The politics of politics

By Craig Wynn

For this column I could talk about Thabo Mbeki’s visit, but it’s still Saturday as I write this, so there’s no knowing whether he pitched or not (See: Julius Malema). Time travel would be a cool topic, actually, but nah. How about torture? Now there is a change of subject from South African politics (arguably). Before I sound too random, this idea comes from both the current drama in the States surrounding Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo Bay – and the congress’ disagreement with this – as well as from my awesome English tut about J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians.

Zapiro gives Zuma a break

By Jessica Edgson & Craig Wynn

From edgy satire cartoons to ‘God-Zille’s’ angry ratings and accusations, our nation’s new President, Jacob Zuma, must be getting used to bad, or at least controversial, publicity. It therefore must have come as quite a shock when a little weight was taken off his head recently.

South African cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro, otherwise known as Zapiro, removed the controversial showerhead from President Zuma’s head in his cartoon for The Times on Tuesday, 12 May. Zapiro, who was awarded with an honorary doctorate from Rhodes University last year, attached the showerhead for his depiction of Zuma for the first time in 2006, after the latter’s infamous HIV/Aids comment at his rape trial.

Starting off on the wrong foot?

By Camagwini Dolweni

Just over a week after President Jacob Zuma’s inauguration, Minister of Transport, Sbu Ndebele, became caught up in what nearly became another corruption scandal for South African politics.

On 16 May, Ndebele accepted a Mercedes Benz S500 from Vukuzakhe road contractors, worth R1.1 million. Ndebele had been transport MEC for KwaZulu Natal from 1994 to 2004 and in that time, he established the contractors programme, Vukuzakhe. This received contracts amounting to over R400 million. The contractors held a celebratory function in his honour in Pietermaritzburg, where they gave him the car and two cattle.

Zuma’s inauguration costs nation millions

By Lauren Rawlins

On Saturday, 9 May 2009, Jacob Zuma was inaugurated as the country’s fourth democratically elected president.

Huge crowds gathered at the Union buildings to celebrate the historic event. Various VIPs came from around the world to wish Zuma well and each received a complimentary umbrella and blanket. Meanwhile, those citizens who came to watch were treated to a Nandos meal and a concert afterwards. Sounds great, but then there’s no such thing as a free inauguration.

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By the end of it all, expenses reportedly came to R75 million, excluding the security costs. Of course, as usual, this fortune came out of the South African taxpayers’ pockets. Considering the recent revelation that South Africa has the third highest unemployment rate in the world, this sort of money is no spare change. Raising concern over the cost of the event during the week running up to it, the Democratic Alliance (DA) claimed that the R75 million put towards the inauguration could also have bought 1 900 low-cost houses, 25 000 bullet-proof vests or a new 75-bed hospital.

Zuma included in his inauguration speech the fact that “we must acknowledge that we find ourselves in difficult economic times.” Such a statement could only have been expected but, in light of the heavy costs behind this very speech, questions arise as to whether we are really in a position to be spending such vast amounts of money at any point. It is, of course, important to celebrate our new president’s inauguration correctly, but perhaps greater frugality would have been beneficial.

The DA, who came second in the polls in April, agreed and expressed concerns about the high cost of the event. The DA has been reported as saying they felt it was inappropriate in the country’s present state, and the economic crisis the whole world is in, to be spending this sort of money on the inauguration.

Less than a week after the inauguration, the Rand fell by 3%. While currency change cannot be attributed to the likes of a large party, it is still important to note the instability of the nation’s economy and to highlight the significance of the cost of event. The ANC did say they had decided to have the event on a Saturday and not during the week, so to prevent another public holiday, therefore cutting expenses. Other measures taken, however, have not been publicised, leaving the nation uninformed as to where their taxes have been going.

Where did Trevor go?

By Jane Rosen

South Africa entered its second phase in limbo this week. The first stage was waiting to see if Jacob Zuma would get his two thirds majority. The second phase has been waiting to see who Zuma was going to elect as his cabinet. There has been much venom injected into the judgements of the president’s choices of ministers. For many of them, the appointments seem to be a reward for loyal support in the past, the first sign of agenda being put before competence. What has caused the most stress, however, was whether or not Trevor Manuel was going to keep his 13-year-long position as Minister of Finance, and if not, whether he would still be a part of Zuma’s cabinet.

Zuma’s bold new Cabinet

By Jamaine Chiwaye

President Jacob Zuma has stayed true to his word and hit the ground running implementing a wave of change through the South African Cabinet. He announced the ministers and their deputies on 10 May this year. There were several changes, with only nine ministers previously of Thabo Mbeki’s 28-strong 2004 cabinet remaining in the now 34 member selection. With these adjustments, there has been restructuring with the renaming, creation and splitting of various departments.

Second to a war zone

By Tessa Trafford

Pic by: Simone Armer

South Africa, it has been revealed, has the third highest unemployment rate in the world. The two countries who have higher unemployment rates are West Bank Gaza and Macedonia, both of which are currently war zones.

According to the most recently released statistics, South Africa has an unemployment rate of a shocking 23.5%. Added to this is the horrifying revelation that South Africa has approximately 1.2% of the world’s labour force, but makes up for about 5.3% of unemployed people in the world. These statistics were revealed in a survey conducted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The ILO makes up a specialised agency in the United Nations (UN) and recently set out to survey 73 countries and their unemployment rates. Mike Schussler, a prominent economist, called these latest statistics “shocking” adding, “We have been over a 20% unemployment [rate] for 12 years.”

Profile of the president: Msholozi and politics

By Melindah Sango

Pic by: Sean William Messham

Born on the 12 April 1942, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma spent his childhood moving between Zululand and the suburbs of Durban. Less than two decades later, in 1959, he joined the African National Congress (ANC). The banning of the ANC in 1961 did not detract him from his political involvement, as he became an active member of Umkhonto we Sizwe the following year.

Freedom of the press: the first to go

By Jessica Edgson

Pics supplied

What do Mugabe, Hitler and the apartheid regime all have in common? Besides, of course, bizarre facial hair and ‘unusual’ political ideals, the answer is that they all had a vendetta against the freedom of the press.

Press freedom is an important part of maintaining a democracy and it is usually the first thing to go during times of political unrest – a time when it is needed the most. That is why a new draft press law in Sudan is causing quite a bit of unease. The draft law gives Sudanese authorities the right to shut down newspapers, as well as fine them heavily for presumed misconduct. The draft press law may be new, but press restrictions in Sudan have been on the up and up for the past few years.

Interesting times ahead after SA elections

By Camagwini Dolweni

Although the ANC has won the national elections after a number of rallies and the millions put into their campaign, they nevertheless narrowly missed achieving the two-thirds majority they had hoped for. Instead, they accumulated a notable 65.9% of the votes which left them only 0.7% short of their goal. The significance of this ‘defeat’ now begs the question: what does this mean for the future of the country, the ANC and their opponents? Where there were many fears of the ANC gaining excessive control with a two-thirds majority, there is now the prospect for anti-Zuma and anti-ANC voters that all may be well.

The politics of politics

By Craig Wynn

I am in a great mood right now; my entire tune has changed, and for the better. On Saturday I watched a brief portion of the inauguration of President Jacob Zuma. Those three massive Airbuses flying over the beautiful ceremony at the Union Buildings, the cheering and ululating crowds and the sound of Mama Africa’s ‘Pata Pata’ being played by a military band all gave me that good old sense of patriotism. This was something that some of us thought we would lose when Zuma came into power. But I don’t think so. Call me crazy or too high on life, but I reckon there is a lot of promise in our new president and his government, despite the criticism.

Winnie jumps through loophole

By Lauren Rawlins and Grant McCalgan

Parties have released their candidate nomination lists to the public, and a few of the nominees have at least once been found guilty of some form of crime. The constitution states that a person found guilty of a crime and given a prison sentence of more than 12 months, without the option of a fine, does not qualify to be a member of the national assembly. This however has not stopped ruling party, African National Congress (ANC), among other parties, from electing questionable candidates.

The Politics of Politics

By Craig Wynn

So, elections are not too far away now, there is just a month left until we go to the polls. But what is actually going on right now? I honestly thought there would be some more action on the streets of Grahamstown. There have been one or two political ‘conferences’, I have seen students running about in Cope and ANC t-shirts and there have also been a few cars around town sporting lovely portraits of Mr Zuma’s face. Then there are the many posters of cheesy looking DA supporters/members (I’m not too sure who those people on the posters actually are, except for the Zille ones) saying that we must “vote to win”. On Saturday there was even an army of Cope supporters parading through the streets in bakkies, but I didn’t quite catch why.

Strategic voting 102: The Wasted Vote

By Jessica Edgson & Grant McCalgan

Pic: Desiree Schirlinger

In the last issue of Activate, the idea of strategic voting was explained and discussed. For those who missed the last article, strategic voting involves someone voting for a party, a party that they would not normally vote for, because that party is a strong opposition to a party that they dislike. The question up for discussion this week is whether there can be such a thing as a wasted vote.

ANC Still going Strong

By Tessa Trafford

The Eastern Cape held its by-elections earlier this month, with the African National Congress (ANC) winning a majority vote once again. According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), they won in nine wards throughout the province. Another victory for the ruling party was when they won all the contested wards in Port Elizabeth. These wards were contested because many of the ward councillors had left the ANC to join the newly formed Congress of the People (Cope).

Cartoon

By Kate Bryan

Wanted: Sudanese President, Al-Bashir

By Melindah Sango

The International Criminal Court (ICC), governed by the Rome Statute, is the court established to hear cases which are considered of the most serious concern to the international community, including war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. On 4 March 2009, the ICC managed to send ripples around the world as it issued a warrant of arrest for the sitting president of Sudan, 65-year old Omar Al-Bashir. This is the first time in the history of the ICC that a current head of state has been formally charged with any crime. In their statement to the press, the judges said that the ICC did not recognise immunity for a head of state, which is widely recognised throughout the world as part of diplomatic law.

Guinea-Bissau President assassinated

By Aneesa Fazel

Tension between the Guinea-Bissau President and military soldiers ended in bloodshed and feuds on the weekend of 1 March. According to a report by News24, in retaliation to the death of Military Chief of Staff, Tagme Na Waie, on the Sunday morning, angry soldiers planned the successful assassination of President Nino Vieira at his home early the next day. Military spokesman, Zamora Induta, earlier confirmed that “the President was one of the main people responsible for the death of Tagme Na Waie”. People of the poverty-stricken country seemed unmoved by the death of their president. Zique Choaib, a Guinea-Bissau journalist, said, “What are we supposed to do, cry? Demand justice? The powerful people at the top have been fighting each other for decades. They’ll keep fighting. It’s really nothing new.”

Makana Mayor made to move

By Rosanna Scott

The ANC has reviewed its district councillors list and Makana Mayor, Pumelelo Kate, may be involved in a ‘swap deal’ that will see him exchanging jobs with Cacadu district councilor, Vumile Lwana. The date of the swap has not been finalised.

The Politics of Politics

By Craig Wynn

On Monday last week, I attended the Cope conference at the Rhodes Barratt Lecture Theatre, hoping to find out more about the party that is not yet even three months old. Despite its age, though, it has helped create one of the most exciting and interesting political environments in South Africa since 1994. On an A4 piece of paper, provided to all those who attended the conference, was a summary of their recently released manifesto. Their campaign advert goes far enough to say that to vote for Cope would to “be a part of history”. By saying this, they are showing that they know as well as anyone with a faint knowledge in our national politics, that they really are an element of true commotion in the country. So, excited and ready to be educated by South Africa’s ‘new hope’, I braved the horrible weather outside and trekked along to the conference.