SA Rocks

I think not. In fact I think the opposite. This is the beginning of uncertain and exciting times for South African politics.

Firstly, Zuma is probably not going to be in the presidents seat just yet which is a great thing. The party is sort of keeping its head and has said that it is not mature enough yet with Zuma at the helm to lead a country. This means that we’ll have an interim president.

The likely candidate for the interim president is the deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka according to the constitution of SA. However there are still a few options that need to be heard. We’ll know the outcome of this at noon today.

All things aside is this really such a bad thing? I don’t think so. It gives us time to breath, to come to terms with what is happening and gives the public time to grasp the politics that are taking place.

It would be slightly concerning if we were pushed in to an early election this year. That I do believe, but I don’t think that will happen. Firstly because the IEC is more than likely not prepared for that and secondly because I don’t foresee a hung parliament regarding the election of a temporary president.

On the back of all of this I am very surprised that the oppositions in SA have not come out more vocally regarding Mbeki’s resignation. Why is Zille so quiet? Where is De Lille and her aggressive politics and what of Holomisa? These people have all been relatively tame instead of the outspoken usual.

The last and most interesting thing that could come out of all of this is a break-away party that will form from Mbeki-ANC supporters. This could make for interesting times as an offshoot party has been in the offing for a while. Now however, there are open talks about the potential for another party to rival the ANC. In my opinion, this is a good thing and shows that our democracy works and is working hard to maintain its democratic outlook.

PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki’s involvement would be the “kiss of death” to any attempts to form a strong alternative to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in the aftermath of his recall by his party.

Mbeki would also face condemnation by the international community for seeking to hold onto power should he form or lead such an initiative, an opposition leader warned.

Opposition political leaders and analysts said that while an alternative to the ANC would be good for democracy in the long run, it was unlikely that it could get off the ground before the next general election. – source

And:

THE most exciting unintended consequence of the train of events that led to the firing of President Thabo Mbeki by his beloved African National Congress is the possibility of a new opposition party springing up from within the ruling party.

Murmurings of such a party have been heard before.

But until a momentous event such as the sacking of Mbeki by the Jacob Zuma- led ANC leadership, such a possibility was remote indeed.

But now it is being openly talked about , with defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota and his deputy, Mluleki George, linked to such a move.

The emergence of a strong opposition party would be great news for South Africa.

After all, the abuses that Mbeki is allegedly being kicked out for are largely because the ANC acted with impunity on so many issues because its leaders knew the party was unlikely to lose an election. – source

From where I sit it is difficult to decide who is telling the truth. But guess what? This is politics. This is democracy and this is happening everywhere. Just yesterday the Israeli Prime Minister resigned due to charges of fraud and other criminal charges. Things like this happen. I am personally glad to see Mbeki go. I like to hear from a president on a regular basis. I don’t want a president who takes his resignation address to announce his CV to the nation and then bugger off.

I want a human being, I want a person who stands for me, for the people and not for a political party and conspiracy. I think that this moment in South Africa’s present history could be a defining moment in our future.

The one thing that stuck with me which emerged from Mbeki’s mouth was this:

“Gloom and despondancy have never defeated adversity”

– Mbeki

Popularity: 5% [?]

12 years ago our current president made a moving and motivating speech to his nation-to-be. 12 years on and I feel more African than I ever thought I could. But I fear that some might have forgotten the words that moved me.

Here is an abriged version of President Mbeki’s “I am an African” speech:

I did manage to find a full transcript of the moving speach. Do yourself a favour and read it. Today on African Day, read it and take it on, take it in and make it about your context, your situation and the lives of those around you. This speech unfortunately came from a man who has lost his nation to travel, who has lost his way to keeping up relations with mass murderers and dictators who seem to have some sort of hold over him. This man has lost his way and I think he needs to go and let our African diamond (SA) grow from without his grasp.

Here is my take on the incredible I am an African speech:

I am an African, Mr Mbeki, not you or your brethren. No Longer. You might at one point have been but no more.

We are about the people, the places, the feeling and emotions. You have become too good, too high and too mighty for us. You and your kind have lost your way and been blinded by capitalism and absolute power.

It is us, the man in the street, the face in the crowd, the class that works, that pays, that suffers and battles.

It is us that make Africans African, that make people proud and that make our nations what they are – whether good or bad.

It is us that makes Africa emotional, engaged, heated, enraged, moved and moving, grown and growing.

It is us and we are African.

We are taking responsibility for our brothers and sisters and their actions. We are the ones who stand in the street, sit in our houses, behind our computers and condemn or praise the actions of other Africans.

We are the ones who cannot leave when times get tough, who will not leave when the grapes sour and who refuse to let our nations divide.

We are Africa, we are African and we will not let one man, one ruler, one dictator, one government or one president take that away from us.

We are African and this is our continent.

image found here

Popularity: 8% [?]

Todays post is a guest post from Darren over at Out-Think Blog.

Just this week, JZ became president of the ANC, and not by a small margin either. And while some commentators [and bloggers] believe this has little relevance to us, I think in times to come we will look back and see the real importance of this change.

Leading up to it, this moment cast absolute fear into the hearts of many, with some people predicting great disaster, but thankfully so far so good [it seems the markets had already priced this in, with no marked effect on the JSE or on exchange rates, as some were predicting R20 to the British Pound].

It’s reminiscent of the 1994 miracle that occurred in this country. Yes, things could have been better, but they also could have been much worse. While its easy to fault the decisions of those in power at the time, I really have to ask myself whether I could have done any better given the circumstances. And besides, we can’t change history, only move forward. As my favourite book says, “Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead…”

And as far as us wanting to be able to change the outcome of the vote, I think it was Jim Rohn who so brilliantly put it – “The sun rises in the East and set in the West. That’s just the way it is.” Mbeki is out, Zuma is in, that’s just the way it is.

There are questions about countries’ leaders everywhere [its actually inherent, isn’t it, that all leaders will be questioned and hated by somebody, since you can’t please all the people all the time]. Look at how many stories you hear about George Bush’s intellect, or Robert Mugabe’s morality. And the grass is always greener… [you know where].

Some people [some I know too] left this country ten to fifteen years ago to get away from the new government. Didn’t like the thought of what might happen. Moved to Zimbabwe. And now, again, the grass is greener somewhere else.

Well, I maintain that for our generation, our lives have been changed forever by this moment, in ways we do not yet understand, even if we think we do. But the sun still came up this morning. And it will still set tonight. And our lives will continue, shaping the only reality that we know.

And yes, I believe everything happens for a reason, even if we don’t like it at the time. What the reason for this is, it may take a long time for us to understand. But the bottom line is that those of us who remain here are here for a reason. And we have to believe that things will turn out right and that we have a part to play in it. The stage is set for some amazing young people to shine in SA, and they [we] will be presented opportunities not yet dreamed of. So if you have chosen to stay, I urge you to choose to believe too, because if you’re just going to be negative about this change [or indifferent for that matter], your actions may well be negative or indifferent too. But if they’re positive… that’s what will help shape and build our nation.

Choose to believe.

Popularity: 5% [?]

There is a lot of hype at the moment about who is going to be running for president of SA and the ANC. I think that it is one of the most interesting debates and situations that we have seen in a long time here in SA.

I wont delay my question any longer:
Who would be your ideal presidential candidate?

There are talks of Cyril Ramaphosa, Tokyo Sexwale, Jacob Zuma, Trevor Manual and others. I think that there are some interesting candidates.

When it comes to the ANC many people face confusion with the relation between the ANC president and the country’s president. Let’s explain: The ANC president can be Mbeki again, for another term, but the country’s president can not be Mbeki. Zuma is running for ANC president too and so is Sexwale. Any of these candidates can become ANC president. The trick is that if Mbeki becomes ANC president then the ANC will put forward another candidate to run for president of the country. If Zuma or Sexwale become ANC president then they can run for president of the country themselves.

Popularity: 2% [?]