Behind Sunday's incident in KwaMashu - Mangosuthu Buthelezi

Dear friends and fellow South Africans,

Sunday's incident in KwaMashu, in which SAPA reporter Mr Giordano Stolley's car was torched, costing him a new laptop, two hard drives and family photographs, is not quite what the NFP would like to portray it as. I thank God that the reporters, Mr Stolley, Ms Bawinile Ngcobo and Ms Mpume Madlala, were unhurt. My sympathies are with them over this terrible incident.

What they experienced needs to be placed in context.

There will be a by-election in KwaMashu next Wednesday, to fill the seat left vacant by the murder of the IFP's Councillor in that ward, Mr Themba Xulu.

Last month, on a Friday night, Councillor Xulu was abducted in KwaMashu by five men posing as police officers. On Saturday, as his distraught family awaited news, IFP supporters gathered in KwaMashu to surround them with support. Fears were rife that Councillor Xulu's abduction was politically motivated and that he had fallen victim to thugs affiliated to the NFP.

The Minister of Police, Mr Nathi Mthetwa, visited KwaMashu that Saturday, calling for calm and reassuring the community of a police presence. As the Minister left, Ms Celiwe Shezi, still wearing her IFP T-shirt, was gunned down near the train station. An NFP KwaMashu Councillor - a member of the NFP's National Working Committee - was arrested for her murder.

The following morning, Councillor Xulu's body was found, riddled with bullets. IFP leaders again called for calm. That same day, the IFP's Mr Bongani Lushaba was murdered. Mr Lushaba was a father of eight children.

A week later, IFP supporters were gathered outside Ntuzuma Magistrate's Court, where the NFP men accused of killing Ms Celiwe Shezi were on trial. In full view of the police and the media, a leader of the NFP - a member of the NFP's peace delegation - took out a gun and shot dead an IFP supporter, Mr Siyabonga Dlamini. Mr Dlamini had been a witness to Councillor Themba Xulu's abduction.

For weeks, leaders of the IFP implored people to stay calm, not to retaliate or seek revenge, and to assist the police with investigations. Tensions simmered in KwaMashu, with fear, grief and righteous anger pervading the community.

Then, last Sunday, IFP Councillor Mthembeni Majola was attacked by three armed men while travelling with his son. Thank God, they survived the hail of bullets. The following day, the IFP's block chairperson in KwaMashu, Mr Sihle Menzi Biyela, was gunned down in cold blood.

As the IFP's eThekwini Caucus leader Mr Mdu Nkosi said, "We keep telling our members to calm down, but we continue to bury members."

There is no question that the violent attacks over the past two months were meant to intimidate the IFP's members and supporters in KwaMashu, through the clear message that neither the police nor the media can offer safety. No one can stop our assailants.

Under these volatile circumstances, just days after their block chairperson was murdered, IFP supporters in KwaMashu saw the NFP's leader, Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi come rolling into town in a convoy of some 30 vehicles, ready to campaign for their votes in next week's by-election.

As Mr Giordano Stolley pointed out, her presence in KwaMashu was far from wise. Community members took up bottles and sticks and loudly expressed their desire for Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi to leave. Shots were fired, but who fired those shots is unclear. It may have been the people wielding sticks and bottles, or it may have been the extensive entourage of the NFP leader's bodyguards.

Regardless of the facts, Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi has jumped on her high horse accusing the IFP of creating a "no-go" area. Any thinking person's response would be that the NFP has created it themselves. Have your leaders kill a few people in a community, then see how welcome you are when you arrive to electioneer.

Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi is milking this incident for all it is worth, and then some. Police have been unable to verify her allegation that a woman was killed, or that two other cars were torched.

I am amazed at her accusation that, "Now everyone can see the IFP for what it really is." What it really is, is the party she grew up in and led as National Chairperson for years and years, until she grew tired of waiting for the top position. What the IFP really is, is the party she did her utmost to divide and split, through lies, treachery and even a failed court bid.

The IFP's supporters in KwaMashu are a community of angry, fearful residents in a situation of immense and on-going tension. They have been attacked and murdered. They have been killed in front of the police. They have been living in fear for their lives for months on end.

The NFP created this powder keg and Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi lit it.

I am not justifying the vandalism that took place on Sunday. I am pointing out that we are dealing with people who have been under duress for months. Outbursts like this cannot be unexpected.

Weeks ago, I asked Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi to go to her people and call for an end to violence, just as I was calling for peace among IFP supporters. This was the groundwork that needed to be laid before our two parties could come together and seek a resolution to the tensions between us. Instead, she arrived to campaign for the NFP to take over where the IFP's leader lay dead.

The IFP does not believe in "no-go" areas. We operate within the rules of democracy and the electoral system. We will therefore ask again that our supporters in KwaMashu remain calm and refrain from acting on their distress. Our supporters know that the IFP is a party of non-violence.

But we also know, just as Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi knows, that you can only push people so far. The leadership of the IFP will remain the fence holding in our people's emotions. I ask the leadership of the NFP .to stop being the dog that runs up and down outside the fence, inciting those emotions to burst.

I hope that Mr Giordano Stolley, Ms Bawinile Ngcobo and Ms Mpume Madlala will look deeper into what happened on Sunday and ask why KwaMashu really erupted.

Yours in the service of our nation,

Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP

Issued by the IFP, November 27 2012

Source: Politicsweb

South Africa: Political Elites

Although change was evident at all levels of society as South Africa began to dismantle apartheid during the 1990s, particularly dramatic changes were occurring in the country's political and social leadership. Not only were new leaders emerging on the national level, but shifts were also occurring within political organizations, as new political expectations and aspirations arose and as new demands were placed on political leaders at all levels.

Since 1948 the country's governing class, the political elite, had been dominated by Afrikaners. Afrikaners held most high positions in government, including the legislature, the judiciary, the cabinet, and the senior ranks of the military and security services. Afrikaners also came to dominate the larger community of leaders, the power elite, by assuming important roles in the civil service bureaucracy, and to a lesser extent in business, the universities, and the media. Afrikaner dominance was reinforced by the rules of apartheid, in large part because the government's security and intelligence services helped to enforce the rules of apartheid through other institutions.

In general, during the apartheid era, English-speaking whites were less important in the political and power elites. They played only secondary roles in most areas of government. English speakers were, nevertheless, prominent in commerce and industry, where the Afrikaners' success had lagged behind their political achievements, as is explained by Thompson and Prior. By the 1980s, English-speaking whites also held important positions in universities and the media, and in a few areas of government.

In the early 1990s, these political and power elites were evolving, as is demonstrated in the authoritative survey of elites, Who's Who in South African Politics, by the South African writer Shelagh Gastrow. Gastrow divided South Africa's dominant political leaders into four major categories: political leaders within the Afrikaner community, most associated with the NP; an older generation of black opposition leaders, most within the ANC; a younger generation of leaders emerging from the Black Consciousness Movement; and a new group of labor leaders who had risen to prominence as the trade union movement strengthened during the 1970s and 1980s. A fifth category might be added--according to South African political scientist Roger Southall, who reviewed Gastrow's book--the small number of white political leaders who attempted to reshape white politics along nonracial, democratic lines.

A subsequent revised edition of Gastrow's book identified 118 individuals--110 men and only eight women--as constituting South Africa's evolving political elite in 1992. Among the obvious changes occurring at that time was the emergence of formerly imprisoned, exiled, or banned opposition leaders, who had been released from prison or had been legally recognized since early 1990. They could then be legally quoted in the country's media, and their ideas were being widely disseminated. In addition, new challengers arose to replace formerly entrenched leaders, especially conservative blacks, coloureds, and Indians who had gained office through various forms of state patronage in the black homelands or in other institutions of government.

Changes were also occurring within the senior ranks of the organizations from which the country's new leaders had emerged. As the ANC, for example, was forced to cooperate with former opponents, especially the NP, in pursuing national goals, new alliances and friendships were formed, shaped in part by a pragmatic appraisal of the political realities of the time. In addition, former opposition groups--especially the ANC--began to revise their rhetoric from that of guerrilla opponents of government, or "states in exile," to adapt to their new positions of responsibility. The ANC's best educated, skilled technocrats, capable of managing governmental and other bureaucracies, were gaining particular prominence.

At the same time, a greater distance was developing between these educated elites and the less educated rank-and-file within their own organizations. In particular, there was a growing distance between the ANC and its radical youth wing in late 1994 and 1995. There was also a growing distance between the ANC leadership and their former ally, the South African Communist Party (SACP). Ties between these two organizations had not only been close in the past; their membership and leadership rolls had overlapped.

In some cases, the new elites appeared to have more in common with members of rival political organizations than with their organization's own members. Several new government leaders, for example, were drawn from traditional African elites--royal families, chiefs, and influential clans. President Mandela, while a university-trained lawyer, is also a descendant of a leading family among the Thembu (Tembu), a Xhosa subgroup. Like Mandela, the prominent Zulu leader and minister of home affairs, Mangosuthu (Gatsha) Buthelezi, is university-educated and the product of aristocratic origins. Buthelezi, a member of the Zulu royal family, is also a chief within the Buthelezi sub-group (also, "tribe") of the Zulu.

Other members of South Africa's new government also represent ethnic elites. For example, the minister of public enterprises in 1995, Stella Sigcau, is the daughter of a well-known Pondo paramount chief, Botha Sigcau. Stella Sigcau also had served as chief minister in the Transkei government during the early 1980s.

Many former ANC officials who were in government office in the mid-1990s had worked to overcome factional differences based on ethnicity during the apartheid era. Although the ANC is often stereotyped as "Xhosa-dominated," and a number of its officers are Xhosa, several ethnic groups have been represented in the ANC's senior ranks. Thomas Nkobi, treasurer general from 1973 through the early 1990s, represents a subgroup within the Zimbabwe-based Shona people. Former Secretary General Cyril Ramaphosa and National Working Committee member Sydney Mufamadi are Venda (VaVenda--see Ethnic Groups and Language, ch. 2). Ramaphosa's former deputy, Jacob Zuma, is one of several Zulu leaders who rose to prominence within the ANC. The ANC's former security and intelligence specialist, Patrick "Terror" Lekota, and former MK leader Joe Modise are Sotho (BaSotho). Several popular regional leaders are Tswana (BaTswana). In general, these leaders have rejected arguments that favored the use of ethnicity to define political factions.

Age differences appeared more divisive than ethnicity within the ANC during the early and the mid-1990s. There were heated debates over questions of political succession, as the ANC's aging leaders--many over the age of seventy--faced challenges from the generations below them. Nelson Mandela was seventy-five years old when he was elected president in 1994, and several other ANC leaders were more than seventy years of age. Their most likely successors--especially Mbeki, Ramaphosa, Zuma, and the ANC's former director of intelligence, "Mac" Maharaj--were roughly two decades younger. Some of the ANC's younger militants threatened revolt against senior party figures in the early months of the new government, as their demands for jobs, homes, and improved living standards continued to be unmet. Criticism of the "older generation" was fueled in late 1994 and early 1995, when the president's former wife, Winnie Mandela, clashed with the government and was ousted as a deputy minister, as she championed the grievances of the ANC's militant youth.

As the apartheid system was being dismantled, some members of the Afrikaner elite in government, the civil service, and the security services reacted with impressive flexibility. By adapting quickly to the new environment, many of them not only retained their valued positions in the bureaucracy but also won new respect from former adversaries. As the ANC assumed responsibility for the security establishment, the police, and the intelligence services, ANC leaders were often able to work closely and cooperatively with Afrikaners who had once been so effective in excluding blacks from the political process.

The shift in power and influence among the country's political elites had begun well before the April 1994 elections. An important arena in which this power shift occurred was that of the political negotiations concerning the interim constitution of 1993. During those negotiations, as difficult and unpromising as they sometimes appeared, then-governing whites began, some for the first time, to view their black counterparts as legitimate partners in the decision-making process. At the same time, many black leaders adjusted smoothly to the new climate of political tolerance.

More about the Government of South Africa.

Source: U.S. Library of Congress

South Africa 1960 – 1994

a) Political, economic and social factors contributing to the end of apartheid

The policy of total strategy or counter-revolution as it became known did not stop the anti-apartheid groups such as the ANC, PAC and UDF (United Democratic Front) from protesting for political and social equality for all races in South Africa. Poverty for blacks continued in the townships and homelands. Unemployment was on the rise due to sanctions, and education and housing were still of a third world standard.

The state of emergency failed to make South Africa safer for whites. Many whites were suffering loss of liberties under the censorship and rigid laws of the military state. Moreover, the ANC in exile continued to attack ‘soft targets’ in South Africa including shopping centres and post offices. Many whites were becoming disillusioned with apartheid and feeling the rejection of their society and culture by the rest of the world. Many Coloureds and Indians were becoming openly defiant of the white state demanding nothing short of full democracy for South Africa.

The United Democratic Front (UDF)

In 1983 a multi-racial party, the United Democratic Front was formed with the aim of uniting all resistance groups in the fight against apartheid. The UDF was highly successful because its members became a uniting force and it had many high profile members, including church leaders such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The UDF supporters also include ANC members such as Winnie Mandela. By 1985 the UDF gained over two million members and was a powerful force in demanding the immediate end to apartheid.

The gradual reforms of the Botha government, delivered no real change in South Africa, only cosmetic changes. South Africa could not change and embrace the modern world while apartheid existed. Many white South Africans and politicians began to feel that apartheid was like ‘living on the back of a tiger and they needed to find a way off without being eaten’.1

b) International factors contributing to the end of apartheid

By 1988 the cost of running the military state was staggering and the economic performance of South Africa was poor. Sanctions had driven the economy into recession; ‘sanction busting’ was failing to fix the problem. South Africa was unable to obtain foreign loans or foreign investment. 2

The impact of the Free Mandela Campaign, sporting sanctions, severe international criticism, military and technical equipment embargos and isolation by other African nations in the OAU (Organisation of African Unity) was crippling South Africa. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 removed the Communist threat which underpinned the existence of apartheid since the end of the Second World War. Festering social, political and economic grievances in all sectors of the South African population left the preservation of apartheid completely untenable by the start of 1990s.

c) Problems facing the National Party and the ANC in the transition to democracy in South Africa

In 1984 during townships riots, P.W. Botha declared, ‘I’m giving you a final warning; one man, one vote in this country is out-that is never!”.3 In 1989 after a mild stroke and the failure of Total Strategy, he resigned as President of South Africa. Botha was replaced by F.W.de Klerk.

On 2 February 1990, de Klerk opened Parliament, and in his maiden speech as President began dismantling the apartheid state. He rescinded the ban on the ANC, the PAC, the South African Communist Party and thirty other political organizations. He freed political prisoners and suspended the death sentence. On the 11 of November de Klerk released Nelson Mandela from prison4. South Africa would have one man one vote.

The transition to democracy was a challenging task. Some historians have called it a ‘miracle’. Both the National Party and the ANC struggled to keep South Africa from sliding into civil war in the early 1990s. Meetings were held to lay out South Africa’s new Democracy entitled A Convention for Democratic South Africa (CODESSA). It was in the CODESSA meetings, that the National Party and the ANC debated their differing visions of democracy. CODESSA 1 ended when the ANC walked out of negotiations5. Finally CODESSA II was able to pave the way for a new constitution and a national election.

Problems facing the National Party

• The traditional rulers of South Africa wanted to hold to power as long as possible. They wanted ‘one man, one vote’ to eventuate slowly to protect the white minority.
  
  
• Right Wing extremists’ elements including the AWB (Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging) vowed to prevent free elections and assassinate Nelson Mandela. They also wanted to create an Afrikaner homeland.
  
  
• Other white extremists were also letting off bombs and interrupting official democracy meetings such as CODESSA.

Problems facing the ANC

The ANC faced a number of difficulties:

• First in dealing with the National Party and with other anti-apartheid parties, especially Inkatha (a political organisation made up of Zulus from the Natal Province)
  
  
• The ANC wanted one person, one vote multiracial democracy immediately, and many of its members were understandably anxious to embrace democracy for the first time.
  
  
• In Natal/KwaZulu Province Chief Buthelezi of Inkatha refused to have anything to do with constitutional negotiations and savage violence between ANC members and Inkatha broke out. This included the assassination of Chris Hani, a national hero of the ANC and member of the South Africa Communist Party. Only a prompt appeal to the nation by Mandela averted a massive reaction.

• The ANC seemed to be losing control of its political base. Many feared that extremist whites were supplying Inkatha with weapons and instigating the fighting between rival black political groups, to prevent South Africa’s march towards democracy.

South Africa’s first democratic Election 27th April 1994

South Africans of all races turned out determined to vote in their first non-racial election on the 27th of April 1994. People lined up in long queues which stretched for miles to cast their historic ballot. The ANC won the election and Nelson Mandela, after spending almost three decades in jail, became President of a free South Africa, F.W. de Klerk became the Deputy President.

At his inauguration as President on the vast lawn of the Union Building in Pretoria Mandela said:

‘Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another… The sun will never set on so glorious a human achievement. Let freedom reign. God bless Africa’.6

Source: NSW HSC Online http://hsc.csu.edu.au © NSW Department of Education and Communities, and Charles Sturt University, 2011

Buthelezi tackles Zuma on corruption

Warning that corruption was on the verge of making South Africa dysfunctional, IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi told President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday that he was shying away from tackling it. “Corruption is the bane of our country,” he said during debate in the National Assembly on last week's State of the Nation address. Buthelezi described corruption as a fundamental threat to South Africa's constitutional democracy. “Yet, sir, you shy away from this issue.”

He said a measure of Zuma's leadership could be taken less by what the president had said than by what he had not said. “How can we embrace hope when our leadership refuses to acknowledge the many problems confronting our country, or the causes that lie at their root? Year after year, the State of the Nation address shifts, without ever addressing previous failures.” Buthelezi said it was an “unspoken fact” that corruption had resulted in the axing of two ministers - Sicelo Shiceka and Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde. “The national police commissioner, Mr Bheki Cele, is still suspended pending an investigation into corruption. “The Speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, Ms Peggy Nkonyeni, and MEC Mr Mike Mabuyakhulu are facing corruption charges in court,” he said.

Two of the nine provinces had “all but collapsed” and the administration of the state was “in shambles”. “Limpopo has been rendered bankrupt through corrupt activities and five of its departments have been taken over by national government.” “In the Eastern Cape, the education system has completely collapsed due to maladministration and corruption, forcing national government to intervene.”

In Gauteng, the provincial government had sought help from the National Treasury for its health department, which was on the verge of collapse. The Free State had sought help after discovering financial mismanagement and non-compliance in supply chain processes in its police roads and transport department. “How, Mr President, do we explain the contamination of public service and commercial interests? It is fatal and yet pursued relentlessly from the lowest to the highest levels of government. “Too many, and I dare say the overwhelming majority, are trying to make money on account of holding public office, being in politics or exercising public power.”

Last year, Special Investigating Unit head Willie Hofmeyr told MPs that 20 percent of South Africa's procurement budget was lost to corruption each year. “According to Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index, South Africa is perceived to be becoming more corrupt with each passing year.” This perception was rooted in reality. “On a scale of 0 (being highly corrupt) to 10 (being very clean), we have fallen from a ranking of 5.1 in 2007, to 4.1 in 2011. “The unspoken fact is that we are on the verge of joining the ranks of dysfunctional states, as the effects of corruption debilitate all spheres of life,” Buthelezi said.

The IFP leader, who turns 84 this year, also criticised Zuma for his support, last Thursday, of the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu). “Mr President, you praise the trade unions, and even Sadtu, as if they should be thanked for doing less than the full measure of their destructive capabilities. “Praising the South African Democratic Teachers' Union for its diligent teachers was a step too far in placating the unions.”

The ANC-aligned union continued to act like an organisation “hell-bent on destroying the future of our children”, and should be rebuked, not praised, for its actions, he said, to cries of support from opposition benches. “Instead of acting like responsible educators, some members of Sadtu have, on numerous occasions, proven themselves irresponsible, unprofessional and unfit to educate South Africa's learners.”

Buthelezi also suggested that the ruling party was too close to the country's four major banks. “Another major policy mistake is maintaining the four retail bank policy and tolerating the collusion and other restraints of trade openly practised by our banks.” A lack of “real competition” meant they were not forced to take risks they did not want to take, forcing all the “risky business” onto the Industrial Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. “It would seem as if your government, Mr President, has a greater commitment to serving the banks than the people we represent.”

On the economy, Buthelezi said Zuma had not explained how two sectors that should be booming as a result of high international demand - agriculture and mining - were “in reverse due to government's many policy failures”. Another unspoken fact was that the latest Global Competitiveness Rankings of the World Economic Forum highlighted how corruption, wasteful expenditure and government red-tape was increasingly hindering business development, SMMEs and investment in South Africa.

Buthelezi said there was a “disconnect” between the government and the reality of everyday life in South Africa. He told Zuma his address had lacked accountability. “It lacked accountability on the crisis in health, the crisis of education and the crisis of corruption. “What you have said looks good on paper, but what you have not said can prevent the fulfilment of the best-laid plans."

Source: IoL

The rise and fall of spy chief Billy Masetlha

When the highly embarrassing espionage operation involving fabricated intelligence reports emerged, it tore apart a close-knit relationship between a head of government and his director-general of intelligence - and the spy chief bit the dust. This was in 1997, when the long-standing amity between the-then Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu and director-general of Mossad, Danny Yatom, broke down irreparably because a katza (spy) manufactured top secret reports for two decades. Netanyahu gave Yatom a lashing in his office in October, the same month President Thabo Mbeki gave the booted director-general of National Intelligence Agency Billy Masetlha a dressing down nine years later.

Similarly, compounding Yatom's quandary was the scandal's leakage to the media in the same way Masetlha's embarrassing operations were broken by Independent Newspapers in October last year. Yatom resigned while Masetlha was fired. But their spying careers both ended in March while they were in their early 50s, after each had spent two years in the job.

The irony of these espionage incidents is that one of the key issues that led to Masetlha's downfall involves the so-called hoax e-mails that, among other things, claim to associate intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils with Mossad. The irony is how close confidants - Mbeki and Masetlha - turned against each other overnight, leading to Mbeki exercising his presidential powers and firing his spy chief. Given how easily upset the president can be, the firing of Masetlha came as no surprise after the suspended NIA director-general accused Mbeki - in papers lodged at the Pretoria High Court - of lying to save his job.

In an interview, Mbeki was visibly angry, accusing some of his intelligence agents of "manufacturing intelligence" and lying to please him. "The president as head of state and head of government is the principal client of civilian intelligence … Now you can imagine what would happen if the president is fed false information. "I am saying it is very dangerous and you cannot allow any compromise about quality of intelligence and its truthfulness, you can't afford a situation where people manufacture intelligence," Mbeki said last month.

Masetlha is blamed by intelligence inspector-general Zolile Ngcakani, and also by intelligence sources, for:

# Authorising the unlawful surveillance of ANC executive and businessman Saki Macozoma under the pretext that the he was involved with foreign intelligence. It was revealed that this has much to do with the succession battle in the ANC following Macozoma's implication in the e-mails since declared by Ngcakani to be hoaxes.

# Being involved in the fabrication of the e-mails that purport to implicate senior government and ANC officials in a plot to sideline and incriminate embattled former deputy president Jacob Zuma.

# Being highly involved in party political squabbles by colluding with politicians in the divisive succession battle that has polarised the ruling party between Mbeki and Zuma camps.

# Abusing intelligence and state resources for personal or political gain.

# Acting ultra vires in bugging and intercepting individuals' communications for the same purpose, which could have contributed to the fabrication of the e-mails.

# Fighting a bitter battle with Kasrils to win the heart of the president. This emerged at the October meeting where Masetlha wanted to brief Mbeki about the minister, but was suspended by Kasrils the following day. Masetlha accused Kasrils of being close to the British foreign intelligence agency - MI6.

# Fomenting divisions in the intelligence and security agencies, as exposed during the Khampepe commission to determine the future of the Scorpions. Masetlha accused Scorpions officials of colluding with foreign intelligence, including the US Central Intelligence Agency. He was censured by cabinet, while he became a hero in the Zuma camp for giving the former deputy president's "foes" a pounding.

But if this is true, it remains puzzling how Masetlha - who holds the president in high esteem - could allow professional rivalry to sacrifice his career and tilt towards the losing Zuma camp. Had he miscalculated the impact of his fight with Kasrils? Masetlha did not return messages left for him and his lawyer is said to be out of the country.

A senior spy who worked closely with him said Masetlha could have been motivated by "something serious" pushing him this far. But those who worked with him at the SA Secret Service, where he was also director-general, accuse him of recklessness. They say this was the same reason that forced him to quit Home Affairs after fighting with former minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi. However, all agree that Masetlha is an Alexandra-born street-fighter and, like Yatom, a hands-on spymaster. Even when he called him a liar, he trusted Mbeki and hoped for reconciliation, another intelligence source said. The trust had been mutual. Mbeki asked him in the winter of 2001 to form the controversial presidential intelligence unit, a clear indication that the president did not trust anyone but Masetlha. How this trust broke down (the main reason why he was fired), is a mystery.

Masetlha was the president's eyes and ears and defended him when Mbeki was pummelled at the ANC's national general council last winter, while security figures such as former defence force general Siphiwe Nyanda were openly rejoicing at Zuma's coming in from the cold. Masetlha's career revolved around Mbeki, having worked as the president's security adviser and his counsel on the DRC and Rwandan peace agreements. Mbeki appointed him to the sensitive key post of director-general of Home Affairs after serving, with the president's approval, as head of the secret service. In the winter of 2002, Mbeki recalled Masetlha from Home Affairs after his spat with Buthelezi and announced that the spy chief would reinforce security in the presidency.

Although it might seem his career is over and that the long-standing relationship between him and Mbeki is now something of a broken love affair, Masetlha is likely to intensify his confrontation with the president. He has nothing to lose. As former spymaster and presidential security adviser, he knows more about the president than anyone else. But it remains a poser how he would exploit this to his advantage. However, this could be countered by Ngcakani handing over his report to the SA Police Service with a view to charging Masetlha - either with treason or a lighter charge.

He might bounce back when the ANC's national executive committee triggers another skirmish over the e-mails, for secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe and some NEC members have made it clear they do not accept Ngcakani's report. If they prevail (which seems unlikely), Masetlha might come back as adviser to another president, just as Yatom later became adviser to another Israeli prime minister - Ehud Barak.

Source: IoL

Home affairs' misspent millions

Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Tuesday lifted the lid for the first time on allegations of irregular expenditure totalling millions of rands, in a written reply to the portfolio committee on home affairs. Buthelezi, who could not attend the meeting because of a prior engagement, was responding to three questions from the committee. One of them related to a container project to help give rural communities access to the activities of the department. "The container project was never discussed with me by my former director-general, neither was it forwarded as a written submission seeking approval. When it became public... I enquired about the situation and found a host of problems, including irregular actions," wrote Buthelezi.

Detailing his findings in point form, Buthelezi said the problems started with the termination of a "competent" acting chief financial officer. "The person appointed from June 1, 2002 was inexperienced to perform such an important function. The serious nature of the situation became apparent when, on June 3, 2002, she was instructed to place an order for an amount of R12 435 507 for the conversion of 148 container offices. This amounted to more than R85 000 an office without water, power or washroom facilities."

Buthelezi said no prescripts were followed and state tender board instructions were ignored. "Within three days of the order having been placed, a claim was already received for R1 865 326 for payment. There was no contract, no departmental standing committee approval and no treasury approval. Notwithstanding this, the then-acting chief financial officer instructed to pay, which was fortunately reversed before payment. Funds for the containers had at this stage not even been required, and how payment was supposed to be effected is unknown." Buthelezi said the department of public works had also advised them that, among the various options available to ensure service delivery in rural areas, the use of containers was the least desirable.

Home affairs acting director-general Ivan Lambinon told Sapa on Tuesday that he did not know of "this particular document. But there are concerns that things must be done properly and by the rules of the game. As public servants, things must be done honestly," he said. Lambinon identified the then-acting chief financial officer as a Mrs M Shemmans, who was now employed as a director of provision administration in the department. Earlier this month, it was Lambinon who told MPs that he had uncovered a host of problems involving millions of rands in unauthorised expenditure and alleged graft in his department.

The former director-general was Billy Masetlha - now in the presidency - and who had a stormy relationship with Buthelezi. Last year, Buthelezi told the committee he would be forced to table a damage-control bill to protect the state from being sued because the extension, against his wishes, of Masetlha's contract was invalid. Auditor-general Shauket Fakie subsequently agreed that Masetlha's contract was invalid. He also noted that expenditure incurred by Masetlha while his appointment "was not in accordance with... legislative requirements" amounted to about R839m for the period June 21, 2001 to March 31, 2002. A further R332m was spent in the period from April 1, 2002 to June 20, 2002.

Lambinon has been acting director-general since June last year, because of a deadlock between Buthelezi and his cabinet colleagues over who should succeed Masetlha. On Tuesday, committee chairman Patrick Chauke said Buthelezi's absence from the meeting should "not be politicised. Our role in the committee is to play an oversight role over ministers... but we must set up a meeting urgently to discuss matters which are of critical importance and which the minister must brief us on".

Source: Mail & Guardian

Masetlha joins president's men

Home affairs director-general Billy Masetlha will be redeployed to the presidency when his contract expires in two days, says President Thabo Mbeki. Masetlha, a former director-general of the South African secret service, "will reinforce our work in the areas covering security and the criminal justice system".

Mbeki made the announcement when he opened debate on the presidency's budget vote. He said the presidency had to discharge its functions of leadership, oversight, management, co-ordination, mediation of conflicting policy and monitoring delivery. "Like the presidential review commission, the government is of the view that the presidency requires more capacity to carry out these task effectively," he said.

Mbeki re-deployed Masetlha as home affairs director-general in December 1999. Masetlha's contract was controversially extended by a year, despite protests from Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, citing an irretrievable breakdown of relations with his director-general. Relations between the two men deteriorated even further, especially about the immigration bill and a litany of other complaints, including Masetlha's alleged insubordination.

Buthelezi has previously warned that the department could face legal action, as well as thousands in unauthorised expenditure, because Masetlha did not have a valid contract. Last week, he told parliament: "Just this morning, I have been advised that he (Masetlha) established 153 posts and filled many of them without my knowledge or approval, which makes the entire operation and related incurred expenditure unauthorised."

Source: Mail & Guardian

Masetlha 'above the law'

Home Affairs DG Billy Masetlha seems to have placed himself above the law resulting in a major setback for democracy in South Africa, the department's minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Thursday. Replying to questions in the National Assembly, Buthelezi said by working without a valid contract, Masetlha had placed the legality of all actions taken by the department in jeopardy. "It is possible that Mr Masetlha is placing himself above the rule of law and creating the invalidity of an enormous amount of actions taken by my department with unforseeable consequences for the state. It was also an enormous setback for our democracy as it seems that certain people are becoming untouchable and beyond the reach of law."

The support Masetlha was receiving from "many sectors" was effectively placing him beyond the reach of the law. Buthelezi said he, as the political head of the department, was therefore not able to perform his Constitutionally mandated function of being accountable to Parliament. Relations between the minister and the DG have been strained for months and Buthelezi has claimed - backed by legal opinion of senior counsel - that Masetlha had not had a valid employment contract since June this year. The minister told MPs on Thursday that "no conclusions were reached" at a meeting earlier this week between himself, President Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President Jacob Zuma. Contrary to statements issued by the Presidency, the meeting was not convened to deal solely with the Masetlha issue. "The impression I got from the Deputy President was that it was a meeting that we have, the three of us, from time to time. At this meeting this issue, among other things, was raised but no conclusions were reached on that," he said.

Both Buthelezi - the Inkatha Freedom Party leader - and Masetlha, a former ANC intelligence operative, have previously asked for Mbeki's intervention. Buthelezi said he had referred all information and documentation on Masetlha's contract to the Public Service Commission following a recommendation by Parliament's home affairs portfolio committee. The commission was investigating the matter, but ultimately the final decision of the DG's status rested with the President. The minister said he had only agreed to Mbeki's request that Masetlha's contract be extended on condition that the situation was reviewed when the President returned from an overseas trip. He had, at that time, communicated this to Masetlha and the Cabinet.

Buthelezi last week presented a 10-page document citing 64 examples of alleged wrongdoing by Masetlha to the home affairs committee. He accused the director-general of insubordination and defiance. Masetlha said in response that he was angry and disappointed by the accusations, which he contended were part of a campaign to vilify him.

Source: mail & Guardian

South African Names Cabinet: Familiar Faces in New Posts

South Africa's new President, Thabo Mbeki, today named Jacob Zuma his deputy. The announcement ended speculation that Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the fiery leader of the Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party, would get the post in a move intended to strengthen peace between him and the African National Congress. Mr. Buthelezi remains the Home Affairs Minister. Mr. Zuma, the deputy leader of the African National Congress and a close ally of Mr. Mbeki, is considered to have been a key player in making inroads into the Zulu party's traditional base of support base.

In naming his Cabinet, President Mbeki kept key economic ministers in place, including Trevor Manuel as Finance Minister and Alex Erwin as Trade and Industry Minister, decisions that were widely applauded by the business community. Most of his Cabinet members served in President Nelson Mandela's Cabinet, although many will have new posts. Mr. Mbeki said he was ''not visualizing any major changes in policy.'' He also noted that the number of women had doubled, to 8, out of 29 posts. On the whole Mr. Mbeki's choices were applauded for rewarding competence and maintaining stability. ''The positive thing here is the continuity,'' said Sean Jacobs, a political analyst with the Institute for Democracy in South Africa. ''And he did get rid of a lot of dead wood.''

A new post, Special Minister in the President's Office, went to Essop Pahad, a friend from Mr. Mbeki's days as a student exile in England. Mr. Pahad's appointment was in line with Mr. Mbeki's desire to strengthen the presidency. In the last few weeks, he has announced that he would absorb the Deputy President's staff into his own office and assume the power to appoint the top administrators in the ministries.

In 1994 Mr. Mandela was obliged to cobble together a multiparty Government. But Mr. Mbeki, with a firm majority, can do as he chooses. Nevertheless, he has kept three Inkatha members in his Government: Mr. Buthelezi and two deputy ministers. Mr. Mbeki at least twice brushed off questions about whether he had offered the deputy's job to Mr. Buthelezi. Mr. Buthelezi told the South African Press Association today that he had never wanted the job, but earlier this week he said he had rejected an offer.

One big surprise was the switch of assignment for Dr. Nkosazana Zuma, who is to become Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Zuma, who is divorced from Mr. Zuma, is considered one of Mr. Mbeki's favorites though she has been a controversial Health Minister, taking on the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries and angering AIDS activists by refusing to finance the drug AZT for pregnant mothers infected with the virus that causes the disease.

Source: New Ypork Times

Mbeki Calls for Rebirth of South Africa

Thabo Mbeki became South Africa's second post-apartheid President today, taking over this still racially divided country from Nelson Mandela, the man who, with unerring grace, steered it through a peaceful transition out of white supremacy. Moments after Mr. Mbeki took the oath of office in Tswana, English and Afrikaans, the 80-year-old Mr. Mandela embraced his successor and then both men turned and clasped hands high over their heads as the crowd roared its approval.

In his speech, Mr. Mbeki, 56, sounded many of the themes he has become known for, promising that change would come faster now for the millions of South Africans who live in dire poverty. But he also paid tribute to the freedom fighters who came before him, including Mr. Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for his belief that he and other black South Africans should have the right to vote. Mr. Mbeki called on all South Africans, black and white, to continue to work together for the rebirth of the country, made possible by ''the realization that we share a common destiny, regardless of the shapes of our noses.'' ''Our nights cannot but be nights of nightmares while millions of our people live in degrading poverty,'' he said. ''Sleep cannot come easily when children get permanently disabled, both physically and mentally, because of a lack of food.''

The transition from Mr. Mandela to Mr. Mbeki has lacked the giddy excitement of the 1994 election. But South Africans are reveling in its ordinariness. In 1994 many whites stocked up on canned foods or took ''strategic vacations.'' By contrast, today's ceremonies competed for attention with a soccer match and the national marathon. The inauguration ceremony, attended by hundreds of foreign dignitaries, was in some ways austere, taking only about an hour. But it was not without its glitches.

After Mr. Mbeki took the oath of office, five jets flew overhead, leaving a rainbow-colored smoke trail. Then three helicopters passed by, pulling huge South African flags. Then a Mirage fighter roared past, painted as the South African flag. When nothing further appeared, the master of ceremonies invited Mr. Mbeki to begin his speech. He protested, saying there were more planes to come. But the emcee insisted. When he was well into his address, three 747's finally thundered over, low and slow, drowning him out. The two outer planes bore messages painted under their wings. One said, ''President Thabo Mbeki.'' The other said, ''Thank you, Madiba,'' using Mr. Mandela's clan name.

Mr. Mandela, who did not speak during the ceremony, has said he is looking forward to retirement and in particular to spending more time with his grandchildren. But his wife, Graca Machel, said recently that she doubted he could sit still for long. The South Africa that Mr. Mbeki will inherit has changed a great deal in the last five years. More than 500,000 new houses were built, and electricity, telephone lines and water taps have been installed in millions of homes. But some critics have said that Mr. Mandela was more of a hero figure, focusing on reconciliation, than an administrator, focusing on rebuilding a country that systematically kept the black majority in poverty. The country is still plagued by high crime, joblessness, poor schools and a climbing AIDS rate. Nor has racial reconciliation been easy. Some South Africans believe that the country is more polarized then ever, as whites see their privileges diminishing and blacks say change is not coming fast enough for them.

Mr. Mbeki, who has an economics degree from Sussex University in England, has made it clear that he will turn his attention to uplifting the poor. He is seen as an able administrator -- far less forgiving than Mr. Mandela, who some said tended to console ministers who had failed in a job rather than tell them off.

The ceremony today did not include the swearing-in of a deputy president, as it did in 1994, because one has not been chosen. The job appears to have been offered to the leader of the Zulu-nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi. The move is intended to promote peace between Inkatha and the governing African National Congress. But Chief Buthelezi is said to be unhappy with changes that Mr. Mbeki announced last week, which will greatly reduce the powers of the job. Negotiations are continuing. South Africans are also waiting to see whom Mr. Mbeki will include in his Cabinet, which he is expected to announce on Thursday. While Mr. Mandela's Cabinet was a carefully chosen quilt of diverse South Africans, meant to unify a country that has 11 languages and an often violent history, Mr. Mbeki has said he will put far more emphasis on competence.

Today's ceremonies were not without controversy. Statues of apartheid-era heroes that are scattered on the lawn of the Union Building, where the ceremonies were held, were draped in green sackcloth. Officials have given various reasons, at one point saying the statues were being hidden so as not to detract from the ''ecstasy'' of the occasion. The subject has kept radio talk shows in business for days, with callers either applauding the idea or saying that the country should never forget its history. There has also been some debate about the $8 million price tag for the ceremony and free concert lasting all afternoon and into the night on the lawn in front of the buildings. ''They shouldn't have spent the money,'' said Ernest Nhlapo, 17, who nevertheless was in attendance. ''They should build homes and create more jobs.'' But his friend Claudio Bowker, 16, disagreed. ''We deserve it,'' he said. ''This doesn't happen often. It's only the second time we had such a ceremony.'' Samson Malaka, 24, a student at the University of Pretoria, said the money had been well spent because the world was watching, so it was good marketing. ''It's an occasion of great magnitude,'' he said. ''We should portray to the world that we are capable of such an occasion.''

Almost the entire celebratory crowd on the Union Building lawn was black, which troubled Stanley Sidimela, 25, a welfare worker there. ''We want to live with the whites, Indians and Coloreds, but to our surprise they are not appreciating the new Government,'' he said. ''We don't know how to draw them in so we can celebrate with them. They built these buildings, which helped us. But we don't like their leaving the country -- we want to share its wealth together.'' Part of the reason for the crowd's makeup was the music, which included South Africa's best jazz, gospel, kwaito and township jive acts, including Hugh Masekela, Brenda Fassie, Rebecca Malope, Bonga'maffin and Boom Shaka. As part of Mr. Mbeki's African Renaissance theme, the organizers also invited many of Africa's best musicians, like Angelique Kidjo and Papa Wemba. Local acts that draw white audiences, like Springbok Nude Girls or Nico Carstens, were not on the stage.

A group of young women, all studying to be paralegals at the Pretoria Technikon, led the center of the crowd in a circular dance. ''We're here to party and to meet people,'' said Thandi Nkomo, 18, ''But I liked Mbeki's speech. It was short, but it had meaning.'' Mathabo Kgolumo, 21, said seeing the bookish new President speak ''gives us self-confidence, and it also improves our vocabulary.''

The only icon that was more ubiquitous in the crowd than African National Congress T-shirts was a pink sticker saying, ''Safe Sex Save Lives -- Use a Condom.'' Tina Magongwa and Gladys Mamosadi of the Mohau Children's Care Center were slapping the stickers as fast as they could on anyone who walked by. South Africa has the world's fastest-growing AIDS epidemic, largely because it was fatally slow to begin serious AIDS education programs. ''Almost no one says no,'' Mrs. Magongwa, 38, said. '''A few say, 'No, don't give me that; I will get AIDS from it,' but they are just ignorant.'' The women were also handing out condoms -- just about the only thing being given out free at the concert.

Source: New York Times

In South Africa, Winner Almost Takes All

Final election results in South Africa showed today that the ruling African National Congress was returned to power with even more votes than it won in 1994. But it fell just one seat short of a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Five days after the country held its second post-apartheid elections, its Independent Election Commission announced that it had finished counting and verifying the nearly 16 million votes cast last Wednesday.

According to commission figures, the party won 266 of Parliament's 400 seats. The liberal Democratic Party had the next-highest total, with 38 seats, followed by the Zulu-nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party, with 34 seats, and the Afrikaner-led New National Party, with 28 seats. The newly formed United Democratic Movement, headed by Bantu Holomisa, a former A.N.C. official who was ejected from the party for insubordination, got 14 seats. All told, 13 parties are to have seats in South Africa's next Parliament, about twice as many as in 1994, though they will have 14 fewer seats between them.

At the ceremony announcing the final count, South Africa's next President, Thabo Mbeki, pledged that democracy was ''here to stay'' in South Africa. Mr. Mbeki, 56, currently Deputy President, who was the A.N.C.'s only candidate for President, borrowed from Yeats, saying: ''There were many in our country and elsewhere who thought that things would fall apart, that the center could not hold.'' But Mr. Mbeki, who is expected to take office on June 16, added that it did hold. ''It has held in favor of democracy and of the people of South Africa,'' he said.

African National Congress officials started off the campaign season saying they wanted a two-thirds majority so they could consider changing some aspects of the Constitution. But when opposition parties focused their campaigns on warning the electorate of the A.N.C.'s plans, the party's officials began downplaying the goal. In recent weeks, Mr. Mbeki has dismissed its importance, saying he had no plans to change the Constitution. Some political analysts said that the failure to win two-thirds of the Parliament's seats might be a blessing in disguise for the party. ''They are saved from the internal struggles that might have cropped up if they had the two-thirds majority,'' said Shaun Mackay, a researcher with the nonprofit Center for Policy Studies.

The A.N.C.'s victory was overwhelming, not only in the national election, but in the nine provincial elections as well. It failed to win a clear majority in only two provinces, the Western Cape, which includes Cape Town, and KwaZulu/Natal, which includes Durban and is the heartland of the Inkatha Freedom Party. Negotiations over coalitions between various parties have already begun. Several newspapers have reported that the A.N.C. is offering Inkatha's leader, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the job of Deputy President in exchange for control over who will be the premier of the KwaZulu/Natal province.

Mr. Mbeki seemed to give his strongest public signal yet that he would appoint Mr. Buthelezi in his Cabinet to be announced next week. He called Mr. Buthelezi up to the stage from where he was sitting with his Inkatha colleagues, saying jokingly, ''I want to take him out of the I.F.P. and put him in government.'' According to the South African Press Association, Mr. Buthelezi tonight denied that he had been offered the deputy position. On whether he would accept the post if it was offered, he replied: ''That is like saying if you were offered a box of chocolates, would you eat them?''

The African National Congress and Inkatha have been rivals for more than a decade. Before the 1994 elections more than 10,000 people died in fighting between the two sides. But in recent years, the two parties have been trying to work together and Mr. Buthelezi has filled in as President whenever President Nelson Mandela and Mr. Mbeki were out of the country at the same time. Although some areas of Kwazulu/ Natal were tense during the election campaign, violence was minimal.

Source: New Ypork Times

Zulu Chief's Call For Talks Rejected By South Africans

The leader of South Africa's Zulus, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, has called for a national multiracial conference, but the Government rejected his proposal today as "totally unnecessary."

Source: New York Times

Zulu Chief, in Talk With Vorster, Voices Misgivings on Apartheid

Prime Minister John Voster met today for the first time with the leader of the largest ethnic group amongst South Africa's 15 million blacks and discussed with him how apartheid could work.

Chief Gatsha Buthelezi, the foremost spokesman for four million Zulus, said in a news conference afterwards, he had told Mr Voster that he had reservations about the Government's policy of separate development, the official label for apartheid, or racial segregation.

Source: New York Times