Kasrils a man of honour
I am not a supporter of any political party, but I believe your readers should know what kind of man Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils is and will continue to be.
I met Kasrils when he was deputy minister of defence. As part of his VIP detail, I was his personal bodyguard for a while and at times his VIP driver. I was eventually responsible for all his security.
I heard his many conversations and sat in on meetings where visitors, VIPs, heads of state and ordinary South Africans got to meet him. He treated all of them the same way and took time to listen.
He had his bad moments, as any human being does, but he serves the people and the president.
I particularly remember the week after the 1999 general election when he was notified of his promotion to a full ministry. His response was that he was there to serve the people.
Kasrils taught the teams under him the need for integrity and honesty. He taught that if you cannot deliver, say so; and if you don’t want to speak out, you are sitting on a fence and will eventually fall.
At present, nobody is standing up to defend him against accusations of having a hidden agenda. I don’t agree with this silence. I should know — I worked for this gentleman. — Collin Govender
Kasrils failed to help and advise Jacob Zuma’s rape accuser because, he says, his involvement would have been seen as “political” (“Kasrils: Zuma must explain”, May 19).
This creates the impression that he is unable to defend the poor people who voted him into office, and that ministers’ shoulders are not to be cried on. — Parapara Makgahlela, Saulsville
The interview with Kasrils concludes with a paradox: “We can celebrate Msholozi’s acquittal, but her [the rape complainant’s] nightmare continues.”
Neither Zuma, the African National Congress nor the government can bring her nightmare to an end. But ordinary South Africans can do so by granting her unconditional forgiveness. — Tuntufye Mwamwenda, University of KwaZulu-Natal
To his supporters and believers in the conspiracy theory, the rape trial judgement confirms Zuma’s victimisation and sidelining.
But the matter was never about whether he raped. It was, and still is, about whether he can be trusted. If there is a conspiracy against him, he is doing a great job in ensuring its success.
On having unprotected sex, being unfaithful to his wife and disappointing the nation that entrusted him with leadership of the Moral Regeneration Movement, his supporters have maintained a deafening silence. They have provided no proof of a witch-hunt against him.
We must thank the secretary general of the South African Students Congress, Terror Yako, for daring to ask him on national television to apologise for his hypocritical behaviour.
Yet Zuma’s apology was delivered without remorse; he still acts the hero, chanting songs claiming victory. His only victory has been to derail the education of our people about the dangers of HIV/Aids.
Why is Cosatu so silent on this issue when it was so vocal about Thabo Mbeki’s views on Aids? — Mpendulo “Lenin” Xwazi, Sterkspruit
Fidel Castro said, when asked about the succession in Cuba, that “there is no problem, nor should there be later, because the revolution is not based on the presence of a great leader or a cult of personality. The revolution is based on principles.”
The ANC needs to work on its principles, each and every individual from the grassroots to the top brass.
The charges of rape and corruption against Msholozi have made me think about myself and my behaviour as a young communist and a young man. Young people cannot run away from the fact that our country must elevate women to the same level as men, speak against woman abuse and practise safe sex.
Isn’t it time for a woman to lead? Maybe this is the answer to our problems. Wouldn’t empowerment of women help curb the Aids epidemic and lead to the reorganisation of the family?
Women understand the daily needs and true sufferings of the family, the most basic cell of society. — Kholekile Gqwesani Xhaka, University of Pretoria medical school
I am perturbed that certain churches are supporting Zuma and helping to raise funds on his behalf. Whatever happened to the biblical call to repent and “produce fruit in keeping with repentance”?
Christ told the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.” Yet these churches are supporting and endorsing a blatant and unrepentant serial adulterer. — Eleanor Poulter, Durban
Netcare cherry-picks in the UK
The local media — including the Mail & Guardian — need to be more critical when lauding the success of private business initiatives. The constant question should be: “Who will this benefit?”
A good example is Netcare’s “success” in increasing its profits by expanding its operations to the United Kingdom, much touted in the media. The company has been awarded two contracts worth £114-million by Britain’s National Health Service to provide eye care and orthopaedic services . The contracts are part of the UK government’s outsourcing of certain areas of health.
The evidence led by the Royal College of Surgeons in the British Parliament alludes to the negative impact of this on South Africa in terms of the backlog in cataract operations — conservatively estimated at 75 000 — that can cure blindness.
Ironically, the Netcare’s UK eye care initiative uses mobile units, well suited to improving eye care to rural South Africans. In several submissions such work is referred to as “cherry-picking” — private contractors dealing with the quick, easy procedures and leaving difficult, more expensive interventions to the public sector.
This raises the key issue of the ethical obligations of South African doctors and surgeons trained at public expense, who are helping Netcare make huge profits in the UK by performing simple operations desperately needed in South Africa, but unaffordable to those who most need them.
It is occurring in the context of a Commonwealth agreement that the UK will not actively recruit scarce health personnel from Africa. South Africa does not have the absolute shortage of health professionals of other African countries, but suffers from a gross maldistribution of professionals — especially specialist doctors — between private and public sectors. The result is a public health staff crisis that hampers the provision of even relatively simple care to South Africa’s poor.
A few years ago 30% of government health sector posts were vacant, rising to 60% in some provinces. Clearly the incentives offered to doctors and nurses by “business export” initiatives aggravate this. — David Sanders, director, school of public health, University of the Western Cape
Rage of white males
I am outraged by the behaviour of many white people, and particularly white men, in our society. White men behave as if they were born with the keys to the universe and are entitled to everything before everyone else.
As a black woman, I have been on the receiving end of more than three incidents of racism and road rage from white male drivers. The most recent was at Cresta shopping centre, where a white man began kicking my car and spewing profanities at me.
Does this stem from the fact that whites feel they are being “discriminated against” by our government? All I can say is that a great amount of rage and racism are being heaped on black women, especially on the roads, by white men and nothing is being done about it.
This kind of behaviour should not be tolerated in our society. If a white woman had been treated this way by a black man, there would have been a huge outcry. — Cedrina Kloberie
Why such bitter strikes?
Because of the violence the security guards’ strike has engendered, I agree with the sentiments expressed in your headline last week, “Enough already! The strike must end”. But in the larger context, your call is not enough. We need to ask ourselves: why is South Africa being hit by such bitter strikes?
I believe the root cause lies in income disparities, which, according to reports, are growing ever wider as our economy grows. The situation is untenable. The solution lies in the collective hands of employers, unions and the government.
Is it not time to put pressure on industries to help reduce South Africa’s wealth inequalities? Employers and unions in each sector would first need to agree on an acceptable Gini coefficient for all employees, from top management to the lowest-paid. Then the government, through information held by the Revenue Service, could evaluate individual employers’ compliance with the agreed targets.
Employers whose salary structures deviate toward increased inequality could be subjected to progressively higher rates of corporate tax, justified on grounds that their pay policy necessitates increased social spending by the government. Unions could use the information in annual wage bargaining.
The result, surely, would be fewer strikes, and a more morally acceptable distribution of South Africa’s wealth. — Rory Short, Johannesburg
We’ve been dissing the security guards for weeks now for their bad behaviour during the strike. It is time for someone to step up to the plate and berate the security companies for their part in this mess.
Many companies have been acting as if they are innocent, when in fact they are just as much a party to the strike dragging on. Many companies exploit the lack of jobs in the sector and hire desperate people who will do anything to hang on to their jobs, including accepting minimal pay for extremely dangerous work.
Some security guards have even told me of paying for their own training courses to make themselves more marketable.
Security is a multibillion-rand industry, and an absolute requirement for some companies. How long do the security firms think they can hang on to their credibility if they continue to make money from the little guy while taking advantage of him? — John Moodey, MPL, Democratic Alliance
Haul them into court!
As the author and co-author of more than 50 scientific articles, I must agree with Robert Kirby’s “Copy control” (May 15). In scientific writing, all ideas have to be attributed, even if their author is unknown.
It would be a far more embarrassing experience to be caught out than to be shown to be wrong. Being wrong (usually partly so) can be corrected or defended, but being right or wrong on another’s ideas is simply theft. The perpetrator should be dragged into court, a formal retraction and apology should be mandatory, and the full benefit should go to the defrauded party.
The strict legal application of rules would go a long way to curbing what has become a rampant disease. Research and writing is a difficult, time-consuming business, and copying, mainly from the Internet, has become a substitute for real intellectual effort.
It is allied to the idea that learning of basic facts and formulae, and a broad general knowledge, are unnecessary, and that “understanding the principles” is all that is required.
After all, copying stuff from the Web is acquiring knowledge, and pasting it into a document is demonstrating that you have it. The fact that it has gone through no intracranial manipulation or storage is seen as an irrelevant detail! — Dr Johan Kruger, Moruo Mineralogical Services
Blessing
I generally find John Matshikiza’s columns thought-provoking, but have been dismayed by his recent pieces on Livingstone and Stanley and their impact on Africa. They are as racist as any writing can be.
Christian missionaries lived in often hazardous conditions, far from the people they knew and loved. They made great sacrifices and, in most cases, were driven by the love of Christ to spread the Gospel and enlightenment. Their medical work and the educational establishments in many countries, including South Africa, have been a blessing. Their work should be acknowleged as an important factor in the development of Africa. — Rosemary Sundgren, Pringle Bay