Perspectives on international criminal justice in Africa, robust discussion on understanding Africa's position

On Wednesday 4 July and Thursday 5 July we organised two meetings on international criminal justice in Africa. Discussions underlined African concerns about some aspects of international criminal justice. As a follow up, THIGJ and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) will collaborate to further develop a project addressing some of the issues.

THIGJ hosted a workshop on African perspectives on international criminal justice which was part of the Peace and Justice project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the municipality of The Hague. Willem van Genugten and Anton du Plessis (Institute for Security Studies) highlighted the complexities of international criminal justice and African perspectives on this matter. Debate among prominent practitioners in the field of international law focused mainly on (the impact of) the overlap between law, politics and power, as well as on the victims of international crimes and their expectations of what international criminal justice can do.

On Thursday 5 July, two eminent speakers elaborated on the issues addressed the previous day and discussed the challenges and consequences of the expansion of the African Court as well as the African Unions position on universal jurisdiction and immunity. The ensuing robust discussion underlined African concerns about some aspects of international criminal justice and revealed that issues such as how to balance law and politics, how to address the uneven landscape of international criminal justice or how to deal with the expansion of the African Court need further consideration after the seminar. As a follow up to the workshop, THIGJ and ISS will collaborate to further develop a project addressing some of these issues.

Source: The Hague Institute for Global Justice (THIGJ)

Cash-strapped home owners on the rise

Cash-strapped homeowners in Kwa-Zulu-Natal are opting to let their properties go through bank-approved forced sales, rather than their being repossessed.

Estate agency Chas Everitt said sales of this type accounted for 30 percent of its sales between June last year and July this year.

Another estate agency reported selling at least 30 “distressed” properties in the past three months as desperate homeowners battled under the strain of a global economic recession, job losses and high debt levels.

In a recent judgment involving applications by Absa against three defaulting homeowners, Durban High Court Acting Judge Peter Olsen noted that national statistics provided by Absa “indicate the extent of the problem with which the bank is confronted”.

The figures showed that more than 5 000 section 129 notices – notifying consumers they were in default – had been sent out between December and May. The average amount of debt involved in each month was R532 million.

Nedbank said the number of homes being repossessed had decreased as clients took up other options, including reduced instalments. Those who could not pay had taken advantage of the bank’s assisted sales programme which entailed marketing and selling their homes through estate agents.

Standard Bank spokesman Erik Larsen said while the number of repossessions had decreased, they remained at historically high levels and consumers were under pressure.

Durban estate agents said areas such as Kloof, Hillcrest, Queensburgh and Pinetown and the North and South Coasts were particularly hard-hit, with dozens of home-owners having to sell through bank-assisted sales or risk repossession.

Clint Ellice, principal of the Chas Everitt International Upper Highway office, said he had been taken aback by the volume of distressed sales, and expected the number to increase.

“The average prices are between R800 000 and R1 million. The highest was R3.6m.”

Annatjie Angelo, owner and principal of Harcourt Tops, based in Pinetown, agreed that distressed sales were becoming prevalent. In the past three months, the agency had sold 30 such homes.

Greg Wilson, of Claudine Hickman Properties, said 20 percent of sales by the group’s Queensburgh office were distressed sales.

“It is more widespread than that and is occurring in a lot of areas.”

An employee at auction company Peter Maskell Auctioneers said many people were selling their second homes or holiday properties, especially on the South Coast.

The company had carried out several valuations in Kloof, which was the first step when a bank intends to take legal action against the homeowner.

Pam Golding Properties’ national general manager, Richard Day, said distressed sales were occurring across the province and high-value properties in the traditional greater Durban North and Highway areas were not immune to lifestyle changes.

Ecomomist Mike Schussler, of economists.co.za, said the property industry was expected to remain a buyer’s market for five years.

The judgment by Acting Judge Olsen puts more barriers in place for banks to overcome before they may apply for a default judgment against homeowners.

He suggested that the practice of sending Section 129 notices by registered mail was not enough. Ordinary post could also be used, with multiple letters being sent to the owner’s home address, work address and any other provided.

Greg Allen, of law firm Easton-Berry Inc, which acted for Absa, said the three cases had been adjourned indefinitely and the judge had asked that the section 129 notices be sent again by registered mail and by fax, e-mail or in person.

Allen said the acting judge had also ordered that in similar cases where summons had been issued, the banks would be required to bring applications so the court could give a directive setting out the steps that needed to be followed to conform to National Credit Act requirements.

Source: IoL

ANC KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE STATEMENT

The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal held its ordinary Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting on July 30, 2012 at the Pinetown Civic Centre.

The meeting began with the ANC Provincial Chairperson, Cde. Zweli Mkhize's political overview, which mainly covered the political evaluation of the recently held National Policy Conference, the outcome of the Provincial Tripartite Alliance Summit, the assessment of the Nelson Mandela Day activities, the state of local government and the killings of political leaders across the political organisations.

The PEC made a thorough assessment of the Policy Conference and it was unanimously agreed that the Policy Conference was a resounding success and that it set a good tone for the upcoming 53rd National Conference in Mangaung later this year. The PEC received a report on the readiness of our province with regard to the forthcoming National Conference and it was very satisfied with the substantial progress that has been made in preparing for this critical conference. The PEC further adopted the action plan which will take the KZN province to Manguang.

The PEC also congratulated Cde Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for being elected as the Chairperson of the African Union and there was a strong feeling that her experience as the former Minister of International Relations, current minister of Home Affairs and the enormous role she has played in the African National Congress will help her confront the pressing challenges facing the African continent. The ANC believes that the management of issues in the African continent will definitely never be the same again.

The PEC applauded the new approach in dealing with African matters in its totality. This approach will assist the African countries to be able to address the African challenges in a comprehensive manner as opposed to isolate one country. The processes that led to the election of Cde Dlamini-Zuma provide an opportune time to address the new divisive influence on African Union agenda from former colonialists (Britain, France and others).

The PEC also commended all people who took part in a series of activities planned to celebrate the Mandela day activities in respect of former President Nelson Mandela, a global icon. Indeed, Cde Mandela is the product of the ANC hence we will remain humble to his achievement as an individual and as the leader of the ANC.

Through an intense lobbying from South Africa, the family of nations as represented in the United Nations declared July 18th as Nelson Mandela Day internationally to acknowledge the 67 years that the global icon dedicated to the service of mankind. The PEC noted that the ANC had well planned activities which included the building of houses for poor families and the renovating of public buildings.

On Service Delivery

In its effort to improve basic service delivery and uphold good governance at all government levels, the PEC resolved that the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal should host a provincial local government summit in September this year.

It is public knowledge that the ANC led government has done well when it comes to delivering services to the people and economic growth. However the actual implementation has proven to be more difficult and as a results service delivery and economic growth continues to experience set-backs. During the summit, delegates will thoroughly assess what has been achieved and meticulously diagnose the challenges hindering service delivery. The ANC has no doubt that this summit will help to carve a strategy to improve service delivery.

The PEC identified the poor communication from the government clusters to inform people of South Africa of the work done since the beginning of the term of office. The PEC agreed to enter into structured report-back community meetings. The ANC deployees from National, Provincial and Local Government will jointly report to constituencies in terms of achievements, challenges, projects to be undertaken and further mobilise community to actively participate in any development projects in their areas.

ANC Social Cohesion Summit

The Department of Arts and Culture recently hosted a National Summit on Social Cohesion which was addressed by President Jacob Zuma. The summit, which was held at the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication in Kliptown Soweto, presented people with an opportunity to talk to each other about their values, aspirations and vision of a united South Africa. The summit was a resounding success. The summit's declaration called for government led summits at provincial and local level in the coming 12 months which will lead to the hosting of the national summit in 2017.

As a movement that promotes unity, the PEC called on government to host a provincial social cohesion summit before the end of this year. The ANC wants the summit to be attended by political parties, representatives of civil society, business leaders and government representatives.

Incidents Of Abuse

The spate of sexual violence perpetrated against young children and senior citizens in KwaZulu-Natal is a matter of grave concern. The PEC expressed outrage, anger and disgust at the rape of a 94-year-old at KwaSwayimane in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. The ANC will continue to demonstrate outside the New Hanover Magistrate's Court when a 30-year-old man who allegedly raped a 94-year-old woman appears in court. The 30-year-old man will appear again in court on August 3.

The ANC has also learnt that another woman (aged 84) was allegedly raped in KwaSwayimane. We condemn these barbaric acts in the strongest possible terms and commend the South African Police Service for ensuring that the alleged perpetrator is arrested. The ANC will continue tomobilise communities to reclaim our streets from criminals and create a society that is safe for women and children.

PEC Sub-Committee Deployments

The ANC PEC sub-committees have been formed. These committees are very crucial in our organisation as they ensure proper coordination of ANC programs. They have been constituted to accommodate members of the ANC, Alliance, MDM structures and other individuals who command lot of expertise on relevant subject.

Sub-Committee Conveners


Peace And Stability


Cde Bheki Ntuli



Education And Health


Cde Lydia Johnson



Economic Transformation


Cde Mxolisi Kaunda



Social Transformation


Cde Ntombikayise Sibhidla-Saphetha



International Relations


Cde Yusuf Bhamjee



CRATA


Cde Bongi Sithole-Moloi



Organizational Development And Communications


Cde Sihle Zikalala



Legislature And Governance


Cde Ravi Pillay


Comrade Senzo Mkhize has been appointed as the new Provincial ANC Spokesman.

ANC And NFP Relations

The PEC received a detailed report on the state of the ANC and NFP relationship. The PEC noted the challenges in certain municipalities like in Imbabazane municipality, Mtubatuba municipality. The ANC will continue with the process that is in place to engage with the NFP at all levels to normalise the situation. The ANC entered to Memorandum of Understanding with the NFP knowing very well that it can't be just a smooth sailing there will turbulences on the way which require some principle leadership from both organisations.

There is a joint programme of ANC and NFP to visit all municipalities where there is ANC and NFP cooperation agreement to attend to issues of contestation amongst councillors. We hope the process will remove all bottlenecks and allow speedy service delivery without any disturbance.

Statement issued by Sihle Zikalala, ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary, July 31 2012

Source: Politicsweb

How to give lawyers a bad name

In debates about the appropriate relationship between the various branches of government and in arguments advanced about the need for the courts to respect the separation of powers doctrine (arguments often advanced in support of the unchecked exercise of power by one of the elected branches of government), one important fact is often overlooked: it is not only the judiciary that has a constitutional and legal obligation to respect the authority of the elected branches of government. The elected branches also have a duty to respect and obey the decisions of the courts in order to show appropriate respect for the separation of powers doctrine.

When members of the legislature or executive ignore the decisions of the Constitutional Court or act as if they are not bound by the provisions of the Constitution (often on spurious grounds conjured up by legal advisors with a tenuous grasp of the Constitution), they are failing to fulfil their constitutional obligations and are showing an unfortunate lack of respect for the separation of powers doctrine, the very doctrine which some of the members of the legislature and the executive purport to revere and to hold sacrosanct. Some of the members of these branches (abetted by legal advisors who are paid to know better) believe that Constitutional Court decisions can be trumped by the provisions of ordinary legislation or policy decisions, on the misguided assumptions that they are elected and are thus not bound by the Constitution and the decisions of the Constitutional Court.

The case of Emmanuel Tsebe and Jerry Pitsoe (Phale), two Botswana citizens who entered South Africa illegally, should therefore never have reached the Constitutional Court. The Botswana government wanted the two gentlemen extradited to stand trial for murder. But Botswana still imposes the death penalty in certain cases where somebody is convicted of murder and in terms of the Constitutional Court judgment in Mohamed and Another v President of the RSA and Others (handed down back in 2001) our Constitution prohibits our government from handing over suspects to a foreign country where those suspects face the death penalty unless our government obtains assurances from the foreign country that the execution would not be carried out.

Yet in Minister of Home Affairs and Others v Tsebe and Others, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Another v Tsebe and Others the Constitutional Court was asked to reverse a decision from a full bench of the High Court, who had merely applied the clear precedent set in the Mohamed case. Initially there was a disagreement between the Minister of Justice (who wanted to obey the Constitutional Court judgment in Mohamed) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (who wanted to extradite the two suspects on the basis that it was obliged to do so in terms of the Extradition Act). But mysteriously, the former Ministry changed its mind decided to acquiesce in the decision of the Department of Home Affairs. If it was not for the intervention of NGO’s in the case, the government would have flouted the Constitution and the authority of the Constitutional Court. As the Constitutional Court explained, in a decision authored by acting Justice Ray Zondo:

This Court’s decision in Mohamed means that if any official in the employ of the State, without the requisite assurance, hands over anyone from within South Africa, or under the control of South African officials, to another country to stand trial knowing that such person runs the real risk of a violation of his right to life, right to human dignity and right not to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way in that country, he or she acts in breach of the duty provided for in section 7(2) of the Constitution.

The lawyers for the two Departments advanced several rather strange and obviously misguided arguments to justify this flouting of the separation of powers doctrine. The most bizarre of these arguments, advanced by Counsel for the Justice Minister, was that when the Justice Minister performs his statutory extradition duties, he performs an act of State. As Justice Zondo remarks rather circumspectly:

This submission seems to suggest that in such a case the Justice Minister is not obliged to respect, protect, promote, or fulfil the rights in the Bill of Rights as required by section 7(2) of the Constitution. I am unable to agree with this submission. Section 7(2) is not qualified in any way. Accordingly, the obligations it places upon the State apply to everything that the State does. This Court has already made it clear in Mohamed that there are no exceptions to the right to life, the right to human dignity and the right not to be subjected to treatment or punishment that is cruel, inhuman or degrading. These are the rights that the State must respect, protect, promote and fulfil in a case such as the present one.

What Justice Zondo does not spell out is that this argument is based on the assumption that the Constitution is not always supreme and that a member of the Executive is not bound by either the provisions of the Constitution or the judgments of the Constitutional Court when a Minister performs an “act of State” — whatever that might mean, given the fact that the Constitution does not contain such a phrase. The Constitution does make a distinction between the President acting as Head of State or as Head of the Executive, but in a long line of cases the Constitutional Court has confirmed that the Head of State powers must also be exercised subject to the provisions of the Constitution and that such an exercise can be reviewed and set aside by our courts.

Why any lawyer who are actually getting paid by public funds would nevertheless advance such a contention is not clear. Maybe the lawyers were clutching at straws or maybe they were just not prepared and thought up these kinds of arguments the night before the hearing over a glass or two of whiskey.

Another rather novel argument advanced by lawyers for the Justice Minister was that the decision of the High Court was based upon an “excessive concern about the rights of Mr Tsebe and Mr Phale and a complete disregard for the rights of the rest of the people of South Africa” who are also entitled to the protection of their rights contained in the Bill of Rights and the obligation which the Government has of protecting the rest of the population against people who may have committed violent crimes. They made this argument on the assumption that no assurance would ever be provided by the authorities in Botswana and that the two suspects would have to be released. The implication of the Justice Minister’s suggestion was that, if the Court below had also paid attention to the rights of people other than Mr Tsebe and Mr Phale, it would have concluded that the Government was entitled to extradite or deport Mr Phale. In support of this contention reference was made to the Constitutional Court judgment in Carmichele v Minister of Safety and Security.

The Constitutional Court dispatched with this rather half cooked argument by making the following telling observations:

Part of the answer to this is that neither Mr Tsebe nor Mr Phale had been convicted of murder. In terms of our law anyone who is charged with a crime or who is suspected of the commission of a crime is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. That principle applies to persons in the position of Mr Phale as well. In any event there are many citizens of our own country who are not in jail or detention and who are out in society even though they face serious charges like murder. We do not say that they must never get bail merely because they are charged with serious crimes. After all, the obligation to protect the population, which the Government has, requires nothing more than that the Government must put in place reasonable measures to discharge that obligation. The decision of this Court in Carmichele is not necessarily inconsistent with the non-extradition or non-deportation of a person in Mr Phale’s position. Finally, as Carmichele was relied upon without any elaboration, no further consideration thereof is warranted.

Several other “arguments” which also seem to want to ignore the clear precedent set in the Mohamed case was also dispatched with. In a separate minority judgment, Acting Deputy Chief Justice Zac Yacoob, went even further finding that the Constitutional Court should not even have heard the case because the issues were so clear cut that there was clearly no prospect that the state would have been successful. As Justice Yacoob pointed out, several of the arguments were no more than attempts at criticising the Mohamed judgment (without ever attacking the correctness of the original judgment). The lawyers were therefore trying to have the Mohamed judgment modified without ever making that argument explicit.

Lawyers (whether in the full time employment of the state or whether contracted by the state as advocates) have a duty not only to their clients, but also to the courts and the Constitution. They should not advance arguments that are clearly untenable and that they should know have absolutely no chance of being accepted by the court — ever. If the lawyers wanted to challenge the correctness of the Mohamed judgment, they should have done so directly. Their failure to do so, while at the same time advancing arguments that are at odds with the requirement that the legislature and the executive should respect settled precedent (unless they seek directly to challenge the correctness of the precedent) and should not act in ways that infringe on the separation of powers, is at best questionable.

In this case the state did not get its money’s worth from either its in-house lawyers and from the very expensive advocates who advanced quite ridiculous arguments on behalf of the state.

Source: Constitutionally Speaking

An African Perspective

The world financial crisis that hit the world in 2007 has now become a systemic global economic crisis that affects socially, economically and politically, all the countries and regions differently depending on their level of development and grade of insertion in the world economy.

Over the last decade Africa has gone through major breakthroughs in terms of economic growth, poverty reduction and access to basic social services, but in spite of that, 36.2% of the its population lives on less than one dollar per day. The current economic crisis has evidenced that this progress to date could be washed away and that much needs to be done to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in the region.

In their response to the economic crisis, African governments, along with international organizations, will have to address the challenges resulting from the current economic crisis in conjunction with finding solutions to other critical issues Africa has been severely hit by, e.g. poverty, food security, global warming, human rights and peace-building, whose management will be crucial in strengthening democratic values, good governance and human development.

In line with this, Members of the Club of Madrid, Members of the Africa Progress Panel and other prominent experts and decision-makers, gathered on November 3, 2009 in Accra, Ghana to discuss the political impact of the crisis from an African perspective and to formulate practical recommendations to the political institutions and policy-makers in charge of responding to the political challenges arising from the crisis, at a global, regional and national level. This report offers a summary of the key points and recommendations that were raised at the meeting as input to the Club of Madrid’s annual conference on the topic in November, 2009 in Madrid.

Source: Club de Madrid

Dlamini-Zuma: AU must build bridges (and roads and railways)

A lack of infrastructure development is the biggest challenge facing Africa, says newly elected AU Commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Addressing a gathering of representatives of the Progessive Women's Movement of South Africa in Pretoria on Sunday, Dlamini-Zuma said the African Union's vision of more integration could only be reached if infrastructure on the continent was drastically improved.

"How do we connect ourselves?" she asked, pointing out that transport and communication links were not doing enough to connect countries with each other.

She said there could be no integration, as envisaged by the AU, unless there was proper infrastructure linking the African countries.

Dlamini-Zuma also said she thought integration would be further helped by the Pan African Parliament (PAP) becoming a legislative body which would "harmonise legislation" across the continent.

But integration could not be successfully achieved if peace was not achieved on the continent.

"How do you build a railway in the middle of a war[zone]?"

She said that while the continent had many challenges it also had many opportunities of which it needed to take advantage, and enormous agricultural, energy and human resource potential.

"The challenge, is how to use them for the benefit of Africa."

Speaking about her appointment, she said: "When I go there, I will be working as a servant of Africa and not South Africa."

She said the direction that the AU took would need to be determined with the involvement of its citizens and not its governments alone.

"If it's left to government, it's not going to go anywhere fast."

The Progessive Women's Movement of South Africa is made up of various women's organisations including the ANC Women's League.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Hillary Clinton to visit SA for 'strategic dialogue'

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit South Africa in August, says the department of international relations.

Clinton and International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane would hold the South Africa-United States Strategic Dialogue on August 7, said spokesperson Clayson Monyela on Sunday.

"It is expected that the meeting will discuss a range of issues of mutual interest," he said.

Monyela said the bilateral relations between South Africa and the US were strong and that the US administration was interested in partnering with South Africa domestically and regionally.

"High-level visits… by Vice President Joe Biden to South Africa in 2010 and the reciprocal visit by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe in 2011 to the USA, highlight the close relations between the two countries," he said

Monyela said the US continued to support South Africa's domestic priorities and wanted to align its assistance programmes and projects to South Africa's national priorities.

The US is currently South Africa's third largest trading partner, and is a significant investor.

Source: Mail & Guardian

South Africa: Timeline of Reported Political Killings From 2007-2012

June 27, 2007

Govan Mbeki municipality deputy mayor Thandi Mtsweni was killed in Secunda, Mpumalanga for allegedly investigating tender irregularities.

She was shot dead by two gunmen when she arrived home with her husband and 14-year-old son.

The municipality's mayor Sipho Nkosi was arrested for allegedly hiring hitmen to kill her.

- January 4, 2009

Mbombela municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala, who blew the whistle on alleged corruption in a 2010 construction project was shot dead in his Nelspruit house.

Mohlala had blown the whistle on Mbombela municipal manager Jacob Dladla who was accused of manipulating 2010 construction contracts.

Mohlala was also investigating a fraud case involving a company belonging to Bobby Motaung, Kaizer Chiefs football club chairman, which was responsible for the construction of the Mbombela Stadium.

- January 22, 2009

Inkosi Mbongeleni Zondi, the grandson of a famous Zulu King and a strong ally of ANC president Jacob Zuma, was shot dead in Durban's Umlazi township.

Zondi was travelling along Stimela Avenue when his car was sprayed with bullets.

- January 22, 2009

The chairman of the ANC Youth League in Umgababa on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, Sthembiso Cele, was shot.

He was shot through the window of his house. He was taken to hospital but died the next day.

- January 31, 2009

ANC leader Bongani Ngcobo was shot in Nongoma in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Ngcobo was allegedly shot by an Inkatha Freedom Party councillor in full view of his colleagues at the ANC offices in that area.

- March 5, 2009

ANC member Jabulani Khumalo was shot dead in Nongoma, northern KwaZulu-Natal.

He was shot outside the gate of St Benedictine Hospital where he worked.

IFP councillor Hezekiah 'Fish' Ngwenya was arrested for Khumalo's murder.

- March 14, 2009

North West municipal councillor Moss Phakoe was shot dead outside his home in Rustenburg.

This was after handing over a dossier detailing corruption in the municipality to high-ranking ANC officials, including secretary general Gwede Mantashe and Zuma.

Former Rustenburg mayor Matthews Wolmarans and his bodyguard were arrested and jailed for Phakoe's murder.

- January 8, 2010

Sammy Mpatlanyane, the spokesman for the Mpumalanga department of culture, sport and recreation was gunned down in his house in Nelspruit.

His murder was blamed on the same people who killed Mohlala.

- October 8, 2010

Controversial Mpumalanga politician James Nkambule was found dead. He collapsed and died at his home in Mjindini.

It was first reported that Nkambule, a Congress of the People member at the time, had been ill and died as a result. However, It had later been reported that a confidential autopsy report showed he had been poisoned.

He was allegedly connected to the alleged existence of a hit list in the province.

- January 5, 2011

Johan Ndlovu, chief whip of Ehlanzeni District was shot, a few kilometres from his home in Thulamahashe, in the Mhala district.

Ndlovu's family discovered his body under a bush in Thulamahashe, the day after he disappeared.

In October that same year Life Khoza, 22, was jailed for 35 years for killing Ndlovu.

- March 1, 2011

ANC KwaZulu-Natal councillor Wiseman Mshibe was shot dead in his driveway in Montclair, Durban.

Although wounded five times, he managed to drive to the KFC in Montclair for help. Someone took him to St Augustine's Hospital, but he later died.

- July 11, 2011

ANC eThekwini regional secretary Sbu Sibiya was shot dead at his home in Inanda, Durban.

It was believed that his killing was part of a pattern of the assassination of political leaders in the KwaZulu-Natal.

- August 7, 2011

Senior National Freedom Party member and traditional headman Thintabantu Mthembu was shot in KwaNgenetsheni near Vryheid in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

- August 7, 2011

NFP leader in the eThekwini Municipality Gundu Makhanya was shot and killed just outside his home in Chatsworth outside Durban.

- 18 September, 2011

NFP member Sipho Mtshali was gunned down on his way home from a meeting at the Vosloorus hostel in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg.

- Since the NFP's formation in 2011, 15 members had been killed in separate incidents by September.

- May 1, 2012

Bongani Shelembe, chairman of the Msinga branch, and youth secretary Lungisile Zuma were shot dead when they were driving back from the party's constituency meeting in Msinga, northern KwaZulu-Natal.

- June 30, 2012

ANC Hibiscus Coast councillor Wandile Mkhize was killed in a drive-by shooting in Manaba, Margate, a few days after the party's national policy conference.

The motive for the attack was not known.

- July 21, 2012

NFP member, Thamsanqa Mnyango, was shot dead.

Mnyango's murder brought to 22 the number of NFP members killed since the formation of the party.

Source: ALL Africa

Growing Calls for Inquiries Into Policing in South Africa

Recent events in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape have highlighted how the failures in the criminal justice system in general, and policing in particular, can have serious consequences. The most shocking example of this has been the vigilante-related deaths of at least 14 people between April and July this year. It is becoming apparent that these deaths are as a result of community members having lost faith in the police and starting to take matters into their own hands. Indeed, Khayelitsha as a geographic location is a difficult place to police. 

Established in 1985, Khayelitsha is currently home to an estimated 750 000 residents, most of whom are from poor and working class communities. Situated 35 km from the central business district of Cape Town, it is one of the most densely populated areas in the country and a majority of its young men and women of working age are unemployed. As a result there are high levels of poverty and associated social ills such as crime. Concerns about inadequate policing and the criminal justice system resulted in concerted community action as far back as 2003. Since then, community-based organisations in Khayelitsha have held more than 100 demonstrations, pickets and marches and submitted numerous petitions and memorandums to various levels of government in an effort to improve the situation.

The list of concerns is long and includes the following complaints:

• When crimes are reported, victims are often treated discourteously, sometimes with contempt.
• Dockets are often lost, resulting in cases being struck off the court rolls.
• Investigations and securing of crime scenes, gathering of forensic evidence, interviewing of witnesses and other basic procedures are often ignored or performed incompetently.
• Investigating officers often do not communicate with victims of crime regarding the progress of investigations or prosecutions, including information about court dates and bail hearings.
• Investigating officers routinely do not secure the presence of witnesses at trials, resulting in lengthy postponements.
• Witnesses to serious crimes are not given the protection they need in order to testify without fear of retribution and many refuse to testify following threats from perpetrators with no response from the police.
• There is insufficient visible policing in Khayelitsha (this is almost non-existent in all informal settlements).

Seven months ago a group of civil society organisations under the banner of the Social Justice Coalition (SJC), which consists of 1 500 members, lodged a formal complaint with the Western Cape Provincial Government detailing the many failures of criminal justice in providing services to the people of Khayelitsha.

In their complaint they pointed out that since 2009, certain violent crime categories recorded by the police stations that serve Khayelitsha have increased. For example, murders increased by 9,5%, sexual assaults by 15,9% and attempted murders by 63%. They also highlighted that most property crimes such as burglaries, theft and robbery were not reported to the police because residents were not insured and didn’t believe that the police would give them the necessary attention. In addition to the crime statistics, they included a number of detailed case studies that demonstrated serious systemic failures with regards to the functioning of the criminal justice system that had contributed to the loss of public trust in the police.

Their recommendation is that the premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille, use her constitutional powers to appoint a five-person commission of inquiry headed by a retired judge to address the following concerns with regards to the police:

• Evaluating police effectiveness
• Assessing the suitability of the priorities, personnel, training, resources, systems, policies and community engagement practices employed by the police
• Investigating the causes of the breakdown in relations between the Khayelitsha community and the police
• Investigating the reasons for the inefficiencies at the interface between policing and the broader administration of justice
• Identifying the measures necessary to redress the inefficiencies and other problems identified, including a social crime prevention strategy
• Establishing time frames for the implementation of its recommendations

The premier has indicated that in principle the Western Cape Executive agreed to establish such a commission. This, along with the recent vigilante killings, appeared to spur the national SAPS into action and the new national Commissioner has asked that the establishment of the inquiry be delayed so that they have time to investigate the complaint. During the second week of July 2012, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) was dispatched to investigate the concerns raised in the complaint by the SJC.

Irrespective of what the IPID investigation finds, it would be good for a commission of inquiry to proceed. This is because the IPID investigation will likely identify specific failings on the part of particular police officials and possibly other individuals (including perhaps prosecutors or members of the public). However, the policing challenges facing Khayelitsha are not confined to that area and occur in many precincts across the country.

When looking at the national picture a range of ongoing systemic challenges become apparent. While there are numerous examples, it is worth simply reflecting on the following few:

• Between 2001/02 and 2009/10 the number of criminal cases opened against police officials with the IPID increased by 363%.
• Internal Police Advisory Council inspections undertaken in 2006 to 2008 before being disbanded found a wide range of problems with poor station level supervision, inadequate inspections, ill-discipline and shortcomings with regards to police appointments, promotions, resources, skills and performance.
• Over the two-year period 2008/09 and 2009/10 the police lost 4 797 firearms and only 53 police officials faced disciplinary action as a result.
• A number of the most senior SAPS officers have left the organisation or are suspended following allegations of corruption. This includes the last two SAPS National Commissioners.
• In 2010/11 the Minister of Police paid out R115 million in civil claims arising out of poor police behaviour, an increase of 33% compared to the previous year.
• In April 2012 the then Acting SAPS National Commissioner conceded that 6 536 members were officially declared ‘not yet competent’ to handle their firearms.

It is therefore not surprising that a 2011 Human Sciences Research Council survey into corruption found that 66% of South Africans believed that corruption was widespread among the police. 

It must be born in mind that there are very many hard-working, dedicated policemen and women who willingly serve their communities under very difficult circumstances. However, their morale is seriously affected by the misdeeds of many of their leaders and colleagues. While a commission of inquiry into a particular policing precinct such as Khayelitsha is likely to provide valuable insight into the nature of the problems in that area and possibly into contributing systemic organisational weaknesses, there is a need to focus on those higher up in the organisation. Only when there is an independent inquiry into the challenges facing those at the top of the organisation who have the authority and responsibility to fix the problems, are we likely to see the kind of progress needed.

Gareth Newham, Programme Head, Crime and Justice Programme, ISS Pretoria Office

Source: ISS

Limpopo asks publishers to supply cheapest textbooks

Limpopo teachers have voiced concern over the quality of textbooks as the price war between the basic education department and publishers rages on. A price war raging between the basic education department and publishers throws into doubt whether Limpopo schools will receive the textbooks they need for next year.

The Mail & Guardian has learnt that schools across the country are participating in the selection of textbooks from a national catalogue, but Limpopo schools are not. Schools in this province will not select preferred textbooks for teaching Caps, the new curriculum — the basic education department will supply them with the "cheapest" books available. Caps will be taught in all school grades except grades seven, eight, nine and 12 next year, and new textbooks are required.

The situation is in contrast to the selection approach the department began implementing nationally in 2010. With the help of curriculum experts in workshops, teachers and principals evaluate scores of sample textbooks publishers have supplied to the department. Poor schools then choose the textbooks to order from publishers, but through their provincial departments. The process was undertaken to ensure that schools selected quality textbooks from those placed on the national catalogue, experts told the M&G.

Some teachers in Limpopo have already voiced concern that the textbooks delivered to their schools in recent weeks are not what they ordered. A teacher said this week her school had not started using the textbooks, because they were not what the teachers had been trained to use in workshops and some were of poor quality.

She said that because the books were not those they had ordered, they did not correspond with the samples they had been using since the year started. "We are still photocopying the samples for our learners," she said. "The Tshivenda book is very poor; you ask yourself how did this book make it on to the national catalogue?"

Publishers have agreed to supply the department with the cheapest textbooks available for the current schooling year, but one told the M&G they did this to "help the Limpopo education department out of a really difficult position". But they said it would be financially detrimental for them if the department used the same system to procure textbooks for 2013. "If publishers are pushed to reduce their prices further, they will not be able to survive."

In a letter sent to publishers more than two weeks ago, which the M&G has seen, the administrator of the Limpopo education department, Mzwandile Matthews, stressed the indication of "lowest prices" for textbooks. The "guiding principle" in ordering textbooks for Limpopo, Matthews said in his letter, "will remain the reduced price and availability of the consignments". The basic education department remains in control of the provincial department since it was placed under administration in December.

Publishers have complained to Matthews about the procurement process the department follows. But Hope Mokgatlhe, the ministry's spokesperson, denied that the department was planning to buy the cheapest books for Limpopo schools. "The department has no intention to purchase the 'cheapest' books but books whose prices would not be higher than those in the national catalogue," Mokgatlhe said.

Barring teachers from selecting textbooks will adversely affect teaching, experts have warned. "If the teachers cannot work comfortably with the textbooks they have been given, the quality of their teaching will suffer," said Ruth Pressler, a curriculum expert. "It is unlikely that officials will be aware of the needs of the schools, as is evident by the recent news that a school for the blind was sent material meant for sighted learners."

Carol Bertram, senior lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's school of education, said teachers would be affected differently. "Some teachers will not mind just being given a textbook. Other teachers may find that the textbook chosen for them does not suit the needs of the learners and then they may not use it at all."

Meanwhile, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga cracked the whip at principals who spoke to the media about education problems in Limpopo's schools. Two principals who attended Motshekga's meeting with primary school leaders in Lebowakgomo on Wednesday independently confirmed to the M&G she "strongly" warned them against talking to the media. "She opened [and closed] her address by reminding us that there is only one spokesperson for the [provincial education] department," one of the principals said.

Source: Mail & Guardian

The ANCYL's memorandum to Helen Zille

Memorandum of demands from ANCYL Dullah Omar Region & others to the Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille, July 27 2012:

Memorandum of Demands

To: Western Cape Premier - Helen Zille

From : ANCYL, ANC, ANCWL, Cosatu, Taxi Association (CATA and Codeta) including other progressive formations.

The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) together with the above mentioned organizations have decided to embark on this revolutionary peoples march to the Provincial Parliament led by the Democratic Alliance (DA). This revolutionary march is inspired by the sad and gross conditions which our people continue to find themselves in on a daily basis.

Our people have never fought and died for another special type of apartheid to be born under a democratic government since 1994. Our parents, brothers and sisters gave up their lives in pursuit of a democratic, non- racial and non-sexist society. In 1994, our parents never voted to be led by a government that will re-introduce apartheid of a special type.

Since 2006 and 2009 when the DA took over the province,it has been concentrating on a programme to bring back apartheid in our lifetime. We have seen deliberate and concerted efforts and plans to divide and run amongst our people who are Africans, Coloured, Muslims and Indians. "We have seen statements like "take back what belongs to you", "Refugees" and so on. Whilst we wait patiently for our government to deliver to us constitutional rights in service, we see the DA undermining the National Government of the ANC through unfounded accusations of corruptions and incompetency.

We see the DA running around the entire country pointing failures of the ANC National Government whilst in the Western Cape there are huge failures and people live in dire situations. Today Cde and fellow Cape Tonians, We are here to unmask what is the real DA. Who is the DA fighting for? Who is Helen Zille?

The DA is a group of few white people who are bitter, angry and adamant in bringing back Apartheid at all cost. White South Africans refuse to live along side by side with Africans, Coloureds, Indians, Muslims and Khoi people. The DA keeps on painting a glossy picture about how we can live as a rainbow nation whilst the majority of our people live in the gutter and shacks. Today, we are saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Ons is gatvol! Sanele!

We are gatvol because black people in the Western Cape continue to be tea girls and garden boys under the DA government which continues to perpetuate this by encouraging young people to work for labour brokers and other non-progressive and counter revolutionary businesses on a basis of getting experience which will make them employable in a capitalist state. We are saying to madam Zille, we do not want to make this province ungovernable and unworkable because we are quite capable of doing that and we are ready even now!!!

We demand the following from you and your collective government:

1. Land

We demand that land that is owned by private people and companies be made available for the building of decent houses and creation of better communities where black people and white live together. We demand the land in Rondebosch Square among many so that our people will live together as the constitution dictates so. This land must be made available for the poorest of the poor.

2. Service delivery

We demand that electricity is an essential service and it ought to be given to people without being made to suffer for it. We demand a speedy electrification of our poor and disadvantage areas. It is inhumane for people in 19 years of a democratic government to still live in darkness and only rely on candles and paraffin for energy.

We demand the DA administration to provide proper sanitation to our communities. 19 years into democracy our people still relieve themselves in Pota-loos. This violates our constitutional right, that of proper decent sanitation. It also perpetuates health hazards such as diarrhoea and ringworms. The bucket system is a mechanism to kill our people as the Premier referred to them "REFUGEES".

3. Human Settlement - 17 Billion - 1.7 spent?

We demand that the MEC to be dismissed including his department officials with immediate effect and be replaced by a more competent person who will not be remote controlled by Zille. The department is full of corruption till to date there is no one held accountable for this. Our people demand a speedy delivering of houses to people who have been on a waiting list for ever. We demand that all hostels in Mananberg, Elsie's River, Hanover Park etc built during the apartheid era to be demolished and that people get decent houses where they will live happily in their new democratic government.

We demand that people get houses closer to the CBD and not far from where they work. The view of locating our people as far as West Coast closer to the Malmesbury is ridiculous and absurd. We want houses in Rondebosch square and in Constantia. We know the department of human settlement in the City of Cape had a budget of R17billion and only R1.7 Billion was spent and none of our areas benefitted out of this. Zille must tell us where is the money?

We demand an end to TRA's because the government of Zille has clearly displayed that it does not understand what the meaning of temporary is. People in Mfuleni among other areas are dying in these fridges. A child died in Mfuleni Bosasa TRA's and nothing was done by government. How many more must die Zille???

We demand that all shacks within the City and Province to be eradicated by not later than 2014!!!

4. Safety and Security

We demand that Mr Dan Plato follow Mr Madikizela as he too proved to be a useless duck. Crime has escalated to its highest levels within the Western Cape and City of Cape Town under the rule of DA. Nyanga has not once but twice became the murder capital of the nation. Mananberg and Hanover Park children swim in drugs and guns yet the MEG and Zille smile, say that it is normal.

Why are police stations in the townships not given the necessary resources they need? Why are all security agencies deployed in Sea Point, Camps Bay and Constantia where there is little crime compared to our areas? The calling of SANDF proves that the government of Zille has failed our people. She is incompetent and a disaster. Madam Zille please do us a favour, JUST RESIGN!!!

5. Youth Wage Subsidy

We demand that this subsidy be discarded with immediate effect. This only just complements the labour broking system that is killing our people and youth in particular. We demand that decent employment and interventions to the levels of high employment be implemented. In the City of Cape Town alone, unemployment is at 33% - 40%. And worse there is no Youth policy that seeks to resolve this crisis.

The Youth of South Africa through a National Youth Parliament that was here in the Western Cape rejected this Policy. We are saying nothing about us without us. We demand a youth development policy and a program of job seekers grant to be researched and implemented.

6. Closure of 27 Schools

We demand that this attempt of closing six schools in our region must come to an end. Again, this proves that the DA government wants to reverse the gains made by our people in 1994.These schools have not only provided quality and meaningful contact time with learners, they are closer to their homes and do not have to travel long distances to reach school. We urge the provincial government to took into the matter and rather provide mechanisms to address the shortcomings faced by these schools. Do not close the schools!

7. Non delivery of Text books

The DA administration upholds the constitution of South Africa supreme. However it does not deliver to basic rights of our people, the right to education. The no delivery of textbooks to our schools is a disgrace and an indication that the DA administration undermines the rights of the people of South Africa, black in particular because the only schools that do not have textbooks are those found in black communities like Kraaifontein.

8. The IRT

The introduction of the IRT system in the transport industry has disabled the taxi industry. It has taken away jobs and businesses of taxi owners and drivers. 54 taxis had to stop operating due to this system that robbed families of their household income. We urge the provincial government to embark in a program that will revitalise the taxi industry and provide mechanical support to taxis that need service for the safety of passengers. The IRT costs taxpayers millions and we have seen in recent times that it is running at a loss!

Conclusion

We demand that the abovementioned demands be positively responded to within 7 working days. Failure to do so the young people and the abovementioned stakeholders will make this city and province ungovernable! Amandla!!!!

Issued by the ANCYL Dullah Omar Region on behalf of the People of the Western Cape.

July 27 2012

Source: Politics Web

South Africa: The Culture of Corruption and Intolerance in the ANC

South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), will hold its elective national conference this December in Mangaung.

Given that the scourge of corruption in the country has derailed the realisation of ideals such as a better life for all and access to justice, it is critical to reflect on the growing culture of corruption and intolerance to dissent within the ruling party.

As an organisation the ANC strived for the realisation of democratic values, but it is these same values that are under threat in the current dispensation.

Divisions within the ANC became apparent after the Polokwane conference and these divisions have fuelled vicious disagreements that have in some instances resulted in violence and even murder.

Although several officials from the time of former President Thabo Mbeki have been found to have misused their power and engaged in corrupt activities, there is a widespread perception that high-level corruption has become more overt and blatant under President Jacob Zuma.

Numerous high-ranking officials within the ANC and individuals working in a variety of institutions have been suspected of corrupt activities, but in most of the cases these officials have yet to stand trial. The integrity of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is called into question regarding allegations of corruption given that this entity has been found to selectively prosecute individuals.

On 17 July the former Mayor of the Rustenburg municipality, Matthew Wolmarans, was found guilty of orchestrating the murder of Moss Phakoe, who was a councillor in the local municipality.

Phakoe had compiled a dossier containing evidence of Wolmarans's corrupt dealings. Prior to his death he had submitted the dossier three times to the office of Gwede Mantashe, the secretary-general of the ANC, but the allegations were not investigated. He also met with President Zuma regarding the allegations, but the matter was considered an internal political dispute rather than a criminal matter that should be settled by the court.

Two days before he was killed he had met with the former minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, and Wolmarans. At this meeting he handed the document to the minister and said to Wolmarans, 'Hurt me, but don't kill me.' Wolmarans and his bodyguard were sentenced to 20 years in jail and life imprisonment respectively, but if the allegations had been taken seriously and Phakoe had been provided with sufficient protection his death might have been averted.

The fact that Phakoe's calls for an investigation into corrupt activities implicating the former mayor and his cronies were ignored by those in the top echelons of the ANC is a poignant example of how corruption, specifically involving those seen to be loyal, is condoned in the party. This raises questions about the integrity of the current crop of leaders.

The issue of the integrity of individuals holding powerful positions has again come to the fore in the case of suspended prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach.

At the time of her suspension by the NPA, Breytenbach was the regional head of the specialised commercial crimes unit and had relentlessly pursued the corruption case against former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli.

Breytenbach took the NPA to the labour court in an urgent bid to have her suspension lifted. Judge Hamilton Cele dismissed her case, noting that, 'The applicant has not shown the existence of any extraordinary or compelling, urgent circumstances to justify a final declaration of the unlawfulness of her suspension.' However, Cele went on to state that the proceedings in the dismissal challenge had demonstrated that if the NPA was to exercise its right to discipline her for the charges she had been suspended for, it may actually be 'flouting' and 'frustrating' the investigations ordered by the North Gauteng High Court into the suspension of Mdluli, in which Breytenbach would likely be 'vital'.

The judge further noted that, '[i]f she is found guilty and dismissed, she will be handicapped from utilising the tools of the trade that she might need in these investigations' and, 'the justice sought to be striven for in the matter of General Mdluli would have been seriously compromised'. This gives some credence to her assertion that her suspension was meant to deter her from charging Mdluli.

Connected to the issue of corruption is a culture of intolerance and impunity that is splintering the party. The implication of high-level officials in the assassinations and attempted assassinations of whistle-blowers and other dissenters is a worrying trend in the political culture of the current administration.

In 2010, there was an upsurge in politically motivated killings in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga with some of them linked to corrupt 2010 Soccer World Cup tender awards. The media has also reported that political intimidation is especially rife in KwaZulu-Natal.

There are many other examples of abuse of power and the failure of the current administration to hold those responsible accountable. The culture of corruption and impunity within the ANC is worrisome and it is crucial to expose these practices in the interest of guarding the ethos of democracy and accountability.

Increasingly, it is becoming clear that those institutions that have the responsibility to hold every citizen accountable, including the political elite, have failed in the case of the powerful and the well-connected, who disregard the rule of law without regard for the possible consequences. This has contributed to undermining the effectiveness and legitimacy of a range of social and legal institutions.

In the long term, the erosion of the legitimacy of a range of institutions such as the police, the NPA and others will be an obstacle to the consolidation of democracy and the strengthening of these entities.

A vibrant democracy with robust institutions is pivotal to the betterment of the lives of all South Africans, particularly the poor, and when such institutions fail in the realisation of their mandate the ideals of equity and justice aspired to in the constitution are under severe threat.

Source: all Africa

South Africa: The Unholy Trinity - the Roots of Corruption in Our Society

The scourge of corruption in South Africa has tightened its grip on our society over the past decade, threatening our democratic achievements, eroding the capacity of the state to advance serious socio-economic transformation, and often undermining the solidarity culture of our broad movement.

The SACP was amongst the first formations to actively launch a mass campaign against corruption - A Red Card Against Corruption. Tragically, there are already martyrs in the struggle against this corrosive evil - among them Mpumalanga SACP cadre, Radioman Ntshangase, and Rustenburg municipal councilor and former NUMSA shopsteward, Moss Phakoe. Both were gunned down for their courageous stands against corruption.

But what lies behind this terrible contagion?

Various explanations are advanced in the South African public debate.

Often it is reduced to bad individual behavior calling for moral condemnation - a "few bad apples", of whom "an example" must be made.

Clearly this is not entirely wrong - those involved in corruption must be dealt with, regardless of who they are, regardless of their political affiliations. In fact, we should expect and demand a higher level of conduct from those who are members of our broad democratic movement and especially from those in public service.

But, sadly, we are dealing with something much more systemic than simply a "few bad apples". In an attempt to find a more generalized explanation for corruption we sometimes encounter syndicalist left-wingers unwittingly echoing "free market" right-wingers in their exaggerated suspicion of the state (or at least the democratic state in a capitalist society) defining it as inherently and in its totality "corrupt". "Power corrupts", we are frequently told - often by an oligopolistic commercial media that likes to conceal its own massive market power.

The idea that politicians and the state are, more or less by definition, corrupt is liable to undermine our determination to use state power (along with social activism) to deal decisively with corruption. It also helps to obscure the fact that where corruption occurs in the public sector there is, invariably, a private sector corrupter, a Glenn Agliotti or a Brett Kebble. For every black property tycoon working in collusion with senior public servants to lease buildings at hugely inflated prices to government there is typically a big bank. The bank might well not literally be breaking the law, but its own senior staff involved in the lease will know exactly what is going on. They will quietly earn inflated bonuses for bringing in business, while the bank chairman publicly condemns the corruption of the new "extraordinary breed of politicians."

Other explanations for corruption in our society belong to the anti-majoritarian pseudo-liberal current of thought. Corruption is blamed on some supposed generalized tendencies within post-independence, Third World liberation movements, for instance. Other explanations border on racial stereotyping, on the supposed propensities of the "new elite" (as if the old elite were not often deeply complicit in past and present corruption).

As it happens, the "new elite" is the key focus of two recent thoughtful interventions by Professor Njabulo Ndebele and cde Joel Netshitenzhe.

Writing in the City Press ("A meditation on corruption", 22 January 2012), Ndebele argues that the "new elite", since being installed in power in the post-1994 reality, has been tugged between competing imperatives - individual redress versus substantial social development, redistribution versus systemic transformation. Although he doesn't quite say this, Ndebele correctly implies that the competing logics of these very different imperatives were often blurred in language as if they were one and the same thing. "Transformation", for instance, came to mean not the radical transformation of the systemic features of apartheid-colonialism, but a touch of racial representivity within essentially the same unchanged realities - the same boardrooms, the same wealthy suburbs, the same elite golf clubs.

Ndebele argues that the "new elite" was increasingly torn between its own "personal material needs...shaped by historical deprivation" on the one hand, and the "social commitment that once gave meaning to the struggle for liberation" on the other. In Ndebele's view, "access to state wealth" meant that relatively quickly individual redress became individual entitlement and these values then trumped social transformation, side-lining it into little more than a "niggling ethical burden".

Writing in ANC Today ("Competing identities of a national liberation movement and the challenges of incumbency", 15 June 2012) Cde Joel Netshitenzhe follows a similar trajectory to explain corruption. He invokes concepts like the "sins of incumbency" and the problem of "growing social distance" between the new political elite and its mass base. Like Ndebele, he analyses the roots of corruption in the psycho-sociological challenges confronting an "emerging middle class" without historical assets to support large extended families, leading it to take on excessive debt. "Having dipped their toes in that lifestyle, but with no historical assets as are available to the white middle and upper strata, some then try to acquire the resources by hook or crook."

There are certainly strong elements of readily recognizable truth in both Ndebele and Netshitenzhe's descriptions. But that is also part of the problem - they tend to remain descriptions, and somewhat one-sided descriptions at that. As a result they are also unable to offer serious anti-corruption programmatic interventions, beyond the very important but limited pedagogical appeal for a change in moral values.

In the public discussion in SA about corruption insufficient attention has been paid to class struggles within our movement, and between our movement and incumbent capital, over the direction of our post-1994 democracy. In particular, there is a failure to recognize that the established white bourgeoisie did not stand idly by in the face of the new, post-1994 political reality. They continued to pursue the agenda of late-apartheid, namely to build a relatively substantial "buffer" black middle strata. This was already the agenda of big capital in the early 1990s negotiations period, for instance. It was no longer a question of preventing the ANC coming to power, but rather to ensure that the ANC that came into power would be hegemonised by the "doves", the "sensible moderates" who would distance themselves from the dangerous "radical populists" and their volatile "mass base".

Much has been made in certain anti-alliance quarters about the woeful consequences of "cadre deployment" - as if (as ANC secretary general, cde Gwede Mantashe likes to point out) the corrupt promotion of someone ill-suited and unqualified for a position on the grounds that they happen to be a political associate was "cadre deployment". But in all of this debate very little has ever been said about the systematic "cadre development and deployment" that key circles of big capital (both domestic and international) implemented in the immediate pre- and post-1994 period. How many key ANC-aligned individuals, for instance, were quietly taken out for internships in arch neo-liberal corporations in the United States, like Goldman Sachs? (Goldman Sachs has recently been deeply discredited, by the way, for its role in provoking and in profiteering from the Greek debt crisis.) Those who "benefited" from this neo-liberal cadre development were then deployed back into strategic positions in government. If I am not mistaken, at least two recent Treasury DGs were graduates of the Goldman Sachs cadre school.

The "social" (and of course ideological and moral) "distance" that cde Netshitenzhe evokes might not have been a conspiracy, but it was certainly part of a deliberate strategy. It was not just an inevitable psycho-sociological syndrome related to historical deprivation, to large extended families, and to the newfound privileges of incumbency.

By the mid-1990s, a key strategy for engineering "social distance" and for consolidating a buffer black elite stratum was the policy of "black economic empowerment". This amounted to a social pact between elements within the new political elite and established big capital. From the side of established big capital it represented in many respects a re-run of how mining and banking capital had once accommodated itself to the 1948 Afrikaner nationalist political victory. But it was also a strategy that was embraced and actively developed by a dominant tendency within the ANC and government (what the SACP has described as the "1996 class project"). For this revisionist tendency within the ANC and government, the creation of a new BEE elite was seen as an active counter-balance to the influence of the SACP, COSATU and the ANC's own township and rural mass base. The strategy found active ideological expression in key ANC documents, including the vulgarization of the concept of "revolutionary motive forces" - with the argument being advanced that all forces that "stood to gain" from the national democratic revolution "were motive forces". This amounted to a local version of the free market "invisible hand" credo that the selfish pursuit of individual satisfaction inevitably leads to the greater good of all.

The first wave of BEE advancements were not necessarily all corrupt (although many questions still surround key early BEE-related moves - notably the arms deal). But the canonization of "BEE" as a central programme of government brought into play a dangerous nexus between political office, personal enrichment, and established capital. The narratives of Ndebele and Netshitenzhe tend to leave out the critical last component of this corrosive, unholy trinity. Let me underline that I am not evoking established capital in order to deflect attention from the culpabilities of the other two components - those who brazenly declared that they "hadn't struggled to be poor".

However, unless we grasp the triadic nexus, this unholy trinity, we will not begin to understand the systemic roots of corruption in our society.

Nor will we be able to develop an effective multi-pronged counter-strategy. For instance, the "social distance" that cde Netshitenzhe and others invoke is not just a metaphor - in South Africa, in which we have not transformed apartheid colonial spatial injustices, social distance is also a yawning geographical reality. For those familiar with the childrens' board-game, our untransformed social reality can easily pitch the new middle strata into a political game of snakes and ladders, in which the snakes and the ladders are exaggeratedly long. If you land on the right square, by securing a regional chairpersonship in the ANC for instance, you might suddenly find yourself on a heady upward ascension. But if you lose your footing, you are liable to fall rapidly down a very long snake, back to zero and abject poverty.

This heady, insecure world of rags-to-riches and riches-to-rags opens up enormous possibilities for strategic (including corrupting) leverage over the new democratic state and over our own alliance formations by those who are well-established and well-resourced. The struggle against corruption and the material conditions that foster it has, therefore, to be a struggle for a much more egalitarian society. We have literally to abolish, amongst many things, the social distance engraved in our persisting apartheid spatial patterns through the accelerated planning and implementation of mixed-used, mixed-income settlement patterns. But this means taking head-on the vested interests of the established capitalist class (the value of their residential properties, for instance), and the venal interests of a comprador elite that has been promoted as a buffer against serious transformation.

Asikhulume!

Jeremy Cronin is SACP 1st Deputy General Secretary.

Source: All Africa

World social inequality more pronounced than ever

The super-rich are currently hiding away wealth estimated between $21 trillion and $32 trillion in tax havens such as Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. This is the conclusion published last weekend by the Tax Justice Network, an NGO based in London. The author of the study is James Henry, a former chief economist at the McKinsey consulting firm and an expert on tax havens.

Henry bases his projections on data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations and various national central banks. His study was limited to financial assets, and excluded tangible assets such as real estate, gold, jewellery or other possessions.

The figures reveal that “high net worth individuals” (defined as those with assets of over $50 million) have stashed away much larger sums in tax havens than previously thought. The report also shows that the concentration of global wealth in ever fewer hands has rapidly accelerated.

In 2005, the estimated offshore assets of the super-rich amounted to $11.5 trillion. Since then this total has doubled or tripled. Today the top 10 percent of the world’s population control 84 percent of assets, while the bottom 50 percent have access to just 1 percent. According to the study, the top of the pile—92,000 people who constitute an infinitesimal fraction of the world’s population—have hidden financial assets amounting to more than 9 trillion dollars, an average of nearly $100 million apiece.

The rapid growth of these assets during the past seven years shows that the global crisis of capitalism has been by no means disadvantageous for the financial elite. On the contrary, while more and more people in advanced countries are suffering due to government austerity programs and millions in developing countries are condemned to dire poverty, the super-rich have used the financial and economic turmoil of recent years to massively increase their wealth and hide their money beyond the reach of tax authorities.

They are assisted by a tax code that permits them to move huge amounts of money to offshore tax havens utilising legal loopholes and professional help.

While those on low incomes are strictly monitored by the state and are badgered for their tax payments, the super-rich are able to rely on a globally operating group of highly paid asset and investment advisers employed by the major international banks, which charge considerable sums in return for their tax fiddles. The four largest UK banks alone—HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland—have over 1,200 branches in tax havens.

According to Henry, the world’s 10 largest private financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, moved more than $6.25 trillion offshore in 2010. Prior to the crash of 2007 the equivalent sum amounted to $2.34 trillion.

Those hit hardest by tax avoidance and tax evasion are developing countries. In the past 40 years the wealthiest citizens from 139 developing countries hid away non-declared assets estimated at $7.3 trillion to $9.3 trillion in tax havens. Their offshore assets are often greater than the national debt of their respective countries and play a major role in the lack of money to finance urgently needed public health and education programs in their home countries.

The top three in the list of countries with the most super-rich individuals are the US, China and Germany. A study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) recently revised upward its estimate of the fortune of the country’s top 1 percent, from 23 percent to 34 percent of national wealth, conceding that the incomes of ultra-wealthy households had not been included in its previous investigations.

Based on the findings of the enormous scale of hidden assets, Henry argues in his study that the previously applied standards for inequality, which are generally related to household income, have “dramatically underestimated” the real divide between rich and poor.

The author of the study agrees with the British economist and journalist Stewart Lansley, who writes in his recently published book, The Cost of Inequality: “There is absolutely no doubt at all that the statistics on income and wealth at the top understate the problem.”

Global social inequality today is not only much more pronounced than all the official statistics show. It has, in global terms, reached levels unprecedented in human history.

Source: World Socialist Web Site

World Bank warns on inequality threat to SA

INEQUALITY had become a "corrosive" reality threatening growth in South Africa, and without social grants, 40% of the population would have seen incomes decline in the first decade after apartheid, the World Bank said yesterday.

The Washington-based lender revised its growth forecast for South Africa this year down to 2,5% from a 3,1% estimate in November — well below the latest estimates from the Reserve Bank, which sees the economy expanding by 2,7% this year and 3,8% next year. The pace was expected to quicken to 3,2% next year and 3,5% in 2014, the World Bank said yesterday, but it warned that the economy would not be able to achieve a faster pace of growth unless it became more inclusive.

Sandeep Mahajan, the World Bank’s lead economist on South Africa, said the economy would have to grow faster than 3,5% in order to tackle the country’s unemployment rate of 25,2% — one of the highest in the world. "Growth has been mediocre … and it’s been inequitably distributed. In South Africa’s case, high growth can only come from inclusive growth," he said at the launch of the report, titled Focus on Inequality of Opportunity. "South Africa is a complete global outlier in terms of inequality … it has been persistent over time and that has been a very corrosive reality."

Global rating agencies have repeatedly highlighted the risks to social and political stability in South Africa posed by high unemployment, huge income disparities and widespread poverty. These issues have constrained its credit ratings, which determine a country’s cost of borrowing and investor appetite for local assets.

South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world, with the top 10% of the population accounting for 58% of its income and the bottom half less than 8%, the World Bank said in its report. Poverty reduction had been modest since the late 1990s and would have been "untenable" without the growing level of social grants, it noted.

The Treasury allocated R105bn this year to social grants for the elderly, disabled and poor children, which will reach more than 16-million people, up from 2,5-million in 1998. "Even after accounting for the equalising role of social assistance, income inequality remains extraordinarily high," the World Bank said in the report. "To reduce it to more reasonable levels over the long run, social assistance is clearly not enough and needs to be complemented by other initiatives."

Nomura economist Peter Attard Montalto said it was important to distinguish between equality and poverty. "There is plenty of evidence that South Africa has done a lot to meaningfully increase the standards of living of its poorest. But the development payoffs have been directed more towards the rich and a certain segment of the population," he said yesterday. "You need to have a larger amount of social stability for a proper investment climate."

The World Bank said nearly 70% of the poorest 20% of South Africans were jobless in 2008 — a warning bell for social cohesion. The causes of inequality in labour markets had changed over the past four years, with the contribution of education increasing and the effect of circumstances of gender and race falling slightly, the report said. "Where a person seeking employment lives, however, matters more now than it did four years ago," it noted.

Employment was "particularly challenging" for young workers and residents of townships, rural areas and informal settlements. This is not out of step with the global trend, as the jobless rates for young people in countries such as Greece and Spain are similar to the levels in South Africa — about 50%. But the World Bank said that age was an "unusually large" contributor to inequality in employment in South Africa compared with other middle-income countries, with the "odds extremely stacked" against the youngest workers.

In analysing the reasons for high inequality in South Africa, the World Bank said it would be useful to focus on equity — a reference to access to opportunities — rather than equality. Basic opportunities included access to education, health insurance, safe water, sanitation and electricity. "Except for electricity, where South Africa’s average annual progress has been exceptional, the progress on the other four dimensions puts it in the bottom half of international comparators," the bank said.

Location was particularly important, while the level of education of a household head contributed most to finishing primary school.

Source: Business Day

President Jacob Verwoerd's lame excuses for textbook scandal

It is not difficult to deliver a schoolbook to a child who wants one. President Jacob Zuma’s lame excuses are, sadly as we say, merely typical of an administration that has in all respects lost its way.

HOW sad it was to hear President Jacob Zuma , in an interview with Radio 702 host Redi Thlabi, insist that the Limpopo textbook scandal is the fault of the architect of apartheid, Hendrik Verwoerd.

As if it were Verwoerd, not Zuma’s educational trust, who took money from Edusolutions in return for contracts to distribute school textbooks. As if it were Verwoerd, not Zuma’s administration, who dumped textbooks in a river, not once but at least twice, instead of delivering them to the African children waiting for them.

It was Verwoerd, not Zuma’s lax controls, who caused municipalities to misspend R11bn last year and Verwoerd, not Zuma’s allies in the Free State, who promised to cover exposed toilets in the province last year and still have not.

It is Verwoerd who drives a truckload of helpless passengers into the face of an oncoming train, killing all of them, and it is Verwoerd who dreams restlessly of the poor while he contemplates the purchase of a billion-rand personal jetliner.

Of course, we know what Mr Zuma means. Apartheid did great damage. But that does not mean we should be impressed with Mr Zuma now. The job, we thought, of a democratic government in South Africa was to improve on the ills of apartheid, not to embed them.

In the course of an hour-long interview with an excellent Ms Thlabi, the head of state did not once take responsibility for a single problem the country faces — not corruption, not crime, not the lack of education. In his own mind he is fixing all of these things, not making them worse.

Faced with myopia on this grand scale, ordinary South Africans have little choice but to put their heads down and do whatever job is at hand to the best of their ability, hoping our current political ordeal passes. It is probably too late, though, for this generation of schoolchildren in at least Limpopo and the Eastern Cape. They are largely lost.

The only people who could do more than the rest of us will be the delegates at the ANC’s leadership contest in Mangaung in December. They will be asked directly whether they want Verwoerd to continue running the country or to relieve Mr Zuma of the burdens of high office. The choice, to us, is easy.

It is not difficult to deliver a schoolbook to a child who wants one. Mr Zuma’s lame excuses are, sadly as we say, merely typical of an administration that has in all respects lost its way.

Source: Business Day

Racist Banks Fined for Discriminatory Lending Practices, But Is It Enough?

One of the biggest banks in the US, Wells Fargo, has agreed to pay $175m to settle allegations it charged higher mortgage rates and fees to Black and Latino customers. Discriminatory lending practices in the banking industry left Black and Latino neighbourhoods blighted by foreclosures after the housing bubble burst.

A government investigation found tens of thousands of cases of African Americans and Hispanics being charged more than White customers with similar credit profiles. The settlement is the second-biggest of its kind; the Bank of America paid $335m over similar charges. But in both cases, the banks were allowed to deny any wrongdoing.

And to add insult to injury, just a day after the settlement, Wells Fargo announced second quarter profits of $4.6bn, which is 26 times the amount it agreed to pay out. Are banks being sufficiently discouraged from wrongdoing?

Joining Al Jazeera's Inside Americas to discuss this are guests: Jordan Estevao, the director of the Bank Accountability Program at National People's Action, a community direct action group; Edward Wyckoff Williams, a political analyst and former investment banker; and Richard Wolff, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Source: Al Jazeera

PAUL HOFFMAN: Good chance of success for DA review of Zuma decision

The corridor chatter in places legal is that the DA’s review of the NPA’s decision not to proceed with the prosecution of President Jacob Zuma should be successful.

THE "good guys" in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and there are many of them, must be kicking themselves today because they did not charge Jacob Zuma and Schabir Shaik together in the same case. The latter was sentenced to 15 years for corrupting the former, who is now the president of SA. The benefit of hindsight, that 20/20 vision it invariably imparts, is not always so beneficial, as the contrasting fates of Zuma and Shaik show.

In the latest twist in the saga of the cases of these two senior African National Congress (ANC) members, the Democratic Alliance (DA), which launched a review of the NPA’s decision not to proceed with the prosecution of Zuma in 2009, has instructed its attorneys to institute contempt of court proceedings against the NPA. This unique step has been taken because it has failed to comply with the March 20 order of the Supreme Court of Appeal that it deliver, within 14 days, the record of all the documents, recordings, materials and evidence that were before it when it considered, and made, the fateful decision not to proceed with the 783 charges of corruption Zuma was facing in the run-up to the last general election in May 2009.

It needs to be borne in mind that when the acting national director of public prosecutions, Mokotedi Mpshe, announced the decision, he made it clear that the NPA was convinced it had a good case on the merits of the charges against Zuma.

In other words, the NPA was bullish about its prospects of proving beyond any reasonable doubt that Zuma was corrupt.

The reason proffered for withdrawing the charges was that political interference in the process had so tainted the case that it would not be possible to give Zuma a fair trial.

Unfortunately, the evidence upon which this conclusion was based is far from relevant or convincing. The controversial conversation between former colleagues Bulelani Ngcuka and Leonard M cCarthy, neither of whom had any say in the matter of the pressing and timing of charges, is best characterised as idle and irrelevant gossiping, not as a train smash for the proper administration of criminal justice.

The person who made the decisions, Mpshe himself, was not aware of the content of the clandestinely taped conversation at any material time, so how it could have influenced or interfered with his decision-making processes remains a mystery and gives the DA good grounds for taking him on review, as it has done.

The small matter of how the tape recording relied upon by Mpshe came to be in the possession of the attorney acting for then private citizen Zuma, when there is no legal way in which this can happen, is also a matter that will cast doubt upon the propriety of the decision to withdraw the charges that Zuma was facing. And then, to complete the potted prehistory of the current issue, there is the embarrassing detail that the Hong Kong legal precedent that the NPA dug up to justify its otherwise mystifying decision was overturned on appeal before Mpshe relied on it. In short, the DA’s review has good prospects of success, if its merits can ever be reached by overcoming the delaying and point-taking tactics of the respondents in the matter.

If this occurs before Mangaung hosts the ANC’s elective national conference in December, then the cat will truly be among the pigeons. Whether the DA would prefer a second Zuma presidential term or not, the old legal axiom applies: justice delayed is justice denied. Retired chief justice Pius Langa had occasion to admonish Zuma’s legal team to desist from endless preliminary technical point-taking in earlier litigation; but the habit of the Stalingrad strategy seems to die hard.

In the DA’s press release announcing the decision to deal with the NPA’s disregard for the court order, certainly a lamentable state of affairs, a few rhetorical questions are raised in an attempt to breathe outrage into the wholly predictable. Usually, rhetorical questions have obvious answers, but this is not necessarily so in this instance. Seriatim:

"Is the failure to produce the record an indication that there is no record to produce?" This is hardly likely. The phalanx of exhausted and miserable-looking senior staff who flanked Mpshe as he made the announcement on national TV could not have been doing sweet nothing in the process of compiling the announcement. The fact that the announcement itself included mention of the strength of the merits of the case, in the view of the NPA, is an indication that there were conflicting views behind the looks of disappointed disbelief on the faces in the background. It is likely that a flurry of memorandums and e-mails preceded the announcement. Finding the Hong Kong case took effort. The NPA’s problem today is that these documents most likely point up the flaws in the decision made, hence the tardiness, possibly aimed at kicking the case into touch until the post-Mangaung period.

"Is it possible that there was no rational basis on which this crucial decision was taken?" Here the DA is closer to the mark. The taped conversation upon which the decision hinged seems to be legally irrelevant and practically of no real consequence. Its provenance is highly questionable; courts do not have regard to illegally acquired evidence and neither should the NPA.

"Was the decision taken on political grounds?" This is hyperbole. The grounds for the decision were announced at the time, they were couched in legal, not political, terms and the decision has to stand or fall on the cogency of the legal reasons given, irrespective of the background hum from highly placed cadres of the ANC, both within and outside the NPA, who were all undoubtedly putting political pressure on the hapless and vulnerable Mpshe.

"Is the NPA party to placing someone above the law just because he holds high political office?" It is not clear whether this last DA question refers to the alleged contempt of court now, or the original decision back in 2009. Section nine of the bill of rights guarantees equality before the law to all. The NPA is bound to respect and protect this. It is also supposed to act independently and "without fear, favour or prejudice".

Zuma was a private citizen when the prosecution was stopped. He was also leader of the ANC, a party that is openly and unashamedly striving for hegemonic control of all the levers of power in society. Zuma deployed Menzi Simelane (not Mpshe, who went after Jackie Selebi despite political interference in that, ultimately successful, prosecution process) as his new national director of public prosecutions. At the time, this was described as an "insurance policy" against the risk of the DA succeeding in the review, the completion of which is now being thwarted by foot-dragging and obfuscation. As the whole game plan of the ANC is to put party above state, or at least so commingle them as to render the two indistinguishable, the answer must unfortunately be a disgraceful "yes" on the aspects back then of the ambiguous question, as well as those now.

As the courts have sent Simelane packing by resoundingly upholding the rule of law, the corridor chatter in places legal is that the DA’s review should be successful. This involves the reinstatement of the 783 corruption charges. Should this happen, it remains to be seen whether Zuma will follow Humphrey Mmemezi, a former Gauteng MEC and art lover, into resignation in accordance with the new guidelines for comrades under a corruption cloud.

• Hoffman SC is with the Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa

Source: Business Day

South Africa: The ANC's Provincial Criminal Enterprises Problem

The ANC is facing a very serious crisis in the provinces: people are happy to resort to criminality to get their way. Sometimes it is rampant corruption, and in the case of Moss Phakoe in the North West, it is murder. Again we ask: is Luthuli House happy to sit on its hands as its provincial structures fall apart?

The African National Congress is facing a meltdown of terrifying proportions out in the provinces. There are two assaults on the soul of the party: in the one, powerful party bosses like John Block in the Northern Cape and David Mabuza in Mpumalanga are running the party - and the province - like their personal fiefdoms, to be looted at will.

In the other, factional battles within the ANC are playing out in extreme ways. A few days ago, former ANC mayor of Rustenburg Matthew Wolmarans and his bodyguard were jailed for the murder of ANC councillor and whistleblower Moss Phakoe in 2009. In Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, political assassinations are starting to multiply - and it's not different parties killing each other. This is all happening within the ANC.

The alarm bell that has been shrieking ceaselessly in the ANC has come from outside the party proper: its political ally, the Congress of South African Trade Unions. Its general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, eulogised Phakoe in City Press. He wrote: "Moss Phakoe's tragic story provides a shocking insight into the crisis of crime and corruption in our country.

He sacrificed his life for blowing the whistle on corruption in the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality in North West.

"Just before his assassination, Phakoe handed Wolmarans a dossier that implicated numerous politicians in acts of corruption in the municipality. He also had evidence of fraud in North West drought-relief projects. R33-million had been allocated for drought relief, but none of the money reached the communities in need. Instead, it was siphoned off through companies," Vavi wrote.

The reason why Wolmarans and his bodyguard are behind bars today is because North-West Cosatu secretary Solly Phetoe led a campaign to bring Phakoe's killers to justice, the general secretary said. The situation for this man got so fraught that Cosatu hired bodyguards to protect him.

And still, the rot goes deeper. Vavi mentioned even more instances of corruption in that province.

"Former Madibeng municipal manager Philemon Mapulane was arrested and charged with fraud and corruption for allegedly receiving bribes for tenders worth R100-million," he said. "Other Madibeng officials have been arrested and charged, and no fewer than 28 cases of fraud and theft involving amounts ranging from R61,000 to R30-million are being investigated." And this is just one province.

In Mpumalanga, political assassinations are all too common. Caswell Maluleke, a council speaker in Ehlanzeni, was shot 14 times in April 2000. He was the mayor of Bushbuckridge at the time and had been appointed to help re-establish the bankrupt and destroyed Bohlabela District Municipality in Limpopo. In 2009, Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala was killed after he blew the whistle on tender corruption around the construction of the World Cup stadium in that city. Last year, Ehlanzeni chief whip John Ndlovu was murdered.

In KwaZulu Natal, a similar trend is emerging. The province is usually cast as homogenous and aligned in one purpose - to anoint ANC president Jacob Zuma for a second time. Yet, all is not as it seems. The Mail & Guardian interviewed a party member in the province who said that he carried a gun wherever he went in case one of his own party members attacked him.

"That ANC comrades in the province are packing heat to defend themselves against their 'own' indicates that the political temperature has reached boiling point: there have been three assassinations, allegedly political, in the province in just more than a year and a half, which debunks the notion that politics in the region is homogenous," the M&G said.

"Several provincial ANC members said the political landscape was just a few bullets and funerals away from 'Mpumalangaisation', a reference to the province where political murders are nearly as commonplace as potholes."

In the case of figures like John Block, the troubles take on a different form. Block was arrested and is being tried for widespread corruption.

Yet he enjoyed the support of large groups at his trial, and even the premier Hazel Jenkins. At this point, there is absolutely no indication that Block is going to be kicked out of the party.

On 20 July, the ANC's PR machine released a statement on Wolmarans. It said: "The ANC values (the) lives of all South Africans and is disappointed that a senior member of the organisation who has served in important positions as a PEC member and a Mayor in the North West has been found guilty of the murder of a whistle blower and a fellow ANC Councillor. It is not only disgusting, it also erodes the values on which the ANC is founded: values of interpreting selflessness and respect for one another and respect for life. Corruption has no place in the ANC or its government at all levels. We are therefore disgusted that in the court proceedings it emerged that Comrade Phakoe was murdered with intentions to cover corruption."

The feeling that the ANC would not have made a big deal of Wolmarans's arrest had Cosatu not intervened hangs thickly in the air.

For now, the country has been spared the murderous appetites of the provincial bosses at the national level. Luthuli House leaders merely content themselves with polluting the state security apparatus with political infighting. Heaven forbid that the ANC's provincial tendencies should find their way to Luthuli House. We'd all be in trouble.

We needn't wait for the provincial bosses to find their way to the national level - questions ought to be asked of the top party bosses right now. Why are they continuing to entertain unspeakable corruption and criminality in the provinces? The answer could, of course, lie in the vulnerability of President Jacob Zuma's presidency. Elected by a motley crew of people who were rejected by Thabo Mbeki, he can't exactly be seen to be lashing out against any one factional leader. He can't lead a move to eject Block out of the party, lest he frighten the likes of Mpumalanga's Mabuza. We all have to wait for Cosatu - easily the most powerful bloc in the tripartite alliance, when all its affiliates sing from the same hymn sheet - to start applying pressure before the ANC moves itself.

Vavi's frustration at the current state of events is fundamental. "The worst problem of all is the emergence of death squads. Political killings are on the rise, in particular in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. If this continues, anyone who speaks out will be silenced, the entire state will be auctioned to the highest bidder and we shall be well on our way to becoming a corrupt banana republic," he raged.

We've said before that as much as the public hates Cosatu during strike season, the federation often acts as the last bastion against corruption in the ANC. Cosatu balances out the powers of the "political hyenas" in the party. No matter what your politics are, you have to acknowledge that we have a lot to be grateful for as far as the unions are concerned.

But again we ask: why is the ANC waiting to be prodded by Cosatu before curbing the largesse of its corrupt regional bosses?

iMaverick is South Africa's first daily tablet newspaper and includes coverage from the Daily Maverick and Free African Media. To subscribe, go to: www.imaverick.co.za.

Source: All Africa