THE National Plan for South Africa is out! It is comprehensive, ambitious and laudable. It has the elements required to move the country forward. Unveiling the plan in Parliament yesterday National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel mentioned many things contained in the plan. Some sounded pretty obvious. But the important one is that the plan goes beyond the rhetoric. It sets targets. It suggest ways to meet targets on, among other things, jobs, growth, literacy and poverty.
Manuel and members of the National Planning Commission have done a wonderful job, putting together the plan. They would not have been able to had they not been honest about the problems we face as a nation.
The plan is based on six pillars. But it will not work if it does not get a buy-in from the government that established the planning commission. Of course, some of the suggestions will not sit well with those in government who have privatised public policy-making. They are now required to set their sights on the targets for the benefit of the country and not themselves.
The plan will not implement itself. The government will not do it alone. Nor will business, civil society and labour. What is required - and this is the most important pillar of the six - is active citizenship. Citizens must be responsible for their own progress and for that of the country. Otherwise the plan will be meaningless.
Source: The Sowetan
Showing posts with label Trevor Manuel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trevor Manuel. Show all posts
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Probe into Absa takeover needed
President Jacob Zuma must appoint a commission of inquiry into Barclays bank's takeover of Absa Group [JSE:ASA] in 2005 and its link to the arms deal, activist and author Terry Crawford-Browne said on Monday.
"As a former international banker, I informed both the British and South African governments as early as October 1999 that the Barclays bank loan agreements for the (British defence company) BAE arms deal contracts would be fraudulent," he said in a statement.
"I also repeatedly pleaded with the former minister of finance Trevor Manuel not to sign those agreements."
He said the investigation should consider the implications of foreign control over South Africa’s banking system, including what pressure was applied to Manuel to approve the "ill-considered" takeover of Absa.
"The reality is that Absa, to the detriment of the South African public, has been milked by Barclays.
"Although Absa’s assets amount to only 4% of the total, Absa is reported to contribute 20% to total Barclays’ group revenue," he said.
"Surveys repeatedly find Absa to be the most expensive of South African banks. The former governor of the SA Reserve Bank noted as early as 2007 that he failed to see any benefits of Barclays' management at Absa."
Absa declined to comment on Crawford-Browne's claims, and presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj could not be reached for comment.
Crawford-Browne said he had made a submission to the Seriti Commission - an arms deal probe - to request an investigation of perjury charges against Manuel and Maria Ramos in connection with the arms deal.
"Ms Ramos was then director general of the Treasury, and under oath, affirmed that the 'agreements... are self-standing loan agreements with binding force and not dependent on any other agreement entered into by government.'
"This lie was exposed by the Barclays bank loan agreements," he alleged.
He said he had previously submitted affidavits that detailed how BAE paid bribes of more than R1.5bn to secure its arms deal contracts, to whom the bribes were paid and to which bank accounts the bribes were credited.
The documents also revealed the complicity in money laundering of the British government and both international and South African banks.
He claimed that when a court awarded him with the discovery of the international offer's negotiating team and financial working group papers for the arms deal, Manuel and Ramos refused to comply.
"The court had previously rejected their arguments that it 'was not in the national interest to reveal how the government conducts its international financial arrangements'," he said.
"This is pertinent given enthusiastic approval by the minister in 2005 when Barclays Bank took over Absa with a 55.5% shareholding. What threats did Barclays Bank make?" he asked.
He said Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale was a major shareholder in Absa and a former director.
Ramos was appointed chief executive of Absa in 2009.
"Clear conflicts of interest are evident," Crawford-Brown said.
Source: News 24
"As a former international banker, I informed both the British and South African governments as early as October 1999 that the Barclays bank loan agreements for the (British defence company) BAE arms deal contracts would be fraudulent," he said in a statement.
"I also repeatedly pleaded with the former minister of finance Trevor Manuel not to sign those agreements."
He said the investigation should consider the implications of foreign control over South Africa’s banking system, including what pressure was applied to Manuel to approve the "ill-considered" takeover of Absa.
"The reality is that Absa, to the detriment of the South African public, has been milked by Barclays.
"Although Absa’s assets amount to only 4% of the total, Absa is reported to contribute 20% to total Barclays’ group revenue," he said.
"Surveys repeatedly find Absa to be the most expensive of South African banks. The former governor of the SA Reserve Bank noted as early as 2007 that he failed to see any benefits of Barclays' management at Absa."
Absa declined to comment on Crawford-Browne's claims, and presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj could not be reached for comment.
Crawford-Browne said he had made a submission to the Seriti Commission - an arms deal probe - to request an investigation of perjury charges against Manuel and Maria Ramos in connection with the arms deal.
"Ms Ramos was then director general of the Treasury, and under oath, affirmed that the 'agreements... are self-standing loan agreements with binding force and not dependent on any other agreement entered into by government.'
"This lie was exposed by the Barclays bank loan agreements," he alleged.
He said he had previously submitted affidavits that detailed how BAE paid bribes of more than R1.5bn to secure its arms deal contracts, to whom the bribes were paid and to which bank accounts the bribes were credited.
The documents also revealed the complicity in money laundering of the British government and both international and South African banks.
He claimed that when a court awarded him with the discovery of the international offer's negotiating team and financial working group papers for the arms deal, Manuel and Ramos refused to comply.
"The court had previously rejected their arguments that it 'was not in the national interest to reveal how the government conducts its international financial arrangements'," he said.
"This is pertinent given enthusiastic approval by the minister in 2005 when Barclays Bank took over Absa with a 55.5% shareholding. What threats did Barclays Bank make?" he asked.
He said Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale was a major shareholder in Absa and a former director.
Ramos was appointed chief executive of Absa in 2009.
"Clear conflicts of interest are evident," Crawford-Brown said.
Source: News 24
Thursday, November 3, 2011
South Africa: Consumers Must Be Taught About Their Rights
There is a need for consumers to be taught more about their consumer rights and the Consumer Protection Act, says Minister in the Presidency: National Planning Commission Trevor Manuel. Speaking at the 2011 Consumer Rights Conference held in Midrand today, Manuel said many families were in debt because they lacked knowledge on financial issues. "We need to understand what the Consumer Protection Act is all about," he said, adding that government needed to drive consumer education vigorously.
Manuel cautioned that people should only borrow what they can afford. There were 18.84 million credit active people in South Africa and about 8.8 million of this figure were described as having impaired credit. National Consumer Commissioner, Mamodupi Mohlala, urged consumers who have had their rights violated or ignored to contact her office. She said on average, her office received about 7 000 complaints per month - the bulk of which was from the motor industry, followed by complaints about telecommunications tariffs and handsets.
Mohlala said the complaints in the motor industry were mostly from clients who bought cars thinking the vehicles were new only to discover that they actually bought old cars. "Incorrect prices and failure to adhere to the Consumer Act by the sellers keeps us on our toes as we deal with such complaints daily," she said.
She urged consumers that when lodging their complaints, they must provide full details as this helps to speed-up the processes of finding a solution to their problems.
Source: All Africa
Manuel cautioned that people should only borrow what they can afford. There were 18.84 million credit active people in South Africa and about 8.8 million of this figure were described as having impaired credit. National Consumer Commissioner, Mamodupi Mohlala, urged consumers who have had their rights violated or ignored to contact her office. She said on average, her office received about 7 000 complaints per month - the bulk of which was from the motor industry, followed by complaints about telecommunications tariffs and handsets.
Mohlala said the complaints in the motor industry were mostly from clients who bought cars thinking the vehicles were new only to discover that they actually bought old cars. "Incorrect prices and failure to adhere to the Consumer Act by the sellers keeps us on our toes as we deal with such complaints daily," she said.
She urged consumers that when lodging their complaints, they must provide full details as this helps to speed-up the processes of finding a solution to their problems.
Source: All Africa
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The Promise and Unfulfilled Potential of South Africa’s President
President Jacob Zuma, the son of a widowed maid, tried to reason with the rowdy crowd in this restive township. He had come to fix their broken public services, he assured them, but their angry heckling kept drowning him out. Finally, like a glowering patriarch, he lectured and scolded them, threatening to leave. “This means you will live forever in poverty!” he exclaimed. “If we do not listen to each other, how can we fix anything?”
Suddenly, the rage of the throng dissipated. There was a chorus of apologies. A voice shouted, “Sorry, Baba!” Then a cry arose for the president to sing his trademark song from the anti-apartheid struggle, “Bring Me My Machine Gun.” “You want it?” he asked. “Yes!” they shouted. And like an aging entertainer obliging with a golden oldie, Mr. Zuma, 68, crooned and boogied onstage.
It was a moment that encapsulated both the promise and the unfulfilled potential of Mr. Zuma, who has raised the hopes of the dispossessed but not yet delivered the better life they are demanding. Despite persistent corruption charges and the taint of extramarital affairs, he is a political survivor who has risen to lead the continent’s powerhouse nation and will soon step onto the international stage as South Africa holds Africa’s first World Cup. With his rumbling laugh and habit of dancing onstage, Mr. Zuma has a gift for connecting with the country’s impoverished black majority, who are impatient for the better life promised by the dawning of democratic rule 16 years ago. “I’ve never seen a president in Africa in direct dialogue with his citizens like Jacob Zuma,” said Zakhele Maya, 26, an activist in Siyathemba who, like most in the township, is jobless.
But that connection has not quelled the discontent. After an earlier visit, last year, Mr. Zuma ordered the government to improve the township’s health and housing services, yet frustrations continued to rise. In February, residents burned down the library. The books are now charred scraps, the library a pile of blackened rubble.
A year into his five-year term, Mr. Zuma recently signed performance contracts with his ministers, setting out specific results for them to achieve. But analysts are urging action, not aspirations, on South Africa’s core challenges: a failing education system, staggering levels of joblessness and the widening chasm between rich and poor. There is already open speculation about whether his party, the African National Congress, in power since the end of apartheid, will pick him for a second term. “By 2013, the questions arise: Who will govern beyond 2014?” asked Trevor Manuel, who heads the National Planning Commission in Mr. Zuma’s office and was finance minister for the previous 13 years. “And the intense period has to be 2011, 2012, into 2013. Those are the middle years of the term of government, and I think the foundation is now well laid. Now you’ve got to drive the change.”
Mr. Zuma’s highly personal, consensus-building style has helped him lead a sweeping new attack on AIDS after almost a decade of failed leadership under his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki. But even some in his party say that tackling the nation’s deep economic problems will probably require angering allies who put him in office, especially Cosatu — the powerful trade union federation that is part of the governing alliance — and the A.N.C.’s youth wing. It is led by the incendiary Julius Malema, 29, regarded by many here as a demagogue who plays on racial antagonisms and who was recently sent to anger management classes by the party. The dry kindling of resentment is here to be ignited. The ranks of the jobless have grown by more than a million in the past year and a half, and South Africa, population 49 million, already had among the highest rates of chronic unemployment in the world. More than a third of the work force, including those too discouraged to seek work, is jobless. Studies have found that most of the unemployed have never held a job.
Mr. Zuma announced in February that proposals would be put forward to subsidize the wages of inexperienced workers, to help them get a foot in the door. But Cosatu, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which represents those who already have jobs, opposes the idea — and debate within the government continues.
Another point of tension is education. Last year, Mr. Zuma said teachers and principals — whose union is also part of Cosatu — must be held accountable for whether they show up and do their jobs. In an interview, Mr. Zuma reiterated the need for such a step and said it would be taken by the end of his second year in office. “There’s no teacher who’s going to hide behind the school,” he said.
But critics question whether Mr. Zuma has the support to follow through on these difficult decisions, the vision to address the country’s daunting challenges or the standing to root out corruption. Worries deepened when it surfaced that Mr. Zuma, who already had three wives and a fiancée, had fathered a child, his 20th, out of wedlock with the daughter of a family friend. “The biggest danger we face as a country is the use of office for personal gain, and it is becoming so, so normal, and nobody’s arresting that,” said Mondli Makhanya, a newspaper editor whose reporter broke the story about Mr. Zuma’s child in The Sunday Times. “He lacks the leadership strength at this point to turn against people who supported him, and he lacks the moral authority to say, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ ”
More fundamentally, making choices that would divide the governing alliance goes against Mr. Zuma’s instincts as an African traditionalist who seeks to settle conflicts by gathering his coalition under a metaphoric marula tree to talk for days or weeks until they reach a consensus, said Allister Sparks, a veteran commentator here. “Action dies in the process of eternal, everlasting debate,” Mr. Sparks said.
Mr. Manuel, the former finance minister, says the president’s style is to keep everyone in the tent, recalling Mr. Zuma’s efforts to mediate Burundi’s complex civil war. “He’d sit in Dar es Salaam for tens of days, and he has the most remarkable patience to do that kind of thing,” Mr. Manuel said. “So perhaps he needs the support of ministers who are going to push and shove and try to get things done.” On issues including teacher accountability, Mr. Manuel said, “Instinctively, I would take a much harder line on some of these things.”
Mr. Zuma’s political resilience should not be underestimated. After a decade as a political prisoner, he rose to lead the A.N.C.’s underground intelligence operation during the anti-apartheid struggle. As president, he has filled important police and prosecutorial posts with loyalists, making it unlikely he will face further corruption charges. In an interview, he told a story that suggested the roots of the cool calculation beneath his warm, amiable style. “If you are angry, you can’t think properly, and the other boys will really beat you up,” he said of his days learning stick fighting with other Zulu boys. “You’ve got to be sober so that you can be able to defend yourself and also hit the other boy.”
As the debate over Mr. Zuma swirls, the man himself has fun on the hustings. He recently basked in the adulation of a vast crowd at a township stadium in the Free State for a World Cup prayer service sponsored by the A.N.C. The event was an ecstatic, incantatory fusion of sports, religion and politics that would not have seemed out of place in Texas. Thousands of churchwomen ululated for him and the South African soccer team, Bafana Bafana. “Long live Jacob Zuma!” one cried. “Long live!” the crowd responded. A small smile flickered across Mr. Zuma’s face as the premier of the Free State said: “We are not talking succession. We are just saying the president should be president again and again and again!”
White dignitaries mounted the stage. A blanket imprinted with the South African flag was laid on the floor; Mr. Zuma knelt on it as preachers placed their hands on his head. People gathered around and raised their hands to God, a tableau of racial harmony. “Let us receive our visitors warmly with love,” Mr. Zuma said of the coming games. “Let us embrace them.” And with a mischievous glint, he added, “Those who at times are not good, let them for just four weeks be good.”
Source: New York Times
Suddenly, the rage of the throng dissipated. There was a chorus of apologies. A voice shouted, “Sorry, Baba!” Then a cry arose for the president to sing his trademark song from the anti-apartheid struggle, “Bring Me My Machine Gun.” “You want it?” he asked. “Yes!” they shouted. And like an aging entertainer obliging with a golden oldie, Mr. Zuma, 68, crooned and boogied onstage.
It was a moment that encapsulated both the promise and the unfulfilled potential of Mr. Zuma, who has raised the hopes of the dispossessed but not yet delivered the better life they are demanding. Despite persistent corruption charges and the taint of extramarital affairs, he is a political survivor who has risen to lead the continent’s powerhouse nation and will soon step onto the international stage as South Africa holds Africa’s first World Cup. With his rumbling laugh and habit of dancing onstage, Mr. Zuma has a gift for connecting with the country’s impoverished black majority, who are impatient for the better life promised by the dawning of democratic rule 16 years ago. “I’ve never seen a president in Africa in direct dialogue with his citizens like Jacob Zuma,” said Zakhele Maya, 26, an activist in Siyathemba who, like most in the township, is jobless.
But that connection has not quelled the discontent. After an earlier visit, last year, Mr. Zuma ordered the government to improve the township’s health and housing services, yet frustrations continued to rise. In February, residents burned down the library. The books are now charred scraps, the library a pile of blackened rubble.
A year into his five-year term, Mr. Zuma recently signed performance contracts with his ministers, setting out specific results for them to achieve. But analysts are urging action, not aspirations, on South Africa’s core challenges: a failing education system, staggering levels of joblessness and the widening chasm between rich and poor. There is already open speculation about whether his party, the African National Congress, in power since the end of apartheid, will pick him for a second term. “By 2013, the questions arise: Who will govern beyond 2014?” asked Trevor Manuel, who heads the National Planning Commission in Mr. Zuma’s office and was finance minister for the previous 13 years. “And the intense period has to be 2011, 2012, into 2013. Those are the middle years of the term of government, and I think the foundation is now well laid. Now you’ve got to drive the change.”
Mr. Zuma’s highly personal, consensus-building style has helped him lead a sweeping new attack on AIDS after almost a decade of failed leadership under his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki. But even some in his party say that tackling the nation’s deep economic problems will probably require angering allies who put him in office, especially Cosatu — the powerful trade union federation that is part of the governing alliance — and the A.N.C.’s youth wing. It is led by the incendiary Julius Malema, 29, regarded by many here as a demagogue who plays on racial antagonisms and who was recently sent to anger management classes by the party. The dry kindling of resentment is here to be ignited. The ranks of the jobless have grown by more than a million in the past year and a half, and South Africa, population 49 million, already had among the highest rates of chronic unemployment in the world. More than a third of the work force, including those too discouraged to seek work, is jobless. Studies have found that most of the unemployed have never held a job.
Mr. Zuma announced in February that proposals would be put forward to subsidize the wages of inexperienced workers, to help them get a foot in the door. But Cosatu, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which represents those who already have jobs, opposes the idea — and debate within the government continues.
Another point of tension is education. Last year, Mr. Zuma said teachers and principals — whose union is also part of Cosatu — must be held accountable for whether they show up and do their jobs. In an interview, Mr. Zuma reiterated the need for such a step and said it would be taken by the end of his second year in office. “There’s no teacher who’s going to hide behind the school,” he said.
But critics question whether Mr. Zuma has the support to follow through on these difficult decisions, the vision to address the country’s daunting challenges or the standing to root out corruption. Worries deepened when it surfaced that Mr. Zuma, who already had three wives and a fiancée, had fathered a child, his 20th, out of wedlock with the daughter of a family friend. “The biggest danger we face as a country is the use of office for personal gain, and it is becoming so, so normal, and nobody’s arresting that,” said Mondli Makhanya, a newspaper editor whose reporter broke the story about Mr. Zuma’s child in The Sunday Times. “He lacks the leadership strength at this point to turn against people who supported him, and he lacks the moral authority to say, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ ”
More fundamentally, making choices that would divide the governing alliance goes against Mr. Zuma’s instincts as an African traditionalist who seeks to settle conflicts by gathering his coalition under a metaphoric marula tree to talk for days or weeks until they reach a consensus, said Allister Sparks, a veteran commentator here. “Action dies in the process of eternal, everlasting debate,” Mr. Sparks said.
Mr. Manuel, the former finance minister, says the president’s style is to keep everyone in the tent, recalling Mr. Zuma’s efforts to mediate Burundi’s complex civil war. “He’d sit in Dar es Salaam for tens of days, and he has the most remarkable patience to do that kind of thing,” Mr. Manuel said. “So perhaps he needs the support of ministers who are going to push and shove and try to get things done.” On issues including teacher accountability, Mr. Manuel said, “Instinctively, I would take a much harder line on some of these things.”
Mr. Zuma’s political resilience should not be underestimated. After a decade as a political prisoner, he rose to lead the A.N.C.’s underground intelligence operation during the anti-apartheid struggle. As president, he has filled important police and prosecutorial posts with loyalists, making it unlikely he will face further corruption charges. In an interview, he told a story that suggested the roots of the cool calculation beneath his warm, amiable style. “If you are angry, you can’t think properly, and the other boys will really beat you up,” he said of his days learning stick fighting with other Zulu boys. “You’ve got to be sober so that you can be able to defend yourself and also hit the other boy.”
As the debate over Mr. Zuma swirls, the man himself has fun on the hustings. He recently basked in the adulation of a vast crowd at a township stadium in the Free State for a World Cup prayer service sponsored by the A.N.C. The event was an ecstatic, incantatory fusion of sports, religion and politics that would not have seemed out of place in Texas. Thousands of churchwomen ululated for him and the South African soccer team, Bafana Bafana. “Long live Jacob Zuma!” one cried. “Long live!” the crowd responded. A small smile flickered across Mr. Zuma’s face as the premier of the Free State said: “We are not talking succession. We are just saying the president should be president again and again and again!”
White dignitaries mounted the stage. A blanket imprinted with the South African flag was laid on the floor; Mr. Zuma knelt on it as preachers placed their hands on his head. People gathered around and raised their hands to God, a tableau of racial harmony. “Let us receive our visitors warmly with love,” Mr. Zuma said of the coming games. “Let us embrace them.” And with a mischievous glint, he added, “Those who at times are not good, let them for just four weeks be good.”
Source: New York Times
Monday, August 24, 2009
Nzimande rejects claim economic cluster is not black enough
South African Communist Party secretary Blade Nzimande has hit back at ANC Youth League president Julius Malema for referring to some cabinet ministers as minorities and claiming they were “not black enough”. Nzimande told a media briefing yesterday that the SACP rejected comments that President Jacob Zuma’s finance cluster was not black enough.
Malema had charged that the Zuma government had seen an increase in the power of minorities (whites, Indians and coloureds) in economic portfolios such as Finance, Trade and Industry, Economic Development, Public Enterprises and National Planning. He said blacks dominated less influential posts in the security cluster, which included the ministries of Defence, Police, Home Affairs and Intelligence. Malema’s charge put the spotlight on Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan and the newly appointed Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus.
Nzimande said the SACP central committee, which met at the weekend, “affirmed our party’s full confidence in and support for our comrades in the cabinet, including those in key economic portfolios”. He called on the ruling tripartite alliance, which includes the ANC and Cosatu, to root out “narrow African chauvinism” within their structures. “We are pleased to note the robust defence of the core non- racial principles of our movement by senior ANC leaders, and their forthright rejection of any opportunistic attempt to play an ethnic card. “While ugly white chauvinistic attitudes persist in many places, sometimes brazenly and sometimes subliminally, and should be fought at all times – a counter, narrow Africanist chauvinism simply reproduces and feeds its counterpart. “Such trends must be nipped in the bud as they have been throughout the history of the ANC.”
Last week the Youth League said it “reaffirms its position on the principle of African leadership, particularly on key economic cluster responsibilities”. “We have never said we doubt the capabilities of the incumbent leaders . “The principle we wish to reaffirm amid the misinterpretations is that African leadership should not be compromised when future appointments are made, as that could play into a racist perception that Africans are incapable to perform key economic roles in the government and corporate sector.”
Source: The Sowetan
Malema had charged that the Zuma government had seen an increase in the power of minorities (whites, Indians and coloureds) in economic portfolios such as Finance, Trade and Industry, Economic Development, Public Enterprises and National Planning. He said blacks dominated less influential posts in the security cluster, which included the ministries of Defence, Police, Home Affairs and Intelligence. Malema’s charge put the spotlight on Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan and the newly appointed Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus.
Nzimande said the SACP central committee, which met at the weekend, “affirmed our party’s full confidence in and support for our comrades in the cabinet, including those in key economic portfolios”. He called on the ruling tripartite alliance, which includes the ANC and Cosatu, to root out “narrow African chauvinism” within their structures. “We are pleased to note the robust defence of the core non- racial principles of our movement by senior ANC leaders, and their forthright rejection of any opportunistic attempt to play an ethnic card. “While ugly white chauvinistic attitudes persist in many places, sometimes brazenly and sometimes subliminally, and should be fought at all times – a counter, narrow Africanist chauvinism simply reproduces and feeds its counterpart. “Such trends must be nipped in the bud as they have been throughout the history of the ANC.”
Last week the Youth League said it “reaffirms its position on the principle of African leadership, particularly on key economic cluster responsibilities”. “We have never said we doubt the capabilities of the incumbent leaders . “The principle we wish to reaffirm amid the misinterpretations is that African leadership should not be compromised when future appointments are made, as that could play into a racist perception that Africans are incapable to perform key economic roles in the government and corporate sector.”
Source: The Sowetan
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Land reform's middle ground
When President Jacob Zuma announced his new Cabinet on May 10, he ushered in a new era for the state's apparatus charged with responding to rural poverty: political and bureaucratic responsibilities for land reform, fisheries, forestry and agricultural development have been reshuffled, and are now clustered into an array of new and renamed ministries and departments. Zuma presented this reshuffling as a sign that his administration will embark on a re-energised initiative for rural development, in line with the ANC's manifesto for the 2009 national elections which featured "Rural development, food security and land reform" as one of its top five priorities.
This signals a new commitment from a party which has historically relied on an urban support base of the working class and unemployed and has de-emphasised, if not quite ignored, the spatial legacy of apartheid and the concentration of poverty in the rural areas. For the future of the rural areas, the most significant changes in the new Cabinet are the separation of land and agriculture, and the introduction of rural development as a ministerial mandate. The new-look cabinet places these responsibilities in separate ministries: a Ministry of Rural Development and Land Reform (MRDLR) on the one hand, and a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) on the other. Both are to be headed by former MECs for Agriculture: Gugile Nkwinti from the Eastern Cape, and the Northern Cape's Tina Joemat-Petterson, respectively. But key decisions about government's plans for the rural areas are likely to be taken elsewhere. At the heart of the new administration's thinking on the future of the economy is a heavyweight triumvirate made up of the National Treasury headed by Pravin Gordhan, a Ministry of Economic Development under former unionist Ebrahim Patel, and a National Planning Commission in the Presidency led by Trevor Manuel.
The core challenge is to enable large numbers of the rural poor to participate in economic activities -- to produce, process and market -- on beneficial terms in order to enable employment (including self-employment) for the rural poor, not only welfare. This would reduce rural poverty and create new livelihoods and jobs, but also set South Africa on a different and more appropriate growth path.The central position that rural development now occupies in the thinking of government draws attention to the multidimensional nature of rural people's livelihoods -- a recognition that land reform cannot be entirely about agriculture, that people want and need land for a variety of purposes, and that rural people participate in a variety of economic activities for their survival.
The new political priority placed on rural development is a great opportunity and new approaches are urgently needed. Rural development must not be limited to ad hoc and localised "projects". A new policy framework must set out an ambitious agenda for structural change in the key rural economic sectors. It must change the ways in which the poor participate in, own, control, use, and produce in the rural economy and enable new pathways of production and accumulation.
Source: Mail & Guardian
This signals a new commitment from a party which has historically relied on an urban support base of the working class and unemployed and has de-emphasised, if not quite ignored, the spatial legacy of apartheid and the concentration of poverty in the rural areas. For the future of the rural areas, the most significant changes in the new Cabinet are the separation of land and agriculture, and the introduction of rural development as a ministerial mandate. The new-look cabinet places these responsibilities in separate ministries: a Ministry of Rural Development and Land Reform (MRDLR) on the one hand, and a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) on the other. Both are to be headed by former MECs for Agriculture: Gugile Nkwinti from the Eastern Cape, and the Northern Cape's Tina Joemat-Petterson, respectively. But key decisions about government's plans for the rural areas are likely to be taken elsewhere. At the heart of the new administration's thinking on the future of the economy is a heavyweight triumvirate made up of the National Treasury headed by Pravin Gordhan, a Ministry of Economic Development under former unionist Ebrahim Patel, and a National Planning Commission in the Presidency led by Trevor Manuel.
The core challenge is to enable large numbers of the rural poor to participate in economic activities -- to produce, process and market -- on beneficial terms in order to enable employment (including self-employment) for the rural poor, not only welfare. This would reduce rural poverty and create new livelihoods and jobs, but also set South Africa on a different and more appropriate growth path.The central position that rural development now occupies in the thinking of government draws attention to the multidimensional nature of rural people's livelihoods -- a recognition that land reform cannot be entirely about agriculture, that people want and need land for a variety of purposes, and that rural people participate in a variety of economic activities for their survival.
The new political priority placed on rural development is a great opportunity and new approaches are urgently needed. Rural development must not be limited to ad hoc and localised "projects". A new policy framework must set out an ambitious agenda for structural change in the key rural economic sectors. It must change the ways in which the poor participate in, own, control, use, and produce in the rural economy and enable new pathways of production and accumulation.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Saturday, May 23, 2009
South Africa: Labour Influence Enhanced in Country's New Government
The African National Congress retained power in South Africa’s April 22 general election with a slightly reduced, but still overwhelming, majority in the parliament which, as expected, elected ANC leader Jacob Zuma president of the country.
While Zuma’s appointments did not bear out earlier concerns of a leftward lurch, they do represent a decided change in emphasis. His electoral campaign assures a greater emphasis on poverty alleviation, service delivery and crime prevention and a less internationalist approach to foreign economic and foreign policy. The degree to which South Africa will, or will be able, to turn inward will be watched closely.
Zuma’s key appointment was that of former finance minister Trevor Manuel as head of a new National Planning Commission to coordinate policy-making and develop a National Plan. Manuel’s appointment serves the dual purpose of retaining the well-regarded former minister in the cabinet and aspiring to a well-coordinated policy apparatus. Skeptics have questioned whether creating a super-cabinet committee in fact will make for smoother policy-making or lead to bureaucratic infighting.
Manuel’s replacement at Finance, Pravin Gordham, who originally came out of the South African communist party, has led the South African tax collecting agency where he earned a formidable reputation with business as a no-nonsense manager. The Financial Times quoted him as saying the new arrangement would create “more cohesion and greater balance.”
Source: All Africa
While Zuma’s appointments did not bear out earlier concerns of a leftward lurch, they do represent a decided change in emphasis. His electoral campaign assures a greater emphasis on poverty alleviation, service delivery and crime prevention and a less internationalist approach to foreign economic and foreign policy. The degree to which South Africa will, or will be able, to turn inward will be watched closely.
Zuma’s key appointment was that of former finance minister Trevor Manuel as head of a new National Planning Commission to coordinate policy-making and develop a National Plan. Manuel’s appointment serves the dual purpose of retaining the well-regarded former minister in the cabinet and aspiring to a well-coordinated policy apparatus. Skeptics have questioned whether creating a super-cabinet committee in fact will make for smoother policy-making or lead to bureaucratic infighting.
Manuel’s replacement at Finance, Pravin Gordham, who originally came out of the South African communist party, has led the South African tax collecting agency where he earned a formidable reputation with business as a no-nonsense manager. The Financial Times quoted him as saying the new arrangement would create “more cohesion and greater balance.”
Source: All Africa
Thursday, January 17, 2008
NEC to discuss fate of Scorpions
The ANC's national executive committee (NEC) lekgotla, which starts on Friday, provides the new party leadership with its first real opportunity to put its policy stamp on the country, but budgetary and statutory constraints will force some painful compromises. Decisions on policy were taken at the party's national conference in December. Now the leaders must find a way - and the money - to implement them.
Among these decisions are the controversial plan to disband the National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) Directorate Special Operations (the Scorpions) by June; providing free education to the poor up to undergraduate level; expanding "no-fee" schools to 60 percent by 2009; extending child support grants from 14 to 18 years; and providing antiretroviral treatment at all health facilities. Someone is going to have to pay. And although the newly empowered Left has long objected to President Thabo Mbeki and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's budget surplus, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said this week the party would not deliberately eradicate that surplus in pursuit of greater social spending.
Most of the policy decisions are not new - some date back to the national conference of 1997 - but ANC leaders came under renewed pressure in Polokwane to speed up implementation. NEC members, ministers, directors-general and other government officials involved in policy implementation will therefore meet over the next three days to find a way to do this. The meeting takes place amid great division and uncertainty - government officials fear for their positions.
The new party leadership under Jacob Zuma will be imposing ANC policy on a government led by Mbeki, who is still smarting from his defeat in Polokwane. High on the list of things to do will be to decide the future of the Scorpions. The ANC plan involves moving Scorpions investigators back to the SAPS and sending its prosecutors to the NPA, effectively disbanding the crack crime-fighting unit. But this will not be as easy as it sounds.
Scorpions investigators are governed by the NPA Act (and derived regulations). The police are governed by the Public Service Act. Moving them to the SAPS will require a new law - something that will not be achieved within the six-month deadline. Since Scorpions investigators are better paid than their counterparts in the SAPS, they are unlikely to accept the unilateral amendment of their service conditions should they be incorporated into the SAPS. This also presents problems in terms of labour law. Similarly, SAPS officers are unlikely to accept a dual pay structure within the police force. It is hard to see how the party will get around these issues, and they will probably not be resolved by June.
In other policy, the party has recognised that the poor are likely to be hardest hit by the effects of climate change and committed itself to treat this issue as "a new threat on a global scale". The suggestion to make antiretroviral treatment available at all government medical institutions will no doubt be welcomed, but implementation will be hampered by costs and the lack of trained health care workers. The plan to classify HIV and Aids as a notifiable disease is likely to spark heated debate in Midrand.
The party also plans to scrap the unpopular floor-crossing legislation and develop a "regulatory architecture" for private funding of political parties.
The decision to establish a statutory Media Appeals Tribunal to compliment existing self-regulatory mechanisms in the print media environment will also be discussed.
Source: IoL
Among these decisions are the controversial plan to disband the National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) Directorate Special Operations (the Scorpions) by June; providing free education to the poor up to undergraduate level; expanding "no-fee" schools to 60 percent by 2009; extending child support grants from 14 to 18 years; and providing antiretroviral treatment at all health facilities. Someone is going to have to pay. And although the newly empowered Left has long objected to President Thabo Mbeki and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's budget surplus, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said this week the party would not deliberately eradicate that surplus in pursuit of greater social spending.
Most of the policy decisions are not new - some date back to the national conference of 1997 - but ANC leaders came under renewed pressure in Polokwane to speed up implementation. NEC members, ministers, directors-general and other government officials involved in policy implementation will therefore meet over the next three days to find a way to do this. The meeting takes place amid great division and uncertainty - government officials fear for their positions.
The new party leadership under Jacob Zuma will be imposing ANC policy on a government led by Mbeki, who is still smarting from his defeat in Polokwane. High on the list of things to do will be to decide the future of the Scorpions. The ANC plan involves moving Scorpions investigators back to the SAPS and sending its prosecutors to the NPA, effectively disbanding the crack crime-fighting unit. But this will not be as easy as it sounds.
Scorpions investigators are governed by the NPA Act (and derived regulations). The police are governed by the Public Service Act. Moving them to the SAPS will require a new law - something that will not be achieved within the six-month deadline. Since Scorpions investigators are better paid than their counterparts in the SAPS, they are unlikely to accept the unilateral amendment of their service conditions should they be incorporated into the SAPS. This also presents problems in terms of labour law. Similarly, SAPS officers are unlikely to accept a dual pay structure within the police force. It is hard to see how the party will get around these issues, and they will probably not be resolved by June.
In other policy, the party has recognised that the poor are likely to be hardest hit by the effects of climate change and committed itself to treat this issue as "a new threat on a global scale". The suggestion to make antiretroviral treatment available at all government medical institutions will no doubt be welcomed, but implementation will be hampered by costs and the lack of trained health care workers. The plan to classify HIV and Aids as a notifiable disease is likely to spark heated debate in Midrand.
The party also plans to scrap the unpopular floor-crossing legislation and develop a "regulatory architecture" for private funding of political parties.
The decision to establish a statutory Media Appeals Tribunal to compliment existing self-regulatory mechanisms in the print media environment will also be discussed.
Source: IoL
Saturday, June 19, 1999
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
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
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