Isn’t it all just a bit too easy? Last week the four former Free State University students known as the Reitz Four were found guilty on a charge of crimen injuria by the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court for making a video in which they humiliated 5 workers who were probably old enough to be their mothers. The conviction, for the unlawful and intentional impairment of the dignitas of the workers, was welcomed by most political parties.
There was a collective sigh of relief from our leaders and from many members of the public: we can all now get “closure” about this “tragic” or “disgusting” incident, seemed to be the general view. Although the four men have maintained that they did not have the intention to humiliate the workers, they nevertheless pleaded guilty and were given suspended jail terms. But is it not all too easy?
(Searching the Internet, I noted that none of the stories I accessed actually contained the names of the five workers – unlike the names of the Reitz four which were mentioned in every article. Is this perhaps a subconscious erasure of the victims of this crime by the media? Are the victims supposed to remain nameless and faceless because they are “only” black, female, workers and not middle class white men? If the victims were blond, middle class you women, their names would probably have been mentioned in every report.)
Of course, punishing individuals who have broken the law is a good thing. Despite the fact that these men do not seem to want to admit that they really committed a crime and do not seem particularly sorry about what they did, and despite the fact that they will not go to jail (as those convicted of crimen injuria in South Africa are almost never sent to jail), it must give some satisfaction to see the law take its course and the four perpetrators being punished.
But is it not all a bit too easy?
By punishing the four, the rest of us can give a sigh of relief and go on with our lives. We do not have to wonder what kind of country produced these men, what kind of society and family structures, what kind of religious instruction and schooling, what kind of economic system which maintains a stark divide between bosses and servants were in place that made these men think that it was perfectly acceptable to humiliate fellow human beings: woman, the mothers of children.
Unlike us, these four men are criminals. In the words of a wonderful Afrikaans novel by Jeanne Goosen we can nod and say: “Ons is nie almal so nie” (“We are not all like that”) and continue with our lives.
Is this not a bit like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in which “perpetrators” were forced to come and account for their horrible deeds and the victims and families of victims could tell their stories of suffering and pain – as if only a small number of white people in South Africa were the perpetrators of apartheid and only a small number of black South Africa were the victims.
In reality, not only the few thousand victims and families of victims who testified before the TRC were the victims of apartheid. Every black South African who lived under a system that systematically humiliated and degraded human beings because of skin colour and denied human beings the opportunity to reach their full potential as human beings because of their skin colour, were the victims of apartheid.
Many white people do not like to hear this – either because they feel guilty or they are too blind and callous to acknowledge it – but all white people were the beneficiaries of the system of apartheid (and continue to be the beneficiaries because of the head start apartheid gave us) and almost all white people are implicated in the crime of apartheid.
Whether one voted for the National Party or not, whether one once signed a petition to free Nelson Mandela or took part in a march to protest the segregation of university residences, or made friendly chit-chat with the woman cleaning your house – one benefited from apartheid and one helped to prop up apartheid by not declining to enjoy its benefits, by living in whites only suburbs (unlike Nico Smit, a real hero), by going to whites only schools and taking jobs explicitly or implicitly reserved for white people.
Many black South Africans, also, do not want to think too hard about the apartheid days or want to rewrite the history of those years because they feel guilty and humiliated by the past and their role in it. They want to forget how so many collaborated with the apartheid state, became policemen and civil servants and home land administrators and politicians that helped prop up the apartheid system – because they had to get by and because they were scared and because they were not strong enough to resist.
As was the case with the TRC, individualising the actions of the Reitz 4 lets the rest of us – black and white – off the hook. It divides us between the bad criminals and the rest of us who are good and blameless. It allows us not to think about our churches and our schools and what children learn there. It allows us not to think about family and friends and what we allow to be said or not to be said when we socialise with them (the racism, the sexism, the homophobia, the prejudice against foreigners that trip of their tongues and make us look away without saying anything) and what we allow our children to think and feel.
It allows us – at least the members of the middle class who are increasingly both black and white – to go on driving in our nice cars and send our children to the best schools and benefiting from an economic system that condemns a majority of South Africans to grinding poverty with very little chance of escape. It allows us to say that there are a few very bad white people in this country (and a few corrupt politicians, too) but that the rest of us are not like them.
Maybe this is too easy.
We live in a rather sick country in which Ministers think that it is perfectly ok to live in Five Star Hotels at taxpayers expense while others are starving. A country in which businessmen and women make billion Rand deals and get huge bonuses and go back to their fortress houses and play with their dogs or even - if the little ones are lucky – with their children, while not far away some of our fellow South Africans do not have money to pay school fees for their children or, worse, do not have enough to eat. We drink Johnny Walker Black or Blue or Gold or sip Chardonnay and drive in the latest cars and deny the structural inequality which all middle class people benefit from – at least for now.
Maybe the stark reality is that that there is a bit of the Reitz 4 in all of us middle class South Africans (of all races) – us people with access to Internet and transport and food and warm and dry houses.
Of course it would be rather pathetic and completely unhelpful to look at this and become paralysed by guilt. Guilt is a useless emotion invented by religious leaders to make us feel bad about ourselves so that we will obey ridiculous rules sold to us as the Will of God.
Far better would be to say: well, what are we going to do about this? How are we going to improve the schools and address the huge differences in quality of education of most township and most former Model C schools, how are we going to stop corrupt officials from stealing the money that was supposed to be used to build roads and water purification plants and buy textbooks? How are we going to get the politicians to be our servants and not our masters? What are we going to do as a nation to address the vast gap between rich and poor so that no one goes to bed hungry in this land of ours? HOw are we going to address the deepseated prejudices of ourselves and members of our families and of our friends?
Is that not the (admittedly, very difficult) conversation we should really be having? And in the light of these challenges, is the uproar about the Reitz 4 not a mere sideshow to make us feel better about ourselves because we are not like them.
This is precisely the problem with the entire prevailing model of criminal justice and, for that matter, international criminal justice. Those sentenced are the scapegoats of society – whether they are Nazi generals, Hutu Power propagandists, or Omar al-Bashir – we brand our criminals as “evil”, as products of Hell rather than as products of the socio-economic environment that we all simultaneously shape and are shaped by.
Well done Prof, brilliant posting.
In line with what has come out of the Mandela lecture.
This month is also women’s month and we will hear the usual lip service.
After all the hardwork in the SAPS then u get this.
I hope there is an explanation for these events and this is not dedela abanye(its our time).
http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/columnists/article580539.ece/Meanwhile-back-at-the-trough
I had the opportunity to go to the Cape town book fair this weekend. I could not afford to buy at the Jonathan Ball, Exclusive Books etc exhibitions.
I hanged out at the Indian publishers. I was amazed to find excellent children books @ R5. These included famous fables, fairy-tales and loads of educational books. I bought a copy of Pride and Prejudice for R20 and memoirs of Mahatma Gandi also at the same price.
It struck me how few people of colour there were. This is probably because of the steep entry fee( R60 in our area is a week’s supply of bread]. And those who were there were frolicking in the free Nederburg, while speaking in strange accents.
I think it is all a bit too easy when you cant afford books for your children and when it is simply too dangerous to take them to the library.
We can start by ensuring that each school has an adequately equipped library.
I fear for our children’s future.
what should we do?
easy, stop voting for the corrupt and hopelessly inept ANC.
It is called democracy, you protest against the powers that be by voting for someone else..
We should really try it one day, might just make a difference.
The Reitz 4 are being sacrificed for business-as-usual. There is no way the higher courts would have upheld a conviction.
The State is super-chuffed they got a plea bargain. The Reitz 4 paid to get on with their lives and disappear into obscurity again.
A trial would have been fraught with difficulty. One of the key points would be that the ladies were not forced to participate and could have left the scene at any time. I remember at the end of the video they were given some booze (student pay) and appeared very happy and seemed to having a great time.
Willing participation may well have scuppered the entire trial?
It is one of the most over-looked aspects of this whole debacle – the willing participation of the ladies. Surely the question must be asked – Are we not just witnessing some stupid stuff? Boys with no sense of irony making a dreadfully tasteless and tactless video, and the cleaning ladies playing along with it?
Just something to think about…
Nie een van ons hier sal daarteen stry nie dat daar ‘n gemene streep deur baie van ons mense loop (10:1 agv die patriargiese manier waarop ons groot geword het). Wanneer jy in iemand se mag is hou jy jou bek en as jy mag oor iemand anders het bars hy. Hierdie klein d..se se boelieagtigheid moes al lankal uit hulle gebliksem gewees het. Dit is nie toeval dat een van hulle se meisies die video gelek het nie. Sy voel natuurlik hy het haar net so sleg behandel – dit is hoe hy is.
Maar, hulle ouers betaal nog 60 sent van elke Rand wat hulle verdien in belasting en hierdie laaities gaan ook.
Hopelik het hulle ‘n bietjie insig hieruit gekry. Baie mense is nog verbaas as van die wie se menslikheid hulle ontken het nou en dan onmenslik optree.
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2010/08/02/false-arrest-costs-hillbrow-cop-shop
@ George
Well may be PAC or IFP must have their turn on the driving seat.
The words of African Sangoma Credo Mutwa are apposite, perhaps.
( source : Mutwa, Credo , My People : Writings of a Zulu Witch –Doctor. Penguin Books . 1971 ) :
“ Another mistake is the idea of giving the Bantustans complete independence in the near future. Only chaos could result from this, as has been seen in other parts of Africa. The abuses of power would be terrible, and bribery and corruption the order of the day. I am well aware of the faults of my race, and one of the very worst of our characteristics is our proneness to bribery. We do not have the white man’s feeling that bribery is something to be frowned on – to us it is a sport, part and parcel of our culture. The man who pays the highest lobolo price gets the best wife; the most senior induna is the one who has made the largest present of cattle or daughters to the chief. Thus, when an African is trained for a position of trust, it is not enough to teach him how to do the job -it is also essential to impress on him that the job is sacred and that he must take a pride in it and not use it merely to feather his own nest and hurt other people. I do not say that all Bantu officials are dishonest, but many are, and until this practice of giving and taking bribes has been stopped, the greediest and most dishonest men are bound to infiltrate the key positions.
Nor will democracy as we have been taught it even work in Africa. The whole concept of loyalty to two dissenting factions is utterly incomprehensible to the black man, who has been accustomed for thousands of years to rulership by a single chief and his indunas. The attempt to make the Bantu accept a European style of government is yet another example of an alien creed disrupting the stability of our own traditional way of life without giving any benefit. It would be far better for us to return to our former system of government.
But already I fear it is too late. The selfishness of the rich Bantu, who never give anything even to Bantu charities, Bantu hospitals, old people’s homes or children’s feeding schemes, is a by-word throughout South Africa. And meanwhile the peasant has been taught by the white man to cease regarding his rulers as sacred, and to resent this unfair distribution of wealth: he has been taught political unrest…
We can never go back now to life as it was before the white man came. And when one looks into the future, one sees only doubt and discontent, bloodshed, bloodshed and more bloodshed. Oh my Africa, what will become of you?”
I am just greatful that they pleaded guilty and did not persue a long trial. At least they can not be blamed for using their riches (or their parents’ riches) to persue an acquittal.
@Gwebecimele
To be honest, I do not really care who in charge is. For democracy to work, the ruling party has to be under threat of being ejected at any time.
Instead we have a very arrogant ANC that believes it is their God given right to rule, come hell or high water.
Politicians are all (DA, ANC, VF etc) in it for themselves, the only way to keep them honest and efficient is by letting them know they serve at the pleasure of the electorate, but that will only happen when people stop voting ANC.
@Zoo Keeper,
I did see the video as well, and at no point did I see a gun against anybody’s head telling them they have to eat that food… but it still doesn’t excuse the behaviour of those involved, they clearly made a political point (“dis wat ons dink van integrasie”) at the expense of the dignity of the participants.
Agree with George Gildenhys … the solution (that Pierre avoids admitting) is to change government. And continue changing government on a regular basis.
I wonder whether, after another decade or 2 of ANC rule, we will not have more national guilt to deal with as new generations, faced with the mess of a failed state, point finger at those who supported the ANC’s abuse of power for so long. Thus does the wheel inevitably turn.
I agree George, the utlimate aim was to make a pathetic and low-brow attempt at a parody of integration. I also agree that it doesn’t excuse their behaviour. But is it criminal?
Of course, that political point raises the question that the crimen inuria was not directed at the ladies at all and that they were just participating in a video.
Then who is actually the complainant?
I believe there’s been no balance whatsoever in this case. The rush to condemn the white boys has been overpowering and the rush to be politically correct has strangled the complexities of the case.
The ladies willing participation would have been a serious problem for successful prosecution.
Crimen inuria is a weak criminal charge and no other charge was led which further begs the question – was this a genuinely criminal act?
Gwebecimele says:
August 2, 2010 at 9:29 am
“I hope there is an explanation for these events and this is not dedela abanye(its our time)”
Hey Gwebs,
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article580563.ece/Disgruntled-assassins-tip-off-police-about-hit
I agree with you, Zookeeper. And, if it was parody should it not be protected under S16 of the Constitution?
Belle, don’t you think national guilt is appropriate right now for fiddling while 300 000 people were murdered, and even more for playing games while 6million people were infected with HIV?
Belle
Maybe in 2 decades time we’ll struggle to find a black person who voted ANC?
George Gildenhuys says:
August 2, 2010 at 9:44 am
“It is called democracy, you protest against the powers that be by voting for someone else”
It’s an option when the some else seems able to do that which is needed by the majority of voters.
I suspect that the ANC is not going to be able to mobilise its support during the next local government elections at the same scale that it would durning a national election – so let’s see how well the space is occupied. Or not!
Exactly my point, Zookeeper
Frankly I feel more guilt about voting ANC in 1999, and thus (by default) supporting Thabo’s diabolical AIDS ‘genocide, than I do for being a default whitey growing up under apartheid.
“It’s an option when the some else seems able to do that which is needed by the majority of voters.”
Not so, Maggs … when the ruling party is so dominant that it can do what it likes without censure (aka Zimbabwe) then voting for ANY opposition vote is a sensible survival tactic. You don’t have to like the opposition, but the fact is, you NEED it.
Frankly you should thank us opposition voters for doing your dirty work. Else you (and Pierre and Gwebe et al) would not even be able to smell Democracy.
Myself and other ANC supporters will not defend the wrongs of the ANC but we will not give in to misinformation and opportunism that suggest DA as the party capable of saving SA from herself.
DA is only fit to be a “Watchdog” until it can have policies and supporters that reflect the aspirations of the majority of the voters.
Belle says:
August 2, 2010 at 14:47 pm
Thank you, Belle, for doing our dirty work – please keep at it.
I don’t have a strong view on the opposition, but I like the idea of having them do work for me.
Win some elections – that will really put the ANC on terms.
Gwebe … understood. Rather vote for the devil you know.
… as I said, you should thank us opposition voters for providing you with a ‘watchdog’.
Imagine not having one at all, to protect you from ‘devil u know’?
@ Maggs
Its about time we get the leaders we deserve. I suspect elective conferences have lost a meaning and communities should take over.
@ Belle
I will give DA credit for playing a good watchdog. The anc I know is not a devil but some members are.
Belle says:
August 2, 2010 at 15:02 pm
I dunno about thanking the DA for being an opposition or the ANC for forming government.
Both are not doing too well!
Now thats a refreshingly honest admission from you, Gwebe! Congrats!
… of course I don’t expect you to ever condescend to helping us wretched outcasts who have to frantically scramble for food to feed YOUR watchdog!
Gwebecimele says:
August 2, 2010 at 15:03 pm
Hey Gwebs,
As far as I know there is broad community when electing local government councillors – it does not seem to help.
But something has to be done – it’s getting to be really messy.
Gwebe … “Its about time we get the leaders we deserve”
Point is, you have exactly the leaders you deserve. You just need to figure out why you deserve them.
Belle says:
August 2, 2010 at 15:23 pm
“Point is, you have exactly the leaders you deserve. You just need to figure out why you deserve them.”
Hey Belle,
It’s pretty difficult to find politicians, in general terms, who will stick to pure principles.
Several of your leaders up and left you for plum ambassadorships.
So what’s the difference?
@ Belle
I hate denialism and we have plenty of it in this country from all angles.
I would like to put a challenge to DA come out of its ” Watchdog” state and offer an alternative for all in SA.
BELIEVE ME NONE OF US WANT A ONE PARTY STATE.!!!!!
From Mandela Lecture 2010.
”Fear is our real enemy and its main victim is always trust. It is the central theme of this lecture that if we do not trust each other we shall all die,” he said.
“For a long ceasefire to exist, some remorse would have to bite inside,” Dorfman said.
“In fact, the DA seem awfully happy to be in opposition: it’s so much easier peeing into the tent from the outside, isn’t it? This is not what I want to hear from my local DA. Moreover, they left the ratepayers with a huge debt that we will never be able to pay back.”
by Clara on this blog
Precisely my point.
Gwebe & Maggs … methinks thou dost protesteth too loudly??
Maggs … Gibson and Leon accepted ambassadorships because they were offered, and they believe in ‘serving’ the country. More to the point is that they demonstrate a willingness to step aside an allow fresh blood into the party … a lesson the ANC bigwigs have yet to learn.
Gwebe … you cite Clara’s unvalidated complaint about the DA. One complaint. Without facts to back it up.
Ahem. Excuse me … arms deals, tender frauds, CIPRO, Oilgate, Travelgate, Zuma & Shaik, Zuma’s family, Aurora mines, 22,000 service delivery protests in one single year … you want me to go on??
Sweetie, get REAL! What exactly are you trying to justify here??
As for an ‘alternative’, Gwebe …. do you really REALLY think the DA are stuffing up mightily in the Western Cape?
Honestly, do you think they are doing better or worse than the ANC?
Boy, some of you recalcitrant lot are really good, I’ll give you that. You manage to deflect Prof’s article on how the Reitz 4 may be allowing us not to deal with the structural inadequacies of our society, and how, in general, white people have all benefited from apartheid and have not yet ackowledged that they have benefitted and continue to benefit. You deflect that into a conversation of how voting for the DA is the way to go. This amount of deflection takes a special talent.
Oh and not matter how good the DA is, the one thing they cannot seem to do, is openly and honestly believe in transformation (read: transferring the wealth from white to Black), democracy, believing in non-racialism as opposed to multi-racialism. They pay lip-service to these concepts and think that the majority of us cannot see through it. The majority vote for the ANC not because it is the party of liberation or that its leaders are Black. But because it believes and is truly committed to transformation and non-racialism. Ours is a cerebral vote not a vote for sale.
There u go, Gwebe … as Donovan said, the ANC ‘owns’ this country’s liberation.
please excuse me … gotta go feed your watchdog.
Donovan
How do you know whites haven’t “acknowledged” that they benefitted?
And why acknowledge the obvious? A bit like saying, “yes, the sun rises up in the East.”
I don’t get it this constant harping on for “acknowledgement”.
Belle
The ANC is also responsible for managing this country.
The next great instalment is AMD. The ANC were warned over a decade ago and, just like ESKOM, have done nothing about it.
Hope the loyal ANC voters remember that when the cancer and birth defects start kicking in.
Belle says:
August 2, 2010 at 15:53 pm
Beyond the cliches …
Mandela retired voluntarily.
Mbeki retired not so voluntarily.
Shilowa, Lekota et al – passed away peacefully.
Erwin has gone into big business.
Ramaphosa quit mainstream politics.
Tito Mobweni, Kader Asmal, Frene Ginwala.
Want more big wigs who made way for others?
If all the names were to be put together it will probably be more in number than 15% of the voters.
You can do better than that.
Maggs … can’t you do any better than that?
Zoo Keeper says:
August 2, 2010 at 16:24 pm
Hey ZooK,
“Hope the loyal ANC voters remember that when the cancer and birth defects start kicking in”.
The cancer and birth defects have long set in.
Dealing with it is a process, which will probably take a very long time.
But, as Donovon points out above, it believes and is truly committed to transformation and non-racialism.
Belle says:
August 2, 2010 at 17:17 pm
Hey Belle,
“can’t you do any better than that?”
Don’t really need to – I support the party that consistently wins substantial voter support despite all it’s “cancer and birth defects”.
Any better than that and we head for a one party state – which is highly undesirable.
When it starts losing, no wait it won’t lose, let’s reset.
When the ANC begins to drop in it’s massive majority then I will feel the need to do better.
Zookeeper … AMD, in fact nationwide loss of potable water, will be, imo, the primary reason for the finger pointing at ANC voters by their children … and there won’t be any R20,000 in compensation for them.
Maggs … u just don’t geddit, do you? … astute investors don’t follow the lemmings.
Hey Belle the water systems are in a mess.
“This could cause major environmental damage to water sources, considering that with an approximately 80% compliance treatment works compliance level in the Western Cape, 27 of Cape Towns rivers and water bodies have unacceptably high levels of ecoli, according to the City of Cape Town’s Inland and Coastal Water Quality report for the 12 month period ending September 2009.
16 beaches out of the 40 water samples taken from the False Bay coastline failed to meet the stringent 80th percent compliance that measures eight out of ten samples must contain more or equal 100 indicator organisms and Monwabisi was one of the beach’s to avoid.
While only six beaches out of 28 along the Atlantic coast failed the stringent 80th percent compliance test.
Out of 27 inland systems including rivers and wetlands the Soet River in the Strand area was worst affected as it once again had a zero percent compliance meaning that sample results during the 12 month period were all greater than 1000 counts (of faecal coliform – including E. coli)/100ml.
Water bodies commonly used for recreational purposes had the following intermediate contact compliance levels Rietvlei 83%, Zeekoevlei 64%, Zandvlei 64% and Milnerton Lagoon 25%.
All which are similar to those of the previous quarter.”
http://westcapenews.com/?p=1317
Lemme see if I have this correctly:
If a party has 2% minority support, has court orders against it telling it to cut out the hate-speech and has been hauled before the Equality Court it is committed to non-racialism….
If a party has majority support amongst all the racial minorities who pay 60cents out of every Rand they earn to ensure a better life for all and has 10% and is increasing its share of black support it is racist?
Yup, I can see why no-one is picking up the point all the media made that the Information Bill was re-energized when the stories about Blade’s 5-star hotel stays hit the headlines.
That old problem the ANusClowns have with an objective reality again.
Belle says:
August 2, 2010 at 17:35 pm
Astute investors don’t follow the lemmings, they follow profits.
Donovan says:
August 2, 2010 at 16:12 pm
Oh and not matter how good the DA is, the one thing they cannot seem to do, is openly and honestly believe in transformation (read: transferring the wealth from white to Black), democracy, ………But because it believes and is truly committed to transformation and non-racialism. Ours is a cerebral vote not a vote for sale.
Thanks for the enlightenment
This is why Mbeki and co had to go; the next lot had to get at the trough ……transferring the wealth from white (and the poor) to the selected Black
Pierre, you wrote: “How are we going to get the politicians to be our servants and not our masters? Is that not the conversation we should really be having?”
If I’m not mistaken the Electoral Act, to a large degree, determines the relationship between us and politicians. If there is something askew with this relationship the implication exists that either the Act is not properly expressed or that there is something deficient with the Act itself. I am inclined to believe the latter.
The 1996 constitution required Parliament to enact legislation to establish an electoral system for elections to the National Assembly, as well as the provincial legislatures, held after 1999. To that end, in 2002 the government appointed an Electoral Task Team (ETT), chaired by Dr. Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, to draft the new electoral legislation required by the Constitution.
In all their deliberations the ETT accepted that fairness, inclusiveness, simplicity and accountability should be the core values of the proposed electoral system. Opinion surveys conducted by the ETT showed a high level of satisfaction with the proportional representation closed party list system in terms of inclusiveness and fairness, but also indicated that most voters wanted closer interaction with the politicians who represent them. Thus 71% said they wanted to vote for a candidate from the area where they live and 53% said that party candidates be chosen by party members rather than party leaders.
The majority opinion of the ETT was that some form of individual accountability was lacking under our current electoral system. They felt that the only way to increase individual accountability significantly would be to create the possibility for a candidate to be rejected without concomitant rejection of the party.
In a report released in 2003, a majority of the ETT members recommended that 300 of the 400 seats of the National Assembly be filled from sixty-nine multi-member constituencies, each returning between three and seven MPs while the remaining 100 seats to be filled from a national list; thereby satisfying the constitutional requirement of proportional representation. Constituency boundaries would be drawn along existing provincial, municipal and metropolitan boundaries. The constituencies would be used for national as well as provincial elections.
However, by 2003, contrary to the findings of the ETT, Parliament passed an Electoral Laws Amendment Act that retained the existing electoral system, thus following the recommendation presented by a minority of the ETT members.
Subsection 1(d) in the founding provisions of the Constitution states that South Africa as a “sovereign, democratic state is founded inter alia on the values of universal adult suffrage, a national common voter’s roll, regular elections and a multi-party system of democratic government to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness”.
The majority of the ETT members attempted to give greater expression to the constitutional requirements of accountability and responsiveness but this would no doubt have seriously undermined the principal of “democratic centralism” as perpetrated by Luthuli House.
In my estimation there is sufficient consensus that our ANC led government is unresponsive and not accountable to the electorate on a variety of issues – corruption being the one that enjoys media prominence at the moment. There is further consensus that no mechanism exists whereby the electorate can hold to account individual politicians.
Back to your question: “How are we going to get the politicians to be our servants and not our masters? Is that not the conversation we should really be having?”
Yes, I believe it is the conversation we should be having. I believe this matter should be brought before the Constitutional Court to determine whether or not our electoral system satisfies the Constitutional requirement (of Subsection 1(d) in the founding provisions or any other provision) on the issues of accountability and responsiveness.
I completely differ with Pierre’s analyses. A crime was committed and the perpetrators went though the criminal justice system and they were found quilty. Done. That is called the rule of law. I am not feeling guilty for whatever reasons Pierre might be giving.
@ Adri Stone,
Thank you for that very interesting and informative post.
I agree fully that there is insufficient accountability in our government – at all levels. Even where there is direct election of a politician, as per the local elections, the electorate cannot hold these people to account.
Fred Nel, MPL in Gauteng wrote an interesting piece on Politicsweb in this regard.
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=186503&sn=Detail
Only when we are able to truly hold our elected/public officials to account will there ever be meaningful participation in our democracy.
Adri Stone says:
August 2, 2010 at 18:36 pm
“I believe this matter should be brought before the Constitutional Court to determine whether or not our electoral system satisfies the Constitutional requirement (of Subsection 1(d) in the founding provisions or any other provision) on the issues of accountability and responsiveness.”
I thought that it was heard after the van zyl Slabbert report and the the CC ruled that our electoral system satisfies the constitution.
Maybe Pierre or someone who is aware of the CC position will advise.
That aside – how would a change of electoral system change voting patterns?
Adri Stone, the present electoral system is not good as it gives far too much power to political parties. No MP can ever think of defying party leaders and hope to survive. When an MP stands up to leaders (like Nyami Boo to the Princess) it is usually because a faction in the party supports him and the Minister is very unpopular with that faction. But changing the electoral system is not a magic bullet. We have directly elected representatives at local government level and that is the most dysfunctional level of government in SA. Only the threat of losing political power will begin to change this and will up the ANC’s game. But this threat will not materialize as long as the official opposition is viewed by the vast majority of voters as representing minority interests and being against the interests of the majority. This perception will only change if the DA actively seeks to change it. But if they do that, they run the risk of losing substantial support amongst their traditional voters. So they make symbolic gestures which convinces not even themselves.
Maggs, the CC wont touch such an application. The floor crossing has made that clear. THey will say there are different was of achieving this goal and although some might be better than others, it is not the role of an unelected court to decide on the best electoral system – it is up to Parliament. Unless they restrict voting (to black South Africans, say) or completely departs from the principle of proportional representation, the CC will not declare an electoral system invalid.
Here’s an interesting turn of events:
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article582354.ece/Another-UFS-initiation-video-surfaces
One has to wonder what the “off with their heads” brigade will have to say about the role reversal.
This article is probably the worst de Vos has ever done. Wonder what you would give your student for such a piece, but then again, you did not go to Harvard. Justice Hlophe must be having a good laugh.
Pierre, if it’s true what you say that “all white people were the beneficiaries of the system of apartheid” is it then also true to say that all black people are beneficiaries of BEE and AA? I should think not. You will only benefit from an opportunity when you embrace that opportunity.
Whenever I read about how apartheid brutalised and traumatised black people and how all white people benefited from apartheid I can’t help thinking of Arinda, a girl that was in my class throughout primary school. Arinda lived with her mother and much older sister. She was very pretty and had developed much faster than any of the other girls in my class. I sat in the double desk behind her and her friend Alet in std 5 and was mortified when I overheard the conversation between them one Monday morning as she related the events of her weekend. Arinda didn’t progress with all of us to high school. It so happened that during my matric year I asked another girl, who lived near their house, what had become of Arinda. She informed me that Arinda and her sister were being prostituted by their mother.
I also think of Pierre, another boy in my class at primary school who were terribly ill treated by his abusive parents. He was as thin as a rake and always covered in bruises. His clothes were always wrinkled and dirty. He was so fucked up that he remained unable to forge any friendship with anyone at school. He was also academically very weak. I don’t know what has become of him but I doubt he ever developed the skills to escape his bad family pathology.
By contrast an acquaintance of mine, Lehlohonolo as a child, was adored by both parents and educated at the prestigious Waterford Kamhlaba in Swaziland.
My reservation is this: Does the harsh brutality of apartheid trump the harsh brutality of domestic abuse. Which is worse: to suffer torture at the hands of security police or your own parents. Please point out to me the privileges enjoyed by Pierre and Arinda that gave them the advantage over Lehlohonolo.
To determine whether someone enjoyed a privileged upbringing, you will have to penetrate their lives more than skin-deep. To base your judgement on skin colour is racist.
You say:”almost all white people are implicated in the crime of apartheid.” It’s interesting to note exactly which countries supported the notion that apartheid be declared a crime against humanity.
Jy is nou praat soos ‘n ware Marxistiese. Miskien moet jy die sosiale aktiviste of die SAKP of Julius Malema, aan te sluit (You are now talking like a true Marxist. Perhaps you need to join the social activists or the SACP or Julius Malema).
“South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) members have vowed that no school will be opened in Soweto, Ennerdale, Lenasia, Alexandra, and Eldorado Park for the duration of their proposed wage-dispute strike, come next week. ” BY TIMES
I say:
I think it is about time that unions innovate new ways of applying pressure to govt, sacrificing only black kids is wrong.
Gwebe … are you saying that, as long as all shades of kids suffer, the sacrifice is then OK?
Im interested to know why you think ‘white’ kids escape such sacrifice … care to explain?
Belle says:
August 5, 2010 at 13:41 pm
The quick response is that the issues facing education is generally felt most by African children in particular.
Children attending private schools, former model C schools or schools in the “suburbs” are able to overcome the learning obstacles through various ways, including parents assisting, extra tuition, schools being resourced by fairly hefty school fees etc.
Strikes, under resourcing, feeding scheme shambles, theft or resources and/or funds are less of a problem in these areas.
Parents are better able to engage where there are problems because they are better able to do so.
There are some really terrible stories about the happenings at some schools in the mainly African townships or remote areas – and when there’s strikes it just makes it so much worse.
@ Belle
I am not promoting universal coverage of strikes in all our schools but I have a serious problem with actions that tend to disadvantage the already less advantaged black children at schools. Public servants deserve a decent pay rise similar to what was given to other state agencies such as Eskom, Transnet, SARS etc and govt is not playing fair in this instance.
Having said that, unions own large investments, votes and huge pensions savings and believe me they can easily bring all of us in line.
Nimrod says:–
> The words of African Sangoma Credo Mutwa are apposite, perhaps. …
> We can never go back now to life as it was before the white man
> came. And when one looks into the future, one sees only doubt
> and discontent, bloodshed, bloodshed and more bloodshed. Oh
> my Africa, what will become of you?”
—
Yes it’s all been said before: the pee-cee pushers have nothing new to add.
But how did you get the text from the paper-book to the computer ?
——
Heywood Jubleauxme says:
>Pierre, if it’s true what you say that “all white people were the
> beneficiaries of the system of apartheid” is it then also true
> to say that all black people are beneficiaries of BEE and AA? I
> should think not. You will only benefit from an opportunity
> when you embrace that opportunity.
——–
No that’s not what the english word “benefit” means.
Don’t grovel to political correctness!
Rather point out that the Bantu also ‘benefited’ by being able to
live in conditions of apartheid-SA instead of Zambia/Zimbabwe/Congo.
And this is simply proved by the fact that they FREELY decided to
move to apartheid-SA from Zambia/Zimbabwe/Congo and not in the
opposite direction. You can’t fool the market, and it never lies.