SA Rocks

Not bad Mr Prez. I must say you have scruples. Not only can you run a country but you can manage 5 wives and families, I am impressed. Good job.

I’ll join the nation in welcoming another “first lady” to the country: Tobeka Madiba.

Source: HWT Image Library

So all in all, congrats to President Zuma.

Popularity: 3% [?]

It is official; the 2010 World Cup will be in South Africa is a few days less than 1 year. The biggest sporting event in the world is on its way to SA and President Zuma helped kick off the countdown.

Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town was the venue and all the relevant dignitries were in attendance:

This is a great Zille-Zuma moment after a very aggressive election campaign from both parties. Nice to see the two top politicians in SA doing their professional bit in front of the press.

Popularity: 9% [?]

President Zuma (I think it’s fair and necessary to address him as such) put on a great display in his inaugural speech. He thanked Mandela, Motlanthe and others at length. He spoke calmly and with a very steadying tone to his voice.

I am not convinced that he wrote his speech himself and I am most certainly sure that he is not an orator of Obama’s calibre, but nevertheless I was relatively impressed by Zuma.

And below is his Oath:

Popularity: 4% [?]

Ed’s note: This post is a contribution from an overseas reader, Jeanine Wardman. Thank you for the intriguing view of South Africa that you present, Jeanine.

Oxford, England

April 2009

To President Zuma, and for my children

South Africa, I tell my children, dear Mr Zuma, is incurably complex and endlessly exciting, in one thrilling instant.

It is, I tell them often, a country in which the world comes together, quite literally – a kind of global microcosm or experiment, even; a place that persistently challenges, and that redefines notions of nationhood and politicises identity, perhaps like no other.

To those who call it home, it offers the opportunity to touch and be touched by lives vastly different to one’s own, every day anew. That, I tell them – its ravishing beauty and abundance of opportunity aside – is their most precious birthright.

My children know the country of their birth is in some ways the custodian of humanity’s greatest hopes and grandest dreams.

However, if there is one particular kind of agony I’d like to spare my offspring in the years following their coming of age, dear Mr Zuma, it is that of pondering their South Africanness – in the manner of the palpable torment contained in those immortal titles Cry The Beloved Country, Country of My Skull, My Traitor’s Heart and others. The source of agony has of course been eradicated, yes. And we have great South African freedom fighters such as yourself to praise and honour and forever thank for this. But will you concede, Mr Zuma, that South Africa is still lamented, still agonised over? At least by some, then? Many even.

Her political future is uncertain, her moral standing is tarnished, and her citizens are systematically traumatised by an all-consuming fear of violent, mindless crime. Perhaps even more despairingly, countless more are ravaged by squalor and hopelessness.

Yes, the country is in the throes, still, of redefining itself, of transition and transformation. Yes, decades of institutionalised discrimination can’t be without consequence. Yes, yes and another irrevocable, unconditional yes.

But where does all this rationalising, defeatism even, leave our children, Mr Zuma; or the Pakatis’ of Kayamandi; or the Reids’ of Constantia; or the Steenkamps’ of the Strand?

As a hopelessly patriotic South African, I cling fiercely to the hope that my children’s relationship with the place of their birth will, one day, be less fraught than mine; less ambivalent, or at least that their citizenship will be less confounding a label to bear.

I am telling my children that their soon-to-be president is a populist of Zulu ethnicity – a man of the people and of humble beginnings; an illustrious and brave liberation hero who sacrificed greatly for the very people he now serves, for the only country he’ll ever love.

And that you sing of machine guns and win hordes of their countrymen’s hearts and minds in so doing…

If only our country was less strange, Mr Zuma.

The media and other critics cast you as a man of dubious moral character and are doubtful history will have much to say to our children’s generation about your leadership and tenure, when the time comes. Others reserve judgment and reckon you to be a pragmatist, a realist even – approachable in a way your predecessor wasn’t – and that all is far from lost.

The polemicist Christopher Hitchens has made the considered observation that, to paraphrase, great leaders do not have to be above and beyond moral reproach in order to lead greatly or even teach lessons of vast moral magnitude, citing the example of Dr Martin Luther King, his problematic personal life, and his monumental role in the American civil rights movement.

What shall I say to my children of your intended legacy, Mr Zuma?

Will we, their guardians and those we entrust, make haste and effort and spare them the anguish, the exhaustion – of being from and of a place destined for greatness, but that forever fumbles in claiming such providence?

Will you, President Zuma, make this your gift to give?

Will their country meet our beautifully unburdened, always joyful children, when the time comes for them to be of age, as an eternal companion striding tall and gracefully alongside … ever-present, but never in need of carrying?

Will the beloved country ever not be cried over, Mr Zuma?

Yours faithfully,

Jeanine Wardman

Popularity: 11% [?]

I received the following email today. I am really very unsure of how I feel about it. I think that it’s great to promote voting but I think that smear campaigns are a ridiculous waste of time and punting voting and registering to vote alongside voting for the DA is ethically questionable if you ask me.

The DA should either be trying to educate voters, or educate DA supports.

Here’s the email:

Worried about our future under Jacob Zuma?

Join thousands of volunteers who are giving just a few minutes of their time to help Helen Zille & the DA stop Jacob Zuma from getting the two thirds majority he wants

:: Find out how here ::

Dear DA supporter

Our country is in grave danger of Jacob Zuma and his allies achieving a two thirds majority in parliament. The consequences would be disastrous: it would give the new rulers of the ANC, people like Julius Malema (ANCYL), Blade Nzimande (SACP) and Zwelinzima Vavi (COSATU) complete power to change our Constitution and weaken the rights enshrined in it – rights like judicial independence, property rights and press freedom, all of which are under attack by Zuma’s radical supporters in the ANC Youth League, South African Communist Party and COSATU.

The threat is great. But there is hope if you take action

Infighting has weakened the ANC: disgruntled Mbeki loyalists might form a new party, recent opinion polls show a sharp decline in support for the ANC and a Sunday Times article recently said “the ANC and DA are neck-and-neck in polls in major cities seven months before next year’s general election…” (The ANC’s strongholds have shrunk to the rural areas).

We have a golden opportunity to prevent Jacob Zuma’s ANC from winning a two thirds majority in next year’s General Election. But to do this, we need you to join the thousands of volunteers who are already making a difference by taking a few minutes of their time to tell their family and friends about the importance of registering to vote and voting DA.

Here are six things you can do to make a meaningful difference to the result of next year’s election

1. Give 30 minutes of your time to call 20 unregistered voters from your home, and ask them to go and register. Each new voter who registers and votes DA puts a two thirds majority for Jacob Zuma and his allies further out of reach.
2. Spread the DA’s positive message of a safe, secure and prosperous future for all South Africans by writing in to newspapers, blogging on the internet or calling in to talk radio shows.
3. Build momentum for the DA by attending events and rallies, and show the country how ordinary South Africans like you and me are lining up behind the DA’s positive vision for our country.
4. Join other DA volunteers in local door-to-door registration drives and neighbourhood walks. Activate DA voters to register and vote, and prevent Jacob Zuma from getting the two thirds majority he wants.
5. Grow Helen Zille’s DA volunteer team by asking your family and friends to get involved, and grow the team working to protect our Constitution and safeguard our country’s future.
6. Volunteer to help on Election Day. We need thousands of volunteers to encourage DA voters to go out and vote, on the phones and by going door-to-door. We also need election monitors inside the polling stations on Election Day to help ensure a free and fair election.

:: click here to sign up today ::

Your DA volunteer team is standing by to help you

However you want to help, our team is on standby to assist you.

We are ready to:

* send you lists of 20 voters to call and help you get started
* help you get in touch with newspapers, blogs or talk radio shows
* notify you of events and door-to-door registration drives in your area, and
* interact with you about how you’d like to help out on election day in your area.

Take action today

Thousands of South Africans are already giving a few minutes of their time to stop Jacob Zuma from getting a two thirds majority next year. By signing up today, you can too. Help secure our country’s future by taking any of the easy-to-do actions listed here. Your DA volunteer team is standing by to help.

Sign up today to contribute to change, and help build a safe, secure and prosperous South Africa for all our people.

:: Yes, I want to join Helen Zille’s DA team! ::

Sincerely,

Johan van der Berg

DA National Volunteer Coordinator

PS – our country cannot afford a two thirds majority for Jacob Zuma and his radical allies. By volunteering today, you can help Helen Zille and the DA stop them. Decide how you want to get involved, and spend as much time helping as you’d like. Click here now to join the thousands of South Africans who are already giving a few minutes of their time!

You are getting this email message from the democratic Alliance because we need your help to secure a bright prosperous future we know our country is capable of delivering to all South Africans. If you would no longer like to receive email updates from the Democratic Alliance, CLICK HERE.

I haven’t placed in all the links that the email featured because they were repetitive and redundant. There were approximately 11 links to the very same page in the email. They all pointed to www.contributetochange.org. Which seems to be innocent enough yet is actually a DA site that is further embarking on a smear campaign.

Please don’t misundertand my intention here, I am well aware of the nature of politics, I know that there are smear campaigns, I know it’s a cutthroat business. But let me ask you this: After reading this email would you vote for the DA because you wanted to vote for the DA or because you were scared of Jacob Zuma and his supporters?

I think the latter. I am sorry but I would rather not vote than vote out of a feeling of fear invoked by another political party. These tactics are reminiscent of the Bush “Terrorism” propaganda that was fed to millions of people in the USA which allowed Bush a second term in office. And look how well that turned out for the world.

The DA got this one hopelessly wrong in my opinion.

Popularity: 6% [?]

I’m no fool (although some may argue that point). I know that it’s not ideal what we are going through politically in SA right now. When I heard that Trevor Manual had resigned I was in a foul mood and reacted badly to it. But then he amended his resignation stating that if asked, he would willingly work under the new president of the country. That’s better.

But there is a flip side to the negative political wave sweeping the country. It’s not positive, it’s just a different way to look at things.

I regard myself as quite the political conspiracy theorist. I love them and thrive on them and believe that what we see through the eyes of the media is one hundredth of the real truth and real happenings in politics. There is more to this than meets they eye.

Mbeki’s resignation was relatively necessary

What if Zuma was right? What if Mbeki had been gunning for him with a conspiratorial fervor never before seen in SA? If that is the case and the ruling that Zuma could not be prosecuted is accurate (which we should assume to be so) then why would we want Mbeki the conspirator as our president? Surely his resignation is proof that our democracy is in working order. That when a constitutional judge makes a decision it is the word according to our democracy and the decision is then carried forward throughout the system. It’s working, believe it or not, our democracy is working.

The 14 resignations

No it isn’t ideal that 11 Cabinet Ministers and 3 Deputies have resigned but let’s look at it from a different perspective.

If a company is going bankrupt and they hire a new CEO to pull it out of the muck, would it not make sense for some of the staff to leave with their allegedly conspiratorial and failing boss who sunk the company in to financial disaster? I think it makes sense to an extent. In the same way, if a president is seen to be doing wrong then surely by association the people that he hand-picked to be in government with him are involved in the political mess that is abound? One man cannot act alone in politics, if he is implicated then so too is his staff and be inference their staff and so and so on. So with that said, why would we want these ministers in power if there is a chance of them being fraudulent, conspiratorial, questionable or criminal? We all quickly forgot the lovely health minister and Mbeki’s relentless defence of her in the recent past.

Furthermore, many of the ministers have stated that if the new president would like them to continue in their positions they will stay. Fair I think. Then if in fact, the ruling party takes it upon themselves to request the service of the current ministers it is their choice and their doing, the doings of the ousted previous president.

The Cabinet

Then on to the workings of our cabinet. Let us not assume for a second that the figureheads of the cabinet are the ones keeping this ship afloat. Below the ministers and their deputies there are Director Generals who are hard at work every day keeping the cogs moving and the wheels turning. They need their salaries and they need their jobs. They know the policies and the workings of their respective departments. Whether their boss leaves or not will more than likely not infringe on the workings of the country. Yes some policies might change but that is to be expected with a change of leadership to varying extents. At the end of the day it is the people on the ground who are working for the country, the big earners and big spenders who are being fired, resigning and departing.

Policy is in the eye of the beholder

Who says that they way that Trevor Manual has been doing managing South Africa’s finances is the only way that it can be done? Mbeki focused on international relations and the way that SA is perceived by the world. However what of crime, poverty, job creation and HIV/Aids as priorities? Maybe with a change in leadership we will find a shift towards the prioritisation of areas previous neglected by the government? This is not to say that the Mbeki regime did badly but no government can ever be brilliant at every aspect of their country. Some governments prioritise health and education while others will prioritise taxes and crime, this is just the nature of the beast.

It is possibly time for our government to shift towards things that have been neglected in the past such as crime. Who are we to decide what should be done and what shouldn’t without actually experiencing something else. All we know in terms of policy, government and leadership since the iconic regime of Mandela is Mbeki, his ministers and his policies. Maybe a change will do us good?

Popularity: 6% [?]

I am a firm supporter of Barack Obama. It’s strange to show such support for a candidate in an election in another country. In theory it has no physical direct effect on me as an individual in South Africa.

Yet I feel an affinity for the man. The other incredible thing that I’ve noticed is that almost all of my experience of the man has been online. I follow him on twitter, I subscribe to his updates on Facebook and religious visit his website to see what he is doing and what he has to say. I also follow the news websites when they write about him. I found his entire campaign utterly intriguing.

But so what? What does it matter? I’ll tell you.

Africa can learn from the man and his campaign and closer to home our politicians need to take a page, no, the entire book from Obama and run with it.

What do I mean?

I think that Obama and his campaign have revolutionised the way that politicians practice politics. Obama spoke to the people, about the people and for the people. Yes, that sounds very “American” in essence but not recently. Recently American politics has been dictated top down from a leader who was not voted in by the entire country. In fact, Bush received a shocking low percentage of votes when considering the entire population. America’s active voting numbers are exceptionally low. And if Bush received 25% of the population’s votes I would be impressed. I don’t want to get in to the working of the American political system because that is an essay all on its own, never mind a single blog post.

From what I have experienced and noticed from Obama’s campaign is that he pushes an agenda of hope, faith, belief and change. He obviously discusses his political policies when he needs to but never confuses the masses with excessive lingo that baffles the mind and confuses voters. He kept it simple and kept it real.

African politics is not real, South African politics is not actionary (is that a word?), it is REactionary. Helen Zille is the perfect example of this. When was the last time you heard Helen Zille speak to her constituency about anything that was not a reaction to something that the ANC has done, or not done? I can’t remember that particular moment. All I can remember her talking about is the ANC and how badly they have managed to do. This might be true much of the time but it is negative politics.

I am not saying that Obama did not partake in negative politics but for the most part of my experience of his politics it has been steadfast action. Solid opinions about his country, his politics, his people (even though they aren’t “his” yet). This is a breath of fresh air.

Imagine a candidate in SA who did not run against the ANC but ran for the country and its people. As I write this I am slowly starting to believe that this candidate right now is Zuma. He runs for the people. He is the people.

Here are some quick-fire points that I think SA politicians can learn from Obama:

1. Talk to the people, not down to the people
2. Live amongst the people – physically and in an empathetic sense
3. Get more votes from people who don’t vote
4. Recruit the youth to support you
5. Speak to the individual, literally, you don’t need to address the masses at every turn
6. Fighting against the politicians wont work, fight with the people for their needs
7. Use the media available to you and the voters – grassroots newspapers, radio stations an leaders, lecture theatres at Universities, school halls to speak to the 17/18 year olds who will vote next year
8. Don’t hedge your bets, politics can be all or nothing, Obama is proof, YES WE CAN
9. Put faith in the humanity of people, not the politics

Popularity: 3% [?]

Will it or wont it? Can it or can’t it? Support it or hate it?

Jacob Zuma is a smart man, or at the very least he has very smart people around him who make him look smart…enough.

Why do I say that Zuma is a smart man? It’s fairly simple, he has started his presidential race long before any other potential candidate. If you haven’t noticed you best begin to take note. Zuma has not marginalised many kinds of people in SA, in fact, he has done a sterling job of attracting very unlikely voters over to his camp.

The death penalty is the perfect example of this. White South Africans seem to be ignorantly afraid for the country if Zuma gets in to power. I am not, but many are. So what does Zuma do? He calls for the death penalty to come back. Why? Because this is what many white South Africans (and black) are looking for. Immediate revenge, swift action and definitive justice in SA.

I am kind of here to suggest that unfortunately Zuma’s statement for the death penalty is merely a presidential card that has been played to swing over a marginalised minority.

I am very proud of the SA constitution and I understand a fair bit of it. Enough so that I understand that the death penalty will never be brought back to SA unless the ANC win a 65% majority and have the stupidity to change the constitution.

The very basis of our magnificent and groundbreaking constitution is that of the freedom. To further the concept of freedom one needs to look at the types that are provided for in the constitution. The one stands out for me is this: Every South African has the right to live.

That alone condemns the death penalty in one movement. There are others such as the right to dignity (which would be overridden if the death penalty is put in place). Thus I firmly believe that 1. Zuma is a smart man, 2. The death penalty wont be back anytime soon and 3. I am smarter than Jacob Zuma so he needs to catch a game!

Popularity: 5% [?]

This is my drive for ’08.

Being on holiday this December I was often asked about my opinion on the whole “Zuma thing”. Zuma thing, hmmm is it a “thing”, methinks not. Anyways, it’s as if working at Financial Mail allows me some air of opinion about topics relating to politics and finances.

So I’ve been asked about South Africa alot and politics alot and the state of the nation, ALOT. I need to have an opinion, especially being the “SA Rocks guy”. And I do have an opinion.

Mainly my opinion does not focus on Zuma at all. And I think that this is a major flaw in many people’s approach to SA and politics in this country.

What can you recall about SA politics in ’07? Let me take a stab at your answer: the ANC. Now keeping in mind that any publicity is good publicity I would like to propose that when it comes to voting in ’09 many people will have one party on their minds, you guessed it, the ANC.

So basically my opinion for the country and for ’08/’09 is voter education and marketing. I think that parties need to market themselves correctly (Helen and the DA did this fairly well in ’07 with the videos and vlogging and things) and educate voters correctly too. I understand the clear and present dangers between education and marketing and the two become blurred.

But I maintain that one of the largest problems is that the general populace needs to know who they can vote for, what the parties stand for, where they can vote and most importantly why your vote counts.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Our decorated, passionate and complicated past has left us with some very interesting personalities and characters. But have we separated them yet? Have we branded Zuma a clown and Mandela an eternal hero? Do we remember Biko and forget Verwoerd?

I believe that the struggles of the past have left SA with a very tricky political conundrum. How do we forget what some of the “clown” did for SA in the past if they are being clowns now? Let’s be honest, the likes of Zuma are riding the crest of collapsing wave that was the past’s freedom fight. That fight is done with and there are real and tangible issues that these leaders need to be dealing with.

We, as a nation, need to pull together and rid ourselves of the belief that we need to entertain the “struggle” leaders who invariably are, themselves, riding out our pseudo-guilt about the past. Enough already.

Heritage day is a fantastic idea and in my opinion should be used by everyone in SA to reflect on our past, our heritage and ourselves and make some decisions about our future here in SA. Let’s start with our mentality toward our leadership because I think that it might just be a joke sometimes. The struggle is over, apartheid is dead.

Popularity: 8% [?]