Mzansi Afrika

Did we steal your brick making techniques?

Juan's comment: "I do not see why GP needs to make comments like, blacks were denied educational opportunities,in order to quantify his stance. How did whites deny them education? By tying them up and not allowing them to learn? Since when did it become our responsibility to educate other cultures? Since you advocate so strongly that your culture is equal to mine? Give me proof of where you invented something or built something that we cant or couldnt?

Or did we steal your brick making techniques and sand too? My arguments might seem like typical colonialist arguments, but history has very few instances that help YOUR arguments. We built these universities that you now claim as yours. Your arguments that AA is justified are all based on a belief that you would have built all this and achieved all this if we had never come here. Again history, nor the present, offer much proof to assist you." [Source]

Answering Juan's questions:
GP [Gauteng Blog] doesn't need to make comments like the one you suggest above. GP is under a moral obligation to at least think them. Not to quantify his stance but to prevent what happened from ever happening again. Apartheid South Africa denied black South Africans education by denying it to them. How else would you deny anyone education, when you're in a position of power? You say, "No." They did tie black people up, and banished some to an island, and did others in like only they know how, and not allowed them to learn, yes. In 1978 your folks spent $696 (4 306 Rands) on your education, as opposed to $45 (278 Rands) black parents spent on their child. Your responsibility has never been to educate other cultures, you're flattering yourself. The responsibility of people in power, anywhere, is see to it that everyone has equal access to schooling and to opportunity. No, my culture is not equal to yours. My culture is better than yours. Black people have built many things that white people didn't even dream of building, and vice versa.

You didn't steal our brick-making techniques, you nicked the damned bricks themselves. Your arguments don't seem in the least like colonialist arguments, they are the very definition of colonialist arguments. History says the African was enslaved abroad and on his native content by those wielding more brutal weapons. Of course you built the universities, if by "you" you mean the one who was in power then. Who else could have built them? Oliver Tambo in Tanzania?

I don't know if the black person would have built "all this" if the white person "had never come here." It's hard to say because by coming here the latter destroyed communities and lives and culture and families, and carted the healthiest black people back to Europe and South America to help build those places. However, I'm interested in finding out how you know for a fact that Africans couldn't have. This must sound familiar to you: "[We have] raised the life standards of the occupied inhabitants in all areas (infrastructure, water, employment, universities and hospitals) much more than they could have achieved in any other scenario. [Source]"

Talking to Juan:
Black people have undergone quite a lot at the hands of white people. White people have undergone very little at the hands of black people, all over the world, but especially in America and in South Africa. I've always been amazed at how the transition from minority government to majority government did not turn uglier. There's of course the question of farmers getting killed. While that tragedy cannot be overlooked, I'm happy that there has been no all out bloodbath. From 1652 when Jan Anthoniszoon Van Riebeeck arrived till 1994 when Mr de Klerk stepped down, nastier things than you can imagine were meted out to the black population. That's 342 years, Juan, or three centuries and 42 years. And you can't take 12 years (1994 to 2006) of practically no ill-treatment!

For more than two years, Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission listened as South Africans testified about atrocities committed by all sides under apartheid - abducted loved ones who never returned, torture in police cells, the formation of death squads and bodies burned beyond recognition as their killers enjoyed a barbecue on the side. [Source]

...it is in the economics of South Africa that the greatest crimes of apartheid are reflected, and where the greatest test of reconciliation will have to come. The country had the highest inequality in wealth distribution in the world -- 20 per cent of the population owning 75% of the wealth. [Source]

Just like you, I was scared of the swart gevaar, the bloodbath I thought was coming. But in the end you and I weren't afraid of the same swart gevaar. You were and are still scared of being swamped by the black wave of freedom. I was afraid black people would want to revenge. Well, in relative terms, they haven't. I still don't understand, however, how after more than three centuries of life under the weight of racism, the black South African doesn't beat the racist into a pulp, but instead reconciles with him. And it is the racist who now complains, after only 12 years of no discrimination against him. That's what assures me my culture is better than yours, Juan, and that by quite a stretch.

In your comment to my post you ask for "proof of where [blacks] invented something or built something that [whites] cant [sic] or couldnt [sic]" build. They've built an apartheid-free, bigotry-free, torture-chamber free, pass-law free South Africa, that's what. Want more examples? There's Thomas Jennings's invention.

Thomas Jennings was the first African American to receive a patent, on March 3, 1821 (U.S. patent3306x). Thomas Jennings' patent was for a dry-cleaning process called "dry scouring". The first money Thomas Jennings earned from his patent was spent on the legal fees (my polite way of saying enough money to purchase) necessary to liberate his family out of slavery and support the abolitionist cause. [Source] Let us not forget refrigerated trucks, the telegraphony, the McCoy Engine Lubricator (The real McCoy? It's him), the blood bank, the foil-electret microphone, and many other achievements. And the short shafted assegai.

I want to know why you're scared. You're not angry, as you purport to be. You're scared. Is it because you think the world as you knew it careened and went belly up, and now you have no landmarks? Is it because we "don't really [want] a solution to racism, it's too sweet, this freedom to blame other people for your own mistakes. While I can be racist I don't have to look in the mirror and see what's wrong with me, with my people. I can just find fault with the other side. This is how the human race resolves problems, it's always somebody else's fault. You know what the best part of that is? You. Right now you think I mean somebody else, you think I'm talking about the other race. [Source]"

Affirmative Action

I had lower expectations of blacks than of whites, and so I was willing to excuse poor service merely because the person was black [Source], so says Gauteng Blog, whom I frequent. But that can't be right because at another point Gauteng Blog clearly indicates that there must be "black financial advisors who are highly competent, and white financial advisors who are totally incompetent." So if there are, why would anyone have lower expectations when it comes to black people? That's the first thing that's wrong with this picture. The second thing that's wrong is that when a black professional is incompetent, Gauteng Blog attributes it to affirmative action, which is a system designed to hire minorities in order to eliminate unfair discrimination. Tell me what's wrong with the following:

Employers must make sure designated groups (black people, women and people with disabilities) have equal opportunities in the workplace. Designated groups must be equally represented in all job categories and levels [Source].

Having equal opportunities in the workplace is actually good, it is progressive, and it falls in line with the general direction of the eleven-year-old South Africa. However, the Gauteng Blog reader is led to believe that the workforce is gradually becoming incompetent because more blacks are being hired. That amounts to a bold statement, indeed. The purpose of South Africa's Employment Equity Act is to "achieve equity in the workplace, by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination; and implementing affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups, to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce [Source].

So what is unfair discrimination? Isn't any kind of discrimination unfair (to put it mildly)? When you have two equally qualified potential candidates before you, and you employ the one with the big tits, or with a penis, or with a paler skin, then you're practising unfair discrimination because those traits usually have no bearing on getting the job done. But in reality candidates with a paler skin do get hired more often than candidates with a darker skin, and this of course also happens in other parts of the world.

Show me a text that says blacks, women and the disabled can be hired even when they are less qualified than other candidates, and I'll cry foul with you. I have previously indicated that at the core I was against affirmative action, and I am, but it is essential, much as an anonymous curriculum vitae (which is being debated in France) is essential, until the playing field is level, until the prejudice wrought by Apartheid has been redressed, and until people are given jobs solely because they are the best qualified for those jobs.

The Zuma phenomenon

I have not written much about the Zuma rape trial...yes, I know, I haven't written much at all. But anyway, there is something I REALLY don't understand, and maybe someone can explain it to me. Although, I don't think there is an answer, or at least not a plausible answer that we could understand.

The rape trial of Jacon Zuma has brought to light that this man slept with a women who he knew had AIDS and yet he didn't use a condom. Whether he raped her not, he still knowingly went into a situation whereby he willingly engaged in sexual intercourse with a women that he knew to be infected with the AIDS virus. Huh? As a leader of a country with one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world, this is his personal behaviour? I don't get it - shouldn't he know better?

I mean this is the man, who as former deputy president of South Africa, was not only head of the Moral Regeneration Movement, but also chairperson of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC). I end this post with a quote from a speech made by Zuma, in his position as chairperson of SANAC.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I said earlier that we have now come face to face with the epidemic. We are therefore one step ahead in that we are steadily moving away from the era of doubt, fear, denial and ignorance.

However there is also a danger that this first-hand knowledge of the disease may lead to complacency, and to people taking AIDS for granted as a "given", something that will happen at some time or other in their lives, that they will just have to live with.

That would be dangerous. We should remain as vigilant and as determined to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS as we were when we did not know a single person who had succumbed to the disease.

It is important for us to arm ourselves with knowledge on how not to contract HIV, and if we are already infected, we should seek knowledge of how to live positively with it.

The message of prevention still remains important, Abstain, Be Faithful or Use a Condom. With regards to young people, we advocate abstinence until you are old enough to understand the seriousness of relationships."

Notes from Soweto-Zuma in the spotlight

It has been a difficult year for the Deputy President of South Africa's ruling ANC (African National Congress), since he was sacked as Deputy President of South Africa by President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki earlier this year. Today, Zuma was formally charged with rape.

The Deputy President of the ANC enjoys enormous support from ordinary people in Soweto and this might suggest that it is a pattern around other townships as well. There is a general feeling that this is a political conspiracy against Jacob Zuma who is better known by his traditional clan name Msholozi, particularly in his province of birth, KwaZulu Natal. The general feeling that informs the masses of people that there is a political conspiracy against Msholozi is because he aspires to succeed Thabo Mbeki as South Africa's next president. And since he is Zulu by birth right, there is a feeling that this is held against him by the mainly Xhosa ruling party. Also people feel that he is being brought down by his association with Schabir Shaik, and has not been given his fair day in court. 

Zuma has firm support among the mainly unemployed and working class people of Soweto. He stole the hearts of many Sowetans when he addressed a rally at the Dube Hostel just before last year's general elections. He is particularly remembered for the phrase, "The ANC will rule until Jesus comes."

Here in the townships there have been two idioms going around one in Setswana “Se sesa feleng se a thlola”- Mortal life without an end is a curse, taken in the sense that his problems will come to an sooner or later. The other is Isizulu “Inxeba le ndoda ali hlekwa”- Do not make fun or laugh at another man's wound. Setswana and Isizulu are indigenous languages here in South Africa. These idioms have been mentioned mostly by elderly man in their social circles in a sense of empathy for what the Deputy President of the ANC is going through.

What is also interesting is that a lot of women lekgotlas (organisations) including the local ANC womens league in the townships seem to be mum about the Jacob Zuma’s allegations of rape. This, as our country also commemorates 16 days of activism against the abuse of women and children. It is surprising that these women's groups have not spoken out against the rape charge.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out as our country moves towards the third local government elections since democracy in 1994, which are being held early next year.

From the horses mouth

MEDIA STATEMENT BY ANC DEPUTY PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA

Today, Tuesday December 6, 2005 I was charged by the National Prosecuting Authority in the Johannesburg Magistrates Court following allegations of rape that were made against me last month.

My appearance in court comes after four weeks of intense and distorted media reports on this issue, even before the police investigations began in earnest.

I wish to state clearly that I am innocent of these charges.

I am deeply disturbed that what is purported to be evidence has been led in the media. This has severely influenced public opinion on this matter,
causing great prejudice to me.

Yet again, as with the corruption case, the media has passed judgement and this I find truly offensive and regrettable. It has become a trend for the media to disregard our enshrined Constitutional rights of the presumption of innocence, dignity and human rights.

Nevertheless, it is my sincere hope that as a result of today's
developments, I will be able to address this matter in the appropriate
forum - a court of law. It is only there where I will have the
constitutional right and opportunity to respond to these allegations.

Now that the matter is before court, I hope that everyone will respect the judicial process and desist from trying this matter in the court of public opinion. I respect the court as the appropriate forum to determine this matter.

I regard these allegations against me very seriously as I abhor any form of
abuse against women. Throughout my life, in line with the policies of my
organisation the ANC, I have fought against all forms of violence and abuse against women.

Given the nature and the seriousness of these allegations, I have
voluntarily decided to suspend my participation in the leading structures of my organisation for the duration of this trial. These structures are the
National Executive Committee, the National Working Committee, the officials meetings and the National Deployment Committee.

I will however carry on with the general activities of the ANC as expected
of all members of our organisation. This decision does not affect my
position as ANC Deputy President.

True to my conviction and the high esteem by which I hold my organisation the ANC, I have consistently acted in a manner which protects and upholds its dignity. For this reason I voluntarily resigned as a Member of Parliament when the President of our country, released me from my duties as the Deputy President.

When the NPA brought the charges of corruption against me, I took the
decision to withdraw my participation from the leading structures of our
organisation. This decision was reversed by the National General Council of our organization in July.

Now, confronted with this charge, and given its nature and seriousness, I
have once again taken the decision to suspend my participation in the
leading structures of the ANC. I trust that those who were concerned about my previous decision and raised their disapproval of it will, understand why I have had to come to this difficult decision.

I have taken this decision mindful of the fact that there is no ANC
constitutional imperative which compels me to take such action. This has
been out of my own political consciousness and conviction, and in keeping with the respect I have for the people of this country.

I have informed the ANC secretary-general of my decision and have requested him to convey it to our organisation.

I am mindful that these allegations have affected many in our country, and I, more so than anyone else, have a full understanding of this. I therefore appreciate the fact this matter is now before court and I am confident that it will be brought to its finality.

ENDS.

It's official-Zuma charged with rape

Former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma has been formally charged with rape.

The moral of the story: Do not f#*@ with Thabo

An interesting development

Apparently South Africa's second,third and fourth largest trade union federations are joining together to form what they have called a "giant labour federation." The federations are Fedusa (The Federation of Unions of South Africa), Nactu (The National Council of Trade Unions) and Consawu (Confederation of South Africa's Workers Unions). They are all currently independent of eachother and of Cosatu.

In July this year Consawu blamed Fedusa and Nactu for delaying on allowing it to join Nedlac (National Economic Development & Labour Council). Consawu said that by doing so, the two other federations were trying to get Consawu members to defect to Fedusa and Nactu. About three months ago Fedusa and Nactu committed themselves to a merger sometime this year, and now it seems that they have bought Consawu on board.

According to a July 2005 article in the Business Report "Fedusa has a membership of 550 000 from 20 affiliates, while Nactu has 350 000 members from 22 affiliates. Consawu has 24 affiliated unions with 226 148 members." Put these federations together and you get 1.2 million members.

The question is, could this new union federation be a serious threat or rival to Cosatu - will it be supporting Jacob Zuma? Well, according to the Business Report article, Fedusa, Nactu and Consawu all claim to be politically non-aligned. Cosatu also has the support of the SACP, but they only have around 36 000 members. It doesn't seem as if the new federation will be a serious political threat to Cosatu over the Zuma issue, or if Cosatu/SACP ever do decide to break way from the Alliance, but it could be a threat to Cosatu in terms of it's position in Nedlac. The same Business Report article mentions that Nedlac "is the forum for social dialogue comprising representatives from business, the government, labour and the community." Nedlac members are able to contribute to debates around socio economic issues and shape policy in South Africa.

Judging by Cosatu's press release on the issue, they are clearly concerned.

"The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the announcement of the formation tomorrow of a "giant labour federation" consisting of Fedusa, Nactu and Consawu.

COSATU has always supported the vision of one united trade union federation in South Africa. However this new initiative could have two possible outcomes:

The new federation may take the narrow, short-sighted position of becoming "a significant rival to Cosatu", as its media statement says. If they take that position, it will suggest that COSATU, rather than capital, is their main enemy. Such a move would only assist the employers and government, who will seize on the opportunity to play divide-and-rule between different workers' organizations and seriously weaken the union movement.

On the other hand, this initiative could be a stepping-stone towards bringing to fruition the historic vision of "One Country-One Federation", something all workers desire but which would be impossible without COSATU and its 1.7 paid-up million members.

We appeal to the leaders of the new federation to take the second route and open talks with COSATU, so that we can move towards the strong united federation we all aspire to create. We are ready to engage with the new leadership on this.

Whatever the new organization decides, COSATU will continue to pursue this historic goal of unity, place the issue firmly on the agenda of the trade union movement and fight for the workers' voice to be united and strong.

'Unity' without COSATU, which represents the majority of workers, cannot be true unity."

Apartheid era mass graves found in Namibia

A fifth mass grave has been found in northern Namibia. Some of the graves were found near a site that was used by South Africa's apartheid era army during its occupation of the country. It is thought that the graves date back to 1989, when a nine-day war was fought between SWAPO (South West African People's Organisation) soldiers and South African backed security agents.

The graves were found near Eenhana 850km north-east of Windhoek. This was a military base for the South African army's 54 Battalion. Over 300 people are said to have died as a result of the fighting. According to Peter Tseehama, the Namibian Minister Safety and Security, "some of the bones were children's, possibly siblings of former freedom fighters. He said other items found were guns, bullets and parts of what might have been explosives." The bodies appeared to have been burnt before being thrown into the graves.

Apartheid era generals Magnus Malan and Constant Viljoen have denied any knowledge of the graves. A former soldier, however, spoke about his experiences at Eenhana.

"An ex-SADF soldier claims he watched Swapo fighters being blindfolded and executed at mass graves at Eenhana and in northern Namibia. John, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was called up in 1980 as a 17-year-old conscript. "They would blindfold them and line them up on the side of a pit that had been dug. They would then shoot them," he said. John claims he witnessed nine executions. "Some of the guys buried were cuffed or tied up. Others had wounds to the back of their heads."

Another former South African soldier, only identified as Badenhorst had this to say,

"They were Swapo soldiers killed by Koevoet, South African units and gunships." Army procedure was that the bodies were brought in a trailer pulled by an armoured troop carrier. "Sometimes the trailer would be left overnight - we couldn't go out at night as it was an operational area."Sometimes ears on the bodies would be missing the next morning - taken by troops as souvenirs."  Genitals were also taken, apparently to be used as pen holders. "Some of the dead were little more than children, they were only about 13 or 14 years old," said Badenhorst. The graves were hand dug, bodies were stacked between layers of wood, then diesel and aviation fuel was poured on the corpses and set alight. "We were supposed to stay there until the corpses were just ash, but we never did because that took a long time."

Zuma rape allegations

I haven't written about Zuma yet, so here goes my little bit of speculation. I reckon it was a set up, I'm sure a million rand could easily buy a rape charge as horrible as that may sound. The timing is just too co-incidental for me? Why would Zuma suddenly turn into a rapist at this point of his life and career, especially when he has so much to lose. And why have we never heard as much as a peep about sexual misconduct concerning him before? These things have a way of leaking out - consider the Peter Marais story.

What this development points to is the incredible amount of political intrigue and subterfuge going on in the ranks of the ANC and the Alliance. It shows that when it comes to leadership the ANC has failed in one critical arena to make the transition from liberation movement to political party. They are still operating according to the secretive, underground spy methods of dirty tricks and deception that  served them when they were an exiled movement in constant danger of infiltration by the enemy. It's almost like an abused child who has learned to withdraw in order to survive, but is not able to live as a functional adult and develop intimate relationships. Behaviour that may have served the ANC well in the past is now threatening to tear it apart. All the high intrigue going on now has to be taking away from time spent on governing the country.

The Sowetan and the Business Day in recent editorials have called for both Zuma and Mbeki to step down over their failure to lead, and I'm beginning to think that if the situation continues to go downhill, this wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Stumbling across the past

Yesterday I was busy in Melville, and I decided to pop into Koliander, one of those home industries food and craft shops to see if they had anything interesting - and they certainly did, although it was not quite what I expected.

Displayed on a table was a huge bound collection of all the original Sunday Times newspapers from 1947. Next to the collection were a couple of cheap filofaxes covered with pages of the old newspapers using transparent contact sheets. The idea being that you choose a page from the newspaper collection to cover a filofax, and hey presto you have a cool funky gift. Except, instead of looking cool and funky the filofaxes just looked like cheap old filofaxes badly covered in old newspapers. I suppose being the geek that I am, with an avid interest in politics and political history, I could't believe that such an incredible first hand historical record was being put to such, well, such a cretinous purpose.

I spent about half an hour leafing through the papers and reading some of the stories - some of the main stories in 1947 included the partition of India and Pakistan, the creation of the state of Israel, the rebuilding of post-war German society and the "native problem" in South Africa - all covered from a strong pro-British viewpoint. It was absolutely fascinating to read history as it was unfolding at the time instead of how it gets told now looking back, and from my brief reading I became aware of just how much history gets changed, and reshaped into something different from what it actually was at the time.

For one, with regard to the rebuilding of post-war Germany, in 1947 journalists were describing the allies running of that country as chaotic and uncordinated giving rise to fears that German's would turn to Communism. Western history's retelling of the Marshall Plan always gave me the impression that it was some sort of perfect plan from day one, that got drawn up, put in place, problems solved. As for the birth of Israel, in 1947 western sympathy seemed to be clearly on the side of the jews and against the Arabs and there was much support for for the creation of a jewish homeland - something that the world now seems to have conveniently forgotten.

What did not surprise me was the coverage of local news. In 1947 Sunday Times sympathy seemed to lie clearly with General Jan Smuts and the United Party. South Africa was viewed as an extention of British society, and far more front page coverage was given over to international affairs than to local politics. Black people were viewed as troublesome and uncivilised "natives" seeming to exist on the fringes of society, and from reading the Sunday Times in 1947, one would be forgiven for thinking that there were just a few Black people living in South Africa among a huge white population instead of the other way around.

Maybe I'll sneak back into the Koliander today and carry on reading seeing that I have a few days leave. Hmmm...maybe I should try and find out who the collection belongs to and see if I can buy it. I can't believe that this amazing peice of history is being put to such an uncivilised end, it's just not right.

You gotta love this

While the ANCYL is busy playing politics with the big boys, it looks like they might actually have something in common with Mbeki - could it be that the youth leaguers too are loosing touch with their grass roots constituents?

"Students at the University of the Witwatersrand have had enough of parties who are out of touch with their political needs. At last week's student representative council (SRC) elections, the African National Congress Youth League/South African Students' Congress (Sasco) alliance lost all 15 seats it won in a clean sweep last year. The Independent Students' Association (ISA), which says its sole mission is to pursue student interests, claimed an overwhelming victory, with its candidates winning all the seats in the SRC.

Laura Pereira, from the victorious ISA, says students were disillusioned by the old SRC's lack of performance. "Students realised the need for a strong SRC that is accessible to them and presents their interests. The old SRC was not doing that. "We are dealing with student politics here, not a national agenda. We are here to study, not to pursue a higher political motive."

Mbeki vs Zuma

Although it's still difficult to predict whether the  current political situation will lead to a split in the Tripartite Alliance, some commentators believe that the rift in the Alliance is irreparable and will lead to a forever changed ANC in the future.

Mbeki, in one his classic chess moves has now put the ball firmly back in Cosatu and co's court by calling for a commission of inquiry to establish once and for all whether his motives in pursuing Zuma are political.  This should give the conspiracy theorists pause for thought as the oness is now on them to come forward with evidence. This is obviously going to be a lot more difficult than crying plot. As analyst Aubrey Matshiqi so succinctly puts it, "If they [Cosatu & supporters] accept the commission they may not be able to prove their allegations, but if they refuse, they would look like they did not have proof to start with".

The Alliance partners are apparently to meet again in the next two weeks to decide whether to take Mbeki up on his offer or not. Understandably Cosatu is not happy about this turn of events, and the SACP have already expressed anger at Mbeki saying that they should have been informed before making the call for an inquiry public. This does underline the continual Alliance partner gripe that Mbeki sidelines them on decision making - but personally I think they're more pissed off because Mbeki has in a sense called their bluff and is putting them in the unenviable position of actually having to prove their conspiratorial claims.

Coming up with evidence to prove that Mbeki's actions have been political I would imagine won't be so easy as Mbeki seems to have conducted the firing of Zuma by the book. However legal analyst Eddie Maloka points out that:

"Expelling Zuma was tantamount to finding him guilty. Mbeki could have argued that given that Zuma was not an accused, and since “the judgment of Judge Squires would be appealed against, it was constitutionally offensive and unjustifiable to take a decision against Zuma, whose fate by implication would still be reviewed in the appeals court.

Legally, if a party lodges an appeal it means that the status quo prevails until the appeal court finds otherwise. It is not in the spirit of the constitutional values and democratic norms that Mbeki referred to, for a finding to be made against a person who was not an accused in court.”

Mbeki’s point — that by being implicated in corruption, Zuma had undermined his constitutional mandate and should go — is not entirely sustainable in law. It reflects a selective interpretation of the constitution. Mbeki could have invoked the presumption of innocence until proven guilty".

This may be a good point - but proof is another thing altogether. The Alliance partners might be able to come up with something by proving that the scorpions acted unfairly in terms of the Zuma raids - especially since the raids on Zuma's lawyer's office were condemned by the South African Bar Association - but proving that Mbeki was tied to the scorpions actions might not be possible.

Well Mbeki definately scores higher in this round, we'll have to see what Zuma comes back with.

What does the president earn?

The National Assembly has approved a total remuneration package of R1,117,199 a year for President Thabo Mbeki, backdated to April 1 2005.That's a 5.75 percent increase over the previous year. The package includes a salary of R837,899.35 and motor vehicle allowance of R279,299.70, in terms of the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Act. A total of R40,000 of the package will be tax free.

Land reform

Land and land reform is one of the most vital and contentious issues in Africa. In South Africa it's a huge issue that will continue to be problematic until it's properly and decently sorted out. Land reform is under the spotlight in SA at the National Land Summit currently taking place near Johannesburg.

These are my views:

1. Afrikaans farmers and other white farmers will have to accept, no matter how hard it may be for them, that they must sell their land to make way for emerging black farmers.

2. The government should not expropriate land without compensating white farmers - that is to say, government should purchase the land. However, white farmers shouldn't ask for unreasonably high prices as they have been doing. The price of land should not depend on current market values that may be inflated by the farmers. The government should form some sort of commission whereby reasonable land prices can be negotiated, hopefully they would get buy in from the farmers on this.

3. Government must do everything in its power to support emerging black farmers and make sure that they have the necessary skills to be successful on a commercial basis.

4. The process of land redistribution must be speeded up.

5. I agree with government's view that the "willing buyer, willing seller" model needs to be re-examined.

6. I think that enforced selling of farms should be limited (at least initially) to farmers who bought or inherited their land pre-1994, and it should take place initially in the areas where land was stolen, and people forcibly removed.

I know that land is a highly contentious issue, but the truth is that land has to be redistributed, it is the fair and moral thing to do. I know that many people would consider it unreasonable to expect white farmers to give up their land, but did those same people think it was unfair and immoral to steal the land in the first place, or prevent black people from buying land? Being that as it may, I believe that white farmers will just have to make a sacrifice whether they want to or not for the sake of longterm stability and development. And if they don't like it, they can always apply to Nigeria.