Now it is time for listeners to ask questions so maybe we will get some serious questions.
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Petrus phones and say “we were happy with the President” but why cant he give somebody else a chance. The President gives a ridiculous answer: the members will decide, this is how they elected Mandela, for example and this is democracy, it is not for Thabo Mbeki to decide whether to stand or not to stand again. But the President may have a choice of course and could have decided – like Mandela – not to encourage the members to elect him again in which case they would not have nominated him. He failed to do that, so his answer does not hold water.
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Dealing with questioners seems to be beyond the SABC’s technical abilities so many callers do not seem to make it on the air. Many callers who phone in wish the President luck in the election and complaining about the “others” who are sending out negative messages. The President says we should always respect the truth (but not on the arms deal of course) and “while there are some among us who are campaign on the basis of lies it iss a mistake to think that people are fools because in the end the truth will come out” and they will vote for the right person.
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A questioner says we should bring back the death penalty because that will stop crime. The President says yes crime is a big problem and, yes, let us discuss all issues relevant to this but the Constitutional Court has said we cannot have the death penalty and this is the ANC position as well. I quietly cheer on the President for his principled stance. It is much better than the answer given by Jacob Zuma last week when he said people’s views on the death penalty could be tested, which seems to suggest that if the people demand the return of the death penalty Mr Zuma will oblige.
Suddenly it is all over and I am not sure I am much the wiser. The President clearly aimed at sounding “Presidential”, but may have inadvertently come off as boring and distant. He is obviously a policy wonk, and I am not sure that plays well with ANC delegates because it could easily sounds as if he is not really caring about peoples’ problems when he gives a technical answer to a problem raised by a caller.
Pierre,
If Zuma becomes president of the ANC and Mbeki stays on as SA President till 2009, how likely is it that the prosecution against Zuma will go ahead ?
If it does, what effect will it have re politics in SA ?
Pierre,
Do you think that Mbeki and some of his associates are worried what Zuma might do to them ( revenge legal proceedings?) if he actually becomes SA president ?
If they are worrried that Zuma might turn nasty, then it does not bode well for political stability in SA.
There can be no doubt that SA is entering unchartered waters. It will take massive good sense on behalf of the ANC political elite to keep the country afloat.
These are rather difficult questions to answer. Constitutionally the NPA – who is supposed to make decisions on who to charge without any political interference from any side – must decide on whether to charge Jacob Zuma or to investigate Thabo Mbeki and/or his associates based on the evidence and based on broad policy considerations. The fact that Vusi Pikoli has been suspended and may be fired complicates matters because if Mr Pikoli is ultimately fired, a new NPA boss (which the President has the constitutional power to appoint) could be chosen for his or her political pliancy which would allow the President (Mbeki or Zuma) to manipulate investigations or prosecutions. If the President realises after the Ginwala commission (as I think he must) that there are no grounds for firing Pikoli, there is a better chance of having decisions taken on legal considerations. But I would be very surprised if the NPA will now renew investigations into Mbeki or his associates to please Zuma because this would be very bad for the image of the ANC. These are however all just speculations. These days almost anything seems possible in South African politics.
“The President came across as boring and distant”…….he IS boring and distant, this is part of the problem!
One can find a clear hint that the state institutions are being abused by the powers that be in the ridiculous way in which accused persons are dealt with arbitrarily.
If you are pro-government you will be protected by the “people should come forward and provide proof” statement. Until such time the person is presumed innocent and stays in office or still receives a monthly salary.
If you are against government / ANC …..
“Provincial police spokesperson Novel Potelwa said on Friday that Goodwood station commissioner, Senior Superintendent Siphiwe Hewana, had also been suspended without pay, and faced an internal disciplinary hearing.”
I guess Mr Hewana’s internal disciplinary hearing will have to wait for those of Mssrs Selebi and Robert Mcbride to finish??
And I quote……
Lobbyists for African National Congress president Thabo Mbeki (ANC) stand accused of using increasingly sleazy tactics in a frenzied drive to win over delegates in the run-up to the ANC conference in Polokwane, which starts in nine days.
Hitting on individual delegates perceived as hostile to their cause, the campaigners are allegedly using state resources to buy votes. The Mail & Guardian was told that money, business, development opportunities and government jobs are on offer.
Delegates are being wooed with red-carpet treatment, allegedly including accommodation at a top Cape Town hotel during the recent Western Cape provincial general council, which would have cost hundreds of thousands of rands.
Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, an Mbeki loyalist, said those making the allegations should come to the ANC with evidence.