June 12 to 18 2009

How can Zapiro be right wing?

In his maiden state of the nation address President Jacob Zuma identified pressing issues, such as health, education and the economy, as well as safety and security. His mission is to bring hope during the global economic downturn.

One of his messages is that South Africans should accept that it will be impossible to win the war against poverty and unemployment in the current global conditions if we do not work together as a nation. This is a reflection of a visionary government of the people on a quest to find a balance between the poorest of the poor and the rich. Most fundamental is the hope the president instills by putting people first. Poverty must be attacked and defeated by South Africans so that we can live in peace and harmony.

The ability of the state to deliver will depend on the capacity of public servants. The employment of managers in government institutions must be driven by loyalty, honesty, dedication, experience, competence and qualifications. The problem may be individuals who are seen as purge-oriented, such as Zuma’s allies in Cosatu and the SACP. It would be unfortunate if competent people were purged by his administration for such reasons. South Africans cannot afford an inefficient and poorly performing administration any longer. — Masket Mtshweni, Tshwane

I honestly did not find anything politically interesting or exciting in the state of the nation address. Most of the issues were recycled from the addresses of the former president. The only noticeable difference is that we are a country officially in recession with a bloated Cabinet.

I was disappointed that Zuma did not use this important occasion to clear the air about how his defence team obtained the NIA tapes. The dark cloud will continue to hang over his head and his legal team. As state president he is entrusted with the protection of the credibility of all state institutions and/or organs, but this cannot be done without full disclosure.

The address also had its fair share of contradictions. The president confirmed that the country has gone through difficult times, but later gloated about how dignified and seamless the transition was. Yet many of us know that the country was put in serious turmoil and still has to recover from the after-effects of the take-over by the Polokwane group. — Lesego Sechaba Mogotsi, Tshwane

The new ANC administration has shown a great deal of willingness to address most of the problems the majority of South Africans have been subjected to for decades. A key area of such oppression was that black people were violently dispossessed of their land. They were rendered destitute.

One of the key expectations since ‘the 1994 miracle” was that the historical imbalance around land ownership would be settled decisively. But it appears our negotiated settlement, with ‘sunset clauses” cushioning so-called ‘property rights”, tied the hands of successive democratic governments. At its historic Polokwane conference, the ANC honestly acknowledged the snail’s pace of its land-reform programme, which had thus far redistributed a meagre 4% of land.

In his state of the nation address Zuma reiterated his administration’s commitment to land and agrarian reform, including rural development.

If the ANC does not resolve the key issue of land, I fear that we might find ourselves in a situation similar to that of Zimbabwe. More land should be made available speedily. No real rural development can take place with 87% of the land in the hands of those whose ancestors seized it many years ago. — Tlou Setumu, Makgabeng

I must have been deep in sleep when I heard a voice saying: ‘Floyd, Floyd, wake up, for your president requests.”

I woke up, but still half-asleep, I heard my president, J Gedleyihlekisa, saying something about his predecessor, T Mvuyelwa Mbeki (the dude who used to be important until Julius Malema existed). The words, in my half-awakeness or half-asleepness, were: ‘This is evidenced by the presence here of our icon, Madiba, who laid the foundation for the country’s achievements, and that of former president Thabo Mbeki, who built on that foundation and then fired me.”

What? My girlfriend, who was wide awake, told me I had heard Zuma wrong. She insisted he stopped after ‘— built on that foundation”.

And then Zuma went on (I was still not fully awake here), ‘Crime, like freedom of expression, is the cornerstone of our government.”

‘What?” I shouted, very loudly.

‘Baby, what’s up?” said my girlfriend, dumbfounded. I related what I’d heard Zuma say.

She told me he’d said that ‘the fight against poverty remains the cornerstone of our government’s focus”. Now I was starting to sober up a bit.
Let me quote someone who knows little about South African politics, a Brazilian man called Joel Santana, he of the I-know-English-only-when-we-win-games fame. That dude said: ‘Support all the players who have been selected.” He was referring to the noise he’s had to deal with about the players he chose for the Confed Cup (read: we’ll lose early and support our favourite European players). But Santana could easily have been talking for Zuma about the Cabinet he’s chosen to take Mzantsi forward. — Rudzani Floyd Musekwa (a senior journalism student; he writes in his personal capacity as a sick man in need of some serious upstairs inspection, just like the MK war veterans)

It was heart-warming listening to Zuma deliver his maiden state of the nation address. What caught my attention was when he said we needed to ‘promote a more inclusive economy” to help ‘correct the imbalances of the past”.

I am optimistic that now we will start to see the equitable distribution of wealth being extended to those in the ‘second economy”, such as informal traders. Most informal traders are historically disadvantaged, unskilled and illiterate. But municipalities across the country have by-laws that prevent traders from trading in streets, without providing alternative economically viable trading areas for them. Thus, this overlooked sector, populated by the poorest of the poor, is hard hit by recession. —Thabo Koole, Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transformation, Johannesburg

I’m glad to have a president who understands ordinary people’s problems. Zuma has always been passionate about development in rural areas. As a product of Nkandla, he knows the hardships of ordinary people.

He is a seemingly down-to-earth and humble individual, which gives me hope he will take our pain seriously. I expect him to put rural development on the top of his agenda. I expect to see transformation in our villages from Ga-Mphahlele, Giyani via Maphumulo to Lady Frere. I expect our people to talk about freedom that is visible. Our people always boasted about freedom yet they have been living in painful and shocking conditions.

We expect government to implement its plans and promises. The suffering of the people on the ground must come to an end. — Lonwabo Busakwe, Khayelitsha

The SABC is rotten to the core

Everywhere you look you see news channels reporting on the TV crisis. But do people really understand what it is all about? It’s about people like me, who have worked in the TV industry for 20 years and more. People, like me, who started at the bottom and through the years put in huge amounts of work and creative energy to learn everything about television.

We sweated away at the SABC, putting our skills into practice every day. But around us the SABC was crumbling. We endured corruption, fraud, nepotism, wastefulness, dereliction of duty, unfair labour practices and favouritism. Chief executives came and went, each promising to put an end to all these things, each asking us to come forward with information. No matter how many times we reported on and provided proof of these issues, they were ignored and left to escalate.

The SABC invested many hours of training in me and I in turn invested all my skills. What did I get in return? I had to watch our career paths come to a halt as nepotism welcomed unqualified individuals into senior positions that should have been given to those of us who had dedicated our lives to television.

Many, like me, when head-hunted by outside production houses, left the SABC. These production houses offered us competitive salaries, career progression, creative freedom and recognition for our hard work. But now many of us have been retrenched because the SABC failed to pay production houses.

What are we to do? We have families to feed. The SABC has brought the television industry to its knees. Why is the SABC not held accountable for causing so many job losses? The SABC broadcasts bad television because it has lost all its skilled workers. We skilled workers deserve to have the well-paying SABC jobs to ensure the public gets the good-quality, creative television it pays for.

The SABC is rotten to the core and until all the rotten apples are flushed out, nothing will change. — Someone who has been retrenched because of this crisis

Politics is child’s play

I like to compare this country, in its current political light, to the birth of a baby — an exciting event. As in any family, a birth gives rise to diverse reactions as do the stages in the baby’s development.

We have experienced mass hope for the potential of the new president, cleansed of previous misdemeanours much like a baby in an unconscious womb-like existence.

The toilet-training stage saw Helen Zille and the ANC Youth League throwing turds at one another. There was a hint there too, as in dynamic fantasy play between siblings, of speculation about what the parents do in bed.

The creation of a plethora of new departments by the incoming regime symbolises an investment in more potties to clean up any infringement of our pre-election constitutional rights. Whether the waning budget will support this is questionable.

The 2010 World Cup symbolises the urge to chart a future for a child that’s filled with bright and beautiful things.

Zapiro is currently a bad fairy, but let’s hope there are more of his ilk to help the growing child recognise the value of both play and reality. — Shirley Gault, Pietermaritzburg

Best of both

Marianne Thamm (May 29) notes a discrepancy between the male and female understanding of ‘sexual pleasuring”.

Natural selection has determined the measure of sexual compatibility needed for the continuation of the species, but no more.

Obviously, one understands the more refined sexual needs (and how to satisfy them) of one’s own gender far better than one does someone of the opposite gender.

This is why bisexuality has been practised since the dawn of human history, despite efforts by the primitive desert patriarchies of the past and their offspring — the Abrahamic cluster of religions — to suppress it. — Oliver Price, Cape Town

In brief

Thembu Zweni (Letters, June 5) says it’s an ‘African thing” to give and receive gifts — it’s rude to return them. It’s also a ‘Western thing”, actually. I am sure it is an ‘Eastern thing” as well. Let’s rather talk about ‘human things”. When so many in our country are on the poverty line, it would be nice to see leaders with the best human qualities. In the spirit of ubuntu Sibusiso Ndebele could have said: ‘Sell the Merc and give the proceeds to a project that could help unemployed people. I have a job and an excellent salary and do not need so generous a gift.” — Judith, Fort Beaufort

Nikiwe Bikitsha’s article ‘Don’t baby me” (June 5) was an overreaction. All the politician meant was to compliment her attractive personality and that it was an honour meeting her. There was no malice intended. — Professor Tuntufye S Mwamwenda, Durban

I symphathise with Nikiwe Bikitsha about men with sexist attitudes. But why does she not criticise those women who refer to us (men) in the workplace as ‘sweetie” or ‘my love”? Does Bikitsha see sexist behaviour only when the perpetrator is a man? — Mphatjie Monareng, Pretoria North