Added by: Democrat# on Friday, 03 September 2010 at 09:19:10 AM
"SOUTH AFRICA'S THE ECONOMIC FUNDUMENTALS ARE SOUND" -WOULD BIKO ,IF HE WAS STILL ALIVE,BOUGHT INTO THIS LIE?
Part 2
He would mobilise the Blacks to refuse to buy into this lie that thier country's economic fundumentals are sound in a mist of such abject poverty,unemployment rate,high mortality rate.He would warn them not to be silent when the Black Colonial rulers begin to think and act like the apartheid rulers by inroducing measures to curb the press and thier right to know how these predators are running our country down to a Banana Republic.Biko would certainly not been impressed with so-called leaders who go to the Queen of England,our former oppressor,to tell her that the "economic policy that still produces the same outcomes as those of apartheid will never be changed because he would argue,that would mean that the current "Black condition" will remain unchanged!!!.
(Mamphela Ramphela observes that those who were in prison and in exile durint the 7*0's,missed out big time on being exposed to the BCM- judging by thier behaviour,I tend to agree!and maybe,those,like Malema,who were born later and brainwashed into this Charter thing).I would advise the ANCYL,instead of attending the ANC political school, to use this month to learn about BCM and Pan-Africanism as tought by Biko and Sobukwe .... I advise them to read Biko's "I write what I like",Motsoko Pheko's books,especially,"The Land Is Ours",Benjamin Progud's work,"How can a man die better"(Sobukwe's political thoughts) and Oom Harry Mashabela's "People on the Boil".... The Young Lions are on the right track...they are saking the right questions...thye just seem restricted by this narrow "Freedom Charter" thinking that they have out-lived!
Added by: Democrat# on Friday, 03 September 2010 at 09:16:55 AM
"SOUTH AFRICA'S THE ECONOMIC FUNDUMENTALS ARE SOUND" -WOULD BIKO ,IF HE WAS STILL ALIVE,BOUGHT INTO THIS LIE?
As we approach the 12th September ,the day on which our Hero,Steven Bantu Biko,was brutally slain by the apartheid regime,it is approppriate that we reflect on his teachings,the teachings that really brought about this freedom,freedom which has been turned into a fake by the ANC.Biko,after having thoroughly analysed what he called "the Black condition: at the time,late 6*0's and 7*0's,came to a conclusion that the only way that the Black condition that prevailed at the time could be changed to the better is when the Black man begins to take charge his own situation.After having come to this conclusion,he informed his White counter-parts in NUSAS,the then White dominated student body,and together with the likes of Pityana and Mokoena,formed thier own student body(SASO?).In 197*6,when Tsietsi Mashinini led that revolutionary student march that ultimately led to this freedom,we were immediately bombarded with the Black Consciuosness Movement( BCM) slogans, "Black Man,you are on your own!" and " The tree of liberty shall be watered with the blood of our mytyres'".The starting point of is the BCM was a an analyses of the "Black condition".This was not only about the material conditions of Blacks,but also about their psychological condition.Biko correctly identified that a Black man will never change her material condition until such time that she is in the right psychological state of mind.He identified "fear" as the main stumbling block.The fear of imprisonment and the fear of material gain by the then educated middle cla*ss if you spoke out against the apartheid regime .On the 16 June 197*6 and beyond,having realised how our parents were so much paralised by this fear,we kept them out of our plans to liberate "Azania".
If Biko could come out of his grave today,and do the same analyses that he did in the 7*0's about the "Black condition",that is,;8*7 % of the land still being in White hands,40% unepmloyment rate,pathetic education and health system for Blacks,a quater of the economically active Blacks relying of Social grants,widening gap between the rich and the poor,the majority of whom are Black,who are also landless , squarting all over their place of birth.... Would he believe this story that "South Africa's economic fundamentals are sound'?I think not! I think he would go back to where he was in the 7*0's say to his fellow Black folks : "Wake up! "Black Man,you are on your own!,Your country has been stolen by Black Colonialist rulers whose interests are to fill thier selfish unsatiable appetite for material gains and do not care about your "condition".He would mobilise the Blacks to refuse to buy into this lie that thier country's economic fundumentals are sound in a mist of such abject poverty,unemployment rate,high mortality rate.He would warn them not to be silent when the Black Colonial rulers begin to think and act like the a
Added by: Democrat# on Tuesday, 31 August 2010 at 09:22:59 AM
ERICK MIYENI - LET US NOT PLAY THE RACE-CARD TO JUSTIFY NONSENSE
The article written by Eric Miyeni that appeared on the Sowetan of the 30th August 2010 refers-(posted on the general topic stripe).
It is people like Erick Miyeni who make us to loose the critical debates by disenginousely abusing the race-card to justify nonsense.The fact of the matter is that in the Acerllor-Mittal-Kumba-ICT-DMR "Mineral rights looting scheme",the beneficiaries are both Black, White and foreign .As far as we are concerned,all of them are corrupt and need to be called to order.As Frans Baleni of the NUM cautioned us earlier during the ESKOM saga,when we begin to shout racism where it does not exist,we will loose the war against real racism,which still pervade our society and workplaces.Mamphela Ramphela,in her work "Laying Ghosts To Rest" argues that we should stop calling these ghosts by thier false names,that is being "politically correct,"but by thier real names,so that we can "lay them to rest".That is what Malema and Vavi did last week,calling corruption by our "Black" ANC so-called leaders by its name,that is,"crony capitalism", and "predator state." The call by Bobby Godsell for an "Anti-corruption Code",belated as it is,must be welcomed.It must be welcomed because Big Business(which is still White Male dominated),having lost political power,has ,over the last sixteen years,retained its power through corrupting our politicians,especially those serving on the ANC's NEC,to put the needs of Big Business before those of the "mas*ses" and therefore turning our country into a "predator state" it finds itself in today.This is what the debate should be about.We should be looking at how we undo this corrupt relationship that has developed over the past sixteen years between the ANC politicians,Big Business and State Officials.We should focus on laying these three ghosts to rest,that is "Cadre Deployment,Crony Capitalism and tenderpreneurship" which are colourless and rob our people of what they struggled for: "an equal opportunity society" and a government that will put in place "affirmative action measures" that will ensure that this happens.LET US CALL THE GHOSTS BY THIER REAL NAME AND STOP ABUSING THE RACE-CARD....ICT-ARCERLOR MITTAL SCHEME IS NOT A "BEE SCHEME",IT IS A "LOOTING SCHEME" AND HAS VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH RACE AND ALL TO DO WITH ABUSE OF POWER!!!
Added by: Democrat# on Monday, 30 August 2010 at 08:47:33 AM
VIVA JULIUS "JUJU BOY" MALEMA ,VIVA!! VIVA VAVI VIVA!! AT LONG LAST,WE CAN SEE SOME LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!!!
The rejection of crony capitalism by Zelinzima Vavi and Cosatu, and Julius Malema and the ANC Youth League last week have pumped a lot of optimism in me that the next generation may have a better future than this one. If there is one thing that we must defeat,that is,if we are to secure our children's future, is crony capitalism.To do so,it will however not be enough to stand on the podium and renounce these "predatory" tendencies.We need to begin a formal process of "laying these ghosts to rest"(to borrow from Mamphela Ramphela).Mamphela suggests that ghosts will never be layed to rest unless we call them by name. I agree with that.We need to begin to name and shame those in power,including Big Business,who are involved in schemes that go contrary to the spirit and letter of the BBB-EE project and who are hell bent on directing our beloved country to the Republic of Banana-land.However,name and shame is not enough.We need to pa*ss legislation aimed at nullifying all these politicaly toxic deals and in the case of the ITC disputed mineral rights,a special act of Parliament needs to be pa*ssed to nationalise these mineral rights and transfer them to the State Owned Company.We need to send a very clear message to those in power,including some corrupt elements in business,that this generation has not forgotten what its cause and vision for the struggle against apartheid was all about.We fought for a society where all shall have "equal opportunities" and government that shall take "affirmative action measures" aimed at ensuring that this happens.For far too long,we have allowed crooks,both in business and the ANC, to loot our country's resources unchallenged. YES,JUJU BOY,YES ZWELI,WE MAY NOT SEE EYE TO EYE ON SOME OF THE ISSUES,BUT ON THIS ONE,WE ARE ALL TOGETHER...WE NEED TO STOP OUR COUNTRY FROM DEGENERATING INTO A "PREDATOR STATE" AND MOBILISE THE NATION AGAINST ALL THOSE WHO ARE INVOLVED IN THIS NONSENSE!
Added by: Democrat# on Tuesday, 24 August 2010 at 08:57:04 AM
GRAND APARTHEID CORRUPTION CARRIED OVER TO THE "NEW AGE"?
In 20*06,the Institute of Security Studies Report entitled " Apartheid Grand Corruption- A*ssessing the scale of profit in South Africa from 197*6 to 1994" commissioned by the then Minister of Public Service Administration,Frazer -Mleketi in her capacity as chair of the National Anti-corruption Forum,painted a very scarry picture of how corrupt the NP and the private sector were during apartheid.They perfected the art of legalised corruption through political patronage,using the Broederbond.The idea at the time was to expose the lie that the ANC government was more corrupt than the NP one and to learn from the past experiences and not repeat the same mistakes.However,instead of learning from that,we have actually done the opposite.The ANC has replicated the Broederbond modus operandi by way of "Cadre Deployment" and is looting the state coffers in that same way that the NP did.They are in bed with some elements in the private sector,dispensing political patronage and robbing the poor of " a better life for all',which has just become a "rumour".The NP was able to cover all these through a string of legislation similar to the one now being proposed by the ANC,the "Suppression" of Information Bill and harras*sment of the media .... The famous "Info Scandal"is similar to the Chancellor House "Oil-gate" scandal ...Now,we hear reports that Jacob Zuma wants a so-called a"political solution" to the Kumba-Arcelor-Mittal-ITC-DMR corrupt saga that involves his con and the Gupta cronies ... These are the same Guys that are now going to run an ANC Propaganda news paper called "New Age'...similar to the NP Info Scandal that produced "The Citizen" to serve as the NP propaganda machine in the 1980's.So,in the absence of the "Suppression" of Information Bill,that would have deprived us,the public,of our right to know how the nation's mineral resources are been looted,they are now discouraging Kumba to go to Court and hang thier dirty linen in public and resorting to "political solutions',the same tricks that got JZ off-the hook!!!THE MORE THINGS CHNGE,THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME!!!!
Added by: Democrat# on Monday, 23 August 2010 at 08:36:35 AM
EVEN DURING THE APEX OF OUR ANGER,IN 1*9*7*6,WE NEVER TEMPERED WITH HEALTH WORKERS
When my favourate and hardworking Minister, Aron Motswaledi,reminded us that even in 1*9*7*6,we respected those Nurses and Health Workers wearing White and never prevented from attending to the weak and the terminally ill,he actually summarised the state of havoc and non-existant social consciousness that has embroiled our trade union movement today.During the height of our struggle in the seventies and eighties,we were at all times conscious of the cause of our freedom,under-pinned by the values and culture of "service,sacrifice and suffering".... We ,even during the cla*ss and consumer boycotts,never employed strategies and tactics that would weaken us and cause harm to ourselves and our own people.We had a motto that we subscribed to,that of "each one teach one". Consciuos of the deficiencies in our education system,we shared the little knowledge that we would acquire from the banned books to free our minds from the shackles of aparheid.(The ANC now wants to take us back to those dark days with its "Suppression" of Information Bill and Madia Tribunal proposals).During the times of "Asikhelwa",when no one was allowed to board any taxi or train to work,only the Nurses and Doctors were allowed to do so.This was at the apex of our anger,under a very oppressive and brutal apartheid government .Today,we have these two post aparthied militant unions,SADTU and NEHAWU,who only came into being towards at the end of the struggle,publicly engaged in acts of murder of our own people,with impunity.YES,DR MOTSWALEDI IS CORRECT,NO MATTER HOW NOBLE THEIR CAUSE,THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO TRAMPLE ON OUR RIGHT TO LIFE....DOWN WITH SADTU AND NEHAWU'S MURDERUOS BEHAVIOUR!!! DOWN!!! PHANTSI WITH POST APARTHIED FREEDOM FIGHTERS!!PHANTSI!
Added by: Democrat# on Thursday, 19 August 2010 at 04:36:59 PM
BIG BUSINESS' INITIATIVE TO DEVELOP A CODE OF ETHICS VERY MUCH WELCOME
Recently, Business Leadership SA (BLSA) has announced that it will develop its own Code of Ethics,following the disgusting conduct of Kumba and Arcelor Mittal SA (AMSA).This long overdue initiative should be most welcome,given that it takes two to be corrupt,that is,the corruptor and the corruptee.It is only when Big Business operates in an ethical manner that it can be in a position to stand up against the ANC government and be supported by the public,like it was the case in Australia recently when the government there wanted to introduce the 40% windfall tax.Some Commentators have been asking this question as to why Big Business in SA is not standing up to government when it has to.The answer to this is a very simple one ... Most of them do not have clean hands and are in bed with the ANC corrupt Elite.They have been very instrumental in converting the ANC's NEC into a Stock/Security Exchange with deals that were never meant to empower the broader previously and still disadvantaged groups but the ANC political heavy weights,their families,relatives and cronies.Hence the terms,crony capitalism and tenderpreneurship. I would venture to be "tjatjarag" and volunteer some suggestions regarding what the proposed Code should cover.Firstly,the Code should advise Big Business to stay away from making deals with anybody who serves in the structures of any political party,at all levels,including thier families,relatives and friends;Secondly,Business should also stay away from appointing politicians in thier Boards to discourage a culture of patronage and cronysim;Thirdly,Big Business must commit itself to transformation with specific reference to ensuring that BLSA,its members Boards,Top management and Senior Management are demographically representative of the country's population;Fourthly,Big Business should ensure that the BEE deals its members enter into are genuinely broadbased,benefiting the communities and the employees as oppossed to politicall connected individuals;Fifthly,they should commit themselves to the support initiatives aimed at promoting the image of the country to the Foreign Investors and criticising the government publicly instead of in dark rooms.Finally,they should refrain from using FDI as a scare tactic to evade dealing with the difficult transformation related issues in the counrty,and feeding the Forign investors with falsehoods.The recent antics by Gareth Ackerman of Pick'n pay regarding the land question is a good example.Gareth went oversees and portrayed us,the victims of aparthied forced removals,as "threats to food security" when we call on the government to deliver on land restitution as Constitutionally required.
Added by: Democrat# on Thursday, 19 August 2010 at 08:40:47 AM
CREATIVE DESTRUCTION - GOOD FOR COPE' S FUTURE
The extremely uncormfortable and painful events that took place within COPE over the past months could actually turn out to be the best thing that could ever have happened to it,in the foreseeable future.It is what we could call a process of "Creative Destruction".Firstly,the destruction of a notion that anyone who was a founder of COPE will automatically be annointed as its leader by the members without following the due democratic process is a positive achievement.Secondly,the notion that "struggle credentials" should be the only criterion to be used to judge an individual's competency to tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow has been called into question,not only within COPE but in other political parties like the ANC and INKATHA...This is COPE's contribution to the broader body politic in the country.Thirdly,we have destroyed the notion of "King Makers" which treats delegates and members as voting cattle with no brains and have stood firmly on our belief that leaders must be elected by the members through thier delegetes,guided by thier consciences.Fourthly,we have proved that the Courts are not the places to settle the leadership question,only the members can do so.. and we will do so at the coming Elective Conference.Fifthy,we have,to a large extent, been able to rid ourselves of the weaklings who would be unable to withstand the challenges we will soon face,when we tackle the "Powerful" ANC,as its competitor,on its own turf.This is going to be a very rough ride,given the desperate state it finds itsef in,and is going to demand that we have cadres who believe in the cause we are pursuing,and who understand what the struggle culture of "service,sacrifice and suffering" is all about.They have already begun to behave like the NP towards the media,imagine how they are going to treat us,once we are on the go.SO,THIS EXTREMELY AND VERY PAINFULL PROCESS OF CREATIVE DESTRUCTION WAS NECESSARY TO ENABLE US TO BUILD OUR PARTY ON A SOLID DEMOCRATICFOUNDATION.ICOPE!!MAYIBUYE!IAFRIKA!MAYIBUYE!POWER!TO THE PEOPLE!AMANDLA!NGAWETHU!MAATLA!ARONA!VIVA TO A VIBRANT AND UNITED COPE!!!VIVA!! FORWARD TO THE ELECTIVE CONFERENCE!!FORWARD!!!!!!
Added by: Democrat# on Tuesday, 17 August 2010 at 10:44:27 AM
Sweep colonial cobwebs from your identity: Minds shackled by traditions of the former oppressor cannot serve Africa as it needs to be served, writes Mosibudi Mangena - Sunday Times - 15/0*8/2010
Part 3
Nonracialism is an ideal that does not exist anywhere in the world, but it is preached mainly by the extremely weak Africans. It is nevertheless an ideal worth striving for. But it would never be realised for as long as it is being pursued by weak people who cannot do better than begging.
With a continent as rich in natural resources as Africa is, we should not be beggars. We should be having a socially and economically more comfortable society than we have presently. But for that to happen, our levels of consciousness would need to improve tremendously.
Mangena is the president of Azanian People's Organisation and former minister of science and technology
THE ANC OF TODAY CERTAINLY NEEDS A HUGE AND STRONG DOSE OF BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS!!
Added by: Democrat# on Tuesday, 17 August 2010 at 10:43:15 AM
Sweep colonial cobwebs from your identity: Minds shackled by traditions of the former oppressor cannot serve Africa as it needs to be served, writes Mosibudi Mangena - Sunday Times- 15/0*8/2010
Part 2
It is certainly not wrong to be knowledgeable, to understand the culture and languages of others in the world, but when this is restricted to just the former colonial power and is done to the detriment of your own people and country, then there is a problem.
As the saying goes, development is an act of the people themselves, and no people have ever developed on the basi*s of a foreign language. If we accept this, then we have to accept that the African people are in deep trouble with regard to development.
If you were to be parachuted blindfolded into a hotel room in South Africa and switch the television on, you would not imagine your hotel room is in a country where about 90% of the citizens are African and speak their own languages. These people are not visible on their own television, unless it is news time or time for one of the few local dramas.
This is not normal. Visit other countries, such as China or Indonesia, where these things are presented in their own accessible languages, space, taste, image, idiom and style. This is not an idle matter. It has an enormous impact in terms of inclusion of the citizens in the general discourse in the country and empowerment to participate in the affairs of their society.
An educated elite that is socially, culturally and economically disconnected from its society is a disaster. Such an elite is incapable of an organic bond with the people for the collective and wholesome development of society. This might be part of the inhibiting factors in the socioeconomic advancement of our continent.
Huge doses of Black Consciousness are required on our continent to cure this wholly undesirable state of mind. It is a philosophy that at once strengthens your anchor in your country and society as it removes all cobwebs about your authentic identity. As it gives you a true sense of the self, situating you in your society and its culture, it infuses a sense of confidence within you and firmly entrenches you in your people in a genuine and unpretentious manner. You stop running from yourself and your people.
We desperately need this new African educated person who would unreservedly work for his or her people without looking over his or her shoulder for approval from elsewhere. Such a person would be in a position to design an education system that would genuinely resonate with the ethos of the people it is supposed to serve. That person would help in engineering an economy that would benefit the majority of its citizens before anyone else.
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