tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71467383479687035022024-02-07T11:38:00.568-08:00HEARD MENTALITYBy JANET HEARDAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-3026497370443762832017-07-12T05:18:00.000-07:002017-07-12T05:18:00.333-07:00Here's to those who won't be silenced<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations.”</em></div>
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The genesis of this quote dates back a century or so ago and was later popularly attributed to George Orwell.</div>
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The quote is as apt today as it was back then. It explains the traditional function of the media, but also hints at the level of risk that comes with publishing information that others want to cover up.</div>
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Journalists have always known the risks of paying the price for digging for dirt, especially in countries with repressive media laws.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Death and harassment</strong></div>
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Journalists in South Africa have operated within a free press environment since democracy in 1994, so the risks here have seemed small in comparison to countries such as Turkey, where 150 journalists are in jail.</div>
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About a month ago, the local media industry began grappling publicly with the proliferation of online fake news, accompanied by the bullying of journalists, particularly those involved in <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Gupta_leaks" style="border: 0px; color: #0e2e5e; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">#GuptaLeaks</a> revelations.</div>
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The industry has since been shaken by the tragic death of SABC radio journalist Suna Venter, one of the “SABC8” who exposed the reign of terror at the public broadcaster. According to her family, she died of “broken heart syndrome” after a year of stress, threats and harassment.</div>
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Venter’s death coincided with physical harassment and threats by Black First Land First against journalists who have been exposing state capture.</div>
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Now that the media industry has been confronted with real risks that extend beyond name-calling, newsrooms are taking steps to ensure targeted journalists get the support that they need to continue doing their jobs.</div>
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Besides the risks involved, it is tough going trying to pin down the facts these days because of the sophisticated machinery of public relations spin and infestation of fake news.</div>
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It will be hard for the corrupted to understand that journalists are not motivated by the same principles that they are guided by.</div>
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These journalists will not be bought or swayed, although in any newsroom there are always a few who take chances with the code of ethics and others who have ulterior motives.</div>
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In the 1980s, for example, I worked in The Star newsroom in Johannesburg with crime reporter Craig Kotze, who later confirmed our suspicions that he had been operating as a spy for the apartheid government all along.</div>
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Thanks to the efforts of a tenacious bunch of investigative reporters and editors, information that others hope to suppress has been seeping out, from the Passenger Rail Agency of SA train fiasco and Watergate exposé to the SABC horror show and unfolding Guptagate revelations.</div>
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Some are veteran journalists who exposed apartheid atrocities. Others are much younger, some even from the born-free generation.</div>
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These journalists often struggle to make ends meet, they shun offers of better-paid, cushy public relations jobs from government and monopoly capital, not to mention bribes and gifts.</div>
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They are a diverse bunch, motivated by an old-fashioned desire to muckrake, without fear or favour. And they won’t be silenced.</div>
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This article was first published in City Press on July 9/on news24.com</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-31503497494477198442017-06-23T08:14:00.001-07:002017-06-23T08:14:25.150-07:00Legit media vs fake news<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW85E8GKZur72-9pglpv-8dv0aQ0MQJyLajfDliLLNcPgLpm9KM1GDQG5cFo3-1KEaEbhzYquuiIWXhlBlgHfhoUd7UdbUzDPV6cw1SYJrhO6e1rWIHzUgByifTf0ZVAdT82JvRwC_LPk7/s1600/2017-06-08+13.24.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW85E8GKZur72-9pglpv-8dv0aQ0MQJyLajfDliLLNcPgLpm9KM1GDQG5cFo3-1KEaEbhzYquuiIWXhlBlgHfhoUd7UdbUzDPV6cw1SYJrhO6e1rWIHzUgByifTf0ZVAdT82JvRwC_LPk7/s200/2017-06-08+13.24.03.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Editors discuss harassment at WAN</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelxflQ2Znkye6xCjyGLOIgoDE9khsOVislgMHU8GKZ7veb2ljU5G5-Fecftn7mbgVXdmfpcQVBeYw3zlx_t_njqhNlloYPJzPwR64_5sftY5zlfI4zss4K-k49IUlnM5yi0CYJibnpbse/s1600/2017-06-09+12.03.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelxflQ2Znkye6xCjyGLOIgoDE9khsOVislgMHU8GKZ7veb2ljU5G5-Fecftn7mbgVXdmfpcQVBeYw3zlx_t_njqhNlloYPJzPwR64_5sftY5zlfI4zss4K-k49IUlnM5yi0CYJibnpbse/s200/2017-06-09+12.03.57.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Fake news is the “new” threat that sows public confusion and harm, but it is futile for legitimate media to feel like victims.</div>
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The very term “fake news” is a misnomer. If it is fake, it is not news. This point was made by veteran journalist Joe Thloloe, director of the SA Press Council, during a recent local gathering about the proliferation of so-called fake news.</div>
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Thloloe’s point was reinforced internationally at the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers congress in Durban last week.</div>
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Don’t call it news, call it disinformation, urges Claire Wardle of First Draft News, a US online platform that specialises in tools to debunk false information.</div>
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Disinformation is not new – political agents and saboteurs have always manipulated facts, and peddled lies and propaganda. Now, in the instant digital age, it is infecting the public space.</div>
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Traditionally, the mainstream media prescribed – often subjectively and controversially – to the public the news and angles that they considered to be pertinent. They have lost this gatekeeping power, thanks to social media. While this has democratised media, it has also opened up a space for abuse. By ironically accusing them of being peddlers of fake news, this is how the Donald Trumps and Guptas of the world have hit back at media that are not their lapdogs.</div>
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The flood of false information online has been cited as the number one problem in journalism in the US, according to Jane Elizabeth of the American Press Institute. Although fact checking and verification networks were being beefed up, the media’s efforts to counter misinformation are outplayed by eight to one.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Exposed on social media</strong></div>
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The threat of personal danger comes into play when abuse extends beyond fake sites mimicking credible news accounts, to manipulative cyberbullying, often using #FakeTwitter. During a debate on the harassment of journalists, former City Press editor and current editor at large of Huffington Post SA, Ferial Haffajee, described the “dark heart of Twitter”, with fake news factories and automated false armies emerging in a bid to intimidate and destroy her credibility and that of other journalists exposing state capture.</div>
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The floodgates opened, with journalists from other countries giving chilling accounts of cyber harassment.</div>
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The point was raised that journalists use bulletproof vests for protection when covering war zones, yet they are left exposed on social media.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sanef fightback campaign</td></tr>
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The fightback has now begun by bodies such as the SA National Editors’ Forum and Media Monitoring Africa. Strategies include naming and shaming, public education, and putting pressure on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to tackle misinformation.</div>
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Critical introspection has also been necessary. Media bosses need to invest in training to equip newsrooms with the skills required to retain public trust. Credible media need to set the standard by separating fact from falsehood. Verification and fact-checking mechanisms need to be entrenched.</div>
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As social media is the platform where mistruths have proliferated, social-media teams need to be an integral part of the newsroom, not a sideshow run by staff with no journalism training.</div>
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Thloloe had some sage advice when it comes to fighting back. There may be layers of truth, but the closest the public will get to the truth is via journalism that is rooted in the SA Press Code, which enforces ethical journalism and which the public can use to hold the media to account.</div>
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This code separates real news from all the bullsh*t. Google the facts, by all means, but make sure you are directed to a genuine site.</div>
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* First appeared in City Press on 18 June 2017.</div>
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<a href="http://www.news24.com/Columnists/Janet-Heard/legit-media-vs-fake-news-20170616">http://www.news24.com/Columnists/Janet-Heard/legit-media-vs-fake-news-20170616</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-15818928276226257832017-06-23T07:57:00.002-07:002017-06-23T08:01:54.657-07:00Step aside Zille, says departing MP<div class="photo" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: helvetica, arial; font-size: 16px; margin-left: -30px; margin-right: 0px; width: 846.234px;">
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Taking a sabbatical, Wilmot James. Picture: Janet Heard</div>
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Mmusi (Maimane) has to get the DA ready for peak performance heading towards the 2019 elections, not be spending time putting out internal fires, especially the volcanic eruption caused by Helen's Zille’s efforts to defend her quite considerable legacy, said Wilmot James. By JANET HEARD.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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If Helen Zille wished to protect the party and her legacy, she should stop “digging herself into a hole” but rather step down, according to outgoing Democratic Alliance MP, Wilmot James.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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“I am disappointed that she is behaving in this way,” said James, referring to Zille’s reluctance to apologise unreservedly for her ill-fated tweet about colonialism and her determination to justify her position despite an appeal from DA leader Mmusi Maimane.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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James was interviewed as he exits Parliament to depart for the US on a one-year appointment as a visiting professor at Columbia University, where he will focus on infectious epidemics and global health security.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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Careful not to comment on the merits or otherwise of the case pending the internal disciplinary process that is under way, he said: “Wisdom has never been one of Helen's qualities, so she goes about it (protecting her legacy) the wrong way by trying to control, bend and manipulate every move of her successor. It’s intolerable. By doing that she is not defending her legacy.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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James, who is a known critic of Zille’s leadership style, said he had tremendous admiration for the Western Cape premier and former party leader who has been given until Tuesday to submit a response to a federal executive decision to suspend her from party duties pending the outcome of the hearing. Zille should be remembered for her “superb analytical skills” and ability to run good governance. “She knows how to do it right. She is the DA’s brand. That is what she should be remembered for.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.33; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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The damage to the party had been considerable. The DA was trying to fight off a narrative that it was a white party “and that black people who are leading the party are instruments of white power.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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“And Helen has just confirmed this narrative in her actions. The narrative is unfair, it is not true and membership figures show otherwise. But the damage is quite serious, given what the party is trying to do in repositioning itself in a racialised landscape.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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“This controversy is the last thing that Mmusi needed,” said James, claiming that Zille had a history of supporting new leaders, then destroying them, a claim strongly disputed by Zille, who also rejects Maimane’s contention that she had not apologised.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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“It is not a racial thing, it has been the case with a number of white and black colleagues,” said James. “The most visible has been what happened with (former DA parliamentary leader) Lindiwe Mazibuko. Helen supported her then subverted her. She has supported Maimane, and is now subverting him. This is reckless,” said James, an ally of Mazibuko, who stepped down in 2014.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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“Mmusi has to get the DA ready for peak performance heading towards the 2019 elections, not be spending time putting out internal fires, especially the volcanic eruption caused by Helen's efforts to defend her quite considerable legacy” said James.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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“Remember the title of her book is <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Not without a Fight</i>. The sub-title should be <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Here are a 1,000 reasons why I am always right</i>. If the DA's future is a priority for her, she should find a way of stepping aside.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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As a parting shot to his party, James said he hoped that members unite behind Maimane. “The worst thing a party can be is being internally focused. Everybody must get on purpose for 2019,” he said warning that if efforts failed, “the party could be torn apart”.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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James, 63, said his respect for the young DA leader had grown since he challenged him in a fiercely contested leadership race in 2015 in which Maimane was the frontrunner from the get go.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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Under Maimane, the party had gained more votes and was co-governing three more metros. Maimane – now 37 – had also successfully raised funds. “He hasn’t hesitated to lead the party, and has the ability to self-correct. He has done better than I thought. He has grown into his role.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.33; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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The party needed to be disciplined. “All this racial stuff is a symptom of not having sufficient discipline and clarity on what the party’s moral purpose is, which is to create a better South Africa, not serve the interests of a few individuals.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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Maimane was tasked with uniting the party at a time when the provinces had become more powerful with three new DA metro mayors at the helm. “Zille didn’t face this challenge as DA leader, and Maimane is doing his very best to get that right, to build the party nationally.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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James is looking forward to immersing himself in research in New York. He will be a visiting professor of health security and diplomacy based in the College of Physicians and Surgeons (medical school), a joint appointment with the School of International Public affairs.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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He will also consolidate his relationship with a prestigious research network under the Global Health Security Agenda. The network’s agenda is to improve, prevent, mitigate against and respond to outbreaks, which include chemical, nuclear and multiple hazards, and with climate change, food security and cyber security being core to their programme.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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An academic for much of his professional life and an MP for eight years, James has studied and lectured the morbid topic of death and death patterns since he was a sociology student in the 1970s.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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He was increasingly drawn to global health issues after the unacceptable devastation caused by Ebola a few years ago. “11,000 people died, and they didn’t have to die. Children died in isolation because they were shunned.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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The deaths took place because African governments did not invest adequately in health systems, and the global community responded too slowly. “We really need to do a lot more,” he said.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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James said the impact of an inadequate response to the Izika virus more recently had been that 3,000 moms gave birth to children with microcephaly in South America. “You know what that means? They will be utter vegetables. It will break their families, and the medical requirements are unbelievable” he said.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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The earlier trigger of pandemic interest, of course, was closer to home with the HIV-Aids pandemic, which led to 300,000 unnecessary deaths in South Africa, he said.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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As health spokesperson in Maimane’s shadow ministry, James has had a front-line seat to local health issues.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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The lesson from the Esidimeni scandal, where at least 94 psychiatric patients died, was that the country lacked an early detection system. “The minister learnt about the deaths from Section 27. That is criminal. Every country worth their salt has a proper surveillance system so that if there is an unusual death, it will be detected immediately.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"> <span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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While James was respectful of health minister Aaron Motsoeledi, saying he was a passionate doctor, he did not hold back on his criticism. “He is not a strategist, and he doesn’t listen. He is all over the place, he should be more focused. He cares about people and health. That is not lacking, but he should work with what he has got, not turn it all upside.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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James has taken a year’s leave of absence but has negotiated for a return to parliament. In the meantime, Maimane, who replaced James with Patricia Kopane in the health portfolio, strategically took the opportunity to shake up his shadow cabinet, including freeing up Gavin Davis to focus on policy development and communications ahead of the 2019 elections and Geordin Hill-Lewis to focus full-time as his chief of staff.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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James, who leaves South Africa on Saturday with his wife and youngest daughter, doesn’t feel that he is letting his side down by taking a break from politics, admitting that he has been on the periphery of party politics since departing as Federal executive chairperson.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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“There are big things to prepare for in 2019, and I certainly want to be part of that,” he said, not ruling out aspirations for a senior position that could include Western Cape premier.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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He said his biggest national concern was the “political thuggery” at play under president Jacob Zuma.<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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“In 2004, (the late ANC stalwart) Kader Asmal said to me that the thugs have taken over. He spotted it then. And right now they are hanging on for dear life, no matter the consequences. This means no job growth, a poorer investment climate, and a country in decline.’’<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-hasreactions antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span><span class="antenna-reaction-total antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-size: 0.7em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 8px 0px 3px; visibility: hidden;"></span></span></span></div>
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The fightback had begun, and the climate was ripe with opportunity, particularly for the opposition. “We are not Zimbabwe. We have a great judicial system, the NGOs and churches have found their voices. We are strong and resilient.”<span class="antenna antenna-text-indicator-widget antenna-reset antenna-suppress antenna-nohint" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helveticaneue" , "tex gyre heros" , "texgyreheros" , "freesans" , "nimbus sans l" , "liberation sans" , "arimo" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: 0.3s ease; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="antenna-text-indicator-inner antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; left: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="antenna-logo antenna-reset" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; display: inline-block; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 512 512"><path class="antenna-logo-path" d="m283 510c125-17 229-124 229-253 0-141-115-256-256-256-141 0-256 115-256 256 0 130 108 237 233 254l0-149c-48-14-84-50-84-102 0-65 43-113 108-113 65 0 107 48 107 113 0 52-33 88-81 102z"></path></svg></span></span></span></div>
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However, he would be “surprised” if the ANC lost power in 2019. “They are also resilient as an organisation. That must not be underestimated.”</div>
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*<i>As appeared on Daily Maverick 5 June 2017</i></div>
<a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-06-05-step-aside-zille-says-departing-mp/#.WU0sh46GPIU">https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-06-05-step-aside-zille-says-departing-mp/#.WU0sh46GPIU</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-1096742862106694222017-05-22T04:19:00.001-07:002017-05-22T04:19:21.337-07:00Frogs, foreign agents, anything but the facts<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6X6jgMGmdr75oRw_rU2E0wDdxc8yTSSW0OvcdKnOlC-BY4jObGJ9sTRkIsmKxOnWghJW1zA_sCuHhr5XY7duuFFI9OpbCCvefn2Rm4OYNBwj6bRR0XQgtw5uIFxJXkeByKueYIXldOZKm/s1600/gigaba-DGhandshake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6X6jgMGmdr75oRw_rU2E0wDdxc8yTSSW0OvcdKnOlC-BY4jObGJ9sTRkIsmKxOnWghJW1zA_sCuHhr5XY7duuFFI9OpbCCvefn2Rm4OYNBwj6bRR0XQgtw5uIFxJXkeByKueYIXldOZKm/s320/gigaba-DGhandshake.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New finance minister Malusi Gigaba greets outgoing Treasury director-general Lungisa Fuzile in parliament</td></tr>
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Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba can expect rebuttals, rebuke and ridicule from the opposition when he delivers his maiden Treasury budget vote speech on Tuesday.</div>
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Opposition mudslinging was ubiquitous in the first week of the annual budget vote debate frenzy, as was the shiny fleet of black BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz ministerial cars that were lined up on the precinct.</div>
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The 40-odd debates are scheduled to take place over almost three weeks in back-to-back sessions. A few are held simultaneously in the National Assembly and other venues, interspersed with individual ministerial media briefings that triggered fatigue on day one among overworked press gallery journalists.</div>
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Altogether last week, 17 ministers chanced their luck at putting a positive spin on their departments’ performance. Broadly themed to the ANC’s buzz words for 2017, their speeches so far have paid tribute to late ANC stalwart Oliver Tambo, endorsed the urgent push for radical economic transformation and stressed the challenge of doing more with less, in line with austerity measures imposed by axed finance minister Pravin Gordhan.</div>
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While ministers glossed over challenges and failures, State Security Minister David Mahlobo deserves the smoke-and-mirror award of the week. In a presentation scant on fact, he referred repeatedly to his paranoia about unnamed foreign agents intent on “unconstitutional regime change”. In his briefing, he boomeranged the spotlight onto the media, imploring journalists to do the right thing and give the public the facts as presented to them.</div>
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But why Mahlobo presented a budget vote in the first place is rather odd. The sum total of a financial breakdown for state security is a one-line entry in Treasury’s budget, with the expenditure this year for “secret services” listed as R4.7bn. This means that whatever Mahlobo is up to behind the scenes makes him dangerously unaccountable and highly controversial.</div>
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Science and technology, on the other hand, is one of the least controversial departments and Minister Naledi Pandor was treated with kid gloves during her speech. She delivered an uplifting celebration of some of the country’s top science students and innovators. Many achievers were present in the public gallery and given a shoutout from the minister.</div>
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In the home affairs debate, it was deemed premature to give new minister Hlengiwe Mkhize a tongue-lashing. Her predecessor, the nattily dressed Gigaba, bore the brunt of MPs’ comedic banter.</div>
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Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Hlengiwe Hlophe repeatedly referred to Gigaba as “minister of Instagram” and made jibes about his perceived links to the Guptas. Among many points of order, an EFF member objected to sexist heckling from an ANC member, who was overheard commenting that Hlophe was criticising Gigaba because “she actually wants him”. Undeterred, Hlophe triggered a new spat by replying: “Unfortunately for the minister, I don’t kiss black frogs.”</div>
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To break the monotony of scripted debates, the slurs and jibes are set to continue to roll off the tongues of honourable members throughout this week and next, when President Jacob Zuma has the last say in a reply to the presidency’s budget vote debate on Thursday.</div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">* This article first appeared in City Press. </i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>http://www.news24.com/Columnists/Janet-Heard/frogs-foreign-agents-anything-but-the-facts-20170519</i></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-24508325169678215982017-04-14T03:28:00.000-07:002017-04-14T03:28:48.421-07:00If Ramaphosa hesitates, he risks a wipeout<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
More than a year ago, I asked an ally of Cyril Ramaphosa how the deputy president reconciled remaining silent over the dishonourable conduct of President Jacob Zuma; and when he planned to show his hand regarding his own presidential aspirations.</div>
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Timing was everything in politics and patience was required, he replied.</div>
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He used this metaphor to describe Ramaphosa’s quest: “Cyril doesn’t need to catch the first wave that comes his way, or even the next. There will be another.”</div>
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A sizeable wave rolled in on March 31 last year after Zuma got pummelled by the Constitutional Court over his refusal to be held accountable for public money spent on non-security upgrades at his home in Nkandla.</div>
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But Ramaphosa sat waiting.</div>
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Thereafter, he watched one wave after another pass him by.</div>
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Complicit in his silence, Ramaphosa even verbally protected Zuma in Parliament.</div>
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Along with the rest of the ANC caucus, he also blocked various votes of no confidence – brought on largely as a symbolic gesture by the opposition.</div>
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This week, Ramaphosa finally showed he had a backbone.</div>
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He publicly rebuked Zuma over his “unacceptable” decision to oust Pravin Gordhan in a Cabinet reshuffle, and questioned his ready-made list presented to the ANC leadership.</div>
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He also called for citizens to get rid of “greedy, corrupt people”.</div>
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Ramaphosa’s outspokenness got the thumbs up from one of his fiercest critics, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema.</div>
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For the first time, the deputy president had spoken sense, said Malema.</div>
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“We encourage him to grow like that. If he wants to be president of the country, he must speak out more against this kleptocracy. He has to fight,” said Malema.</div>
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But Ramaphosa’s robustness was short-lived. He retreated after seemingly getting a bollocking from Zuma.</div>
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So where does that leave the deputy president?</div>
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ANC national executive committee member Joel Netshitenzhe this week warned that an individual was “running roughshod over not just the ANC’s interests, but also society’s interests”.</div>
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Saying that the ANC risked losing the 2019 elections, Netshitenzhe suggested that the party reopen the debate on the recall of Zuma and “call for a reversal of the more outrageous of the latest Cabinet changes”.</div>
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If these efforts failed, he said, the ANC may need to consider allowing MPs to vote with their conscience in a vote of no confidence, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.</div>
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Alternative leadership is being sought in a bid to rescue the country from political and economic turmoil.</div>
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There is a groundswell of mobilisation against Zuma.</div>
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Gordhan and others are calling for action, and Deputy Public Works Minister Jeremy Cronin – in his capacity as a member of the SA Communist Party – delivered a call for Zuma’s head at a memorial service for Ahmed Kathrada on Thursday.</div>
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Conditions are right for Ramaphosa to catch the wave.</div>
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But with less than nine months to go until the elective conference, he is running out of time.</div>
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If he hesitates, he risks a spectacular wipeout.</div>
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If he holds back, he risks giving a more enthusiastic contender the opportunity to catch his wave.</div>
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* This article first appeared on Media24 platforms.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-6710553339778041522017-04-14T03:23:00.003-07:002017-04-14T03:23:28.537-07:00MPs who punch above their weight<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Many of the 400 members of Parliament (MPs) are often neither seen nor heard from, and don’t deserve their annual R1.03 million pay packets (plus perks).</div>
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But a sizeable number of public representatives are not just plodding along; they do have an effect. The recent performance of the MPs in the ad hoc committee that investigated the SABC is an example of such grit and purpose.</div>
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There are achievers across the political spectrum, but a handful of overextended MPs from the smaller political parties also deserve special mention.</div>
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Instead of being drowned out by the larger parties, their familiar faces pop up all over the show, often with well-considered input.</div>
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While the ANC has 249 members, the DA 89 and the Economic Freedom Fighters 25, members of the smaller parties do not have the luxury of having an MP represented everywhere.</div>
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They are spread thinly across more than 50 committees, with the fourth largest party – the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) – having 10 members. The others only have between one and six.</div>
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These “rats and mice” parties have tough choices to make every day in the parliamentary programme.</div>
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For instance, IFP whip Liezl van der Merwe is a member of two committees – the department of women in the presidency and the department of social development, which has been a pressure cooker due to the grants debacle at the SA Social Security Agency.</div>
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She is also an alternate member of the department of telecommunications and postal services, and of the department of communications, which this week selected an interim SABC board.</div>
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Every Wednesday morning, Van der Merwe should be in three meetings at once – the chief whips’ forum, social development and telecommunications.</div>
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Van der Merwe (36) has persistently sought accountability on the social grants problem – not only now, but for at least the past year. She has raised the issue in the committee and the National Assembly, and has twice questioned Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini and the president.</div>
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Van der Merwe is so busy that she often misses weddings, family celebrations and dinner dates, instead taking reams of documents home so that she can formulate targeted questions and arguments for the next day.</div>
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Her colleague Narend Singh is also effective and visible. He was present everywhere this week, asking pertinent questions and making astute observations in the National Assembly, and also when Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown briefed the portfolio committee on Eskom and her “problem child”, SA Express.</div>
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Other MPs from smaller parties who are adept at multitasking include the IFP’s Mkhuleko Hlengwa, who, at 29, represents the younger generation of MPs who are stepping up to the plate, and the United Democratic Movement’s Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, who plays an active role in the House and is on least three committees, including the Finance Standing Committee.</div>
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Kwankwa’s colleague, Mncedisi Filtane, was named the hardest-working MP for attending the most committee meetings – 70 – in 2015, according to the Parliamentary Monitoring Group. The Congress of the People’s Deidre Carter is another energetic MP from a minority party who has a large footprint in Parliament.</div>
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The smaller parties represent a few pieces of the multiparty puzzle in Parliament, but, thanks to the consistent dedication of some, Parliament would be incomplete – and poorer – without them.</div>
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* This article first appeared on Media24 platforms in March.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-77886988311131146602016-08-02T07:44:00.000-07:002016-08-02T07:47:13.546-07:00Freedom at what Price?<h1 class="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 32px; line-height: 36px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">
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There will be no academic freedom lecture at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on August 11.</div>
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But the TB Davie book that bears the name of speakers since 1959 will not be blank.</div>
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It will carry an “appropriate” entry to record vice-chancellor Max Price’s withdrawal of the invite to free speech activist Flemming Rose.</div>
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Last week’s decision to uninvite the controversial Danish cultural editor 16 months after first approaching him has split the academic fraternity and exposed ideological power play on the campus.</div>
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While some have sided with Price, many have slammed him – even those who have questioned why Rose was selected by the Academic Freedom Committee in the first place.</div>
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I was taken aback when the UCT executive intervened and rescinded the invite. Rose’s decision to publish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad 11 years ago was insulting and blasphemous.</div>
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But being a free speech adherent within the bounds of our Constitution in post-apartheid South Africa, it would have been apt to hear him critique the issues and to hear him answer to his critics.</div>
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In his letter to the Academic Freedom Committee, Price argued that Rose’s presence would “divide and inflame” an already volatile campus.</div>
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The embattled vice-chancellor also rehashed the mantra of Rose’s critics, even though he conceded that these claims “can be contested, and the precepts of academic freedom should require us to hear him out”.</div>
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UCT had considered canning the lecture, but retaining the panel discussion that the committee had sensibly planned so that the event would not be a one-sided affair.</div>
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“However, Mr Rose is seen by many as persona non grata and while most would protest peacefully against him, we believe there is a real danger that among those offended by the cartoons, an element may resort to violence,” argued Price.</div>
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The inflamed climate – globally and in South Africa – is perhaps not ideal for such an intellectual exercise right now. It has also been enlightening to hear arguments against giving Rose a platform in the first place.</div>
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Sensitivities aside, Academic Freedom Committee chair Jacques Rousseau aptly concluded that while Price’s decision may be “understandable”, it was also “deeply regrettable”. The narrowing of university space to be informed and to contest ideas owing to fear and amid a threat of violence – or the “assassin’s veto” as Rose’s supporters put it – is deeply worrying.</div>
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The UCT fraternity has been denied an opportunity to engage with Rose, who has lampooned multiple religions. A brave crusader against self-censorship, the author of The Tyranny of Silence, has not bowed down to pressure, even at risk of death.</div>
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The ruckus about the Danish satirical publisher will subside, but the irony of Price’s vexed decision to not hear him out at the flagship academic freedom lecture will be recorded for posterity.<br />
This article first appeared in Media 24 titles. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-59445967598472986302016-07-31T12:42:00.004-07:002016-07-31T12:46:28.289-07:00Kick up bucks for women with balls<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; width: auto;">
Banyana Banyana go up against Sweden at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on August 3, the day of our local elections. When the players take to the field, they will be underresourced and neglected – much like the rats-and-mice political parties struggling for our attention against the dominant players on election day.</div>
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It will be a feat if the national women’s soccer team get to their second consecutive Olympics at all. A month ago, coach Vera Pauw put out her begging bowl. Appealing to Fikile “Mr Razzmatazz” Mbalula to extend a financial lifeline to women’s soccer, she said: “My big call is to the minister of sport. Help us – not afterwards, not at an awards ceremony. Instead of awards, help us prepare.”</div>
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She said the team had already lost five weeks of preparation because of a lack of funds for a national camp.</div>
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Since then, football association Safa was reportedly due to give the team a few million rands to at least complete their preparations, and test their skills in friendly matches.</div>
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The team has soldiered on, clutching on to support from solo sponsor Sasol, which created a league in 2009 to nurture women’s football from club level upwards.</div>
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Despite disparities in funding and development compared with men’s soccer, Banyana have not performed badly. Ranked a few notches higher than Bafana, the team has produced superstar Portia Modise – the first African to score more than 100 international goals. She delivered a 41m wonder strike for Banyana in the 2012 Olympics before retiring last year.</div>
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Imagine how the quality of women’s soccer would improve if sporting bodies did not just pay lip service to equity; if they supported a proper professional league with sponsors and live broadcasts.</div>
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But from my narrow experience as a soccer mom, transformation and development need to begin at school level. My daughter, Ella, had the opportunity to learn soccer six years ago, but it was during a one-year family stay in the US, where girls’ soccer is taken seriously and is paying off, with the US women’s team the current World Cup champs.</div>
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In South Africa, girls’ soccer is an afterthought on most school calendars – if offered at all – and an also-ran at award ceremonies. Even when a school shows commitment, as is the case now where Ella, aged 14, plays defence for her high school’s only girls’ team, it is a battle to find competitive teams for matches.</div>
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But the girls press on with passion and gusto, just like the Banyana women who, at 6pm on election day, will give their all for their country.</div>
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Even if the powers that be fail them, there is time for us to get behind them.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-72498077715992734252016-07-31T12:33:00.000-07:002016-07-31T12:39:08.016-07:00<div class="header" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px;">
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Parliament missed opportunity to up its game</h1>
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<span class="byline" id="lblByLine" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 5px;"><br /></span><span class="timestamp" id="lblTimestamp" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: block; margin-bottom: 5px;">2016-05-29 20:38</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4em;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">If Parliament wants to avoid being upstaged by 6% of the members in the House who are spoiling for a fight, it needs to up its game.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4em;">For one thing, it could ensure that the format is relevant and current, especially when it comes to holding the slippery executive to account on urgent matters of the day.</span>If Parliament wants to avoid being upstaged by 6% of the members in the House who are spoiling for a fight, it needs to up its game.</div>
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When Parliament rose this week for an extended constituency period that will last until after the local elections on August 3, it missed an opportunity to put mechanisms in place to do just that.</div>
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While a committee that revised the rule book for the National Assembly tightened up measures to deal with unruliness, it failed to deal decisively with the unforgiving reality that 48 hours – not a week – is an aeon in South African politics.</div>
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In terms of the rules, for instance, MPs need to submit questions for President Jacob Zuma at least 16 days before he takes to the podium for oral replies, and at least nine days before Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa replies.</div>
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The yawning time lag means that the executive not only has an inordinate amount of time to sculpt answers and prepare for possible supplementary questions, it also means that by the time of the actual response, the question has all too often lost relevance, or the answer has been recycled so many times that viewers have switched off the parliamentary channel – in the absence of live-action tussles courtesy of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and parliamentary bouncers.</div>
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The failure to introduce oral questions without notice was one of the reasons the DA kicked up a fuss in the rules committee – belatedly it seems – on the day the report was approved this week.</div>
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The new rules, which have been undergoing revision by the committee for more than two years, were subsequently passed by majority vote in the National Assembly on Thursday.</div>
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So, for now, the country is stuck with a fragile Parliament and a stale format.</div>
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This was evident when Ramaphosa presented his oral replies on Wednesday. He delivered his memoirs of a trip to South Sudan – 10 days earlier – and reported back on a gathering of the World Economic Forum in Kigali that took place before that.</div>
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A question about the abuse of food parcels for votes came 20 days after the Public Protector’s report had been released.</div>
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The EFF escaped this plenary and other goings-on this week after being forcibly removed and suspended during President Zuma’s oral replies the previous week.</div>
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By so doing, the young rebel party had the last laugh, even in its absence.</div>
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While MPs of other parties – except the Congress of the People, which has waged an extended boycott of Parliament over its handling of the Nkandla saga – were sweating it out in the House and fulfilling their duties, the EFF sneakily got a head start on the election campaign.</div>
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+ This article first appeared on in City Press and Media 24 publications</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-81166919216046272342016-04-12T04:54:00.003-07:002016-04-12T05:04:12.636-07:00Spinning the yarn on Nkandla<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Doris Dlakude and Jackson Mthembu address the media</b></td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6px;">After two years of dizzying ANC spin and opposition antics, there were high hopes on April Fools’ Day that the protracted Nkandla affair might finally stop dominating the Hansard reports on Parliament.</span></div>
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This might have been feasible if the president had done the honourable thing and agreed to – or, even better, insisted on – stepping down after his drubbing from Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.</div>
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Amid President Jacob Zuma’s bold alert that he would address the nation, a wizened colleague advised me not to cancel my dinner plans. Seeing through the frenzied hype, she anticipated Zuma’s stand-to-attention as a foolhardy move.</div>
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After Zuma confirmed he was going nowhere, the Nkandla circus once again became the only show on the precinct on Tuesday, when Parliament resumed after recess. Distracted MPs – from both the ANC and opposition caucuses – rushed through important portfolio committee meetings to konkel (get together and scheme) before the 14:00 sitting of the House.</div>
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When new ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu convened a media briefing the following day, he defended the majority party’s decision to block the opposition’s motion to remove the president.</div>
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But he also showed humility, and even regret, that the ANC had rammed through the infamous resolution passed in the National Assembly by Police Minister Nathi Nhleko, which absolved Zuma from complying with the remedial action set by the Public Protector and which the Constitutional Court order has now nullified.</div>
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His deputy, Doris Dlakude, took a harder line in her insistence that the process that Parliament had followed was not faulty.</div>
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Then she rehashed the nonsensical narrative that Zuma had always planned to pay back the money. “The president didn’t say he wouldn’t pay … He waited for advice as to how much he should pay,” she insisted.</div>
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But Dlakude overlooked Zuma’s report to the Speaker of the National Assembly in August 2014 – five months after the Public Protector’s damning findings were released.</div>
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He stated clearly that a determination needed to be made as “to whether the president is liable for any contribution in respect of the security upgrades”.</div>
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And the president asked Nhleko to determine this question of liability. He also tasked the police minister to report back to Cabinet on a determination, instead of Treasury, as stipulated by the Public Protector.</div>
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The subsequent report by the little-known, newly appointed minister absolved his master, made a laughing stock of Parliament and irked the Constitutional Court.</div>
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Amid the spin, there are some indisputable facts from the past two years that cannot be expunged. The governing party should consult the records.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan after the opposition's failed motion against the president.</b></td></tr>
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The Hansard and other archives have documented what must be the lowest performance in Parliament since the advent of democracy in 1994, and the sorry chapter is not yet over.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;"><i>This column first appeared on Media 24 platforms in April: http://www.news24.com/Columnists/Janet-Heard/spinning-the-yarn-on-nkandla-20160411-2</i></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-85869690035103528012016-04-12T04:51:00.002-07:002016-04-12T04:52:25.199-07:00No-nonsense Pravin cuts back on budget snacks<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="line-height: 19.6px;">A routine Treasury advisory to the media about arrangements for the budget speech on Wednesday may not be what journalists want to hear.</span></div>
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The advisory cautions that due to “cost-containment measures, there might be scaling down on the refreshments provided”. Poorly paid, on-the-go and nutrient-deprived hacks covering the Budget are advised to “come prepared with additional snacks” for the long hours that they are in lock-up from 6am - unable to leave the parliamentary buildings until Gordhan tables his speech in the National Assembly.</div>
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While journalists can anticipate leaner fillings on their sarmies on Wednesday, the advisory sends a strong message that the finance Minister means business, and is intent on trimming the fat everywhere.</div>
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It is also apparent that the Minister knows the importance of leading from the top. While some ministers struggle to defend the hundreds of thousands of Rands spent on overseas jaunts while the economy is on the skids, the finance Minister earned praise when he was photographed travelling on an economy flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg after the State of the Nation address (SONA).</div>
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Although lavish and unchecked personal spending was evident on the red carpet on 11 February, it was a marginally less grandiose occasion. The celebratory post-SONA dinner was canned, a casualty of fiscal prudence which saw the budget for the event almost halved from two years ago, down to R3.5 million.<br />
The customary media cocktail network session hosted by the presidency was also shelved this week. Parliament has been forced to tighten up generally, with virtual tea-on-tap services curtailed for MPs forced to sit through lengthy committee meetings. It has also been reported that Parliament’s building plans to enlarge the precinct are also on hold.</div>
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In his state of the nation address, Zuma glibly set the tone for Gordhan’s cost-cutting budget. Overseas trips by government officials will be approved only if they are able to motivate what the benefits are for the country, and the size of delegations will be reduced. Zuma also announced that dinners traditionally hosted by government departments after budget votes speeches will be scrapped.</div>
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These overdue interventions emphasise that every cent counts. But these savings are minuscule compared to the excessive bleeding of state resources from the top - in Zuma’s Cabinet and at state owned enterprises - and also in provinces and municipalities.</div>
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Gordhan has the will to make a difference. While journalists munch on their Tupperware leftovers on Wednesday, the true test will be if the second-time round Finance Minister has the power to stop the rot and rein in the big spenders.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px;">This column first appeared on Media24 platforms in February: http://www.news24.com/Columnists/Janet-Heard/no-nonsense-pravin-cuts-back-on-budget-snacks-20160223</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-38499845326621852552016-04-12T04:35:00.001-07:002016-04-12T04:53:32.518-07:00Hani's killer to be freed into country he tried to prevent<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
I felt my whiteness as I walked through the crowd. I was outside Chris Hani’s home in Boksburg in 1993 after he had been gunned down by right-wingers. Shattered mourners glared at me suspiciously. As an idealistic young reporter inspired by the nonracial ethos of the United Democratic Front, I felt an unfamiliar unease.</div>
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Now, more than 21 years since the birth of the rainbow nation, I have felt the stereotype of my whiteness again. I am aware that, even when I write, I may be judged not as a South African, but as a white person.</div>
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It is true that many white people are cocooned from challenging realities. They share the blame for the rise in mistrust and anger among black South Africans. In many families, racial superiority passes down – unchallenged and unchecked – to the next generation.</div>
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This is why commentator Justice Malala appealed this week for white people to show empathy. He urged them to acknowledge, once and for all, that “those days under apartheid were worse than you could imagine”.</div>
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But it is foolhardy to peddle the notion that Penny Sparrow represents most white people, or that whiteness is still responsible for the country’s current crop of woes.</div>
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When I spoke at my old school, Camps Bay High, for Founders Day recently, I choked back tears as I stood before a hall-full class of black and white kids. How different would things have been if this hall looked like that when I wore my green-and-white uniform 30 years ago?</div>
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And yet, despite these transformational moments of hope and pride, the vengeful claw of extremism, cynicism, vitriol and finger-pointing has gripped social media.</div>
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Amid the wake-up call of recent weeks, we have an opportunity to break free. A starting point would be to stop being defensive and to open up and interact – about our roots, our prejudices, our differences. Let’s talk about our whiteness and our blackness.</div>
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Parliament has a role to play. Why not encourage honest dialogue in a mini Truth and Reconciliation Commission moment? MPs who have crossed the line with inflammatory racial hatred should be accountable to the public. Dianne Kohler Barnard should answer – in an open forum – for her Facebook blunder hankering after apartheid.</div>
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It is not good enough for the DA or a parliamentary ethics committee to deal with the matter behind closed doors. The same goes for ANC MP Bongani Mkongi, who called for people to be burnt to death in retaliation for the erection of a billboard in Cape Town pronouncing that President Jacob Zuma must fall.</div>
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To cool hot heads, and the air, we need leadership. We need another Nelson Mandela, who called for calm after Hani’s assassination.</div>
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Instead of a race war, Mandela led a broken nation into a new order filled with hope, goodwill and possibility, idealistic as it may seem right now.<br />
This column originally appeared in March on Media24 platforms:<br />
<a href="http://www.news24.com/Columnists/Janet-Heard/cool-heads-must-lead-the-nation-20160125-2">http://www.news24.com/Columnists/Janet-Heard/cool-heads-must-lead-the-nation-20160125-2</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-91522228197512097542016-01-11T08:30:00.002-08:002016-01-11T08:31:44.881-08:00If only the ANC would heed its own call on SABC?<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; width: auto;">
Wouldn’t it be nice if politicians made laws that they would like to have in place even when they are not in power?</div>
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Former SABC board member and head of radio news Pippa Green advised the ANC to do just that in her reaction to Communications Minister Faith Muthambi’s proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Act.</div>
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The most troubling amendment is that nonexecutive members of the SABC board will no longer be appointed on the advice of Parliament, but by the minister of communications. In one fell swoop, the vital role that Parliament has played to at least try to ensure that the broadcaster is accountable to the public will be extinguished.</div>
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Not yet in power during the dying days of apartheid, the ANC was at the forefront of efforts to transform the all-mighty SABC from being a state propaganda tool. The need for an independent SABC was so pressing that the current Broadcasting Amendment Act was enacted in 1993 to enable free and credible elections to take place in April 1994.</div>
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Describing the uphill battle at the time, then ANC secretary-general Cyril Ramaphosa said in a 1992 speech that the National Party had been trying to convince negotiators that its SABC appointees, “many of them with links to the Broederbond and to the SA Defence Force’s Directorate of Military Intelligence”, had somehow transformed and were no longer propagandists.</div>
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Now, after more than 21 years in power, similar ruling-party arrogance has been displayed, this time by an ANC president who believes that the former liberation party will rule until Jesus comes back.</div>
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Although Cabinet – in its jittery and divided state – approved Muthambi’s Broadcasting Amendment Bill last month, tensions are evident, with alliance partner the SA Communist Party openly trashing it.</div>
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But if ANC MPs continue the pattern of closing ranks when the bill comes before Parliament next year, they will abandon yet another pledge from their glory years.</div>
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“The ANC is committed to public broadcasting which is independent of the government of the day, and which owes its loyalty not to any party, but to the population as a whole,” Ramaphosa said in 1992.</div>
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The current ANC leadership does not care to take advice from others, but you would think they would heed their own advice. Or perhaps Muthambi and her cohorts are too drunk with power to notice that in the party discussion documents for the National General Council 2015, there are repeated recommendations for the SABC to have “strengthened accountability to Parliament”.</div>
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But after this week, we can’t expect any common sense or for-the-greater-good advice to be taken into consideration.</div>
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So, after the foolhardy decision to axe Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, I won’t be holding my breath.</div>
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* This article first appeared in various Media 24 titles on 14 and 15 December 2015. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-60383466104643361732016-01-11T08:26:00.003-08:002016-01-12T06:07:41.507-08:00Parliament gets a seismic wake-up call<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; width: auto;">
The snotklap that Parliament received from its support staff this week should be a wake-up call for the institution’s bosses.</div>
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Although the unprotected strike was about performance bonuses, hundreds of protesting staff members who disrupted Parliament throughout the week were also attempting to reclaim their space.</div>
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Although they took their protest too far by overpowering committees, it was a defiant act against a new culture that has been sweeping through the precinct. This new order has been characterised by creeping paranoia and a chipping away of the multiparty democratic space that has been celebrated since 1994.</div>
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Spurred on by the #FeesMustFall protests, the unprecedented standoff by staff has been building up for some time.</div>
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Staff members have been mumbling about the consequences of a regime change in the fifth democratic Parliament.</div>
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The arrival of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which have punched above their 6% weight, changed everything. This coincided with the death of Parliament secretary Michael Coetzee – a democrat who had earned the respect of all parties – and the arrival of Gengezi Mgidlana.</div>
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Granted, the troubled institution has been in an invidious position. It has battled to maintain order, is forced to constantly put out fires and fight many battles as its policies have been rudely rubbished.</div>
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Unable to manage the disruptive newcomer party and under increasing pressure from the ANC majority, Parliament’s leaders have been on the defensive, administering the institution with a firmer hand and a different intent.</div>
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The securitisation at Parliament has caused deep rifts. Staff members are increasingly reluctant to interact with journalists for fear of reprisals, and amid warnings that their social media and chat lines were being monitored.</div>
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But Moira Levy, a content manager in the communications service who was once an active member of the ANC, spoke out against the new security vetting procedure imposed on staff by the State Security Agency in an article in the Mail & Guardian. “I was employed to serve Parliament, not the ruling party … My job is to inform citizens about what their Parliament is doing, not keep information from them,” she wrote, prompting a warning from Parliament – via the media – that she could face disciplinary consequences for speaking out.</div>
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This week there was a seismic shift in the atmosphere as staff broke ranks and rebelled en masse. For once, it was not the whining DA or the unruly EFF that were the opstokers. The agitation was from Nehawu members in the ANC’s ranks.</div>
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As staff occupied Parliament and interacted precariously with riot police through the week, the message was plain and simple: watch out.</div>
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* This article first appeared in various Media 24 titles on 24 and 25 October 2015</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-25668646360753619482016-01-11T08:23:00.002-08:002016-01-11T08:23:28.359-08:00Out of step parliament bumbles on regardless<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; width: auto;">
Parliament’s esteem has taken a few knocks over the past 18 months. Last week, its reputation sank further, owing to its somnolent response to the #FeesMustFall crisis.</div>
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How can it be that this pillar of political relevance, accountability and democracy has only scheduled an “urgent debate” on Tuesday on a crisis that has gripped the nation for two weeks?</div>
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The debate will be a farce. Not only will its relevance have been overtaken, but it will take place without Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MPs, who were ejected from the National Assembly and suspended for five days after agitating for Parliament to deal with the matter immediately.</div>
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Parliament’s stubborn determination to put procedure first matches the slow-footedness of an otherwise competent finance minister, Nhlanhla Nene. Timing is everything in politics. To earn public respect, ministers need to be intuitive and adaptable.</div>
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They should at least acknowledge the burning issues and recognise the discontent, even if it falls on an auspicious day in their calendar – set aside for the medium-term budget policy statement – and amid the glare of ruthless international credit ratings agencies.</div>
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Yet in spite of the outpouring of anger and frustration on the streets by the youth of this country, it was business as usual at Parliament on Wednesday. Journalists covering Nene’s speech dutifully arrived after sunrise for the “lock-up” to get access to the documents before Nene’s 2pm address. Phones were locked away and all copy was embargoed until the address in the National Assembly began.</div>
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In the hefty finance documents, the omission of any solution to the tertiary funding problem was glaring. When hard copies of Nene’s 15-page speech were distributed, just one lame paragraph was devoted to the #FeesMustFall matter. The formalities of the budget lock-up proceeded like clockwork. Street protesters, who are regulars at these occasions, arrived at lunchtime, this year with #FeesMustFall paraphernalia.</div>
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Presiding officer Thoko Didiza opened the 2pm sitting of the House. She was rudely interrupted by the EFF’s appeal to postpone Nene’s speech so the House could respond to the crisis outside. Other opposition parties joined the ANC in voting against the EFF, which, although opportunistic, was in tune with the mood on the ground.</div>
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In what has become routine in the fifth Parliament, journalists anticipated covering the ejection of EFF members by the enthusiastic “white shirts”, the term used to describe parliamentary security. But the real drama erupted outside the House in the parliamentary precinct. Incredibly, Nene rattled through his speech, oblivious to the chaos outside. Not even the thunderous boom of stun grenades, which were flung around the Madiba statue, interrupted him.</div>
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It didn’t disturb President Jacob Zuma, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande or ANC and opposition MPs who remained cocooned in the House.</div>
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A missed opportunity, it will be hard to push aside these contrasting images of a parallel universe when MPs take to the podium on Tuesday to tackle the hashtag on everyone’s lips.</div>
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* This article was first published in various Media 24 titles on 25 and 26 October 2015</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-57698002379922164452016-01-11T08:21:00.000-08:002016-01-11T08:21:21.670-08:00Political parties must break silence on funding<div class="header" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px;">
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Transparency is important, until it comes to us.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; width: auto;">
This was the apt observation by the spokesperson of the Right2Know Campaign, Murray Hunter, about the hypocrisy of political parties in the wake of this week’s Constitutional Court dismissal of an application seeking to enforce the disclosure of private political funding.</div>
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The DA preaches transparency and accountability in almost all its public discourses.</div>
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Yet it would have quietly joined the ANC in welcoming the ruling that served a body blow to the campaign to get political parties to reveal who their funders are via Parliament.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; width: auto;">
The DA has been putting out many fires this week – from Dianne Kohler Barnard’s shared Facebook post praising PW Botha to the axing of convicted abaThembu King Dalindyebo.</div>
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But this distraction would not have been the reason for its masters of spin neglecting to issue a statement after the ruling on Wednesday – a day in which the party churned out at least six media statements.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; width: auto;">
The uncharacteristic coyness on the My Vote Counts ruling might have had more to do with the fact that the DA is reluctant to voluntarily advertise the awkward reality that when it comes to its coffers, the party is not brave enough to support transparency.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; width: auto;">
Much like the ANC, which has dithered for more than eight years on taking the promised action on this vexed issue.</div>
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When pushed to comment on the ruling, which ironically fell on the day of anti-corruption marches on Parliament and the Union Buildings, the DA’s James Selfe told Media24 that “in a perfect world”, there should be rules enforcing the disclosure for donations over a certain amount. But he said the ANC was intent on remaining in power at all costs.</div>
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“Therefore, there is a real or perceived belief by donors who give money to opposition parties that if their identities were disclosed, they would suffer real personal or financial danger.”</div>
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It would be naive to dismiss this, but the negative consequences of secrecy for voters are more severe.</div>
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Political donations are the common dirty thread that run through too many of the corruption scandals that have dented South Africa’s moral standing. This week’s revelations about murky multimillion-rand exchanges between Hitachi and the ANC’s Chancellor House are a case in point.</div>
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The DA is not a virgin to scandal either.</div>
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In 2002, a team of journalists led by the Cape Times’ Tony Weaver lifted the lid on shady financial exchanges between senior Western Cape DA leaders, and German fugitive and con man Jurgen Harksen.</div>
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A commission set up afterwards failed to uncover if Harksen’s generosity had extended to the party’s coffers.</div>
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The campaigners behind this week’s failed court bid are on the money on this principled issue. If politicians are serious about stopping the rot, they must stop waiting for a perfect world.</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7146738347968703502" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7146738347968703502" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7146738347968703502" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>They needed to have acted already to unmask the sources of their privately generated incomes.</div>
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* This article was first published in various Media 24 titles on on 3 and 4 October</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-78219459311800277002015-09-27T07:23:00.002-07:002015-09-27T07:42:54.144-07:00Parly rule 53a is a sign of the times<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImOMFmYGN1jnIRP975GIb2jqGuLA4xS8j5sXegAuz-rhyQvj3-pVPVWJdvpSvUuZSuW-xkmAN1AgJwKjLbYLJkxXnDCk_OA9oAq5xQJClNGHgcQK13aHIxRCj2xfrKWun2M8JkCBSyrXy/s1600/SEP8MalemaEjected1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImOMFmYGN1jnIRP975GIb2jqGuLA4xS8j5sXegAuz-rhyQvj3-pVPVWJdvpSvUuZSuW-xkmAN1AgJwKjLbYLJkxXnDCk_OA9oAq5xQJClNGHgcQK13aHIxRCj2xfrKWun2M8JkCBSyrXy/s320/SEP8MalemaEjected1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julius Malema speaks to reporter Jan Jan Joubert after being ejected</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
was only a matter of time before the new parliamentary rule book would be
thrown at Julius Malema. Rule 53A was, after all, designed specifically with
the former darling of Jacob Zuma in mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Yet
when the EFF’s “commander in chief” was physically ejected from the National Assembly
by newly appointed “bouncers” on Wednesday, it was somewhat unexpected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Perhaps
it was because it was “happy hour”, around 6pm. The parliamentary sitting was
about to wrap up. It had opened three hours earlier with rather hum drum,
defensive oral replies from a visibly overworked Deputy President Cyril
Ramaphosa. This was followed by equally average answers from the ministers in
the economics cluster. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
sitting dragged on with a tedious bombardment of motions without notice. The
EFF repeatedly objected each one, unless they were the proposers. This is a new
trick that the cocky 6percent party has adopted as an up yours to the ANC and
opposition parties who approved the new rules to eject unruly MPs in July.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">By
this time, Ramaphosa had long since vacated the house. The MPs benches were
half empty. All but one journalist had abandoned the gallery, some retreating
to their dingy offices at 100 Plein St to file while keeping half an eye on the
live television parliamentary broadcast. Others had gathered in the Old
Assembly for light relief, a send-off of the parliamentary rugby world cup
squad, hosted by the country’s deputy president. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
was then that presiding officer Grace Boroto switched to unfinished business.
She revisited the session of August 13, where Malema had referred to Ramaphosa
as a murderer. Boroto ruled – quite rightly – that his comment was
unparliamentary and told him to retract. Instead, Malema repeated that
Ramaphosa was a murdererer, adding that he “must rot in jail”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
was obvious what was going to happen next. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFeLFhJm24g">Reporter Jan Gerber captures it on video</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Parliamentary
staff and journalists dashed to the National Assembly. Wily reporter Charl du
Plessis switched on his cellphone video camera as he found his way to the
Serjeant-At-Arms, Regina Mohlomi, who till recently had performed a ceremonial
role. Now she was issuing urgent instructions to former SAPS officers to enter
the house and remove Malema. <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/You-know-what-Malema-looks-like-Watch-EFF-leader-being-ejected-from-Parly-20150910">Charl's video</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Do
you know what Malema looks like,” she asked the enthusiastic officers, hired
especially to deal with disruptive MPs in terms of Rule 53A.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
giant doors opened and the officers moved in swiftly. They yanked out the EFF
leader, flanked by his loyal sidekicks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Issued
with a five- day suspension letter, Malema is barred from the precinct until
Wednesday. The ANC issued a statement welcoming the decision. The EFF
challenged it. The DA, while backing the new rules, called for a review, saying
that Boroto escalated the tension and did not need to resort to rule 53A, which
was reserved for “gross disruptions”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">While
controversy rages over Rule 53A, it is only a matter of time before it will be
invoked again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
the necessity of having Rule 53A in the first place is a symptom of more
serious underlying issues. The circus that has characterised the fifth
parliament is moving into an even more contested phase - the precinct becoming
more secretive and militarised, the democratic space narrowing and the schisms
widening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">What
is going on in parliament is a microcosm of what is happening nationally.
Attitudes are hardening. Desperation, divisiveness and disrespect are growing,
Intolerance and mistrust are deepening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">At
the root of the decline is a vacuum in strong leadership and authority that can
be trusted. Amid the dirty scrum, there is a dearth of leaders with the
interests of the country, not their fiefdoms, at heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">That
a proud and quite remarkable multiparty institution –a place to <i>parle</i>,
which means to talk – is at risk of being eroded of everything it has stood for
since 1994 is a crying shame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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* This article first appeared in Media 24 publications between 11 and 13 September.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MJ6qv_EtTe_SFQIMPMp4UkepsunTSSDteeUMZd2JntWmnnNml4u1kThH-cKtkeMqlHSiZAGY7p2dYqqHguIaQH_ZyDejCCygJlxpZBBqI8DJ7s1KiRjFHzaxQiEcsX14THb_wTQqab1T/s1600/Sep9MalemaEjected2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MJ6qv_EtTe_SFQIMPMp4UkepsunTSSDteeUMZd2JntWmnnNml4u1kThH-cKtkeMqlHSiZAGY7p2dYqqHguIaQH_ZyDejCCygJlxpZBBqI8DJ7s1KiRjFHzaxQiEcsX14THb_wTQqab1T/s320/Sep9MalemaEjected2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julius Malema speaks to reporters after being ejected. Pic Janet Heard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-52214753250079244912015-08-26T08:44:00.001-07:002015-08-26T08:44:26.510-07:00Public interest is our lodestar<div class="article_header" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div class="article_details" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;">In the trenches and long-gone mahogany rows of the fourth estate, I have worked with anarchists, social democrats, neoliberals, centre-right conservatives, socialists, radical leftists and journalists of other ideological bents and quirks.</span></div>
</div>
<article class="clr_left" id="article-body" style="background-color: white; clear: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><div class="p" id="U330447659402DwE" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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There have also been unethical fellows I would rather forget – notably crime reporter Craig Kotze, whom we suspected was a police spy in The Star newsroom in the late 1980s, and who confirmed as much later.</div>
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Extremes notwithstanding, a newsroom of journalists who represent the country’s diversity and don’t necessarily share the same world view is worth cherishing.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A clash of ideas and ideologies ignites a newsroom. It keeps journalists on their toes. It encourages balance – a sought-after and elusive quality.</div>
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Another must-have is a fired-up team that values its role as the fourth estate, with a news editor on a mission to get the best stories – good or bad. The news editor is not in place as a cheerleader for sunshine journalism or to slavishly execute the boss’ agenda – or that of their sources.</div>
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The goal is to seek the truth without fear or favour, encouraging reporters to generate their own ideas and yes, dammit, to dig in places that the rich and powerful hope to conceal.</div>
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Thanks to the ANC, the development of this culture of journalism was encouraged and South Africa has enjoyed 21 years of media freedom in a self-regulatory environment under a press code of conduct that is guided by the country’s Bill of Rights.</div>
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Certainly, “the media” don’t do enough to speak for the marginalised and there has been some cowboy journalism and abuse, but the recently strengthened ombudsman is in place to expose those who let the side down.</div>
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Yet, instead of nurturing this system amid a punishing climate of cost-cutting and shrinking newsrooms, there has been a lockdown of intolerance by the state, the threat of a media appeals tribunal ever-present.</div>
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And now, “the media” has been faced with an assault not only from government, but from within its own ranks. If nothing else, this gives the lie to the tired finger-pointing misconception that “the media” is a homogenous oppositional bully.</div>
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There is a patronising tone to this “big media debate” – cheered on by media-bashing politicians. An ugly divisiveness is building, putting pressure on journalists to make an artificial choice between being “for us or against us” in the name of patriotism and the “national interest” – the very same argument the Nats used to justify the draconian curbs on the media during apartheid.</div>
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Co-option is not peculiar to South Africa – it is everywhere. In an article on The Conversation website about the Australian media’s treatment of the Edward Snowden revelations, Deakin University Associate Professor Martin Hirst warns that when the media starts to put “national interest” before “public interest”, it is time to be worried. Hirst points out that when an Australian newspaper defended its government’s right to keep secrets from its people, it betrayed its fourth estate principles.</div>
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The guidelines that govern these principles are outlined in the soon-to-be-revised South African code of ethics for print and online media. The code enforces transparent, accountable journalism in a transformed and inclusive environment. When unethical rogues or amateurs transgress it, the concomitant consequences are publicly exposed.</div>
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Despite all the ideological differences within “the media”, there is surely a commonality – rallying around the craft’s code of ethics, safeguarding independence and putting public interest first.</div>
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This article first appeared in Media 24 titles and websites. </div>
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</article>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-6152797181225844402015-08-26T08:40:00.000-07:002015-08-26T08:40:47.757-07:00Zuma must act in interests of Marikana victims<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #292f33; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Even
if you have no hidden agenda, it is quite a feat to accurately and
comprehensively summarise an intricate report of a commission of inquiry that
extended over a few years.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">So it is perhaps no
surprise that more than a month after President Jacob Zuma read out his short
summarised version of the 646-page Farlam report on the Marikana massacre, new
revelations continue to emerge.</span><span style="background: white; color: #500050; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">But had retired
Judge Ian Farlam been mandated to deliver the findings himself, as would be the
case in a court judgment, we may have got off to a slightly less contested
start. Gaps and misinterpretations have arisen from Zuma’s summation, thus
aggravating understandable anger, especially that the executive had been let
off the hook.</span><span style="background: white; color: #500050; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">One
of the crucial gems buried in the fine print is the commission’s finding that
the “McCann principle” is part of our law, despite the SA Police Service’s
contention that it is not. The McCann principle, according to the
commission, “</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">requires the planners of policing
operations, where force may possibly be used, to plan and command the
operations in such a way as to minimise the risk that lethal force will be
used.”</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">It
is this critical principle that the commission found had “been breached” due to
the “defective nature” of the plan that was carried out and which led to the
deaths of 34 miners on August 16 three years ago. This plan was
prepared “in haste” without the benefit of input from the Public Order Police
unit. It was not approved by the full Joint Operational Committee and not subjected
to a challenge process. “It carried with it a substantially heightened risk of
bloodshed,” the commission found.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">The
upshot of this finding, according to Accountability Now director Paul Hoffman
who shone a light on its significance and other fundamental aspects in an
article last week, is that a breach of the McCann principle is a sufficient
basis for civil liability. In effect, the state would have no valid defence “to
the merits of claims for damages arising out of the killing or injuring of
miners in Marikana”.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Hoffman advises the
state to accept civil liability and tender reasonable damages to victims
without delay.</span><span style="background: white; color: #500050; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">If not, we will be
faced with protracted and costly legal battles and unacceptable extended pain
and suffering for the families and victims of those killed and injured at
Marikana.</span><span style="background: white; color: #500050; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Zuma
described events at Marikana as a “horrendous tragedy”. Yet he has come under
fire for a sluggish start, with apparent inaction so far over the
recommendations that he himself outlined in his June 25 summary.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"> </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #292f33; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Besides dealing with these, he also needs to act on his blindspots. He
should do the right thing by accepting civil liability on behalf of the state
and fast-track the process of compensating the hundreds of victims who are
currently agonisingly preparing civil law suits against the state. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">Another
blindspot is the fact that the commission had not cleared the executive
entirely. The commission had an open finding regarding police minister Nathi
Mthethwa and was unable to find positively in his favour due to lack of
evidence. The report points to </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">a</span><span style="color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;"> mysteriously missing memory stick and </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega being “distinctly
evasive and unhelpful” during attempts to get her to answer questions about the
role Mthethwa played .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">These
revelations, which arise from a close reading of the report, are likely to be
welcomed by the commissioners, who have been dodging bullets of a different
kind in the past month. Unsatisfying as the outcome may be, their task was to
delve, not to be arbitrators or prosecutors. It is up to Zuma to urgently pick
up where they left off in the interests of the families - and the public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #292f33; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-ZA;">This article first appeared in Media 24 print and online titles. <a href="http://www.news24.com/Opinions/Zuma-must-act-in-interest-of-Marikana-victims-and-public-20150731">City Press</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-11807152246165515612015-08-02T08:47:00.001-07:002015-08-02T08:47:55.061-07:00When good journalism defeats bad leadership<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Live
tweets of Omar Al-Bashir’s presidential plane taking off from Waterkloof
airforce base were a memorable jaw-dropping moment on social media. They were
posted around the same time as government lawyers were assuring a panel of
judges that the Sudanese president was still in the country in compliance with
a court order.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Well-connected
Media 24 reporter Erika Gibson had teamed up with plane spotters at various
places early on Monday morning. Relying on Gibson’s insider wherewithal as a
specialist military reporter, photographer Alet Pretorius was dispatched to
Fort Klapperkop “with a lens the size of a cannon” to a little hill on the
other side of the highway from the infamous base. Gibson kept tabs “on the
right people at the right spots” from her home, coordinating the operation the
modern way - with her cell-phone. Their eyes transfixed on activity at the
infamous airstrip, the rest of the media were far away, crammed into a court
room in Pretoria. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Monday morning tweets of Al-Bashir’s convoy and his great escape spread around
the globe. They made a mockery of the government, which finally admitted about
four hours later that the Sudanese President had left the country. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
modern media moment summed up the principles of old fashioned journalism –
specialist reporting, not following the crowd and breaking a leg to be in the
right place when the shit hits the fan. Sometimes this means taking costly
chances, like going on a fishing expedition and risking coming home without a
big catch. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">These
principles ought to be ring-fenced as newsrooms across the globe shrink under
the ever-watchful eye of powerful bean-counters who are concerned about profit
margins over all else. As newsrooms have contracted and specialist reporters
have become rarer, so too has there been a proliferation of public relations
companies and masters of spin. In the US, there are about three PR agents to
every journalist, and they are “better equipped and better financed”, according
to a recent report in the Guardian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hoping
to inveigle their way into the vacuum, PRs are in the business of setting
selective agendas and putting a gloss over impropriety. That is why pesky
reporters need to be on the scene to observe for themselves, to seek balance
and counter the sophisticated spin that can land up as a very distorted first
draft of history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Old-fashioned
journalistic principles also need to be nurtured at parliament, a hotbed of
activity these days. This means covering the rowdy parliamentary sittings from
the upstairs gallery, not the parliamentary television channel in
Johannesburg. It means taking the oversight work of portfolio committee
meetings seriously, though with 25 portfolio committees sitting at any one
time, journalists are forced to make agonising choices about what to cover and
what to overlook.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
sizeable team from parliamentary communication services offer a media service.
But judging from many of the releases they bash out, you could be misled into
believing that these multi-party meetings are harmonious affairs when in fact
robust dissent is usually the order of the day. Their reports are generally
rubberstamped by committee chairs, hence they reflect the views of the ANC
majority, not the committee per se.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perhaps
this is why the DA – which operates a relentless 24-hour PR machine – often
send their own scribes to committee meetings to “cover” events and put their
own spin on proceedings. The ANC has recently stepped up its media game, though
their releases are all too often just another version of the parliamentary
communication service releases.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">All
these services have a role, but they cannot perform a watchdog role to ensure
that those in power are held accountable. They cannot replace the real deal -
actual bums on reporters’ seats at committee meetings, which are the engine
rooms of parliament and play a crucial oversight role to those in power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the same way, news teams should not be held back from taking the time out to
dig for dirt and to drift off from the pack, just as Gibson - and Pretorius -
did so splendidly this week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This was first published by Media 24 on June 23. <a href="http://www.news24.com/Opinions/When-good-journalism-defeats-bad-leadership-20150619">http://www.news24.com/Opinions/When-good-journalism-defeats-bad-leadership-20150619</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">And on Mediaonline: http://themediaonline.co.za/2015/06/when-good-journalism-defeats-bad-leadership/</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-20436026898631698462015-08-02T08:40:00.001-07:002015-08-02T08:43:45.436-07:00The house that Zuma built<div class="article_header" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj926N68DX_BzoM8RLg6t7NBYMy6OLJG-eoBjo12ALQM9i0CbVS1zlXvquYwQI9YTaSsrG6MwLEDNsiXROCvbqFGL8Mq4Y_YtjeczuuKIW0qfwsn1G7Riuau0kU7eVRSxNjopqAoIeNq_g/s1600/20150528_143258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj926N68DX_BzoM8RLg6t7NBYMy6OLJG-eoBjo12ALQM9i0CbVS1zlXvquYwQI9YTaSsrG6MwLEDNsiXROCvbqFGL8Mq4Y_YtjeczuuKIW0qfwsn1G7Riuau0kU7eVRSxNjopqAoIeNq_g/s320/20150528_143258.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nathi Nhleko shows a video of the fire pool to the media</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">President
Jacob Zuma is right. There is an obsession with Nkandla Nkandla Nkandla.
Discussing “the house of one man” as he puts it, has become tedious. It is a
distraction from the myriad challenges that hammer the lives of millions of
South Africans on a daily basis.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
has been no escaping Nkandla since the start of the fifth parliament over a
year ago. The Nkandla lexicon sneaks into everything from the energy crisis and
poor service delivery to meaningful debates about job creation and combatting
corruption. It is the elephant in the room in both houses of parliament and
even committee rooms. Over the past few weeks it has filtered into debates on
the government departments’ crucial budget votes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nkandla
has split parliament in two – with the 62% majority party having a tough time
deflecting the relentless – and sometimes infantile - attacks on their
president. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nkandla
has been a trigger for the deterioration of parliamentary behaviour in the past
year, with mutual disrespect and unhealthy anger building between the ANC and
opposition benches. Last week, for instance, the house was rescued from chaos
with the announcement of a 15-minute “comfort break” after DA chief whip John
Steenhuisen accused deputy Trade & Industry Minister Mzwandile Masina of
mouthing to DA MPs the words: “I will f***you up.” Nkandla was not the
spark, but the row over “the house of one man” has helped to breed this rough
pub-like culture of foul mouths and rude finger gestures in parliament. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is now 14 months since the ever-patient public protector Thuli Madonsela found
that Zuma had unduly benefitted from the R246m upgrades to his private home. So
like many Nkandla-fatigued, yet ever-optimistic South Africans, I was looking
forward to a breakthrough in the impasse last week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Here
was a golden opportunity for police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko to determine an
amount that Zuma owed for non-security features at Nkandla. A gesture would
probably satisfy former ANC MP Ben Turok who warned months ago that the country
was “sick to death” of Nkandla and accused his party of a lack of wisdom on the
way it had handled the controversy. “I would say fair is fair. … I would
say, come on be a sport, pay something,” was his advice to Zuma. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nhleko
had an opportunity to put the embarrassing Nkandla scandal to rest, so that our
multi-party parliament could get down to the serious business of building
democracy together and tackling the growing jobs crisis which was brought into
sharp focus last week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Anticipation
built up ahead of the 7pm Wednesday press briefing, with two reminder notices
being issued to the media (like journalists would forget). The hype increased
when the briefing was abruptly postponed for 24 hours, only to be shifted
forward the following morning to 1.30pm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Minutes
before, news leaked on Twitter that Nhleko had determined that Zuma did not
have to pay back a cent. The full farce of the 50-page Nhleko report unfolded
in the Zuma-owes-Zero press conference, which included Wikipedia references and
amateur damage control video demonstrations to the gentle backing track of the
Neapolitan “O Sole Mio”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
course, Nhleko’s “f*** you” to the public protector, his announcement that the
questionable features at Nkandla were actually security features and that more
money needed to be spent to complete security at Zuma’s home should not have taken
anyone by surprise. It was naïve to expect anything different from a Minister
who had been tasked by his own boss to investigate the liability of - his own
boss. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Now,
thanks to Nhleko’s whitewash, we can be assured of yet another season of
Nkandla obsession in the house of chaos with the #paybackthemoney hashtag
continuing to trend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This article was first published in Media 24 publications on 31 May 2015<a href="http://www.news24.com/Opinions/The-house-that-Zuma-built-20150530">http://www.news24.com/Opinions/The-house-that-Zuma-built-20150530</a></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-45323929211184761632015-05-26T01:49:00.001-07:002015-05-26T02:56:47.131-07:00A tea party that I will never forget<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Activist
David Webster stopped to chat while I was sitting on the pavement with a
journalist colleague Jo-anne Collinge. We had been hanging around after a tea
party arranged for families of detainees had been rudely interrupted in
Braamfontein. Armed security police, in heavy gear, had stormed the hall soon
after proceedings had begun. The low-key tea party had been declared an illegal
gathering under State of Emergency regulations. The hall was cleared out, rows
of teacups and saucers left untouched, neatly lined up on the table.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
rookie reporter, this was the first time I had met Webster. He was annoyed,
agitated and showing strain. He complained about the irritation of yet another
heavy-handed disruption of a tea party that he had helped organise with the
Detainees’ Parents Support Committee. On a personal level, he was also fed up
with being harassed by security operatives who were monitoring his every move
(details which were later partially documented in the Hiemstra Commission that
investigated apartheid-era spy rings).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidI2SeARkIBq8zlKjkMQioB-tIj0eSnpkCaTb5KiqWwsLvgLkvhzDnc6gsuYF_DIeYQNF3SNKAuGIsxJd0IFv70WxsvDDB5WxGufjefGgXGFdqtJI2kwxZupBrdkCkQ-LSbFnp0yqmydJ/s1600/bigbrotherexposed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidI2SeARkIBq8zlKjkMQioB-tIj0eSnpkCaTb5KiqWwsLvgLkvhzDnc6gsuYF_DIeYQNF3SNKAuGIsxJd0IFv70WxsvDDB5WxGufjefGgXGFdqtJI2kwxZupBrdkCkQ-LSbFnp0yqmydJ/s200/bigbrotherexposed.jpg" width="140" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Now,
26 years on, I have been reminded of our conversation while reading the
activist handbook, Big Brother Exposed, by the Right2Know Campaign <a href="http://bigbrother.r2k.org.za/">http://bigbrother.r2k.org.za/</a>. Scandals
involving surveillance of high-ranking politicians and even some journalists
have been uncovered in recent years. But the handbook reveals anecdotal
evidence that, 21 years into the new SA, state security agents are increasingly
monitoring grassroots activists and organisations, including R2K, National
Union of Metalworkers of SA, United Front and Abahlali baseMjondolo. Suspicious
phone calls, attempts to recruit informers, phones being bugged and cars with
no number plates parked outside activists’ homes are recorded. In one case, a
State Security Agency (SSA) official tried to recruit a local government
employee to spy on United Front activist Brian Ashley who they said “wants
regime change”. Attempts were also made to recruit Bhayisa Miya, a leader of
the Thembelihle Crisis Committee, under the pretext of looking for criminals
and in the interests of “national security”. Miya was offered R40 000 for
information on community leaders “that are causing problems”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">R2K
also raises a red flag about Crime Intelligence’s increasing involvement in the
policing of protest actions in the form of information-gathering which have no
clear limits or guidelines. Extra funds have been spent on surveillance
equipment such as long-range “listening devices” without public debate or
buy-in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Surveillance
is necessary for the genuine interests of national security – ie to fight
crime, clamp down on xenophobia and as pointed out by R2K, to tackle the
worrying trend of political assassinations. But when sinister
intelligence-gathering activities are used to serve an ulterior political
agenda, it is unconstitutional and a misallocation of much-needed
crime-fighting resources. It sows distrust and paranoia and impinges on the
freedom to campaign.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
are a very long way off from the dirty tricks unleashed on activists by shady
security operatives who killed and maimed in the name apartheid. The SSA has
also been quick to respond to the R2K handbook by requesting complainants to
come forward so claims can be investigated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
the rise of the securocrats is cause for concern, brought into sharp focus with
the notorious “accidental” signal jamming incident at parliament in February.
So R2K should be commended for interrogating the intent and tactics employed to
monitor activists. The country is on a dangerous trajectory – with dire
consequences - if abuses and manipulation are overlooked and constitutional
rights trampled on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW92HFe0ZrvlcbWOLGwRqD9vKILmUwGgzJMdISDrCGv6idoPR-HgrTfzLWRppbYDPGvixeXIEVmrIT3vJHyJhdYdU0YPRbFY6uhpJY08-skySm3qI2WDPOYI_OFK11eHw6jN2cmYDfU9dv/s1600/davidwebster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW92HFe0ZrvlcbWOLGwRqD9vKILmUwGgzJMdISDrCGv6idoPR-HgrTfzLWRppbYDPGvixeXIEVmrIT3vJHyJhdYdU0YPRbFY6uhpJY08-skySm3qI2WDPOYI_OFK11eHw6jN2cmYDfU9dv/s320/davidwebster.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
never got the privilege of meeting Webster again after our first interaction.
Shortly afterwards, on Workers Day in May 1989, the 44-year old university
lecturer was gunned down outside his Troyeville home, a few hundred metres from
where I lived.<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Webster-Appreciation-Page/102698275160?fref=ts">David Webster remembered</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt;">· </span><a href="http://www.news24.com/Columnists/Janet-Heard/Exposing-Big-Brother-20150513" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Original web article posted here on news24.com</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt;">·</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-47694656827349276802015-03-30T09:28:00.003-07:002015-03-30T09:38:32.836-07:00IEC can't afford another wobble<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaF0OX04qTseqsLn5wGJ3uJCR2Ki04QLYGAKRwl0gXzN-vIzeI8zrS4Rm6R-Zk7MZF3_zq-jAolEsY7os9vRs_DfOVQL4UivUwLK61o7BG_rSns3AihPCzF6Xslrrh8uqWaJ95zqAIjXHk/s1600/ieclogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaF0OX04qTseqsLn5wGJ3uJCR2Ki04QLYGAKRwl0gXzN-vIzeI8zrS4Rm6R-Zk7MZF3_zq-jAolEsY7os9vRs_DfOVQL4UivUwLK61o7BG_rSns3AihPCzF6Xslrrh8uqWaJ95zqAIjXHk/s1600/ieclogo.jpg" height="112" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Political
connections are hard to wriggle out of.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Raenette
Taljaard may have been reminded of this 6 months ago when ANC secretary-general
Gwede Mantashe accused her of having a “clear political affiliation” to the
Democratic Alliance in her position as an IEC commissioner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Mantashe
targeted her in his row with DA leader Helen Zille, who had claimed the IEC was
in danger of becoming “another ruling party lapdog” in the buildup to the 2016
municipal elections.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Mantashe’s exact
words to Zille were: “The attempt to link the IEC to the ANC is
disingenuous. …The irony is that the only Commissioner in the IEC with clear
politician affiliation is Raenette Taljaard, a former DA MP and former CEO of
the Helen Suzman Foundation.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
did not matter that Taljaard had meticulously safeguarded the non-partisan
nature of her job as part-time commissioner. It did not matter that she had
left the DA after quitting as an MP 10 years earlier, or that she had resigned
as CEO of the Helen Suzman Foundation more than two years before taking up her
part-time post at the IEC. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The way things roll</span></h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This
is the way things roll in public office. You are vulnerable to
finger-pointing, even if it is unfairly directed and especially in this
politically charged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Yet
the ANC has chosen to use its majority vote in parliament to recommend the
appointment of Vuma Glen Mashinini, who is currently special projects
advisor to the president, as an IEC commissioner. This puts Mashinini in line
for the top job as chairperson. He got the thumbs up despite being widely
regarded as an ally of Jacob Zuma. “So what?”. That was the vocal and irritated
response from ANC MPs to the backlash from opposition parties in the National
Assembly. The ANC pointed to Mashinini’s considerable experience as deputy
chief electoral officer which would make him a tempting candidate. His more
recent consultancy work in election services in other parts of Africa could
also be useful, as long as there is no conflict of interest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In his interview before a panel headed
by chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, Mashinini reportedly said: “I am an adviser
to the head of state, my role is professional and non-political.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It may be true that Mashinini would
prove to be a fine commissioner or even chairperson. But perception counts in
public office and for the entire opposition, his link to Zuma is too close for
comfort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The IEC, with a previously umblemished
record, recently wobbled during the controversy over a botched R320 million
leasing deal which led to chairperson Pansy Tlakula’s resignation. The IEC, an
institution tasked with ensuring the country’s elections are free, fair and
transparent, cannot afford even a hint of scandal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The controversy over Mashinini coincided
with the resignation of Taljaard. The IEC was among those who paid tribute to
her “unquestionable integrity”. Her departure prompted speculation that
she was walking away midway through a seven-year term in protest against
Mashinini’s imminent appointment. She has insisted that the timing was
coincidental. After 18 years in public office, she wants to focus on her
academic work at UCT. The independently minded Taljaard appears to have no
interest in being drawn into the divisive political storm. It could be, in part
at least, that she would not want her past allegiances to be used as a cheap
shot to detract from the real issues at stake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The power of Number 1</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
person with the power to make a difference is Number 1. The decision to accept
or reject parliament’s recommendation rests with him. Zuma could still make use
of Mashinini’s considerable skills, by retaining him in his office, but not the
IEC. By doing so, he would shield the IEC from risk and would be putting South
Africa first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">This article was previously published three weeks ago on: </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Mashininis-link-to-Zuma-too-close-for-comfort-20150309">http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Mashininis-link-to-Zuma-too-close-for-comfort-20150309</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Mashininis-link-to-Zuma-too-close-for-comfort-20150309</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-33639164939642149482015-02-16T12:35:00.002-08:002015-02-16T12:35:23.364-08:00Entering a broken house: what now?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When President Jacob
Zuma returns to the National Assembly tomorrow afternoon for a two-day debate
about his State of the Nation Address, he will enter a broken house.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hopefully he will not
display indifference, as he did when he giggled on Thursday night after the chaos
in the house that delayed his speech by an hour. The powers that be that night played
a sinister hand. Their actions left a few MPs injured, #SONA2015 trending
globally, many South Africans feeling heartbroken and accusations flying that
our 20-year-old democracy was resorting to police state tactics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZr-eucBwDm34LX1cztnhu-awtL9DMQ6ORLrEGY2s_8xPLocCisJcI83ThVMdQBo-qeBJscaQQOdyK5fzzci9rVsh-F90xkfRBsdBc7Xbz5NxEEuTlW_B0Hs84EQkCU2TkHXHBbaex-aB0/s1600/20150212_194245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZr-eucBwDm34LX1cztnhu-awtL9DMQ6ORLrEGY2s_8xPLocCisJcI83ThVMdQBo-qeBJscaQQOdyK5fzzci9rVsh-F90xkfRBsdBc7Xbz5NxEEuTlW_B0Hs84EQkCU2TkHXHBbaex-aB0/s1600/20150212_194245.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thursday night could have turned out differently if the
signal had not been scrambled, if security officers – dressed in white shirts
like waiters - had not been ordered in to remove persistent EFF MPs, if the
Speaker had not ignored MPs questions on the identity of these shady officers and
if Zuma had swallowed his pride and taken a quick question on Nkandla. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the protracted build-up to last Thursday, I
initially felt some sympathy for Madam Speaker Baleka Mbete. She is tasked with
maintaining order and decorum in the house. EFF commander-in-chief Julius
Malema and his fiery red army are in parliament not to be polite. They are agitators
and disrupters, intent on challenging the rules of the house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Although Mbete has been accused of shielding the
president at previous sittings and he has a lot to answer for, SONA was not the
time to be the anarchic Joker in the house. This was an annual occasion to
address serious challenges in the country. It was one which traditionally has
been viewed as a rather “festive, fun and lovely” affair, as journalist Katy
Katopodis tweeted nostalgically the morning after.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wNWAYRMSVfqG9OtjwpCIAjHX9qQBmoYeom0wQa7MdZpfNrACI2-55h5LRBUwVYGSF21dZ3WWZxtw8_ykowoJVKn5HIkf_iyia3o7cKm6kHXleA6mmU-bwZd-9qoDoKYILvL4OWoF54n1/s1600/20150212_194248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wNWAYRMSVfqG9OtjwpCIAjHX9qQBmoYeom0wQa7MdZpfNrACI2-55h5LRBUwVYGSF21dZ3WWZxtw8_ykowoJVKn5HIkf_iyia3o7cKm6kHXleA6mmU-bwZd-9qoDoKYILvL4OWoF54n1/s1600/20150212_194248.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the days leading up to the big night, the extraordinary
security strategy took shape - in secret. In three separate media briefings, presiding
officers scrambled to find words when asked about security arrangements. In
particular, when pesky journalists persisted with a straight-forward query -
whether or not the Public Order Policing unit (the riot police which removed EFF
MP Reneilwe Mashabela on 13 November) would be deployed, parliamentary
officials dodged the yes-or-no question. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then, two hours before Zuma took the podium on
Thursday, journalists got their backs up when they discovered that the communication
signal had </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">been scrambled, apparently with a jamming device.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
What followed was a major distraction with pleas and protest - and some
reporters tweeting and filing updates from the digitally-enabled toilets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCvSj7fzjMn7hq4YgVmha8dEHm60spdKGDWgBqE9TtJbVtT13vTSKNTFAK-L_1EjXxI79DnEpXD8YsZDWOx9M6sdynzpqm-BJ0lqaX2GsSpK53TGniaTo0NEZ15ZzQ7u8jwqIZA0J0AzQ/s1600/20150212_194430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCvSj7fzjMn7hq4YgVmha8dEHm60spdKGDWgBqE9TtJbVtT13vTSKNTFAK-L_1EjXxI79DnEpXD8YsZDWOx9M6sdynzpqm-BJ0lqaX2GsSpK53TGniaTo0NEZ15ZzQ7u8jwqIZA0J0AzQ/s1600/20150212_194430.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was heart-breaking to see efforts by respected parliamentary
staff members to intervene come to nothing. Powerless to get the line
unscrambled, they looked uncomfortable as they fielded complaints from the
media. It was disheartening that objections to the jamming came from opposition
benches, not the ANC, a party which had authored the constitution that trumpets
the free flow of information. What then transpired after 7pm – with the signal
unjammed - has been relayed around the world. It was an hour of mayhem that
shamed South Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This week Madam Speaker faces what seems to be a
losing battle to pick up the pieces and bring order to the house. There is a backlash
from the opposition, calls for her removal and multiple legal steps being taken
against creeping censorship and heavy-handed security measures in parliament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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should be debating serious economic, political and social challenges in the country,
some of which Zuma touched on in his speech on Thursday. But these issues have
taken a backseat in the dysfunctional house. And South Africans will clear
their diaries to watch the show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146738347968703502.post-79235465186064195092015-02-01T07:34:00.001-08:002015-02-01T07:39:49.340-08:00New year's resolutions to whites catches my eye<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Fatigued by the shrill, predictable noise that has been
ricocheting off the congested social media space this month, a Facebook post from
my son’s Afrikaans teacher, still caught my jaded eye.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> “Can all my white
friends please read this,” she appealed, linking to a post from a blogger, Sifiso
Mazibuko, in which he offered some New Year’s resolutions for white South
Africans. Unlike the disturbing rants from both sides of the seemingly widening
racial divide, Mazibuko’s tone was gentle and conciliatory. Committed to a
united country, it was a heart-felt wish for South Africans to not retreat but
to reach out to each other. <a href="http://bit.ly/1Ki4xCi">(click to the link to the article here)</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">He said there was a tendency for whites to believe that after
1994, we “were all automatically made equal” so we should put the past behind
us. But it was easier for those who had not been the victims of discrimination
to move on. It was his view that blacks had “come to the party”, that
forgiveness and reconciliation had largely been one-sided. The Springboks were adopted, Die Stem was melded
into the national anthem, the National Party was included in government and
perpetrators of violent atrocities given amnesty under the TRC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Twenty years into democracy, Mazibuko’s 2015 resolutions are simple.
Whites could: learn an indigenous language to connect with the “culture and the
heart of the person”; support a PSL soccer team; stop telling black people to
“just get over it”; and be empathetic, making an effort to acknowledge the pain
of the past. “Then we can figure out a way forward together,” he said, ending
with: “Ons vir jou Suid Afrika”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Unlike so many posts that drive a wedge instead of building
bridges, Mazibuko’s thoughtful piece, which tried to make sense of the growing
frustration among black South Africans, did not trigger a finger-pointing
exercise. What it did was get people to think about how much we have done to
genuinely learn about cultures other than our own, and how much transformation
had taken place within our own lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I discussed it with my family at the dinner table. Even
though I was among the ’80s generation inspired by the struggle for a non-racial
South Africa, I now risked becoming complacent. I was retreating into my
comfort zone, not making an effort to cross barriers. I had always been
outspoken about racist comments from white suburbia, but I now caught myself slipping
towards passive protest: ignoring it but lamely moving away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">As a typical lazy English-speaking South African, I had only
made a feeble attempt to learn more than a few phrases of Xhosa. I could get
away with it. Everybody else was taking the trouble to master my home language.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">But now, were my children at risk of also growing up where
the conversation would stop shortly after introductory greetings? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">These thoughts had bubbled up after my daughter Ella, who was
about to start high school, had told me she was going to switch her second
additional language choice from Xhosa to French. “Xhosa is so hard,” she said,
after I asked why. I had given in to her, not wanting to force my will on her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">But In the car on her first day of school last week, I had a
15-minute window. I reminded her of our
dinner table conversation, where we resolved together to make more effort. Xhosa
would enrich her life. Ella was silent. Just before we reached the school, she
said, “Okay mom, I will stick with Xhosa.” And off she went.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">If forcing one’s own agenda is bad parenting and Ella resents
me later, I won’t resort to the South African blame game. I won’t point a
finger at Mazibuko. But if Ella thanks me later, I will extend my gratitude to
him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://bit.ly/1yZJjCx">This article also appeared on City Press online:</a></div>
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<a href="http://bit.ly/1Eyjamx">And also on Netwerk24.com in Afrikaans</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17774651195216267754noreply@blogger.com0