HAPPY FREEDOM DAY, BUT BE CAREFUL!

Though it has come a long way, it was only from the 27^th April 1994 that the Country of South Africa attained its democracy and freedom.  The Freedom Charter of 1955 and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 have become the nation’s Bible bearing a number of essential commandments.

 

However, neither the Freedom Charter nor the Constitution will hand us the freedom we so long fully desire unless we allow for other people to be free, and share in our freedom.  Possibly through tribulation or through past experience, we have grown to become a self-centred nation.

“But what’s in it for me!”     “What about me and my own interest!”

You are bound to hear these sentiments whenever you talk of the apportionment of the freedom and or Constitutional fruits amongst all citizens.  Perhaps let us pause to ask ourselves some questions; hopefully we may be able to come up with the answers.

 

1.    Who is the Nation?

2.    How are we preventing other people’s freedom?

3.    Have we remained true to ‘this Bible’ and it’s Commandments?

4.    What should we do now?

 

Well firstly, South Africa is comprised of different race groups; a variety of tribes with their unique cultures, traditions and languages; Creed and religious subscriptions, and they all combine to give us a Nation – the Rainbow Nation.  Secondly, after the marvellous attainment of this freedom and democracy, as well as in the midst of government’s current efforts of redress, transformation and bridging the gap between the previously disadvantaged (Blacks) and the privileged (Whites), there now seem to have risen a worrisome phenomenon where the Black Africans overwhelmingly feel that they should solely own the Black card.  They do this by criticizing and asking for other groups to be ostracized from the mainstream Social and Economic opportunities, and this can be seen further by the on-going calls for the destruction and removal of certain statues or monuments commemorating freedom fighters such as Mahatma Ghandi.

It will remain a fact that Ghandi stood against the injustices and systems of Apartheid, regardless of whether he’d fought for Black Africans.

 

Thirdly, having witnessed that government leaders and institutions have on numerous occasions been brought before the courts, and have had the courts ruling against them, makes one ask the third question.

And lastly, in celebration of Freedom Day, we shall all be allowed to ponder and answer the fourth question –HAPPY FREEDOM DAY…BUT BE CAREFUL!

 

 

 

Justice denied to the masses

What is the motive for the denial of justice by the much entrusted organs or states, as all this is done despite the conscious knowledge that the retracted justice is the people’s last hope.

First I heard that the United States of America was considering withdrawing from being invoked by foreign civil nationals – who feel aggrieved or let down by the judicial organs within their own respective states. America stated political implications and the growing precedence of having its courts ruling against the final judicial or political decisions of fellow ‘autonomous’ states, as a motivation for this concern.

This was after certain Nigerian nationals won the ruling on their claim against a major British company, accused of abetting and even perpetrating deeds which constituted ‘human rights abuses’, during their (Nigerian’s) war for independence.

Secondly, I also heard of the rather sad news of the SADC tribunal, also retracting its organ of justice from reach of the very desperate civilians – from the member states, who also have been failed by organs within their respective countries.

This tribunal was alighted by the case between an aggrieved Zimbabwean farmer and president Robert Mugabe, dubbed: Mugabe and the white African – subsequently won by the farmer.

Thirdly, the proposed ‘vote of no confidence’ against the president of South Africa (Jacob Zuma), Which was rejected by the speaker of parliament and dismissed as ‘not urgent’. The opposition parties which had initiated the call, have hence taken the matter to court for its ruling, yet sadly, the court has suspended the application – citing the fear of being accused of undermining the ‘balance of forces’.

In all the above examples, it is apparent that these applicants or plaintiffs have resorted to what they considered ‘the last resorts’ in seeking justice. The taking away of this ‘last resort’ without availing an alternative organ, is a mere denial of justice and human rights to the needy.

Sadly the decisions to retract these avenues are  carried-out with such tyranny and cold heartedness that’s hard to fathom. The saying goes: “JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED”.

Open letter to the President of the ANC

Mr President I was one of the South African civilians who felt your plight when the ANC membership came out in public, declared you as their choice to succeed then President, Thabo Mbeki. Amidst all those campaigns and supportive orations, you were inundated with a spate of accusations, lawsuites and legal battles, all seemingly set to tarnish your credibility as a ready candidate. This strife carried on between 2008 - 2009 (I stand to be corrected).

This was obviously all very difficult for you and your family, as well as your suppoters. Though you showed great stamina and resilience through it all which I found really impressive. I was exposed to the earlier part of your heated legal battles, when your 'Pietermaritzburg Court appearances' drew my town to a standstill, with major road closures and all the hype surrounding the occations. This was during 2007, when I was in my final year of high-schooling.

I supported you in your odessy, but also with a sense of pride that a 'Zulu man' from KwaZulu Natal was to become, not only President to the ANC, but was subsequently going to be crowned 'President of the Republic of South Africa', and when you eventually were inaugurated - you became the first political figure (excluding Nelson Mandela) that I put up a poster of on the wall in my room.

In the interviews prior to taking-on state duties, you you'd promised to (as you put it) 'hit the ground running', which I honestly believe you did, with all the changes in the operations, you presented an element of hope and change to South Africa. The country owes a great deal of gratitude to you for the number of advances and achievements earned during your tenure, as well as some great initiatives by your foundation and family.

I can't recall when it all started going awry, but the recent developments have pushed me to write this letter to you, urging that you heed the calls, calling for you to step down. This will not be becuase you have utterly failed on your duties or meaning that you aren't capable of steering South Africa to further heights, however this is all in the interest of the country and its democracy.

Thinking back to the suffering that the South Africans endured during the dark times of the county's history, and the appalling scenes elsewhere, where disgruntled civilians had to resort to violent campaigns trying to force the change they wanted - you will hence agree that such will not be fit for a democracy, our democracy.

Now looking back at all the rebukes by the world to some of your utterances and or lifestyle developments, I feel that it is clear that whatever you do or say will continue contradicting with 'today's accepted ideals'. I then infer that you (despite meaning well), come across as being an irrelevant figure with the masses today.

Let's agree that you have pushed certain bounderies yourself in efforts to keep foes at bay, this will sound like typical unfounded accusations but, what is this we hear about Julius Malema, Premier Cassel Mathale and the likes being investigated for irregularities blah blah blah?

What is this we also hear of about 630 or more branches of the ANC "failing to meet the requirements" and hence cannot submit any list of their own candidates to contend for leadership positions at Mangaung?

I am very mindful of the fact that anyone who has a case to answer to must stand trial, as well as the fact that there are established processes and procedures that  those branches had to abide, but the timing of all these incidents certainly triggers questions or suspicions - Mr President you must agree!

After negative researches done, showing your slide in popularity, internal party squabbles and attacks and defamations from various artists, don't you agree it's time? And don't fret, I can bet you that none of your successors will enjoy the comfort of that seat long enough either.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully
Sanele Khumalo

THE LONMIN MASSACRE (S.A 2012)

The Lonmin massacre!



http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/ 22/08/12



South Africa, once again was home to another gruelling week or so of ‘labour force’ demonstration. This time workers from Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana, North West Province, embarked on what was another wage dispute-protest (which the country has had a countless number of, lately).

During a week of protest action by these mineworkers, a number of attacks were reported, with some of the workers killed – allegedly because they refused to join the protest; security and police officers were also reportedly killed and others wounded by these heavily armed protestors. Two police officers who responded to the call to visit the area of protest action, were attacked, killed and disarmed by the protestors, and more police units were deployed to manage the scene.

Another growing allegation, was the unions, AMCU (Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union) and NUM (the National Union of Mineworkers), it was alleged that these two unions were engaged in a bitter battle for membership. NUM accused AMCU (which is a relatively new union ‘on the block’) of stealing members from them, and AMCU saying that NUM has failed its own members – and that a NUM steward allegedly shot at its own members, hence they were angry with them.

The NUM spokesperson, Lesiba Seshoka said “they are considering initiating a lawsuit against AMKU for the alleged killing of NUM members and the death threats and violence preceding the killings”. Jeff Mphahlele, AMCU general secretary, counter accused the NUM for having killed AMCU’s own members.

Calls were made for the protesting workers to capitulate and go back to work, as well as pleas by the police, for the protestors to give up their weapons and peacefully break-up, all to no avail.

Drama broke out when the protestors, allegedly charged at police, resulting in them responding with the use of ‘maximum force’, shooting towards the crowd using live rounds of ammunition – killing 34 protestors and wounding over 70. This happened on a Thursday evening, on 16 August 2012.

State president, Jacob Zuma hurriedly asked to be excused from a summit taking place in Namibia, Which included SADC delegations talking, among other things, about the ‘unity government in Zimbabwe’ – Zuma as the facilitator of this deal in Zimbabwe.

New police commissioner, General Riah Phiyega was also among the delegation to visit the scene soon after reports of the ‘massacre!

This incidence was reportedly making international news, and Public rebuke of the incidence was heard from various stakeholders holding public office, and private organisations and also the citizens of the country.  Among most of the sentiments voiced, is the police’s handling of the matter, some even likening it to the incidences prior the democratic South Africa (1994). Others argue that this clearly shows that our police aren’t properly trained to handle such situations, and are quick to apply the use of ‘maximum force’ without having exhausted all other means effectively.

Whatever is said I personally agree with such perceptions about the country’s police and I rate this the most violent and belligerent industrial action post 1994 ever!

uMsunduzi fumbles and pulls local (B&B) Business off the scene!

My Observation of the Electricity Problem

*this comes after the Msunduzi Municipality hiked services tariffs for the local B&B s, forcing a lot of them out of business. I was recently asked to conduct research on the subject as part of our 'course assessments'.* 

“The Municipality seems to fail in tracking and dealing with unpaid prepaid electricity bills by some unscrupulous members of society.

Though it must be noted that not all of them do so on purpose – some are sincerely overwhelmed by poverty, such that they resort to stealing electricity and saving themselves a lot of money, and there are just those who simply cannot afford it. There are also those who steal electricity merely because it is now an incredibly simple and common thing to do, and so paying towards their bill will insinuate that they have a lot to spend, and also not forgetting the ‘sheep factor’ theory – they feel obliged to do what everyone else is doing.

Walking along the Edendale road – along the ‘Greater Edendale Mall’ and ‘Edendale Crossing Mall’, past the hospital, I noted a sight that shocked me – almost every street lamp was dangling on it, wires that were carelessly connected and then channelled underground towards the growing number of shacks across the street. I saw all this in-passing, how come the electricity personnel have not picked this up? Made me wonder how many other illegal connections were out there – not Edendale alone but across the board.

The sad eventuality, (as noted by Andrew Layman, former PCB CEO) is that those who pay for these services now have to take all this burden and get slapped with hefty tariff hikes to try and make up for the lost revenue!”

 I had also spoken to the ‘Msunduzi Pietermaritzburg Tourism Association’s’ Accommodation consultant, Nhlakanipho Mdunge.

He broke into the conversation by shedding light at to what he believes is the source of the problem, and this is what he said – in isiZulu.

“You will remember that here (gesturing towards the side of the municipality), there was rampant corruption recently (which indeed was public information), so since the new council took office, they have been trying very hard to recover the lost funds and are putting in measures to also milk this money from the public.”

He also alluded to the fact that the Bed & Breakfasts were now required to forge out a huge tariff to the council. He explained this, “In the past, B&Bs were taxed on the owner’s personal capacity – a Sole proprietorship, but now what they (council) say is they want to start taxing B&Bs like all business – a business tax.

This means that if the B&B had paid about R 2000 to obtain its work permit, they will start calculating these monthly R2 000 charges, from inception up until now – and the B&B is expected to pay that balance!”

He also concluded by saying that this is fast killing all B&Bs in the city and leaving the rest bankrupt. He also explained that, recently, with the spate of events coming down into the city all simultaneously, he – as the ‘consultant’ who receives all queries and bookings from the visitors, was forced to plead with the local public to open their doors to the visitors – as the accommodation was extraordinarily scarce and demand rocket-high.

I then wrote numerous e-mails to a pool of possible stakeholders and the affected B&Bs, and received the following responses:

    Jean-Lee Info info@jeanlee.co.za   sent to me: wed/20/June/2012 (12:56pm)

 Hi Sanele

Thank you for your email.  I am one of the B&Bs which is part of the PMB B&B Network.  I am also the Chairperson of the Midlands B&B Association [MIDBABA].

From the Network's perspective, we have 13 B&Bs who are part of this Network.  Two of our Network members have resigned and closed their B&Bs directly as a result of the increase of municipal tariff & rate increases.  The tariffs made them unprofitable to run as the increases added as much as R2000.00 per month to expenses and profit margins are small.  This means the 2 owners are now effectively unemployed and cleaning and gardening staff have had to be retrenched,

 In terms of MIDBABA, other B&Bs have also closed, thus resulting in loss of jobs.  Those who have remained open have had to increase rates but what created a bigger problem is that the Municipality gave no notice of the increases or made any suggestion that they would do so and then backdated the increases, which resulted in huge bills being received.  In addition, not all B&Bs were initially charged the increases and there are still B&Bs not being charged.  The registered B&Bs have increased but the majority of B&Bs in the City are not registered and therefore are not paying the increased tariffs and therefore are able to offer cheaper rates.  There are a number of other charges that B&Bs who wish to be legal need to pay and one is doubtful whether the unregistered B&Bs are paying these as they probably believe they are above the law.

Although the tariffs are supposed to be for all home-based businesses, one is left wondering whether all such businesses are paying.

 Regards

DES

 The Jays Guest House info@thejays.co.za      (2:19pm)

The Msunduzi Municipality has not only raised    the electricity tariffs but has imposed huge increases of service    charges across the board, including the rates. Comparing the average    of the first 3 months of last year (R2000) and the same for this    year (R3800), our total service bill has increased by 90%    (3800/2000).

We estimate that 50% of our property is residential and the other    50% is used for business purposes. If 50% of the property attracts a    charge of R1000, then the other 50% being used for business purposes    has gone from R1000 to R2800 = 280%.

 For smaller B&B's which only have 1 or 2 rooms which only make    up 10-20% of the total property, the increase caused by the business    portion amounts to about 800%. The average increases for 20 B&B's comes to 80%. You then divide this figure by the    percentage used for business purposes (10% for a 1 bedroomed    B&B) = 80%/10% = 800%.

 So, what do the smaller B&B's do? Of course they all close down.    We expect all the 1 & 2 bedroomed B&B's to close and many of    those also with 3 bedrooms will close if they are not doing a lot of    business. Our estimate is that eventually 50% of all B&B's will    close.

The Jays Guest Hose.

Penny Hatting foodwithfinesse@absamail.co.za  sent to me: Wed/20/June/2012 (9:36pm)  

Good day Sanele,,

Thank you for asking, As I am in despair!. I was one of the few B&B who were targeted in 2010. I was land with an enormous bill and back paid to July 2010. The Municipality have made empty promises of going to correct this in justice – BUT TO DATE NOTHING. If I refuse to pay (which I should –I get cut off . I provide jobs for 10 ten women – that means that I look after ten families. The profits from this business are so small that it cannot sustain me on its own . I am not alone . The municipality is killing this industry , If  I did not have another form of income I would have had to reconsider the viability of this business( and I am one of the older well established B&B).

Yours,

Penny Hatting

Heritage Guest House

This is sadly impinging on the city’s potential to successfully hosting a number of iconic sites and events that the city so proudly boasts with. There is also huge potential for more of these sites and events based on the ‘interpretive’ aspect of tourism – despite the Voortrekker Museum, Pietermaritzburg Botanical Gardens, Gandhi Statue, Butterflies for Africa, Tatham Art Gallery, and many other.

The spear!

It will not astonish many that I write about the story, or should I call it the scandal that waded through the country (South Africa) lately, inciting some passionate feelings from the African National Congress, its allies and President Jacob Zuma’s family.

Many stories involving the country’s politics and/or politicians themselves have rocked the country recently, but none has dragged on for such a time and still dominating national broadcasting interest like the painting by artist Brett Murray called the Spear. This painting has sparked a huge outcry from many parties – calling it racist and a violation of Zuma’s human rights, some even blaming it on the vast rights afforded to the media and artists alike.

The ANC has since called for the removal of this piece of art from the “City Press” newspaper’s website, published three weeks ago, but the newspaper has been adamant in arguing that they have not transgressed any law and will not remove it. The newspaper’s editor, Ferial Haffajee, has instead said it was the move by the ANC to take the paper to court which has caused this much excitement and focus from the whole world.

Just last Tuesday, two gentlemen were nabbed for allegedly defacing this painting from the Goodman gallery, one of them, a university professor. However this was not enough, because a third man was also caught trying to – according to him, spray “respect Zuma” on the same painting.

The secretary generals of the ANC, and SACP-Gwede Mantashe and Blade Nzimande respectively, have been calling for a boycott of the newspaper’s products, like the placement of ads with it, and Mantashe has also been amongst the calls for a march to the newspaper’s and the gallery’s (Goodman gallery) headquarters.

A concern from some parties was the fact that the artist who drew the picture isn’t getting an equal rebuke. A certain radio presenter posed the question to the ANC spokesman, Jackson Mthembu: “why aren’t the stand-up comedians in the country also challenged for the utterances they make about Zuma”, - he went on to make reference to Trevor Noah and his recent materials.

A recent development has been President Jacob Zuma’s family embarking on a march organised by the ‘South African Traditional Music Awards (SATMA)’ to also call for the removal of the piece, and demanded an apology from the artist. Some other artist was said to have drawn Premier Helen Zille and other white, right-wing figures like the late Eugene Terreblanche, in retaliation.

The ANC youth league expelled leader, Julius Malema is seemingly looking to take this opportunity and continue to torment the ANC, as I heard the newspaper’s editor say she’d received an sms from him reading: “You see! Now they are coming for you…” and he allegedly promised to write a piece with the newspaper detailing, I don’t know what!?

To wrap the week, were reports of a ‘German art collector’ that is reportedly on their way to Johannesberg for the R136 000 piece of defaced art.