Jacob Zuma

WHAT IS WRONG WITH JACOB ZUMA?

10 years ago Mayihlome News

What the hell is wrong with Jacob Zuma? Doing the rounds in Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek municipalities on Friday 20 August, he claimed to be shocked by the squalid living conditions of township residents in these areas which are regarded as top tourist attractions. You could guess that he expects the same sympathetic reactions he had from the public ahead of the 2009 general elections after similar incredulous exclamations of shock at the sight of poverty for poor whites in Pretoria.

Anyone with an introductory knowledge of the challenges facing transformation in South Africa should be well aware that the historical super exploitation of African workers and poor peasants is without measure. It is so deeply entrenched that it now appears ‘natural’ to both the beneficiaries and the victims. Poverty is poverty, Mr President; it is not black or white. Only racism defines it in those terms, with the mistaken belief that superior whites could not be poor and that inferior blacks should be pleased with their lowly station in life. In the lexicon of revolutionary Pan Africanists, Zuma’s interpretation is called colonial mentality of a special type.

POVERTY, POLITICS, AND THE 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA

10 years ago Mayihlome News

Why is it that governments can find billions of dollars for global sporting events and little to deal with the grinding poverty that affects impoverished populations? Canada applauded itself for the $135-million in aid and disaster relief it sent to an earthquake ravaged Haiti while spending nearly $6-billion on the two-week long Vancouver Olympics. A similar contradiction is revealing itself in South Africa, where massive amounts of public and private spending on the upcoming 2010 Soccer World Cup are expected to salve a faltering economy and crippling poverty. Most South Africans, however, will see little direct or sustained economic benefit from the games let alone muster the funds to even purchase a ticket.

What is trumpeted as a branding and investment remedy to South Africa’s economic woes may very well become another Greek tragedy – where the legacy of the 2004 Athens Olympics has contributed to an economic meltdown. These global games offer dual incentives to both local and foreign business elites and little to a frustrated local population. On the one hand, investment, sponsorship and tourism opens new markets to foreign capital while local business elites profit from a heightened global image. At least, this is the story sold by both the state and World Cup planners. Central to this strategy is selling South Africa as a marketable and consumable brand.

The transition from apartheid to democratic rule in South Africa has been well documented. During this period, the pressures of both domestic and foreign capital forced the emergent African National Congress (ANC) government to follow the economic paradigms of the past and encourage foreign investment. The sanctions that once crippled the economy gave way to a period of increasing investment and relatively stable economic growth. Promoting a comfortable and gentrified image of South Africa perfectly serves the ruling African National Congress’s redistribution through growth policy that is intended to drum up foreign investment while selling off government owned assets. The Soccer World Cup effectively opens these economic and political spaces necessary to further neoliberal policies and development.

Pages: 1 2 3

ZUMA‘S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS WAS A DISAPPOINTING REMIX OF THE SAME OLD SONG

11 years ago Mayihlome News

Since South Africa’s inception as a “democracy” in 1994, there has always been a tinkering on the edges of the country’s socio-economic problems. There is a lot of playing around with words and repeating the same themes in all the state of the nation addresses without any substance or walking the talk. And there is this sycophantic cheering cohort some of whom are awakened by the clapping of hands and join in, while at the same time wiping off the drool on the sides of their mouths because they had been driveling. One wonders what they would be applauding. No head of state has ever tried to grab the bull by the horns. In his 11th February 2010 ‘state of the nation’ speech, President Jacob Zuma said the economy was turning the corner. I disagree. The appropriate phrase Zuma should have used is ‘cutting corners’. The reason why Zuma and all his predecessors failed is that “the discovery of general laws in the field of economics is made difficult by the circumstances that observed economic phenomena are often affected by many factors which are very hard to evaluate separately. In addition, the experience which has accumulated since the beginning of the so-called civilized period of human history has been largely influenced and limited by causes which are by no means exclusively economic by nature”. For example, we were conquered and owe our existence to conquest. Those who conquered us, some of whom Zuma praised in his speech, established themselves legally and economically as the privileged class of our conquered country.

NOTHING NEW ABOUT THE ‘NEW’ APPROACH ON HIV/AIDS

11 years ago Mayihlome News

The Jacob Zuma ANC-led government’s “new approach to HIV and AIDS” represents the height of hypocrisy coupled with posturing and grand standing. Zuma did it for money because already he has received pledges of financial support from some western quarters. Zuma and his ruling party colleagues are on the take.

It was reported towards the end of September 2009 that President Jacob Zuma criticized former President Thabo Mbeki in a CNN television interview saying Mbeki acted outside government and party directives on HIV and AIDS. Zuma was part of the Mbeki government that came up with the policies his administration is now criticizing and he was also heading the South African National Aids Council (SANAC) during the reign of Mbeki. The truth is that ANC policies on HIV/AIDS have failed.

WHO CONTROLS THE WORLD?

11 years ago Mayihlome News

New World Order
New World Order

The current world affairs are manipulated by the financial dynasties, being the Rockefellers, Morgans, Rothschilds and their centralized banking cartel, being the Federal Reserve Bank. These are some of the prominent American and European ruling families who control the world by virtue of the fact that they control the world’s natural resources. They organize themselves under the banner of private and secret organizations such as the Bilderberg Group, Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission and many others.

The aim of these groups is to establish a one-world dictatorial government which they call the “New World Order”. In South Africa there was the Broederbond which is now called the Afrikanerbond. In the US the dominant secret society is the Skull and Bones which recruits from Yale University. Well known members of this group are George Bush, his father and Senator John Kerry.

Pages: 1 2

WHY CRANING OUR NECKS TO FIND SOLUTIONS TO CRIME?

11 years ago Mayihlome News

Why are South African authorities craning their necks and looking so far in order to eradicate crime? The capitalist system that the ANC government inherited from apartheid government and pursues is the major part of the problem that engenders criminality.

In a capitalist economy there is the ubiquity of monetary exchange but the vast majority of people in capitalism can get the things they want and need, only if they have money with which to buy those things in the market. But many people are unemployed and poor and see those who are politically connected ostentatiously flaunting their opulence.

You may have missed

Reflections on re-working the biography of Zeph Mothopeng (1913-1990): Wednesday 4 March

5 months ago Mayihlome News

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

5 months ago Mayihlome News

THAMI MNYELE & THE REVOLUTION OF THE ARTS

8 months ago Mayihlome News
  • Event

2019 Pan-African Art Fair

11 months ago Mayihlome News

NO TO COMPENSATION OF WHITE FARMERS IN ZIMBABWE !!

1 year ago Mayihlome News
%d bloggers like this: