(1) South Africa had another free and fair election (it’s fourth!) without any serious violence and the fourth democratic President was inaugurated soon afterwards.
(2) The government decisively changed direction on HIV/AIDS and President Jacob Zuma appointed a health minister who clearly understands that the problem of HIV needs to be dealt with in a comprehensive manner.
(3) Nkosazana Zuma has begun to change things around at the Department of Home Affairs. A friend of mine received her passport only 4 weeks after submitting her application!
(4) The South African banking system weathered the international financial crisis very well and the SA government did not need to pump billions of dollars into the system as was required by the USA, the UK and some European countries.
(5) A free press and independent electronic media continued to thrive and to present a variety of news, exposes and opinion, sometimes harshly critical of the foibles of the governing party and sometimes singing its praises.
(6) Some members of the tripartite alliance began exposing Julius Malema as the self-serving, headline-grabbing, tenderpreneur that he is.
(7) The selection of a new Chief Justice and four new judges to the Constitutional Court proceeded without unnecessary controversy and several good candidates were appointed to the positions while a certain Judge President were clearly not a serious contender for appointment.
(8) A vibrant civil society continued to thrive and to challenge seemingly unlawful decisions made by the President and y constitutional institutions such as the Judicial Services Commission in various courts across South Africa.
(9) South Africa successfully hosted the Confederations Cup and the various soccer stadiums for 2010 Fifa World Cup were completed on time.
(10) Many South Africans quietly continued to build bridges and build the nation by giving of their time and money to address the poverty and deprivation of fellow South Africans.
Don’t want to be too churlish here, but (7) is not quite the good news that it might seem, given that you-know-who was deliberately overlooked for saying you-know-what a couple of years ago.
We might not have had a worst-case scenario, but don;t think that it has been avoided totally – after all, Mr Zuma did not succeed Mr Mbeki once he ahd resigned.
The Professor makes out that we do have some things for which we ought to be thankful. I respectfully agree with the Professor’s apparent object here insofar as I too think that we ought to voice a little gratitude. At the very least, doing so might help us to achieve a more balanced appreciation of where we are at as a democratic society.
But I do think that while we certainly have a few things for which we should be grateful, it seems to me that on somewhat less hopeful inspection, many of the current causes for gratitude are hardly reasons for spontaneous bursts into song. Let me look at three of the current causes in order to illustrate my point: for a start, it is quite comforting that the tripartite alliance has shown some willingness to recognise Malema as the Gucci-glad muppet he has repeatedly shown himself to be. However, the sad fact remains that Malema (a) enjoys a public forum and (b) may have more than just a bit of pull.
Secondly, while I too applaud the absence of great controversy as to the Constitutional Court appointments, it deserves mention that the appointments that were made were, in very much the main, hardly the most convincing jurists to be had. And I would add here that given the racial composition of the Constitutional Court bench before those appointments, the promotion of the racial composition of that particular bench was unnecessary and thus the promotion of racial transformation cannot serve as a tenable justification for most of the appointments. In short, I think that at least some of the appointments were wrong – plain and simple.
Thirdly, we are quite fortunate to have a press that is willing to be sharply critical of the government. In this regard, I would like to extend particular praise to the M&G generally and Nicky Dawes specifically for another year of fair but scathing middle finger cheek to the ANC. That being said, it seems to me that one could well advance that the media criticisms are, in a sense, toothless. That is, it appears that those criticisms and revelations do not impact especially adversely on our country’s great wealth of political rascals.
On a more positive note, I would like to congratulate the Professor for his service to the development of a robust constitutional democracy. I will also wish this particular community of bloggers a merry festive season and a prosperous new year.
Happy holidays everyone
Pierre I wonder if you care to ponder Breyten’s article in the Beeld? I tried to translate his Afrikaans, its difficult, but here it is.
Ná die aanvanklike oorgangsfase van saambinding was dit gou duidelik dat die Een Nasie as beloofde land gerig gaan word deur hegemoniese Swart Nasionalisme en ’n diepe behoefte om die verlede ongedaan te maak en die geskiedenis te herskryf. Die party aan bewind se eis van, “dis nou ons tyd, dis ons beurt om te eet” – wat na sionalisme gebaseer op huidskleur as die laaste wegkruipplek van die skurk en ’n manier om met die verlede af te reken manipuleer – beteken in die praktyk die meedoënlose verryking van ontplooide kaders ten onkoste van die res van die bevolking.
Trans: Very soon after the original reconciliatory phase it became clear that the idea of One Nation as promised land was directed to hegemonic Black Nationalism, a deep need to change the past and rewrite history. The ruling party’s demand “it is now our time, it’s our turn to eat” – which uses nationalism based on skin colour as the final refuge of scoundrels and manipulates a way to deal with the past – in practice means the unrelenting enrichment of deployed cadres at the expense of the rest of the population.
Daardie “onkoste” – verarming, gebrek aan dienslewering – het die land nou uitgelewer aan misdaad en etniese populisme. En die alledaagse werklikheid maak dit al hoe duideliker dat daar van die Afrikaners verwag word dat hulle hul vaardighede, plase, skole, bankkaarte, aandele, selfone, wapens, drank en tuinvurke stil-skuldig oorhandig voordat hulle verdwyn uit Afrika en die geskiedenis, en dat hulle geen morele reg het om beswaar te maak nie.
Wat nou?
Trans: Those “expenses” – impoverishment, lack of service delivery – has now delivered the country to crime and ethnic populism. And the everyday reality makes it increasingly clear that of Afrikaners it is expected to hand over their skills, farms, schools, bank cards, shares, cellphones, weapons, liquor and garden forks, quietly-guilty before they disappear from Africa and history and that they have no moral right to object.
What to do now?
Ons is al lank nie meer in die paradigma van versoening nie. En al sê dié wat met die lekkerkry van skuld op die knieë kruip in die versugting om “swart”, onsigbaar en monddood te word ook wat, iedere landsburger het dieselfde reg op gelyke en waardige behandeling. Die Afrikaners, net soos al hulle landgenote, het die reg op ’n eie taal wat tot haar volle potensiaal uitgeleef kan word, het die reg op veiligheid en ordentlike skole en hospitale.
Trans: For some time now were are no longer in the paradigm of reconciliation. And no matter what those that get enjoyment from guiltily crawling on their knees in the fantasy for “black”, invisible and dead-mouthed say, every citizen of the country has the right to be treated as equals and with dignity. The Afrikaners, like all their compatriots, have the right to their own language that can be lived to its full potential, and has the right to safety and decent schools and hospitals.
Ons het die reg en die verpligting, as individue en as kultureel herkenbare bevolkingsgroep, om met elke greintjie invloed waaroor ons beskik ons saak aan die internasionale gemeenskap bekend te maak, om die onderskeid duidelik te maak tussen historiese aandadigheid (aan apartheid) en oorlewing, om te veg vir regstelling en transformasie.
Trans: We have the duty and obligation, as individuals and as culturally identifiable population group, to use each little bit of influence that we have to state our case to the international community, making clear the distinction between historical culpability (for apartheid) and survival, to fight for redress and transformation.
Dit beteken dat gesprekke, aangevuur deur ’n morele en praktiese verbeeldingsvermoë, rondom die noodsaak van ’n opnuut geformuleerde Suid-Afrika – gegrond in ’n bestel van funksionerende federale deelstate, met dieselfde regte en moontlikhede vir almal – op alle vlakke aan die orde van die dag moet kom. (So nié, is dit nag.)
Trans: This means that conversations, fueled by a moral and practical imagination, about the necessity of a newly formulated South Africa – based in a functioning federal system of states, with equal rights and opportunities for all at all levels, should be created. (If this does not happen it will be calamitous.)
Maar hierdie keer moet die burgerlike samelewing keer dat besluite gemaak deur skelms en politieke perdediewe en plunderaars en vergelders en komiteekakkerlakke en dié wat in alle skynheiligheid op eie borste trommel, nie weer aan ons opgedwing word nie.
Trans: But this time civil society must make sure that decisions made by crooks and political horse-thieves and raiders and retaliators and committee cockroaches and those that hypocritically beat their breasts are not forced onto us.
We have a lot to be thankful for. Judging by what my friends abroad tell me, they have to deal with almost all the problems we have.
I see that Jacob Zuma has called for 2010 to be a year of national unity.
Yes, it should be. we need to stand together and welcome the world, and also overcome our economic crises.
But this unity business is also jolly convenient for the person holding the power. It would be terribly “disunited” to challenge the Mpshe decision, or the Hlophe decision, or the Simelane decision, now, wouldn’t it.
This was also what was wrong with the Mbeki doctrine on coups de’ etat. There waere strict rules prohibiting participation in “illegal” take-overs. But, there was no similar disapprobal over illegal incumbencies – as we saw in graphic and lurid detail in places like Zimbabwe (the guys who complaint hat the critics are biased have a point as most keep silent over Madagascar, malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Uganda and other nations suffering from democratic deficits in relation to incumbency.
Maybe we need to look into that word a little more.
Happy 2010 everyone!
Thanks Maggs and same to you…
what a start for the new year, hopefully everybody is fine
@ Maggs
How are you?
And, do you have your stock of FIFA-branded condoms for the new year?
Hey Dworky,
I guess you’re no longer handy now that the Taiwan shipment has arrived.
No FIFA for me.
I got this great offer of special brands.
Tiger Woods – for display only – each comes with a hole in one.
22 – when walking the streets of New York
TM1 – when feeling patriotic in the streets of London – the I am an African thing.
TM2 – comes with two blue tabs – to make sure that “there’s no crisis”.
JZ – to the tune of Mshini Wam when both blues rather than one from TM2 kit are taken.
Juju – also for display only – for mouthing off, otherwise being one big flop.
Bafana – specially designed for scoring own goals.
There’s more – will let you have details as I get to it.
@ Sne – thanks!
(11) Two giant steps for democracy: The return of non-ANC government in at least one province, and , the entry into parliament of a significant new black-led political party.
I think the former Mrs Zuma is doing a very good job at Home Affairs. Not only is the turn around time significantly better, but there is news all the time of corrupt officials being prosecuted.
@ Prof et al
Is this a joke? LOL!
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=368697
Having accomodated places like Orania in our constitution, it will be interesting to see how far these guys can go with their challenge.
I hope one day we will find a way to stop the abuse of our courts and legal processes by groups that represent lost causes.
Wonderful appointment to the SCA this;
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=369818
Gwebecimele says:
January 4, 2010 at 8:25 am
I hope one day we will find a way to stop the abuse of our courts and legal processes by groups that represent lost causes.
———————————————————————————————————
Shaik’s challenges through the courts turned out be be fruitless.
It seems that he is smarter than the system.
Not only did he thumb his nose at society and the authorities by brazenly flouting the rules of his medical parole, but he also openly called President Zuma a criminal.
In exchange President Zuma it seems is set to release the worst of apartheid’s murderers, in order to free Mr Shaik from the bondage of terminal illnesses and from the shackles of rules and laws that apply to everyone else in society.
The courts are certainly not the way to battle “lost causes”.
@Gwebecimele
It’s interesting that someone like Votani Majola, a person that (apparently) holds a law degree, is involved in something like this. I’m not a law/legal professional, but this sounds really ridiculous, even by the standards of King Dalindyebo.
@ Gwebecimele, Maggs, Simphiwe et al
I have contacted by email the relevant journalist (Bongani Hans) and asked if he could email me a copy of the “withdrawal notice” served on Parliament. I doubt he will so may anyone who may have such a copy please make it available so that I may read it. I am really interested in knowing what the said notice entails especially on the grounds of withdrawal (not reasons thereof but the “legal right” to do so).
Apart from our recorded history militating against the existence of such a “right” to secede from South Africa (obstacle no. 1) and South Africa being a republic as opposed to a Union or Federation wherein “states” enjoy equal rights which rights include the right to secede therefrom (2), I do not think that section 235 of the Constitution (Right to Self-Determination) can come to the rescue of King Dalindyebo and his secession plans. This is especially so when one reads in the Founding Provisions that; “The Republic of South Africa is one, sovereign, democratic state founded on…”, read together with the Supremacy of Constitution (section 2) and other related constitutional provisions and other legislation.
Whilst still at varsity I did ask about this in our Constitutional Law lecture and if my memory serves me well, our lecturer answered in the negative and said that in his opinion the relevant section 235 merely lends support to Chapter 12 (Traditional Leaders) and section 31 (Cultural, religious and linguistic communities) and does not envisage secession from the Republic.
I am keenly looking forward to this “withdrawal notice” served by and/or on behalf of his majesty, King Dalindyebo. This is particularly so when you consider that even the Federation in the form of the United States of America was declared (also by a court?) that its member states do not have any right to secede therefrom, after the Emancipation of Slaves by Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s.
@Simphiwe
This is the same Votani who wanted to take to court the ANC Sandton branch. Apparently he was a Secretary or Chairperson and how the hell did he get elected.
@Maggs
Agreed. I try and console myself with the false hope of World cup 2010 which will cure all our ills. Not to mention the suprise that Bafana will let off the bag.
All the best for 2010.
@ Gwebecimele and Sne,
There was speculation in the mid 90s that the IFP was formulating plans to secede.
I vaguely recall that it was accompanied by it formulating strategies for a regional (as in provincial) army and regional stock exchange among other things.
Not sure what happened to that or even if it had merit.
Gwebecimele says:
January 4, 2010 at 11:03 am
“Apparently he was a Secretary or Chairperson and how the hell did he get elected”.
That cannot be as bad as the YL.
I am impressed with the likes of Floyd, then I listen to their President and wonder what was it that allowed our formidable youth to have been subverted so.
Thanks Sine.
We will watch the space.
Sine says:
January 4, 2010 at 11:02 am
Hey Sne – all the documents are here http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=368697
Enjoy!
@ Maggs
Thanks bro.
You’ve now given me a responsibility of sending another mail to Mr. Bongani Hans and ask him to ignore my first mail. I am angry at you for this!!!
LOL!
[...] a blog post from Constitutionally Speaking written by Pierre De Vos that I found on what went right in 2009: (1) South Africa had another free [...]
Hey Sne,
I assume that your silence on the docs means that you are fascinated too.
Dinosaurs, ether, benzene, conspirators.
This is a complex matter indeed.
p.s. Any idea if lawyers get paid for this kind of community service?
@ Maggs
Busted! I am stunned bro I must admit. However, I am still struggling with what exactly has stunned me. Is it the allegations contained therein or the making of the allegations?
I believe there is more to this than meets the eye so I am prepared to delay my opinion as possible (more like waiting for the cricket ball to swing, seam or reverse swing before offering a short).
Speaking of cricket, I am tired reading the commentary so let me rush home and watch it live…
[...] all agree on is that is going to be one hell of a year for South Africa. Here’s a blog post from Constitutionally Speaking written by Pierre De Vos that I found on what went right in 2009: (1) South Africa had another free [...]