April 7 to 13 2006

Enough of the crocodile tears

I read with dismay Nomboniso Gasa’s open letter to Jacob Zuma (March 17), and cringed at her crocodile tears. I am not politically correct and shall nail my colours to the mast: I align myself with Zuma’s fight to be accorded respect and dignity, not least by the partisan character assassins masquerading as the media, by certain women’s groups and, lately, by a nebulous bunch calling itself ”the bishops of the Methodist Church”.

The pathetic logic in the article makes my blood boil: in Gasa’s view, the little angel who claims she was ”raped” by Zuma can do no wrong. Gasa attempts all sorts of convoluted ”reasoning” to excuse the glaring defects of the sainted ”raped” woman, while never giving the accused the benefit of the doubt.

Empathy with the pain of others, she opines, is a central characteristic of the free and humane society we have struggled to build. These values are applicable to all (emphasis mine).

By Gasa’s arguments, those values are applicable to all except Zuma, who must accept being daily rubbished and vilified, because the media convicted and condemned him long ago.

Gasa seems oblivious to the fact that her ”faceless” angel has made allegations against a visible individual who will carry the stigma of rapist around for life, while she remains anonymous.

Whether or not Zuma is acquitted, his enemies and the little angel have ”won” because his integrity and character have been rubbished almost beyond repair. — Jon Qwelane, Boksburg

In the M&G‘s March 10 edition, Barney Pityana mentioned institutions of higher learning virtually celebrating abuse against women. As a former student representative council (SRC) president and current lecturer, I would argue that, with regard to the institution that I served in both capacities, women abuse gets zero tolerance.

So, if Mangosuthu Technikon is vigorously involved in fighting women abuse, why honour Zuma?

The Inyathi Awards were 100% the initiative of the SRC. Political affiliations were not taken into account, but rather individual roles in the struggle for liberation and involvement in the education of the disadvantaged were considered.

Zuma was chosen for his fund that assists hundreds of pupils countrywide.

During and prior to the awards, there had been no charges laid against Zuma. In the event that there were charges, I believe we would have exercised the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.

Mangosuthu Technikon has not honoured Zuma, but the SRC of 2005 did. It would be difficult for the institution to withdraw an honour it never bestowed. — Reggy Mnguni, SRC president 2005

Apart from being embroiled in two criminal cases, the most worrying factor about Zuma is his inability to exercise proper judgement. Woe awaits South Africa if this man rises to the position of president. — Charl Cornelissen, Florida Hills

Zuma, as former leader of the drive for the moral regeneration of our nation, must condemn the spectacle that is unfolding outside his rape trial at the Johannesburg High Court. This is the least he can do to ensure that, whatever the outcome, we will come out of the trial with a moral sense of what is right by the women of South Africa. — Nozizwe Afrika, Sandton

”D-minus” on your report card for ”This mama is speaking lies” (March 24) on the Zuma trial. Verbatim quotes from a straw poll survey thrown together, and lacking in analysis, is below par for a newspaper that consistently publishes articles for individuals with frontal lobes.

The implications of what happens inside, and outside, of the courtroom at Zuma’s trial are not only about the treatment of women.

Look at, for example, the trial’s implications for men’s identity construction in post-apartheid South Africa. What is happening to Zuma’s public identity, ironically mostly at the hands of his supporters outside the court, and its implications for our views of manhood, is astounding. Meanwhile, inside the courtroom, Zuma’s defence team presents him as nothing more than a Lothario, involved in a consensual relationship with his accuser.

Another implication of the trial is how little we, as a society, know about the workings of our justice system.

South African media, too, aren’t unscathed. Sensationalism and stupidity have been the norms for most reporting done thus far. Long after the street protesters have packed up and gone home, will the true verdict be not ”this mama is speaking lies” but that ”these media are speaking lies”? — Settla Gyrl, Durban

Clever chicks

I read Khadija Magardie’s commentary ”Where are all the clever chicks?” (February 3) with a nod of agreement, but not without a bit of frustration.

I agree that we don’t see, hear or read enough of the ”clever chicks”, but wonder whether it’s primarily, or only, a question of limited conduits.

Intellectuals (male and female) have been studying and commenting on the discourses of power in South Africa for years. I think by now we are all more Foucauldian than Foucault!

Should we not by now have figured out a way to engage with the discourse, or to craft an alternative one and create a public sphere for the production and dissemination of knowledge?

If female intellectuals, individually or collectively, have failed to penetrate the glass ceilings of the Fourth Estate (and here even the Mail & Guardian, although led by a black woman, has a poor record: how many of its regular columnists are women?) perhaps it’s time to break the ceiling, or shift the sphere of knowledge production and dissemination.

What are female intellectuals doing to involve grassroots movements in all phases of their research, other than, of course, as ”informants” or ”subjects” to be featured in that steadily increasing list of research outputs, the measure of performance of academics and their ticket to being bestowed with the title of ”intellectual”?

If we haven’t figured out the conduits, best we all collaborate to do so, for, is the purpose à la Marx, not ”to change the world”? — Asma Hassan, Mokopane, Limpopo

Magardie has made me want to shout bravo and have my support for her heard by more than just my friends and family! I am sure she will come under fire, but I have a great feeling she won’t care a toss. In any case, thanks for the stirring and humorous thoughts.

As to giving her the Y’ello Book of South African Women … well, I am sure she will use it to reinforce the points made in her article. While there are quite a few women of note included in the Y’ello book, for the most part the guide seems more like a handbook for social climbers.

Also thumbs up to Prishani Naidoo for her inspired and long-overdue analysis (”Makgoba should fight for Desai”, February 3) that implicitly presents a challenge to the new managerial class in tertiary institutions in South Africa. — Alicia Levy-Seedat, Johannesburg (sorry, Khadija, double barrel it is!)

Bulldozers and butterflies

In the Mail & Guardian of March 17, Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu is quoted as saying: ”We cannot forever be held hostage by butterfly eggs that have been laid.”

We hold nothing personal against the minister, but we wish to express our grave concern about the perspective expressed in such a statement, because it indicates a high level of ignorance and/or lack of caring about environmental issues.

Does the minister not know what ”environment” means? Environmental issues cannot be separated from the needs of people. How would the minister know if proposed housing developments were being built on a toxic waste site or were prone to severe floods?

Does she not know what ”ecology” means? How would the minister know if the butterfly was the only insect that could fertilise the plant that provides a cure for an illness that someone she loves is suffering from?

Whether she is driven by profit, power or ignorance, she is not in a position to assess the environmental impacts of housing or other developments. That is why it is so crucial to have skilled, independent environmental experts conducting environmental impact assessments (EIAs).

According to Credo Mutwa, the butterfly is an African symbol of peace. Some government ministers want to bulldoze these butterflies’ eggs. Don’t do it. — Western Cape students and tutors on the Rhodes/Goldfields environmental educators’ course

The right-wing backlash against progressive laws, as driven by the United States, is manifesting here in South Africa.

Progressive laws, intended to protect the poor, the marginalised and the environment, while not always correctly used, are specifically being targeted. We must remind our government that honest EIAs confirm genuinely sustainable development, and flag problematic development. Agreed, this progressive legislation is indeed being used to avert justifiable development, mainly by the rich and previously advantaged, but it needs tweaking to deliver benefits to our people, instead of scrapping.

EIAs may take a year or two — death from pollution is forever. — Muna Lakhani, Glenwood

A rainbow nation of injustices

When I returned from my six-week South African trip, in which I spent the majority of the time travelling in the Eastern Cape, my family wanted to know if racism was still in evidence, or had things evened out after 10 years of democracy.

The pictures of the townships were enough to show what the municipalities were doing, but here is what I reported:

I met a German student who was supposed to have worked for several weeks for a safari owner — whom he described as being a wealthy, coloured man — in a reserve near Paterson. The man not only kept his animals in appalling conditions without proper feeding or shelter, but kept his domestic help in equally derelict conditions. The student escaped under a cloak of darkness after not having been fed a proper meal for a week.

Another backpacker told me of a white lodge owner not letting his staff off to attend a massive funeral after a big taxi accident between Paterson and Port Elizabeth — even though some of the staff’s relatives were involved. The tourists’ breakfasts were more important.

On a personal note, my travelling companion and I were robbed at knife point in Port Elizabeth by two black men.

I would say there are still injustices that need to be worked out if this society is ever going to be seen as caring. — C Bradly, Yorkshire, England

In the dark

Lloyd Gedye’s articles on the blackouts (March 3) have erroneous points. Comparing Botswana and South Africa in electricity needs is misguiding. South Africa needs much more reliable and cheap electricity to operate its industrial base than Botswana does.

The small, safe, economical and environmentally friendly nuclear power stations that will be marketed by the PBMR will be a sought-after export commodity in the near future. South Africa is smart to invest in such a technology, and it needs the backing of its citizens or it will lose out to other countries like China and the United States, and the European Union. — Osman Kemal Kadiroglu, extraordinary professor, North West University

In brief

I will always buy your newspaper because of Tom Eaton and his articles. It is good to know that there are writers like Eaton who call a spade a spade. Salute. — Tawanda, Harare

Ryan Coetzee’s ”ooh, aah” letter (March 10) should have been titled ”DA still insignificant”. Given that Coetzee is employed to enlighten the public about the Democratic Alliance’s ”success”, he is abusing the Letters column. Political parties should have to pay for propaganda advertising instead of using up valuable space in a public forum. — Craig G Morrison, Daniëlskuil, Northern Cape

I’m writing this letter from cold, dark Northern Europe on a computer powered by solar cells. Why do we, in sunny South Africa, choose blackouts over solar power? And why does Eskom want to spend millions on a nuclear power reactor instead of wind energy? After the first democratic elections, we were a nation of problem-solvers, confident in the knowledge that we had all the resources to become a great country. What prevents us from realising this dream? Complacency is our biggest enemy. — Danelle Scholtz, The Netherlands

The intelligence inspector general’s findings that the NIA has been fabricating materials that seek to discredit leading figures in the government and business sends shivers down my spine. In future, the president will have to satisfy himself with the facts before acting on information gathered by the NIA. — Trevor Kekana, Johannesburg