Litnet

Net 'n regstelling

SA is nie 'n demokrasie nie, wel 'n regsstaat.  Die konstitusie kraai koning. Demokrasie word geduld onderhewig aan die konstitusie. Vele wetgewing deur die meerderheid goedgekeur (demokraties), is deur die konstitusionelehof afgewys of gewysig.

Bv. Omtrent 61% van die bevolking is anti-gay, maar die konstitusie verskans gay-regte (omtrent 5% van die bevolking), en het met die regering se gesloer, die onwillige ANC-regering gedwing om gay-huwelike te wettig.

'n Sekere kliek Afrikaners wil demokrasie afskiet weens frustrasies omrede hulle dit nie kan regkry om hulle agenda deurgevoer te kry nie.  Bv. Die verkryging van 'n eie volksstaat.  Die konstitusie maak voorsiening vir hulle reg daartoe, maar die onus berus by hulle om die konstitusionelehof te oorreed die meerderheid Afrikaners is daarvoor ten gunste; moet vir die konstitusionelehof die grondgebied kan uitwys; asook die konstitusionelehof kan oortuig hoe hulle vreedsaam mederheidsbesetting in sodanige gebied sal kan bekom.  Hierdie Afrikaners weet hulle kan nie, dus poog hulle nie eers om hulle saak na die konstitusionelehof te vat nie, en wend hulle tot stiriele en eentonige gekyf oor die huidige ekonomiese en sosiale verval, sonder enige konstruktiewe werkbare alterntiewe daar te stel nie. 

Ten tye van die Franse Rewolusie, en die instelling van demokrasie in Frankryk, was dit die ongelettered gepeupel
wat mag met geweld oorgeneem het.  Niemand sal dit vandag betwis dat Frankryk nie deur eeuelange pynlike groei proses gegaan het om tot die soort demokrasie te word, waarop die wereld vandag op trots is nie.  So gee kans.  Ons demokradie is maar net 'n karige 20jaar oud, en 'n demokrasie onderhewig aan die beste konstitusie ter wêreld, is dit beslis.

Jaco Fourie

Thomas

Ek veronderstel ek is 'n persoon wat pragmaties dink, en is nie genee om op "veronderstellings" my gevolgtrekkinge te wil maak nie. 

FEITLIK:

1.  Die DA  regeer 'n gedeelte van die land met verre meer sukses as die ANC, nieteenstaande gebreke hier en    daar soos jy met jou enkele Knysna aanstelling genoem het nie. (Dit is te betreur dat jy die ANC aansien as gevolg van jou Knysna geval, beter as die DA te wees!)

2.  Onder opposisie geledere, voer hulle 'n leidende rol, en is besig om die verskillende partye agter hulle geskaar te kry, met die moontlikheid van verdere samesmeltings in die vooruitsig. (Aan jou swart "numbers game"  te voldoen nie waar nie?)

3.  Ramphele vandat sy besluit het om die politiek te betree, het tot dusver geen noemenswaardige openbare steun, veral nie onder ontevrede ANC-geledere gekry soos die geval was toe COPE net voor die laaste algemene verkiesing weggebreek het nie. 'n Aanduiding van hoe ernstig die ANC dreigemente opvat, is hulle reaksie daartoe.  In COPE se geval was hulle reaksie vel, maar met Ramphele, is daar amper geen roering nie, dus sien hulle in haar geen gevaar vir hulle nie.  Malema se EFF-party het beter kans om ontevrede ANC-geledere grootskaals af te rokkel.  In die laaste verkiesing het die ANC verlore steun vir COPE opgemaak onder ontvrede IFP-geledere wat na die ANC grootskaals gedros het, anders het die prentjie vandag heel suur vir die ANC vandag daar uitgesien het.

4.  Die DA is 'n hele ruk nie meer 'n "wit" party nie.  Wanneer Hellen uittree, is dit 'n gegewe die leierskap word swart. Ramphele as deel van die DA (of selfs vir COPE) sou beslis 'n aanwins vir die opposisie wees, en het sy veel beter kans om dan die DA demokraties "in te sluk".

5.  Die DA se leierskapverkiesing is op demokratiese beginsels geskoei.  Ramphele word nie demokraties aangestel nie, en is 'n selfgeroepene soos Malema met sy EFF-party.

6.  Weens haar intelektuele profiel sal sy eerder onder DA-geledere ontevredenes (soos jouself) af rokkel, nie genoeg om die party van buite "in te sluk" soos jy veralgemeen nie, maar genoeg om definitiewe skade aan die DA te kan berokken tot so 'n mate dat die Weskaap moontlik na die volgende verkiesing onder ANC beheer verval (en wil jy dit regtig sien gebeur?).

Die DA is beslis nie volmaak nie.  Jou sentiment mbt BEE en ander sake wat die blanke en in die besondere die Afrikaner negatief raak deel ek met jou heelhartig.

Die prioriteit is om die ANC so gou moontlik uit die kussings te lig ongeag ander ontevredenhede rakende blanke en Afrikaner belange.  Indien die opposisie die regering word, dan vat hulle ondersteuners die nuwe regering aan oor sake waaroor hulle nie tevrede is nie oa BEE.  Sodanige ondersteuners het 'n beter kans om die nuwe regering te kan be-invloed in vergeleke met die huidige kopstamp teen die ANC.

Jaco Fourie

Koos.

Die rede waarom ek sê wat verby is is verby, want daar is te veel Afrikaners wat daaroor top, dat hulle die groot prentjie vir ons toekoms miskyk, en onderling tot nimmereinde kyf oor die ONS en JULLE sindroom wat die Afrikaner verdeeld wil hou.  Jan Rap bevestig my punt in sy ander skrywe aan my vandag deur te sê:  "“Jou verskoning vir die jammerlike mislukking van JULLE maaksel (nie die ANC nie, maar mede Afrikaners), naamlik......... " . (Die ONS en JULLE sindroom).  Natuurlik moet vanuit die verlede geleer word om nie foute te herhaal nie.  Dit kom vanselfsprekend met enige vorm van vooruitsigtelike beplanning in enige saak.

Met betrekking tot die linkses. Hulle kry meer aandag as wat aan hulle toekom, en daarin moet baie Afrikaners die blaam voor dra, want daar word op hierdie linkse se stellings so onnodig oorreageer dat dit die indruk skep hulle is 'n groter faktor as wat hulle in werklikheid is.    Die oorgrote meerderheid Afrikaners steur hulle glad nie eers aan hierdie mense nie.  Wie steur hom in werklikheid aan Max, Pierre, Croukamp, ens.?  Net die minderheid Afrikaners wat 'n bobbejaan agter elke berg wil gaan uithaal.  Hierdie linkses se invloed op Afrikanerdom is totaal akademies.

Ek hou vol.  Totdat die volgende verkiesing verby is, moet die Afrikaner voortgaan om DA te stem om die ANC vanuit die kussings te probeer lig.  Om nou daarvan af te wyk gaan vir die Afrikaner in die langer duur, duur te staan kom, weens die sterk moontlikheid dienooreenkomstig om die Weskaap vir die ANC te verloor.  Die VF+ het nie 'n kat se kans om enige impak met die volgende verkiesing te maak nie.  Inteendeel ek is amper seker dit gaan sy laaste verkiesings deelname wees.  Pieter Mulder is in elk geval dan deel van die ANC regering. 

'n Ministrie van minderhede, is 'n ministrie onder ANC beheer wat ooglopend geen tande gaan hê nie, en kan net sowel belastingbetalers se geld spaar deur nie te bestaan nie.  Indien die regering werklik belangstel om minderhede meer beskerming te wil verleen, is die aangewese weg om eerder die konstitusie daarvoor te wysig, wat onafhanklik van die ANC of enige ander toekomstige regering staan.  Die kans daarvoor natuurlik is 'n ronde Nul.

Die Afrikaner sal tot die slotsom moet kom dat niemand gaan hom help nie.  Nie nou en ook nie in die toekoms nie  Hy sal na sy taal, kultuur en bestaan as Afrikaner self moet omsien.  Die aangewese pad gaan wees om sy eie ding buite parlementer te doen op sy eie onkoste.  Privaat skole, tegnikons, universiteit, ens. op die been te bring.  Dit is die dat ek hoop in Solidariteit en AfriForum vir die konserwitiewe Afrikaner sien, want hulle neig reeds  in hierdie rigting met hulle eie radio, tegniese kollege, deur middel van die Helpende Hand behoeftige Afrikaners te help, en strategie in werking te stel om die Afrikaner verder te bemagtig, ens.  Behalwe vir hulle lede getalle (oor die 130000) en geldmag, het hulle ook die daadwerklik ondersteuning van die tradisionele Afrikaner strukture soos ATKV, die Taalraad, ens. wat ander Afrikaner politiese groeperinge glad nie het nie.

Jaco Fourie

Neelsie

Jy wil so graag jou onnoselheid voor die publieke oog hou. Eerstens plaas jy 'n respons onder 'n skakel wat niks met die onderwerp en response hierbo te doen het nie, dan sê jy onmiddelik hierbo:  "Elders het die slimjan egter die volgende te seg gehad oor my kommentaar onder hierdie bydrae: "Terloops. Jy [Cornelius Henn] het my nog nie ge-antwoord op die volgende, waar jy tweekeer in een dag 'n gek van jouself gemaak het: (Sien https://www.litnet.co.za/Article/brief-die-kinders-van-vandag)." (sic) Jaco Fourie brei self niks meer daaromtrent uit nie - net dit in die sin hierbo. Ek het egter Jaco Fourie se aanmerkings hier nagegaan net ingeval en om enige vraag aan my te speur wat ek kwansuis sou nalaat het, maar die onsin in sy teks is so deurdrenk met 'n sieklike en emosionele neerslagtigheid, dat dit moeilik is om met aandag te lees". 

Aangesien Onze Neelsitjietjie sukkel om sin te maak, herhaal ek sy weersprekings.  Hy sê: " Hy (Jaco) is egter nie 'n uitsondering in sy geindoktrineerde gedagtegang nie. Min wit Afrikaanses weet byvoorbeeld dat organisasies soos AfriForum en Solidariteit, die gevalle Nasionale Party se inkarnasie is" (Solidariteit is gestig 1902, lank voor die NP). en weer,  "Met respek; Mnr FW de Klerk, is 'n formidabele Nasionalis en leier -  die kanse dat hy net op die kantlyn sou aftree, is nul!   Ek dink meeste beskou dit hul voorreg om deur Mnr. de Klerk genooi te word  - wat ookal die agenda.   Persoonlik, en dank my kennis en ervaring in die geskiedenis, het ek ook uit die wysheid van vele ander leiers geleer (oa FW?)".

In Apr 13 praat Neelsie Solidariteit goed en FW sleg onmiddellik hieronder; en nou in die paragraaf onmiddellik hierbo, die teenoorgestelde  maw hy weerspreek homself wat aanduidend is van 'n verwarde persoonlikheid:

"Wyl FW de Klerk via sy stigtings net loop en mond spoel, is daar darem Solidariteit en AfriForum wat hul eie steunbasis moes opbou en vandag namens die Afrikaner intree".  NEED I SAY MORE?

Om die hele prentjie in perspektief te kry, lees https://www.litnet.co.za/Article/brief-jaco-jy-praat-deurmekaar, waar Neelsie se kleitrap meer duideliker waarneembaar is.

Jaco Fourie

Die volgende artikel het in die  The Economist van 20 Oktober 2012  verskyn.

"Over the rainbow It has made progress since becoming a full democracy in 1994. But a failure of leadership means that in many ways, South Africa is now going backwards " Google die opskrif vir tabelle waarna in die artikel verwys word.

Ek plaas dit met uitgesoekte kommentare van ook  swart lesers. Dit is m i belangrik om kennis te neem
wat swart burgers se siening oor sake is, aangesien die Blanke se lot onherroeplik verbonde is aan
hoe hierdie mense die toekoms sien en hoelank hul die ANC sal ondersteun.

Kliptown
"ON JUNE 26th 1955, 3,000 South Africans gathered in a dusty square in Kliptown, a district of Soweto, a sprawling black township on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Members of the African National Congress (ANC) congregated alongside their anti-apartheid confederates to proclaim a new vision of the future.

 The next day police broke up the meeting (Nelson Mandela disguised himself as a milkman to escape). But the dream had already been declared. “The people shall govern,” announced the Freedom Charter. South Africa would belong to all of its people, no matter what their colour.

There would be work, education and security for all. Everyone would be equal before the law. It was an extraordinary affirmation, full of hope and the promise of a better future. Today the square is named after Walter Sisulu, an ANC hero and mentor to Mr Mandela. It boasts shops, offices, a conference hall and a pricey hotel.

As the birthplace of the new, inclusive South Africa, it has become a stop on the tourist trail. But just across the railway track, rickety shacks huddle together. The roads are rutted and muddy. Communal latrines stand useless, their doors open and rubbish piled inside. Next to them on the uneven ground wobbles a portable toilet, its door padlocked against vandals.

 A sludgy stream trickles past, fouled by children unable to find the key in time. Walter Sisulu Square is close by, but the aspirations of the Freedom Charter are nowhere to be seen. In the 18 years since black-majority rule began and South Africa became a full democracy, its people have made progress.

 Many more now have access to clean water and electricity. Between 1996 and 2010 the proportion living on less than $2 a day fell from 12% to 5%. The racist legislation of apartheid has been abolished. The new constitution is liberal and inspiring.

 And yet in other ways South Africa is in a worse state than at any point since 1994. In August police shot dead 34 miners on strike at a platinum mine near Marikana, in North West province. Since then wildcat strikes have broken out at other mines. Some operations have been suspended. Thousands of miners have been sacked.

 In September Moody’s, a credit agency, cut South Africa’s sovereign rating, citing the declining quality of the government, growing social stresses and worsening conditions for investment. Meanwhile, South Africa’s leaders have floundered. The ANC’s leadership is up for re-election at a party conference in December.

South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, faces possible ejection as party leader—which would prevent him from being the ANC’s presidential candidate in elections in 2014. The past two months’ industrial strife is about more than just pay or perks. The protests are a symptom of the deep malaise that has taken hold of South Africa. The ANC was dealt a bad hand in 1994, and it has played that hand badly. South Africa’s difficulties are now so entrenched that the ANC looks incapable of solving them.

The starkest measure of South Africa’s failure is the yawning gap between rich and poor. Under apartheid, such inequality was by design. Since apartheid came to an end, a tiny black elite has accrued great fortunes. But that has only widened the wealth gap. South Africa’s Gini coefficient—the best-known measure of inequality, in which 0 is the most equal and 1 the least—was 0.63 in 2009.

In 1993 it was 0.59. After 18 years of full democracy, South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world. Unchartered territory Persistent inequality is in part down to the government’s failure to educate young South Africans, particularly black ones. In the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, South Africa ranks 132nd out of 144 countries for its primary education and 143rd for the quality of its science and maths.

In the Department of Basic Education’s national literacy and numeracy tests last year, only 15% of 12-year-olds (sixth graders) scored at or above the minimum proficiency on the language test. In maths just 12% did. Nokubonga Ralayo, a 20-year-old university student from Khayelitsha, a vast black township on the edge of Cape Town, says success comes down to being able to afford a better school. “It is hard to escape your background when you are growing up,” she says.

 Three-quarters of white pupils complete the final year of high school, but only a third of black pupils. Schools suffer from poor equipment. Only 20% have libraries, and only 7.5% actually have any books. Almost half of all schools rely on pit latrines instead of proper toilets. In July textbooks that pupils should have received in January were found tossed into rivers in an effort to hide the failure to deliver them.

The standard of teaching is low, too. Training is inadequate. South Africa needs 25,000 new teachers a year but only around 10,000 qualify. Maths and science teachers are in particularly short supply. Many arrive late to school and leave early, spending barely half their allotted time in class. Many fail to turn up at all on Fridays. The teachers’ union is more concerned with protecting its members, even the incompetent ones, than with training them.

 There is little political will when it comes to improving education and few repercussions when those in charge perform badly. These failures represent a colossal waste of money as well as talent. Education accounts for about a sixth of all government spending—more than in Rwanda, say, which does much better in rankings. Since 1995 South Africa has spent 5-7% of its GDP on education. Today the figure is 6.7%, more than in Brazil.

 Chronically poor education means that thousands of jobs go unfilled. Almost half the 95,000 or so nursing jobs in the public sector are vacant, according to the South African Institute of Race Relations. Meanwhile, official unemployment is about 25% and the real figure nearer 40%. (In 1994 unemployment was 20%.)

Unequal education creates unequal employment. The unemployment rate among blacks is 29%, compared with 6% for whites. Youth unemployment is over 50%. Young people who fail to find work by the age of 24 will probably never have a full-time formal job. Skills shortages are a brake on growth and are just one reason why the country’s inclusion in the BRICS (albeit as an afterthought) looked incongruous.

In September the Reserve Bank reckoned that South Africa’s growth rate for 2012 would be just 2.6%. Countries such as Nigeria and Angola have galloped ahead in recent years, with growth pushing 10%, albeit from a lower base. The economy, much smaller than that of the other BRICS, is likely to be toppled from its spot as Africa’s biggest by Nigeria’s in the next decade.

 The recent wave of industrial action will only bring that moment nearer. After the miners at Marikana won a handsome pay rise, 75,000 miners, chiefly of gold and platinum, went on strike, mostly illegally. Anglo American Platinum, the world’s largest platinum miner, has fired 12,000 workers. Gold One has sacked over 1,400. Industrial action has now spread beyond mining.

 In September 20,000 lorry drivers went on a three-week strike, affecting deliveries of petrol, coal, cash and other goods. A deal was signed on October 12th, but textile workers in Newcastle, the third-largest city in KwaZulu-Natal, are on strike, along with municipal workers in North West province. There is talk of a nationwide strike by local-government workers. In October Gill Marcus, governor of the central bank, said that the past two months had hurt South Africa’s reputation as a place to invest.

 She pointed to R5.6 billion ($643m) in net equity-market outflows on October 8th as evidence of a loss of confidence. “The outlook at the moment is deteriorating rapidly,” she said. Mark Cutifani, chief executive of Anglo Gold Ashanti, the world’s third-biggest gold producer, says the strikes in the mining industry could lead his company to shrink its operations in South Africa. Corporate investors have come to expect trouble, says Peter Attard Montalto, an emerging-markets analyst at Nomura International, an investment bank.

South Africa used to see large, if infrequent, foreign investment, but it has seen virtually none since the beginning of the year. Investors are worried about labour laws, the prevalence of strikes and the unions’ close relation with the ANC. Increasingly, they have somewhere else to put their money. The trouble with politics Economic malaise and the chronic failure of government services are an indictment of South Africa’s politicians.

Under apartheid, a role in the ANC was about sacrifice and risk. Today it is a ticket for the gravy train. Jobs in national and local politics provide access to public funds and cash from firms eager to buy political influence. For someone from rural South Africa, who has a poor education and little chance of getting a good job, a seat on the local council may be the only way out of poverty.

Higher up, the rewards are even greater. The public protector, who looks into public-sector misconduct, is investigating reports that hundreds of millions of rand are to be spent on improving Mr Zuma’s private homestead in the village of Nkandla. Because the stakes are so high, competition for power is bitter and sometimes bloody, particularly at the local level.

 In the past five years over 40 politicians have been killed in Kwa Zulu-Natal, a province with a history of political violence, and at least five more in Mpumalanga, a province in the north-east of the country. The killing is often about money. Sometimes whistle-blowers are murdered to stop them revealing corruption; sometimes rivals are disposed of. In 2009 Moss Phakoe, a municipal councillor in North West province, was shot in Rustenburg after handing over a file detailing corruption in the municipality to a high-ranking ANC official.

 Phakoe had been trying to get senior ANC members to investigate the matter. The former mayor of Rustenburg and his bodyguard were jailed for the murder. In August Lindiwe Mazibuko, the parliamentary leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), accused the ANC of creating a class of “tenderpreneurs,” in business to get state contracts using their connections in government. Outright bribery of low-level officials is common.

No one knows how much money corruption costs the country but the effect on its democracy is devastating. Whether people are prosecuted for graft seems to depend on whom they know. Few think Julius Malema, a populist former leader of the ANC Youth League now excommunicated from the party, would be facing charges for money laundering had he not turned against Mr Zuma.

That lack of accountability is partly down to the country’s system of party lists at general and provincial elections; individual MPs are not answerable directly to voters, but solely to the party managers who determine their ranking on the list. Only at the lowest level—the municipalities—is there a system of constituencies (or “wards”) and then only for half the seats.

This means politicians have little incentive to provide for their voters. The gap between leaders and voters is mirrored inside South Africa’s unions. At the annual conference of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in September, Zwelinzima Vavi, Cosatu’s boss, warned that “different lifestyles and material realities are creating a leadership which is not fully in tune with what members are facing.” This has arisen, in part, said Mr Vavi, because Cosatu has become preoccupied with politics and its relations with the ANC, rather than with standing up for workers’ rights.

There was, Mr Vavi admitted, a sense that some union leaders were loth to take up issues for fear of embarrassing the ANC. Disenchantment with unions makes wildcat strikes more likely. A call for something new So far the opposition poses little threat to the ANC’s dominance. In the 2009 general elections an ANC splinter group, the Congress of the People, won just 7% of the vote.

 It has since spluttered on, amid infighting, financial difficulties and the return of some prominent members to the ANC. The Inkatha Freedom Party, which controlled KwaZulu Natal until 2004 when it lost control of the province to the ANC, has withered away. In the 2009 election it won less than 5% of the vote. That leaves the DA, which won 17%, as the main political opposition to the ANC. But so far it has failed to win over poor, black voters. It runs the Western Cape but no other province, though it has its sights on Gauteng, the richest, at the next poll.

Despite having a black deputy leader, it is still seen as a white party. Ms Ralayo, the Cape Town student, says she would never vote for the DA, as she still believes the party’s policies discriminate against black and coloured (mixed-race) people. The DA must therefore find a way to broaden its appeal without losing its existing supporters. In September Helen Zille, the party leader, called for a new movement based on a commitment to the constitution.

 She asked those members of the ANC who rejected populism to join her. The response has been muted. The ANC’s constitutionalists are unlikely to jump ship unless the party looks to be on the verge of losing power. At the moment it is not. The solid support for the ANC, which still regularly attracts over 60% of the vote, is partly due to its liberation credentials and partly down to race. It also helps that the ANC has more money than any other party.

It can afford to go to townships days before elections and hand out food parcels. It still convinces a diverse range of black South Africans that it has their interests at heart. Poor black South Africans have benefited from social grants, the working class from the party’s pro-labour stance and the power of the unions, and the middle and upper classes from its policy of “black economic empowerment”. Thus the most important check on the ANC comes from outside party politics.

Lobby groups and NGOs have a commendable history of holding the government to account and stepping in where it fails, although funding, whether it comes from the government or from donors, is limited. One NGO, Section 27, is taking the education department to court over the textbook fiasco. Rape Crisis supports victims of rape, of which there are many, offering them counselling and helping them pursue justice. The Social Justice Coalition, which works mostly in Khayelitsha, is calling for improved policing and better sanitation. Abahlali base Mjondolo, or “shack dwellers”, campaigns for public housing.

The media, too, remain critical. Some fear that the “secrecy bill”, a law intended to protect state information, will be used to stifle criticism of the government. The law has not yet been passed, and in the meantime newspapers, in particular, continue to nag the government about its poor performance and lambast it over corruption. Most important are South Africa’s courts—especially the constitutional one—which have long been hailed as a bulwark against the ANC’s authoritarian and corrupt tendencies.

By and large, the judiciary is still independent and committed to the laws and constitution, but the ANC repeatedly tries to pack it with its friends. The weakness lies in the police and the national prosecuting authority, both essential to upholding the rule of law. They are not independent, nor perceived to be. Whether the government’s influence over prosecution is direct or indirect, the authority does not always act without fear or favour in politically sensitive cases, says Pierre de Vos, a constitutional-law scholar at the University of Cape Town.

The judiciary will be a test of the ANC’s democratic credentials. Some within the government seem increasingly uncomfortable with the Constitutional Court’s independence and the tendency of its judges to criticise the party. Last year’s appointment of Mogoeng Mogoeng as the court’s head was not encouraging. The rejected, more experienced, candidate was Dikgang Moseneke, the deputy chief justice, who insists that judges are accountable to the people, rather than politicians.

The young ones They would welcome some textbooks Almost one-third of South African voters are now too young to have any direct memory of the oppression of apartheid, or of the popular struggle against it. Their loyalty to the ANC is not as inevitable as that of their parents or grandparents. Ms Ralayo admits she is disappointed in the party. “Power changes people,” she says. “Looking at where we are now, it is hard not to feel depressed. You see people fighting over power, people who will do anything for money or power.”

She believes that change will come when citizens feel the government is no longer untouchable. But so far there is little sign of change from the ANC. Marikana should be a wake-up call to the government, but South Africa’s leaders, engrossed by factional infighting, appear deaf. If the government does not respond more vigorously, the country could see a surge in the kind of populism peddled by Mr Malema.

The immediate test of the ANC is its leadership election, to be held at its conference in December. Kgalema Motlanthe, the deputy president, is Mr Zuma’s most likely opponent. Some think he would be a more competent leader, but he is less popular than the president and has not officially said whether he will stand. That leaves Mr Zuma unchallenged for now. He came to power promising to tackle unemployment and corruption, but has accomplished little.

He owes so much to South Africa’s vested interests that it is difficult to imagine him embarking upon radical reform. If he is simply re-elected without promising anything new, it will be a worrying sign that the ANC has failed to grasp what ails their country. The tragedy of Marikana appalled South Africans and outsiders alike. If it does not jolt the government into action, what will?   "

 Plen Oct 19th 2012, 19:19
"I should point out that the “Freedom Charter” prepared by Mandela (and others) in 1955 also stated that all assets and enterprises must be nationalised under the governance of majority rule. In essence, they described a concept of Communism and indeed over half of the ANC's leadership were full blown card carrying Communist Party members (from 1955 to 1994). This created the horrible grey situation where Apartheid became an excuse for keeping the Communists at bay. Only in 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down and Soviet Communism was in its decline did the Apartheid Regime review its apartheid laws. This article identifies the biggest key failure of the current Government: a lack or in ability to install a culture of education among the black people. Before one even looks at the education facilities or ability to deliver text books, etc one should look towards leaders who preach the importance of education. How many leaders have gone out to plead with the students and parents alike to place a strong focus and emphasis on education? Unfortunately everything that the white racists predicted is slowly coming about: A black majority government will not be able to generate its own value (through its people) and will instead want to simply take from the whites (through nationalisation, BEE, etc). It shouldn't have to be like this. This is truly sad and the message must go out to the Black South Africans that a political change is needed. The worst case scenario will see a Zimbabwe style asset grab and most likely the establishment of a white racist guerrilla movement that will cause even more ravage on a land that has so much potential to be so great."

 fr.retief Oct 21st 2012, 07:37
"To an extent what is happening in South Africa today is unavoidable result of the change to majority-rule democracy in 1994. For all its faults, the Apartheid regime ran an efficient government and provided world-class education, health care and local government services, albeit mostly for the benefit of the white minority, and trained the necessary professionals and managers. After coming to power, the ANC had to be seen to pursue racial transformation to satisfy its base, and many of these (white) professionals and managers were encouraged to leave the civil service. The ANC's big failure was failing to recognise the tremendous loss of skill this represented and failing to plan for the training of replacements of these teachers, nurses, engineers and managers. It took 18 years for loss of managerial skills to reach critical mass and reflect in the current failure of public health care, education and local government services. The private health care and education sectors where most of these skilled white professionals left to is thriving, still mostly for the benefit of white South Africans - hence the persistent racial inequality. This is the sad irony of our beloved country. "

 rsg england Oct 19th 2012, 16:30
"In the 1980's , the slogan was 'LIBERATION BEFORE EDUCATION'. Then came the 'NECKLACING' (a petrol filled tyre around the neck which is then lit .Enthusiastically endorsed from Winnie Mandela). It was at that point that I left South Africa . As far as I am concerned , education is the beginning of liberation . Until the generation brought up on wildly optimistic hopes , and impossible and unrealistic hopes of getting there , has passed , I see no real prospect of advancement . When the new younger generation take over , as in happening in the rest of Africa , the future prospects of South Africa will improve "

Sibusiso S. Mnyameni Oct 20th 2012, 10:08
"As a young black South African, this article illuminates the degenerating leadership fabric in government. Granted, there are good intentions of developing the country, but these need to be supported by good communication and strong-willed leadership from the government. But an equal indictment should be apportioned to the lack of social activism from the burgeoning black middle class, who should be taking a leaf from their Russian counterparts. Service delivery protest in townships have mainly been political or driven by uneducated individuals, whom the elite can afford to ignore. It is only when we black professionals take the initiative of forgetting the comforts of white-owned golf estates and senseless short-term consumption behaviour and build largely ignored black communities. As a young, black South African being in the majority also means making sacrifices in devising solutions and not narrow, selfish interests that so defines the black middle class culture. "

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Neville Dipale in reply to Batanai Oct 19th 2012, 17:15

"Hi Batanai, as a 'black' South African, what Otto Beckman mentioned is true, and I do not think he is trying to say that 'uneducated people' should not vote. My parents and grandparents always say they are going to vote ANC because it has 'taken them out of Apartheid'. The sad thing is that we as the youth have not experienced 'Apartheid' the way that they have. The segregation we experience is economic segregation. It is very hard to find a job, there are many people who have received education (e.g. university graduates) who are jobless. The education we lack is wisdom, being the ability to discern between right and wrong. Most of us still blindly vote ANC because we are afraid of what might happen should the DA win for example. It is sad that the ANC might only lose power in 2024 when (sorry to be harsh) the masses that vote for them are no more, and when more people have gained 'wisdom'. One of the biggest mistakes ANC ever did was to say 'ANC alone will govern', and let the opposition sit in Parliament questioning every dingy move. "

Demokrasie in Suid-Afrika word beduiwel deur stamorganisasie (tribalism). Hierdie verknogtheid word uitgebuit deur politieke leiers en stamverwantes veral families word rykelik beloon vir hul ondersteuning met aanstellings in belangrike poste en in besigheid. So word bereken dat die totale koste van President Zuma ongeveer R150 miljoen per jaar beloop, alle uitgawes ingesluit. 'Spousal Support' word bereken op R15 miljoen per jaar en helikoptervlugte op R14 miljoen per jaar. Daarby is die President indirek betrokke by tenminste 16 sakebelange deur sy vroue, kinders en familie. Daarbenewens het die President 6 vroue, 4 vriendinne (girl friends) en 21 kinders. (Bron: "Zuma exposed' deur Adriaan Basson)

Uit bogenoemde moet dit duidelik wees waarom Afrika-leiers soos Mugabe vasklou ten alle koste aan posisies en mag en nie skroom om veiligheidsmagte vir die doel in te span nie. Dat dit dikwels soos in Zimbabwe met brutale onderdrukking van opposisiepartye gepaard gaan, moet nie as 'n verrassing kom nie.

Dit is dus duidelik dat tensy daar 'n totale gesindheisverandering onder die meerderheid swart kiesers plaasvind demokrasie 'n opdraande stryd in Afrika en ook Suid-Afrika gaan voer.