- to a point where the deployment of matters relating to the enhancement backdrop of a deeply divided society, � Prof Seepe is head of the Graduate By any standard, the IEC is one of ed the necessary material support, external election observers is consid- of electoral democracy were eclipsed fragmented and deeply hurt by the Institute of Management & Technolo- those democracy-supporting institu- including respecting the operational ered a possible waste of money.” by the headline-grabbing develop- system of apartheid. The (proportion- gy and president of the South African tions whose impartiality and integrity independence of the commission. It is unfortunate that the confer- ments and events last week — u n re s t al list) electoral system was agreed Institute of Race Relations.
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K Y M C RelevantSW_NWS_e4_101207_p06 articles the star, 10 december 2007 6 NEWS MONDAY DECEMBER 10 2007 The Star ‘Women’s cause Electoral system not big problem, used to get votes’ says minister
Zuma slams Mbeki camp for campaigning on gender issue BY ANGELA QUINTAL AND whatever.” CHRISTELLE TERREBLANCHE Dlamini-Zuma said one of BY BOYD WEBB power for sinister reasons. her concerns would be that Political Bureau SMS He said the majority of the With calls for South Africans to a directly elected president FEEDBACK women in the Women’s League have a direct say in who is might be from a political party NC deputy president knew that Zuma did not repre- elected the country’s president, that wasn’t representative of SMS your views to Jacob Zuma and his a senior ANC leader believes the majority in parliament. 32546 sent the “abuse of women’s A supporters have rights” as his detractors tried the current electoral system is “You can say ‘Well, the rounded on the Mbeki camp for Each SMS costs R1 to spin. not cast in stone and should be whole country has participated allegedly using women to fight Vavi yesterday urged those reviewed if necessary. in electing the president, fine, the president’s succession who had been approached with “When we opted for the that might be a good thing’, but battle. “50/50 gender equity” slogan. cash offers to take the money system, it was for a particular you may find that, having Zuma said the unfortunate This was seen as a direct and ensure that their children period … We were addressing elected that president, the same thing about the gender issue challenge to the Zuma camp’s had bread to eat “for a change”. certain faultlines in the coun- electorate elects another party was that it was being used failure to include three women He said the National Party try and it worked for South for parliament and you get a wrongly to achieve certain in its top six nomination struc- government had tried similar Africa, but it’s up to both the kind of paralysis … I don’t political gains. ture. tactics in its dying day when it ANC and the country to look at know if there is a perfect “I don’t think the ANC However, with Nkosazana had slaughtered cattle in an it and see if they think it system.” should accept that, and I don’t Dlamini-Zuma rejecting the attempt to entice black votes. should be re-evaluated, like all While the ANC’s policy con- think the women should accept nomination for chairperson, Vavi said they had eaten the policies,” Foreign Minister ference believed it was prefer- being used to achieve certain the Zuma camp will now nomi- cows but still voted ANC. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said. able that the ANC president political goals,” he told an nate Baleka Mbete for chair- Vavi said the people had spo- In an interview should become the SACP Red October Rally in person, and Thandi Modise for ken and they had spoken at the weekend country’s presi- Randfontein, south of Joburg, deputy secretary-general. loudly. with Independent dent, “this does yesterday. The Pretoria rally was also SACP General Secretary Newspapers, the not mean it is Zuma said that while he sup- seen as chastisement of the Blade Nzimande cautioned woman tipped in absolute”, she ported the empowerment of ANC Women’s League, which alliance partners and branches some quarters as added. women, he did not support opted to support Zuma and alike against letting themselves President Thabo However, their being used for political failed to nominate a woman for be turned into “modern day Mbeki’s successor Dlamini-Zuma was expediency. either the president’s or deputy Judas Iscariots”. in 2009 was asked quick to scotch The ANC deputy president, president’s position. “They must make it very her views on a any speculation who is the frontrunner in the Cosatu secretary-general clear that neither the ANC nor president who is that she has any ANC succession battle, said Zwelinzima Vavi, who last its allied formations are for elected directly. ambition for yesterday he would accept any week turned down nomination sale,” he told the crowd. While the elec- higher office in outcome of the Polokwane con- for the ANC National Execu- He also balked at the “most toral system could 2009. ference. tive Committee, said the 50/50 disgusting and opportunistic be re-evaluated, She questioned Last week Mbeki supporters equity slogan was being use of the noble struggle for like all other poli- the belief that held a rally in Pretoria under pushed by those who were in women’s emancipation” being cies, “I don’t think it is a big Mbeki wanted her as his heir the guise of a women’s rights fact the worse “womanisers”, vulgarised and used as a tool. problem, it has worked up to and said the issue had never campaign which punted the who wanted more women in I See Page 8 now”, Dlamini-Zuma said. been discussed between them. South Africa has a propor- On the view that Mbeki tional representation list wanted her as future president system, by which MPs are not so that he could still control the I will accept any outcome – Zuma elected directly but are in par- government from retirement, liament by virtue of the votes she replied: “I have never been BY BOYD WEBB the SA Communist Party’s Red nation knowing full well that cast for their political party. controlled by anyone. Even as I Political Bureau October campaign in Rand- delegates would again be voting MPs then elect the country’s sit here, I am not controlled by fontein, west of Joburg. in Limpopo and that the results president from their own anyone. Deputy ANC president Jacob During his recent whirl- “could be anything”. ranks, invariably the highest- “I am controlled by the Zuma would accept defeat wind tour to India, England “And knowing the ANC as I ranking candidate on the ANC, the views of the ANC and gracefully in Limpopo if and the US, Zuma also told do, whoever will be elected in majority party’s list. the policies of the ANC.” delegates at this week’s investors he would accept the Limpopo, when we come back Dlamini-Zuma said: “I think I If you want to know more conference don’t elect him as outcome of the Limpopo con- we will be united behind the the important thing is to look at about the ANC’s Polokwane ANC president. ference. leader,” he said to cheers. what is good for South Africa, conference, click on to “As an ANC cadre, I would He said the branches had But he said that respons- rather than to say what is www.thestar.co.za where our be ready to accept any out- met, and in that process he had ibility would be in the hands of happening in other countries. experts will be on standby at set come …” Zuma said yesterday been nominated for president, the next leader, whoever that ‘HER OWN PERSON’: Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says she has never been But that doesn’t mean … it can times throughout this week to while addressing 1 500 people at and he had accepted the nomi- might be. controlled by anyone. PICTURE: ADRIAN DE KOCK never change in 100 years or answer all your questions. Mbeki camp40 praises Winnie’s plan
BY ANGELA QUINTAL, DEON DE Zuma supporters, who believe stay on as party president and ter is attacking sister and com- LANGE AND BOYD WEBB “the status quo solution” deputy president respectively, rades are at each other’s would interfere with the effectively reinforcing Mbeki’s throats”. President Thabo Mbeki’s allies party’s democratic processes, third-term aspirations as party However, the statement was have given a thumbs-up to a especially as ANC delegates in leader. silent on the question of the proposal from Winnie Madi- the recent nominations for However, the pair should country’s president in 2009, kizela-Mandela that their chief president have already pointed commit to handing over the given that, at the ANC policy and his deputy, Jacob Zuma, to the fact that they want reins in time and “facilitate a conference earlier this year, it should retain their positions change. change of guard in the next five was resolved that it was prefer- for another five years in the While refusing to endorse years to the next talented and able for the party president to interests of unity. any one candidate or camp, young generation”, Madikizela- become the head of state – with However, the offer to broker Madikizela-Mandela’s solution Mandela said in a statement, in every indication that the ANC such a deal was met with a to the current divisions in the which she condemned the situ- will be in power then. lukewarm response from some ANC is for Mbeki and Zuma to ation in the ANC in which “sis- A spokesperson said last night that Madikizela- Mandela, in a bid to maintain her neutrality, was deliberately silent on the point of who should be South Africa’s president. The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) was due to meet today to discuss ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe’s organisation report to the ANC conference, as well as concerns raised by senior leaders Minis- ter of Social Develop- ment Zola Skweyiya and Presidency director-gen- eral Frank Chikane in letters that were leaked to the media last week. ANC chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota said he wasn’t aware that Madik- izela-Mandela’s request to meet Mbeki and Zuma and broker a truce would be discussed by the NEC. ANC spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso said: “What I do know is that the secretary-general’s organisational report comes under the spot- light tomorrow … Also, the national conference preparatory committee will be giving feedback.” The status quo option, is something that Mbeki’s supporters in the Eastern Cape and elsewhere have offered as an olive branch to Zuma’s lobbyists, but this was rejected as interference with the ANC’s democratic pro- cesses. Madikizela-Mandela said she had decided to step in after “a string of leaders and ANC mem- bers” had approached her, including the youth, and workers.
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BUSINESS DAY, Thursday, July 24 2008 9 BUSINESS DAY, Wednesday, July 30 2008 11 BUSINESS DAY, 24 JULY 2008 BUSINESS DAY, 30 JULY 2008OPINION & ANALYSIS OPINION & ANALYSIS Rasool GovernmentsBallots areBasic waking illogicality up while in Doha claims sleeps about Zuma’s trials
should Daniel Ikenson measureTrade facilitation meansMia streamlining Swart is indeed an important componentThe claim of that criminalby 75%. prosecutions While these actionsdesigned have to ensure thefees maintenance were extorted of the from thedefence driver by attorneys police. served as instruments of predetermined. Show trials show little ...... the administrative and physical...... procedures increased...... trade, those . lowerinvolving tariffs will Zuma not amountencouraged to political investment trials is, andstatus greater quo, trade generally termedTrade a increases“sec urity when barriersterror for fall. their totalitarian leaders. When regard for the letter or the spirit of the law. involved in actually moving goods across improve trade flows if bureaucraticof course, nothingcustoms new.flows, In a statementthere is still in room forl aw improvement. ”. Classic South AfricanTariffs examples are barriers, would but so areZuma corruption,’s supporters claim the trial against Defendants usually have no real chance to HE Doha Round of multilateral borders — the reforms that haveN alreadyRECENT weeksprocedures I invigilated and shoddy logisJunetics 2005 and on the SchabirT Shaikhe World judgment, Bank’s latestbe Doing the treason Business trials ofadminis the 1950tratives, the incompetence,him superfluous is a political trial, it is this kind of trial defend themselves. Defendants in such take ANC trade talks has alreadyonly died a halfcontributed handsomely to thethousands increase in of LLBcommunica students. Astions I are still inthe place. Congress of Southsur Africanvey offers Trade the Unions anecdoteRivonia of a Yemeni Trial fish of 1963 andpaper thework, terrorism transportation trials the monopoliesy are referring and to: prosecuting someone cases have often signed statements under thousand deaths. But, apart from global trade, investment and output.watched the sea of bright-eyedIn developing countries,(Cosa thetu) average said the trial e“xporter,confirm(s) Tarik, a long- whose fortunesunder are the limited 1967 Terrorismthe use Act. of Zuma antiqua’s ted technology.merely because he is a political opponent. duress prior to being tried. Tthe bureaucracies in Geneva, In fact, experience showsI thatstudents trade filling upcustoms exam halls, transaction I involvesheld 20 vie tow 30 by Cosatu thatby the persistrial oftence Schabir of bureaucraticprosecution export on corruptionGovernments charges is clearly are becomingAccording motivated to Posner, a trial is also Since Zuma was acquitted on the rape Brussels and Washington, few are grieving. facilitation alone could dowondered even more what to the futureparties held and for requires them. 40 separateShaik was documents nothing butprocedures. a political trial Tarik of can the sell freshnot a tunapolitical to trial of tothis reduce kind. these barriers becausecharacterised business, as political when it presents a charges there can be no question of that to court T hat’s because the world economy is increase global trade flows than further to complete, a 2004 UN study showed. Germany for $5,20 per kilogram or frozen the matter In a recent interview with CNN, ANC deputy president (Zuma) in absentia". But political trialsemployment, cannot be conf ininedvestment to and growth are all question that transcends the narrow issue trial having been a show trial. Since there is moving forward without a World Trade reductions in tariff rates.president Jacob Zuma saidBut that good if his progress has beenZuma made’s rape on trial wastuna similarly to Pakistan described for $1,10 perprosec kilogram.utions Ofunder securityaffected laws. by the Political country’s approachof guilt or to innocence trade by implicating larger no reason to believe that the fair trial Organisation treaty. While Doha For example, just a one-daycorruption reduction trial inresultedtrade in a facilitation. conviction, In it the pastas a three political years, trial. 55 course he would prefer to selltrials everything may also take thef a cform i l i t at of i o na .defamation societal and cultural considerations. The guarantees (entrenched in the constitution) T IS a pity that Ebrahim Rasool does negotiations have sputtered on forOSING seven groundthe in average the next time election requiredwould to move mean both that the justicecountries system have was implementedBut 68 reforms what is meantto byfresh a political to Germany. trial? Instead, In action because designed it takes to destroyMultilateral the credibility agreements of Zuma from prosecutionthe latest is, of course, political in will not be observed, there is no reason to not intend to challenge his removal years, annual global trade flows havemay not be theoutbound African and Nat inbound i o n a l USdysfunctional. cargo through Zuma andstreamline his supporters procedures. political theory, the termon average “political 33 trial days” hasto get officiala political clearance figure or ofDoha a prosecution talks, which for anstarted thisthis week, broader to sense of the term political. As believe that his corruption trial can meet from the premiership of Western Cape increased 70% to $14-trillion, realCongress annual ’s customs (ANC’s) and to biggest fulfil all otherclaim that he is subject to Indiadeliberate introduced an onlinea specific customs meaning. Theto termexport is fromattributed Yemen, to he sellsordinary only 300criminal offence.reduce According formal trade to US barriersone would of the be three great branches of government, the description of a show trial either. And Iin court. Irrespective of how good or foreign direct investment is up 25%problem. to administrative requirementspolitical could persec increaseution; thatdeclaration his trial system, will be a whichthe allows philosopher, clearance Otto Kirchheimer.fresh tons to Germany In his andacademic 1 700 frozen Richard tons Posner,for everybody. the term politicalBut even if thethe tottering judiciary Doha is an inherent part of the his claims that the corruption trial will be a bad a premier he has been, there is a vital $1,5-trillion and the globalL economy has US trade by almost $29bn a year. Reports of an internal poll, telling the political trial and that histo begin prosecution before the is ship docksseminal and study,helped Politicalto Justice: Pakistan, The at Usean opportunity of trial cost may of refer about to any Roundtrial in collapseswhich a person for good, tradepolitical and system. growth It can therefore be argued political trial might mean nothing more constitutional principle at stake: to whom expanded by 30% to $54,4-trillion,ANC it could my lose three provincesIf the time next it takes year, for bothpart ofimports a political and conspiracy.reduce delays for exportersLegal and Procedures,importers Kirchheimer$7m per year. writes that is tried for engaging incan political still rise opposition. sharply with thethat right all trials have a political element. than a trial that is of interest to the public. are members of research into official figures reveals. exportsadd to to fulfil evidence customs andZuma other’s statements byclearly seven undermine days. “throughout the modern Theera, Economistwhatever the’s Robert GuestThe mostonce commonunilateral type of political reforms. trial Whereas it is questionable that Zuma’s But it will be prudent to analyse terms the executive This compares with the benefits from administrativethat voters requirements are the integrit in SA couldy of the be legal professionRwanda partially and privatiseddominant its customs- legal system,described both governments the process of deliveringis a partisan beer trial, which consists of trial is a political trial unless one adopts the such as “political trial” more closely. If terms branches of full Doha Round success estimated at reducedunimpressed to average OECD-countryjudiciary aslevels, an institution.bonded It is warehouses, integral to whichand sparked private groups havefrom tried a port to enlist in Cameroon the tocriminal the interior. legal A proceedings� Ikenson instituted is associate by the directorbroadest of the meaning Centre of the term political, it is such as these are thrown around loosely go v e r n m e n t $287bn a year. Southwith African its trade jockey- with thethe rulerest of thelaw that no citizenconstruction is above of thenew warehousessupport and of the a 40% courts fortrip upholding that was supposed or to takegovernment to solidifyfor its Trade power Policy and Studies at theevidently Cato Institute not a show trial. What is the without questioning their meaning, we are really account- These trends can continue, particularly worlding would for be power; expectedlaw. to increase If the objectivity by ofreduction the justice in system storage is fees.shifting the balance ofthree-quarters political power of” .a day tookextinguish four days its opposition.and author Notorious of the new study,difference While Doha between a political trial and a not only encouraging a culture of impunity able? And if governments implement more domestic $36bnANC a year. deputy questioned because of theMacedonia prosecution eliminated of duplicateThe term political trialbecause is difficult the delivery to truckexamples was stopped of partisan 47 Sleeps:trials would Securing be the Economicshow Gains trial? through In a show trial, the conviction of but also encouraging a culture of vacuity. beyond that is “trade facilitation” re forms. Whilepresident stroke-of-the-pen Kgale- one tariff individual, reduction it not onlycustoms does procedures,irreparable slashingdefine, waiting but it times will usuallytimes take at theroadblocks, form of a wheretrials tolls byand the other VolksgerichtTrade in Facilitation. Nazi Germany the accused is a certainty or a near- another ques- ma Mo t l a n t h e damage to SA’s international reputation but criminal prosecution of a political opponent and the trials in Stalinist Russia, where certainty. Show trials are highly public trials � Dr Swart is a senior lecturer at the Wits tion: to whom has acknow- amounts to nothing less than megalomania. of the ruling party for breach of a law many of the judges, prosecutors, and in which the guilt of the defendant has been Law School. are members of STEVEN� JOHN FRIEDMAN ledged this, say- KANE-BERMAN the legislative ing it risks alien- b ra n c h e s ating voters. a c c o u n t a b l e? This may confirm a truth aboutMEASURING democ- INFLATION/Rashad Cassim In terms of the constitution, provincial racy, which elites of all sorts tend to forget — Arts&Leisure premiers and their executive councils are that voters are not fools, even if they haven’t accountable to the provincial legislature, ECO N O M I CS/ Leon Louw been to school. People know when their which can remove them by a vote of no con- JAZZ Arts&Leisure needs are not being taken seriously — those fidence. The African National Congress who haven’t been to school usually know it (ANC) has the power to engineer such a OHANNESBURG’s September-long first since more is at stake for them. Unlike WINE vote. If Rasool refused to go quietly, the ANC festival, ARTS ALIVE, has just Inthose practicewho often look down on them, many a statistician’s is entitled to expel him from the party and, revealed its programme. And while J EIL Ellis has been around the block grassroots people know that ANC politick- ipso facto, the provincial legislature. So in the press release distinctly underplays the ing this year has not been about a voice for a few times, and along the way he's the end Rasool may be history. But perhaps Why growing incomejazz component, the organisers gap have the poor, but about one group of politicians’ picked up his fair share of the he could make history by a court challenge unearthed some fascinating acts. N campaign to take over from another. And so wisdom of the street. His unshowy nature that would expose the democratic deficit The undoubted star is Buena Vista the ANC’s power battles have widened the conceals a ruminative approach: in an that characterises the constitution. job is to balance biases Social Club veteran, Cuban Eliades Ochoa industry where the sole deadline of any There are three major problems. One is gap between its leaders and voters. (he’s the one in the black cowboy hat, and that the constitution permits the principle If this produces a swing away from the one of the two voices on the movie’s great- importance is harvesting fruit at optimum ANC at the polls, accountable government works out better for poor ripeness (a window that can sometimes be of executive accountability to an elected EYOND the obscurity a fixed-weighted CPI (weights re- est hit, Chan Chan). As with many South would receive its strongest boost yet: as short as six hours) almost every other legislature to be trumped on the orders of of the allegations that BALANCING THE BIAS main static until a new re-weight- African artists, there’s scope to debate how nothing makes politicians listen to people decision can be made better with a pause party headquarters. The second is that Statistics SA made an ing takes place) is substitution far Ochoa is a jazzman, and how far an im- A DESPERATELY needs for reflec tion. provincial premiers have been turned into error or delayedbetter than the a shock at the polls. The ANC bias, where consumers substitute proviser around far older traditionalative styles. income would decline from mere deployees of the ruling party. These consumer priceitself indexwould probably benefit: it is sure to a much bigger income NEVER MIND THE GAP relatively less expensive goods for However, his skill as guitarist and10 000% très to 1 200% of B’s over the He began his career in the early 1970s two problems are themselves a function of a (CPI)B re-weighting, which,hold by on and to power, and so a loss of support gap. That’s right. The player has never been disputed. Born26-year in a period. It would take many with a stint at the KWV, before moving on more expensive goods when rela- third, our list-based proportional represen- large, has been put to bed,would there be is a wake-up call, forcing it to take income gap is growing Person Income G r tiveowth prices (the priceResult of one good village in theGap eastern Santiago Provinceyears in for the nominal gap to start to Groot Constantia and Zevenwacht. Then, tation (PR) electoral system, in which a more fundamental underlyingvoters more seriously. far too slowly, and recent relative to another) change. 1946, he was already working closing as an and 53 years for their in the mid-1980s — against the trend and But the odds remain against a substan- Sarticles and comments lamenting well ahead of any of his colleagues — he constituencies in the proper sense of the issue: to what extent can an official Rich R100 000 + Others% include10 = R110bias 000 arising entertainerInitia inl gap the – provincialR99 000 capitalincomes’s red- to equalise. word do not exist. The problems occur at statistical agency live withatial bias swing in to the opposition next year the “growing” or “e xcessive” from which outlets are surveyed, light district by the time he was 11The to only real-world way to transformed himself into an enterprise both national and provincial level. its measure of inflation?because disaffected ANC voters don’t have a income gap are all nonsense. Poor R1 000 +assuming tha10%t there= R1 is 100 a bias to- Rsuppor110 000t – hisR1 100 unemployed = R108 900 parents. pre By vent the the gap from growing is whose unique selling proposition was that party to which they can switch their vote. The absurdity of wanting a it made wine from fruit procured through The CPI measures the inflation Poor R1 000 +wards either20% lower-= R1 200 or higher- Rmid-110 01960s00 – R1 he 200 wasproviding = R108 800 music forradiostagnation or depression (“nega- T HAS become a cliche that the South rate based on the averageOur house-politics ischiefly about identities,about smaller income gap is not about priced outlets. Bias also occurs shows, and then became a leading tivelight growthin ”) as in Zimbabwe. optimum site selection. African constitution is one of the most hold. This averaging outwho is whatpeople is feel they are. And so no oppo- racial or social justice, or inequal- Poor R1 000 + when% new100 products= Rare2 0 0not0 intro- R110the 000 Trova – R2 Cubano 000 = R 108 movement 000 to N restoreominal income gaps close only Today, this may seem like the only democratic in the world. But it does not sition party can make serious inroads unless ity and the legacy of apartheid. It is under conditions of extreme des- sensible way to go, but at the time the idea I often forgotten. No single house- Poor R1 000 + 1 duced.000% In the new= CPI,R11 00 new0 prod- R110traditional 000 – R1 culture.1 000 = R99 000 deserve this accolade. Democracy in SA hap- hold has the same inflationit shares rate, the identity of most ANC voters, much simpler than that. It is an ucts have a 25% weight and the Among the fruits of Trova Cubanotitution. was a A dream world is conceiv- was little short of revolutionary. pens for a day or two once every five years, nor do different income groups.which means that it would need to come out obvious fact of elementary arith- prices for these new products have revival in the fortunes of the Cuartetoable in which people obsessed The era coincided with the high point of then hibernates until the next election. In a The 2005-06 incomeof the andsame history and experiences as the metic. Anyone who thinks about it only been collected since January. Patria, a traditional group originallywith found- perverse desires to destroy the estate wine concept in SA. The law held democracy truly worth that name, voters expenditure survey, releasedANC. That in sort of party will emerge only rationally for a few seconds realis- Another important part of tim- ed by Francesco Coba in 1939. Inthe 1978, rich regardless of what that an estate (essentially a single produc- would be able to choose their representa- March this year, forwhen example, the ANC splits and, despite worries es that the income gap can be ing that needs more attention than Ochoa took over the group’s leadership.happens to the poor — which is a tion unit) was the smallest piece of territory tives. South African voters choose only lists, showed that for the firstamong income its leadership that it might, it is reduced only if things are made has been given inthe public debate Over the years, he’s introducedsurprisingly more common aberration about which an origin claim could be made. not individuals. Some parties then assign quintile (the poorest 20%probably of house- too early for this. worse for intended beneficiaries. is the role of the household income regional styles to its repertoire and,— fantasise with about the rich getting Estate wine producers generally offered a people from these lists to geographical areas holds), food constitutes close to And, no, being in favour of a and expenditure surveys, the prin- his brother Humberto on très and backingpoorer, the poor getting richer and range of wines (they still do) made from as “their” member of Parliament (MP) or 40% of total expenditure, whileS for ELECTION day nears, ANC voters bigger income gap does not make cipal source in determining the vocals and sons Eglis and Enriquethe regular economy growing. varieties as different in terms of their member of the provincial legislature (MPL). the richest 20% of households,who have had enough of most of its one reactionary or conservative, or weights for the CPI. Two impor- guests, Patria is now almost the OchoaThe income gap fallacy is required growing conditions as sauvignon However, probably the overwhelming food constitutes less thatA 10%leaders of ’ current obsession with them- a protagonist of efficiency-pro- tant issues should have been family band. The multiple award-winningusually accompanied by the blanc, shiraz and cabernet. majority of voters have not the foggiest total expenditure. selves will find that they have a stark choice: moting competition. Even social- elevated in the public arena at the leader has worked with Manu Dibangowidespread and notion that there is What Neil Ellis set about doing was chal- notion as to who their assigned “represen- Assuming food inflationstay home is or vote reluctantly for their po- ism, fascism or communism can beginning of last year, when Stats Bob Dylan among others and, sincemore South inequality and poverty in lenging the logic that attributed intrinsical- t at i v e s ” are. And no wonder. Their MP or higher than nonfood inflation,litical home.and Most will do the latter — which benefit the poor significantly only SA announced why the re-weight- Africans from all communities are addictedfreer economies where govern- ly higher quality to estate wines when it MPL is not their chosen representative but a keeping everything elseis constant, why surveys taken months before an elec- if the income gap increases. ing would come into effect only in to Cuban music, he is likely to be (deserved-ments redistribute less. could never be possible that a single site deployee of one or another party, vulnerable the inflation rate of lower-incometion can greatly overestimate swings away “The poor are getting richer, 2009. First, how can you minimise ly) the hit of Arts Alive month. Fortuitously and counter-intu- could serve equally well for cultivars with to removal at any time. He has no incentive households will be muchfrom higher the ruling party. Many people who are but the income gap is growing,” the lag between the income and Movies also punctuate the careersitively, of two differences in levels of such diverse needs of their environment. to serve the interests of his supposed con- than high-income householdsnow so angry with the ANC that they plan anguished a recent newspaper expenditure survey and the publi- other jazz guests. equality of condition between free By searching Western Cape for the best stituents, merely those of his party bosses. since the former spendnot more to vote of for itHEADLINE will trudge CPI to ANDthe polling FOOD CPIarticle. This was reminiscent of a cation of the weights? Second, is Australian singer Catherine Lambertand unfree economies differ only vineyards of specific varieties (free of the One consequence has been the failure of rul- their total expenditurebooth on food. and support% itchange on election, year day. on year BBC World programme aired on there is a case for having more fre- featured in the jazz-club vignette slightly in the between free and unfree estate constraint), he proved his point. He ing party MPs to challenge the government Naturally, the converse willIt hold is then if that the ability of ANC leaders April 4 2006, which claimed that quent surveys so that the weights Sophia Coppola film Lost in Translation.economies, and there is much less was one of the first producers to bring an 18 on its AIDS policy even when their purport- food prices go down. Soto itunderstand is not voters will be tested. If they one of China’s biggest problems Food CPI 17,03% can be updated more often, result- Lambert was actually working a season“abject at poverty” (destitution) in Elgin Chardonnay to market. He was also a ed constituents were dying all around them. unreasonable to suggesttake that the the resultas16 proof that voterswere hap- was that its high rate of economic ing in smaller changes in the the film’s location, the Tokyo Park Hyatt,freer economies. at west coast pioneer, identifying Groenkloof The PR system has the advantage of current average inflationpy rate with has them all14 along, they will make a se- growth was causing the income weights? the time. To the minimal extent that near Darling as a superb location for ensuring that minority parties are fairly a downward bias for low-incomerious mistake. Unless the ANC makes a far gap to increase. The absurdity of The 2005-06 survey was done She began her musical careerthere as a is a difference, free Sauvignon Blanc. represented in Parliament and at provincial households and perhapsmore an serious up- effort12 to take voters seriously, this concern is that whenever I-NET BRIDGE in greater detail than in the past clarinetist, and is very much a jazz singereconomies in are characterised by In the early days of this enterprise it was level. Its disadvantages are evident. Fortu- ward bias for high-incomeits victory house- at the polls10 next year will not be a there is increased prosperity, even and conducted over a whole year the classic mould, using her slightly voice more equality. Of greater quite difficult for Ellis to communicate the nately, it is possible to marry a PR system holds. The point is that thesign ideathat of grassroots8 voters are happy, but when the poor get richer much to capture seasonality and a full instrumentally to express the material,significance, is that the poor have importance of what he was doing. This was with constituencies, as a committee under a bias should not been seenthat as they an have no alternative. Many of its faster than the rich, the gap grows. Headline CPI 11,71% profile of expenditure patterns much of it self-composed. much higher living standards in in the first Stalinist era of SA — when those 6 former leader of the opposition, Frederik error, but intrinsic to thevotes practical will be reluctant and grudging. Although it is hypothetically throughout the year (unlike 2000 Arts Alive has placed her in thefree some- economies. They seem to who drafted the legislation thought (as
Van Zyl Slabbert, suggested years ago in a measurement of inflation. This matters because4 winning elections possible for the poor to get richer SHAUN UTHUM Source: and previous ones that were times lively Sophiatown café, and itknow’s to be something social scientists their successors now do) that you can report that the government shelved. One of the key questionsis not faced the sole measureofF politicalMAMJJASONDJ success. If while the gap declines, it is so FMAMsimply conducted in a month). The hoped that skilful sound engineeringdon and’t know.a They know precisely control the flow of information (and
2007 2008 Graphic: Whether on the lines Slabbert proposed by Stats SA recently is this:the inANC view wins in a landslide, and then finds improbable as to be an absurd pol- scale of changes meant, on the respectful audience will let us hear her.why it is best to be poor in rich therefore the truth) by formally restricting or otherwise, proper constituencies need to of the new information released,that citizens is won’t work with it, it will be icy objective. Policy makers often basis of international peer review, Indian jazz guests the quartet countries, Indian where they benefit what can legally be communicated. be introduced so that Parliament and the our measure of inflationunable accurate? to governdirection, effectively. in which The the current govern- CPIfallsion for the in income the US gapin 1995 fallacy concluded and government statistical office is to that Stats SA has to at best conduct Ocean have made several soundtrackmore from personal liberty than In order to protect the already flawed nine provincial legislatures become repre- My answer is simple. Statsment SAwill is thenunderestimated be a good place thefor thoseinflation who rateadoptthat counterproductive the US CPI overstated“income infla- keep them from getting signifi- a parallel survey to have a year-to- contributions to film, most famouslyfrom plundering in the rich. estate wine concept, the Wine and Spirit sentative of voters rather than of parties. providing the most accuratewant mea- posts andrelative privilege, to the a new bad weights, place for whatredistion tribution by about” policies 1,1 percentage in good points cantly out of balance. year comparison that is econom- international terms to the controversialIf the issue of the income gap is Board was empowered to prosecute anyone MPs and MPLs should all know that their sure of inflation that is practhose tically who wantshould to help we de do?velop Should the country. we also actfaith.per year But insimple 1996 and arithmeticabout 1,3 per- There are several ways in which ically meaningful. (and, for a time, banned) Black irrele Friday,vant at best and absurd at who made claims (in marketing material, chances of being re-elected next time round possible. Despite alland the fast-trackevidence so to that the all contrary those whoexplainscentage why points poor beforepeople 1996. usually While this is done. It is important not to It is practically very difficult to based on the 1993 Mumbai bombings.worst, what should policymakers back labels or even public statements) will depend not merely on keeping in their Naturally, the one issuethatthis year, has manynegotiate politicians wage do increases not only care are notbenefitthis may more be from a perfectly growth reasonable than single out one bias to the exclusion have more than a five-year fre- Founder and bassist Rahul Ram workedbe concerned as about? which werenot subject to theverification of par ty’s good books but on how well they accentuated the timingabout of posts the andshort privilege. changed? They would like redisfinding, tribution. the practical organisation of others. For example, one could quency of the current scale (cur- an environmental activist with First, the relative incomes should the board. Producers were prohibited from serve the interests of their constituents. release of the new weights is the Narmada People’s Movement during the respect and knowThe they answer won is’t no.get Oneof it unless the key Poorof managing people in a CPIrich in countries an official Gramakephic: S HAU theN UTHUM argument that by not rently close to 25 000 households be irrelevant. All that matters is disclosing a vineyard source which was This will give content to democracy concern with the highthe inflation governmentprinciples serves people. of good And statistical even for prac-arestatistical much better agency off implies in absolute that we introducing quality changes into are surveyed). But there is another early 1990s, and many of the band’whethers songs living standards are smaller than a certified estate (because between elections. It will breathe life into environment, and whetherthose there who dotice care is to about pre-announce only offices and and plan atermscannot than have their a counterparts current-weighted in Ifthe the CPI, poorest some bias 20% could in the arise US inricherquestion. and the Could poor we were live getting with a pointsreflect out social that issues. the income “gap” improving for the poor and at estates were the smallest units which Parliament and provincial legislatures. It would have been less of perks,an issue a if situationschedule in based which on many decisions people aboutpoorindex, countries and a — biasand will they always know exist. it. wereeither a separate direction. country In fact, on some their ofpoorer,narrow whereas CPI based in facton metropolitan the poor grew byMixing R9 000. influences from modernwhat pop rate they are doing so. If gov- legislation at the time permitted the board will increase the power of voters. It will also we were in a lowervote inflation reluctantlyquality for them with willa balance not last to for- timeli-This isNaturally, why the many poor of migratethese find-own,our they approach would to be motor one of cars the andwereSA getting requiring richer a smallerfaster. sample of withBy how intricate much willtraditional B’s income beats,ernments Indian cannot raise themselves to certify). Accordingly, Ellis could not say help give effect to one of the founding prin- situation. A very reasonableever. Perhapsness, as soon whatever as the the election economic after envi-lawfullyings have or been unlawfully taken on usually board toworldfurniture,’s wealthiest for countries. example, has a householdsThe reason inwhy the concern order of about2 000 to haveOcean to grow will featurejust to maintain in Jazz on the the Lakeor their on constituencies above the where the grapes for a particular wine had ciples of the constitution, namely that SA question would be: isnext, Stats grudging SA ronment. voters may This become is our non-vot- underlyingfromminimise countries bias,but where they govern-aredone in Indownward other words, bias. Inpoor theend, people there in isthe3 income000, which gap would is misleading lead to more is initialSeptember R99 000 7 gap? with As predictablethe table crude crowd- Darwinian obsession with been harvested — even though the should have “representative government”. pullers Jimmy Dludlu, Simphiwe Dana, being irresponsible byers not or, fast- perhaps,philosophy opposition and conformsvoters and withmentsa systematic redis tribute fashion more toand rich oftenricha contradictory countries are bias. poor Similarly, only by asclearfrequent from very re-weighting, simple arithmetic. or should shows, an impossible 1 000%. relative rather than absolute con- information itself could be confirmed by The constitution says the National Assem- tracking the new weights (and Zamajobe and Don Laka. You may hear deprive manybest politicians international of their statisticalposts. com-countriesafter a with serious fewer review handouts, of what iscomparisonmentioned with earlier, the had world price’s If richwe continueperson A has our an five-year income cycleof At the outer limits of what ditions, they should observe the the authorities. bly is “elected to represent the people and to rebasing) in view of the new data it more of them during their September 5 and The ANC ispliance out of and touch practice. with its voters especiallypossible for orimmigrants. not under the con-richestmovements elites. taken a differentR100and 000 maintain and poor the person current B hasstruc- might be achieved, if B’s income relative rates at which conditions All that has now changed and single site ensure government by the people”. But the has at its disposal? Does it have an The issue of bias in the CPI was straints of managing a large 6 shows at the Blues Room. and this will come back to haunt it unless it “Income distribution” in poor Confusedcourse, Stats critics SA would of economic have beenR1 ture000 (a and typical form rich-poor that attempts ratio), to grows twice as fast as A’s in an change. If they do that, they will vineyards are pretty much the stock-in- links between voters and the national and o b l i g at i o n to act immediately elevated to a global debate when, month-to-month CPI release. in the situation that i n f l at i o n Austrian trombonist Robert Bachner is fixed — whatever happens next election. If and rich countries is similar. growth anguish needlessly about thecapture gap is R99 expenditure 000. patterns exceptionally prosperous country find that during high rates of trade of wine terroirists — and potentially provincial legislatures are so remote as to because current price movements in the mid-1990s, the US statistical Unfortunately, all CPIs are would have had a downward bias gets very excited on his website about it wants to secure its future, it will have to Typically, the richest 5% have one the fact that the white-black acrossThe gap the will country, be about R10 rural 000 and with 10% annual growth, it will market-driven economic growth, the source of their most striking achieve- prompt doubts as to whether we really have show that the inflation level agency came under scrutiny on the unavoidably affected by biases and by delaying, so to speak, the re- urban as well as the provinces? bringing his quartet to Arts Alive, and fans examine what it needs to do to convince hundredfold what the poor have; if income gap grew during the US’s bigger (R99 000 to R108 900) if take 26 years for B to reach A’s ini- the rich get richer and the poor get ments. Neil Ellis's Vineyard Selection wines a system of representative government. roughly could be lower? basis of various studies, prompted whereas some are upward, there weighting for a year. Either will create a bias. of contemporary improvised music here voters that it cares about them. rich countries are 10 times prolonged high growth period they both get 10% richer (R110 000 tial income, but by then A will be richer faster, despite the fact that are amongst the frontrunners in this rel- A more complete question primarily by academics, that the are just as many downward biases Other sources of bias are well should share that excitement. Hailed as one wealthier than poor countries, the (presidents Ronald Reagan and R1 100 respectively). earning about R1,2m and the gap the income gap grows. atively new category — as you might expect, � Kane-Berman is CE of the South African would be this: if the economic inflation rate in that country was that offset and even overshadow known in the literature. For � Cassim is deputy director-gener- of the distinctive new voices in Austrian � Friedman is director of the Centre for the poorest people in rich countries through Bill Clinton). If A has 10% more, while B gets will have increased to a massive given his 20 years' experience of identifying Institute of Race Relations. environment went in a different exaggerated. The Boskin commis- the former. The responsibility of a example, a common concern with al, economic statistics, at Stats SA. jazz, the 36-year-old player and composer’s Study of Democracy, a University of Johan- tend to be 10 times richer than The growing gap was presumed a stupendous 100% increase, B is R1,1m. At such rates, the relative � Louw is the executive director of site and his 35 years of winemaking. 41 pedigree includes work with the Vienna Art nesburg and Rhodes University initiative. poor people in poor countries. to mean that the rich were getting overjoyed … until some do-gooder gap closes, but very slowly. A’s rel- Something else is happening, though, Orchestra, Kenny Wheeler, Andy Sheppardthe Free Market Foundation. over 30 years after he left the KWV to move and Django Bates, as well as more usual from large-scale industrial winemaking to suspects such as the Basie Big Band. Bach- the kind of batch production from which ner has been placed at Nikki’s in Newtown, another venue where acoustics can some- he's made his living; he is back as an adviser times work against detailed listening. to the former national co-operative. Shadows of prejudice linger in halls of learning For enticing previews of both Lambert The response of the Lords of La Con- and Bachner, check the samples on their corde (KWV's seat of power) to the 2004-05 Romanticising the past offers no help for future Sauvignon Blanc flavourant scandal — in respective websites. N 2003 I wrote my debut col- from old to new intellectual capital”. expected to adhere to. Wits still has visitors goes back to the council res- rapid an attempt to raise the non- Before Arts Alive comes the JOY OF which two of its winemakers were impli- umn for Business Day, in That was in place of “from white to work to do to bring about the olution of “academic nonsegrega- European population to equality JA Z Z . The latest additions to the cated — was to appoint several of the Cape's which I celebrated the fact that black intellectual capital”. transformationHEN faced of with an institutional chal- when you are not in power. long beforetion and they social were alsosegregation intoxicat-”, which with the white would simply destroyquestionsprogramme asked or are tolerated. Motown The veteransWith The power centralised, Parlia- senior wine personalities to a winemaking maths wizard Loyiso Nongxa I further observed that “chang- culturelenges, dominated nations by look the historicalto Conditions of struggle are rarely a ed andwas corrupted enthusiastically by power. enforced Argu- by western civilisation in SA immedi-discourseSpinners of delivery (although further they immo- did muchment of their was reduced to legitimising supervisory board. They knew — in inviting I history for models of fertile ground for inculcating a ably, the seeds of our failure were bilised hitherto vibrant communi- and endorsing the cravings of the him to join the group — that they would get — the inspiration ofmy childhood in ing the profile of Wi t s staff and cul- beneficiaries of race and class one of Wits’ most influential vice- at e l y ”? Could it really be, contrary to best work later with the Atlantic/Stax Eastern Cape — would be the first ture would be Nongxa’s challengeW”. privilege.i n s p i rat But i o n . the In apparently our democratic culture. Second, the sown chancellors, in the 1980s. Humphrey Many Raikes. of us my column of five years ago, thatties. Alabel). strong To electoral judge from mandate the airplay was it executive.still gets, This facilitated the easy the infinite value of his experience, black head of Wits University, my al- Five years later, Wits is miredcase, in weunshakable invoke the burden notion of race of an willstate not of powerlessness introduces a argued thenBlacks that were we were therefore leaders not by expect- black achievement sits uncomfort-requiredGames to effect People speedy Play transfor- fans will packco-option the and silencing of civil integrity and capacity to reflect. ma mater (Nongxa can light way for controversy about its treatmentAfrican of be renaissance overcome by as rehearsing a way ofclaimparticular to form of innocence and default,ed because to change the Wits true custom leaders — w h at ably with Wits, and that subsequentmationDinaledi and delivery.Stage. This was a society — labour unions, student The revolutionaries of one generation Wits to be beacon of black achieve- black academics. In each and everyconnectingpast with injury some and greatness demanding in specialsimplicity. The apartheid system were eitherNongxa in and exile Ballim or inmisguidedly prison. call leaders are there simply to maintainclever way of linking unconnectedGwenorganisations, Ansell academics and reli- become the leaders of the next. ment, May 8). case, Nongxa has a ready-madethe past.entitlements. We invoke also” the Un i t e d was immoral and vicious. You could After culture. all, the Culture African implies National institution- R a i ke s ’s custom? political issues. A strong electoral gious groups. Potential political Michael Fridjhon However, I also expressed a word answer: The fault always lies withDemocraticIs it Front not revealing (UDF) of that the the onlynot be neutral about it. Congressal dynamism (ANC) was but tried custom and more mandate introduced political arro- competitors were either wooed into of caution: “It will take more than these individuals themselves —1980s.and racial Tomes actors are beingnamed written in this state-But the condition ofXOLELA freedom tested,accurately we told all captures and sundry. the institutional � United Democratic Movementgance and disregard for other vie ws. profitable positions in government genius to transform Wits University. not once with the university. aboutment its courageous are the blacks? leadership, There areintroduces no complexity. MANGCU Freedom's Butrigidity suffering that is still not holds a sufficient to the idea of leader Bantu HolomisaSIPHO will give a Such was theFor blind extended faith that coverage the or dealt with harshly. In no time we And this is where the political This is captured in a patronisingwhich white risked actors extreme here — formsjust “his of toricaldividends include positions of pow- conditionthe black to inculcate as the visitor. democracy, lecture on the state of opposition pol-ruling party adoptedof the arts its and own had a system of patron-client rela- challenges come in.” piece by Nongxa and Yunus Ballimmental beneficiariesand physical torture,of race andimpris- class priv-er and wealth for some. Those who nor is it a prerequisiteAnd who are for these leadership undeserving itics and the 2009SEEPE elections at theemasculation through centralising tions in which the leader can I wrote how, in his inaugural in the Mail & Guardian about blackonment,i l e banning ge ”. It goes and to exile.show whoseSome sensi-make it have something to lose. and managerialvisitors? Chris competence. Landsberg, We a former Council Chambers of the Universitydecision-makingother in leisure one activities, office. demand loyalty through provision address, Nongxa skirted the issue of academics: “We will not suspendpaid the thetivities ultimate the price. authors have in mind.Choicesextricate do exist themselvestherefore between from the his-failed toRhodes factor Scholar self-interest and into Oxford our PhD; of Johannesburg on July 31 at 6 pm.Overnight,don the’t people's miss the right Weekend to elect Reviewof patronage. A personality cult was the racial make-up of the universi- rules of good governance to pursueThe UDFCould leadership it really committed be that Nongxaprinciplestorical and structuring material interests. of Wits thatpolitical I Mamokgethi analysis. Who Setati, would aWits have PhD; their own leaderssection was of ourusurped elegant and sistercreated as the leader became an em- ty ’s professoriate — “perhaps aware those who wish to commodifyitself the toand enriched Ballim forms are, of as democrat- I argued in Sadly, my described the choice in seemsmy public weighted lecture atthought the Sakhela that the Buhlungu, government a of Wits the PhD;tant leadership� Mangcu responsibility.is convener of Forthe Plat-delegated to ruling party bosses. bodiment of the party and the state. of the treacherous racial politics of mere fact of their being black,ic or consultation.column, only It preached too “aware and of heavily the university on the materialin 2006, in interests' which I spokepeopleOmano would Edigheji, have to bea PhD taken from to Nor-its part,form the forANC Public had become Deliberation skilful at theThe implication is thatnewspaper, people can Instead of romanticising the the white professoriate and staff at who wish to use that fact to claimpractisedtreacherous democracy. racial Those politics were ofside. the Practicalabout how considerations whites saw blacks have as tem-court toway, save and African David lives? Monyae, a Wits PhD.in deployingUniversity the ofnecessary Johannesburg dose ofand thebe trusted to chooseThe the Weekender right party, past, we need to take stock of our Wits, he trod carefully on this one, exemption from the professionalthe gloriouswhite years professoriate of the struggle. and staffreplaced at porary altruism visitors and to idealism. the institution? So whenCould freedom it really dawned,be that Raikes the wasrevolutionaryauthor of soundingTo the Brink: rhetoric. The Statebut of they lack Tothe subscribe: sophistication call 0860 26 to 26 26mistakes, and learn from them. speaking only on the need to shift ethos and conduct that all staffBut are thisWi romanticism t s ”? Could itis bemisplaced. that they cannotMany The of theidea UDFof blacks leadership as temporarUDF y leadershipright when took he cautioned a back seat, that “tooThe massesDemocracy bought in it.South It did Africa. not take elect their own leaders. This has led First, it is easy to make claims were absorbed into structures of the failing to appreciate that history long before pronouncements were to an unquestioning leadership � Prof Seepe is president of the SA about commitment to democracy new government. It did not take had imposed on it an equally impor- swallowed as gospel truth, with few beholden to the party bosses. Institute of Race Relations.
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14 OPINION & ANALYSIS TUESDAY OCTOBER 23 2007 The Star
SA is now LITTLE SPOT TREVOR glowing PENGELLY TUESDAY OCTOBER 23 2007 Established 1887 47 Sauer Street, Johannesburg with pride
hat is it about sport that brings Let’s learn to people together? W We have a victorious rugby team that has returned with the biggest rejoice always prize and we are all walking around with a lighter step. Last week I think nearly he time came, the cup has been brought every South African bought a back and the deserved euphoria will green jersey and on Saturday rage unabated for most of next week as afternoon somebody in a brown car was driving we rightfully celebrate Jake White, aimlessly around with a flag in one hand, a bugle in T John Smit and the entire Springbok the other and probably holding a beer as well! squad’s triumphs at Rugby World Cup 2007. We all sat on the edge of our seats watching on The question is: What do we do with this win Saturday night, discussing every play and hoping for afterwards? victory. We saw just how important this victory was in There has been another victory and that is the way the build-up to Saturday’s final and the jubilation an event like this breaks down the inhibitions afterwards. What was inescapable was the sight of between people. It is not easy to strike up a hundreds of thousands of South Africans who conversation with a stranger unless there is a would normally regard rugby as a “white” sport, common cause … like buying something. What I proudly donning replica Springbok jerseys. found most interesting was how “What do you think If ever proof was needed, we saw once more for of the rugby?” loosened everyone’s tongues, especially the umpteenth time the magic power of South as we got closer to the final. African sport to reawaken, almost overnight, our Everyone had an opinion, even those who have communal nationhood and patriotism. only followed soccer up until now. It is a moment for There will be plenty of opportunities to put this all of us to glow as South Africans. This should be a reciprocity of spirit into practice; next year Bafana RelevantRelevant articles articleshuge boost for the sport. Bafana will play in the African Cup of Nations, the Now with the Soccer World Cup around the corner, continental soccer showpiece they first won in 1996, the star, 23 october 2007 everyone is already longing to see our team to glory. a year after the miracle of Ellis Park. Go, Bafana Bafana, go! And so our contribution to this debate is simple; the time has come to get behind our national teams, to support them as passionately as we did the Springboks, even if rugby had been a foreign concept to many before the last couple of weeks. Bafana Bafana, the Proteas, even 2010, are teams and indeed events that we should get behind now, whether we like soccer or cricket or the thought of Give real power to the voters hosting a world cup. By sharing in these, we build upon our nationhood and rejoice in the great triumphs, for he ruling African National Con- JOSTLING FOR actions of government, economic and other these far outweigh the many perceived negatives COMMENT gress (ANC) boasts more than VOTERS: Election social institutions which have the power to drag us down and take our 620 000 paid-up members. From A citizenry cannot guide its govern- eye off the ball of being South African. RICH MKHONDO this number, about 4 000 delegates posters for the 1999 ment unless it had a hand in directly elect- Come what may, 2010 will be a success. Even if T are attending the party’s national conven- elections. South ing it. Bafana Bafana does not do particularly well, other tion in Polokwane in December to choose Africa’s current Our democracy can be invigorated by African countries certainly will. the party’s leader, who will eventually replacing our proportional representation And that, in itself, should be cause for become the country’s president. Is it fair for electoral system, in with a winner-takes-all electoral system. celebration, because that is the reciprocity we owe 1% of the population to dictate to 22-million which parties decide Let parties field presidential candidates the rest of this continent. other voters who should succeed President who will become the and members of parliament and let us vote It’s the same reciprocity that so many black Thabo Mbeki? Not at all. president of the for them directly. South Africans showed white South Africans this Our current electoral system makes fer- Although not expected to cure all politi- weekend and will continue to do so in the days to tile ground for autocrats and demagogues country, creates cal ills, the winner-takes-all system is a come. It’s time to be proud of being South African. and must go. Our representative parliamen- fertile ground for practical electoral system which would sig- tary democracy leaves the decision-making autocrats and breeds nificantly enhance the interaction between to a small group of party political and the public and the government. career politicians and representatives. We cronysim, says the Let us recap. The principle of propor- A job well done What was are slowly getting used to a government writer. tional representation, in essence, is that “of” the people becoming a government parties should win seats in legislative “off” the people. And that is dangerous. assemblies in proportion to their share of olice officers often come in for criticism for previously a PICTURE: ROY WIGLEY perceived laxity in solving crimes. At other We are facing an alarming decay in civic the popular vote. In proportional represen- government ‘of’ and political involvement. Every week times they are slated for incompetent tation systems, voters in each district are seems to bring some new, shocking measure represented by several elected officials investigation, having cases thrown out of P the people is of apathy, ignorance, inequity or distorted rather than just one, as in the winner-takes- court and offenders walking free. However, police representation. all system. sometimes investigate with admirable speed and slowly turning into The current Proportional Representa- Winner-takes-all systems allow 51% of efficiency. The probe into the murder of reggae a government ‘off’ tion (PR) system has served its purpose and voters to win 100% of representation. In musician Lucky Dube is one such example. must go. True, democracy is not linear, and contrast, proportional representation Dube was shot dead last Thursday night in the people all nations often face challenges. Our chal- ensures that voters in the majority earn a Rosettenville, Joburg, in what is believed to have lenge at the moment is that our political and majority of seats, but that voters in the been a hijacking gone wrong. It was a vile crime that economic model is becoming exclusionary minority also will earn their fair share of shocked many music fans around the country, and and secretive and we all know that democ- representation. also reverberated around the world. Dube was a racy abhors secrecy. Proportional representation is not reggae giant who had released hit after hit in the A few years ago a former leader of the monolithic. Most well-established democra- last 20 years, and was one of reggae’s most Democratic Party, Frederick van Zyl Slab- cies use the system – including all but prominent stars. His death further serves to tarnish bert, and his task team recommended that France and the UK in Europe – but systems this country’s image, and reinforce the perception South Africa should retain its proportional vary widely. The system is criticised in Italy that it is the murder capital of the world. representation system but change it to a and Israel as breeding confusion and divi- A task team of 15 detectives was set up a day two-tier system, splitting the country into sion by fostering large numbers of small after the incident, and five suspects were arrested 69 constituencies electing between three political parties. Yet the flexibility of pro- on Sunday morning. The car believed to have been and seven MPs, and keeping 100 seats as portional representation allows reformers used in the murder was found. “compensatory” national seats. Unfortu- to calibrate just how far they want to open We congratulate police on a job well done. nately, the ANC government rejected this then it is high time we, as the voters, they have extremely limited choices chosen up the halls of representation. The police will inevitably face criticism that reform and appears to be unwilling to should in future be able to decide for our- for them by a party, not put to them by the I know some would say we shouldn’t they gave the case preferential treatment because of implement a new system. selves by directly electing a president and party for them to vote for on election day. worry about low participation, that democ- who the victim was, and the fact that it made Through the current proportional repre- members of parliament. We, the voters want a change, and, more racy requires only that those who want to international headlines. It is an accusation that sentation system, more than 10-million peo- Here is why: The government conducts importantly, we want representatives who participate have the opportunity. they will not be able to shake off. All we can say is: ple voted for the ANC, and the party presi- its business in our name as citizens. We will listen to and act on our wishes rather We’ve seen what happens when a com- Let the police act with similar speed in all cases. dent became our president in the 1999 and have a right and a duty to know how and than the direction of partisan leadership. munity simply loses interest in supporting 2004 national elections. why that business is conducted. There can Democracy is not a spectator sport, even its schools, community infrastructure or In this day and age why should a leader be no legitimate excuse for denying us the though our politicians are making a specta- facilities. be imposed on people who are not card- right to elect our leaders directly rather cle of themselves. Our parliamentary The time for real leadership is now. Don’t fall for this carrying members of any party? than through a party. democracy will become a participative South Africans have no interest in being The ANC is not likely to change an elec- Efforts to improve the quality of gover- democracy only when civil society plays an represented by individuals whose primary nd so the scams go on. The latest scheme to con toral system which favours it. However, I nance are failing through the quality and active role. concern is party-political correctness. people is that of a close corporation which am confident that as citizens we can force calibre of the political executive, which is Our leaders must recognise that right vs The proportional representation elec- A prints fraudulent documents – in the City of the ruling party to consider a new electoral becoming unsatisfactory. We are all aware left; conservative vs liberal, are not the aver- toral system must go. We need an electoral Johannesburg’s name – containing instructions to system. Let it be the last time that 1% of the of the deterioration of the quality, integrity age South African’s concerns. We are more system which will encourage party and cut off services to properties. Targeted residents are electorate dictate who we should vote for. and commitment of the elected representa- concerned with right and wrong. That’s voter co-operation and reduce voter apathy, asked to pay their “outstanding balance” into a If we really believe that democracy is a tives and the criminalisation of politics. where our leaders need to focus. dangerous antagonisms and cronyism. specified bank account. universal right that does not belong to any To breathe life into representative We have the right, need and responsibil- I Rich Mkhondo, a writer, author, former In disclosing that a number of customers have country, region, individual or party and if democracy, we must address two fundamen- ity to be directly involved in the economic editor and foreign correspondent is the already been taken in, the city council has offered we all agree that participatory governance, tal problems: that the majority of adults do and political decisions that affect our lives, managing director of an international com- urgent advice to foil the tricksters. The most based on the will of the people, is the best not participate regularly in electoral poli- and the recognition of this is fundamental munications and public relations agency. important to note is that contractors appointed to path to freedom, growth and development, tics, and that, when they do participate, to all decision-making processes and This is his personal opinion. handle disconnections are not permitted to request, or receive, any payment. Our blessed ‘burst of joy’ spurred Bokke on
unday, a week ago, was a perfect We chatted about rugby, for the Boks stroked my cheek and I leant across to kiss My mother was a Holocaust survivor, so HUMOUR day. My mother sipped her orange were playing Argentina that night. her on her nose. I also told her of our visit to Auschwitz, the Telephone 011-633-9111 juice and watched two sunbirds “Vee vill vin,” said my mother in the “I love you,” I said. German extermination camp where her Box 1014, Johannesburg 2000 CAROL LAZAR S sipping nectar from a hibiscus. definitive tone she always used when She smiled and slowly closed her eyes. I mother and her whole family had died. We’d “They’re also enjoying their juice,” she predicting a result. was stroking her forehead. wept together. Editor Moegsien Williams observed. “The guru speaks,” I smiled. It was only about five minutes later that Our children came from overseas for her Later, seated in her favourite armchair, “You vill see, vee vill vin,” she replied. I realised I couldn’t hear her breathing. funeral and family and friends have rallied Deputy Editor Jovial Rantao she did something most unusual. She “And vee vill vin the world cup.” My little mother had passed away. around. Editorial Executives refused a cigarette. “Daddy would be “From your mouth to God’s ears,” I said. Gently and peacefully, she’d gone to join my My mother hadn’t met the new Rabbi at happy,” I giggled. She giggled back. “He After lunch, she wanted to lie down and father. the Gardens Synagogue, Osher Feldman, Dave Hazelhurst David Legge would,” she said. have a little rest. She had, I decided, waited for my return, young enough to be her grandson, but she Sol Makgabutlane Zenaide Jones My oncologist father was tall and he tow- She seemed a little breathless. as I’d been away on an assignment in would have loved him, his warmth, his Brendan Seery Nelandri Narianan ered above my tiny mother. “Darling, if you “Are you alright?” I asked anxiously. She Poland. I’d told her about that wonderful gentleness and his caring. loved me, you’d stop smoking,” he’d say. nodded and smiled. country, of the beautiful cities such as And on that first Sunday night, we made News Editor “I do luff you,” my mother would reply I called my husband and he also Warsaw, Posnan and Cracow and discov- it into the semi-finals. Naturally. [email protected] Tel: 011-633-2410 in her funny German accent. And she’d remarked that my mother’s breathing ered that, as a young girl, my mother had And the past Saturday night, we won the smile up at him while puffing away. seemed a little strained. visited Warsaw and would sit with her World Rugby Cup. Naturally. Opinion/Letters Editor Sol Makgabutlane How could they A news fiend, she read the Sunday “I’ll call the doctor,” he said. “He’ll be parents in the Old Town square enjoying I knew we would, for there, sitting on a [email protected] Tel: 011-633-2336 not win with her papers, and watched the various news here in about half an hour,” Rob said after coffee and pastries. cloud, watching the match, was my dad Oped Editor Brendan Seery stations on TV. the call. “He’s busy with another patient.” “They are very cultured people, the with his booming voice and my little [email protected] Tel: 011-633-2290 shouting from a “How you feeling?” I asked a little later “I don’t need a doctor,” said my mother, Poles,” she’d said. “People always think all mother puffing away, with both shouting for Verve Editor Zenaide Jones because she seemed quieter than usual. Not “I’m fine.” the Poles were peasants. That was not so. the Bokke. cloud? her usual perky self. I sat on the edge of the bed holding my Their great cities were as cosmopolitan and My mother was a burst of joy in our [email protected] Tel: 011-633-2587 “I’m a little tired,” she said. mother’s hands and stroking her cheek. She vibrant as Paris and Brussels and Berlin.” lives. How blessed we are.
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the star, 22 february 2008 18 OPINION & ANALYSIS FRIDAY FEBRUARY 22 2008 The Star Thank God the madness is over FRIDAY FEBRUARY 22 2008 Established 1887 47 Sauer Street, Johannesburg inally! Cool heads have prevailed. more seats, more privileges and more influ- I suppose we should thank the ANC, stronger, decide to form a party and, voilà, COMMENT The lunacy has ended. And our ence in government at all three levels. which adopted a resolution at its 52nd they have one. Some of these instant democracy will be all the better for People were promised hard cash, while conference that this system – from which political parties are represented in parlia- Get rid of JOVIAL RANTAO F it. Commonsense has replaced some were lured with the temptation of it benefited greatly – should be abolished. ment today without having fought a single short-term, myopic political gains that business deals, and higher positions in the The ANC has seen the light. It has realised election. lured political parties, led by the ruling legislature. Even a Russian blonde was this was a bad exercise of our fledgling I’m sure that if a question was to be ANC, to tolerate floor-crossing. There had thrown into the mix in one political trans- democracy. posed to the “representatives” of these par- to be something not right with a constitu- action in Cape Town, which, along with It has also noticed that floor-crossing did ties about their mandate and the concerns this cancer tion that allows for this kind of treachery. other tightly contested cities, bore the brunt not benefit our country one bit, and the of those they are supposed to represent, the We must all applaud the end of floor- of this bad system. All these spicy and party is going to scrap it. It is only proper answer would be a big nothing. crossing – that fraudulent, undemocratic intriguing details should emerge once there that when the next elections are held, this It would be so because these politicians, enophobia has reared its ugly head in a system that wreaked havoc in our political is agreement between the ANC and the system will be history. these political parties, have not presented squatter settlement west of Pretoria, system and destroyed a number of political Democratic Alliance that the judicial com- Ordinarily, there would be nothing any manifesto to anybody but themselves. with disgusting acts of thuggery and parties in the process. The announcement mission established to probe spy allegations wrong with politicians changing their man- They cannot claim to represent anyone but victimisation that shame us as a nation that floor-crossing is to come to an end is that have rocked the City of Cape Town dates, but the problem with our current themselves. X which claims to be democratic. perhaps bigger than Finance Minister should go ahead with its work. electoral system is that these politicians Irrespective of all of this, taxpayers We should be very, very worried about this hate Trevor Manuel’s Budget because of its One feels for small parties such as Bantu switched political homes for nothing but have been forced to fork out salaries and which is growing within our society. It will destroy The ANC has impact on democracy. Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement, personal reasons. There was no need for allowances to these MPs and their parties us if left unchecked. Indeed, floor-crossing decimated not Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s Inkatha Freedom them to consult with constituencies, whose – all in the name of democracy. In the Itirileng informal settlement, groups of finally seen the only smaller parties in our democracy, but Party and Motsoko Pheko’s Pan Africanist mandate they are supposed to carry but did The ANC has done well by putting an marauding armed men attacked scores of introduced immoral and illegal activities Congress. You can add to that list Patricia not because their rules allowed them to end to floor-crossing. However, in order to foreigners, including women and children, chasing light and put a in our political system. Political leaders, de Lille’s Independent Democrats. All these change colours without accounting to deepen our democracy and force MPs to them from their shacks and destroying their desperate for more seats – and more money parties have served as stepping stones for anyone. work and serve communities, the party belongings. Those who tried to fight back were stop to the and privileges – went as far as offering immoral politicians who dumped them as South Africans who voted for political should seriously scrap the current electoral stabbed and beaten before being dragged through bribes to those who had been identified as soon as a bigger carrot was dangled by parties represented by the floor-crossers system. In its place a constituency-based the streets naked. treachery of targets for poaching. someone else. All of them must feel like a have been the only losers in this system. system should be introduced. Apart from Africans from other countries, Zulus floor-crossing So, for a few pieces of silver, a number of nursery, building and nurturing politicians Indeed, there was something wrong with For a party that won over 70% of the and Xhosas were also chased away by the mob. politicians changed parties in an exercise for bigger parties such as the ANC, to a a system that allowed so many politicians to vote in the last election, the ANC should Irate residents claimed the foreigners stole their designed also to give the political party large extent, and the DA to a lesser extent. meet over a cup of coffee, or something have nothing to fear. jobs and killed people. One man told a reporter: “They must go to their own countries because if they don’t, we will kill them.” A woman said the foreigners had “dark, shiny LITTLE SPOT faces” and could not pronounce numbers properly. No capping It is a fact that millions of people from African BRENDAN SEERY countries have flocked here since 1994, seeking bottles’ refuge from persecution – as our own exiles did when fleeing apartheid – or to try and build a better life. And it is true that the numbers of foreigners growth are placing additional burdens on community services like health and education, as well as can now reveal a little- adding to the pool of unemployed. The competition known suburban truth: for resources for those people, and our own poor, is when you switch off becoming bitter. your bathroom light at But we should not allow the monster of I night and close the door, the xenophobia any breathing space in South Africa. shampoo bottles breed. For the phenomenon is nothing more than racism: How else do you explain the hatred for someone else because they are the proliferation of these, and different to you. Many lives were lost to rid this other bottles and containers? Once you’ve finished country of the cursed racism of apartheid, and we reading this, go into your bathroom and count all the must now not replace one evil with another. objects there. I guarantee the total will shock you and, Because, as the latest violence shows, xenophobia that there will be an average “item per can also turn into ethnic strife and before you know occupant”count (number of objects divided by the it, we could turn into another Kenya. people using the bathroom) of at least a dozen. Stop xenophobia and severely punish those who We are re-doing one of the bathrooms in our house practice it. The alternative is anarchy. and we were forced to clear it out before the builders arrived. Apart from the huge container count “in the open” – round the basin, on the windowsill and the Taxi rank boors sides of the bath – the bathroom cupboard had even more junk. How we managed to accumulate four toilet rim he contemptible misogyny had been blocks (dating back a decade I would guess) is beyond bubbling under the surface for the last me. And let’s not even talk about some of the medical three years or so until it reared its ugly supplies that were so old they would have been of T head last weekend. A bunch of taxi drivers great interest to an archaeologist. have annexed the Noord Street taxi rank in Now that all four of us in the house are sharing the Johannesburg and have become a law unto remaining bathroom, the chaos is even worse – four themselves. people with 10 toothbrushes! They have set themselves as arbiters of what is It’s an indictment of the way we live in the modern good dress sense among female passengers. Woe world. Consume, consume, consume. And, no matter betide those young female passengers attired in how quickly you consume, the shampoo bottles will miniskirts or tight jeans to which our judges take always be one step ahead of you … exceptions. At the weekend they pounced on a number of these young females, ripping their clothes apart and in some cases committing indecent acts on these unfortunate souls. These incidents have been condemned by gender Kosovo emboldens local separatist party activists and law enforcement agencies. Thankfully, taxi authorities have also come out strongly against osovo, the tiny ethnic-Albanian Kosovo on Monday. On Tuesday, George that that implied support for Serbia. But tries or new nations as a result of domestic such barbaric actions. Gauteng safety MEC Firoz enclave of Serbia, is a long way Nene, the deputy director-general for multi- South African officials had previously declarations. Our regard for them can be Cachalia was scheduled to meet representatives of ANALYSIS from South Africa in almost lateral affairs, told a press briefing that the expressed the fear that recognising inferred by the way our connections and the taxi industry and policing authorities yesterday PETER FABRICIUS every way. But its unilateral dec- decision was too difficult to make now and Kosovo’s secession might create a danger- relations with them develop over the to discuss the attack on the female commuters. K laration of independence (UDI) last Sunday had been referred to the state law advisers ous precedent for the many restive ethnic years.” The next step is to arrest the perpetrators and had the rather Frankensteinish effect of and the cabinet. minorities in Africa with breakaway Some might call that making a virtue of charge them with gross violations of human rights. stirring life into a local political party As a non-permanent member of the UN tendencies. indecision, but it had a pleasing, modest Our democracy allows everyone to dress the way which was thought to be long dead. Security Council, South Africa had already Another reason for predicting a pro-Serb practicality about it. they desire, within the mores of common decency The Afrikaans, Christian, white sepa- been grappling with this issue for many position is that when the UN Security splits South Africa probably thinks of itself as of course. ratist Herstigte Nasionale Party (HNP) months. It has received delegations of top as it has now, South Africa generally sides a more important country in the world than issued a statement in Pretoria joyously Serbs and Kosovars pleading their contrast- with Russia and China (which back Serbia) New Zealand and perhaps it is. It is really welcoming Kosovo’s move as an inspiration ing cases. In addition, it has undertaken a rather than US, UK and France (which back agonising to make a decision on the Kosovo Not too old to smile for its own, long-cherished dream of a fact-finding mission to Kosovo and has Kosovo). question because it feels its membership of separate, whites-only Afrikaner state. consulted widely beyond that. Perhaps what is giving Pretoria pause, the UN Security Council imposes upon it a To give you a bit of perspective, the HNP South African is, of course, right that though, is not only a residual sympathy for responsibility to make up its mind and to ow to live to 100? Forget the plethora of was founded by the late Albert Hertzog as a this must be a difficult decision since it has the Kosovars’ cause of liberation but also provide guidance to other African and advice on diet, exercise and weight- breakaway from the old ruling National divided the UN Security Council and the that the Kosovars are largely Muslim and so developing world countries. H watching – just eat and drink what you like South Africa is Party in 1969. He felt Prime Minister John world. their UDI presumably has found favour This shows a worthy sense of responsi- and God will see you through. Vorster had embarked upon a dangerous It pits important values – respect for with much of the Islamic world, with which bility. That’s the unequivocal message from Dora Uys ambivalent about digression from traditional apartheid Serbia’s territorial integrity and South Africa generally agrees. But perhaps South Africa is taking the and Ethel Nembura, believed to be the world’s policies by allowing Maoris to tour South sovereignty versus the yearning for But does South Africa really have to duties of multilateralism too seriously. If oldest identical twins, who celebrated achieving Kosovo’s secession Africa with the All Blacks rugby team. freedom by a people historically oppressed. make a decision at all? At the same press Pretoria is worried that choosing sides will centenarian status in Joburg this week. and may be it Kosovo’s secession also stirred the South South Africa seems to be leaning conference this week where our foreign irritate too many countries and harm too Still in possession of their mental faculties and African government, but in a different way, towards Serbia’s side. Nene this week minister reserved judgement, her visiting many bilateral interests, why not follow the blessed with a sense of humour, the two were happy should remain so into a frenzy of agonising soul-searching. significantly underscored South Africa’s New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters, modest Kiwi precedent? The world would to be together at their birthday party, but are Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma support for the values of territorial had this to say about Kosovo: “We do not no doubt somehow manage without a South pragmatic about their relationship. As Dora could not say if the country recognised integrity and sovereignty while denying make statements of recognition of coun- African position on Kosovo. smilingly confessed, they could never live together or they would fight. Long may these remarkable women remain with us. A little pill to help you get through the day
ive years ago I mentioned that a a stimulant that, when taken before a shop- world can go to hell for eight hours. listening to the intros to concertos”. STOEP TALK United States study into female ping expedition, increases enthusiasm and Peptobimbo is a liquid silicone for single She asks the minister: “Now would you Telephone 011-633-9111 psychological problems reported stamina. women. Swallowed before an evening out it be happy with only intros? Of course you Box 1014, Johannesburg 2000 JAMES CLARKE F that “80% of women think their Buyagra Extra Strength caused indis- increases breast size, decreases intelligence wouldn’t. So don’t you think Treasury can43 ass is too big. Ten percent think their ass is criminate and frenzied buying. In one and improves flirting. afford some decent full-length concertos to Editor Moegsien Williams too small. The remaining 10% said they extreme case a Bultfontein farmer’s wife And there’s a more potent version of keep us happy seeing we have to stay on the Deputy Editor Jovial Rantao don’t care what size their ass is because came home with an oboe, a book about Dummerol. But one has to be careful line holding on … and on … for ever, and they love him all the same.” tanks in World War 2 and another of 18th because if taken with Peptobimbo it can ever, and ever?” Editorial Executives This prompted Glynis Ross-Munro, in century Tibetan poetry. cause a dangerously low IQ resulting in I think her request is reasonable. 1993, to send me a pharmacopoeia of drugs New on the market is St Momma’s Wort, enjoyment of heavy metal music, men with While we are at it, I’d like to ask Telkom Dave Hazelhurst David Legge designed especially to help women – a list I a herbal medicine that treats depression in tattoos and pickup trucks. to change its pathetically monotonous three Sol Makgabutlane Zenaide Jones used in this column. I am now told of newer younger mothers by rendering their pre- Antitalksident is a new spray for use on bars of music, which after 30 minutes Brendan Seery Nelandri Narianan and more effective drugs, including an school children unconscious for hours at a anyone too eager to share their life stories become sheer torture. “antiboyotic” that when administered to time. with you. I suggest all government departments – News Editor teenage girls significantly improves their And for mothers who suddenly find the they are all pathologically slow answering [email protected] Tel: 011-633-2410 concentration and, therefore, their grades house lonely and empty after the last child DO US A FAVOUR TREV phones – offer a choice of music. “Dial one Opinion/Letters Editor Sol Makgabutlane as well as frees up the house phone. has moved out there’s “MT Nestrogen”. It Margaret Kollmer of Benoni has written for classical, two for pop …” For older single women there’s Medni- eliminates melancholy by enhancing their a long letter to the Minister of Finance, And then to refrain from interrupting [email protected] Tel: 011-633-2336 Wouldn’t it be cillin, a potent antiboyotic that increases memory of how awful the kids were as Trevor Manuel, whom she addresses as the music to repeatedly assure us how Oped Editor Brendan Seery resistance to such lethal lines as “You make teenagers and how you longed for them to “Trev”. important our call is to them. [email protected] Tel: 011-633-2290 nice to have a me want to be a better person” and “Gosh, move out. She complains, in very friendly terms, Verve Editor Zenaide Jones you certainly don’t look your age!” A shortcut for those who want to quit about the time spent on the phone waiting I Contact Stoep Talk: Fax: 011-465-4564 cure for empty And a new move has been to withdraw worrying is Damitol, now available without for Benoni Receiver’s understaffed office to Write to: Box 876 Lonehill, 2062 [email protected] Tel: 011-633-2587 nest syndrome? Buyagra from the market after men prescription. answer calls. She tells me “it wasn’t so much e-mail: [email protected] claimed the drug was immoral. Buyagra is Take two tablets and the rest of the the waste of time – it was the monotony of http://stoeptalk.wordpress.com Sunday Times 06/04/2008 01 01st0604main 19 All Round 05/04/2008 01:56:16 PM
1st EDITION ST Mainbody, 6-April-2008-Page 19, Cyan ST Mainbody, 6-April-2008- Page 19, Magenta Relevant articles ST Mainbody, 6-April-2008-Page 19, Yellow ST Mainbody, 6-April-2008- Page 19, Black AprilSUNDAY 6 20 0 8 TIMES, 6 APRIL 2008 NEWS & OPINION 1JDCP Sunday Times 19 SO MANY Q U E ST IO N S
Consumers suffered yet another steep price hike for liquid fuel this week. Chris Barron spoke to chief director Muzi Mkhize from the Department of Minerals and Energy
Can’t you do more to protect consumers from these price hikes? From a reasonable perspective, I don’t think there is much more that can be done. Reduce the fuel tax? That is in the domain of the national Treasury or the Finance minister. Would you like to see it reduced? It depends on what is done with the fuel tax. Is enough being done with it to justify the amount? I think so, if you look at what is being done in the country currently. You’re seeing reductions of income tax being levied on individuals and companies, and tax incentives for small business. And someone, somewhere, has to pay for this. There is no such thing as a free lunch. How much of what we pay at the pump goes to the government in the form of taxes? Y o u ’re looking at about R1.50 out of the amount of R8.11. About 15%? Yes, in that range. But if you look at the price change for diesel, for example, it is more than R1 and that is unprecedented. If you look at the shocks we’ve experienced, we never expected it to go as high as it has, you know. If you think about it, 10 years ago it was $10 a barrel. Now you’re sitting with a price that has gone beyond $100 a barrel. And we’ve just got to grin and bear it? Well, we can’t influence the price. It’s unlike in the United States where they’ve got a lot of strategic stocks and so they can influence the price. Our demand globally is minuscule. Could we source crude more cheaply than we are? It would be possible. Designing a better democracy So why aren’t we? We have an import parity system, which is a deemed system. In other words, that is not to say it is going to be the actual price at which the refineries are From the IEC to the evening news, we could improve the way we run our elections, writes Bantu Holomisa importing the crude oil. But we benchmark them against others in Singapore — the most efficient HE leaders of South Africa’s The adoption of any democratic system floor-crossing. functions, it will continue to be a Intelligence Agency can poke its nose into refineries — so that the local guys have to be efficient political parties will tomorrow of government is thus preceded by the The Van Zyl Slabbert Commission was challenge for it to be able to act the issuing of tenders to run our enough to compete against imports. There is l i tt l e hold a meeting with the identification of an electoral system that finally appointed — years after these independently of the government’s elections, what is it that guarantees that more we can do. T chairman of the Independent best addresses the requirements of such a concerns were first raised — but its wishes. they don’t issue those tenders to their Cut the margins you guarantee to local oil companies? Electoral Commission, Brigalia Bam, and system of government. findings were promptly shelved, and we One day we would like to see an IEC own front companies? And who her commissioners, with a view to taking As a result of electoral disagreements, continue with a system that is being empowered to independently announce authorised the NIA to get involved in this We ’re looking at things like that. Instead of being a look at our electoral processes and how we have seen elections in other countries blamed for a lack of accountability. the date for elections, so that area in the first instance? totally regulated and having a fixed price, we can these could be reviewed to help us as a ending in the courts, or with accusations While we appreciate the progress made preparations can be done properly in Th e IEC remains vulnerable to political have a ceiling price for liquid fuels so that you can nation cope with future electoral of vote-rigging. thus far, the challenge facing us is to look advance, unlike the current situation. manipulation which may compromise its allow discounting below this ceiling price. challenges. The worst recent examples have been how we can strengthen the institutions of We need to develop a legal framework independence. A case in point is the We ’re talking retail prices? The meeting is a follow-up on a number the death of hundreds of people in Kenya our democracy, such as the IEC. that would allow the IEC to not be at the integration of municipal electoral officials Yes. We are working on this. of such engagements, both in this country after elections there, and the We observed how former ANC ethics mercy of a minister of Finance or Home into political bodies in the form of and across the continent. questionable manner in which the watchdog Kader Asmal evaluated many Affairs when it comes to funding — su c h partisan municipalities, thus potentially Why should there be a guaranteed retail margin for The International Conference on Zimbabwean elections were reportedly of these vital democratic institutions — as when the IEC calls for the compromising their independence. service stations? Sustaining Africa’s Democratic handled. and while we may disagree here and improvement of its infrastructure to avoid Also, at the administrative level, we The reason is that oil is a very strategic commodity Momentum, held in Sandton last year, These regrettable incidents could have there on detail, we can all agree that we rigging or to enhance electoral processes, must question the wisdom of Cosatu for South Africa. We have to rely on imports for emphasised the importance of sufficient been avoided if the electoral processes in need to find solutions to some of the but the relevant ministers simply d r ag members (the teachers’ union, Sadtu, and almost 70% of what we use in the country, because we representation of political parties in all those countries had been c o n t i n u a l ly inherent defects in these institutions or in their feet and frustrate the institution. other affiliates) being used as electoral don’t have reserves. organs of the state where their direct reviewed, and systems put in place to the general legal framework. As stakeholders in the IEC, we need to officials throughout the electoral process, Why can’t you deregulate the industry? p a r t i c i p at i o n would ensure and enhance ensure the independence of electoral The delegates at last October’s IEC look at the composition of the IEC board when Cosatu is unashamedly aligned to high levels of transparency and commissions and polling staff — and to conference understood that South and ask whether it is fairly constituted. one of the political parties contesting If we do that, there are certain challenges that we are accountability, with high levels of ensure transparency about every step of Africans want: We need to ask why it is that only elections. going to face. For example, you can easily have a au t h o r i ty . the electoral process. ý A sense of ownership of their Parliament, where the ruling party The role of the public broadcaster is situation where the hardest hit areas are the rural It was at this same conference that the At the core of the democratic impulse of g ove r n m e n t ; dominates, has a say about the also a source of concern. There is no way areas, because there is less demand there and you African Union Charter on Democracy, every person are two related needs: ý Direct control of their government; composition of the IEC leadership. that it can be fair that it is only the ruling have to transport the oil over long distances. You’ll Elections and Governance and other ý An accountable, ethical and party that receives live coverage on SABC find the price there becomes very high and then the international electoral commissions were incorruptible government; television, as well as almost daily TV poor are the hardest hit. identified as sources of reference for the For how long have people ý Decisive leadership on issues of As long as our IEC is news coverage, while other parties are Couldn’t the government cap it? evaluation of electoral democracy. The national importance; not shown at all or receive radically less These are the things we are looking at. We are going text of the AU Charter should e n c o mp a s s in South Africa called fo r embedded in a ý Mutual trust between them and their c ove r ag e . to gradually remove our hands from the lever. all ethical values considered essential for g ove r n m e n t ; The same could be said about SA B C the effective and efficient running of any c o n st i t u e n c i e s? ý To be in charge of their own destiny; government department, TV’s partisan behaviour when it covers Over which period? st at e . Many others have called and it will continue to be a party anniversaries, manifesto launches This is not based on any period, it is based on This led to a conclusion that a country ý A say in the management of the and closing rallies during elections. achieving certain milestones. should not be seen to be fit for democracy for a directly elected country’s resources. challenge for it to act When other political parties request the The 25% black economic empowerment requirement? but should be fit through democracy. The question is whether there is a need same treatment from the SABC, they are I also participated in the IEC p re s i d e n t for improvement at the IEC as an independently asked silly questions by the deployed Th at ’s part of it. It’s not the only thing, but it is part Conference held in Johannesburg in institution, or at the legislative level. comrades, such as: “Is it newsworthy?” of it. October last year, as well as another AU- How do we strengthen this institution There is, therefore, the need for an What are the other problems? sponsored conference in Ghana. choice and voice. In other words, people in order to promote electoral democracy Indeed, why did other democratic electoral review that will enhance high The issue of the allocation of service stations. And we These conferences on electoral reform desire alternatives in order to choose in our country? countries avoid leaving this decision levels of accountability and participation need to look at what happens if, for example, have looked at, among other things: what best suits them, and people want to We have to ask ourselves a question: is exclusively to Parliament? Did they of the electorate. someone says we’re not going to ship the product The theories, concepts and ý be heard, want their needs and our IEC really independent? To the perhaps not fear that the majority in that In the same vein, we fully support that inland from the coast. The heartbeat of the country is democratic practices of electoral systems; aspirations acknowledged. United Democratic Movement’s Parliament would automatically come up the public should fund our democracy, so inland, but where are the refineries? They’re along Floor-crossing; ý Our country’s Constitution creates the understanding, an Independent Electoral with their own favourites? as to avoid our politics being mortgaged the coast. If you leave it just to the market, you are The independence of the IEC; ý space for these two needs to be fulfilled Commission means: Delegates at the IEC conference spoke either to business, wealthy individuals going to have areas that don’t have the product. ý Party funding; with the provision for a multiparty ý Insulation from control by the about the need for transparency; it is and companies or outside governments or ý The role of the media; and democracy and many other related government or any external body; and true, we need that. An IEC fully institutions which might influence our Wo u l d n ’t competition and the profit motive sort that ý Inter- and intra-party democracy. mechanisms and institutions. ý Guaranteed access to adequate representative of all the stakeholders government policy. out? All of these discussions took into However, we cannot pretend that the resources in order to be able to carry out would definitely allow us to know which Obviously, this necessitates that there Then you might have price increases that are much cognisance the fact that we have, since voices we have heard from various its mandate. IT company was controlling our elections. should be proper legislation for party higher than now. It’s likely that in the short term it 1994, been striving to develop a system of sectors have had their concerns We know that the current IEC cannot Is it a genuine company — or an funding, including regulations on how may decrease, but then it will increase again. democracy that will best address the addressed adequately. be called independent because it remains intelligence-front company, or a company private business and unions support Is n ’t it still better to let the market decide, rather than imbalances of past regimes, which For how long have people in this institutionally and financially dependent belonging to a certain political party? political parties. government bureaucrats sitting behind closed doors? created deep divisions in our country. country called for electoral reform and upon the government. As long as our IEC What is the role of the intelligence All we are asking for is for the levelling We should therefore look for a the introduction of constituencies? is embedded in a government agencies in our elections? What of the playing field. The difficulty remains that it is a strategic resource. democratic system that would be the Many others have called for a directly department, and as long as legal mechanisms are used to screen these Remember 2005 when there were shortages? Just embodiment of the standards, ethical elected president. And indeed, vast provisions connect it closely to c o mp a n i e s ? Holomisa is a member of Parliament imagine sitting with that kind of a situation. Then norms and values of our society. numbers have rejected the concept of government in the performance of its If it is true that the National and president of the UDM people would be saying “we ’re in Zimbabwe”. The time has come for liberation movements to upda
HAT is the purpose of character- the “knowledge police”—who define what Are you a comrade or a petty intellectual?” Mugabe, a leader from a liberation movement from the elite in the ruling parties themselves ising a ruling party as a liberation standard party behaviour is and who punish The current mode of debate is coloured by and a ruling party for 28 years. He has posed, in — there is a need for massive political movement? With an increasing those who have brought the party into personal remarks, sarcasm and pointless bom- a more sophisticated way, the rhetorical state- mobilisation of the people in order to have a W44 elite split within ruling parties in disrepute for speaking or stepping outside the bastic rhetoric. It was demonstrated this week ment so crudely articulated by George Bush mandate to introduce the substantive changes South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola party line. by outgoing ANC Youth League president Fik- that it eventually backfired: “You are either which this list suggests. and other Southern African countries, there is To a large extent, liberation movements ile Mbalula in his vitriolic attack on Dr Barney with us or with the enemy.” Voting and elections, while critical, are a need to question this notion of ruling parties operated within a militarised culture where Pityana, who had taken issue with Jacob It is therefore dangerous to glorify a former insufficient. In addition to these vehicles, one being referred to as liberation movements. discipline was taught and anyone operating Zuma’s moral bankruptcy. liberation movement and post-independence must identify the means and mechanisms In this context, does it mean to liberate the outside the disciplinary code was ostracised. No doubt, there will be times when nasty ruling party as a liberation movement when the through which the traditionally disenfran- country’s wealth and distribute it to the elite? When ruling parties take on the baggage of verbal contests are inescapable, but substi- tasks and context are different. chised populations — the dispossessed — seize Liberation movements were established to behaviour learned from the liberation move- tuting political conversation with polemic is We cannot continue to employ this term as if control of their own destinies. serve a particular purpose during a certain era ment, it does not bode well for democracy. symptomatic of an authoritarian attitude and we were still in the trenches of the armed The biggest challenge for a liberating agenda in our history. They came with a culture of The “you are with us or with the enemy” ideas reminiscent of the liberation movement struggle or in a discourse suitable to the Cold is to recognise that the strategic situation has internal democracy, which is increasingly rhetoric is at the heart of liberation movements. d ays . Wa r . changed f u n d a m e n t a l ly . debatable in terms of their ability to build It suggests that anything can be done in the Polemic reinforces factionalism. While en- The national liberation paradigm of today This does not mean that what we have collectives to create consensus around name of defending “us” against the alleged tertaining at times, it tends to distract from the must evolve and address the issues of gender learned and held should be thrown out. Rather, decision-making at different levels of the enemy, or, even worse, that anything can be real issues. It also indicates intellectual lazi- equality, the right to work, equitable land we must be cognisant of the new realities. political party. done to alleged enemies in the name of ness: rather than careful, rigorous and well- redistribution, indigenous knowledge, wealth Placing contemporary contradictions in old Often flawed in the power relations between defending “us”. It also suggests that no wrong considered arguments and/or refutation of crit- redistribution, climate change, the construc- vinegar bottles from the Cold War denies us the the leadership and rank and file, they have can be done in the name of fighting the alleged ical ideas, it dismisses diverse ideas with con- tion of an economy that services the internal space to explore the new politics and forms of contributed to a culture of intolerance to di- enemy. Ultimately, anything but unquestioning tempt. Firm adherence to dogma may be psy- needs of the people, food sovereignty, the organisation that can complete the liberation verse opinions. They have left us with au- loyalty is betrayal. chologically comfortable, but it can only ensure building of public infrastructure, management st r u g g l e . thoritarian leadership structures that hide be- Do ruling parties need this same modus political marginalisation. of public resources such as energy and water, hind the notion of “democratic centralism”, operandi? They are always framing issues in The consequences of this nonsensical and the rule of law, and the right to dissension and which enables a few people to make decisions terms of “Are you for Jacob Zuma or not? Are pretentious dichotomy of being a ruling party public expression. on behalf of everyone. you for or against the Scorpions? Are you for or and liberation movement in tandem have had In order to accomplish any of this — and with There have always been gatekeepers who are against the National Democratic Revolution? far-reaching ramifications for President Robert the anticipation of considerable resistance