30Apr/120
For men, marriage is an expression of inadequacy by Busani Ngcaweni
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Recently, one Lerato Ngoma blogged a piece arguing “shifts: young black male professionals are failing to commit in relationships”. The treatise circulated widely and expectedly drew commendation from some young female professionals whose personal experiences might have given credence to Ms Ngoma hypothesis that: “the cut-throat pursuit of professional advancement and prosperity have relegated matters of relationships and marriage from the apex of priorities of young professional black men”.
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For many reasons in science and practice, young professionals like myself found this hypothesis an objectionable indictment of ability to fall in love and commit to a relationship. Despite seeming overcrowding in the relationships’ casualty ward, evidence tells us that, contrary to Ms Ngoma’s assertions, young black male professionals are capable of balancing the pursuit affirmative action and black economic advancement exploits with matters of the heart.
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Just to use my acquaintances as a barometer; most of them are young successful bureaucrats, accountants, politicians, entrepreneurs and academics. Most are striving for commitment whereas many are already involved in lifelong partnerships. Those who have found their matches have settled whilst others continue to cultivate.
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Ms Ngoma should remember that professional black men, like everybody else, have their universal and specific needs which must be fulfilled in order to sustain relationships. Necessarily, potential suitors need not be complacent. They too must commit to the relationship, be competitive and importantly, they must be responsive to the evolving needs of men if they are to stay out of the relationships’ casualty ward. Biological disposition, on its own, no longer give women a competitive and comparative edge and neither are ‘traditional’ female chores because most of these young professionals can maintain their own domicile. Thanks to the advancement in technology and the oversupply of housekeeping labour, these young middle class men are doing just fine on their own.
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The other important aspect of the blog in question that triggers perspiration is the viability of the institution of marriage and its prerequisite - lobola. Varying views, unfortunately not necessarily contextualised in prevailing South African political economy realities, are advanced in favour or against the institution of marriage and why ‘traditional’ practices like lobola remain relevant in the 21st century.
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As some who affirm Ms Ngoma argue that the institution remains valid and that in fact their social standing should determine greater value of lobola, one must immediately rebut this archaic perspective in favour of a more pragmatic and avant-garde scenario.
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Therefore, just as our ability to fall in love and sustain that “nervous condition” is being challenged, so too should society begin to reflect on what I call the return on investment (ROI) phenomenon. By this I mean, no pun intended, if we commit and pay lobola of whatever value, what should we expect in return from this investment? It could be that some of the professionals that Ms Ngoma refers to are not committing because they are not convinced such investment (commitment) would yield reasonable returns.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
13Mar/12Off
Addressing Public Sector Delivery and Capacity Challenges in South Africa by Nyiko Mabunda
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27 April 1994 remains a date that for many South Africans signifies a number of opportunities and a better reality. Democratic South Africa was seen as ushering a new era of both political and institutional transformation aimed at solving the most complex social and economic development challenges in the country. These changes underpinned a democratization effort aimed at prioritizing the delivery of services to previously under-serviced and disadvantaged communities in South Africa, while at the same time ensuring that the level of quality services delivered in the previously whites only areas didn’t deteriorate. However, 18 years into democracy, the trickle down effects of democratization – the democracy dividends – are yet to materialize for millions. Why is this so? Have we correctly diagnosed the problem? Is the problem financial or is it technical, or are there other explanations? Why have previous interventions not produced tangible and sustainable results? And, most importantly, do we have the appropriate mechanisms and approaches to address these challenges?
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These questions remain largely unanswered. What is becoming clear though is that a wide range of development interventions led by a multi-disciplinary team from both the public and private sector is the only way to come up and provide concrete ideas on how best to craft innovative solutions to these seemingly intractable problems. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the following as the key challenges for the South African public sector:
- 1. Insufficient Human and Institutional capacity, .
- 2. Inadequate public accountability and,
- 3. These two above lead to sub-par service delivery, which in turn undermines economic growth, introduces political instability and cripples sustainable development.
- Many social ills within the borders of South Africa including the sporadic and violent popular protests (the so called "service delivery protests") provide a strong indication of the growing dissatisfaction with service delivery in the country. With the rise in literate levels and the black middle class, citizens will continue demanding better housing and public services, and for an acceleration of the pace of the delivery of these services, in an accountable fashion.
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There has been much debate over whether the slow pace of delivery is a result of financial constraints. Analysts have pointed to the massive infrastructure backlogs - which have been estimated at hundreds of billions of Rands - as evidence of the real financial challenges facing the country especially the local government sphere (small municipalities as well as big metropolitan councils). The recent State of the Nation and Budget Speeches have however pointed to a South Africa that is now prioritizing economic infrastructure spending, yet there can be no disputing that even those municipalities with considerable financial muscle, such as the big metros, also struggle with service delivery challenges. Indeed, many of the service delivery protests have taken place within the jurisdiction of the metro councils, most of whom have considerable borrowing capacity to fund infrastructure investment. Rather alarmingly, the evidence suggests that even within the much more robust metro councils, capacity constraints are a serious impediment to investment in expanding services.
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This situation begs the question of whether there could be a more fundamental and structural problem to these challenges. The institutional weaknesses in the governance and political paralysis in decision making structures of government due to political appointments into administrative positions have been highlighted as having a contributory negative impact, especially at the local municipality level. Whilst there appears to be some acknowledgement of the dangers of this approach and high-level efforts to move away from this, many municipalities remain saddled with under qualified and incapable political appointees occupying senior positions.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
13Mar/12Off
What do intellectuals do after midnight? by Busani
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Commenting about our national public commentators, their qualification for and level of intellectualism, Solani Ngobeni of the Africa Institute once observed: “…as it would seem to me that we tend to ascribe this term [public intellectuals] rather loosely to all those who engage in elementary public commentary, although such commentary is failing to provide any profound understanding of issues at hand, or to contribute positively to the project of intellectual discourse.” Ngobeni goes on to enquire whether possession of a masters or doctoral degree qualifies one to be an intellectual.
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He argues in his conclusion “public intellectualism has to do with those whose contributions to knowledge production is beyond reproach, yet who strive to make their profound research accessible via various channels, such as public lectures, seminars, conferencing, radio and newspapers…These intellectuals still conduct serious research which they publish through peer-reviewed journal articles, books, monographs and conference proceedings and then make their findings accessible to the public through the media mentioned above”.
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This rejoinder seeks to address limitations of Ngobeni’s thesis and then offer some alternatives to the reigning elitist understanding of who are the intellectuals. It also explores basic principles by which conscientious observers should judge and engage with the work of intellectuals.
- Pitfalls in the Ngobeni thesis
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Credit where it is due! Ngobeni is correct in observing that elementary public commentary - pedestrian reflections on cultural, economic and political events in the country - does not constitute intellectualism. He is also spot-on in referring to some of our national public commentators as “pseudo-intellectual exhibitionists”. However, it seems logical that the latter should not be employed as a pejorative against those whose views and opinions we counter.
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Such characterisation should be restricted to those who parade as or demand to be regarded by society as intellectuals when their views and opinions are too elementary to transform society or at least help us gain a perspective of some of the complex social, economic and political phenomena. We suspect many would concur with Ngobeni and his role model, the vice chancellor of Wits University, whom he paraphrases thus: some of our public intellectuals “are peddling personal opinions, prejudices and biases as expert knowledge”. Point taken! Ngobeni’s supposition however fails on three counts.
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First, it is defeating the very same intellectual project he advocates to confine its manifestation to peer-reviewed publishing and the academy. The selective reference to Edward Said in his article is problematic. Said’s view that the mission of intellectuals is to “advance human freedom and knowledge” should have cautioned Ngobeni not to pigeon-hole intellectualism to scholarly publishing. Indeed there are various platforms and means of expressing intellectualism in a manner that “advance human freedom and knowledge”. He also fails to account for Said’s vast contribution to our understanding of what constitutes organic intellectuals; most of whom do not necessarily produce peer-reviewed material nor serve in the academy as favoured by Ngobeni.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
13Mar/12Off
She is ready to Govern
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Let us use this August Women’s month to introduce the notion of a woman president within the ANC succession discussion.
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Thailand has just had a woman Prime minister elected – Yingluck Shinawatra. Though there is doubt about her political leadership acumen, owing to the fact that she is brother to the once ousted Prime Minister Tahskin, the fact is, she is an elected prime minister. Her own direct role on her rise to premiership cannot be disputed. Even more interesting, it is the fact that Thailand is a male dominated patriarchal society. Perhaps, even more patriarchal than South Africa is.
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Considering that the ANC will remain in power “until Jesus Christ comes back”, the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) will remain the chief determinant body that decides who becomes the president. I doubt if the ANC's NEC has the guts to elect, from its own ranks, a woman as president.
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This despite the fact the NEC itself is loaded with a sizeable number of women. Whether this state of affairs is reflective of a lack of confidence among the women within the NEC or male domination, is a question best left for the NEC to answer.
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The fact is, the NEC holds the reigns on giving South Africans a woman president. One that will not simply be a president based on her gender, but who has the capacity and ability to do a proper job in that position. And such women do exist, both within the ANC and outside it.
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Perhaps Dr. Nkosazana Zuma stands out amongst the crowed. She has vast experience in the leadership of the ANC. She has occupied leadership positions both within youth formations aligned to the ANC, as well as leading the ANC Women’s League. She has worked in these positions both in exile and in the country. Therefore, she is not a political kid. Moreover, she does not owe her rise to the former husband, Jacob Zuma. He enjoys political credibility on her own right. She is known for what she is, rather than who she married.
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Moreover, she has also served very powerful and critical positions in the democratic cabinet. She was a minister of Health. Here she proved her worth in how she engaged with powerful global institutions such as pharmaceutical companies. At Foreign Affairs she strategically raised South Africa’s global power very high. This has led to some experts in International Relations to argue that South Africa was ‘punching above its weight” in global politics.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
27Feb/12Off
THE MALEMA FACTOR IS A PRODUCT OF ANC LEADERSHIP VACUUM 08/01/2012
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By the time you read this article, it may be the case that the African national Con/’gress (ANC) leadership has concluded the Disciplinary proceedings against Julius Malema – the ANC Youth League president. Therefore, this article is focused on the lessons of the Malema factor to the ANC.
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The first political lesson is that political leaders must always undertake political risk assessment, and management. What the president Jacob Zuma leadership missed after ascending to power at the last Polokwane elective conference, is that cracks would tensions and contradictions within the victorious click was bound to emerge. It would appear, that post-Polokwane, Zuma’s leadership continued on good faith. In the main, deceived by the pre-Polokwane anti-Thabo Mbeki unity. Zuma wrongly assumed that such a unity would continue unabated post-Polokwane. The basic fact that post-Polokwane, it was a free for all, wherein Zwelinzima Vavi; Blade Nzimande; and Julius Malema could speak willy-nilly publicly on anything, should have alerted Zuma to the new dangers to his leadership.
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In short, immediately Zuma assumed the leadership position of the ANC, he should have affirmed his position. He should have made it clear that he is in charge. That he is a duly elected leader of the ANC, and therefore, the leadership authority and legitimacy lay with him. Unfortunately, he remained within he crowed. In the process, he created a leadership vacuum. Out of the pretenders to the throne, Malema emerged as the most dominant.
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One school of thought suggests that Zuma felt that he owed Malema so much. Hence his laid back reaction to the adverse Malema’s political posturing. Some argue that Malema knows too much about Zuma, therefore, the latter is indebted to the former, giving Malema a leeway to be loose cannon.
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Whatever the situation is, fact is, Malema rose to prominence due to the laid back leadership attitude of Zuma. The laid back attitude by Zuma was only useful towards Polokwane. It was good to the extent that it showed Zuma as not a power hungry person. However, that he had merely accepted a mandate from the ANC masses in the branches to assume the leadership of the ANC. Thus, it worked in portraying him as humble, laid back, and un – assuming.
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However, as a leader, such demeanor and laid back posturing would not work in post Polokwane. Obviously, the various elements of the tripartite alliance were more than likely seek to assert themselves as the real authority of the alliance. Buoyed by the fact that the ANC Youth League is an integral part of the ruling part with a rich history in the ANC, Malema had a head start. However, in one way or the other, he has inadvertently, in the process of shaking off Vavi and Nzimande, also shook off Zuma.
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The biggest lesson here therefore, is that immediately post – Polokwane, Zuma should have undertaken a political risk assessment both internally and externally. This would have led Zuma to politically managed the various dynamics within the organization. He would have known, that he should have asserted his position, leadership, and authority and got everybody else to tow the line. The only moment Zuma seemed in charge and in control, was when he reshuffled the national cabinet. Nothing other than this indicates that Zuma is in charge.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
27Feb/12Off
I AM A BLACK AFRO – PESSIMIST!
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I am increasingly becoming an Afro-pessimist. Let me hasten to add, I am a black African. Therefore, I do not fall into the category of so-called “white wingers who should be leaving for Europe”. I am black. I am African. I have no options to be anywhere else, but here in Africa.
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In fact, I have been politically been conscientised into black consciousness philosophy. I have outgrown mental colonization. I have read and understood, among others, the works of great writers such as Ngugi wa’ Thiongo’s “decolonizing the African mind”. I am also well vested with the works of Franz Fanon on “Black skin white masks”.
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Hence, my afro – pessimism is not based on afro-self alienation and European assimilation. I am not a victim of white or European supremacy. My afro-pessimism is based on the poverty of the African leadership.
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The post liberation African leadership has failed to rise to the occasion. It has failed to adopt a progressive agenda to develop Africa into a major global force among the world’s continent. Whilst elsewhere in the world, major disasters are natural, African disasters are men – made.
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Africa’s poverty is not based on the lack of natural resources, the land, and good weather, but on the poverty of the African leadership. Moreover, it is also due to Africa’s populace failure to hold African leaders accountable for their actions. In fact, it is a still a prominent feature for Africans to blame the West for Africa’s failures, rather than the poverty of the African leadership.
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In my increasing Afro – pessimism, I have grown tired of blaming Europeans for Africa’s woes. Africa’s woes are masterminded by most African leaders. Even in instances where the West exploits African resources, the West does so through local African leaders. It was Mobuthu SeSe Seko that plundered the resources of the former Zaire, and now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The ongoing conflicts still in the DRC are fought by Africans themselves. The foreign influences in the DRC as elsewhere in the conflict ridden Africa, operate through local African pseudo leaders.
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Some of the most revered dictators in the African continent are not of the Western origin. Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi came into power more than thirty years ago through a liberation ticket. And yet, he has turned Libya into a family farm holding, rather than a progressive democratic state. The same can be said of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. His thirty year autocratic regime cannot be solely blamed on the greedy West.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
27Feb/12Off
Ignore lessons of the past at your peril Dumisani Hlophe and Chris Landsberg examine the similarities and differences between the situations in Swaziland and Zimbabwe
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WHILE we should always seek not to live in the past, we should learn from it and remember the lessons of the past.
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History should therefore be a great teacher, but it seems we do not always heed the lesson. The question could be asked: ``Do governing elites ever learn from the past?''
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Recent events in Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe and Swaziland suggest a serious disregard, for, even defiance of past political realities in Africa.
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In responding to the challenge to their authority, these states have reacted by repressing popular protests in their respective countries.
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This indicates either a total ignorance about how various states have fallen in other parts of Africa as recently as the 1980s and 1990s, or it could suggest a misguided belief that it will not happen to them.
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While the sources of popular protests in Zimbabwe and Swaziland are in many respects quite different, there are nevertheless striking similarities.
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They show signs of similarity to other popular protests on the continent and elsewhere that have eventually led to the toppling of governments.
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Transformations and democratisations that have taken place in the late '80s in Africa have, in the main, been led by popular protests. These popular protests are typically spearheaded by different sections of the population.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
27Feb/12Off
OUR CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER
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The sad state of our state of the nation is that we are consumed with events and personalities. In the process, we fail to see the imminent danger right in our eyes. Consequently, we continue with sideshows, rather than addressing pressing issues for the future sustainability of this country.
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Clearly stated, we are too preoccupied with the December’s ANC elective conference. We are so subsumed with whether ANC president Jacob Zuma will keep his position or not. We are so preoccupied with personalities. Our thinking energies are geared towards possible individuals who can challenge Zuma. Could it be Kgalema Mothlante, or Tokyo Sexwale. We spend sleepless nights on whether Julius Malema will undo incumbent Zuma.
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This is a side show. The real issue facing all of us is governance. Unless we get the governance of this country proper, we are doomed as a society. Personalities such as Zuma, Mothlante, Sexwale, myself, and yourself, and a whole lot of them, will come and go. South Africa though, will remain. Generations to come will depend on this state. Therefore, it is important that our preoccupation, be geared towards good governance. We must pursue the ideal of practical proper management of state resources.
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Let us begin by accepting that the state of our good governance might soon hang by the thread. The warning signs are right in our eyes. In fact, these are not mere signs, but actually occurrences. Please allow me to cite a few examples:
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It is common knowledge by now that Limpopo has five departments under national cabinet administration. One of these departments is Treasury. The Treasury department, in any government, is the essence of governance. Whilst the office of the Premier provides for a policy and strategic direction, the provincial Treasury ensures that resources are appropriately directed, effectively managed, and are used for the intended allocation. Thus, failure of the provincial Treasury is effectively the highest failure of governance. A government we no control of its Treasury, is tantamount to an empty shell government.
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A major department within the Gauteng Provincial government, Health, is somehow under semi-cabinet administration. Gauteng is a main strategic province with major significance in the country, continent, and globally. Thus, it carries the political, economic, and governance moral high ground responsibility to be the epitome of appropriate administration. Gauteng is the one province that all other provinces must look up to. Thus, the current situation, whichever its genesis maybe, is not good in the quest to position Gauteng as a governance model to be emulated by other provinces. The good governance role model status is seriously undermined by the semi-administration position of the Health Department.
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Not to be outdone, the Auditor General of South Africa has declared more than ten national departments to be wanting. He indicates major deficiencies in governance. At some level, he indicates that it took his own stuff to balance the financial books of departments.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
22Feb/12Off
Purist or Pervert? Jonathan Jansen on the state education in South Africa by Busani Ngcaweni
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Whilst I respect the canons of intellectual rigour, one of whose refrains is ‘play the ball and not the man’, there is a compelling case of diversion when dealing with the caricatures of Professor Jonathan Jansen - not least because the professor’s consistent anti-state posture is blatantly ideological and emotionally jarring for people like myself who graduated as educators under his tutelage. We invested four good years of our formative years in Jansen’s school of education at Durban-Westville University and therefore are shocked that he trained us to loiter in doubt and gloom concerning our vocation.
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Few facts about the good professor’s background might help illuminate the roots of his kismet prophesy.
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Prof Jansen, for those who might not be aware, has New Unity Movement (NUM) leanings. The NUM was a political organisation that never really won the hearts and minds of the masses, despite producing some of the great minds and political activists. In the 1980s in particular, it had a sect that paraded as ultra-radicals with Trotskyite rhetoric. Instead of working with the United Democratic Front, it fashioned itself as the ‘real left’ mass organisation. Fact is, it never really was the vanguard of the people and missed seizing its moment in history when it failed to embed its work within the broader Mass Democratic Movement initiatives.
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True to the tradition of the egoistic sect of the New Unity Movement, Jansen offers no concrete alternative in his anti-state tirade. That is what his kin mastered in the 1980s. Instead of directing their anger at the common enemy – the apartheid regime, it wasted time contesting the UDF. Once we learned from Prof Jansen, “dissent is part of political commitment but it must be accompanied by concrete solutions”. Where are the solutions Professor Jansen? concrete and scientific interventions that will help SA avoid becoming “yet another failed African state...because the level set is so low”.
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Schooled in pseudo-radical custom, the professor is “seemingly well-versed in government and the ANC weaknesses”. Students of political theory will do well to remind us that radicals are not necessarily revolutionaries. Purists too can also be radical in their quest to preserve what they perceive to be ‘truths’ and ‘correct’. The January 9 ‘Opinion Analysis’ by the professor bears all the hallmarks of ‘purity’, what he thinks is absolutely wrong with our education system. When purists offer analyses, they do so believing that there is only one possibility or solution; that is what they themselves believe to be correct. Nothing less!
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Professor Jansen writes: “if I had to make the choice with my own children today, I would consider not sending my child to school in South Africa, for one simple reason: I do not trust a system... But you would not sense this crisis in the Grade 12 examinations because the major newspapers, with one or two exceptions, have swallowed the lies from the Department of Basic Education...”
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Call this cynicism, but is this not a perverted idea of transformation dynamics in a society in transition? First, how can a professor of education pass a vote of no confidence in the education system yet parade as a leader in educator development in the country? What message is he sending to the hundreds of students like myself who spent time and scarce resources preparing to join the education profession? Unless of course his graduates ought to be an exception to the rule; a rare breed of educators who will go out there and occasion a seismic shift in the system! Perverts are dangerous for they exaggerate their potency! That is where they intersect with purists.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
22Feb/12Off
ANC leadership crossroads
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“I have devotedly watched over the organization all these years. I now hand it back to you bigger, stronger, and intact. Guard our precious movement”. ANC President O.R Tambo. December 1991. Durban.
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This is the scorecard that the current ANC leadership must measure itself against.
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The current internal disciplinary squabble within the ANC involving the Youth League executives puts the organization at three leadership crossroads. These have serious consequences beyond the 2012 elective conference.
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The first is the legacy of the current ANC leadership under President Jacob Zuma. Unless the leadership acts decisively on the verdict of the National Disciplinary Committee (NDC), it risks going down in history as the leadership that allowed ill discipline to take root and entrench itself in the organization. Failure to act on the verdict means that no other person can be disciplined within the ANC. In fact, it means the NDC must close shop.
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In this instance, history might record that whilst Zuma was at the helm, the leadership abdicated its authority. History will record that under Zuma leadership, the centre did not hold, and things indeed fell apart.
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The second, is the legacy of the ANCYL as the king maker within the ANC. The pronounced ill discipline within the Youth League leadership threatens this historical capital of the League. If the verdict is implemented to its nature and content, then the league leadership would be seriously castrated in terms of its power to determine the next ANC leadership.
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Even if Julius Malema and his comrades were to win the appeal, which is highly unlikely, their ability to determine the next president is wilted. Even if a new youth league leadership is quickly assembled, it is unlikely to play a defining role towards Mangaung. In fact, even if the Youth League were to turn around and support Zuma for Mangaung, it would merely be joining a train already in full steam.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
20Jan/12Off
Celebrate all Struggle heroes
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‘Whose Mandela is it anyway?” asks Busani Ngcaweni in his article “The true meaning of Mandela” (The Star, July 21). He concludes that Mandela belongs to all: “Mandela should be celebrated by the entire global community – progressives, tyrants, conservatives, public servants, etc.”
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Perhaps we should also consider the difficulty of the modern Mandela factor. This is the subject of this article.
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The first and main difficulty is that it resonates with a colonial mentality wherein a white minority would handpick certain black people and deem them “unique” from the broader black collective.
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In a condescending manner, they would say to one black guy: “You are not like them”, or “You are different”. It is for this reason, Ngcaweni, that the current Mandela factor is “depoliticised”, and “decontextualised”.
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The politically contextualised Mandela is properly located within the liberation revolutionary discourse and tradition. As Ngcaweni noted, Mandela must be contextualised as part of the collective of the ANC: “Mandela cut his political teeth in the ANC Youth League, which he founded together with activists like Anton Lembede, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo.”
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The celebration of a contextualised Mandela therefore, would lead to the celebration of black people as a collective. It would mean that the public discourse on Mandela would be couched in such terms as “liberation and revolution”.
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Now, this does not happen in white liberal dominated societies with remnants of institutionalised racism.
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The liberal establishment has, throughout the transition, sought to control and influence the country’s powerful institutions. These include the Reserve Bank, the Ministry of Finance, the public broadcaster and the meaning of Mandela.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
21Jul/11Off
Whose Mandela is it anyway by Busani Ngcaweni*
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Why is writing about Nelson Mandela so difficult? I often wonder. On the contrary, many people consider it easy and in fact most “write what they like” about this international icon, often in ahistorical and depoliticised narratives.
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Paradoxically, I am also inclined to concur; it is not difficult to write and say anything about Madiba. What is difficult is writing what ought to be written, what ought to be said about what he really represents, the milieu that shaped him, the context that shaped his decisions and numerous other considerations that, if truly appreciated by all those who invoke his name, the world we live in would undoubtedly be a better place today.
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Unfortunately, what most writers, commentators and politicians do is selectively draw and apply “lessons from Mandela”. Habitually, commentary is punctuated with posture that suggests those in power don’t qualify to be there because they are not a “Mandela”. In South Africa in particular, a debate is unfolding which unfairly gauges the performance and style of contemporary leaders in terms of the yardstick of the Mandela persona. The blemish in the comparison is two-fold.
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First, it depoliticises Mandela. That is, it removes him from his organisation, thus indirectly suggesting that his was a lone crusade not informed and influenced by organisational policies, discipline and decisions.
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Second, descriptors are applied instead of first settling definition questions. History has proven that in politicised debates, people elect to describe complex phenomena like Mandela instead of engaging with the most elementary aspect of analysis – defining phenomena. You do not define temperature by looking at the sun – temperature is to be felt and not seen!
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
7Jun/11Off
When a Makhosini becomes a McKing
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A FRIEND of mine, Makhosini Shongwe, has been offered a top executive position in a big company.
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Among the top five executives, he is the only black and has no decision-making powers.
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I decided to go to his place at KwaMashu to congratulate him. I boarded a minibus taxi from Durban station. An agitated woman complained the driver was too slow, although he drove at 100 km/h, the legal speed limit in the area.
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She urged the driver to move faster. As the taxi rolled into KwaMashu through section C, two passengers were discussing a friend of theirs who had left the area to live in the suburbs. Quite quickly, the topic was a free-for-all.
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Some lamented the move by blacks from their black roots to live in the white areas. They were labelled all sorts of things: sell-outs, cowards, and wanna-be-whites.
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Instead of leaving the townships for the suburbs, it was argued, blacks should stick to their areas and develop them.
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A passenger identified as Skhumba countered the above argument.
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This is Africa, he said, and there is no place that should be identified as a white area. Africans were at home on all the inches of African soil; SA was no exception.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
31May/11Off
A new public service cadre can do things differently by Busani Ngcaweni*
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Lately, a question has arisen seeking to establish how the President’s call to ‘do things differently’ implicates the public sector manager. Understandably, this pertinent enquiry invokes assorted feelings of doubt, flux, excitement, hope and pride. In conservations, public sector managers doubt whether they indeed can ‘do things differently’. Some feel the very same question result in volatility. But more encouraging is noticeable rise in energies and patriotism when prospects of a new way of doing things are explored.
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All in all, indications point to a public service pregnant with possibilities of efficiency, responsibility, caring, and responsiveness.
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Developing a ‘new public service cadre’ should not be mistaken for winning a lottery – for it’s neither a gamble nor an instant gain. It is a long haul. First, there must be appreciation of the President’s call:
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“…we need public servants that will always uphold the interests of the people they are employed to serve… we want to build an administration that knows where people live, which knows what they think, and which acts fast, efficiently and effectively on the issues they raise.”
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This ought to develop out of a meta-consciousness premised on normative values from which our democratic society and government stand for: a united, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous society.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
31May/11Off
Much Of A Muchness Are Men To Women; Save For Intent…By Thobeka Conco
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“Women nag, consistently and insistently” so say men and you know what…I agree, I really do! I humbly ask my sisters to give me the opportunity to explain before they start baying for my blood. Believe me it hurt me too to admit to myself that yes, we do nag...however my strong belief in that for every action there’s a reaction prompted me to find reason in this maddening reaction…nagging. First let’s look at the meaning of the word, shall we?
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Nagging;
a) To annoy by constant scolding, complaining, or urging.
b) To torment persistently, as with anxiety or pain.
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Attention is drawn to the fact that the meaning of this word is two-fold. The first meaning especially rang familiar, because if you asked any man who has a nagging woman in his life to elaborate on this, he would probably tell you that she complains non stop usually about the one and the same thing. I’ll take the risk and assume that nagging is as a result of something hence I keep referring to this word as a reaction; purely because I refuse to believe that any sane person would just wake up one day and decide to nag. One can never react to nothing and repeating yourself is tedious at most therefore I doubt that anyone would voluntarily and happily engage in such an act.
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For example; a female neighbour of mine had a problem with her man who would, without fail, drink himself to a near comma every weekend wherein he would either crash his car or loose a very expensive cell phone or his wallet…you see where I’m going with this. We won’t focus on his apparent drinking problem as that is another topic all together, however she found herself having to deal with the aftermaths of his escapades on a continuous basis. In the beginning she would plead with him to be prudent as this was exerting heavy financial and emotional burden on their relationship and he would listen (even if it were for a moment) but then the vicious cycle would resume again. So what then transpired was that whenever he headed for the door on any given weekend, she would go off and “annoyingly complain and scold” him about his carelessness and insensitivity before he even had the chance to start drinking because she was well aware of what was to follow. What had begun as genuine concern for her man had by now evolved into a verbal boxing match because she felt powerless over a situation that was slowly but effectively eating away at the very core of their relationship. The point of this borrowed story is that most often than not when a woman nags it a) starts off as genuine concern over a situation that she perceives as threatening either to her man or their relationship and b) this said concern takes on another form when the man continuously engages in the same transgression over and over again with little or no concern for his partner’s feelings.
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