“The tiger is awakening.”
I was freshly returned from India and our flamboyant arts editor had stopped my list of travel and art story ideas in favour of a quick politics lesson. Welcome to the Mail & Guardian.
“The dragon is rising and so is the tiger.” I watched his hands describe the arc of the two Asian superpowers. His palm curved in a trajectory towards a collision. “There’s going to be fireworks.”
But here’s the thing. If it’s a choice between China and India, I’d rather be speaking Hindi when the new order takes place.
And no, this has nothing to do with being of Indian descent. Rather it speaks to my preference in political systems.
Despite our democratic sisterhood with India, I’m not sure the same could be said of our president, who visited India in June for his first state visit to Asia, and returned from China a few weeks ago. Ironically, it was in China and not India that Zuma most earnestly curried favour. Thanks for messing with the metaphor JZ.
Back home all was chaos. Public-sector strikes wreaked havoc, the ruling alliance was imploding and his one-time supporter Julius Malema was making seriously ominous noises about Zuma’s future. But the visit was understandable. China has billions of dollars to invest if we’re nice to them.
Less understandable is our government’s increasing fascination with China’s method of governance. It was the lesser-spotted story that weekend, with all the papers focusing on the strike’s pressure on the alliance. But M&G editor Nic Dawes analysis of Zuma’s China’s visit was more revealing of the current state of affairs.
The ANC is so impressed with the Chinese government’s large-scale governance, central planning and immense control over their citizens and country, that they’re sending their entire national executive council (NEC) there for “political schooling” come December.
This is in contrast to Zuma’s India visit which, by most accounts, was tightly controlled by the Gupta family — an Indian family residing in South Africa who negotiated the dubious ArcellorMittal empowerment deal worth R800-million, involving Zuma’s son Duduzane. Indian business people complained of very limited access to Zuma and there was little of the free flow of ideas evident in our relations with China.
Which is frightening, given the difference between the two countries when it comes to media freedom — especially when you think about the dangerous pass we have come to in South Africa in that regard. The ANC wants a media appeals tribunal. And a wall, a cigarette and a firing squad — if the joke Twitter account of @Jacobzuma is anything to go by. (Sample tweet: “Back from China. Wish my people were small, yellow and pliant.”)
As usual, the satire is not too far off from the reality.
As Dawes put it, democracy — as typified by India — is a messy business. But it makes for a largely free and robust press which are constantly exposing their government. If you think corruption dominates our headlines here, try spending some time in India. During my visit in August I witnessed their newspapers pore over every excruciating detail of the contracts awarded for the Commonwealth Games — from the type of taps used to the cost of cups.
A long talk with an editor at a large daily newspaper in Mumbai proved to be a depressing exercise, for me at least. I told him about the proposed Protection of Information Bill — with draconian measures including up to 25 years in jail for journalists. He told me about India’s recent Right to Information Act which means that a request by any person for information held by the government should be honoured within 30 days or 48 hours, should it be urgent.
It’s a common feature of most democratic countries and is on the agenda for many more in a global drive to promote transparency and accountability. Our version once stood out as exemplary for including privately-held information in the definition. But that could all change. The proposed Bill includes the vaguest definition of “national interest”. Write anything that someone in government deems to threaten “the achievement of the public good” and you could find yourself in jail.
In India there are no holy cows — except for the cows themselves — and all things vaguely religious for that matter. Thank goodness we don’t have their intense problems with religious conflict. But our government will soon be making up for it in the damage they’re doing to our democracy by squashing press freedom.
Dozens of countries have implemented Freedom to Information Acts, and many more are committed to doing so. But on the list you won’t find China’s name. If we’re going to take a leaf out of China’s book, let’s steer clear of the ones dealing with freedom.
- You can read Verashni’s Monday column here and follow her on twitter here.