'ANC is the party of the black middle class'

Moeletsi Mbeki has lambasted the ruling ANC as a "party of the black middle class" following the massive public-sector strike that has brought the country's education and health services to a standstill. The popular economic and political commentator and brother of former president Thabo Mbeki said South Africa's large working class was under the misguided impression that the ANC was "the party of the people". "The unions in this country do not understand the political economy of South Africa. They think that the ANC is the party of the people. The ANC is the party of the black middle class. The fact that the masses vote for it does not mean they control it. The policies of the ANC favour the black middle class and the established businesses. They do not favour the working class."

Mbeki, who wrote Architects of Poverty: Why Africa's Capitalism Needs Changing, was speaking as a guest lecturer on Thursday at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein, to third-year and honours economics students. "You just have to look at the types of houses that the ANC government builds for ordinary South Africans," he said. "If you had a party that was a pro-working-class party, it would not have built these so-called RDP houses that are being built by the ANC government. The unions have all along been under the illusion that the ANC is the government of the working class, and [Zwelinzima] Vavi and them are now beginning to realise that this is not the case." His comments came on the same day Vavi delivered his strongest condemnation yet of Zuma's government at a press conference in Johannesburg. The general secretary of Cosatu said that the alliance was "dysfunctional" as the strikes continued, slamming the corruption of the state.

Mbeki said the striking public-sector workers faced a special dilemma. "They think the ANC is their ally but at the same time they feel they are not getting any benefits out of this alliance. Therefore you are beginning to get a very acrimonious environment emerging between the public-sector unions and the government." On Monday, the government went back to the negotiating table with unions after President Jacob Zuma demanded they do so. They have put an offer on the table of a 7,5% increase and an R800 housing allowance, just shy of union demands of 8,6% and R1000. Workers were on Tuesday voting on whether to accept the offer.

Meanwhile, Mbeki also weighed in on the Protection of Information Bill and the proposed media tribunal, which have brought the media and the government on to a collision course, saying the ANC government was trying to muzzle the media because it wanted to safeguard corruption within government. "The question of freedom of information is very closely linked to the rise in corruption in the government," he said. "What the politicians are doing is that they are trying to hide that corruption. The media in this country have been playing a very critical role in exposing cases of corruption. That is why Vavi now has bodyguards." He said he recently met the outspoken Vavi, who was surrounded by four bodyguards. The Cosatu leader said he was getting death threats because he was opposing corruption in government, according to Mbeki.

Moving on to economic policies, he called South Africa's the "worst in the world" because they benefited people who were already rich and prevented the emergence of entrepreneurs. "In fact, one of the serious downsides of black economic empowerment [BEE] is that it takes people who should normally be entrepreneurs and who should be creating new companies and new jobs out of that space and just makes them wealthy. BEE has been a disaster because it created this massive economic inequality; it created this class of idle rich who have tons of money but do nothing."

Mbeki has been vocal about the failures of BEE in the past, in contrast to his brother, who championed those policies. His lauded book, published in 2009, argued that Africa's faults lay primarily with its rulers and political elites, who keep their fellow citizens poor while enriching themselves. In his lecture on Thursday, he said under-investment in the economy was having dire consequences in terms of unemployment and poverty. According to Mbeki this, coupled with the growth of Black Nationalism, was actually driving down the ability of the economy to absorb labour. "What really lies at the bottom of our economic problems in South Africa is that we have too much of a one-party dominance of our political system. We need more competition in our political system and until we realise the policies of the ANC are not going to change," he said.

Mbeki worked as a journalist in the past, winning the prestigious Nieman Fellowship and working at the BBC. After returning to South Africa from exile in 1990, he was appointed head of communication for Cosatu and media consultant to the ANC. However, by 2006 he was on a controversial list of commentators blacklisted by the SABC for what was seen as their anti-ANC views. In addition to being a private business entrepreneur and director of several companies, he is the deputy chairperson of the South African Institute of International Affairs, an independent think-tank based at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Unanswered questions surround Bees Roux

A Blue Bulls rugby player was granted R100 000 bail by the Pretoria District Court on Monday after he allegedly beat a metro police officer to death. Jacobus Stephanus "Bees" Roux spent the weekend in jail after he was arrested on Friday following the murder of Tshwane metro police officer Ntshimane Johannes Mogale, 38. He intended pleading not guilty to charges of murder and driving under the influence of alcohol, the court heard. The matter was postponed to October 15.

Wearing a grey jersey, Roux stood in the dock with his hands clenched. The courtroom was packed with Tshwane metro police officers, some of whom had to sit on the floor. While Roux's defence counsel asked for bail of R5000 and the State for R20 000 because of the nature of the crime, Magistrate Desmond Nair set it at R100 000. In setting the amount, Nair said the court could not ignore the fact that the accused had the means and the funds to travel overseas and that he had done so in the past. According to an affidavit from Roux, he had previously travelled to Ireland, France and Australia to play rugby. He also had a bank account in France containing €5000 as he had played there for three months in 2008. His annual income was around R850 000. "I have no intention to live the life of a fugitive," Roux told Magistrate Desmond Nair in support of his bail bid.

Defence attorney Rudi Krause told the court Roux had no previous convictions and was not a flight risk. However Nair pointed out that Roux was accused of a Schedule Six offence and not Schedule Five, because a law enforcement officer was involved. According to Schedule Six of the Criminal Procedure Act an accused can only be granted bail if they show "exceptional circumstances" exist to do so. Krause argued that these circumstances were the fact that the State did not opposing bail initially, and that the contents of Roux's first statement were not in dispute. Bail was paid and Roux was released on Monday.

Meanwhile, it emerged on Monday that Roux's credit card was used at a McDonald's fast food outlet at the time he was supposed to have been in custody. Roux was arrested in the early hours on Friday. Mogale's body was found lying in Schoeman Street, Pretoria, with head injuries at 3.00am on Friday. He had reportedly earlier pulled Roux over for suspected drunk driving. Investigating officer Patrick Mafanel testified that the circumstances surrounding the incident were still unclear, Beeld reported. "We know Mohale was on duty along with two colleagues and that they pulled Roux over at the corner of Schoeman and Festival streets for drunk driving," said Mafanel in a report on News24. "Mohale told his colleagues he was going to drive Roux's car home because Roux was drunk. "But we don't know why the colleagues didn't follow them or see the assault."

The defence argued that there were still many unanswered questions. These include why Mohale's colleagues didn't follow him and Roux, why Roux was not arrested for drunk driving and why Mohale was driving in the opposite direction of the nearest police stations (Brooklyn and Sunnyside) towards Roux's house in Equestria, in the east of Pretoria, according to the report. Mafanel also testified that Mohale's two colleagues had not made statements because they didn't see what happened. Nair described these circumstances as "strange" in his bail verdict.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Civil society takes up fight against info Bill

Civil society organisations are willing to take the fight over the proposed Protection of Information Bill, currently before Parliament, all the way to the Constitutional Court should the Bill be passed in its current form. Speaking at the launch of the Right2Know campaign on Tuesday, Idasa's (Institute for Democracy in South Africa) Judith February, a member of the campaign's working group, said that should the Bill become law in its current form it would be a "slight on our Constitution".

The Right2Know campaign was unveiled at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town, and encompasses more than 180 organisations and professional bodies, as well as prominent individuals, opposed to the Protection of Information Bill, or "Secrets Bill" as it is known. "We have the critical mass of support to take it to the Constitutional Court if needs be," she said.

The Bill aims to create a new framework of classification for state information. However, the campaigners argue the Bill extends the veil of secrecy in a manner reminiscent of apartheid-era secrecy legislation. The organisations steering Right2Know include Idasa, the Institute for Security Studies, the South African History Archives, the South African National Editors' Forum, the Freedom of Expression Institute and the Mail & Guardian Centre for Investigative Journalism (amaBhungane). Bodies such as the Black Sash and the Treatment Action Campaign have also thrown their weight behind the campaign.

In addition, more than 400 individuals, including prominent public figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, author Nadine Gordimer and former minister of intelligence Kadar Asmal, have also declared their support for the Right2Know campaign. Further backing has come from international bodies such as Global Witness, Access Info Europe, the African Information Centre and Transparency International. Allison Tilley of the Open Democracy Advice Centre, another member of the campaign's working group, said while it did not believe that the Bill would be passed in its current form, it was "ready and able" to go to the Constitutional Court if need be.

The campaign highlighted major problems with the Bill as it currently stands, including: the power of any state agency, government department, parastatal and even municipality to classify public information as secret; the extent to which even ordinary information to do with service delivery can potentially be classified; the power to classify commercial information, making it difficult to hold business and government to account for inefficiency and corruption; the threat of prosecution of anyone involved in the "unauthorised" handling of classified information. It demanded that amendments be made to the Bill, including limiting secrecy to state bodies such as the police, defence and intelligence agencies; limiting secrecy to strictly defined "national security" matters; and excluding commercial information from such protection.

Tilley said that the Bill could follow two paths going forward -- it could be withdrawn and returned to the Department of State Security for review, or it could continue through Parliament's more transparent processes. Should the document be returned to the department, however, Tilley warned that it would have to follow a process that allowed for the open and transparent interaction with the public and stakeholders.

During the week of October 19, a public awareness week will be launched that will include a public march to Parliament to coincide with the announcement of the mid-term budget.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Blue Bulls player 'Bees' Roux gets R100 000 bail

Blue Bulls rugby player Jacobus Stephanus "Bees" Roux (28) was granted bail of R100 000 at the Pretoria Magistrates Court on Monday after he allegedly beat a metro policeman to death. He spent the weekend in jail after he was arrested on Friday in connection with the alleged killing of Tshwane metro police officer Ntshimane Mohale (38).

The courtroom was packed to capacity as Roux applied for bail on Monday. Roux's defence counsel asked for bail of R5 000. "I have no intention to live the life of a fugitive," Roux told magistrate Desmond Nair. However, the State asked for bail of R20 000 because of the nature of the crime. Pointing out that Roux was accused of a schedule six offence because a law enforcement officer was involved, Nair adjourned the case so that lawyers could discuss the issue of bail. He intended pleading not guilty to the murder charge he faced. The matter was postponed to October 15.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Krejcir scoffs at 'Mafia boss' claims

Johannesburg - Fugitive Czech billionaire Radovan Krejcir scoffs at suggestions that he is “some big Mafia boss from the Eastern Bloc” and says he has “absolutely nothing to hide”. Breaking his silence ahead of a renewed bid by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to have him extradited to the Czech Republic, Krejcir told Rapport he was the victim of “fabricated stories” and a “dirty plan” concocted to “get me deported from this country, either legally or illegally”. He says that his record in the Czech Republic is “clean” and claims the country's Constitutional Court has overturned a prison sentenced imposed on him. Despite this, the Czech authorities still want him extradited.

Krejcir has accused “elements” in the NPA and police, Czech intelligence operatives and prominent whistleblower Paul O'Sullivan – who describes Krejcir as the head of an “evil trans-national crime syndicate” that “wants to control the underworld in South Africa” - of conspiring against him. He claims O'Sullivan is in the pay of the Czech intelligence services and “stands to benefit by $500 000” if Krejcir is successfully extradited. O'Sullivan on Saturday laughed off the claim.

Krejcir - who was sentenced in absentia in the Czech Republic to six-and-a-half years imprisonment for tax fraud and reportedly investigated on charges of conspiracy to murder, counterfeiting, extortion and abduction – is a flamboyant man, given to ostentatious displays of wealth and power. In recent weeks his links to a coterie of controversial South African businessmen and underworld figures has been in the spotlight.

He arrived in South Africa in 2007 and was arrested at OR Tambo international airport on an Interpol “red notice” while travelling with a Seychelles passport, issued in the name Egbert Jules Savy. An application for his extradition was unsuccessful. Krejcir, who has applied for political asylum, has since ensconced himself in South Africa. He holds court at the Harbour Fish Market restaurant in the Bedford Centre, usually with one of his two Porsches, a Lamborghini Murcielago, a Ferrari Spider or a Mercedes parked in a private, roped-off bay near the front door. He has free reign of the restaurant.

One corner of the outside patio is shielded with bullet-proof glass, installed at Krejcir's expense after he discovered that a “Russian hit team” had been sent to South Africa by the Czech government to snatch or kill him and planned to position snipers in a block of flats across the road from the restaurant. Until his murder in May this year, Teazers strip club boss Lolly Jackson – along with George Smith, the man who would be accused of his murder, were Krejcir's frequent companions at the restaurant.

Krejcir's R20m Bedfordview home – which he shares with his wife Katerina Krejcirova, a 9-month-old baby boy and their teenage son, is a four storey mansion replete with a steel and glass lift, aquarium and an infinity pool looking out over the Johannesburg skyline. They also own a holiday home on the Vaal Dam. Once a week he rents Kyalami racetrack so that he and his son can race superbikes and sportscars. “Lolly and I were very good friends because of my sickness with cars. I love cars. He loved cars. Every week we rented Kyalami for two hours to have some adrenaline because I cannot travel, I cannot do fuck-all. I really love these toys.”

Krejcir says he has no desire to return to the Czech Republic. “I believe this is the best country in the world,” he said this week. “I don't want to go to the Czech Republic because I'll never have the chance of a fair trial and they will kill me.” There, 5km from the capital, Prague, Krejcir once lived on a 2 000m² estate in a villa estimated to have cost R151m. It boasted a squash court, basketball court, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a giant aquarium containing reef sharks, a 1.7m moray eel and “other dangerous fishes”. There was also an enclosure on the property for a pet tiger.

Czech police say the house contained a secret strongroom packed with weapons, jewellery, share certificates and classified police documents. Krejcir had amassed a fortune by the time he was 30, making most it during the wave of state industry privatisation that followed the 1989 “Velvet Revolution” which saw the overthrow of the authoritarian communist government.

In June 2005, balaclava-clad security police and state prosecutors swooped on Krejcir's home. Press reports suggest that Krejcir escaped through a bathroom window. According to press reports, he was supposedly spotted three days later in neighbouring Slovakia at a petrol station filling up the tank of a Lamborghini. He says he was allowed to leave by a state prosecutor. “In my bathroom there was no window. I don't know how you could escape from 20 guys with machine guns and masks on their faces.”

In the wake of his disappearance, police said they had found billions of crowns in fake currency at a factory owned by Krejcir. Mixed into the boxes of cash was 8 million Czech crowns (about R3m) of genuine currency. Krejcir says the boxes of cash were an elaborate gift for a close friend who was turning 40. “We as rich people after the revolution gave some presents like this. The top and bottom of the boxes was real money and the middle was fake and inside it would say: 'Happy birthday'” “So you give a present that looks like it is billions of crowns but in reality it is only 8 million crowns.”

Krejcir next turned up in the Seychelles where he gave financial support to the ruling elite. As a result, he says, “they offered me and my family a new identity”. “I submitted an application and received from Home Affairs passports under the name Egbert Jules Savy for me, Sandra Savy for my wife and Greg Savy for my son. I came to South Africa believing my passport was a genuine one.” The Seychelles authorities later claimed the passports were fake. But Krejcir says “it is not important if the passport is false or not because if you are successful in getting political asylum, it doesn't matter how you ended up in the this country because you tried to save your life.”

Krejcir argues that he is a Seychelles citizen and that his Czech citizenship lapsed when he accepted a new passport. In the Seychelles, to stave off boredom, he wrote a book titled: Radovan Krejcir - Revealed. “It was so boring there, like being a prisoner in paradise,” he said. “At least I could go diving and fishing...” In the book he claimed he had advanced about R20m for the 2002 election campaign of Czech Social Democratic candidate Stanislav Gross and in exchange had received a promissory note which stipulated that if the election bid was successful, Krejcir would be given control of the State oil company, Cepro. Gross later did an about turn and Krejcir was arrested on a “trumped-up charge of fraud”. That same year, Krejcir's father was kidnapped. He was never seen again. Krejcir alleges his father was killed by Czech state agents who believed he had the promissory note in his possession. He believes his father's body was dissolved in a vat of acid.

In early 2006, while Krejcir sunned himself on the Seychelles beaches, Czech newspapers linked him to the assassination of Frantisek Mrazek, the so-called “Godfather” of organised crime in the country. Mrazek was shot by a sniper outside the building that housed his offices. Krejcir laughs when asked if he had anything to do with the killing. “Yes, I shot one bullet from the Seychelles and the bullet travelled all the way direct to his heart. I'm very good. “What must I say my man? I saw this guy twice in my life. We never had a fight. It is the same situation as my father. They killed him and afterwards said it was my criminals. All the time it was the top government and secret service guys.”

“They say he (Mrazek) was the boss of the Mafia. Apparently, if you believe them, there are Mafia bosses all over the place. If you know any more people from the Czech republic, you probably know more bosses. I must be the worst one because I am wanted for murders and all this.”

Krejcir – who suggests his detractors have found him guilty by association – readily admits that he befriended or became acquainted with several of South Africa's most controversial businessmen and notorious underworld figures. Among them were Jackson, Smith, security company kingpin Cyril Beeka, Brett Kebble murder accused and convicted druglord Glen Agliotti, banker and self-confessed money launderer Alekos Panayi and Gauteng police crime intelligence head, Commissioner Joey Mabasa. “So what?” he asked. “People find me because they believe I've got money, that I'm an opportunity for them, that I can do some business with them. So the people are coming, especially to this restaurant, like a bee on honey.” He said he had a wide network of contacts.

Krejcir said he befriended Jackson's alleged killer, George Smith, in April 2007 while he was awaiting his extradition hearing. The two shared a cell at Kempton Park police station and after their release, Smith helped him “get connected” introduced him to “most of the people” he knows today. “I don't need anybody. I've got my money clean overseas. I've never made one rand in this country from any business. I'm enjoying my life. I bought property, assets, cars. I'm spending money which I brought in officially through the reserve banks of the Czech Republic and South Africa.”

Krejcir believes it will be to his advantage if the State wins their application tomorrow (Monday) for a review of the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court decision that has allowed him to remain in the country. If they do succeed, the State will proceed with a new extradition application. “If they start it again, it will take another four years. Even if they decide to extradite me, they cannot do so until the political asylum case is finished.”

Source: News 24

Cosatu threatens to break link with its old ally, ANC

COSATU yesterday threatened to sever its long-standing alliance with the ANC and widen the State workers’ strike next week to key industries.

Thousands of striking State workers held marches in major cities nationwide calling on the government to meet their wage demands. About 1.3 million unionised employees have walked out in the standoff, shutting schools and cutting off medical treatment at hospitals. “The alliance is again dysfunctional,” Cosatu secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi said. “The centre cannot hold.” The comments were some of the strongest signals to date that organised labour, which helped President Jacob Zuma ascend to the Presidency, may be ready to cut, or change, a relationship with the ANC that was forged in their struggle to end apartheid.

The State workers’ strike has had no major impact on rand and bond trading but market players said worries would mount if it extended into September and other labour groups joined in. Jasson Urbach, an economist with the Free Market Foundation, estimated the work stoppage was costing the economy R1084 billion a day.

Police fired rubber bullets when protests turned violent in Kimberley, while rallies slowed traffic to a crawl in major cities. Cosatu said it had filed seven-day strike notices yester day so that all its two million members could join the State workers in a strike they said would also target the mining and manufacturing sectors, a step which could grind the country to a halt.

On top of the wage dispute, the leader of the ANC’s Youth League, Julius Malema, fired what amounted to a warning shot at Zuma on Wednesday, questioning his leadership and implying the ruling party’s youth wing would not support Zuma for a re- election bid.

Cosatu also wants the government to reverse a R9 billion deal involving mining giant ArcelorMittal that transfers 26% of its local shares to employees and black investors including a consortium led by Zuma’s son, Duduzane. “We are heading rapidly in the direction of a full blown predator State, in which a powerful, corrupt and demagogic elite of political hyenas increasingly controls the State,” Vavi said .

Source: Daily Dispatch Online

Nyanda drops plan to dismiss director-general

AFTER a vitriolic and public battle, Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda has withdrawn a letter of dismissal against his director-general, Mamodupi Mohlala. Gen Nyanda fired Ms Mohlala last month, saying there had been an irretrievable breakdown of trust between them. Ms Mohlala challenged her dismissal in court, arguing that Gen Nyanda did not have the authority to fire her.

She filed an affidavit detailing what appears to have been interference in her work by the minister, including the administration of tenders. Gen Nyanda failed to submit an answering affidavit. As part of the out-of-court settlement, Ms Mohlala will be paid her full salary and benefits but will take leave with effect from yesterday, until September 27. This leave will allow Public Services and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi to seek an alternative and equal post for her within the government, including in state-owned enterprises.

If Mr Baloyi fails to do so , Ms Mohlala will return to the Department of Communications. Gen Nyanda will also pay Ms Modupi’s legal costs. Yesterday Ms Mohlala said the withdrawal of her dismissal and the settlement meant she had been “vindicated” and that there was acknowledgement her dismissal did not follow proper procedure. “I’m happy and satisfied that the matter has been settled and (I thank) the president and Mr Baloyi for their intervention. But we cannot ignore what happened between me and the minister. We are exploring other options in the interest of the department,” she said. Asked if she would return to the department if not deployed elsewhere, Ms Mohlala declined to say.

During the first court appearance last month, President Jacob Zuma requested that Mr Baloyi intervene in the matter outside court proceedings. Ms Mohlala was offered a R2,9m settlement but refused, demanding to be redeployed to a post of equal standing.

Gen Nyanda’s spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso said yesterday the agreement did not imply the immediate reinstatement of the former director-general to her old position. He said this arrangement allowed what Ms Mohlala had initially requested from the president to take effect. “As (the) ministry we welcome the agreement as it paves a way for the filling of the position as soon as possible by a suitable and relevant person with the necessary expertise,” he said. Mr Rikhotso said the settlement was done in order to reinstate Ms Mohlala as a public servant. Consequently, Mr Baloyi would explore suitable options in order to address this matter.

The fight between Ms Mohlala and Gen Nyanda broke into the open last month. The pair failed to settle the dispute amicably and their impasse has paralysed the department, with staff morale said to have collapsed, with no collective sense of purpose. Some of Gen Nyanda’s complaints against Ms Mohlala included her hiring people from the private sector to handle department al finances. She was also accused of breaching the minister’s confidence on delicate matters involving Sentech, the state-owned signal distributor. Ms Mohlala complained about Gen Nyanda’s “interference” in tenders, saying this violated the Public Finance Management Act.

Source: Business Day

'Mr President, please do something'

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) called on President Jacob Zuma on Friday to intervene in wage talks with public sector unions. "The commission is of the view that intervention from the highest level is needed to bring an end to the strike," SAHRC spokesperson Vincent Moaga said in a statement. "The commission is deeply concerned about the negative impact a prolonged strike has on the right to schooling and access to health care." He said if the strike continued, the country was likely to witness another schooling season characterised by poor matric results.

The SAHRC had written letters to both Zuma and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) voicing its concern about the prolonged labour action during which several protesters have been arrested for public violence. "It is at times like these that South Africa must draw on its good tradition of dispute resolution, conciliation and mediation. The parties should be brought together to resolve the issues prolonging the strike," said Moaga.

Source: IoL

Juju and premier linked to waste deal

Businessmen closely linked to Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale and ANC Youth League president Julius Malema have emerged as beneficiaries of the multimillion-rand medical waste management industry. A company belonging to Mathale's business partner, Selbie Manthata, and Malema's close friend and ally, Ali Boshielo, have been cut into a lucrative Limpopo medical waste tender. There were also attempts to include Boshielo and Manthata into a multimillion-rand North West medical waste contract and a new four-year contract for medical waste management in Limpopo. Limpopo is Malema's home province and he and Mathale wield considerable political power there.

The Mail & Guardian is in possession of three signed contracts showing the close relationship between Manthata, Boshielo and waste management baron David Sekete, whose Buhle Waste company is a major player in the medical waste industry. Malema denied this week that Boshielo was fronting for him and Mathale said Manthata, his business partner in three entities, did not have to report to him about his business transactions.

Neither Boshielo nor Manthata responded to questions. Pinky Mokoto, a prominent North West ANC politician and mayor of the Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality, which includes Mafikeng, was cut into the North West deal by Buhle Waste. Sekete defended his relationship with politically connected partners, saying Buhle Waste was owned by people "who all happen to belong to the ANC" and that it "so happens that the youth who approached us are members of the ANC Youth League".

Boshielo is a prominent youth league member who sat on the board of the league's investment arm, Lembede Investment Holdings, before it was "systematically dissolved" this year. Although permanently based in Polokwane, Boshielo often stays at Malema's Sandown house when he visits Johannesburg, a mutual friend of the two men told the M&G. Asked to comment, Malema's spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said: "None of your business." Manthata and Mathale are linked through their shared interests in two close corporations, Bollanoto 322 Copper Mine and Uereka Resource, and a private company, Emerald Sky Trading 18.

Tender 1: Limpopo health
The M&G reported in July that Malema's Blue Nightingale Trading 61 was originally given a 3% stake in Tshumisano Waste Management, a company awarded a five-year R200-million tender by the Limpopo health department in 2005 for the removal, treatment and disposal of medical waste from hospitals. Malema, provincial secretary of the youth league at the time, was bought out of the company for less than R150 000 in 2006. Tshumisano was established to get the Limpopo tender. Apart from Malema, it included Buhle Waste, Medicare Process Technologies and Afrimedicals. Tshumisano was awarded a second government tender in August 2008 by the North West health department to deliver similar services for 16 months.

In April 2009, four years after starting to deliver on its contract with Limpopo health, Tshumisano sub-contracted Silver Meadow Trading to transport medical waste collected from Limpopo's 360 state clinics. Boshielo and Manthata are two of Silver Meadow's three directors. According to the agreement, in the M&G's possession, Tshumisano agreed to pay Silver Meadow Trading a retaining fee of R170 000 a month minus a 20% management fee, meaning that the company will have made more than R2,4-million from the deal when Tshumisano's contract ends in November.

Tender 2: North West health
Four months later, in August 2009, North West advertised a four-year tender for the removal and disposal of medical waste. The M&G has in its possession a memorandum of understanding signed by four parties -- Buhle Waste, Boshielo and Manthata's Mercuritech and Pinky Mokoto's Makgoloke Engineering and Projects -- on August 19 and 21. The document details each party's share in the joint venture and acknowledges Buhle Waste as the "leading contractor". This week Sekete denied that Mercuritech eventually formed part of the North West tender. He provided the M&G with another agreement entered into between Buhle Waste and Makgoloke on August 22 last year -- 12 days before Mokoto was appointed mayor. Sekete defended Mokoto's inclusion in the tender. "[Mokoto] was an ANC MP until April 13 2009. At the time we met her she was running her own businesses and was no longer a government employee. "Thus, when the North West tender closed in August 2009, she was not holding any public service job," Sekete said. According to him, she has "never put in any money to capitalise the North West project and has not received any payments from us". Sekete admitted only to meeting Mokoto at the tender briefing session. "She has added value, recruiting staff and ensuring training takes place." Mokoto did not respond to questions.

Tender 3: Limpopo health
The third document leaked to the M&G is a joint venture agreement between Buhle Waste and Limpopo Medical Waste, the company previously known as Silver Meadow Trading. The purpose of this was to tender as one for the new Limpopo medical waste contract, advertised in January this year, which was previously held by Tshumisano. According to the document, signed on April 7, Limpopo Medical Waste's share of the deal would have been 75% and Buhle Waste's 25%. Buhle Waste would procure a medical waste disposal plant and transport facilities, while Limpopo Medical Waste would "source the market for medical waste".

Sekete defended this arrangement, saying it was made "for empowerment purposes without a preconceived notion of using political influence as criteria. Our aim has been to transfer skills to local business partners who in turn could recruit the unemployed youth to work in the medical waste industry throughout the country." Following reports that politically connected businessmen were in line for the tender, the process was cancelled by the Limpopo health department and Tshumisano's contract was extended by six months, until November this year. The official reason given for the cancellation of the tender was that there were minor errors in the tender document. A new round of tenders is under consideration. Mathale did not deny his business interests this week, saying he was an entrepreneur "long before" 1994 and has declared his business interests.

On the subject of Manthata, Matale's spokesperson, Phuti Mosomane, said in a statement: "In conducting his affairs as a businessman, Manthata does not have to report to the premier about the transactions that he is making. "At the same breath the premier does not have to report to Manthata on his business affairs." Shivambu, told the M&G this week that Malema had nothing to do with Boshielo's interests in the medical waste industry and did not lobby for his friend to be given tenders.

'A dirty little business'
"Our industry is a dirty little business," a major player in the medical waste treatment industry told the M&G this week. The industry is notorious for illegal dumping. The media have recently carried numerous reports of children being injured while playing near dumped material. Illegally stored placentas and syringes were found in a warehouse in Gauteng three years ago.

In the past five years the Green Scorpions have launched 14 criminal investigations into medical waste companies for environmental transgressions. They have charged company directors and an employee of waste treatment plant Aid Safe Waste.
Buhle Waste chairperson David Sekete and Springbok prop Johan le Roux, who is notorious for biting the ear of an All Black player, are two of the Aid Safe directors facing trial. Both have pleaded not guilty, but the company is currently negotiating a plea bargain with the National Prosecuting Authority.

According to the industry insider: "The problem is that some companies are getting contracts from provinces when they don't have the capacity to handle the waste and have to subcontract it to other waste treatment plants that ­struggle." Dumping and illegal storage occurs in these circumstances, he said. The auditor general investigated the industry three years ago, while the department of environmental affairs also commissioned a study.

Albi Modise, the department's chief director of communications, said medical waste has been identified as a national priority. "The sector is generally not supported by extensive capital investment and can become vulnerable when treatment facilities break down as transporters are required to seek alternative treatment facilities," Modise said. "Contracts have been awarded to several transporters who do not own their own treatment facilities."

Based on a 2007 study by the department, there is currently "reserve capacity" for waste treatment in South Africa. Modise said it was not ideal to truck medical waste from province to province, as often happened. In one case the M&G was told that medical waste from Limpopo was transported to Cape Town to be destroyed.

Source: amaBhungane

Feeding Frenzy: its a BEE feast for Zuma cronies

The controversies surrounding the Sishen and Lonrho mineral rights have raised old questions about black economic empowerment (BEE), including the undeserved enrichment of elite individuals. But now, under the Jacob Zuma regime, there is growing concern about cronyism, patronage, and the role of government officials.

This time the appearance of patronage can be traced to the top. Some individuals, including the president’s son, Duduzane Zuma, could be greatly enriched by gaining ownership of mineral rights in a questionable process. Unease about the process has become more widespread.

The National Union of Metal Workers (Numsa) has commented scathingly on what it calls “the ArcelorMittal and Imperial Crown Trading looting scheme”. Minerals & resources minister Susan Shabangu’s decision last week to place a moratorium on new awards of mineral rights demonstrates that even government has concerns.

These events raise important questions: how are BEE policies working, what are the achievements and weaknesses — and are the effects in line with government’s intentions?

In more than 16 years, BEE has achieved many successes and some failures. It started in the early 1990s with companies such as Thebe Investments, launched by senior ANC officials, and Nthato Motlana’s Corporate Africa, which gained control of New Africa Investments (Nail). Thebe remains a successful enterprise, and there are other enduring black-controlled businesses. Some have grown through strong share price gains, buoyant markets and productive investment.

Among these are Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Minerals, with a R34bn market cap, and MTN (R225bn market cap) which is run by CE Phuthuma Nhleko. One of the most successful is the unlisted Royal Bafokeng Holdings, a community-based investment company . It started with royalties from Impala platinum mining . Under chairman Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi and CE Niall Carroll, a former investment banker, it has diversified into mining, financial and industrial investments. At its financial year-end last December, it had a R30bn investment portfolio and minimal debt.

Nail started as a 20% shareholder in Sanlam’s Metlife, then attempted to become a conglomerate but collapsed . Mvela Group gathered stakes in companies such as Absa and Life Healthcare, but is now being dismantled . Having made his fortune, founder Tokyo Sexwale has returned to politics as human settlements minister.

Throughout these years, there has been debate about how BEE can best be achieved, and it has worked — but also created risks and unease on many fronts. In an institutional or legal sense, rules of the game were set through the Broad- based Empowerment Act of 2003 and the publication of industry codes and charters over the next few years. These changed the way companies and other stakeholders think about the process.

In the 1990s it was mainly about deals and ownership. The codes and charters have formalised a broader approach. They use a balanced scorecard, giving only a 20% weighting to ownership. Companies also gain credit in other areas including preferential procurement, employment equity, skills development and enterprise development (see table). Management control, where influence over a business is large, gets only 10%.

However, ownership of equity in companies and access to other assets such as mineral rights still play a big role in the process. This is where some old themes and questions are constantly at play. Since the charters and new regulations came into effect , most big companies have done deals over the past few years.

In each case, there are familiar questions: how can the deal be funded when the BEE investors have limited or no capital? Should key individuals benefit from the deal, or should the shareholders be entirely broad-based? If lead individual investors are involved, what value will they add to the business? Will they assist in running the business , adding new perspectives on the board — or provide influence among cronies in high places?

The Sishen/ArcelorMittal case has attracted special attention, partly because valuable mineral rights are involved and there are individuals who have direct links to senior politicians. (See next story). In other large BEE deals announced recently, companies have opted for broad-based empowerment shareholders. That includes the Sasol, SABMiller and MTN deals.

Government and other stakeholders have backed the broad-based empowerment principle, which usually seems intuitively more beneficial. But there is still leeway for companies when designing BEE deals and choosing their partners.

The benefits of broad-based empowerment deals are not always achieved as hoped. Funding arrangements linked to the share price can unravel when product prices or financial markets weaken, as occurred two years ago. Sasol’s R30bn Inzalo deal — which gave 10% of the group’s share capital to the black public, broad-based BEE groups, trade unions, employees and the Sasol Inzalo Foundation — was announced in May 2008, when the share price rose to R490. It’s now R284. Other companies, such as Barloworld, have restructured BEE deals for similar reasons.

Jenny Cargill, founder of BEE consulting company BusinessMap, gives several examples of communities that have been disadvantaged by BEE ventures or decisions made by government officials . The Richtersveld community in the Northern Cape is one. Cargill describes the potentially negative effects on communities as BEE’s “powder keg”.

In planning BEE deals, dilemmas on issues such as funding and the shareholding structure can arise. As the Sishen/ArcelorMittal case has shown, the actual or perceived ability to influence decisions on access to those rights through special relationships can be a valuable card for black investors . For some investors, the special relationships may be their only currency .

When they do play that card, and stand to be greatly enriched , investors and other stakeholders are quick to link the decisions — by government and companies — to a culture of corruption and cronyism, though weak laws, poor transparency and inept officials may be part of the problem. That’s a risk that government cannot afford .

WHAT IT MEANS

The empowerment field is not level

ArcelorMittal deal is just plain rotten

Source: Financial Mail

Three 'amigos' nabbed in fraud raid

They were "amigos" - a name they used affectionately in SMS correspondence with one another. Now the three friends - Ithala boss and former KwaZulu-Natal Treasury head Sipho Shabalala, former provincial health boss Busi Nyembezi and Cape Town-based billionaire Gaston Savoi - will stand trial accused of ripping off the government.

They, and others accused of being part of the R200-million racket, were subjected to early morning raids on Wednesday by the Asset Forfeiture Unit in which assets valued at R128-million, including their plush homes, smart cars and a R30-million Learjet, were "preserved" pending the outcome of criminal proceedings against them.

Savoi, Nyembezi and several others were also arrested and appeared in court on Wednesday. Shabalala's arrest is imminent - as is that of his wife, Ntombi, and Durban advocate Sandile Kuboni, according to an affidavit filed in the Pietermaritzburg High Court by top police government fraud investigator Lieutenant-Colonel Piet du Plooy, who along with forensic auditor Trevor White of PricewaterhouseCoopers has been probing their alleged crimes.

They will be charged with fraud, corruption and money-laundering next month, once White's forensic report is finalised. At the heart of the allegation against Shabalala is that he took a R1-million kickback from Uruguayan businessman Savoi in return for KZN government contracts. The money was allegedly laundered through the trust account of Kuboni, who was an attorney in a Durban law firm at the time.

Du Plooy said Savoi's explanation in a statement he gave to police that Shabalala had requested the money as a "donation to the ANC" was not true and that it was always a corrupt payment destined from the outset for Shabalala. While Kuboni had declined to make a statement so far, his trust account records did not reflect any payment to the political party, he said. "If it was meant to be a donation, then it would not have been necessary to disguise it? It is not a crime to make donations," Du Plooy said.

Shabalala stands to lose his Pietermaritzburg home, his farm and the R12-million Royal Hotel in Pietermaritzburg which he owns with his wife through Blue Serenity Investments. In total, it is alleged that in KZN and in the Northern Cape, the corrupt award of contracts to Savoi's Intaka Holdings cost the government as much as R200-million. Du Plooy says there are three separate criminal cases, which relate to the award of tenders to Intaka for the supply of oxygen and water purification plants at six times the price they should have been. Referring specifically to KZN's departments of health and local government, he says not only were legitimate procurement processes "fraudulently circumvented" but Intaka grossly inflated its prices.

The close relationship between Savoi and the two government employees was evident from the number of personal and after-hours exchanges of SMSes. According to White's report, filed with the court, Shabalala sent an SMS to Savoi saying: "Amigo, hearing went very well. Expecting results early next week." In another personal email from Savoi to Nyembezi, her refers to her as "Dear Amiga Busi".

Du Plooy says it was clear that while not a respondent in the asset forfeiture, nor named as one of those to be arrested, the MEC of health at the time, Peggy Nkonyeni, was also close to Savoi and also sent him personal SMSes. Du Plooy says Shabalala was the one who "initiated and directed" the fraudulent procurement process, waiving the requirement for tender or testing the market by obtaining competitive quotations, by deeming the acquisitions to be urgent. He said Shabalala was communicating with Intaka alone and not with other potential suppliers. He further chaired a committee which awarded the tender to Intaka, failing to recuse himself when there was apparent conflict of interest because his wife was involved in business with Savoi.

Also involved in the "collusion", Du Plooy says, are Intaka second-in-charge Fernando Praderi, Ronald Geddes of Westpro Fluid Handling Systems, and Donald Miller of Imvusa Stainless, who allegedly provided "cover quotes" to legitimise Intaka's inflated prices, and Ansano Romani, who allegedly assisted Geddes with the quotation. Within the government, he alleges that Department of Health supply chain manager Mduduzi Ntshangase and financial officer Alson Sipho Buthelezi, who is the deputy director-general in the KZN provincial Treasury, were also involved.

Sourcce: IoL

Zuma meets Hu Jintao in Beijing

South African President Jacob Zuma met his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Beijing on Tuesday for talks aimed at broadening the relationship between Beijing and Africa's biggest economy. The visit is seen as an opportunity for the two countries to explore ways of expanding their already sizeable trade ties -- and also a chance for two emerging powers to solidify their strategic partnership.

Zuma -- who visits Beijing and Shanghai during a three-day trip he has called "crucial" -- was welcomed by Hu at Beijing's Great Hall of the People before the two leaders went into talks. "The talks will surely take the relations between the two countries to greater heights," Zuma said in a speech to business leaders.

Among the agreements signed by the two sides was a deal to exempt diplomatic passport holders from visa requirements, China's Xinhua state news agency said. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said the move would enhance mutual understanding, and facilitate personnel exchanges, Xinhua reported. The two sides were also due to sign cooperation deals in the areas of mineral resources, transportation and environment management, according to Zuma's office.

China National Nuclear Corporation, which runs the nation's growing nuclear energy programme, also is in talks to build a nuclear power plant in South Africa, Dow Jones Newswires quoted a company official as saying Tuesday. China's Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said Beijing would encourage domestic companies to invest in South Africa's mining and resources sectors, the agency said. It also reported South Africa's Standard Bank Group and state-run China Railway Group were to sign a memorandum of cooperation in Beijing on investments in African rail projects.

Bilateral trade -- which has been expanding since the establishment of full diplomatic relations in 1998 -- last year totalled about $16-billion, according to figures from both countries. "Trade statistics with China continue to reflect the potential that still exists for expanding the commercial relationship," the South African foreign ministry said before the visit. Zuma said on Tuesday that the expansion of foreign trade was a way for his country to "improve the quality of life of all South Africans".

China, which last year overtook the United States to become South Africa's largest export destination, mainly imports raw materials such as iron ore, as well as iron and steel, to fuel its booming economy. Beijing also has unveiled a series of major investments since ploughing $5,5-billion into Standard Bank nearly three years ago. In May, Chinese companies reached deals to build a $217-million cement plant and invest $877-million to take control of a small South African mining company and build a new platinum mine.

South African Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies on Tuesday told business leaders in Beijing that his country's exports were too dependent on primary goods and that he hoped Beijing could buy more "value-added" goods.

Zuma, who is accompanied by a number of key ministers and 350 business leaders, is due to meet Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior Chinese officials on Wednesday. He was due to visit the World Expo in Shanghai on Thursday.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Strikers turn on Zuma

In a scathing attack on President Jacob Zuma over the public sector strike, unions have warned he could suffer the same fate as his recalled predecessor as he is also regularly out of the country when it is in "turmoil". They said Zuma should have postponed his trip to China with South African business leaders to intervene in the strike.

A top Zuma ally, African National Congress Youth League chief Julius Malema, was slammed as a "sewer rat" for criticising Cosatu over the strike. "Some people say 'phantsi ANC' (away with the ANC), but the problem is not the ANC. The problem is leaders we elect. We had Thabo Mbeki. Now President Zuma is in China when he should be here. "We're telling him he must beware," National Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) provincial chairperson James Kruger told a rally on Tuesday in the Good Hope Centre attended by 2 500 public servants, most teachers.

Strikers at the rally applauded loudly when South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) provincial chairperson Bongani Mconyana warned that Zuma might, like former president Thabo Mbeki, not complete his term as president if he refused to change his attitude to the strike. "You can't leave a country when it is in turmoil. Thabo Mbeki did the same thing in 2007 and he did not complete his term in 2009. "He was arrogant and used quiet diplomacy. This one (Zuma) is our own and he says a lot of things that are not correct," he said.

This came as Cosatu piled pressure on the government, calling on all its affiliate unions to launch a secondary strike next week. The federation threatened to bring the economy to its knees and make government meet the demands of striking public servants. Cosatu called on Tuesday on its 21 affiliates to down tools next Thursday to support the public sector. "The whole of the economy will be shut down," Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told a media briefing on Tuesday. Vavi said every Cosatu union would submit notices to its employers of the secondary strike. "Protected or protracted until the government as an employer accedes to the workers' demands. "Our members and their communities are the ones on the receiving end (of the strike). It is workers' kids who have not been to school, it is the workers and their families who rely on public hospitals. "We declare our total and full support of the public sector strike. We are demanding government make a new offer," Vavi said.

Cosatu also called on public servants to intensify their strike. "We need a total shutdown of the public sector until the government accedes to the legitimate demands of the working class." For the past 16 years, Vavi said, the government had refused to sign the minimum service agreement which would see a skeleton staff during strikes. Cosatu also slammed the government's so-called revised offer. On Monday, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said its wage offer was "technically" 8.5 percent as it included a 1.5 percent pay progression.

But on Tuesday, Cosatu hit back, saying it was outright lies and misinformation. "The government has added the pay progression on to the seven-percent salary increase offer to claim this 8.5 percent increase," said Vavi.

Meanwhile, two people were arrested at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital during a picket by public servants. Police used a water cannon to drive protesters from the hospital vicinity. One of those arrested was apparently a student who was not taking part in the protest. The workers continued chanting, voicing their frustrations about the government's pay offer.

At Kalafong Hospital scores of non-striking medical workers - who had to be protected by heavily armed soldiers - were confronted by striking public service counterparts in a tense stand-off. Hurling verbal abuse, strikers were repeatedly driven back by police and soldiers outside the hospital when non-striking medical staff left work for home on Tuesday. The hospital raised the strikers' anger for using soldiers to defend and man the facility.

Meanwhile, the South African National Defence Union (Sandu) expressed solidarity with strikers, and slammed Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu for deploying troops to hospitals and for saying she would deal with strikers the way striking soldiers had been dealt with. As dozens of visibly scared nurses and other medical staff gathered outside the hospital under the protection of soldiers and police waiting for taxis, protesters screamed at them. "You are useless. You are filthy and we will kill you."

Atteridgeville/Saulsville Taxi Owners Association spokesperson Kala Mafagane said it was the last time they would pick up non-strikers from the hospital. "It is too dangerous for us. There is a grave risk that our vehicles will be damaged. Who will pay for the repairs?" A nurse who asked not to be named said she would not return to work. "I am very scared. It is too dangerous. These people threaten to kill us," she said.

Source: IoL

Defence Force loses rocket launchers, rifles and mortars

Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu on Monday revealed that six rocket launchers were among the weapons to have gone missing from the Defence Force over the last year.

Sisulu replied in writing to a parliamentary question from a Freedom Front Plus (FFP) MP who has called into question measures to secure weaponry in the military arsenal.

Sisulu said that 20 rifles and five nine millimetre rifles have also disappeared and an additional five mortars were reported missing last year.

Source: Eye Witness News

Cosatu calls on workers to intensify strike action

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has threatened a total shutdown of the economy with a secondary strike if the government fails to settle its dispute with public-service workers by next Thursday.

"We call on all workers to intensify their action. Every Cosatu-affiliated union must on August 26 submit notice to their employers to embark on a secondary strike," general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Tuesday, referring to a seven-day notice period. "So by next Thursday if the current strike is not resolved, the entire economy of South Africa will be shut down."

Vavi also noted the government's comments on the 8,5% wage offer. Until Monday, the government said it was offering a 7% increase, but government spokesperson Themba Maseko told reporters this was in "real terms" actually 8,5% -- a mere tenth of a percent short of what unions wanted. This was because the increase offer was bolstered by a 1,5% pay progression.

Vavi said the government knew the arithmetic was misleading and an attempt to confuse the public. "No 8,5% wage offer was tabled. The government has been negotiating with the media rather than unions," he said. "This is pure misinformation aimed at confusing the public." The federation urged employers to refrain from confusing the public and stressed that workers were not deterred from their 8,6%.

Meanwhile, at least 53 premature babies were left unattended in some Gauteng hospitals during the public-sector strike on Monday, Premier Nomvula Mokonyane told the provincial legislature on Tuesday. "Yesterday[Monday] when I visited some of the hospitals that were severely affected by the strike I was told shocking stories of 53 premature babies who were left unattended when striking workers forced nursing staff to leave their posts," she said. "Some of the babies were literally locked in the wards with no one bothering to make alternative arrangements for their care."

Mokonyane said while she understood that workers had a right to strike, it was wrong of them to disrespect the rights of babies. "We all respect the right for workers to strike but they must also respect the Constitutional right for these babies to live." She said government was extremely grateful and thankful for the support it received. "The government is very heartened by the volunteers, including professionals who selflessly offered their services to care for those in need when the striking government workers abandoned their posts. "From the bottom of our hearts we say thank you for what you are doing to help us through this difficult period. We also wish to thank the workers who risked their lives to report for duty and care for the public."

She also thanked private hospitals for accommodating babies. Mokonyane said it was "unfortunate" that some protesters resorted to intimidation and put the lives of others in "serious danger".

Source: Mail & Guardian

Board moves to suspend SABC boss

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board has moved to suspend CEO Solly Mokoetle, it emerged on Tuesday after the Western Cape High Court overruled attempts by Parliament to hold a briefing on the latest trouble at the public broadcaster behind closed doors. "They [the board] have served him with a legal letter with the intention to suspend him and he has been given an 'x' number of days -- exactly how many days I don't know -- to respond to the letter to explain why he should not be suspended," said Ismail Vadi, the chairperson of Parliament's portfolio committee on communications.

Vadi was speaking to reporters after the media won an interdict preventing the committee from continuing with an in-camera meeting with the SABC on renewed strife at the broadcaster, a mere eight months after Mokoetle and the new board took up their positions.

The ruling was handed down as an interim order shortly before noon by Acting Judge Sven Olivier, following an urgent application by the South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef). It came after the committee allowed SABC chairperson Ben Ngubane -- who has fallen out with commissioners -- to deliver a submission defending his position. "He expressed very serious concerns about the disfunctionality of the board and he cited a whole number of examples which he had experienced which contributed towards the state of disfunctionality."

Following the court order, Vadi decided to suspend the meeting with the SABC indefinitely, rather than proceed and allow the press to attend. He said he needed to discuss the way forward with Parliament. "I think we still need to confer with the speaker's office and the leadership of Parliament about the implications of the judgement because this has a bearing on the functioning of Parliament as a whole and on other committees."

Vadi said the meeting remained urgent because members of the legislature were perturbed by the problems besetting the SABC. These were brought to a head by Mokoetle's decision to name Phil Molefe as head of news without the agreement of the board. Ngubane's backing for the appointment further soured relations between him and commissioners. "It is a matter of very serious concern to the committee, that is why we summoned the board to appear before the committee," Vadi said. He decided last week to close most of the meeting to the press, for fear of the legal implications of having somebody's reputation and position challenged in public.

Sanef had on Monday through its lawyers asked the committee to open the meeting, but the committee decided on Tuesday morning that the session would stay closed to the public and media. Sanef lawyers were in the Western Cape High Court as the meeting got under way. When the committee failed to give an undertaking to suspend the meeting while the application was being heard, they asked Acting Judge Olivier for the order. In his ruling handed down just before noon, Olivier ordered that the committee not proceed with any sitting from which the public, including the media, were excluded. This order would be valid until "the final determination of this matter".

The ruling came amid an increasingly tense stand-off between the media and government over a perceived attack on media freedom, weighted around the Protection of Information Bill and the ANC's proposal for a media tribunal that reports to Parliament. In an affidavit filed in support of Sanef's court application, the forum's secretary general, Gaye Davis, said there was a clear public interest in the meeting. "The SABC is resourced with public funds, and the public has a clear interest in its functioning and a right to information concerning the affairs of the SABC," she said. "As a corollary, the media has a right and indeed an obligation to report on the functioning and affairs of the SABC."

Idasa sent a letter to Vadi on Tuesday criticising the committee's bid to hold the meeting in camera before the court ruling was made. "The problems within the SABC have persisted and holding a closed meeting simply creates the perception that facts are being withheld from the public."

Idasa said Parliament was obliged by section 59 of the Constitution to "conduct its business in an open manner, and hold its sittings and those of its committees in public". Attempting to hold the SABC briefing behind closed doors could set a dangerous precedent, it warned. "Idasa is concerned that closing the meeting will set an unhealthy precedent which other committees may in future also follow, thereby leading to a culture of exclusion and secrecy within Parliamentary committees."

Source: Mail & Guardian

Hawks' torture cases in limbo

The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) says it has been waiting for 17 months for the national director of public prosecutions to decide whether to prosecute 14 Cape Town members of the Hawks allegedly involved in 18 cases of torture. Sources said the decision about whether to prosecute has been delayed because many advocates in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) work closely with the Hawks and the cases were passed "from advocate to advocate". The NPA was now considering bringing in an outside advocate, said the sources.

The number of torture complaints against the policemen has risen to 29 since the original charges were laid. "People have come forward to say they were also tortured since these cases received media coverage," said ICD spokesperson Moses Dlamini.

The NPA has denied the claim by the directorate that it has been sitting on the case dockets for 17 months. On Thursday, it alleged it had only received case dockets relating to the murder last year, but that the dockets had been sent back to the directorate for further investigation and had only been received again recently. The other cases had not yet been formally presented to the NPA, it alleged. "I hope this clears up any perceptions that this office has been tardy in dealing with the matter," said NPA Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.

The 14 Hawks members implicated were members of the former organised crime unit in Bellville South, which now falls under the Hawks. They were linked to the case of Sidwell Mkwambi, a 24-year-old New Crossroads resident allegedly tortured to death and driven to the mortuary in a police van.

The ICD's executive head, Francois Beukman, said he had met national prosecutions boss Menzi Simelane to urge a decision on the cases, "but we still await a decision". Beukman and key staffers were in Parliament this week to provide input into the Independent Police Investigative Directorate Bill, designed to give the ICD more teeth. The legislation will give the directorate an extended mandate, focusing on serious and priority crimes committed by police personnel.

Police are expected to be given time frames to respond to the ICD's requests for information and to be compelled to follow its recommendations. In many cases police close ranks to prevent the directorate from doing its job, said Dlamini. "We're hoping the legislation will strengthen us. Police won't be able to ignore our recommendations, as in the past." The 18 cases involve murder, assault, torture and kidnapping. Torture methods allegedly included handcuffing suspects' hands behind their backs before pulling plastic bags over their heads, threatening them with suffocation, pulling inner tubes over their faces and hitting, kicking and slapping them.

Western Cape police commissioner Mzwandile Petros, who it was reported this week will become Gauteng's provincial police commissioner next month, failed to act on the ICD's recommendation in February last year that the 14 Hawks members should be suspended pending its investigation. He said last September that he was still waiting for the cases to be finalised.

The provincial organised crime unit at the time of Mkwambi's alleged murder fell under crack investigator Piet Viljoen, now a senior Hawks member. Mkwambi's sister, Mildred Nopinki, told the M&G last year that Viljoen visited her home in search of her brother after two policemen were shot in New Crossroads. She said police later arrested him and a friend, Siyabulela Njova. In a statement to police, Njova alleged he saw unit members dragging a "limp" Mkwambi down a passage. Dlamini said the ICD was investigating the alleged widespread use of torture on suspects by Hawks members in different provinces.

There are fears that other cases in court may have to be reviewed if one of the implicated Hawks members were to have obtained a confession from the accused.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Cosatu supports Media Tribunal

Cosatu supported the ANC's proposal to set up a Media Appeals Tribunal (MAT) to regulate the media, City Press newspaper reported today. The newspaper reported that the labour federation wanted a different approach to the tribunal to what the ANC suggested, though. It said there was a "censorship" risk attached to the tribunal as well as the proposed protection of information bill. It warned that the tribunal could become a "censorship" tool as editors could decide to hold back stories about ministers for fear of being "hauled before a MAT that is biased towards government's view".

In a paper for discussion at the federation's central executive meeting which starts tomorrow Cosatu apparently envisaged that the tribunal should include representatives of the print media, the state, and organised civil society, the newspaper said. The discussion paper apparently suggested that state representatives should recuse themselves when the tribunal deals with matters involving government officials or institutions.

At the Ruth First Memorial Lecture on Aug 17, Zwelinzima Vavi, secretary general of Cosatu, criticised the protection of information bill. "If Ruth First were alive, she would ask where all the democrats had gone to after reading about the proposed protection of information bill, which would make a mockery of her work as a journalist".

Source: Business Day

At Least 150 Women Raped in Weekend Raid in Congo

A mob of Rwandan rebels gang-raped at least 150 women last month during a weekend raid on a community of villages in eastern Congo, United Nations and other humanitarian officials said Sunday.

The United Nations blamed the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or F.D.L.R., for the attack. The F.D.L.R. is an ethnic Hutu rebel group that has been terrorizing the hills of eastern Congo for years, preying on villages in a quest for the natural resources beneath them.

The raided villages are near the mining center of Walikale, known to be a rebel stronghold, and are “very insecure,” said Stefania Trassari, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “Rape is something we get quite often.” But she and other United Nations and humanitarian officials said that this attack was unusual because of the large number of victims and the fact that they were raped by more than one attacker simultaneously.

On the evening of July 30, armed men entered the village of Ruvungi, in North Kivu Province. “They told the population that they were just there for food and rest and that they shouldn’t worry,” said Will F. Cragin, the International Medical Corps’ program coordinator for North Kivu, who visited the village a week after their arrival. “Then after dark another group came,” said Mr. Cragin, referring to between 200 and 400 armed men who witnesses described as spending days and nights looting Ruvungi and nearby villages. “They began to systematically rape the population,” he said, adding, “Most women were raped by two to six men at a time.”

The attackers often took the victims into the bush or into their homes, raping them “in front of their children and their families,” Mr. Cragin said. “If a car passed, they would hide.” The rebels left on Aug. 3, he said, the same day the chief of the area traveled through the villages and reported horrific cases of sexual violence. “We thought at first he was exaggerating,” Mr. Cragin said, “but then we saw the scale of the attacks.”

Miel Hendrickson, a regional director for the International Medical Corps, which has been documenting the rape cases, said, “We had heard first 24 rapes, then 56, then 78, then 96, then 156.” “The numbers keep rising,” she said. The United Nations maintains a military base approximately 20 miles from the villages, but United Nations officials said they did not know if the peacekeepers there were aware of the attack as it occurred. A United Nations military spokesman, Madnoje Mounoubai, said information was still being gathered. The F.D.L.R., which began as a gathering of fugitives of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, has grown into a resilient and savage killing machine and an economic engine in the region.

The United Nations, Congo and Rwanda began a military offensive against the group in early 2009, but since then, humanitarian organizations say, cases of rape have risen drastically. “It’s awful,” Ms. Trassari said. “The numbers are quite worrying.”

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited eastern Congo in 2009 to raise awareness about widespread rape in the region, calling it “evil in its basest form,” and the United States pledged $17 million to the Congolese government to fight sexual violence.

Source: New York Times

The ANC is not the state

Living in a constitutional democracy can be unsettling and complicated – especially if one has not embraced the values underlying a functioning constitutional democracy. In such a democracy all role players must accept that there are competing views of what constitutes the public good. They also have to accept that it is legitimate for members of different political parties to advance alternative versions of what would constitute the public good or how to achieve it.

Even if one passionately believes that one’s own version of the public good (or the version of the public good espoused by the political party of ones choice) is the correct one, one has to embrace the idea that other, competing and even radically different visions, are legitimate – even if one believes that these alternative versions are dangerously misguided and immoral or that pursuing such alternative versions would be detrimental to the wellbeing of the majority of the citizens (or the majority of citizens who voted for the party of ones choice).

One must also accept that the political party of one’s choice has to compete for votes in free and fair elections and that the party who wins the majority of votes at an election (even if it is the party that one belongs to, supports steadfastly and may have been one of the parties involved in the struggle for a just South Africa), has no divine right to rule and holds power only temporarily and at the mercy of voters.

One must accept (even if one is its leader and the President of the country) that the current ruling party’s continued rule is subject to the continued support of the majority of voters who at any future free and fair election can reject the vision put forward by that party and vote into government another party or parties to rule the country.

What flows from this is the need to accept that there is a fundamental difference between the ruling party and its interests, the government and its interests, and the state. If the ruling party is voted out of office the state will continue functioning; ID books and passports will continue to be issued, social grants will continue to be paid, judges will continue to interpret and enforce the law and the constitution – even if the party of one’s choice is rejected at the ballot box and a new party or parties (temporarily) take over the government.

In a constitutional democracy the health and wellbeing of the ruling party is not to be equated with the wellbeing of the citizens. Taxpayers can therefore not be required to pay for party political activities – except to the extent that all political parties in the legislature are funded in a fair and equitable manner. The party in government cannot utilize government resources to fund its activities. If it did, it would be abusing its powers to gain an unfair electoral advantage and this will make free and fair elections impossible.

Where the party in government abuses public resources to advance its own party political interests it therefore acts in an anti-democratic manner and undermines the basic values underlying the South African Constitution. When the governing party abuses state resources to keep itself in power, it signals the death of democracy.

Where one political party dominates the political landscape (in, what is called a dominant party democracy) and continues in office for a considerable period the distinction between the majority party, the government and the state tends to get blurred. Members of such a governing party have a tendency to begin to believe that the party, the government it leads and the state are the same thing and that the state and the government are there to further the interests of the party (because the party is the embodiment of the aspirations of the people).

Because it is wrongly assumed that such a governing party’s vision of the public good is the only legitimate vision and the only one that could possibly be morally valid (because the majority party has won successive elections with large majorities of the popular vote), members of such a majority party can begin to believe that the interests of the party, the interests of the state and the interests of the citizens of the country are all one and the same thing.

Only the majority party is then seen as being capable of advancing the interests of the majority of citizens and a belief may take hold that the majority party has a right to continue ruling the country in perpetuity. The party and the state becomes difficult to distinguish from one another because it is assumed that the party will continue in government for a very long time (or even for ever – remember Iain Smiths comment that his party would rule “Rhodesia” for a 1000 years) and that it therefore “owns” the state.

This view is deeply problematic because it negates the essence of democracy, namely that a political party does not own the state but only temporarily holds the reigns of state power, serving the people as the governing party until the next election – when it can be returned to government or can be rejected by voters while the state continues to function in its normal fashion.

It is against this background that reported remarks by President Jacob Zuma at the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the ruling ANC last month must be viewed as rather disturbing. President Zuma is reported to have proposed that ANC NEC members should be allowed time off to advance the interests of the ANC:

If it is necessary, for example, to release NEC members in government to do organizational [thus ANC] work for two weeks every quarter, then we should agree to do so. People may be concerned that government work will suffer as a result. But it will suffer far more if there is no viable ANC to drive the process of social change.

These reported remarks illustrate, rather alarmingly, the tendency I have highlighted above. Because the ANC is (righty or wrongly) seen as the only body who can legitimately drive valid social change, the roles of members of the ANC government are equated with the roles of these members as leaders of the majority political party.

If President Zuma was reported correctly, he is clearly not a democrat in the sense that the term is usually used. The remarks suggest that Zuma fails to understand that in a constitutional democracy members of the government are elected by the voters and their salaries are paid by tax payers to do government business and that party business and government business is not the same thing.

Party business relates to activities aimed at mobilizing and promoting the political party to allow it to remain in power. Government business relates to the running of the country and implementing the policies of the governing party. Neither the party or the government “owns” the state.

The suggestion that ANC members in government must be allowed to do party political work for 8 weeks a year, assuming while they are being paid a salary by taxpayers, because the ANC is the only party that can drive social change, is therefore quite outrageous and anti-democratic. It conflates the party and the state and also assumes that the interests of the party and that of the government are the same.

President Zuma’s proposal is clearly not in line with what is allowed by the Constitution. Several provisions in the Constitution recognizes the fact that we live in a multi-party democracy in which free and fair elections forms the basis of the legitimacy of the government of the day. If President Zuma’s reported proposal is adopted it would completely subvert the multi-party nature of our democracy and would bring an end to any semblance of democracy in South Africa.

If President Zuma was reported correctly, he is not a democrat as envisaged by our constitution. In any case, his proposal would be unconstitutional. Someone should whisper in his ear and tell him this. Maybe it is time for the democrats in the ANC (of which there are many, along with the Stalinists and the kleptocratic nationalists), to stand up to our President (as they eventually did with Thabo Mbeki after he had embarked on a catastrophic and murderous questioning of the link between HIV and Aids and refused to roll out life saving ARVs to those who could not pay for it).

The ANC does not own the government or the state. Suggesting, as our President reportedly did, that it is, is just as troubling as the moves by the ruling party to muzzle the press. If he was reported correctly, every true democrat in South Africa would rightfully be outraged and a bit scared by his comments. Maybe its time for someone like Jeremy Cronin to show the same kind of backbone he showed in speaking out against the dictatorial tendencies of Thabo Mbeki.

Source: Constitutionally Speaking: Pierre De Vos

Top writers condemn Protection of Information Bill

Writers threatened by apartheid say they are now being threatened once more, this time by the new Protection of Information Bill and Media Tribunal which is really just another form of censorship.

South Africa’s top authors including Nadine Gordimer, André P. Brink, Zakes Mda, Abraham H. de Vries, Chris Barnard, Breyten Breytenbach, Marlene van Niekerk, Zoë Wicomb, Damon Galgut, Mandla Langa, Etienne van Heerden, Hermann Giliomee, Fred Khumalo and Justice Malala have issued a joint statement warning against the Protection of Information Bill.

The statement says muzzling media freedom affects media in the responsibility and necessity of their function. “..which is to keep citizens informed of all aspects that affect life in the country, whether by government edict, the law, economic practice, or the ethical standards of individual behaviour.”

The statement says denial of freedom of expression makes a mockery of the profession of journalism. But the writers are also unanimous in saying that freedom should be not granted for hate speech in any form, including advocation of violence. They point out that the Constitution deals with inflammatory speech. “Bill of Rights. Freedom of expression. The right does not extend to a) propaganda for war, b) incitement of imminent violence; or c) advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm.”

The writers say they are now threatened by denial of freedom of the word. Among the signatures included in the campaign are those of writers whose work was banned under the apartheid regime. They say they are threatened again “(With a) .. a gag over the word processor if we penetrate the ‘transparency’ promised in the new South Africa, which a Media Tribunal will replace with the descent of a shutter over the dialogue of the arts in the attempt of understanding who and what we are, where we come from and what we may yet become.”

They say the Media Tribunal is really just a pseudonym for censorship and “...so, if the work and the freedom of the writer are in jeopardy, the freedom of every reader in South Africa is in danger. Consequently our protest is an action undertaken by South Africans for all South Africans, committing ourselves to a demand for our free country: freedom of thought expressed, freedom of dialogue, freedom from fear of the truth about ourselves, all South Africans.”

The full text of the statement by the South African Writers can be found here.

Source: Business Day

JSC 'changed tack on Hlophe'

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) "changed tack" on controversial Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe after President Jacob Zuma appointed four new members to it last year, the North Gauteng High Court heard this week. Advocate Wim Trengove, acting for the NGO Freedom Under the Law (FUL), told the court that the JSC appeared to have discarded its earlier inquiries into Hlophe's conduct, and his counterclaim against the judges of the Constitutional Court, after the change in its composition.

In the application, FUL is seeking to overturn the JSC's decision not to proceed with its investigations. The non-governmental pressure group, in which former judge Johann Kriegler plays a prominent role, argues that the reopening of the case is essential to maintaining the rule of law and protecting the image of the judiciary.

Trengove submitted to Judge Peter Mabuza that the JSC had been "doing everything right" in terms of its own rules when it launched an investigation into claims by judges of the Constitutional Court that Hlophe had attempted to influence the outcome of a corruption case involving Zuma. At the time, it was thought that the corruption charges were all that stood between Zuma and the country's presidency. Trengove added that the JSC's inquiry into Hlophe's counterclaim that the justices had breached his constitutional rights by the manner in which they had lodged the complaint against him was also according to its rule-book. But, he noted that the JSC "changed tack" after Zuma's appointment of advocates Ismail Semenya, Dumisa Ntsebeza, Andiswa Ndoni and Vas Soni to the JSC.

The four men replaced advocate George Bizos; state advocate Kgomotso Moroko; former head of the ANC's legal and constitutional commission and acting Northern Province premier, advocate Seth Nthai; and a representative of labour and the Public Service Commission, John Ernstzen. The JSC then appeared to drop its earlier inquiries, which had included interviewing Constitutional Court judges. It eventually set up a sub-committee to investigate the matter afresh before deciding not to follow up with a formal hearing. That decision, Trengove asserted, was procedurally irregular and unconstitutional. He also said that, according to the JSC rulebook, the sub-committee's role was "not to evaluate the evidence" but merely to determine whether the claims against the judges were frivolous. "At that point [the sub-committee] doesn't inquire if it's true or not," said Trengove. He said the matter of Hlophe's conduct and his counterclaim were an obvious case where misconduct had to be ascertained because the "complaints were of gross misconduct … judges were accused of impacting upon a judgment while others were accused of conniving, cheating and lying to the public".

These allegations had grave implications for the image of the judiciary. In its heads of argument, the JSC contends that no decision was made on whether to pursue the complaints at the time of the JSC's reconstitution in July last year. Its new members had to acquaint themselves with the case, which was why it was started afresh.

But Trengove attacked these denials, calling them a "misapprehension". He asserted that the decision to follow through with a formal JSC hearing had been taken a year earlier. He provided transcripts of a JSC meeting on July 5 2008 at which the matter was discussed by the commissioners. According to the transcripts, there was unanimity that the charges of gross misconduct had to be tested.

The JSC's subsequent conduct -- including calling for a submission on whether the hearings should be open or closed -- and affidavits bore out the fact that it was preparing for a hearing, Trengove argued.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Why now?

There is no doubt that the media is facing the greatest threat to its freedom since the advent of democracy. The proposed Protection of Information Bill and Media Appeals Tribunal, the proposed Protection from Harassment Bill (which thankfully seems to have been put on hold), the proposed Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Amendment Bill and the proposed Public Broadcasting Service Bill all aim to tighten the control of the government over the free flow of information.

We are far from the dark days of apartheid (see picture below) when the Nationalist government muzzled the press to try and retain its illegitimate power. We live in a constitutional democracy now and our courts will probably play a pivotal role in preventing the muzzling of the media (or will at least limit the effectiveness of such attempts). They will do so, because most judges understand that the free flow of information is, of course, the lifeblood of any democracy.

The question is: why now? Why is the government of the day orchestrating this concerted effort to change the way in which our media report on government activities? It is tempting to find an answer by turning to the personalities involved and arguing that President Zuma and other ANC leaders are upset about how the media has reported on their own activities and actions. But another reason for this attack on the media suggests itself and can be found in the utterances and documents of the ruling party itself.

Perhaps the move against the free media is based on a realistic acknowledgement on the part of the ANC that it is facing a crisis of legitimacy. It seems incapable of addressing this crisis, so some of its leaders might believe that the only way to deal with the problem is to stop the reporting on events that has precipitated this crisis.

I offer a few quotes below to illustrate this point. President Jacob Zuma at a March 2008 National Executive Committee (NEC) Meeting:

When elected leaders at the highest level openly engage in factionalist activity, where is the movement that aims to unite the people of South Africa for the complete liberation of the country from all forms of discrimination and national oppression? When money changes hands in the battle for personal power and aggrandizement, where is the movement that is built around membership that joins without motives of material advantage and personal gain? When the members of the NEC themselves engage in factionalist activity, media leaks and rumour-mongering, how can we ex pect the membership of our movement to carry out their duties toobserve di scipline, behave honestly and carry out loyally the decisions of the majority and the decision of higher bodies?

From the admirably frank document on “Leadership Renewal, discipline and organizational culture” prepared for the ANC National General Council later this year, which highlights the following tenancies in the ANC:

12.1 Leadership in the ANC is seen as stepping-stones to positions of power and material reward in government and business (Organisational report to the 1997 Mafikeng Confe rence).

12.2 The emergence of social distance between ANC cadres in positions of power from the motive forces which the ANC represent, with the potential to render elements in the movement “progressively lethargic to the conditions of the poor.” (Strategy and Tactics, 1997)

12.3 Disturbing trends of “careerism, corruption and opportunism,” alien to a revolutionary movement, taking roots at various levels, eating at our soul and with potential to denude our society of an agent of real change. (Midterm Review, NGC, 2000)

12.4 Divisive leadership battles over access to resources and patronage becoming the norm and allegations about corruption and business interests of leadership and deployed cadres abounding (Organisational report to the Stellenbosch Conference, 2002).

49. Failure to build a New Person (continued the 2000 NGC document), among revolutionaries themselves and, in a more diffuse manner in broader society, will result in a critical mass of the vanguard movement being swallowed in the vortex of the arrogance of power and attendant social distance and corruption, and, ultimately, themselves being transformed by the very system they seek to change. An important challenge, among others, is thus to ensure a systematic intervention by the ideological centres and institutions of society, as well as mothers and fathers and the family as a whole in shaping social values and a new morality.

53. Strategy and Tactics (2007: par. 138) recognizes the challenges and ‘sins’ of incumbency (patronage, bureaucratic indifference, arrogance of power, corruption) and suggests approaches to the management of relations within the organization. Our ability to manage this minefield, it contends, will determine “our future survival as a principled leader of the process of fundamental change, an organization respected and cherished by the mass of people for what it represents and how it conducts itself in actual practice.”

From the various ANC discussion documents it is clear that the problem of legitimacy facing the ANC has long been acknowledged by the movement. As far back as the Stellenbosch conference in 2002 these “tendencies” were identified. But now, eight years later, the problem has become more acute and the movement has been unable to address them in any meaningful way. It is one thing to admit the problem. It is a completely different matter to deal with it effectively.

A culture of forgiveness (or some would call it impunity) starting at the very top of the leadership, makes it very difficult to address the problems and to take decisive action against ANC leaders in government.

Tony Yengeni, due to his admirable role in the struggle, is carried shoulder high to prison. President Jacob Zuma, due to his admirable stance against the dictatorial tendencies of the former President, is elected as leader of the movement despite the fact that he took money from a crook, did favors for that crook and then submitted a fake loan agreement to Parliament to try and justify this. Ebrahim Rasool is accused of handing out brown envelopes to journalists and, because of his good work in the Western Cape, is appointed as ambassador to Washington. MP’s abuse the travel scheme of Parliament, is convicted and remain in their positions.

The list is endless.

The only way the ANC is going to address the problems so frankly and admirably highlighted in the discussion documents is to fundamentally change its prevailing culture which rewards (or at least turns a blind eye) to transgressions, illegality and even criminality.

What is needed is a body (perhaps an improved version of the Scorpions) that will vigorously and impartial investigate corruption, nepotism and the like across the board. Such a body should instill fear in the hearts of every official and politician – whether it is the President or a ward councillor in Lusikisiki. For such a body to have any effect, no one should feel safe from investigation and prosecution. And once a person is investigated and successfully prosecuted he or she should be expelled from the movement – at least for a certain period.

But because the problem seems so widespread (one could say endemic) – as is made clear by the ANC discussion document – it will be very difficult if not impossible for the ANC to take this rout. That is why the Scorpions was abolished and, I would suggest, why the ANC is trying to tighten its grip on the media. Many ANC leaders understand that it has a problem and know that the movement is incapable of dealing with it effectively. The next best thing is therefore to try and hide this fact from the electorate.

But because we live in an open and democratic society this will not be possible. The attempts by the ANC to deal with the firmly entrenched master narrative (a narrative that suggests the ANC has become corrupt and heartless) by muzzling the media is therefore doomed to failure. But I guess some in the ANC believe it is worth a try.

Source: Constitutionally Speaking: Pierre De Vos