The struggle against corruption

16 December is a Public Holiday in South Africa. It is the Day of Reconciliation. The reasons are numerous. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission held its first meeting on 16 December 1995. Before that Umkhonto we Sizwe ("Spear of the Nation" or MK), the armed wing of the ANC, began its first campaign on 16 December 1961. Afrikaners used to commemorate 16 December as the Day of the Vow also known as Day of the Covenant.  This has to do with the Voortrekker victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838. But today it is the Day of Reconciliation.

I would like to dedicate this blog post to one of our family’s dear friends, Mr Sekhopi Malebo. I met him in Sweden in 1981 before I left for South Africa, where I worked in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA) for one year. Sekhopi belongs to the very same church. He spent the same period in Sweden and coincidentally he attended the same training as my wife. That was in a folk high school and they studied pedagogy and Christian education.

When Sekhopi returned to South Africa he got even more involved in the struggle against apartheid. He was involved in the Constitution Assembly that led to the Constitution of the New Democratic South Africa. He became a member of parliament after 1994 and after that a Minister in the Free State. 

When we moved to South Africa in 2002 with our family, we lived in Bloemfontein, Mangaung, where Sekhopi and his family also lived. Our children were schooling together. We belonged to the same Lutheran Congregation in Batho. Many times, we have underscored how much the whole Malebo family meant to us during those years. Sekhopi is involved in the leadership of ELCSA both on Congregational, Diocesan and Church wide level.

You don’t find many photos of Sekhopi on the web, but this I borrow from the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Northern Germany. They also provide a good summary of who Sekhopi is. You find the link here.

Sekhopi is a person who carries the legacy after Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Right now, he is involved in a new struggle to fight the phenomenon named state capture. He is one of the organisers of a march to ANC headquarters at Luthuli House that took place some time ago. Mail and Guardian states that one person that is targeted is the Secretary General of the ANC, former Premier of the Free State, Ace Magashule. 

A few days ago Ace Magashule appeared before the ANC Integrity Commission. Magashule is facing 21 charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering from his time serving as Free State premier.

My wife and I cannot do much to support this struggle. But this is one way. We also keep Sekhopi and his family in our prayers as we understand that his part in this is pivotal. South Africa is our second home country. We really wish the rainbow people a just sharing of the wealth that this rich country has.

I know that we are many in Sweden who support this struggle in the same way as we supported the fight against apartheid. And I also know that there are many South Africans who wants this fight to succeed.

 

 

State-sponsored xenophobia?

'Fiela' is a seTswana and seSotho word which means 'to sweep'. I remember a song from Bloemfontein. A song sung in the context of a wedding. It is the women who sing it when the bride is supposed to sweep the house of the in-laws:

Fiela fiela fiela ngwanyana
fiela ngwanyana
o se jele matlakaleng

The meaning is:

Sweep, sweep, sweep, girl
Sweep, girl
Don't eat in a dirty home

South African authorities have launched ‘operation Fiela’. It has nothing to do with weddings. Its purpose is to find criminal elements. More especially criminal elements, who are not South African citizens.

It is rather contradictory. It has been said, that this operation is done to combat xenophobia. But migrants are the target of the operation. Yes, criminal migrants. But still.

The police force is trying to fight a battle on two fronts. They are still dealing with xenophobia and say on their website:

South Africans are encouraged not to make comments that incite violence against foreign nationals. “Our intelligence services continue to monitor cyberspace for comments that incite violence against foreign nationals. People making such comments must know we are coming for them …

But one can also read that:

Operation Fiela, which means “to sweep clean”, continues to enjoy great support from the public who have come forward with information about areas where crime is prevalent.

So far the operation has resulted in 889 arrests country wide. 745 people have been arrested for not having proper documentation, which means they have been in the country illegally.

The Telegraph writes about police raiding the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg, which has been, for many years, a sanctuary for refugees. I know that Church authorities have wanted to clear the premises from people living there, because they owe the municipality a lot of money, but so far people have not moved. The question now is if the Church has asked the police to come.

Riot police and soldiers bristling with weapons burst into the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg on Friday at 4am, where an estimated 1,000 foreigners, many of them seeking political asylum from Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, live.

It often happens early in the morning and with more force than necessary. Hence there are also critical voices:

Police raids accused of being ‘state-sponsored xenophobia’

This is what Times Live write.

The Mail and Guardian describes the President as ‘gatvol’ which is Afrikaans and means 'fed-up' and 'upset'. 

At the same time President Zuma sends his envoy, Minister Jeff Radebe, to Burundi, to ask President Nkurunzinza not to stand for a third term in the upcoming presidential elections. According to SABC.

When I listen to the news I understand that these issues belong together. Zuma wants other African leaders to solve improve, so that South Africa don’t getso many refugees.

So, how about Zuma himself? This weekend the DA is electing a new leader after Helen Zille. ENCA reports

34-year-old DA parliamentary Mmusi Maimane and former federal chairperson Wilmot James will battle it out for the position of Democratic Alliance leader.

Both candidates are the first black leaders to run for DA candidacy

Very few write about the gender aspect. Zille has been the opposition leader. Will South Africa go back to an all-male business?

Nevertheless it is probably good news that the DA gets a black leader. I miss Lindiwe Mazibuko, who was the DA group leader in parliament.

She was named South Africas most influential women in 2012. According to SA History Online.

As always, South Africa is an exciting place.

Freedom Day - for all?

A google doodle. That is the illustration google puts every day on its opening page. Today I saw a que of people lining up in front of a tent. I had to think twice and still couldn't figure out the meaning.

At first I did not see the South African flag.

So, I clicked and got the explanation. Of course: South Africa celebrates Freedom Day. 21 years after the first democratic election, when people lined up to cast the ballot  - most of them for the first time in their lives.

I must admit, that I saw something else. I saw refugees. Yesterday I passed a tent in Pietermaritzburg. I am not sure, but I think it is a tent where replaced ’foreign nationals’ (as the South African public discourse often names this group) have been offered a temporary place to stay.

The photo is bad. I took it from the car, while passing. 

When I saw laundry and a green toilet next to the tent,
I understood that people actually live there.

On the surface things are going back to normal in South Africa. The xenophobic violence seemingly has stopped. It has calmed down. But what is happening under the surface?

I read criticism about king Zwelithini, who served as a spark, when he made a statement which most people interpreted as pointing a finger to ’foreign nationals’. Mail and Guardian says that he is being given preferential treatment. The Sunday Independent calls him 'the Elephant in the room'.

The ANC admits that South Africa has a challenge. According to IOLNews, the party says:

This freedom day takes place during a difficult time when our nation is reeling from the violent actions of a minority that resulted in the people of our country being wrongfully labelled as xenophobic and hostile and intolerant of our brothers [sic] and citizens from the rest of the African continent

The statement continues:

We must use these tragic events as important lessons as we continue to build a South Africa that protects the rights of all those who live in it and as we balance the grievances of the South African population with the plight of immigrants from the continent and beyond

I hope that people in South Africa make use of this public holiday to revisit the ideolgical foundation for this young democracy, namely the preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996)

We, the people of South AfricaRecognise the injustices of our past;

Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;

Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country;

and Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.

We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to ­

Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;

Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;

Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and

Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.

May God protect our people.

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika. Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso.God seën Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa. Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika.

A luta continua - #XenophobiaMustFall

After being a guest in a radio show on Wednesday and having taken part in a march yesterday, I found myself in a prayer meeting an hour ago.

We started this morning at a wedding. One of my colleagues got married and quite a number of our faculty took part. One aspect, beside the wonderful thing of seeing two people in love with one another, was the conversation at our table. Professors, doctors and others were really engaging in the sharing of ideas around the situation in Swaziland as well as the present unrest in South Africa. Critical views on king Zwelithini and president Zuma were shared while we were enjoying the wedding cake. We hope that the king will have a different message at the imbizo that will take place on Monday, according to Mail and Guardian.

When we arrived we found an empty cross in front of the altar.

One of the colleagues mentioned that she was going to a prayer service at St. Alphege’s and we joined. It felt good and sad at the same time. People were sharing experiences and thoughts and I was especially touched when somebody, who was herself a migrant, came in front and thanked for the support. I mean, it is very sad when people need to do that. It should be natural for us as the children of God to live together in harmony and be inclusive to one another.

All were invited to stick pieces of paper with prayers to the cross.

During the short mid-day service we wrote prayers on small pieces of paper and stuck them to the cross, which later was carried out into the garden as a sign of solidarity. The yellow colour is a symbol of friendship. And we prayed.

The cross was then carried out of the church.

Loving God, you have restored us to life by death and resurrection of Christ; continue this healing work in us and as we prepare to leave, bless us with strength to seek justice, with wisdom to care for all people and with love to bring forth new life and hope. Amen.

We left the cross outside the church - as a sign.

We stood at the same place where we had lit the Easter candle a few weeks ago. (I wrote about that in a blog post.) And now we found ourselves at the cross, again. Are we prepared to follow Christ to those who suffer?

Kyrkor i Sydafrika mot främlingsfientlighet

Den senaste vågen av främlingsfientlighet i Sydafrika kommer efter ett uttalande som zuluernas kung, Zwelithini, gjorde någon gång under helgen 22-23 mars. Det råder delade meningar om avsikten med hans tal men helt klart har det uppfattats som att utländska medborgare inte är önskade i åtminstone Zululand. IOLNews rapportera om detta.

Det blev inte bättre av att president Jacob Zumas äldste son, Edward Zuma, ställde sig bakom kungen och även spädde på det hela rent verbalt. Mer om detta går att läsa i News24.

En av Svenska kyrkans partners i
Sydafrika.

Säkert hade inte kungen tänkt sig att det skulle resultera i våldsamma upplopp. Igår dog åtminstone 3 utländska medborgare på grund av detta, skriver BDLive.

Mail and Guardian kan berätta om över 1000 utländska medborgare i Durban, som sökt skydd hos polisen.

Nu ska dock Diakonia Council of Churches – en av Svenska kyrkans partners i Sydafrika – medla i konflikten. Enligt News24 kommer kyrkorna vara med och rätta till de missförstånd som kungens uttalande lett till. I ett land där de traditionella ledarna åtnjuter stort förtroende är detta ett synnerligen känsligt arbete men därmed inte mindre viktigt. Jag önskar kyrkoledarna Guds välsignelse i uppgiften.

På samma tomt som vår bostad ligger bor även fyra studenter. Vi umgås flitigt.
Vid detta tillfälle var det fr v jag, Malibongwe, hustrun, Calvin, Noma och Menelisi.
Två av oss kommer från Sydafrika, två från Sverige och två från Zimbabwe.
Här råder dock fred.

Mandela and Rhodes = true?

A few hours ago a colleague in Cape Town and I spoke over the phone. He alerted me to the situation in Cape Town and at the UCT in particular regarding the discussion about whether or not the Rhodes statue should remain at the centre of the UCT. See one of my blog posts about this conflict.

It goes without saying that this is a much bigger issue than just concerning a single statue. Hence students and staff at the Rhodes University have also raised concerns. Protesters at the UKZN have defaced another statue, George V. I have also published a blog post about that.

And now discussions are being held around the Mandela Rhodes Foundation and its colonial legacy.

My colleague in Cape Town made it clear to me that academics question the role of Mandela himself. Was it appropriate of him, to link his name with the name of Rhodes, taking into account the values that Rhodes stood for?

I google Rhodes and Mandela and find two debate articles in Mail and Guardian where  Judy Sikuza, programme director of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, tries to explain how this dichotomy or juxtaposition can be reconciled. I am not totally convinced.

The other debate article is written by Ntombizikhona Valela, a masters’ student in the history department at Rhodes University’s and also a member of the Black Student Movement. She gives the information that there have been debates around changing Rhodes University’s name since the 1990s - in particular since 1994.

Without really revealing her own standpoint she makes it clear that Rhodes University will face huge problems if they don’t listen to the demands from the students:

But, with the emergence of a new kind of student in a different political moment in which young people nationwide are challenging the notion of the rainbow nation and whether we can truly say we are in a post-apartheid era, it remains to be seen whether Rhodes’s final fortress will stand.

My colleague from Cape Town said earlier this morning, young South African feel that Mandela needs to be de-iconized.

We are in for interesting times in the country.

Must Rhodes fall?

John Cecil Rhodes was born in 1853, became rich from diamonds, British Prime Minister in the Cape and died, before his 50^th birthday, in 1902.

'Spes bona' means 'Good hope'.

After him two countries were named: North and South Rhodesia. Today Zambia and Zimbabwe. In South Africa one of the more prestigious universities is named after him: Rhodes University in Grahamstown. At the University of Cape Town (UCT), a statue of Rhodes I centrally placed.

Especially the statue at UCT is now causing debate and protests. 300 students and staff members have embarked on an overnight sit-in. The protest has also spread to Rhodes University.

Pietermaritzburg is quite far from both Cape Town and Grahamstown but through different internet sources I get some information. First of all it seems to me that the two universities are dealing with the matter in an open and democratic way. On the website of UCT a number of links refer to this conflict. The same at the Rhodes University website.

According to the UCT website, the Vice Rector, Max Price, wants the statue to be moved, not removed. I am not sure if this will be enough for students and staff.

On facebook, there is a community called: Rhodes must fall, with the explanation:

A collective student, staff and worker movement mobilising for direct action against the institutional racism of UCT.

Julius Malema, EFF, is also taking part in the protest and offers the support of the EFF to remove the statue of Rhodes, writes the Mail and Guardian. But he sees it as part of a greater war on Cape Town’s ‘apartheid regime’.

I also read in the Eyewitness News, that the ANC youth league is behind the protest.

It is not easy to know what is going on here. But one thing is for sure: the statue is just the tip of an iceberg.

Anyway, I like the way the academic world seems to deal with in in an open and transparent manner. I hope my analysis is correct. To me it a ‘good hope’.

André Brink R I P

My wife just phoned and told me that André Brink passed on yesterday. I also read it in Mail and Guardian. A famous South African novelist and playwright, who wrote in both Afrikaans and English. I remember how his books touched me in 1981-82 when I spent a year in Cape Town. Books like:

An Instant in the Wind

Rumours of Rain

A Dry White Season

A Chain of Voices

We listened to him at the University of Western Cape in 2010. I wrote a blog post about the occasion. (In Swedish, though!)

He has meant a lot. To many. Also to me.

R I P

Twitter is already full of the news.

#Mugabefalls

Nej, det är inte så väl att Mugabe avgått. Det enda som skett är att han trillat omkull. Efter att ha varit i Etiopien och blivit vald till ordförande för Afrikanska Unionen (AU) togs han emot som en hjälte på flygplatsen i Harare.

Aftonbladet har en mycket liten notis. Utan bild.

Men på twitter var det annorlunda. #Mugabefalls öppnar upp ett hav av bilder på Mugabe i olika komiska situationer.

Det hela är egentligen inte alls komiskt. Diktatorn är snart 91 år och borde ha slutat för länge sedan. Att han dessutom blir ordförande i AU är inte direkt lysande. Visserligen är det en ceremoniell post men ändå.

Enligt Mail and Guardian reagerade människor i Zimbabwe med eufori.

Ett skämt på twitter är detta:

I saw #MugabeFalls trending and immediately assumed he'd renamed Victoria Falls...

Säkerhetsvakterna försökte stoppa media från att fotografera men såklart, med dagens teknik, var det hopplöst. Nu cirkulerar fotona i alla möjliga varianter i sociala medier. Låt mig dela några bilder som säger en del. Jag har snott dem från twitter.

Det finns också en video på youtube. Länken är här.

Tänk den dag då vi åter får glädjas över Zimbabwe, detta underbart vackra land med så fantastiska människor.

The Prophet and 67 dead South African citizens

When I watched the 18h30 SABC3 News tonight, most reports were focusing on the collapse of a hotel in Lagos, Nigeria. It belongs to the Synagogue, Church Of All Nations.

This is a huge, Nigerian church where around 15 000 people worship every Sunday. The leader is called “the Prophet”. His name is T B Joshua. According to SABC3 a number of prominent leaders from South Africa like Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Julius Mandela and Dipuo Peters, the Minister of Transport, go there to be blessed or to get guidance. Could this be true? I have to search the web to find answers.

In City Press I find support that at least Winnie Mandela and Julius Malema have been there. City Press wrote on August 2013:

Julius Malema goes to Nigeria to be blessed

I also find a video on youtube where Dipuo Peters explains why she go to SCOAN and also watches the TV Channel: Emmanuel TV. She underscores the social work of the ministry, which I have no reason to doubt. Many charismatic churches do in fact carry out a lot of humanitarian work.

Another African leader, who finds strength from “the Prophet” is former Malawian President, Joyce Banda.

Back to the accident or catastrophe, rather. I looked at the website of the Synagogue, and nothing is said. Isn’t that an offense in itself?

Mail and Guardian on the other hand reports extensively:

President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday that at least 67 South Africans had been killed when the building in the compound belonging to the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos collapsed; while three extra storeys were being added to the two existing floors.

To me this is remarkable. If the church cares for people. And if the prophet is one of the riches pastors in Africa. If so, how can one of their buildings collapse after extra storeys have been added?

According to Sunday World the Prophet has an explanation. His suggestion is that a low-flying aircraft was responsible for the collapse. He also claims that the plane was after him. On twitter he allegedly wrote:

Hard times may test me, they cannot destroy me.

But this is too cynical. People have died and he only thinks of himself.

My “research” on internet also takes me to Wikipedia and I am quite chocked to find that this collapse is already included there:

On 12 September 2014 a guesthouse collapsed in Lagos killing at least 67 South Africans. Two extra storeys were being built when it collapsed and rescue officials cited this action, without corresponding reinforcement of the building's foundations, to be the likely cause. However Joshua claimed a small plane had circled over the building four times before it collapsed and it may have been an attempt to kill him. Rescue officials also stated that they experienced hostility by members of the congregation to their rescue efforts.

I don’t claim to have unearthed the full truth here, but most of the information I get makes me rather suspicious.

Spoil your vote?

This is actually what former Deputy Health Minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, says in a TV-interview. Watch it here.

She and a number of other veteran leaders of the ANC are saying:

Sidikiwe! Vukani! Vote no!

It can be translated as

We are fed up! Wake up! Vote no!

As far I understand these leaders (including former Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils) direct there critique both to the ANC and the DA, which is very good. The DA is the main opposition party and has the power in one of the nine provinces.

According to the Mail and Guardian Kasrils points out that there are differences between the mistakes of former presidents Mbeki and Mandela compared to Jacob Zuma. The predecessors were not motivated by personal greed or self-enrichment.

It could have been decisions of political misjudgments, but not greed. It's vastly different

So, literally Madlala-Roultedge encourage voters to spoil their votes. This means to go to the voting station and write

NO

on the ballot paper. Or to vote for a minority party. 

Tomorrow there are only three weeks left …

I still have not made up my mind.

At the same time I sit here with the ballot paper for the election to the European Parliament. My question is: Is it not time to wake up in Europe as well? Time to write:

NO

But still, I think I have a problem, because I agree with some of the journalists, who were present when Kasrils and Madlala-Routledge presented their initiative. One of them was the well-known Alistair Sparks who said that this would not change anything:

All it will do is lower the overall percentage given our proportional representation system. It won't be counted separately and it won't change the percentage of any party.

So, whether South Africa or the European Union, the best thing is probably to make an informed decision and vote for the party that is closest to one’s heart. And then, use other democratic tools between the elections. Democracy is like a flower. You cannot give it water only once every fourth or fifth year.

Ramphele for president

Breaking news this day. DA's Helen Zille announces that Dr Mamphela Ramphele stands as the presidential candidate for the DA. It is still too early to say what will happen with Agang SA. According to radio news (SAFM) today not all senior members of Agang are happy.

It is not the first time smaller parties join the DA. It happened to the Independent Democrats. Their leader, Patricia de Lille, is now the DA Mayor of Cape Town.

Whereas the ANC has seen many splinter groups (like PAC, UDM, Cope, EFF) it seems as if DA is working in another direction, drawing smaller groups into their sphere. Zille, Ramphele and de Lille are women. Zuma, Lekota and Malema are men – just to mention a few).

To be honest one has to mention that the National Party merged with the ANC after some years. And the IFP leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, became a minister in the ANC lead government. He is now talking to Malema. And Cope is talking with ACDP. It is not easy to understand. But it is interesting!

Read more one the websites of:

DA

Agang

Mail and Guardian

Protests in South Africa - a new defiance campaign?

Tonight, at midnight, the heavily criticized E-toll system will go live in Gauteng province, where Johannesburg and Pretoria are situated. The major trade union, Cosatu, many of the churches and the opposition parties are against it. In short it means that motorists travelling on free-ways in and around Johannesburg will have to pay more than ever. This means extra costs for the motorists but also for those who travel with public transport.

Today a number of very prominent church leaders issued a statement where they call on other church leaders, church members and all South Africans who support democracy, to refuse to pay this unjust e-toll. This has not happened in the new South Africa. The church leaders also refer to the struggle against apartheid when they write:

The months to come will be difficult, but it is very important that we continue to demand that government is accountable to the people, that consultation is not negotiable when it comes to such important decisions, and that the voice of the people has to be heard and taken account of. It appears that Government needs to be reminded of the voice of the people in 1955, as expressed in the Freedom Charter demand that “the people shall govern”!

I must admit that I have had problems in understanding how this new system will affect the lives of ordinary people. But the reaction from the church leaders indicates that people in South Africa maybe have had enough. Amongst those who have signed is Bishop Jo Seoka, President of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), Bishop Zipho Siwa, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa,

Bishop Abel Gabuza, Chairperson of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) Justice and Peace Department, Rev Dr Jerry Pillay, General Secretary of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA), and Rev Dr Mary Anne Plaatjies van Huffel, Moderator of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa. They represent different main line churches in South Africa.

According to Mail and Guardian less than 50% of the motorists have bought the E-tag, which will make it cheaper to use the freeways. The question is: what will the rest do? Will they use other roads? In that case it means that those roads will be congested in ways that will create a lot of frustration and anger.

Nkandla-gate continues

Thuli Madonsela is Public Protector in South Africa. She has written a report about President Jacob Zumas private home stead: Nkandla. It is alleged that the state has used ZAR 215 000 000 to upgrade the security around Nkandla. Although President Zuma is the first citizen this is a lot of money and it seems as if other upgrades than security have been included. Mail and Guardian mentions

… a swimming pool, visitors' centre, amphitheatre, cattle kraal, marquee area, extensive paving and new houses for relocated relatives …

The Mail and Guardian further reports that

… there are good reasons for fearing that the security ministers who tried to interdict Madonsela earlier this month may be planning further litigation to block its release.

This is happening at the same time as we get reports that the “new kids on the block” – EFF and Agang according to the Mail and Guardian are

… are making serious inroads among the ANC's traditional support base.

Could the ANC maybe learn something from this? I suggest some humility and also more openness. More transparency! And the bottom line: Make the President pay his own swimming pool.

Journalistelev gav Jacob Zuma så han teg

Jag var inte där. Jag har bara läst om det i Mail and Guardian. Så här stod det att läsa igår:

President Jacob Zuma has told a group of students that South African media's reporting makes him want to leave the country at times.

Det är klart den naturliga kommentaren vore:

Så bra då! Gör det. 

Men nu är det knappast lösningen. Även om vi ofta tror det. Peta en person så blir allt bra. Men vi vet ju att det inte fungerar så. Några har ju röstat fram Zuma. Förändringen ligger i att samma väljare röstar fram en annan person, som är bättre lämpad att leda landet. T ex en person som inte skjuter budbäraren. 

Zuma talade till en grupp journaliststudenter från Tshwane [Pretoria] University of Technology som var på besök vid parlamentet i Kasptaden. Zuma fortsätter (fortfarande enligt Mail and Guardian): 

Who do you think in reality you serve when reporting: the interest of the public that you claim, as the media you stand for, or the interest of the owners and managers of the paper?

Artikeln beskriver hur Zuma ska ha sagt att media matar allmänheten med negativa berättelser om regeringens misslyckanden men misslyckas att berättar hur regeringen har

… turned the country around from the illegal apartheid system to a vibrant democracy.

Zuma berättar vidare att han på en resa i Mexico, för många år sedan, upptäckt det som kallas "patriotic reporting". Media rapporterar inte om kriminalitet, för de vill marknadsföra sitt land på ett positivt sätt. Journalister i Mexico lär, enligt Zuma, ha sagt:

We market Mexico and we cannot market Mexico negatively. We can't wash our dirty linen in public. Otherwise, if we said there was huge crime, people wouldn’t come to invest in this country.

Enligt Zuma har media inte fått något mandat att ifrågasätta regeringen:

I've argued with them [media – min anm] that they were never elected, we were elected and we can claim that we represent the people. They do say they represent the people.

Zuma fortsätter och skyller på att det är ägarna, som styr. De vill tjäna pengar till vilket pris som helst. (Och här tycker jag att Zuma har en poäng. Med rätta ska man vara mycket kritisk mot stora medie-koncerner. Men slutsatsen delar jag inte alls med Zuma – d v a att media ska sluta kritisera makthavare – tvärtom!)

Två studenter ska ha kommenterat presidentens tal. Jag tycker den andra kommentaren var lysande:

We must just learn to live with this love-hate relationship [between the media and government]. We don't create the news, we report the news ….

Mer sådant! Ska det vara så svårt för makthavare att förstå och acceptera detta? 

Mandela åter hemma i Houghton

Igår, lördag, kunde man läsa lite varstans på nätet, att Mandela lämnat sjukhuset. Bl a BBC rapporterade och fick senare under dagen ta tillbaka det. Sydafrikas presidentämbete hade kommit med en rättelse och sagt att det inte stämde. Även Aftonbladet rapporterade igår.

Idag kan jag läsa i Mail and Guardian att Mandela är hemma. Hans tillstånd är fortfarande kritiskt men stabilt. Presidentämbetets talesperson, Mac Maharaj, bekräftar att det stämmer. Även Aftonbladet har en notis om detta idag.

Några frågor uppstår:

1) Stämde det redan i går att Mandela var hemma?


2) Varför ville presidentämbetet i så fall förtiga sanningen?

Det verkar ju rimligt att Mandela inte har länge kvar att leva. Kan hans hemkomst vara ett tecken på att något händer? Eller är det helt enkelt så att både han och hans familj väntat på att han skulle bli tillräckligt stark, för att klara hemtransporten. För att det blir bättre för alla om han får vistas i sitt hem. Oavsett hur lång tid han har kvar. Åtminstone verkar det så enligt BBC:

The BBC's Andrew Harding in South Africa says this is not the discharge of a man who has made a significant recovery but the transfer of a patient from an intensive care ward in a hospital to a specially built intensive care unit in his own home, presumably in line with his family's wishes.

Att få vara hemma hos sina närmaste, så länge det går, och i bästa fall få dö hemma är naturligtvis att föredra. Och i Afrika är det rent av självklart.

The Marikana Commemoration

Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the shootings in Marikana. I have tried to follow this on the web, in newspapers and other media like radio and TV. Some things have become clearer but I still have some questions.

First of the all the day was calm. No incidents were reported. There were worries about new fights between rivalling trade unions. According to the National police commissioner Riah Phiyega, quoted in Mail and Guardian,

… all parties present behaved in a manner indicative of the respect being paid to all those who passed away over this period in 2012 …

The South African Council of Churches (SACC) was one of the organisers. (It’s good to see that the Council is still active, although this is a bit re-active rather than pro-active). I was a bit surprised that the Government was not part of the commemoration, but given the fact that the police was heavily involved in the shootings (yes, they actually shot 34 miners) this can be understood. Another remarkable thing is that only one trade union was represented on the stage, namely the youngest and now largest at Lonmins mine in Marikana: AMCU. But after some research I understood that the other unions wanted to avoid conflicts and decided not to join.

But then the question arises: if the shot mine workers were from different trade unions, how can the other trade unions decide not to be part of the commemoration? In fact, my interpretation is that the shot mine workers (at least the 34 who were shot by the police) came from AMCU only. Maybe the other 10, who were killed before 16 August last year, belonged to other unions. This opens up for other questions like: Why did the police shoot workers from AMCU? Why is not the Government (ANC) part of the commemoration? (The ANC is in an alliance with Cosatu. The oldest trade union for mine workers, NUM, belong to Cosatu). My confusion has to do with the relation between NUM, Cosatu, ANC, Lonmin and the police force. As reader you can understand what kind of question I want to ask ….

There is an on-going investigation: the Farlam commission. Former Arts and Culture Minister, Pallo Jordan, is quite harsh in BDLive:

The ANC government eschewed the methods of repressive governments: armed police, security police raids, followed by arrests. But the snail’s pace at which the Farlam Commission is carrying out its inquiry compounds the tragedy. We need answers in a hurry to correct the crowd-control methods employed by our police.

It’s going to be interesting to follow what comes out of this.

On a closing note: ANC was not present. But almost all the other political parties were. Trying to get votes, of course. But also initiative. According to Citypress Julius Malema stole the show. Having said, as Mail and Guardian puts it:

Zuma and Lonmin have blood on their hands

Maybe that answers the question I did not ask. Whether this is right or wrong it makes me worried that Malema is the one at the centre of the stage in all this.

Economic Freedom Fighters

Huruvida Julius Malema är känd eller ökänd överlåter jag åt läsaren att avgöra. Den tidigare presidenten i ANC’s ungdomsförbund, som jag bloggat om förut, blev ju utesluten ur ANC. Nu har han bildat ett eget parti, som heter just Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Under vårt första dygn i Sydafrika fick jag två kommentarer om detta. Båda var starkt kritiska. En av dem uttrycktes i gårdagens predikan, där en av de blivande prästerna i vår kyrka, gick hårt åt både Malema och hans parti. (I mitt tycke är inte predikan rätt forum för partipolitik, vilket jag också förmedlat till prästkandidaten). I detta sammanhang vill jag nämna det för att visa att Malema engagerar och att det vore dumt att räkna ut honom. Han hart ett visst folkligt stöd och sådant ska inte underskattas. Särskilt inte i en demokrati, där det ju är meningen att just folket ska bestämma. Mail and Guardian redovisar en undersökning som säger att 38% av unga sydafrikaner stödjer partiet. Jag undrar om det verkligen kan vara möjligt?

Nu tror jag visserligen inte att hans stöd är tillräckligt stort för att utgöra ett reellt hot mot ANC. Det verkar inte heller som om partiet hunnit organisera sig. Exempelvis hittar jag ingen hemsida. Men partiet finns på facebook. På minst två sidor. Men det kanske är precis rätt strategi. Jag vet inte vilken sida som är officiell men så här ser de ut. Länken till sida nr 1 kommer här.

Malema har titeln: Commander in Chief.

Och länken till sida nr 2 här.

Denna sida har 10 000 fler likes. 

Just nu vet jag för lite om detta. Partiet bildades, enligt wikipedia, den 26 juli och ska officiellt lanseras den 17 augusti, en dag efter årsdagen av massakern i Marikana. Med andra ord ber jag att få återkomma. Redan nu kan dock sägas att det kommer bli ett intressant val nästa år. ANC utmanas från många håll och även om det mesta talar för att ANC kommer att vinna, så är valsegern för första gången på länge inte så kassaskåpssäker.

En bild säger ju mer än 1000 ord och detta gäller i synnerhet Afrikakartan i partiets logotype:

Den gula illustrationen i nederdelen är ett gruvtorn. Malema vill bl a att alla gruvor i Sydafrika nationaliseras.

En för mig okänd kolumnist på News 24, Clem Sunter, sammanfattar det jag känner inför detta parti:

Right with the problem, wrong with the solution.

South Africa does not need more political parties

Former ANC Youth League President, Julius Malema, launches a new party political platform, according to the Mail and Guardian. M&G reports that he has said that

… the ANC could never provide a sustainable solution to the country's developmental problems …

He is not happy with the alliance partners and he thinks the opposition parties are ineffectual. He wants South Africans to "stand up and be counted" and together with him discuss "what is to be done".

I must admit that I have difficulties in taking Malema serious. At the same time he had to leave his farm in Limpopo. Times Live writes:

Cabbages look weary as Malema loses farm

Times reports that it was sold at the price of ZAR 2 550 000:- which was lower than expected but still good. The reason for the seizure of the farm is the ongoing court case against Malema. The NPA (National Prosecution Authority) thinks Malema has used proceeds from a tender he was involved in. I have learnt this new word, since I came to South Africa: “Tenderpreneur”. According to Wikipedia a “tenderpreneur” is

… a South African government official or politician who abuses their powers and influence to secure government tenders and contracts. The word tenderpreneur is a portmanteau of "tendering" and "entrepreneur". Some commentators believe that this practice might give rise to a kleptocracy as a deviant mutation of a democracy if left unchecked. In this regard a cleptocracy is defined at the condition arising when a political elite manipulate the three arms of government (legislature, executive and judiciary) with the intention of capturing resources that will enrich that elite, a general phenomenon known as elite capture.

My prayer is that a person like Malema finds a decent job. But hje’s a populist and know how to speak to the masses. He might still get support from some disgruntled citizens. South Africa does not need that!

South Africa is preparing itself ….

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Madiba. He is back in hospital. South Africa is praying. So does the rest of the world. But today the reporter asked, in e-news:

Praying for what?

She said that some pray for his recovery while others believe that the time might have come for South Africa to let go of the icon. The reporter referred to social media and I can see for myself that people are confused. Mail and Guardian reports that

Madiba became the latest victim of a death hoax on Twitter after a fake Piers Morgan account tweeted that the former president had died in his sleep.

So unnecessary! In my own face book flow I catch this status update, which I liked:

While president Zuma has urged the nation and the world to pray (which I also like) one person interviewed in e-news said that it would be terrible if Mandela died now. But then he added that we cannot interfere with God’s will.

South Africa is preparing itself …