Monday, May 5, 2014

South Africa Corruption and President Jacob Zuma

The corruption ahead of the South Africa 2014 elections continue to grow and the long and short term discord are drowning out any long term view of democracy. Corruption in South Africa started many years ago, when Bantu Holomisa blew the whistle on the Mandela's administration in the early 1990s. Blowing the whistle on corruption at that time got Holomisa expelled. The big controversy around the controversial arms deal benefits the officials of the African National (ANC) party and investigations continue to be delayed.
Another huge implication of corruption was the sale of state assets by various premiers among top officials. Eskom, the electricity giant, sold its copper drying kilns and today experiences problems drying wet coal, thereby implementing load shedding across the land.

People are not obsessed with Zuma in particular, but shadow him as the pinnacle of a system that places him as the top corruption architect. The recent Nkandla scandal has not been resolved, and this has placed the president in a precarious position. The South African perception of the ANC government policy is a corrupt system, and Zuma is both presidents of the country and of the ANC party.

The recent attempt by Zuma to win over the Democratic Alliance (DA) controlled area has indicated his concern among the green and yellow (ANC) that threatens to destroy the country if a bit of blue (DA) begins to grow. Nobody is concerned with the red (EFF), its spells blood and the walls of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) will take it all should they get a foothold in the governance of the country. The power coveted in South Africa by the ANC is scary and probably all over the world.

Zuma is determined by position rather than action as the leader of the country by its citizens.. His actions have subverted his role as a preferential leader and will be remembered as a weak and strategically absent leader. Zuma a strong element of the manipulating ANC party will eventually be incompatible.

The public continues to be pre-occupied and fascinated with Zuma. Remain appalled by his criminal acts and his stance on offenders who go unpunished. The public who vigorously object to the squander of public funds is of the opinion it is a reality of preoccupation with self enrichment.

The 1994 pre-accord held one set of rules to govern the entire nation. True equality was promised to all and was the cornerstone of the constitution. The ANC has turned this rule around favoring grounds of privilege and set out different rules for the masses and another for the elite. Delusional behavior, at the expense of the taxpayer and the continued defiance of the rule of law is a real illness. The only sustainable options are persistent objections and working toward a permanent cure.

Zuma throughout his leadership has established strong social standing within the boundaries of his power and uses this polarization to achieve his goals. Had he used this influence to maximize toward a congruent and socially inclusive economic and political end game? No, he has by his direct and indirect actions condoned a different conclusion as being a clear goal. The use of public funds for personal gain and defense of poor, wrong choice is reasonable and consequently he has reinforced many of the worst traits of people ill equipped to make a full, determined decision about individual acts versus country benefiting acts.

Whether or not a suitable replacement currently exists is the moot point, rather it should be the collective party and people that produce a stop, or diversion that either excludes Zuma, or forces responsibility onto his shoulders.

Opposition parties will continue to expand their population strength, even parties with an inconsistent economic and political content. It is when those in power divert their attention and efforts inward, rather than outward that corruption continues to swell.

A comment from the public described the corruption in South Africa as the blind that will never see, the brainwashed that will never think, and the poor that will never improve. The ANC is the enemy of the sane, friend of the corrupt, illiterate and brainwashed.

Zuma is an obsession created by the media who continue to provide the public with delusional beliefs that he is none other than the most atrocious person in South Africa. The ANC party under the leadership of Zuma has displayed the worst act of corruption, and until the free and fair elections go ahead, the public continue to elect his fate.

Opinion By Laura Oneale

Saturday, May 3, 2014

South Africa - Part 2 - Sins of the Fathers

South Africa - a democratic farce?
The ruling ANC claims that it has a good story to tell!

Indeed they might have a small part of a good story, such as the building of nearly 3
million houses for the underprivileged, so called RDP houses (RDP = Reconstruction and development). However, what about the houses that had been built sub – standard? Cracking and crumbling away? Not a good story!

What about water and sewage? All the aquifers between Johannesburg and Pretoria is claimed to have to been contaminated with faeces! All the service protests are about these issues! During the last couple of months, the service protests have increased to more than 30 per day, according to some observers.

The ANC on their version had learned from General Von Giap in Vietnam how to utilize violence in order to assemble a take-over. Julius Malema from the Economic
Freedom Fighters (EFF)) knows firsthand how to employ such tactics. He will certainly be a formidable opponent in the coming elections in South Africa. The ANC will not have it all its own way. In 1994 when some of us said that everyone should vote for the ANC, we were labelled as rebels. It made sense as it’s all a numbers game. For as long as it’s one man, one vote the black vote would outnumber the white vote. Having voted for the sense at that time en masse would have ensured that the ANC would have access to the skills required to set South Africa on an economic boom track. However, more and more issues are being polarised, and it’s boiling down to black and white. The sins of the fathers!

Read this article relating to the 1994 elections and the brokered deal, the peoples votes did not matter!!
Link to Guardian LV article

Inside the ANC the SACP (Communist Party) members are standing exceptionally strong; Blade Nzimande continuously makes highly controversial statements. This whilst he is a land baron in own right. His children attend private schools. No mingling for them with the poor people whose purpose is supposedly championed by the SACP contingent. The SACP has always been known as the most Stalinist communist parties. The SACP is hell bent on harnessing the private sector far socialist goals. While they enrich themselves tremendously at the cost of the downtrodden who are extremely confused to speak for themselves. However, any little bit of relief from the government is absorbed in this milieu. The grants to 17 million people along with the provision of 3 million houses all came at a financial cost. Houses need to be maintained, the grants have no provision to serve as an enticement in order to convince recipients thereof to start looking for jobs. Due to the world economic situation finding itself in a situation of dire straits for several years and only starting to raise its head, albeit at an exceedingly precarious speed, the facts are that the pains associated with such negative contractions also had a negative impact on politics.

During this period, South Africans started looking with more critical eyes at corruption and serious irregularities. The Arms Commission established to pierce the veil of secrecy and to expose the shenanigans to which specifically Andrew Feinstein in his various works refer. The fact that corruption in this matter could reach the levels it did was only because the technocrats and the securocrats could be involved. In this regard, they quote secrecy legislation, and they have managed to gain control in the courts. Judges play along with their wishes. State funds are spent willy nilly, yet the Organs as described in Chapter 9 of the Constitution does not and is not seen as to act decisively against these issues. The Public Protector in South Africa, Adv Thuli Madonsela, has delivered a report in respect of the State funds irregularly spent on the President’s private compound at Nkandla.
Officialdom had become adept at blocking investigations into issues of corruption. Corruption under the ANC has become, writes John-Kane Berman. He specifically shows that the National Development Plan is nothing else but an instrument in order to activate South Africa into a communist enclave. In this enclave, the nomenklatura will have enriched themselves tremendously at the cost of the poor. They will be totally untouchable as they control the levers of power as well as the courts.
John-Kane Berman writes about the National Party (NP): “Ministers profited from advance information about expropriations under the Group Areas Act. Other land deals also made ministers and their friends rich. Half the Cabinet sat on the board of a company to whom they swung government printing contracts.” Nelson Mandela on becoming President proclaimed “Never again.” Indeed, never again anything such as apartheid, such as the blatant corruption. Why should we accept this?
Why was there no outcry from the civil society under the NP when these actions took place? Because in the eyes of the public they got services. Wendy Luhabe, wife of Sam Shilowa (Mbasima), previous Premier of Gauteng stated some years ago that education under apartheid was better than the education under the ANC.

Would it be a mistake to state that if Pres Zuma had put his foot down and insisted on services there would be much more contentment in the civil society? Would the ANC have been seen more as the champion of the people? Would Nkandla have become such a big issue? If there was service delivery on a large scale would people have forgiven him for Nkandla or even if he had built 10 Nkandla’s?

All Zuma’s indiscretions- are because his enemies had set traps for him, and continue to do so because he gives his enemies the opportunity to capitalise on such? The lack of discipline in the South African society needs to be checked. Can Pres Zuma at long last show us that he is the man who can take care of such or will he continue to be led by his nose through his Intelligence services, which had been severely compromised or else by people such as the “brave” General Officer Commanding of the SA Special Forces?

If Pres Mugabe from Zimbabwe could stay on for such a long time and cock a snoot at the Western World, thereby exposing their ineptness, why should he then not be proclaimed a hero? Pres Putin from Russia had called their bluff in Ukraine, perhaps it is time for the world to begin to re-evaluate as to whether the way they were bought up has substance? When reading the works by Alvin Toffler who states that the Western education system is focused on producing machines for business and not to be freethinkers, then one gets to realize that maybe there is more to learn from Africa than what one might think.

Should Pres Zuma be received on the 7th of May’s elections, it will create a most compelling situation. The moment is his to grab, forget the good story, it has not yet been told, forget moving forward – over the precipice, now is the time to take action. South Africa has so much potential, but if the Captain of the ship is acting like one
of the Oceania, who was the first to abandon his ship, then a disaster is on its way.
Should the President show us that he is serious we shall praise him, failing which we shall have to comment. Mr PW Botha had failed to take up the cudgels and drowned in the Rubicon. Pres De Klerk, despite all his awards, is the one who only took up the cudgels after he had painted himself into a corner.
Water under the bridge or is it smoke on the water?

The sins of the fathers, the more it changes the more it stays the same!

Democracy – a farce?


Friday, May 2, 2014

South Africa - Part 1 - Sins of the Fathers

SOUTH AFRICA: THE SINS OF THE FATHERS – PART I
Despair

South Africa - what a hell hole? Or is it not?

Max Du Preez, a social commentator who has taken quite a bit of time to understand what he is dealing with writes in March this year and asks “What has become of the ANC?”
Prince Mashele and Mzukisis Qobo wrote a book entitled “The Fall of the ANC – What next?” One of the pertinent questions asked is if the ANC was ever ready to govern? John Kane – Berman writes in March this year; “Naught for your comfort as they loot the beloved country.”
All of these commentators express a sense or anxiety and urgency about the happenings in the RSA. While apartheid is still being blamed, the sins of the fathers? Will South Africa ever be able to stand on their own is the question to ask. Apartheid as a social experiment became a complete failure when the authorities searched to entrench it in stone. Rule one, nothing is ever written in stone, except life and death.
However, there are past references to the fact that South Africa has got to answer to, about the moneys received from the USA and the Libyan money which had gone missing.
In all these issues there have been syndicates in action stemming from the old South Africa, pre 1994 and the new South Africa, post 1994. Whilst their actions impact on society as a whole, they have not been exposed as such and so let us delve a little deeper.

The Five Star Trusts (“Five Stars”) was the medium through which the alleged billions of dollars were flowing to South Africa for infrastructural development. At the top of all these dealings allegations are that this all happened during the time of former President Thabo Mbeki. The names of Jesse Duarte, Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa are mentioned. The real fact is that money had disappeared, and even the USA authorities are starting to explore as to what happened.
But this goes much further as the following names have also been added to these allegations:

John Duarte – brother of Jesse Duarte, Razien Dangor, Christo Kriek, Louis Andrello, Carlos Ardasa, Tito Mboweni – previous Governor of the Reserve Bank, Trevor Manuel-
previous Minister of Finance, Maria Ramos – current CEO of Transnet where she stripped the pension fund which is now a case before the court for the repayment of some R 80 billion, Michael Blackbeard – Senior official at the Reserve Bank, Chris Stals – previous Governor of the Reserve Bank, Gill Marcus – current governor of the Reserve Bank, Johan De Jager – Legal Department Reserve Bank, Johan Ruper from Stellenbosch Rob Burrows – Director Reserve Bank, Michael Solomon, Martin Landman, Michael Katz, Lennie Katz, Sybrand Van Der Spuy, Col Marion Horn, Christo Wiese, Mike Brown – Nedbank, Tom Boardman – Nedbank.

The same people are also alleged to have been involved to a larger or a lesser degree in the vanishing of the Gaddafi money. The Gaddafi money was apparently handled under the AU’s (African Union) auspices. Personnel and consultants were provided with diplomatic cover from the AU according to reliable sources.
In this regard, it must be borne in mind that the British MI6 had always been extremely well entrenched in Libya. Many Libyans had been recruited as MI6 agents. Especially during the time of the Afghans fighting against the Russian invaders.
It is alleged that the rise of Gaddafi was due to the role of MI6. MI6 was also involved in the movement of the Gaddafi moneys as well as the financing of the oil explorations of the African continent. The Tar sands project in Canada is another project that was financed by Gaddafi. All of these investments were routed via British companies.

In the South African context, people such as F W De Klerk were linked to MI6.
General Hankel of the SAPS is also acutely strongly linked. Hankel has been linked as the handler of Thabo Mbeki, who apparently was recruited during his lengthy stay in the UK. Mbeki has been known as a connoisseur of the abundant life and was referred to as the Covent Garden Guerrilla due to his passion for opera of which he attended many an opera at Covent Garden. A certain Sam Buthelezi has been linked to the network which ran through to Matthews Phosa, Bob Mhlangu, Willem Lötter, Herman Crause at the SA Intelligence Service, and Lord Renwick, MI6 at its best.

In the SANDF, the link was taken to Lindiwe Sisulu, apparently a known thief and thug and trained by the former STASI (East German Intelligence). Gen Gagiano, former Chief
of the SA Air Force was also implicated. They are not the only people. The network seems to be enormous and include many role players.

The SA Reserve Bank had been implicated in many dodgy deals. In receipt of some of the hundreds of billions of US dollars of the Gaddafi moneys which were signed in by one Shaun Abrahams at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) whence he gave agents of SARS indemnity, which he did not even possess, thereby rendering such indemnity useless. The same Reserve Bank is also implicated in the movement of Gaddafi moneys to the Bank of Athens.

The question ultimately is whether there is any confirmation in all of these allegations. Prince Mashele and Mzukisi Qobo write in their book, “ The Fall of the ANC “ on Page 48 as follows : “In addition to all this, De Klerk and his henchmen depleted state coffers towards the end of apartheid in the early 1990s. Terreblanche comments During De Klerk’s tenure of the presidency from 1989 until 1994, the deficit increased from R 91,2 billion to R 237billion (in current prices).”

On page 207 of the same book, they say the following: “The dictatorship of money has seized complete hold of ANC cadres, and our society is suffering the consequences.”
So, ultimately what is fiction and what not?

The sins of the fathers……


This is only the beginning, so much more to tell.

South Africa 2014 Election - Free and Fair?

On April 27, 1994 South Africa held its first democratic election. The whole process took three days to complete, and people who never had the opportunity to vote before, stood for hours and days in queues to cast their vote of freedom.
Was this election free and fair? What actually happened during the counting process, and was there ever a true reflection of the outcome. No, there was none. The 1994 election was a brokered deal between the main contenders at that time, The National Party (NP) (the former apartheid regime), the African National Congress (ANC) (ruling party today) and some right wing parties and liberation struggle smaller parties.


Read this article posted in the Guardian LV today for the full story.

Link to South Africa 2014 Elections Focus on Free and Fair

The true democracy of elections does not matter when the political parties have the power to dominate and reach amicable agreements with opposition parties. Why waste all the money on an election when the ruling party already has the result of the election?

Does this happen all over the world or only in South Africa.



Thursday, May 1, 2014

South Africa Living in Cuckoo Land - THE END

This post will be the last in the series South Africa Living in Cuckoo Land. We will continue with our truthful findings and begin a new powerful series South Africa Sins of the Fathers.
South Africa Living in Cuckoo Land - The End


Erasmus has been involved in various issues. During the late 1990's, he was the deponent in court cases against the Municipalities in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Ekurhuleni. All these matters dealt with tender irregularities. Despite the process of delaying from the Municipalities’ sides, Erasmus was always on the side that was vindicated. At that stage already, he was starting to become worried as to the preference afforded to the Municipalities, as organs of state, by the courts.

Unnecessary delays with the resultant cost implications. Erasmus made it abundantly clear that in the court case by ABSA’s Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) (Pty)Ltd for the tender to administer the payment of grants of behalf of SASSA (SA Social Security Agency) that the tender was from the beginning highly circumspect. It took the Constitutional Court to clarify the situation, namely that there were serious irregularities involved in the awarding of this tender to Net1, the winning bidder. Why did it have to take so long? Do the aggrieved directors and shareholders of ABSA’s CPS have a claim against the directors and shareholders of Net1 for damages? In all probability, yes. Net1 is a listed company in New York.

Erasmus was involved in the Madhlopa commission of Inquiry into irregularities at the
Highveld District Municipality in Middelburg, Mpumalanga in 1999/2000 after he was one of the vociferous complainants to then Pres Thabo Mbeki in respect of the tender irregularities. In the final report of the Madhlopa Commission, he is referred to as the man for democracy who is not afraid to go the extra mile or two. Erasmus was also the last investigator and author of the report into the irregularities pertaining to the Mbombela Soccer Stadium prior to the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. He was scathing as to the role played by the National Treasury. This report is the story, which supposedly led to the murder of Jimmy Mohlala, the Speaker at the Mbombela Municipality in Nelspruit. The investigation by the Hawks – the dodgy special investigation unit under control of the SAPS and the DPSA (Directorate Public Prosecutions, Division of the NPA – National Prosecuting Authority) has come to naught. Various actions were brought to derail these investigations, as to the legality thereof, the authorities do not seem to interested in finalizing this issues, such as many other matters!

During the early 1990’s Iran and Iraq was embroiled in a war in which the USA was providing the Iraqis with satellite info to counter the Iranian aggression. In this war, the Iranians had pushed and became entangled in the marshes at Basra. In this battle, the Iraqis killed 10 000 Iranians with the help of South African manufactured G5 cannons and their 155mm ammunition.
South Africa had supplied the G5 guns and ammunition to Saddam Husain as part of a deal brokered by the CIA from the USA and the Mossad from Israel. This agreement was made in order to provide South Africa oil in exchange for these artillery pieces that proved to be so effective. In the whole transaction, there was one key player, ARMSCOR – the State owned procurement entity that has been involved in may a shady dealing.
Armscor as the state’s procurement agency pertaining to defense has always relied on the secrecy provisions in the legislation in order to hide their nefarious activities. In this respect the infamous incident of Jorge Pinol, who secured helicopters for the RSA and who was screwed out of his commission? Any and every court action has been sabotaged to such an extent that Pinol will have extreme difficulty in obtaining his dues.

During October 1987 through to June 1988, the South Africans were busy fighting in Angola in order to take Quito Cuanavale. The South Africans had some 9000 troops deployed in the theatre of war. This case was allegedly in support of Jonas Savimbi, the leader of the opposition, UNITA. At this stage, there was already a atmosphere of unease amongst white South Africa as to the duration, and the cost of this excursion, linked to the local unrest with the ANC supporters trying to make the country ungovernable. The South Africans had lost air superiority due to the Cubans deploying in their MiG fighters. There was an increasing sensitivity to the death of soldiers’ lives that were forced ‘by law’ to partake in a stint of national service.
The allegations were that the black troops under the South Africans’ control were also becoming restless, as the South Africans did not seem to assured of a definitive victory. This whilst the Angolans were receiving massive sources of support from the Cubans and the Russians.

The South Africans were growing more and more attentive at this point and surmised that if the situation was not brought under control, the Angolans with the Russian and Cuban help would invade Namibia and be in charge of such by Easter 1988.
At this stage, South Africa had already built six atom bombs, but they lacked the guidance devices for the delivery thereof. In this regard, this was done with Israeli assistance. The Israelis nevertheless, had developed guidance systems at their
facilities at Demona, in the Negev desert. They had agreed thereupon to ensure that the South Africans could procure two of these systems. In all these issues, Armscor was central. The President of the RSA at this stage, Mr. P W Botha via his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pik Botha issued an ultimatum to the Angolans. If the Angolans were not free of the Cubans and Russians by 31 December 1987, Luanda would be a nuclear wasteland on 1 January 1988.
This was indeed now reaching levels of desperation. However, Israel could not be seen to be supplying these guidance systems directly to the RSA. If this had become public knowledge, it would have become politically disastrous for both the Israelis and the USA, who clearly supplied know how to the Israelis. In order to create a cut out the decision was apparently taken to ship these guidance systems via Taipei, Taiwan with whom the RSA had close relations. The guidance systems might have reached the RSA in a roundabout way. In this regard, Armscor was to handle all these arrangements. To this effect, they still have their own freight division until today, which is called AB Logistics. This is what in all probability led to the downing of the SAA Helderberg with all lives on board. The Helderberg, a 747-244 Combi ZS-SAS belonging to SA Airways crashed some 270 km off the Island of Mauritius with the loss of all souls on board.
Speculation has been rife as to what could have been the case hereof.
One rumor doing the rounds, was about the ammonium perchlorate on board, a devilishly unstable and dangerous propellant for use in rocket fuel. This seemed to have been a smoke screen set out by the RSA authorities. SOMCHEM, at that point an Armscor subsidiary, was already manufacturing this ammonium perchlorate since 1985 as a propellant for use in the rocket assisted 155 mm ammunition fired by the G5 guns. This would increase the range of these guns to 83 kilometers, an absolute advantage. Always the name of Armscor pops up. However, the most likely scenario would have been that it was the two guidance systems that have been on board of the Helderberg that brought it down.

When the news of the Helderberg down reached the RSA authorities, a Navy strike craft was ordered at breakneck speed from Simonstown naval base to Mauritius whence the XO (Executive Officer) on board was one Johnny Kamerman. The same Kamerman was to play a future role in the notorious Arms Scandal, which is today the subject of a Commission of Enquiry into the said scandal. Kamerman eventually ended up leaving the SA Navy and working for the German consortium, which supplied the extremely expensive submarines to the RSA.

Armscor at this time was tasked with obtaining and supplying to the military whatever they required in the war with the Angolans. In this regard, the employees at Armscor grasped the lesson exceptionally fast and also came to realize that there were opportunities for themselves in order to secure a future for themselves and their families. It must be clearly understood that not all employees at Armscor were imbued with such unethical and criminal intent. Armscor was using SAA aircraft to transport dangerous munitions in this sanctions busting era. Should this had become widely known, no country would allow SAA landing rights or even over flights rights at the time.
What is most compelling is that immediately after the crash of the Helderberg, the Mount Plaisance Airport in Mauritius was closed, and an American C141 landed with the latest submersible. Simultaneously also the German Oceanographic vessel chartered by SAA and Boeing was waved off and could only commence with their search some 12 hours later. It would appear that the Americans had found the Helderberg and its cargo and retrieved the guidance systems, which was never mentioned in any press reports until only years later.

The fact of the matter is that the Captain of the Helderberg seems to have been threatened at various stages. He could have landed anywhere along the route, i.e. Diego Garcia, an island used by the USA for surveillance operations. He did not, and it would appear as the RSA authorities were reluctant to have this knowledge become public, as the
international repercussions would have been severe! They would most likely have had civilians die and cover it up.

Although the ANC government wished to re-open the matter, it was shut down. The only logical explanation thereto can be, is because the Government would be liable for damages running into their billions.
Yet it is Armscor, which is central to all these issues!

The killing of a country’s own people?

A cesspool? Living in Cuckoo Land!

By Laura Oneale and collaboration with other people.