2Sep/100
Superiority of argument must prevail in the determination of information bill and media appeals tribunal
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Three recent developments could not escape one’s attention as vicious debates on the protection of information bill and a media appeals tribunal proposal rages.
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First, one has noted with interest a sudden surge in rulings by the Press Ombudsman against the press. In the month of August alone, we have read apologies to Zweli Mkhize, Lakela Kaunda, Matthews Phosa and a few other known individuals who have complained against “unfair/biased” reporting by various media houses. Perhaps it is mere coincidence: but a strange one indeed given the ongoing debate on the media appeals tribunal. That these apologies have made it to the front pages of our leading dailies cannot go unnoticed.
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Irrespective of the damage to the reputation of these individuals, occasioned by these unfair stories, nothing other than printed apologies is offered for remedy. Without necessarily weighing the depth of the said biased reporting, in all likelihood, these individuals will lose libel suits in our courts.
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Second, a daily newspaper reported on August 24 that the Press Council of South Africa announced a decision “to undertake a complete review of its constitution in the wake of criticism that emerged in debate over the ANC’s planned media appeals tribunal”. No coincidence here. The reason for such an intervention is declared upfront.
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Few questions arise in this case: why review the constitution if the establishment that believes current self-regulation model is ample? Review to what end? Another question is what is the profile of those chosen to conduct this review? A cursory look at the names announced leaves a lot to be desired. For those who missed out, they include Bewyn Petersen, Moegsien Williams, Frazn Kruger, Simon Mantel, Peter Mann and Susan Smuts.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
1Sep/100
MEN MUST MANAGE THEIR WOMEN AS PROJECTS
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Men in partnerships must engage their women like projects. This is the assertion of Busani Ngcaweni. Thus, Men must apply project management principles to manage their women. Ngcaweni argues that there are three relevant project management principles that must apply.
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The first is project initiation. This is the phase of project conceptualization. At this stage, the project manager conceptualizes the projects. That is, what he wants to do, and for what purposes. Then determine the operational mode of achieving the intended project results.
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Similarly, argues Ngcaweni, a man will first conceptualize his desired woman. He will determine what woman he wants. That is, what are the qualities that he wants in a woman for a relationship? Then he will determine the nature of the relationship that he wants to develop with such a woman. Linked to this, he needs to determine what should be the nature, content, and desired outcome of the relationship.
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This part of the project is important because it determines the plans for the next phase.
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The next stage of the project management principles is called the implementation phase. Others refer to this as the project operationalisation stage. At this stage, the project manager sets the project in motion. The scoping is done. Resources have been allocated. The time frames have been drawn and set. The risks and possible mitigating factors have been identified. Essentially it is all systems ago.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
1Sep/100
THE AGE OF CONSENSUS RELATIONSHIPS
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This ought to be the era of consensus relationships. Yet most men and women do not want to negotiate the terms and content of their affairs, leading to a consensus relationship.
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The traditional form of relationships did not need much of a consensus. The rules, rights and obligations were very clear cut. The man was the family’s sole provider; culture and religion determined that man was the main power head of the family. As long as he discharged his sole provision obligations, the woman had to follow his dictates.
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However, in modern societies, man is no longer the sole provider in the family. Some women earn more than their men. In fact, most women do provide financial support to their men. The “sole provider” factor is no longer applicable as a source of male dominance. Similarly, cultural and religious considerations are now subjected to rational and logical critique and successfully challenged.
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The power gap between man and modern woman has drastically narrowed. In the modern society, both man and women go to work. They both run business. They are both managers at work and executives in their business. They both suffer similar time pressures. This requires that couples negotiated the nature, content, and direction of their engagement and build a consensus based relationship.
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Given that both partners lead hectic lives, the time they spend on each other is diminished. Moreover, there is fatigue which cuts down on the quality of the time they spend together. Thus, expectations they have of each other is adversely affected. The ensuing danger is that they will end up doing things as a matter of obligation. That is, they have to comply to each other.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
30Jul/101
Intellectual honesty is key to identifying a modernising emperor
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Writing in the Sunday Independent of July 25, Prince Mashele makes the following preposterous observations about the president of the republic: “...the problem with the emperor who leads South Africa today is that there is no evidence that he possesses the necessary analytical capacity to penetrate our overarching problem.”
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Mashele astonishingly argues that “beyond the realm of songs, dance and smiles, few in our society would be ready to be mobilised intellectually by our melodiously gifted Emperor.”
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For this reason, Mashele argues, the country has stalled and may in fact be sliding backward.
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It is not easy to expose Mashele’s prejudice and concomitantly avoid joining him in the intellectual gutter. For this sake of intellectual enterprise, let the reader adjudicate.
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Join me in a short journey to lay bare both fundamental and elementary flaws in Mashele’s thesis. On top of the snag list is his assertion that “our people are no different from the Americans or Europeans of today.” But then he contradicts himself by arguing that “often, the weight of history does impose itself on generations far beyond the immediacy of an historic moment.”
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
30Jul/104
THE THINGS THAT WE GUYS DO, BUT NEVER LEARN.
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I am so sure that guys will crucify me for this article. But I will say it anyway. This article states some of the tendencies that we guys do and end up with egg on our faces.
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We have a tendency of getting carried away by the voice of a woman over a phone. We fall all over our selves just from hearing a beautiful voice on the phone. This is the voice of a woman that as a matter of fact we have not met. But then, we will picture as the most beautiful woman. We will, in our heads, see her sexually, and romantically. We assign to the voice over the phone, the physical image that is strictly in our heads. In our heads, the woman’s voice over the phone belongs to a stunning, beautiful, and sexy woman. Some of these voices we come across them through calling centres. Alternatively, it could be a wrong call. In most cases, we pursue the owner of this beautiful voice for a meeting. Very often, when we meet her, she does not share the stunning looks that we have created in our heads as guys. She is more than often, ugly, shapeless, and much older than we had anticipated. Then as guys, we have an option, we can admit to her that yes indeed ‘I am the guy that you have been talking to over the phone”, or we just deny it at all. And of course, we run for dear life.
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Then we also fall for cute faces of women sitting behind a counter. Quite often, women sitting behind a counter have stunning and cute faces. They wear tight bras. These bras push their breasts up. And the blouse opens slightly showing a very beautiful chest area. So, for us guys, the cute face and the adjusted breasts look so stunning and we rush to assume that this woman is completely beautiful from head to toe. So, we start putting our case. We ask her out. We seek to date her. If she does not have a car, we will offer to pick her up when she knocks off. And that is when the problem begins. As she approaches the car, suddenly we realize that the beauty was limited to the face and the breasts. The rest of the body is just something else. At this point, we can run away. We have spoken to her, and she knows the guy as much as needs to. So, as guys we put up a brave face, and play along. The worst part is that poor woman may actually fall in love, when he guy looks for every opportunity to disappear. After partying on a faked high note by the guy, he will delete her numbers, never call her again, nor take her calls. She will call several times, and soon we give up.
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Then there is a situation where we meet some woman. She is beautiful and appealing to the eye. Through sheer luck, a relationship starts. Then she makes the cardinal mistake of introducing the guy to her friends. She is so happy with her new boyfriend that she wants her friends to meet Mr. Nice guy. As it turns out, the guy gets hooked into her new girlfriend’s friend. He finds them more attractive than his own. He curses himself that he should have waited till he met these other girls before making a move onto his one. But the fact is, even if it was another girl from the same group of friends, he would have later also been interested onto his current girlfriend. The worse part here, is that boyfriend will start to charm his woman as a self marketing move to other chicks. He will speak well and highly and charmingly to his woman. He will make sure that others hear that he is a cool chap. At some point, the friends will alert the girlfriend that the guys is pursuing her friend. This really does cut the guy to size. However, in most cases, girls prefer to remain quiet about the whole situation.
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Now this one is rather hectic. Most of us guys we feel that we are sexually the real machos in bed when we are drunk. We feel sexy, romantic and that we are simply the best in bed. All of this has no proof except for our ego and alcohol. Unfortunately, when we get to the stage with the lady, we just fall asleep. No performance at all. And in most cases, we snore when we are drunk. Something that annoys many women. The worst part is when we wake up sober in the morning, and want to do what we ought to have done the previous night. Only to find that the lady is not longer interested. In fact, she is disappointed and wants nothing to do with the guy
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
12Jul/104
The problem with women
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Women have specific issues that they look for to determine whether their men love them or not. The problem is, they usually do not communicate this score board. For example, they expect their men to call every day. When two days go past without a call, they rush to conclude “he does not love me anymore”. Yet, this has never been communicated to the man that “I expect you to call me everyday”.
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The argument that women have advanced here is that “when we started, he always called me everyday”. That is, the man has changed his pattern of behaviour. Perhaps the guy also used to buy flowers, chocolates, and arranged outing for dinner “for two”. The argument therefore from women is that – “there has been a pattern of behaviour by the man that has changed”. And in a woman’s conclusion, it means “love is gone – or at least diminished”. At worse they conclude: “he does not love me anymore”.
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The worse part in this situation is that some women start to act in accordance with his suspicion of “love gone” as if indeed this was a fact. Once again, this is not communicated to the poor guy.
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Two problems emerge now: first the woman has a set of indicators in her head that determine whether the man still loves or not. But the poor man does not know this score card that he is being measured against. Essentially, men get measured on their love for their women on something that has neither been negotiated with them, nor informed as such. Unfortunately, women’s suspicion against their men is frequently considered a “fact” by the women. This is followed by a nasty attitude against the man.
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This is where the notion of women being more emotional and men being more rational is partly proven true. Ideally, in every evolution of life, processes do slow down. As we grow, our ability to move fast slows down. Our rate of metabolism slows down. Even women themselves, their ovulation stops and they reach menopause. In fact, women are more conscious of aging than men. This is partly because as they grow older, there are certain things that they cannot do anymore. This is just how nature evolves.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
8Jun/10Off
The Union of South Africa is our collective history, building a better life for all is our collective responsibility
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A WEEK ago, my son’s school called and presented a case for why he should retain other science subjects but replace physics with history. This, the teacher explained, was based on academic assessments coupled with his first-term performance.
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History? I hesitated. Why not geography? With maths, engineering design and geography, he could at least study town planning or any other built-environment course.
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As fate would have it, the next evening I attended a Financial Times dinner that was addressed by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe . After his address, he fielded few questions from the audience. One came from a student, who asked: “As a white teenager who forms part of the president’s award youth programme, I want to know how the youth can help our country to grow as a world power? And how can we promote our rainbow nation?”
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Motlanthe replied: “Two ways: the first step is to acquire a good education and skills…. The second is for us as a nation to collectively own our history. Part of our difficulty is that we look at the history of this country from two opposite sides.
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“Whereas everything that happened to this or that section of the South African population did so in the midst and presence of all South Africans… I have been astonished by all the deafening silence about the fact that this year marks the centenary of the Union of SA. And we should be familiarising ourselves with what it meant and so on; because it is our common history… But of course there’s deafening silence because, from the perspective of those who were excluded from Parliament, that’s not their history. And from the perspective of those that were (included) … (they) feel that that’s part of history that they would rather forget. And yet if we are to truly build a united democratic, nonsexist, nonracial and prosperous South African nation, we have got to begin by owning this history as indivisible history. It doesn’t belong to this section or that section, it belongs to all of us.”
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
8Jun/10Off
MY GREAT ENCOUNTER WITH AN ANGEL
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It was midday of month end. The shopping mall was packed to capacity. Not hundreds, but thousands. And there she was. Her teeth looked so white. This was not so much of the toothpaste that she uses, but because of her thick dark lips.
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As her lips parted when she was saying “hi” to me, I did not hear the sound – nothing! All I saw these two thick dark lips parting and pressing against each other rhythmically. They both had a line in their middle. Whenever they pressed against each other, the two lines appeared one long one. It was as if this line was pointing me to the nose. My right forefinger was itching to touch the nose. The nose was just the perfect addition to her dark beauty face.
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It is hard to describe the real shape of her face. It is almost round, and yet not so. And I was not going to waste my time trying to describe her face. But I was happy to spend all my time getting absorbed in her dark beauty. She wore a smooth skin on her face. It is an ideal skin for the instructors of beauty therapy. But hers is natural beauty. It is a beauty that warrants exploration. It is a detailed beauty. Every second I looked at her, I discovered more beautiful features. Her skin was so smooth. And yet, she is not cute, but naturally beautiful, and stunning.
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For a moment, she was the only person I saw in the mall. It was immaterial that this was midday of month end. I was blind to the multitude of shoppers. I was deaf to the noise of the shopping craze. Right there in front of me, she stood checking on a pair of female booths. Amidst the shopping craze – she is the only person I saw.
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Perhaps the best priest came by – perhaps the priest made no sense as I was immersed in this original Godly creation in front of me. I am sure, even if Jesus had invited me to his father’s Kingdom, the heaven, and paradise, I would have chosen to remain in the presence of this mobile paradise.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
8Jun/10Off
DISCIPLINE OF ANC LEADERSHIP ESSENTIAL FOR PLANNING COMMISSION SUCCESS
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The preoccupation of five year regime change within the ruling party (ANC) is the biggest challenge to the success of the Planning Commission (PC). There is a symbiotic relationship between Planning Commissions, and political leadership. The essence of the Planning Commission is long term planning. That is, determine a long term vision and programme to achieve such a vision. This requires a political leadership that is capable of developing long term visions and plans and provides leadership in the implementation of such programmes.)
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The current tendency within the ANC is more concerned on the set of individuals who must assume the leadership reigns from the next elective conference. Whilst the ANC has moved for the institutionalization of the Planning Commission, there is every possible danger that the very same ruling party maybe the utmost danger for the success and sustenance of the Planning Commission. This is the case because of the dominant preoccupation with internal five year regime change. In the main, this comes at the expense of long term policies and development programmes.
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In less than a year after President Jacob Zuma assumed office, debates had already started within the ANC and its alliance partners whether he should serve a second term. Such considerations were not based on the policies and programmes of the ANC in government, but merely opportunistic. One of the common discourse in the ANC is “projects”. There is talk of “project 2014”; “project 2019”; and so on. These are considerations of individuals who should assume leadership positions both within the ruling party, and state. They are not based on some society vision, ideal, policies and programmes that must be pursued. They are largely based on individuals’ or factional self interest.
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These “project” pursuits also manifest themselves on the current “2012” ANC’s elective conference. Even debates are stifled by individual quest to appease certain leaders so that they can be supported at the 2012 elective conference. A good example is the nationalization “debate” within the ruling party. It is so intrinsically linked to 2012 succession such that the essence of the debate has lost substance.
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Policy debates that are linked to leadership succession as incentives or disincentive for those that agree or disagree with the mover respectively are counterproductive to the essence of the PC. The substantive work of the PC goes beyond five year political terms. In fact, this is partly the reason PC have come into existence. To ensure that an objective scientific research and analysis of socio – economic conditions is the bases for planning. The PC ensures that regardless of the leadership regime at any given moment, society has a credible long term plan and resource allocation that enjoys support of all major stakeholders in the country.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
25May/10Off
DISCIPLINE OF ANC LEADERSHIP ESSENTIAL FOR PLANNING COMMISSION SUCCESS
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The preoccupation of five year regime change within the ruling party (ANC) is the biggest challenge to the success of the Planning Commission (PC).
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The essence of the Planning Commission is long term planning. Three issues are important in this regard: first is the determination of a long term vision. That is, answer the following question: say, in thirty years’ time – what must be the ideal of South Africa? This question must be answered in a multidisciplinary response. That is, economically, socially, and democratic dispensation.
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Secondly; the consolidation of a multidisciplinary team to undertake long term planning at a technical level. Modern governance is highly technical and requires that those who undertake planning are multidisciplinary in thought and practice. For examples: those who undertake transportation planning must equally be alive to environmental, health, educational and human settlement matters. Essentially, the long term plan produced by the Planning Commission must ensure that governance is integrated, coordinated and synergized.
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Thirdly; the Planning Commission must undertake inter sectoral mass mobilisation. That is, after the Planning Commission has technically finalized the national integrated long term vision and plan, it must ensure that various sectors of society are mobilized to contribute to the plan; buy in; accept it; and own it..
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Such the plan is not necessary of government, but of society as a whole. Ultimately, the long term plan includes deliverables, timeframes, and responsibilities of the public, private, and civil society sectors. In essence, the ultimate long term plan as produced by the PC, is not of government per se, but of society as a whole.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
23May/10Off
FINDING THE PEACE IN SINGLE PARENTHOOD
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“Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you ride onto the road, don’t complicate your mind”, Bob Marley. Life is neither fair, nor unfair, but rather complex. Quiet often individuals would express their intentions of how their lives will unfold. For many young people, the intended path is as follows: grow up; get education; a great job; meet “Mr. Right”; get married; have kids; and raise a family. The same applies to boys – find “Ms. Right” and settle down.
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However, in the complexities of life, these dreams do not always turn out the way they are intended. This growth pattern must always be understood as an intention, dream, and aspiration – and not so much a growth path with guaranteed results.
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Any aspect of life that deals with human interactions cannot be guaranteed. The intention to get married is largely dependent on meeting someone who will want the same. It is not a “natural growth path”. Getting married and growing kids inside a family structure is dependent on a variety of social phenomenon. This may include the way one is socialized as one grows up, and equally, the way that those that one meets were socialized as well.
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Earlier societies had higher levels of family and community socialization, and therefore prospects of getting married and raising kids within a family and community structure were highly possible. Today, those who live and grow up in urban areas are relatively less socialized in both community and family structures. There is more “I” than “we” in modern socialization.
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The essence of life therefore, is that it is complex. It is complex because it is rooted in human interactions. Individuals have personal life agendas, and as they go through these agendas, there are interactions with given consequences.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
18May/10Off
THE AGE OF SINGLE PARENTHOOD IS HERE TO STAY – LIVE WITH IT!
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The age of single parenthood is upon us. Single parenthood is here to stay. It is becoming a common feature of society. There is increasingly a growing number of young men and young women who are actively raising children on their own. Parallel to this growth, is the increasing number of young men and women who are abdicating their responsibility and obligations to raise their little children. In the midst of all this, are children who need to be raised in the manner that they develop and acquire good values so that they grow up to be decent adults.
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Three issues are critical here: firstly, how do single parents find a peace of mind and live happily with this situation; and secondly; how should single parents raise their kids to be happy kids; and thirdly, how do we get society to accept that this is a new society phenomenon. That is, accept the situation without ostracizing those that are in the situation.
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It is difficult to pinpoint exactly sources of the emergence of single parenthood as a feature in society. However, a few assumptions can be made. The first is the decline of man’s status as a sole provider in the family. Linked to this, is the growing independence, self assertion, and individual drive by young women. Most of the self assertion and individual drive by young women is as a result of girls accessing education as much as young boys do.
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Whilst earlier in history, the inclination by many families was to educate boys, whilst girls wear reared to be good wives, today both boys and girls and boys access education with equal measure. Consequently, young women develop as much dreams to be themselves as boys do. Girls therefore, grow up with individualistic dreams, much as boys do: to go far in education; get a great job and earn big bucks; buy or build a big house; and have children. A man, marriage, and marriage to many a young women – is just an option! This is partly because young women now are self sustainable. They can provide for themselves, and in fact, provide for many men for that matter.
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This situation does not necessarily drive young women to have children outside marriage, but rather it makes them less tolerant to men’s misbehavior. Put more succinctly: it is much easier now for women to dump an errant boyfriend, who may also be the father of a woman’s child, than may have been in the past. However, it is equally much easier now for an unmarried father to dump an errant girlfriend and even contest for the custody of a child.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
14May/10Off
It should be a ‘productive” instead of ‘service delivery’ public sector
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South Africa needs to adopt a conceptual and practical shift that downplays the discourse of “service delivery” in favour of a “productive” public sector. This does not mean that the current wave of “service delivery” demonstrations are without foundation, but a recognition that such a discourse has both conceptual and practical weaknesses.
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South Africa emerges from a liberation tradition, and is governed by a liberation movement. Thus, “service delivery” partly bears the dangers of liberation governors asserting that “we liberated you from apartheid, and now we will deliver unto you your socio-economic needs”. This historical based claim to authority and legitimacy, rather than the productivity of the public sector, weighs much heavier on the needy citizenry. Thus, the dominant discourse in the current “service delivery” demonstrations is: “what government promised us” and by extension “what we are entitled to”.
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Here are two possible unintended complementary weaknesses of “service delivery” discourse: It is not too motivational on the side of the governors and their civil service, and also brews a sense of entitlement on the side of the citizenry. The overall unintended consequence of all this maybe complacency both within and outside the state.
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The challenge is to build a productive state and society both conceptually and practically. That is, the public service must adopt a sense of being productive institutionally, individually, and collectively. Service delivery; and monitoring and evaluation, are mere integral parts of what makes up a productive public sector. Whilst, the dominant public sector discourse in this country has been one of “service delivery”, this has been articulated virtually de contextualized from the overall performance of the state.
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Consequently, many of the currently ill termed “service delivery” protests are actually a quest for a better quality of life. Rather than an appeal for running water, and electricity, demonstrators are seeking economic opportunities. Those demonstrating from the squatter camps and townships would rather have economic opportunities to move out of such locations.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
11May/10Off
Can the public service mandarins raise their hands?
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Pity the dearth of a robust debate on the possibility of creating a new public service culture and cadre. Regrettable, this vacuity creates an impression that the promise of creating public service excellence remains a distant possibility when in fact mounting evidence point to the contrary.
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On several occasions before and after the general elections, President Jacob Zuma has instructed: “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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He asked further: “… how will we make the public service more caring, responsible, effective and interactive” (sic).
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There have been limited attempts at problematising this presidential challenge and gauging its imminence.
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In an endeavour to bolster the thesis that what the president has called for is achievable in the short to medium-term, this treatise spends time exploring features of public service excellence with the “public service mandarins” at the helm. It then concludes by positing that possibilities abound to achieve this goal given the political milieu and direction, the public agency for a professional and accountable public service, as well as emerging professional development opportunities available to senior managers in government.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.
11May/10Off
Improving working conditions, not wild rightwing threats, will improve safety in farms
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“I was not sorry when my brother died. Nor am I apologising for my callousness, as you may define it, my lack of feeling. For it is not that at all.”
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These opening lines from Tsitsi Dangarembga’s epic novel, Nervous Conditions, best depict how many of my facebook fellows felt when the news of Eugene Terre Blanche’s death broke.
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Not that many rejoiced at the death of a fellow countryman. It is what the departed represented that illicit such ‘callousness’. One blogger opined “khokhela abasebenzi bakho ukuze izinsuku zakho zande emhlabeni”. Loosely translated, ‘pay your workers (on time and as per agreement) and you shall live longer’.
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Now that ET is buried and tempers are beginning to taper, it is time society looked at and reconditioned the conditions that led to his death. Media reported that both murder suspects, a minor and a major, were aggrieved that ET owed them three months’ wages.
To read the rest of this article download the PDF here.