Africa News blog
African business, politics and lifestyle
“Kill the Boer”: History or hate speech?
The African National Congress has defended the singing of an apartheid-era song with the words “Kill the Farmer, Kill the Boer”, saying it is no incitement to violence but a way of ensuring a history of oppression is not forgotten.
That does little to assuage the concerns of the white minority, however, in a country branded the “Rainbow Nation” after the relatively peaceful end to apartheid 16 years ago and the government’s message of “unity in diversity”.
The singing of the song by the ANC’s firebrand youth leader Julius Malema recently has strained race relations. Afrikaner farmers feel particular offence, pointing out that 3,000 white farmers have been killed since the first democratic elections in 1994.
A regional high court ruled last week that the song amounted to hate speech.
The concerns of minorities were further fuelled by fact that students at two of South Africa’s top universities enthusiastically joined in singing the song with Malema. ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said he had sung the song at rugby matches.
Malema articulates the anger of many in the black majority at the relative prosperity of most whites and their influence over the economy while millions of black South Africans are marginalised and live in poverty.
South Africa prides itself on having one of the most progressive constitutions in the world and entrenches free speech which was barred under apartheid. But it also depends on harmony between its various groups.
Does Zuma’s polygamy matter?
During the run-up to South Africa’s election last year, there were plenty of jibes about which of Jacob Zuma’s wives would become first lady once he was president.
But Zuma’s local critics largely kept silent this week as he married for the fifth time, taking his third current wife. While outside the country, his polygamy was very much still a talking point, in South Africa the wedding was treated more as being a colourful society event than being controversial.
His new wife was not that new – she is already the mother of three of Zuma’s 19 children and already attends official functions – but the president is also engaged to another woman and there is no indication that will be the last wife.
In the past, critics suggested Zuma, 68, was portraying the wrong image through multiple marriages. Local AIDS activists had said that having several partners sent a poor message in a country with the world’s highest HIV caseload. Some South Africans had argued that polygamy did not fit well with a modern society. Some questioned how he could keep such a large household on a state salary.
But Zuma’s respect for tradition endears him to many rural South Africans. Even in the leafy suburbs, the middle classes have increasingly taken to a president who has so far maintained stable policies and they are not bothered by the number of his marriages – a right enshrined in South Africa’s constitution.
South Africa’s first polygamist president says that instead of hiding his mistresses and illegitimate children like politicians who pretend to be monogamous, he has honoured the women in his life by marrying them.
What do you think?
Polygamy is illegal in the US, so I do not have to worry about a future presidential candidate delving into such a practice. However, as far as political leaders having mistresses, numerous flings, homosexual relationships – I could care less. The main thing I care about is if the job is getting done. With Jacob Zuma (or JZ as someone from a previous post commented – not to be confused with the rapper Jay-Z), will he get the job done?
I don’t think that polygamy has necessarily ruined his international public image, I’m sure many people were taken aback from a potential (at the time reports surfaced) presidential candidate over one of the most stabilized countries in Africa saying that although he had unprotected sex with a woman that was HIV positive, he showered to ward off any possible infection. It isn’t that I think polygamy is immoral, that’s a personal judgment call, but for a man that wants to help bring AIDs awareness and better healthcare to the country, why would I or anyone else expect him to remotely be able to accomplish that much less handling a financial crisis that might take even more intelligence?
So, what has he done thus far? Zuma campaigned on the platform that he would create 4 million jobs by 2014, providing quality healthcare while ending corruption and crime. Tall order. This from someone who has – as a previous poster noted – been called up on corruption charges (although not found guilty, wasn’t found innocent either). He promised to reduce the 25% unemployment rate, but was unable to create the promised 500,000 jobs for 2009.
The country is getting prepared for the World Cup, but there are still several obstacles that need to be handled – such as the power crisis. In addition, Zuma faces his own political party’s deteriorating internal structure with arguments running rampant among members.
I want to congratulate JZ on his fifth wedding – I’m sure the residents of the country (that goes for supporters as well as non-supporters of polygamy) loved footing the bill for yet another wedding. Long live polygamy!
Support slumps for rival to South Africa’s ANC
It would be hard for the leaders of South Africa’s COPE party to put a positive spin on its latest poll rating of just over 2 percent. If the breakaway group from the African National Congress gave the ANC a bit of a jolt before elections in April, the ruling party doesn’t seem to have much to worry about from that quarter now.
In terms of electoral success, it hasn’t been a good year for parties trying to challenge the former liberation movements that run most of southern Africa.
In Namibia, a breakaway group from the ruling SWAPO party emerged as the main opposition, but still only won just over 11 percent of the vote and complained of foul play. In Mozambique, Frelimo won another resounding victory, beating both old rival Renamo and the new MDM – which complained at the barring of some of its candidates.
Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos signalled to his MPLA party that he would wait another three years before a presidential election he is almost certain to win.
The picture is somewhat different in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe was forced into a power sharing deal with rival Morgan Tsvangirai, a former union leader, but even there the one-time guerrilla told his ZANU-PF recently to stop bickering and mobilise to win ‘uncontested victory’ in the next election.
There is a big difference between South Africa and some of its neighbours in that nobody is challenging the fairness of the electoral system.
But the same question arises here as elsewhere as to when, if ever, opposition parties might be able to seriously challenge the hold of the movements that came to power through their victories over colonial or minority rule.
A year ago, I, together with the collective I worked with in the Motheo Region of the Congress of the People hosted multitudes in our city of Bloemfontein. They were all joining COPE hoping it would live up to our expectations of a party that would liberate us from the clutches of a party I had loved so much for a quarter of a century. This party (ANC) was riddled with opportunistic tendencies and the disciplinary code of the party was being used to purge any members who were suspected of dissent. Unfortunately COPE became an extension of the battles which were waged in the ANC thus the resignation immediately after the inaugural conference of the conference organiser, Mr. Lucky Thekisho. I have since then also left the Congress of the People and I am not surprised about the 2% as it is proof that people would never opt for an imitation. The ANC will continue to have my support now that Julius Malema is bringing back that robustness in engagement which some of us grew under!
What is COSATU fighting for?
South Africa’s largest trade union federation was quick to break into stirring songs of class struggle during its recent congress and COSATU members showed an impressive ability to sign along in unison.
But the question of what it is fighting for these days and its role in the ruling tripartite alliance with the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party has never been under such great scrutiny as it has since President Jacob Zuma took office in May.
Zuma’s struggle for power would have been much harder to win – perhaps even impossible – without the support of the unions and he was happy to take centre stage at the COSATU conference in a bright red Mao-style suit.
But while ever ready to promise support for fighting poverty, Zuma has shown scant sign of agreeing to union demands for everything from big increases in spending to the nationalisation of the central bank.
Unions are now preparing to do battle over the fate of Trevor Manuel, who won the respect of markets as finance minister for policies that unions see as too pro-business and who now heads a planning commission in the presidency.
As well having little love for Manuel, unions feel his role is undermining one of their own in the government – Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel.
But the argument highlights the difficulty for COSATU of being both within a broad government it helped bring to power and trying to then pressure that government for changes in the name of a working class struggle.
My name is Pamela Mboniso. Im working at a construction company.I want to knwow what does cosatu do for people who need assistance. I tried the BIBC but no one could assist this man.He has been working for this company since 1991 but now they just decided not to give him his pay sheet and give him money in an envelope. He reported this matter 2 months back at the BIBC and they make him run around like a fool.He has been going there but still no change its worse because he is their member he has his memeber card. Now I want to know what should this old man do? He is human and has rights as a white man.He has a family that he has to feed but how he feed his family when he is not paid his full salary. Why do we have unions if they cant stand for us?Why do you call this country a democratical country if some people are special more than others just because they are white and have more money?
Thanks,
Pamela Mboniso
South Africa’s unions flex their muscles
After South Africa’s unions came close to blocking the listing of mobile phone group Vodacom, new President Jacob Zuma may want to keep a closer eye on his left wing allies.
The attempt to sink the $10 billion bourse debut of Vodacom, which went ahead on Monday after an 11th-hour court ruling, hurt the rand currency and revived investor concerns over Zuma.
There was no doubt the bid had undermined Zuma’s strenuous efforts before last month’s election to assure business and investors that there would be no policy shift towards his left wing allies once he took office.
Lawyers for the government opposed union federation COSATU’s attempt to stop the listing in court and made clear the Zuma administration stood by what had been agreed already.
But investors still want reassurance from Zuma that other deals would not face similar challenges by his allies.
COSATU, which has 1.8 million paid-up members in the country of nearly 50 million, said it was angry and disappointed at the court allowing the listing to go ahead and called on South Africans to boycott Vodacom.
But by taking a strong stance on the Vodacom listing, the labour federation may be positioning itself to play a bigger role and could intensify its protest action against other businesses.
Good decision by President Zuma, hope he continues backing the businesses.
Holding President Zuma accountable
Making sure South Africans hold their new government accountable is essential if the country is to succeed under Jacob Zuma, believes Mamphela Ramphele, an anti-apartheid activist and prominent South African businesswoman.
“We underestimated what it means to govern a modern democracy,” she told Reuters. “In that context we have made many mistakes. The first mistake was to conflate the leader, the party, the government and the state. That conflation leads to the undermining of state institutions … and abuse of state resources for party political reasons.”
Ramphele, a doctor and former World Bank official, is among a group of professionals who helped draft three potential scenarios for the country into 2020.
There is a healthy one, of course, in which the government works with business and civil society and is held accountable for its actions and service delivery. After that is one in which the African National Congress government takes a strong role with little opposition – it leads to authoritarian rule. The worst case scenario points to corruption and decay.
Key to success under incoming President Zuma, she believes, is accountability.
“We need to keep the pressure, not pressure to oppose them, but pressure to support, encourage and hold them accountable to deliver on the promises of their election campaigns,” she said.
Although full of complements for Zuma and his abilities, Ramphele also sees positive aspects in the emergence of COPE, the opposition party formed by breakaway ANC members before the election.
Ms Ramphele is absolutely right the key to South Africa’s future is in holding the country’s leaders accountable. SA has definitely done a world better than most other African countries; even then, SA will only get 6 out of 10. President Jacob Zuma, his democratic credentials are nothing compared to those of Mandela, will undermine the country’s democratic institution for his own political gains given half a chance.
Zuma sweeps in
It was South Africa’s most exciting election campaign for a long time, enlivened by the split in the African National Congress and the personality of Jacob Zuma, the man who is now pretty much assured of becoming president despite the best efforts of plenty of people within his party as well as the opposition.
So far, the results don’t look too different from the pre-poll forecasts. An ANC victory was never in doubt and the battle was as much as anything about whether the party could keep its two-thirds majority in parliament, which lets it change the constitution and further entrench its power. That was still in doubt after early figures.
There was not much good news for the Congress of the People (COPE), formed by loyalists of ousted former President Thabo Mbeki. With only about eight percent of the vote so far, the question may be as much whether it survives as whether it can supplant the Democratic Alliance as the main opposition.
The DA seemed to have done fairly well with its “Stop Zuma” campaign, at least in its Western Cape stronghold, but there was no sign of it making inroads among the black majority.
Whatever losses the ANC had made to COPE and the DA, it seemed to have made some of them up in KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma’s Zulu heartland, where it battered the once locally dominant Inkatha Freedom Party.
It certainly looks as though Zuma’s support was not affected by the fact the corruption charges against him were dismissed on a technicality rather than after a trial.
How well placed will he now be to deliver the change that many South Africans say they want on fighting crime, poverty, corruption and AIDS? Will COPE survive or might its supporters start to drift back to the ANC? Will the opposition ever really be able to challenge the ANC?
I am frightened of the future where a populist strong man with much to hide is elected by a population more driven by loyalty thatn morality and ethics. The slippery slope begins………..
Will Mandela effect help ANC?
Nelson Mandela, a global symbol of reconciliation after the end of apartheid in 1994, appeared at the ruling ANC’s last election rally before Wednesday’s vote, delivering a last minute campaign boost for party leader Jacob Zuma.
Wearing a Zuma t-shirt, he sat beside the ANC leader, who has been fighting corruption allegations for eight years. The case was just dropped on a technicality and some South Africans still question his innocence.
It’s the second time Mandela has appeared at an ANC rally in the run up to the election, seen as the ANC’s toughest test since it came to power – it is still set to win by a big margin, but perhaps by not as big a margin as before.
After the first campaign appearance, some of the ANC’s foes suggested Mandela had been unfairly exploited and even that his health had been put at risk. But he certainly looked happy enough on Sunday – if as frail as might be expected for a 90 year-old.
Was Mandela’s appearance a desperate last attempt by the ANC to gather votes and divert attention from enduring troubles such as poverty, crime and AIDS?
Or was it just a sign of the faith that Mandela still has in Africa’s oldest liberation movement?
Fifteen years after the end of apartheid, is South Africa still seen a model of democracy on a continent where freedom is lacking? Or is it headed in the wrong direction?
A strong ruling party is a good thing but even more important is a strong opposition – which is a government in waiting!
Zuma: some views from abroad
Jacob Zuma is cruising towards the South African presidency and the main question now is the size of the ANC’s majority.
So what do people from other African countries think of the man who will take over the continent’s most powerful economy?
Reuters Africa Journal asked a few.
“South Africa is one of the biggest democracies that we have and I have got a lot of confidence in their election process and what I think about Zuma,” said Phaenius Mushayi from Harare.
“I think Zuma is a very integral leader. I mean he has been there in ANC and he has stood behind the people, he has stood for the people and a lot of people have confidence in him.”
Another resident of the Zimbabwean capital, Mbuso Makodza, took a less rosy view.
“I think the future of South Africa, for me, they have got a lot of challenges. Of course they have got the independence in terms of ruling, but in terms of the economy, the economy is still controlled by a lot of whites and I still believe the black man doesn’t have a say in the economy.
I will be surprised if Zuma turns to the very left during his mandate and it is not fair to say that he is negative about the foreign investment. People have sympathized with Zuma because they viewed his corruption case and his sacking from the government as a harsh punishment; it is within those lines that people voted for him. Furthermore in a country so structured such as this, there is no much to change than to have the right policies to respond to people and investors expectations.
Will South Africa’s poor always back ANC?
It’s one of the biggest ironies in South African politics — the most loyal ANC voters are often those the party appears to have let down most bitterly.
For millions of poor, mostly black South Africans, life has barely changed since the African National Congress defeated apartheid under Nelson Mandela in 1994.
Year after year, they wait for the new house, the job, the running water and electricity, the decent education for their children that the ANC has promised. For many, that never comes. Yet most will still vote for ANC and its leader Jacob Zuma in an election next week.
The poorest residents of Munsieville, a township on the edge of Johannesburg, illustrate the contradiction.
Unemployed and tired of living crammed into one-room shacks with no running water or electricity, they are quick to list the ways their government has failed them.
Hundreds share one water tap, which sits next to a stinking mound of rubbish where dirt-smudged children play and stray dogs scavenge for food. They dig pits for toilets.
Many say they have languished for years at the bottom of waiting lists for decent housing. They were left behind while others enjoyed a decade of continuous economic growth that created a burgeoning black middle class.
First, what is needed is South African politics is a credible opposition politics. Currently, all opposition political parties lack the credentials for stronger opposition and winning the previously disadvantaged majority. Second, race politics is still a very long way to go in South African political stage – it’s the way things are and will continue to be so for a good while until a ‘political miracle’ happens. Clearly, both 1 and 2 require some kind of a political school for all of us in South Africa.
Since the ANC has taken power why do they still have so much poverity in their cities.Another thing why do they kill the white Africanna farmers when they grow food for them.when the terrious blacks slaugher the white farmers and take their land,DO THEY REALLY GROW THE CROPS?IT takes much work to farm land?