On the curious case of "shooting the boer."

It's tempting to be disgusted by the lack of sensitivity to farmers shown by Pierre de Vos in this post from Constitutionally Speaking. But the legal issues he highlighted about the ruling regarding the phrase "kill the boer" are worth paying attention to. We've observed the slip in the judicial system over the years since apartheid ended, with politicians walking free from serious crimes with barely a slap on the wrist. But the farm murders is an issue that's very close our hearts as white South Africans, and if it isn't then it certainly should be. The incitement of violence by politicians needs to stop!

News that the South Gautenteng High Court Acting Judge Leon Halgryn ruled on Friday that use of the words “dubula ibhunu (shoot the boer)” was unconstitutional and unlawful is odd, to say the least. Unfortunately this was an urgent application so the judge did not seem to have given reasons for his judgment. Nevertheless, if the media reports are correct, the judgment does not seem to make much sense.

I am not sure on what basis the “publication” and the “utterance” of the words can be declared unconstitutional. It is true that section 16 of the Bill of Rights states that the right to freedom of expression does not extend to incitement of immenent violence or advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethinity, gender or religion and that constitutes incitement to cause harm. However, section 16 itself does not ban such words, but merely states that the utterance of such words are not protected speech.

This would mean such speech could be regulated or banned by the legislature and such a ban could not be challenged on the basis that it infiringed on the section 16 protection of freedom of expression. It decidedly does not mean that in the absence of such regulation by the legislature the words are “unconstitutional”. How a particular phrase could ever be declared unconstitutional is beside me. There is no provision in the Bill of Rights that prohibits any particular phrase. If the judge was quoted correctly, he was obviously talking nonsense.

Another question is whether a particular phrase could be declared unlawful by a court. I suspect not. The utterance or publication of some words in certain context could amount to defamation or it could fall foul of section 10 of the Equality Act but that could only be done with reference to the specific context and the facts of a particular case.

Maybe the Acting Judge was relying on the criminal law principle in common law and in terms of the Riotous Assemblies Act which prohibits the incitement of a crime. But then it would have to be shown that an accused “sought to influence the mind of another person towards the commission of a crime” and that would depend on the facts of a particular case and could not be decided in the abstract.

It seems to me bizarre that a court could decide in the abstract in an urgent application that a particular phrase was unconstitutional and unlawful. Surely one will have to decide on a case by case basis whether the utterances of words defamed someone or falls foul of the Equality Act or constitutes incitement to commit a crime.

To hold otherwise would be dangerous, nonsensical and would lead to absurd consequences. What would happen if I write a short story and one of the characters sings “Shoot the Boer”. Would this mean my story when published would be declared “unconstitutional” and “unlawful”?
At the very least it would be good for the judge to present written reasons for this judgment. Based on the available evidence it makes absolutely no sense.

Malema in Zuma plot rage

A whole big pile of shit is about to blow and Malema is the one igniting it! Pleeeeeeaaaase...let this be good.

By Siyabonga Mkhwanazi and Gaye Davis

ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has claimed that he has an "intelligence document" listing the names of prominent political leaders who backed President Jacob Zuma's rise to power, but who are now being targeted to be toppled.

Interviewed on SAfm's After Eight Debate radio programme yesterday, Malema further claimed that preliminary investigations by the police had determined that the document was genuine. A probe was now under way, he said.

Without naming any of the individuals said to be behind the alleged plot, Malema said intelligence officers had tipped off the youth league about the list and then passed it on to them. He had told Zuma about the existence of the list. (The timing is a really big coincidence, hey!)

Under attack for his lavish lifestyle and links to companies that reportedly raked in millions through government contracts, Malema said he was the target of a smear campaign for not backing any of the ANC's leftist allies for leadership positions at the party's 2012 elective conference.

He said he would not mind Sars conducting a lifestyle audit on him, but would have a problem if one was carried out as a result of political interference - "to further factional interests of certain people in the ANC" or the agendas of opposition parties like COPE, the DA and Independent Democrats.

I am saying so because we've got a document of a list of people - and I will make it public, we just took it to the police to verify it - who must be targeted. These people are still called Zuma people," Malema said. (Blatant blackmailing...)

He said he had told Zuma that KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize was one of the leaders being targeted.

Mkhize on Monday denied any conflict of interest over government contracts worth millions of rands awarded to his wife, Dr May Mashego, and his daughter Nokulinda. (Huh?? This is so bizarre it leaves me completely speechless....)

Malema did not identify the intelligence officers who he claimed had handed over the document to him.

"They (intelligence officers) found this to be very unacceptable and they thought they needed to alert us. We had to take it to the police to verify it, and so far we are satisfied with the investigation.

"The preliminary report shows that this is an authentic document that deserves to be taken seriously. I told the president (on Monday) 'I will give you that report before I take it anywhere else'," Malema said.

"There are still concerted efforts to try and discredit the leadership of the ANC and particularly those that are seen to be in the frontline in defence of President Zuma. (By??? I don't know....YOU)

"We are dealing with a concoction, a mix masala of a political environment which is polluted and people who have resorted to dirty tricks, and these dirty tricks failed before Polokwane and they will fail even now," said Malema.

Murder Inc in Mbombela

Inside Mpumalanga hit squads: Special report by Charles Molele and Mzilikazi Wa Afrika.

ANC boss used to have opponents shot, but switched to poison last year.

A 25-YEAR-old contract killer has accused an influential ANC leader in Mpumalanga of offering him R100000 and a cushy government job if he poisoned government officials who were blocking access to tenders linked to the 2010 soccer World Cup.

The ANC boss, whose name is known to the Sunday Times, was fingered by more than a dozen other sources interviewed during a three-week investigation into the killings of at least a dozen senior politicians in Mpumalanga starting in 1998.

The would-be assassin said he had been given the poison and had been ready to do the job, but had pulled out after a disagreement with his "client" over an advance fee.

Though his three intended victims are still alive, six officials were murdered or died in suspicious circumstances in Mpumalanga last year alone and another has been killed this year. Local party leaders and officials who spoke to the Sunday Times mentioned a "hit list" of other proposed victims and said they were living in fear.

The Sunday Times has been given the full name of a Mozambican gangster known as "Josh" and told that he was responsible for the murder in January 2009 of Mbombela (Nelspruit) council speaker Jimmy Mohlala.

"Josh" agreed to speak to our reporters in Mozambique, but then changed his mind.

ANC national spokesman Jackson Mthembu - the former speaker of the Mpumalanga legislature - said the ruling party was aware of the alleged hit list and had sent a task team to investigate those responsible for the killings of its members in the province.

The Sunday Times investigation took reporters to sources in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Mozambique. Those interviewed included senior ANC members, municipal officials and National Intelligence Agency sources, as well as the province's former ANC Youth League leader, James Nkambule, and Mpu-malanga Democratic Alliance leader Anthony Benadie

The Sunday Times has given details of the plot to police Superintendent Sibongile Nkosi and Mpumalanga's deputy provincial commissioner, Rex Machabi. They said the would-be killer would be interviewed soon.

The assassin said many people lived in fear of the ANC leader he had named. "This politician must be exposed and expelled from the ANC in order to stop his reign of terror in Mpumalanga. I am scared of him. Even those in the higher echelons are scared of him because he is too dangerous. I don't want to go on killing innocent people," he said. However, he did not admit to any killings.

A former ANC regional leader, Alfred Monareng, said the ANC boss and his cabal used to have their opponents shot, but had switched to poison last year.

He said the assassin interviewed by the Sunday Times had confessed to him that he had planned to spike a bottle of Johnny Walker whisky on Christmas Eve while drinking with him at his home in White River, where he works as a senior waste manager in the Mbombela municipality.

"He told me he was about to poison me, but decided not to," said Monareng. "The motive behind the plot to kill me is apparently to force me to vacate my post in order to make way for a preferred Samwu (municipal workers' union) candidate who is known to me. They cannot find any case of misconduct, irregularities or corrupt activity, so they have resorted to poisoning me," he said.

Monareng said he had not believed the confession, but then discovered that other suspicious deaths, including that of his brother, could have been as a result of poison.

"We now suspect that my brother, Themba (regional secretary), Mthandazo Ngobeni (chairman of the ANC Youth League), Vusi Sibiya (regional secretary), Lucas Shongwe (regional secretary) and the fiery ANC member Michael Sifunda were allegedly poisoned, as they showed similar symptoms before they died."

They all vomited a white foam before dying.

Nelspruit mayor Lassy Chiwayo, whose name is on the hit list, said he was living in fear after receiving death threats on his cellphone. He has sent a report to ANC headquarters at Luthuli House about his victimisation.

"I have been told I will go back home in a coffin," said Chiwayo.

Deputy mayor Nackie Ndlovu said she had been told of plans to poison her. "I fear for my life and cannot trust anyone. There have been so many killings in Mpumalanga. We are pleading with the ANC to do something because we are really not safe any more," she said.

At least 12 local leaders have been murdered or have died in suspicious circumstances in Mpumalanga since 1998. Police say they are investigating, but no one has been arrested.

People who spoke to the Sunday Times said they were afraid to give information to police because they did not know which faction of the party the law enforcement agents supported.

DA provincial leader Benadie slammed Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza for his silence on the deaths of three senior officials who had been on the alleged hit list.

"Why have we not heard (from) the premier on these murders, the hit list and poisoning claims? The premier is a feared man. Our constitutional democracy is at stake if people won't talk because they are afraid of being taken out," said Benadie.

Former youth league leader Nkambule said he knew who was behind at least one of the killings of senior officials in government and had given the information to crime intelligence officials. He said some of the murders were planned at a farm outside Nelspruit owned by another ANC politician.

Nkambule made headlines when he alleged that premier Mabuza had contributed R400000 to sponsor President Jacob Zuma's wedding to his second wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli.

Mohlala was shot dead at his house in Kanyamazane, outside Nelspruit, after he allegedly blew the whistle on the abuse of power and corruption relating to the construction of the province's R1-billion Mbombela Stadium intended for use during the 2010 World Cup.

Four weeks ago, Sammy Mpatlanyane, communications director in the provincial Department of Arts, Culture and Sport, was also gunned down at his home in Nelspruit.

Mpatlanyane allegedly was regarded as an obstacle by the ANC boss and his powerful allies to winning irregular tenders involving the World Cup.

ANC national spokesman Mthembu said: "We are aware of the hit list and allegations against the politicians allegedly involved in these killings, but we cannot do anything until the police crack these cases.

"We are particularly incensed that nobody has been brought to book since the murder of Mohlala. His murder happened so many months ago, but until now we still have not received any information that makes us confident that the matter is being dealt with properly."

Surge in Mpumalanga killings

Chasing the Fifa millions and other lucrative deals has been fatal for many in Mpumalanga.

The following people have either been killed, received death threats, disappeared or survived assassination attempts on their lives. The hit men - most of them alleged to be Zimbabwean and Mozambican nationals - are still at large.

•Saul Shabangu, (killed in 1998);
•Hebron Maisela (killed in 1998);
•Sydney de Lange (killed in 1998);
•Rose Alleta Mnisi (killed in 1999);
•Caswell Maluleke, (survived assassination in 2000);
•Joshua Ntshuhle (disappeared in 2005);
•Sizile Ndlovu, (survived assassination in 2006);
•Thandi Mtsweni (killed in 2008);
•Jimmy Mohlala (killed in 2009);
•Isaac Mohale Matsoabane (killed in 2009);
•Samuel Mpatlanyane (killed in 2010);
•Themba Monareng (died 2009);
•Mike Sifunda (died 2009);
•Simon Lubisi (died 2009);
•Lucas Shongwe (died 2009).

Mandela to commemorate release from prison

Here is an article that appeared in the Weekend Argus yesterday (5 Feb 2010) about a great honouring for the internationally acclaimed South African hero (sarc), Nelson Mandela. But guess who didn't pitch up for their rally commitment today? My guess is that Tokyo Sexwale and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will have to jump through a few hoops in the next few days to prove their rediscovered loyalty for the ANC and its icons. Tip for the ANC supporters - don't pitch up at a rally until the key speakers have already arrived.

Former president Nelson Mandela will attend an event at Groot Drakenstein jail outside Paarl next Thursday to commemorate his release from prison 20 years ago, Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Friday.

President Jacob Zuma will speak at the event outside the prison, which was formerly known as Victor Verster, Mbalula said.

"We are expecting the Mandela family and Mr Mandela himself to be present," Mbalula said in Cape Town.

"We are expecting no less than 20 000 to gather around the prison."

The event would be attended by ANC veterans, Ahmed Kathrada and Denis Goldberg. Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, would also attend.

Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela would lead a 500m symbolic walk made with Mandela on his release on February 11.

After the event, Mandela was due to attend Zuma's state of the nation address in the National Assembly.

"Madiba will be at the state of the nation address," Mbalula said.

"We have met with family and discussed everything. Everyone will be there. Grandchildren and veterans and stalwarts of the struggle will also be there."

Part of the celebrations will include ministerial door-to-door campaigns in Paarl, Stellenbosch and Worcester.

A mini rally, to held in Stanford, will be hosted by Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.

Cadre forums hosted by former Western Cape premier and presidential advisor Joel Netshitenzhe will be held in Riviersonderend and Grabouw.

Planning Minister Trevor Manuel will host a forum in the town of Swellendam.

Other forums will be held in Howston and Kleinmond.

Mbalula and ANC Youth League president Julius Malema will hold a forum in Gansbaai. - Sapa

Chappies opening delayed - again

An article in the False Bay People's Post dated 11 August 2009 states that the reopening of Chapman's Peak Drive has been pushed back indefinitely, despite undertakings that it would be back in business by the end of this month,

MEC for Transport & public works, Robin Carlisle has blamed the delay on toll road concessionaire, Entilini Operations, which says it cannot meet the month-end deadline because of "unforseen difficulties".

The road has been closed indefininetly since last September owning to heavy rainfall, which resulted in unstable moutain slopes, debris slides and rockfalls along parts of the road.

The Houtbay resident's association's chaiperson, Len Swimmer has said that the problem would never have occurred if the Province had left the road the way it was.

He said it would have been fine if they had just fixed the core problem, which was the road, and left it at that.

Swimmer said that Entilini Operations should have been removed from the project "a long time ago, they have been useless right from the beginning, the whole project looks disgusting".

This is just another one of those BEE screwups which have become so common in South Africa, "give the job to my brother or my sister, pay them millions, so they can buy the big BMW and then let someone else fix our mess".

Chappies has to be one of the most beautiful stretches of road in the whole world, but greed, stupidity and ANC idiocy has put this piece of heritage out of reach for the dwindeling number of tourists and the local communities.

The pernicious effects of cadre deployment - Helen Zille

If Zuma prosecution grinds to a halt, ANC's politicisation of the state will be to blame - DA leader

Will cadre deployment grind the wheels of justice to a halt for Zuma?

Three weeks before South Africa goes to the polls, the ANC has brought us to the brink of a constitutional crisis.

If the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) drops the charges against Zuma because he produces evidence of political manipulation in the NPA by ANC cadres loyal to Thabo Mbeki, it will expose the grave damage the "cadre deployment policy" has done to the South African state. In fact, the cadre deployment policy will have plunged our country into a constitutional crisis and severely damaged public confidence in the rule of law.

The independence and integrity of the NPA is a pre-requisite for upholding the Constitution's core value of equality before the law. The NPA must impartially prosecute anyone against whom they believe there is a case that can stand up in court.

Until Zuma handed in his secret dossier of documents and tape recordings recently, the NPA had stated repeatedly that Jacob Zuma had a strong case to answer on charges of fraud, corruption, racketeering and tax evasion.

Zuma's legal team is not trying to prove him innocent. They are trying to keep him out of court. And they are doing so by attempting to prove that the NPA cannot fulfil its constitutional mandate in respect of Zuma because it acted as Mbeki's agent in the internal battle for control of the ANC. If this is established, Zuma's legal team believe the NPA will be too compromised to continue. If the NPA concedes Jacob Zuma's argument, it will lose all credibility and become effectively paralysed. If the NPA has allowed itself to be politically manipulated, how can we have any confidence in any case it prosecutes?

The wheels of justice will grind to a halt because the NPA is stuck in a toxic mud pit of the ANC's making, and it cannot get out clean.

How did it get stuck? To answer that question, we need to go back to 1997. It was in this year, at the ANC's national conference in Mafikeng, that the ANC's National Working Committee (NWC) was given a mandate to deploy ANC cadres to all state institutions, including the judiciary, the public service, local government administration, statutory bodies, parastatals, the security forces, the central bank and the public broadcaster.

In any constitutional democracy, it is essential that all these institutions are politically independent, not mere extensions of the ruling party. If this principle is not observed, power abuse, corruption and criminalisation of the state become inevitable. Cadre deployment (or cronyism) is the primary cause of the "failed state syndrome" so tragically prevalent on our continent. Its ultimate outcome is Zimbabwe.

The ANC's 1997 resolution set South Africa on the road towards the failed state. It also destroyed any claim the ANC may once have had to democratic credentials. The ANC resolved to establish structures to ensure that its "deployees" remained "informed by and accountable to" the ANC. Cadres "in whatever sphere of state or society" were bound to defend and implement the will of the ANC leadership with "maximum political discipline". In other words, state officials were instructed to implement ANC decisions rather than fulfil their obligations under the Constitution. If they acted independently, they would be fired (as Vusi Pikoli, the former National Director of Public Prosecutions, learnt when he refused to drop the charges against Jacob Zuma). The crucial concept of the separation of party and state died when that 1997 resolution was adopted. Without that foundation, we cannot call ourselves a constitutional democracy, even though our Constitution, on paper, has been called "one of the best in the world".

While the ANC has failed to deliver services, it certainly has succeeded in its plan to turn institutions of the state into extensions of itself. Political loyalty determines "deployment" and promotion, not effective performance. And this is one of the key reasons why the ANC is failing at every level of governance.

It is also the key reason why the internal power battles in the ANC are so intense. Whoever is elected to lead the ANC has unsurpassed control firstly, over those constitutional institutions designed to limit the ruling party's power, and, secondly, to create a patronage network of loyal acolytes to entrench power and reap the spoils of office.

The real purpose of cadre deployment went undetected for a long time because it was disguised by the fig-leaf of affirmative action. Now, most people see it for what it is: a means to centralise power and control, erode the distinction between party and state, accrue wealth often by corrupt means, destroy political opponents, and subvert the Constitution. This is the tragic cycle of the failed state: cronyism, corruption, criminalisation.

Cadre deployment is the reason why the contest between the Mbeki and Zuma was so fierce in the run-up to Polokwane, and why Mbeki apparently abused state institutions to fight his political opponents.

Polokwane was a do-or-die battle for both Zuma and Mbeki: Zuma knew that if he lost the presidential race, he wouldn't be able to abuse his power (and use his deployed cadres) to avoid going on trial for corruption. If Mbeki lost, he knew that the power abuse and corruption of a range of other government leaders would be exposed.

State institutions became tools in an internal party conflict between Mbeki and Zuma. The deployed cadres who lead them were used to fight battles on behalf of their political masters and persecute their political opponents.

That is what appears to have happened in the NPA. Apparently, the tapes in Zuma's possession (which he is reportedly using to blackmail the NPA) reveal that Mbeki loyalists like the former head of the Scorpions, Leonard McCarthy, and the former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, were central to the political machinations against Zuma. Should these tapes be played in open court, they will apparently demonstrate that the NPA was nothing more than an extension of the Thabo Mbeki faction, acting on instruction to take out Zuma and destroy his reputation. This is what they set out to do.

McCarthy has since moved on, with a leg-up from Mbeki, to a lucrative post as head of the World Bank's anti-corruption unit. Ngcuka, whose wife Mbeki appointed Deputy President after he fired Zuma, has also since left the prosecuting authority. But their actions have apparently mired the NPA.

Although he too was a deployed cadre, Vusi Pikoli (the man appointed to succeed Ngcuka) managed to put his loyalty to the Constitution ahead of his loyalty to the ANC. He refused to take sides in the ANC's factional war, and he paid the ultimate price. Both the Mbeki and Zuma factions got rid of him when he refused to do their bidding. First President Mbeki suspended Pikoli because he issued an arrest warrant for Jackie Selebi (a close Mbeki ally) on corruption charges. Then President Motlanthe fired Pikoli because he refused to withdraw charges against Jacob Zuma. Other feeble excuses were given as the "official reason" but failing to follow a political instruction was the real reason.

The next step in the manipulation of state institutions was the premature and unlawful release from prison of Schabir Shaik (as part of a deal to prevent him giving evidence against Zuma). With the Scorpions disbanded, the Vusi Pikoli dismissed, and Schabir Shaik silenced, the case against Zuma could not last.

The final abuse of our Constitution to defend one man, will be when the NPA drops the charges. And you can be sure that if Zuma becomes President, he will deploy a compliant new National Director of Public Prosecutions to ensure that the charges are not reinstated. The fact that the President has the sole power to appoint the National Director of Public Prosecutions is a key weakness in our Constitution. This is why the DA has submitted a Private Members Bill to change the legislation that governs the appointment of the NPA head. If Zuma believes he was the victim of a conspiracy involving former President Mbeki and Bulelani Ngcuka, he should put his weight behind this Bill to ensure that this never happens again. But he won't do that because, for him, capturing the presidency is a way to ensure that his own cadres are deployed to key institutions of state to protect him.

If the NPA drops the charges either because there is evidence that demonstrates political motives behind Zuma's prosecution, or because Zuma has proof Mbeki and others benefited from the arms deal, then it will be complicit in a cover-up. Such a cover-up would seriously undermine the rule of law, the Constitution, and those institutions whose independence is guaranteed by the Constitution. It would greatly exacerbate the constitutional crisis.

The DA is not going to take this lying down. Last week, I made representations to the NPA in respect of the Zuma matter. This is not, as one analyst has said, because the DA is using legal means to a political end. This is not a witch-hunt against one man. If the NPA drops the charges because of a back-room deal with Zuma it will have ramifications for every South African. It will set a precedent that the powerful can escape justice simply because they hold power. This is why the DA will use every means at its disposal to stop any abuse of power in this matter.

History will show that the root cause of this constitutional crisis was cadre deployment. It is time for the Constitutional Court to evaluate this policy and declare it unconstitutional. That is the only way to prevent ANC manipulation of state institutions. It is the only way to spare the rest from the paralysis which has gripped the NPA. And it is the only way to restore the rule of law in South Africa.

For that reason, I am currently seeking legal advice, and I intend approaching the Constitutional Court with a view to having cadre deployment declared unlawful and unconstitutional. I believe that this is the only way to get us out of the quicksand, and get the wheels of justice turning again.

This is the text of a speech prepared for delivery by Democratic Alliance leader, Helen Zille, at Kelvin Grove, Cape Town, April 1 2009

Taken from Politicsweb here!

Proud of what?

Found this little gem on the ANC website:

"Any government, which has achieved what the ANC has delivered over this short space of time, should be proud of its record, and we are indeed proud of the work we have done"

...excerpt from bra stortkop Zuma's speech to black businessmen.

(Would you be proud?)

Pardon me while I take sea sick tablets....

Ruination by degrees

It is difficult to comprehend calls from left wing quarters such as the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the SA Communist Party (SACP) for aggressive public spending which will lead inexorably to hefty budget deficits in the 4%-5% range from current modest surpluses of some 0,6%.

This is being called for in the face of a deficit on our current account of some 9% requiring a weekly input of R2,5 billion of foreign capital inflows.

That level of deficit would surely suggest prudence in these uncertain times for the world economy.

But there is more to the madness of the left than just views which presage destruction of the currency, an upsurge in inflation, a collapse of foreign confidence followed by rising unemployment, unrest and a vicious spiral down the Zimbabwe path.

What is amazing is that seemingly intelligent men and women, and there are some on the left, do not see what is before their eyes: this government, together with its provincial and city subsidiaries, cannot get the job done no matter how much money it raises.

One is reminded of the old one about Paddy appearing before a bankruptcy hearing in Dublin. The judge noted that a couple of years before Paddy had won 8m euros in the sweepstakes. What happened to all that, asked the judge. “Well, your honour,” replied Paddy, “two million went on the horses, two on drink, two on women and the rest I squandered.”

There is plenty of money. Some 25% of the population exists on state handouts. Many departments cannot spend allocations and when they do they do so inefficiently, usually without accounting records. Our civil service is riven with corruption so large slices are simply stolen.

Much is innocently wasted by “cadres” who simply don’t have the ability to perform the tasks allotted them. The incompetence of this government and its various arms is legendary.

“Capacity” – in ANC speak - is just not there. Throwing money at this problem only compounds it.

Think about Rudy Giuliani’s “broken window” policy in New York in which the police took vigorous action on small matters resulting in a dramatic drop in crime. Here we buy sophisticated instruments of war which we can’t run or maintain but we can’t paint the signs and lines on our streets.

While that ridiculous little hot- house plant, Thabo Mbeki, charges about Africa in his luxury jet, all the zebra crossings, all the stop and yield signs, all the dotted dividing lines, all the warning lines on speed bumps, all the directional arrows and so on are fading away in every street in every city in the country.

This poses a growing danger to all who use our roads, including children. And what is done about it? Sweet bugger all, because we are too busy building the Gautrain. That is how ruin starts.

Think about the jobs that would be created by a campaign by municipalities to paint the roads? Surely, at least, we want to look decent for 2010?

When those who receive miserable if any returns on their high and rising rates, seek to complain about this lazy, sloppy, indolent neglect of a basic responsibility of city officials they are met with arrogance and contempt, in the unlikely event that someone answers the phone.

Inflation figures inflated

I’ve picked on Stats SA over the past days because of one reason. They are morons.

The SA gubbermunt relies on the figures those buffoons tally up with their fingers and toes to determine when to raise/drop interest rates, what our spending habits are, what the rate of inflation is plus a lot of determining factors that go into decision making that affects you and me in the pocket.

It is the blind leading the blind.

It is because of Stats SA that interest rates have been raised 5 big ones in the last year or so.

Now it turns out, Stats SA has had it wrong all along – working on figures TWO YEARS late. Our inflation rate is actually 2.2% lower!

See what I mean? This is baseball to the knee-caps time.

-----

A two-year delay by Statistics South Africa to implement rebasing and reweighting of the consumer price index basket has resulted in inflated data, Investec Asset Management said on Tuesday.

Data from Stats S.A. shows that the main CPIX consumer inflation gauge has persisted above the top end of the central bank's 3-6 percent target band since April 2007, accelerating to a 5-1/2 year high of 10.9 percent year-on-year in May.

The Reserve Bank has cited soaring food and energy prices as the main drivers of inflation.

"Calculations by Investec Asset Management have shown that the real inflation rate in the economy is probably far lower than the official inflation number," Investec said in a statement.

"Official CPIX for May was 10.9 percent, but had the numbers been rebased and reweighted last year as they should have been, our calculations show actual CPIX of 8.7 percent," said Andre Roux, head of fixed income at Investec Asset Management.

Earlier this month, Stats S.A. said the consumer price inflation basket would change from 2009, with the weighting for food falling and transport increasing to reflect changes in spending patterns.

The agency said the new weights would be effective with the January 2009 consumer inflation release and were based on the 2005/2006 Income and Expenditure survey released in March, which showed that transport was the fastest growing spending category for South African households.

The survey showed that expenditure on food had declined proportionately since 2000, largely due to increasing wealth. Investec's Roux said the official rate of inflation would peak in September "in the order of 13 percent" once the impact of this year's electricity tariff adjustments was incorporated.

South Africa's national energy regulator has allowed state power utility Eskom to raise tariffs by a total of 27.5 percent for 2008/2009. The utility had requested a 53 percent increase to help it cope with a power crisis.

The central bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) has increased interest rates by a total of 500 basis points since June 2006 as it battles against inflation.

It has raised rates by 100 basis points this year.

"There is no question that monetary policy has been based on the official published inflation rate.

Rate increases this year would have been less likely had the MPC been aware that the real inflation number in South Africa was significantly lower," Roux said.

"Monetary policy going forward should be based on the true inflation rate. They should not wait until January for the new official numbers."

Mandela: Man of Peace?

“I’ve been singing happy birthday to Mandela for 30 years and quite frankly, I’m tired. Of course he helped a lot of people, but after that it’s all about him, him, him,” — Hugh Masekela

City Press has reported how these utterances have shocked the nation, but I am not one of those purported to be shocked.

I acknowledge the contribution that the man himself has made to the liberation struggle, but we all know there are many who endured the same torments, persecution and imprisonment for the ideals for which they were prepared to die.

He has been hoisted to a certain saintly pedestal that is supposed to exonerate him from even justified criticism.

We have witnessed how, during the power failures, a certain newspaper published photographs of government officials who were behind the decision to ignore the recommendations to build more power stations. His photograph was conspicuously absent from those published. Surprising, as he was president of the republic at the time.

There appeared to be a deliberate move to shield him from any blame; not surprisingly, Thabo Mbeki again shouldered all the blame. Quiet some mischief at work there, may I add. We have given the man too much credit while we ignore others such as Oliver Tambo, Mbeki, Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Kathadra who equally sacrificed much in order that we are all here today.

Hugh Masekela, now that he had the courage to speak his mind, was reported to be disrespectful of the old man.

It is troubling that while we have freedom of speech enshrined in the Constitution, there are those who seek to impose their will on the rest of us to make us all sing from the same hymn book.

It appears there are those who should not be subjected to any form of criticism or any opinion expressed about their conduct. One of those people is Jacob Zuma.

You suddenly become a counter-revolutionary when you express your disgust at his conduct or views.

Masekela has every right to choose whom he wants to praise, and when. We cannot expect that because the majority holds Nelson Mandela in high regard — some naively — that everyone else should subscribe to our regard of the man.

I certainly do not recall the nation going bonkers over Govan Mbeki or Walter Sisulu’s birthday.
Masekela’s contribution to the liberation struggle is well documented; to chastise him because he had the balls to express his honest views is a bit disingenuous.

Mantashe’s revolution talk is revolting

Somebody tell this Mantashe fool that communism is so last year.

While you are at it, remind him that the new dispensation in South Africa was a negotiated one, no war, no 'la revolucion', no forced takeover.

A sell-out by the Nats, yes, but no revolution. They do so get carried away, don't they?

- - - - -

The accusation levelled by the revolutionary secretary-general of the ANC at the top Constitutional Court judges — “ANC’s war on Judges”— for being part of the “counter-revolutionary forces” is rich in the lather of cow dung.

But such an attack is not surprising; it comes from a communist comrade, and communists throughout history are known to be the enemies of constitutionalism.

Gwede Mantashe, like his communist co-hosts, worships “revolution” more than constitutional order.

However, Mantashe clearly does not understand that there can be no “revolution” in a constitutional dispensation, and vice versa.

Coexistence between the two is impossible. Even in a paper such as that espoused by Mantashe and company, where it exists constitutionalism exits. The two are mutually exclusive.

But what does Mantashe mean by “revolutionary”?

Two weeks ago I happened to have driven to Nasrec where the ANC Youth League was holding its conference. A number of youth leaguers had requested me to bring them some food. They were starving because they had not eaten since they had left home a few days back.

When I arrived there, it was as if I had come to a German motor show — so many of these bourgeois ANC youth leaguers were driving the latest models of Audis, Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs.

Only a Julius Malema or some lookalike drove an equally expensive Lexus.

These young bourgeois materialists are what Mantashe would call revolutionaries.

Mantashe said that the ANC’s attack on Chief Justice Pius Langa and his deputy, Judge Dikgang Moseneke, was because they are involved in a “psychological preparation of society for their (the judges) pouncing”.

But the same argument could easily be labelled against Mantashe and company. We can easily conclude that the Mantashe revolutionaries are seeking to “psychologically prepare society” that in the event either Jacob Zuma or Judge John Hlophe are implicated in some extra-judicial or nefarious activities, the Mantashe brigade would say: “Ah! Didn’t we tell you so that these judges are out to pounce ... and get their pound of flesh ... (or in ANC lingua franca, pint of blood)”?

Why would the Constitutional Court judges want to destroy ANC President Jacob Zuma and the ANC? There is no clear reason emanating from Luthuli House.

— Professor Themba Sono

ANC and Mbeki regime: Enemies of the poor

The Eastern Cape is one of our most beautiful provinces. It is a place where many struggle luminaries — Madiba, Chris Hani, Walter Sisulu, Steve Biko, Oliver Tambo — were born and spent their formative years.

Fourteen years after the dawn of democracy, it remains one of our poorest provinces, wracked by Aids and woefully underdeveloped.

Little has changed in the years since the Transkei and Ciskei homelands were dissolved: the economy in rural areas is stagnant, forcing thousands of people to go to Cape Town and other urban centres in the hope of employment.

Infrastructure is creaky, while many schools and hospitals suffer from a severe lack of resources.

Now the explosive Pillay commission report has been leaked, revealing in chilling detail the pillaging of resources that were supposed to be utilised to aid the poor.

R200-million was pocketed by party fat cats including our Minister of Sport, the former premier Makhenkesi Stofile.

The provincial minister of economic affairs and finance at the time, Enoch Godongwana, and the CE of the Eastern Cape Development Corporation, Mcebisi Jonas, are also implicated.

A further R250-million has disappeared, unaccounted for.

The Daily Dispatch phrases things perfectly in its editorial on the day it published the report:

It is a document that makes for appalling reading because it illustrates the innate disrespect with which elected officials held the poor of this province by reallocating funds intended to uplift the poor.

The Pillay commission report was passed from the now-fired Premier Nosimo Balindlela to President Thabo Mbeki more than a year ago.

No action has been taken, and the report has not even been officially released — it has only seen the light of day thanks to a leak to the Daily Dispatch.

What does this mean? That Mbeki was covering for Stofile and his criminal cronies?

Or is Balindlela fibbing when she says she passed on the report? Either is plausible, especially in the light of the Presidency’s prevarication over Jackie Selebi.

By refusing to take action on the rampant corruption in its midst, the ANC is effectively condoning the behaviour of politicians whose unscrupulous, criminal behaviour reveal a callous indifference to the future of impoverished South Africans.

Millions of South Africans were oppressed and denied the opportunities for socioeconomic emancipation by the previous regime.

This is a trend that, for the greater part, the ANC has failed to reverse.

Instead, certain of the movement’s members — as illustrated by the Pillay commission’s findings — have been using the public purse to accrue illicit wealth with impunity.

This is stealing, and — indicative of our ruling party’s moral bankruptcy — it seems that such criminality will go unpunished.

Is it any wonder that we have an endemic crime problem when there are those in power who are crooks?

These criminals are enemies of the poor. Hani and Biko and the many others who sacrificed their lives fighting for a better life for all must be turning in their graves.

State of our nation

Bear in mind that these figures come from that old 'reliable' source "speak out of my arse" Stats SA - so take the figures with a bucket of salt - even though the figures are still quite dismal.

What these figures don't tell you is the quality of life and services.

If 'housing' includes sticking a family of ten in a matchbox house the size of a double garage that starts to fall apart after a year, yeah, then those people have been 'housed'.

If supplying water and electricity means giving them water that contains cholera, blood worms and faeces, then yeah, they have water. I won't talk about electricity.

And how long can these 'services' be maintained if only two-thirds of the people pay for them?

I know, as long as YOU, the honest taxpayer, Mr Sucker, continue to shut up and put up.

- - - - -

Most of us do not get to Matric, a quarter of us are jobless, and most of us depend on the government for health services.

This is according to the General Household Survey for 2007. The survey has been conducted annually since 2002.

EDUCATION
The number of people who completed Grade 12 (Matric/NSC) increased to 23.6% (from 22.1%).

Statistics SA said the percentage of individuals attending an educational institution increased slightly - to 33.7% (from 32.6%) between 2002 and 2007.

The percentage of children aged 0-4 years attending an educational institution increased to 16.6% in 2007 (from 7.6% in 2002).

The percentage of 5-year-olds attending educational institutions increased to 60.4% in 2007 (from 40.1% in 2002), whilst the percentage of learners in the six-year age group increased to 87.7% (from 70%), Stats SA said.

The percentage of individuals with no education (aged 20 and above) decreased to 9.3% (from 11.8%).

Among persons aged 7-24 years, the most common reason for not attending an educational institution remained lack of money for fees.

THE JOB MARKET
The number of employed individuals increased from 11,145,000 in July 2002 to 12,720,000 (12.7 million) in July 2007.

There was a small increase during the same time period, from 39.2% to 41.9%, in the labour absorption rates.

In July 2007 the unemployment rate of 24.8% was 3.8 percentage points lower than in July 2006 and 0.7 percentage points lower than the unemployment rate measured with the Labour Force Survey of March 2007. (*cough* bullshit..24.8% unemployment..? Yeah, right)

The percentage of “more skilled” personnel employed in manufacturing decreased from 18.9% to 16.6% since 2002.

The trade sector experienced the biggest growth in the percentage of ”more skilled’ employees, from 12.7% in 2002 to 17.7% in 2007.

A total of 163,000 people older than 65 were employed. They mainly worked in the services industry (22%), trade (18.4%) and agriculture (19%).

HEALTH SERVICES
Medical Aid coverage is lowest amongst blacks, with only 7.4% of individuals covered, and highest in the white population, with a 66.5% coverage.

In the general population, 79.7% of those who were ill or injured consulted a health worker.

More individuals who used public sector health care facilities were satisfied with the service they received in 2007 (87.6%) than in 2006 (84.2%) and in 2002 (81.6%). (nearly 90% of people happy with public health facilities...?! Have you been to one of those cesspits lately?)

In the private sector, satisfaction levels increased slightly from 95.35% to 96.5% between 2002 and 2007.

ACCESS TO WATER
The Eastern Cape has the lowest percentage of the population with access to on-site or off-site piped or tap water (at 72.8%). “In spite of this the Eastern Cape has made considerable progress since 2002 when only 55% of the population had access,” Stats SA said.

Improvements were also noticeable in KwaZulu-Natal where access increased to 83.8% (from 75%), and Limpopo at 83.4% (from 73.5%). Of those who received piped water from a municipality, 63.5% last year said they paid for the water.

Reasons for not paying include: No metering system (38.7%), no billing system (25%), cannot afford it (22%) and a belief that water should be free (20%).

In spite of the positive ratings of water services, nearly a quarter of water users (24.4%) said last year that they had experienced interruptions in their piped water supply at least once a month or more often.

Water service interruptions were the most common in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and North West.

HOUSING
The ownership of traditional houses increased slightly to 91.4% (from 90.5% in 2002), whilst the ownership of formal separate dwellings increased to 69.8% in 2007 (from 63.4% five years ago).

GRAPHS
In numbers, from Stats SA Percentage of households living in formal separate, informal and traditional housing types who own their dwellings.

Poll Results: Reasons for emigrating

The option “Other” attracted 1 vote out of 71.

The fact that 99% of people would leave because of bad ANC policies and governance - which have resulted in rampant crime and corruption - topped with a huge dollop of reverse apartheid that makes millions of people second-class citizens in their own country (with no hope of seeing that status ended) is a sad indictment on the “rainbow nation”.

A rainbow that is comprised primarily of the colour black – black racism, black outlook, black crime.

If this poll had been taken in say, Australia or the US, I am willing to bet that the option “Other” would be 99%. We are heading in the wrong direction.

Gravy train on track

More than R300-bn worth of BEE deals since 1994

Over the past 3 years alone R270 billion of tax revenue was used to fund BEE deals. And poverty levels have increased since 1994.

Many others set to score from Zuma’s term in office.

New members of ANC NEC in line for pieces of empowerment action.

Now that the ANC’s old guard has fallen from favour within the party, corporate South Africa has its sights set on a new breed of politicians in business.

Nearly a third of the members of the ruling party’s highest decision-making body are directors of empowerment companies worth billions.

Business Times has established that the ANC’s 87-member national executive committee includes 28 individuals who have interests in more than 69 companies.

Their interests range from property development, financial services, petroleum and mining to weapons manufacturing.

It is highly unlikely that the estimated R80-billion worth of empowerment deals due to be concluded this year will go to the “usual suspects”.

“If you consider that government is the biggest corporate in South Africa, generating about 40% of the economy’s total expenditure, it makes sense that companies want a slice of that pie.”

Among the deals that have benefited individuals on the ANC’s current NEC is that of Bonfiglioli SA, a supplier of industrial and mining gear. In May, the company finalised the sale of a 25% stake, worth about R80-million, in Bonfiglioli SA to Lehotsa Investments, headed by new NEC member Thabadiawa “Thaba” Mufamadi.

Mufamadi is a director of four other companies, including mining and investment company Lehotsa Holdings.

Empowerment analysts predict that more ANC leaders will rise to join Tokyo Sexwale, Cyril Ramaphosa, Max Sisulu and Valli Moosa — serial empowerment deal-makers who through various consortiums have raked in more than R2-billion worth of deals since being elected onto the ANC’s NEC in 1994.

More than R300-billion worth of empowerment transactions have been concluded since 1994, with mounting criticism that the “usual suspects” or politically connected people benefit disproportionately from them.

On Friday, ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa, who boasts a vast business and empowerment portfolio, said: “NEC members, like any South Africans, have a right to participate in business. It’s their constitutional right.”

Phosa, who has interests in more than five companies, including Vuka Forestry Holding, which acquired part of a R260-million empowerment stake in lumber product manufacturer Hans Merensky last year, asked: “Why should anyone prescribe to members of the NEC that they cannot participate in business... let’s be fair, why should some citizens have less rights?”

When asked in an interview in October 2004 whether BEE was being implemented correctly, Phosa said: “We should start with our staff, with our workers, we should look at issues of gender, NGOs, the disabled people. We should not focus on a few individuals.”

Even the party’s president, Jacob Zuma, while fighting off criminal prosecution, is listed on company registers as one of four directors of Amaqhawe Wase Africa Petroleum, a company registered in 2005 and intended to house oil concessions from Angola.

Former chief of the SA National Defence Force, Siphiwe Nyanda, heads Ngwane Defence Group, a defence company founded by Fana Hlongwane, who has been implicated in the arms deal scandal. The company has bid for lucrative government contracts.

Nyanda, also a shareholder and director of Ivema (Pty) Ltd, which designs, develops and produces vehicles required for military and public security, made a presentation to the defence portfolio committee last year on the need for the state to “harness” local technology in the defence industry, as opposed to outsourcing to foreign companies.

Bheki Cele, KwaZulu-Natal’s transport MEC and eThekwini ANC chairman, is a director of Cracin Property Development.

Enoch Godongwana, former Eastern Cape economic affairs MEC and current head of the Financial Sector Charter Council, who this week was named in a damning report on corruption in the Eastern Cape, is a director in 17 companies.

Godongwana’s wife, Thandiwe, has allegedly secured state tenders worth R15.7-million and is listed as a director of more than 20 entities.

Many current ANC NEC members stand to benefit indirectly from empowerment through their spouses.

NEC member and SACP deputy chairman Ncumisa Kondlo was last year embroiled in controversy after it emerged that her late husband, Thobile Mtwazi, had substantial interests in a company called Africa Strategic Asset Protection, which was awarded a R32-million contract to provide security to parliament.

Her colleague on the NEC, Education Minister Naledi Pandor’s husband Sharif Pandor, is a shareholder and director of more than 26 businesses.

Apart from politicians, businessmen set to score from Zuma’s term in office include Durban’s Don Mkhwanazi and Vivian Reddy, along with low-key billionaire Robert Gumede and Sandile Zungu.

Described in some circles as Zuma’s financial backers, these men bankrolled the party president’s international trips, organised meetings with captains of industry, and oversaw the funding of his lifestyle in the build- up to the ANC conference in Polokwane.