In living colour: A portrait of late president Nelson Mandela on a side-walk inVilakazi street, Soweto, Johannesburg. Photo: Mfuneko Toyana
Nelson Mandela’s former home on the famous Vilakazi street in Orlando West, Soweto, was a powerful magnet today, attracting hundreds of people hoping to celebrate the life of the former president and pay their respects to the late icon.
Although entry into the pristine red-brick house, now a museum, was temporarily barred, many people milled around its gates taking pictures, signing messages on a large portrait of Mandela hanging from the fence. Visitors also laid flowers and lit candles at a steadily growing memorial under a sign reading “Goodbye Tata.”
ANC Mkonto weSizwe Miltary Veteran’s Association (ANCMKMVA) member Oupa Mabe, who first met Mandela on Robben Island in 1987, described the atmosphere as “ambivalent” while struggle songs rose up from the streets outside Mandela’s former home.
“People are having mixed feelings about this … Others are sad and others want to celebrate. If you say we should be sad then you are trying to undermine the contribution of a legend, what he has left for us a unifier and as a great leader.”
Mabe, dutifully signing coordinating the signings of the large portrait-print of Mandela and handing out markers to children eager to pen goodbye messages to the late president, recalled that the first thing Mandela said to him on the first day of his 28-year sentence: “Young man go and learn. Go and educate yourself so that one day you can lead.”
Former press secretary for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Rose Nkosi, echoed Mabe’s sentiments as she haggled with a vendor over the price for a book of portraits of Nelson Mandela.
“I am disturbed as our father has passed away.” Nkosi said despite this sadness that we were feeling, Mandela’s passing was an opportunity to renew faith in the principles, especially education, which he lived for.
Rubbing a hand over Mandela’s face on the cover of her newly purchased book, Nkosi said the written word and pictures provided a powerful tool for teaching future generations about the man and his “dedication to education”.
Letlogonolo Mogapi, a Unisa student from Pretoria, dedicated her pursuit of an engineering degree to Nelson Mandela.
“If it was not for Mandela we would not even be in school right now… [pullquote]Ga ne re gola, if you were black, it was either you studied nursing or you were a teacher.[/pullquote] You would never find an engineer back then. He was not struggling for freedom [alone] he fought for education and we thank him for that.”
Teach One: Letlhogonolo Mogapi and Thutelo Refilwe came from Pretoria to say goodbye to Mandela. Photo: Mfuneko Toyana
Even as the rain clouds gathered and threatened to unleash another violent Highveld storm, the singing and dancing in celebration of the life of Nelson Mandela continued on Vilakazi street.
TEMPERS flared as activists and mine workers were thrown out of a lecture by African National Congress ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Wits Great Hall last night.
The activists and mine workers from the Marikana support campaign were disappointed that Ramaphosa did not address the Marikana massacre of 34 miners in his lecture. Last year, police shot and killed the mine workers in the North West province in an ongoing labour dispute.
Instead Ramaphosa spoke about the National Development Plan (NDP) which was adopted as a policy by government.
Outraged activists and mine workers
The Marikana support campaign activists expressed their outrage at Ramaphosa for not talking about the government’s refusal to pay for legal representation of the mine workers at the official commission of inquiry.
Alfred Moyo, one of the activists, accused Ramaphosa of lying to people in his lecture.
“There is no there is no community participation in the NDP. He does not address anything about Marikana and miners’ challenges. They [government] have blood on their hands. We have South Africans living in informal settlements, we have no services.This talk is busy is total rubbish. He is here to lie to people,” Moyo told Wits Vuvuzela.
Claire Ceruti, activist with the Democratic Left Front was thrown out of the lecture for telling Ramaphosa that he has blood on his hands. Ceruti had previously protested against Trevor Manuel at the Ruth First Memorial Lecture in the same venue.
Ceruti said Ramaphosa tried to make himself look good by averting questions about Marikana, as she was expecting him to take responsibility.
“It’s disgusting that he sits there as someone who makes profits. These are the people who gave the go ahead for the trigger at the Marikana massacre. He defended the police for their actions, by sending emails to the police commissioner,” Ceruti said.
Marikana commission of inquiry
Ramaphosa, speaking about the commission of inquiry said the story of Marikana still needs to be told and addressed fully.
“Many people feel the pain for Marikana. It’s deeply regretted,” he told the audience which were not convinced.
Ramaphosa was boo’ed throughout his speech by the activists. They also carried posters which read: “Don’t let the politicians get away with murder, Marikana support campaign.”
In response to the posters Ramaphosa said people with papers cannot distract those without papers. We must respect each other’s right to speak.”
Zooming in on the NDP
On the NDP Ramaphosa noted that South Africa’s economy does not serve the interest of people as it creates few jobs, skills levels are poor in the country and that inequality plagues society.
“The NDP serves as a vision to overcome key challenges; inequality which we have inherited, poverty and unemployment which also has roots in our past. The NDP is a plan that can deliver faster economic growth and inclusive growth. Ills are plentiful, there are many problems that beset the nation. The NDP provides pragmatic plan to transform the economy”.
The contentious plan has been rejected by trade unions, which claim the policy will not solve the country’s socio-economic issues.
[pullquote align=”right”]”Ramaphosa just came here to canvass. He just wants votes.”[/pullquote]
Ramaphosa said he welcomed debate around the NDP.
He added: “We are a nation of people who love to talk, we are noisy and robust, that is good. We would love to get full agreement, especially in our country. Those views need to be given a platform to be articulated. “There has been resistance to the NDP, which needs to be debated. Those who are criticising the plan need to engage with the plan. We all want what is best for our people and the country.”
Some members of the audience scoffed at his assertion that socio-economic change has occurred.
Socio-economic change?
Ramaphosa’s assertion that wages have increased since 1994 and that workers have won the right to strike did not bode well with mine workers in attendance.
A Lonmin Platinum miner who shot by police during wage disputes said Ramaphosa’s lecture was a campaign strategy for next year’s national elections. He refused to be named.
“Ramaphosa just came here to canvass. He just wants votes. There is no promises and change for poor people. He just bought a buffalo [which he placed a R20-million bid on and lost], he should have given the money to suffering people,” the mine worker said.
Ramaphosa said the NDP policy is not perfect. He added: “We will continue to engage. Where there are gaps, well work with society to fill the gaps. We need to implement the NDP.”
Protesters sang out against the proposed ‘Secrecy Bill’ outside of Luthuli House. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
Right2Know campaign members protested outside Albert Luthuli House today against President Jacob Zuma signing the Secrecy Bill.
About 10 protesters dressed in their red and black Right2Know campaign shirts, held banners and posters that shot down the Protection of State Information Bill which President Zuma has yet to sign.[pullquote align=”right”]This is a bad bill for South Africa, send it back to parliament and scrap it![/pullquote]
Dan McKinley, Right2Know spokesperson outlined the reason for the protest. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
“It is there on his desk. We ask you Zuma to listen to the people and do away with the Secrecy Bill!” said Dale McKinley, spokesperson for Right2Know in Gauteng.
He said the bill would bring South Africa down and take the country back to the oppressive apartheid-type regime which censored media and whistle blowers.
“This is a bad bill for South Africa, send it back to parliament and scrap it!” he added.
Whistle blowers in a crisis
McKinley said there is the crisis of whistle blowers who are “dying out, being stopped, fired and killed” for exposing corruption. One banner read: “Exposing corruption is not a crime”.
“Do the right thing and pass legislation which protects whistle blowers in the country”, said McKinley, appealing to Zuma who visits Luthuli House on Mondays.
Protesters wore masks to conceal their identities in fear of being victimised if identified. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
Right2Know (R2K) celebrated their third anniversary last week. They have been campaigning against the Secrecy Bill since 2010, persistently challenging the government’s decisions around this Bill.
National Key Points act
McKinley said Right2Know also opposes the National Key Points act which conceals expenditure like in the case of Nkandla.
The protest was supposed to be carried out in front of Luthuli House but members were told today the ANC headquarters is a National Key Point and cannot be protested in front of.
“That is why we aren’t standing on the other side of the road. Today we were told Luthuli House is a National Key Point,” said McKinley.
They stood across the road on the corner of President and Sauer Street.
Siphiwe Segodi lead the small crowd that had gathered in song and dance. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
Protesters danced and repeated chants, singing: “Down with the Secrecy Bill. Down! Down!”; “Down with Zuma. Down! Down!”; “Forward with Right2Know. Forward! Forward!”
Some of them wore white masks to cover their faces. A woman who led the singing said: “You must hide yourself. The baboons in there will see us!” – referring to members of parliament inside Luthuli House.
Devereaux Morkle from the South African Press Association said to one of her colleagues: “I would also wear a mask if I was taking part in this protest.”
The Spy Bill
The campaign also opposes the government’s intentions of adopting the Spy Bill which could threaten the privacy of citizens via cell phone tapping.
“We demand good governance”; “Power to the people and not the Secrecy Bill” and “Defend our whistle blowers” were some of the phrases painted on signs held by the protesters.
Vavi OUT, who’s next?: Irvin Jim tells press conference political “forces” that got Vavi out are now after him and Numsa president Cedric Gina. Photo: Thuletho Zwane
“We are of the view that it has become very clear that there is a programme that Zweli’s head must be chopped,” said Jim. He said there were forces within the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP) and other sections of Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) that weren’t interested in matters of the working class and the poor.
Jim said these forces of capitalism wanted to ensure Cosatu embraced the neo-liberal National Development Plan (NDP) reducing Cosatu into a “labour desk of the bourgeoisie”.
Ideological battle between the ANC, Cosatu and Numsa
He said Vavi has become a target of the ANC because he wanted Cosatu to implement the Freedom Charter and has spoken out against the implementation of the NDP.“There is double speak [within the ruling party]. Speaking left but walking right. Vavi has consistently put forward the issues of the working class and the poor,” he said.
Cosatu’s credibility questioned
Jim said Numsa was worried about the credibility of Cosatu. “We are very worried about the leadership of the federation.[pullquote] there is a programme that Zweli’s head must be chopped[/pullquote] We have lost confidence in comrade Sidumo Dlamini,” he said. He added that Numsa members were “up in arms” about Vavi’s suspension. He told the press they are certain state apparatus and state institutions were centrally involved and used to get rid of proponents of radical thought.
Allegations of political conspiracy
Jim refused to provide evidence of a conspiracy but said everything would unfold in due time. “I am refusing to speak on this thing. I know what has not being reported. When I send an sms, it has been intersected. We thought it was a small thing, we know now it is not a small thing,” he said.
Numsa has rejected the decision of the central executive committee (CEC) to place Vavi on special leave pending investigation and is consulting with their lawyers to over-turn the decision.
I’VE GOT YOUR NUMBER: Zwelinzima Vavi revealed evidence of a political conspiracy. Photo: Thuletho Zwane
The atmosphere outside Braamfontein’s Parktownian Hotel was fraught with tension and expectation, as supporters of beleaguered Cosatu secretary-general danced and chanted slogans of support for Zwelinzima Vavi (@zwelinzima1) asking why he was being targeted.
“uyenzeni u vavi?, we Sdumo awu phendule,” asked the crowd as they waited for him to address his first press conference since his suspension. Sdumo Dlamini is the president of Cosatu.
Inside, Vavi, sporting a red National Union of Metalworkers of SA (NUMSA) tee shirt , provided the answer when he handed out two sets of documents that he said revealed a plot to turn the labour union “into a labour desk of the governing party”.
Fake intel report reveals conspiracy
One document was a letter from his lawyers challenging the legitimacy of the committee that suspended him. The other was an annexure to the letter, and reproduced an “intelligence document” that Vavi said revealed a plot by those “waiting in the long queues of the corruption trough” to blacken his name and the names of those who were fighting for the working classes.
“One of the intentions of the so-called intelligence report is clear: to destroy Cosatu,” Vavi said.
Vavi claimed the report was being distributed by those whose aim was to divide Cosatu, as well as “discredit and destroy a number of other prominent South Africans such as Tokoyo Sexwale, Judge Dikgang Moseneke, Cyril Ramaphosa, Irvin Jim etc.” “It aims to create paranoia to achieve its aim of annihilating its opponents.”
Doctored conversations
The document contains transcripts of meetings and telephone conversations, with Vavi discussing amongst other things plans to join Julius Malema’s party the Economic Freedom Fighters.
Vavi said the document was a complete fabrication doctored by “rouge” intelligence agents under the influence of factions in tripartite alliance.
At a number of stages during the press conference Vavi took deep breaths and the weight of the allegations against seemed to tell. He said nowhere else would having a consensual relationship with a co-worker, demand the dismal that his detractors were gunning for.
“If Jesus was to return… [he] would be surprised at some of the people throwing stones.”
Vavi said he had apologised for his mistake, and that the incident was being used to remove him as general-secretary via trail by media. “I face no criminal allegations as I stand before you now,” Vavi said in response to a question of whether it would not be best for him to just step down.
Vavi sets to challenge legality of suspension
Vavi said he had instructed his lawyers to challenge his suspension, citing amongst other things that Dlamaini and other members of committee that suspended him had prejudiced themselves by circulating the “intelligence report” and publicly declaring him guilty.
Vavi said Dlamini denied circulating the report. Earlier on in a Numsa press conference the federation’s secretary general Irvin Jim said they had no confidence in Dlamini as a leader.
Helen Zille debates why SA is at a crossroads. Photo: Caro Malherbe
POLITICAL analyst and businessman, Moeletsi Mbeki said the ANC has merely “put a plaster over poverty” in the last 20 years.
Mbeki joined Democratic Alliance (DA) Premier, Helen Zille for a discussion with young professionals at the Crowne Plaza in Rosebank on Tuesday. The topic of the discussion was “Is South Africa at a Crossroads?”
Mbeki said that while South Africa is not at a crossroads, the ANC is.
“The ANC is a political party, South Africa is a country”, said the younger brother of former president Thabo Mbeki.
Mbeki said the past few weeks South Africa has seen the launch of new political parties, who have been breakaways from the ANC such as the Economic Freedom Fighters and SA First—which was founded by veterans of uMkhonto we Sizwe.
He said the reason for the breakaway parties was that the ANC has been in power for 20 years and hardly dented poverty. He made a comparison with China’s progress as they managed to get 20 million people out of poverty, within the last 20 years.
Zille addressed the 300-odd crowd by disagreeing with Mbeki’s argument and said: “South Africa is at a crossroads because the ANC’s politics are South Africa’s politics.”
She said if the ANC is at a crossroads then “willy nilly” South Africa is too.
However, she believes that South Africa now has a much better chance of overcoming these crossroads than 20 years ago.
She also touched on corruption when she said: “The ANC is still such a dominant presence in the state, in institutions that are supposed to be independent that are no longer and in business.”
Zille went on to agree with Mbeki and she said the core fault is that there is a “dividing line right through the middle of the ANC” which creates visceral crossroads for South Africa.
Mbeki and Zille both agreed that there is need for a strong competitive party to oppose the ANC. Zille said a party will only perform when they are scared of voters “firing” them. She said the ANC is not threatened because they are playing on race.
She said that it is up to voters to make a difference by voting out politicians who under perform. “South Africans get the government they vote for.”
Wits Vuvuzela went around campus to ask students if they felt that the media coverage of the apparently illegal Gupta landing at the Waterkloof Air Force Base, was warranted. We also asked for their personal thoughts on the landing.
So it looks like Limpopo might produce a whole generation of Malemas. Education is the key to success but these northern youngsters aren’t exactly experiencing the “better life for all”.
The textbook saga is just another example of the ANC’s failure to curb corruption and mismanagement. But are voters finally going to ask: “What about the kids … what about my kids?”
Voting for the ANC in 1994 was certainly no mistake. Voting for them ever since, out of loyalty, fear, hope or whatever other reason, might’ve been a bad idea. Unemployed youth are angry and from these hopeless masses rise the likes of Julius Malema. Whether he still stands for that crowd or just stands to profit from their desperation is debatable. But he represents where it all went wrong – trying to fix things that may not be broken and further breaking things that need fixing. Case in point: education.
In a radio interview this week president Zuma insisted that education is a top priority as it receives a hefty portion of the budget. But one can’t help question why things are so bad in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo if that were true. Perhaps the wrong aspects within education are being prioritised.
It seems the ANC-led government may be trying to fix the problem from the top down. BEE, possible lower university entrance requirements, alleged inflated matric results … why not make just a slightly better effort at improving primary and high school education? Delivery of textbooks is such a basic process, how could it possibly have gone this wrong? Why not pay teachers, arguably the most important members of our society, a better salary? If you are a teacher in the Eastern Cape you might appreciate being paid at all.
The ANC-led government is giving our children a slap in the face. Yet parents and young adults keep voting for the party. Is that not a slap in the face to everyone who is trying their hardest to get ahead? Minister Angie Motshekga’s defence of her actions, or lack thereof, is offensive to say the least.
The Ethics Institute of SA should be supported for saying this week that officials should take responsibility for this debacle. An emotional observer might go further and say that Minister Motshekga is a disgrace to women who lead and a disgrace to what the ANC once was.
But forget about her. Just think of all the opportunities school children in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape will miss out on. Malema is right about one thing: the gap between rich and poor is widening. But neither he nor the current government has the solution.
The money is there, we just need the corruption and mismanagement to stop. For our children’s sake.
Since her announcement as the Democratic Alliance’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, Helen Zille has dominated national headlines. In this bonus episode of We Should Be Writing podcast, hosts Lulah Mapiye and Bonolo Mokonoto dissect a media meet-and-greet with the mayoral hopeful. From her extensive political résumé to her controversial public utterance, we examine why the Democratic Alliance has chosen Hellen Zille as their candidate for the 2027 local mayoral elections. Additionally, […]
