May 22 to 28 2009

Zille’s W Cape is part of SA

In one of her first official pronouncements, newly elected Western Cape Premier Helen Zille warned that the province will not be dictated to by the national government, and that she will only implement the policies upon which the DA was elected. She seems not to understand the principle of cooperative government enshrined in our Constitution. Section 40 says the three spheres of government (national, provincial and local) are ‘distinctive”, but they are also ‘interdependent and interrelated”. It does not say that these spheres are ‘autonomous” or ‘independent”.

In section 41, to give effect to the principle of cooperative government, the Constitution requires each of these spheres to ‘cooperate with one another in mutual trust and good faith”. The Constitution identifies what it calls areas of exclusive provincial competence as well as areas of concurrent provincial and national competence. These extend to both executive and legislative functions.

Zille should stop looking at the Western Cape as a special enclave separate from the unity that is the South African state. Her present stance is a recipe for conflict and we have seen enough of that in the past between the ANC government and the National Party provincial governments in the Western Cape during both the Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki eras. — Kimani Ndungu, Jo’burg

Politics in South Africa has gone from an internationally renowned, free and fair general election to racially divisive name-calling and insults — and only a few days after the inauguration of a democratically elected president and the announcement of an inclusive Cabinet.

Ordinary South Africans have witnessed respected public figures degrade themselves by claiming that Zille is sleeping with members of her cabinet. This came as a result of Zille’s disrespectful attack on the president in which she described him as ‘a self-confessed womaniser who put all his wives at risk by having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman”.

As ordinary South Africans who elected both these parties to lead us into a multiracial, peaceful and politically tolerant society, I find it disturbing when the ANC and the DA refer to each other as enemies. It’s also disturbing when the ANC Youth League uses ‘militancy” as a tool to voice its opinions.

Are we not a free and democratic society? How do fellow South Africans who exercise their democratic rights qualify as enemies? Instead of militancy, shouldn’t we use mature and tactful approaches to champion the interests of the poorest of the poor and voice the concerns of the youth?

In these dark times of economic meltdown, job losses and escalating poverty, all South Africans should be working with one another and not against one another. Instead of feeding fuel to the fire, the media in South Africa has an obligation to be the voice of reason. — Ayanda Mdluli, Pretoria

Zille’s deplorable comments not only smack of hatred for the president but of gross disrespect for the majority of the electorate, who voted against the DA’s ‘Stop Zuma” campaign. This rogue behaviour is not consistent with the responsibilities of a premier, but grave enough to provoke a resolution of impeachment to the legislative authority of a province.

By allowing Zille to behave in such an insidious manner, the DA leadership exposed itself to the risk of a conflict between its responsibility to govern all people of the Western Cape and its vision, purportedly grounded in the idea that every human being has a right to dignity.

It’s shameful that Zille violated the DA’s own policy of ‘general tolerance of difference on the part of the population”. I challenge DA leadership to recall her from office for failing to maintain the highest standards of ethical behaviour required of a public representative. — Morgan Phaahla, Ekurhuleni

In taking Zille to task for her all-male cabinet (May 15), Ferial Haffajee seems not to have grasped that the DA is a non-sexist, non-racist party whose sole task in government is to deliver an efficient and equitable service. Apartheid was a neurotic response to fears about white security, but its offspring (affirmative action) is  an equally neurotic response to the deprivation caused by the first neurosis. The DA sits uncomfortably in this climate of social neuroses — hence this unenlightened debate. A truly affirmative cabinet should comprise about 10% polygamists, 85% bisexuals and at least 15% gay people, as well as the correct sex and race quotas. You should check the national Cabinet for this. — Oliver Price, Cape Town

Haffajee does not actually argue against Zille’s choice of cabinet. Rather, she says that ‘to suggest that an all-male cabinet is the only way to ensure a better Western Cape is what is degrading and insulting” and ‘the core family structure in the [black] Western Cape is the single-female-headed household” — which are merely emotive and irrelevant, respectively. Haffajee also talks disparagingly of a ‘narrow politics of merit”. What she omits are any alternatives. By denying merit as the only relevant criterion, Haffajee cannot avoid an implication she would no doubt find repugnant, namely that women and people of colour are not good enough to succeed on merit alone. Zille does not encounter this problem, because, as she has shown, there are plenty of these groups represented elsewhere and entirely on merit. Nowhere in Haffajee’s piece is to be found any actual criticism of Zille’s individual choices; only criticism of their colour and gender. That is the real racism and sexism, however nicely dressed up. — Alex Myers, Newlands

Zapiro’s cartoon of May 15 aptly depicts the rather unedifying spectacle of a spat between leaders of the ANC and the premier of the Western Cape. It’s incumbent on all thinking voters not to become embroiled in this polemic. We need to stand back and look beyond the war of words to understand what this really is about. This row is not about race or gender, but the fundamentals of democracy.

The ANC, having lost the municipal election in Cape Town in 2006, tried various ‘tricks” to destroy the newly-elected DA-led multiparty city government. Why? Because they are bad losers. Like the National Party of the apartheid era, they are unable to differentiate between the state and the party. They believe South Africa and its government at all levels belong to them. The ANC’s idea of democracy does not welcome opposition.
This row will undoubtedly be the first of many attempts by the ANC to destabilise our democratically elected provincial government. — Gordon R Oliver, Diep River

Zille is not the woman I thought her [to be]. I am still stupefied by that pale-male cabinet. Unless they pull themselves together they are going to be a shrill, vindictive, negative opposition that will do nothing for the country. — Darcy du Toit

Arts portfolio is not a demotion

Since President Jacob Zuma announced his new Cabinet, some have reported on the ‘demotion” of both the former minister of agriculture and land affairs, Lulu Xingwana, and her counterpart, Paul Mashatile, the former premier of Gauteng.

But these ministers, now at the head of the ministry of arts and culture, have been entrusted with leading the national programme to build unity and a new spirit of patriotism and identity among our diverse people. They are also expected to play a role in the positive portrayal of South Africa in the international arena through the arts. They must promote the dignity of all 11 languages and make it easier for all South Africans to gain access to arts, culture and heritage resources.

Yet arts and culture are widely seen as providing only entertainment. Ironically, some editors and journalists do not see themselves as part of this sector. A journalist — like a writer, fashion designer, architect, musician or dancer — is an essential member of the arts and culture sector. Their role is to shape society through self-understanding and intellectual discourse.

Perhaps clarity of the role of arts and culture appears only when writers and actors, especially in Hollywood, are fêted as the custodians of national culture that they are. It becomes obvious when the personal wealth of people like Anil Singh, Chicco Twala, Hazel Feldman, Richard Loring, Peter Toerien, Duma Ndlovu, Lebo M, Mbongeni Ngema is in the news, for example, and their contribution to the economy is thus understood.

Even when practised by Zuma, culture is dismissed as frivolous. This is misleading. Song and dance, as used by Zuma, endeared him to the common people. Even the chattering classes carry the same love for arts and culture through the cars they drive, the clothes on their back, the perfume on their bodies, the hairstyles they wear, the cuisine they eat and the furniture in their homes.

Xingwana and Mashatile are aware of this fact and will raise public consciousness about it. Arts and culture is not a demotion but the highest calling for any individual passionate about nourishing the soul of the nation. — Sandile Memela, Midrand

Left should not be docile

While I voted for the ANC, I must say it started on a wrong note after the elections. I am not impressed by Jacob Zuma bringing three wives to his inauguration. Polygamy displays the power of men and the submissiveness of women. How can a revolutionary be a polygamist?

Many male analysts have applauded Zuma for appointing women to his Cabinet, but his Cabinet did not meet Thabo Mbeki’s 50-50 gender parity. Why did Zuma and the ANC fail to appoint women premiers in conservative provinces like KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpompo?

We are facing economic meltdown. Why did our party expand the Cabinet to 34 members at a cost of R1-billion? Electricity tariffs are increasing but we have not heard the SACP and Cosatu opening their big mouths. Is it because Msholozi is now president?

False promises by Blade Nzimande of free tertiary education should be ignored. How can we have free tertiary education while pre-tertiary education is not yet free? Which comes first between free tertiary education and medical insurance for the poor?

I hope the left will not be politically docile on the matters. I also hope it will push for decent salaries for workers as it pushed for jobs for SACP and Cosatu leaders now in Cabinet. — Bongani Mthethwa, University of Zululand

No cheap power

Food prices in South Africa have shot up so that people are struggling to afford their basic groceries. Now Eskom wants a 34% tariff hike, followed by another price hike later in the year.

People like to say that electricity is ‘cheap” in this country. They do not take into consideration the domino effect this has. If it costs more for the farmer to harvest crops, milk cows and refrigerate produce, and for bakers to bake bread, and grocery stores find it more costly to cover their electrical bills, then the consumer ends up being hit by the accumulated price build-up.

The country will be faced with food riots. — Ingela Richardson, Gonubie

In brief

I am horrified to see Zapiro with an already detached showerhead in his May 15 cartoon. I had hoped he would resist pressure and keep the showerhead as a feature of Zuma and all he is. Possibly a shower curtain with a pattern of dancing men could partially obscure it. The curtain could be hanging from a rod held up by … grand ­Grecian columns? His bodyguards? His wives? — Pauline de Villiers, Cape Town

Congratulations, ANC, you have confirmed everyone’s worst fears of a Zuma presidency in less than a month. How hard can it be to put a lid on the youth league’s gloating, racist, divisive hate speech and threats of violence? You might think twice about whether your ­soccer tournament is going to ­happen in an ‘ungovernable” Western Cape. —A McIntyre

What do you call a bunch of racist white recalcitrants who won’t accept democracy unless it goes their own way? The Boeremag (currently on trial in Pretoria). What do you call a bunch of racist black recalcitrants who threaten to make the Western Cape ungovernable because they don’t like the party that won the election there? I think they should be called the Bantumag. — Ron McGregor, Mowbray