Put a poem on a poster!
I am the unnamed author who “accosted” Corina van der Spoel, the co-organiser of the Mail & Guardian Literary Festival, after the first morning’s panel (“Lightening up the fest“, September 9). Before I express my reaction to this panel and the festival in general, I would like to say one thing: I was absolutely delighted to be invited to the festival and to participate in two exceptionally fine events together with writers and facilitators, all but one of whom went unmentioned in the M&G‘s review of the festival: Ufrieda Ho, Jon Hyslop, Mbulelo Mzamane, Chris van Wyk, Ingrid de Kok and Antjie Krog.
My reaction to the first morning’s panel was triple. As someone who does not live in South Africa, I was at first fascinated by the “Not in Black and White” debate. Then, after about 15 minutes, the position taken by each participant became all too predictable and remained so until the end of the session, though these were clearly people with unusually acute minds and potential breadth of vision. Third, there was not a book in sight on stage. Right at the start of the debate, one or two books might have been mentioned, but the words “literary festival” soon seemed to have been forgotten by all involved.
This is not a plea for “an academic forum”, as is implied in your article. I am not an academic, nor am I against political debate at such a festival. Yet the placing of this debate right at the beginning did seem to suggest its primacy, while the role of the participants as writers was almost forgotten. I do not remember one of their books being on the platform, let alone opened and quoted from.
In fact, this happened all too rarely at most of the sessions I attended, with exceptions such as when Hugh Lewin read from his fine book Stones against the Mirror. My general impression of the festival was that, in spite of various fascinating exchanges, there could have been far greater celebration of books and their actual content, stronger affirmation of the writer as explorer of the field of the imagination, and a more powerful rallying call to resist in as many surprising ways as possible the falling off of readers.
This was the position of Karabo Kgoleng and Jane Rosenthal, both highly articulate and strongly present during their panel. To supplement their suggestions, here are a few more for next year:
- Put up posters showing pictures of writers all over the city;
- Cite their writing in public places, on buses and trains and telephone poles, as well as on the premises of the festival itself. Use a bright banner or two. Don’t forget poems (two of the seven responses to the festival quoted in the M&G mention poetry). A short potent poem on a colourful poster goes a long way.
- Have more than one poetry reading (the one you did organise attracted so many people, they could not all fit into Kippies).
- Encourage panel members to actually pick up books during a panel and read briefly from them (this is known to encourage audience members to buy these books). Organise competitions in high schools and/or universities and bus pupils and students to the festival for a day. Give them public space and perhaps a panel to say what their favourite books are and why;
- Include comic books, song books, e-books as possibilities here;
- Invite writers to have lunch with pupils and students;
- Let writers read from unfinished manuscripts;
- Start on Thursday evening and drop Sunday morning; and
- Above all, don’t give up. Discourage a tone of lament and anxiety, choose panel participants who will not express defeat and doom from the start. Help stretch the margin inhabited by writers, especially writers of fiction, theatre and poetry, away from constant loud throbbing of “Heavy Issues”. These need to be debated, but not to the detriment of those embarking on and returning from journeys into worlds of the unexpected.
— Denis Hirson
Special Pensions Unit closes loopholes
With reference to your article “Special pensions scams go on” (September 2), I would like to set the record straight. Your journalist, Lionel Faull, approached the national treasury for comment. The treasury is inundated with media inquiries, so it is unfair to say we failed to respond in two days. Your request was made at very short notice. I sent the responses to Faull an hour later than the agreed time; he then informed me that the deadline had been missed.
The treasury and the Special Pensions Unit (SPU) can confirm that the SPU was targeted by fraudsters and certain payments were made to people not entitled to receive special pensions. The criminals also extorted money from poor people in the Eastern Cape. The deputy minister of finance intervened and advised the community members to deal only with officials from the SPU.
Following the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU’s) investigation and its report for 2006-2009, it was found that 752 special-pension cases had been “misrepresented”. One SIU finding was that the misinterpretation on the part of the Special Pensions Board (SPB) was largely the result of a lack of legal background. The SIU also found shortcomings in the SPB’s screening processes. Following these recommendations, action was taken by the treasury and SPU. Appropriately skilled staff were appointed and the screening process has been improved.
Officials responsible for processing cases involving misrepresentations were subject to internal disciplinary processes and 141 cases were handed over to the police. It was found there was prima facie evidence that 95 beneficiaries had intentionally submitted false claims and these payments were discontinued. About 46 cases are still under investigation by the police. For technical reasons, until such investigations are finalised, the payments cannot be terminated.
Should the investigations prove any wrongdoing by the claimants, payment will be discontinued immediately. Claims that no disciplinary measures were taken are therefore untrue.
The SPU’s internal controls, including the application process, have been tightened. Other measures include criminal checks and employment-history checks. Where possible, data are cross-checked against the department of home affairs’ database. Political verifiers are also trained in the special-pensions application process. The deputy director general at treasury and the senior manager: special pensions are responsible for ensuring the integrity of the files. It must be pointed out that Kabelo Jonathan, the senior manager of the SPU, had no outstanding criminal conviction at the time of his appointment.
The auditor general has been in consultation with the treasury on the matter of special pensions. The AG has, in fact, reported on special pensions annually in his audit report, in the treasury’s annual report, since 2007/8. This information is in the public domain. — Bulelwa Boqwana, acting chief director: communications unit, treasury
War on terror not won through hatred
The horrific sight of flames engulfing the twin towers of the World Trade Centre exactly 10 years ago (“A tragedy shaped by narcissism“, September 9) is a reminder of how vulnerable we all are to destruction fuelled by hate and the unfortunate decline in human solidarity and compassion.
As we reflect on the sad loss of innocent lives and continue to condemn the architects of this horror, we must also look at how best to prevent such extreme violence. Many governments have joined the United States in its “war on terror”, but I don’t think they are winning.
How can these leaders win the war when they continue to spread hatred by engaging in stupid wars inspired by selfish interest, as in the case of Libya? How can we enjoy world peace when Washington is performing a barbaric political persecution of the “Cuban five” — Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, René González and Fernando González – incarcerated for their political convictions. Washington’s 50-year policy of hatred towards Cubans remains intact even on President Barack Obama’s watch.
As citizens, we must not run out of compassion. We must pledge solidarity with fellow human beings subjected to political bullying. — Maputle Mothiba, Pretoria
Attacks a disgrace
The media disgraced itself in the debate about Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. It ran a campaign of vilification and disinformation of unprecedented proportions. When Mogoeng was nominated, all hell broke loose. The Sowetan‘s response was typical: “Zuma’s shocking decision”, it bellowed on August 17. Mogoeng became fair game for lynching.
The media dug up supposedly negative facts about Mogoeng, including his previous patently innocuous meeting with President Jacob Zuma, from which the M&G (August 19) wanted us to conclude — without a shred of evidence — that Mogoeng had ingratiated himself with Zuma.
The bloodhounds then cunningly selected three cases, taking them completely out of context, and used them to judge a man with hundreds of other cases. “Mogoeng’s assault on women’s rights“, screamed the M&G during Women’s Month (August 26); and there were echoes: “A judge at odds with progress” (Sowetan) and “Mogoeng death row outcry” (City Press). The JSC, with some incumbents already prejudiced against Mogoeng, subjected him to the most hostile grilling ever seen in such proceedings, exposing some of our best legal minds as less than noble. But Mogoeng came through it with flying colours.
Yet, a day later, the Sunday Independent’s front page yelled: “Mogoeng on the ropes”. Which proceedings were they watching? The paper appealed to Mogoeng to reject the nomination as “an honourable act”. Since when is it a disgrace to be honoured by your president?
Several newspapers and radio stations could not hide their naked hatred for Mogoeng, whom they hardly knew. The Sunday Independent referred to his “insatiable appetite for power”. The Sunday Times implied that he is a clown, an intellectual lightweight and a loafer without a “commanding presence” (probably because he’s short — apparently a judge must be a giant).
The truth is that nothing Mogoeng has said or done is foreign to our law. Any first-year law student could confirm that. The fulminations of some individuals representing some interest groups are a disgrace to their constituencies. The prospect of having a committed Christian — and a pastor, nogal — as our chief justice stirred up feelings of revulsion, which says more about our society than about Mogoeng. — Bishop Moagi M Khunou, Berachah Bible Church, Mogwase, North West
The attacks on Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng need to be condemned. There is nothing wrong in questioning the presidential nomination, but it’s wrong when the criticism is not based on facts and crosses the line of human civility.
All the presidential appointments have been severely criticised, from that of National Prosecution Authority national director Menzi Simelane to Cabinet ministers and parastatal appointments.
This country has a history of the white establishment dominating public discourse and economic means. It has reacted hysterically to Mogoeng, showing a deep, narrow, racist outlook.
Blacks have political power but it is being eroded by threats of Constitutional Court litigation by the white monied class.
It is incumbent on blacks to counterbalance this through African nationalism. We should rise in defence of Mogoeng, to counter-balance the onslaught by the Democratic Alliance and Afriforum. — Patrick Rampai, Klerksdorp