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Friday, May 29, 2015

South Africa: A Good News Story According to Zuma

President Jacob Zuma spoke about South Africa 400 years ago, and how the country had peace and joy before the others came, indeed a good news story or so it might seem to the 62 percent of uneducated voters. Words of a revolutionist with no claim to validate that historical claim. Yes, the story and the joy of the Zulu tribe killing and slaughtering innocent people until Jan Van Riebeeck arrived. The good news story ties into hate speech.

During the speech Zuma said South Africa was moving forward under his leadership and listed xenophobia crime as grave problems. Zuma said something was wrong with sections of society. Zuma has a good story one about no potential growth and corruption and crime, but the dribble that spews from his mouth is told to the poor, oppressed people who do not understand democracy.

When South Africa embarked on the post-apartheid, freedom journey, there was an intense and exhilarating excitement. For the majority of South Africa to start on a journey toward a cohesive society and unlock South Africa’s real potential. Steering the ship was Nelson Mandela, who partly succeeded in wooing the people to unite under the rainbow nation. Stepping down and handing over the reigns to Thabo Mbeki, the cracks began to appear. Crime began to increase, and the people remained ignorant. The ship faltered and began losing direction and along came Jacob Zuma and the ship sunk. The only purpose Zuma had was to secure a seat on the throne.

The problem with the masses remaining poor is due in large part to ignorance by placing the power into the hands of a corrupt government who in turn oppress the people. The citizens of South Africa are capable of succeeding but with the current government cannot make progress. Educating the masses is important to overcome and eliminate the poverty that threatens the lives of the poor people.

The leader of the Democratic Alliance Mmusi Maimane said that when applying the mind to the South African good news story, it is perhaps a realization that the country does not need Zuma and his no economic growth. It is a story of moving forward with crime, corruption and keeping the African National Congress (ANC) party in power. It is a story of remaining uneducated, living in fear and in squatter camps. Maimane likens Zuma to a jester rather than a leader.

Published today on the GuardianLV

To learn more, or for more information on Jacob Zuma

South Africa Nkandla a National Joke

The report by Police Minister Nathi Nhleko on why President of South Africa Jacob Zuma does not have to pay back the money spent on the Nkandla homestead is a national joke. Do South African citizens understand security and the importance of protecting the president? The entire fiasco of trying to convince people that the vast amount of public money spent on upgrades to the Nkandla homestead is misleading. The reported outcome is a swing at the intelligence of people who are being treated like idiots.

Zuma has mixed up the personal lifestyle with official duties. There is no fine line between private and formal functions, and that is a huge problem. Security is not an issue, but the vast amount of money spent on chicken coups and fire pools do raise questions. Why would a chicken coup be classified as a security feature and how does an ordinary swimming pool become an essential safety feature.

The minister raised four strategic security points in the report clearing Zuma of any wrongdoing. The chicken coup was necessary to keep the chickens from running around the homestead and going near the fences that are equipped with sensors. It would probably have been annoying for the president and family to hear the alarms set off every hour or so and thus the need for the chicken coup.

The swimming pool, according to observers is nothing spectacular and the amount of money spent Zuma could have had exotic water features, slides and fountains included. The pool is classified as a security feature and referred to as a fire pool. The pool is a necessity for the safety of the president in case of a raging fire throughout the Nkandla homestead. The minister assured the briefing that the fire pool was primarily a security essential and could be used by the President, family and residents for entertainment.

The Amphitheater might look exactly like that, but it is not. There is no seating for visitors and it is tiered with soil retention walls designed to look like an amphitheater. The amphitheater is an essential emergency assembly point for police to brief or debrief on emergency matters. It is also a meeting point for homestead dwellers.

The cattle kraal is not just for animals but is sacred and linked to cultural habitation. The animals are safe behind multiple layers of high-tech security and safe from prying eyes of passing visitors. Allowing the animals to roam around free would also trigger the alarm linked to sensors, and as the kraal is positioned in a high-security zone, it was necessary for additional fencing. The expenses attached to the cattle kraal is worth double the value of the animals kept in it. It is a vanity kraal, and as Public Protector said in the first report, the cattle kraal was a non-security feature.

The wasteful expenditure at Nkandla could have been used to develop an upgrade the failing infrastructure around South Africa. Zuma could have kept Nkandla a private homestead and attended to official duties in government buildings in South Africa. There are mixed up priorities, and the Nkandla debacle is out of hand.

Published today on the GuardianLV

To learn more, or For more information on Nkandla –

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Canadian Supremacist Visit to South Africa

Guardian Liberty Voice had the opportunity to interview Paul Fromm while he on a visit to South Africa. Fromm, a Canadian white nationalist racialist and branded as one of Canada’s most notorious white supremacists, had formed ties with South Africa during the apartheid years. Fromm hosts a radio station on the Storm-front website and sponsors lectures by the white supremacists group. Fromm is a campaigner on behalf of the South African apartheid regime.
Fromm arrived in South Africa two weeks ago on a fact-finding mission to establish if the white minority group is suffering and secluded by the African National Congress (ANC) ruling party. Fromm spent a week in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, and four days in Cape Town, meeting with several influential people and visiting white squatter camps. According to Fromm, it was an exhilarating experience and unfortunate for many whites. Fromm received invaluable information from mainly white South Africans who eagerly shared stories of pain and suffering.
Fromm arrived in Johannesburg, Gauteng, on Saturday, May 23 for a five-day visit, and early Sunday morning kicked off the Johannesburg fact-finding mission meeting with Dan Roodt a renowned Afrikaans writer. Roodt, an activist and literary critic, is branded a right-wing reactionary for the vehement anti-ANC essays. Fromm was giving a historical lesson on how the Afrikaans people are truly South Africans.

Roodt explained to Fromm that top government and public sector positions were occupied by the majority black South Africans. In the private sector, large corporations and banks are forced to employ black people to qualify for a decent Black Economic Empowerment Rating. When asked why the unemployment rate of whites is relatively high, Roodt explained that under the apartheid government, Caucasians, who are educated and academically capable were positioned into all government, public and private sectors. With the fall of apartheid, blacks began to quality for top positions thereby forcing whites into the unemployment queue. Today, the majority of whites employed under the old regime do not have work and have difficulty in being hired based on the ANC government affirmative action strategy.

During the conversation between Roodt and Fromm, it was said that blacks are coping with the duties and work taken away from competent whites as a result of the technology available. This technology is considered almost idiot proof as it allows “for not very bright people” to get the job done. The reason for not wanting whites in top positions is so the ANC government to ensure total control of the economy.

Fromm queried why the economic growth declined coupled with the escalating problems the government is currently experiencing. It was said that during 1994 all public sectors, including government departments, were well equipped with reserves for future growth. New employees positioned by the ANC did not have the foresight to plan ahead for the usage of the current resources, including reserves. The diminishing of funds, due to corruption, fraud, and mismanagement, caused departments to fail, and consultants were hired. There was a growing dependence on consultants from international countries to find solutions for a failed structure. Consultancy costs to all government departments is big business, and according to this author, a stupid idea, and an unnecessary expense due to the ANC government not wanting to admit to failure. Roodt said, had the ANC government re-employed the white engineers, professional or experienced people, to rectify the errors of mismanagement and get the work done, it would have averted current problems. Nevertheless, the ANC would rather suffer and hide the error of maladministration than admit there is a need for white expertise in democratic South Africa.

Interview by Laura Oneale
Published today on the Guardian LV - read the entire article
Read more at http://guardianlv.com/2015/05/canadian-supremacist-visit-to-south-africa/#7sGsGulBMVebvQU3.99

Monday, May 25, 2015

South Africa Apartheid Between White Cultural Groups

The scars of apartheid between the white cultural groups in South Africa still exist. It might seem foolish that the white minority group have an intense dislike between the cultural crossing. Apartheid was abolished in 1994 after decades of white minority rule and having the black majority government rule over the white minority is a bitter pill to swallow for some white people. There are the Afrikaners who explicitly confirm a proud heritage and culture within the borders of South Africa. There is the Afrikaner, who remains adamant that English-speaking whites have no cultural history in South Africa.

Throughout history, there has been a difference of opinion and dislike of English-speaking whites. Although the Afrikaner was the first to arrive in South Africa, mainly from Germany and Holland. The claim of having a substantial profound historical claim within the country is correct. However, the English came in 1822 and gained control and proclaimed English as the language of government, churches and schools, and Afrikaners felt hostility because of the change. The rivalry between Afrikaans and English started right at the beginning of the white South African history and continued throughout the years.

The British rule in the Cape Colony in 1835, disgruntled the Afrikaners, who decided to leave and move into the interior of the country in search of independence. The Boers did well and soon set up the Orange Free State as a Republic. It was the Afrikaners who discovered diamonds in Kimberley. News of the great find spread throughout the land, and the British soon stepped in, with a stake by Cecil John Rhodes, a pioneer in the scramble for Africa. The diamond discovery soon impacted on the Boers, who felt abandoned. The poor farmers who had no part in the venture caused the Afrikaners to set up national organizations with Afrikaans as the symbol of unity.

The compromise of unity, an even balance between English and Afrikaners was what Britain hoped to achieve from the foundation of the Union in 1910. The conflict was no longer between the British and the Boers; it was between the white settlers within South Africa. Afrikaner nationalism is the product of British nineteenth-century colonization.

English today still retains the undeniable superiority in many fields, notably in business and education. It is true the English are conscious of the superiority and some still view Afrikaans as hardly worthy of being called a language. The Afrikaners had a difficult time cultivating the language into an expression that would compete with the English.

The English superiority remains a dominant force and class difference between the two white groups. Before South Africa became a republic, there was an estimate of 85 percent Afrikaans farmers and only 10 percent involved in engineering. However, a more recent estimate has put Afrikaners in the professional sphere at 30 percent. The class differences make for ill feelings, and there are English whites that look on the Afrikaners condescendingly as uneducated, homely, simple and hospitable country fold who speak a primate but colorful dialect. Equally there are Afrikaners who associate English with snobbery, distance and coldness.

The English language is considered a world language and with the abundance of literature has an enormous advantage over Afrikaans, a derivative of Dutch, spoken nowhere else but in South Africa. Afrikaners have a hesitant attitude toward the culture and resent the English attitude that causes suffering from a cultural inferiority complex.

Opinion by Laura Oneale

Published on the Guardian LV today
Read more at http://guardianlv.com/2015/05/south-africa-apartheid-between-white-cultural-groups/#QUorzla3kfLfJUOw.99

Saturday, May 23, 2015

South Africa Electricity Top of Government’s Priority List

South Africans have familiarized themselves with the government’s priority list when the electricity is mentioned daily. Power cuts affect everything from factory production to mining operations and even chaos on the roads. It is a real crises and the African National Congress (ANC) government who has been in power for the last 21 years, have once again stated the importance of prioritizing the power shortage.

Eskom was right, and the ANC government was wrong when in 1998 the power giant approached the Mbeki administration to invest in electricity, to keep up with the country’s economic growth. Thabo Mbeki afterwards admitted the government was wrong in not heeding the warnings of Eskom. Mbeki said investment at that time would be a waste by building up excess capacity. There was no foresight of the expanding population growth or the influx of foreigners and economic growth. Instead, the government waited until 2004 before deciding that Eskom should built new power plants.

If the ANC government heeded the warning in 1998, the power crises could have been averted. Noble of Mbeki to admit the government was wrong, but that does not help the recurring problem South Africa faces. The power cuts and load shedding on a daily basis throughout the country have created additional problems, and after nearly 15 years, the government has placed the power crises as a priority. Time is meaningless, there is no rush to escalate the urgency of dealing with mismanagement, corruption and potential increase in crime due to the power problems.

South Africans are notified daily throughout the media of impending power cuts and called reduce the demand on the electricity grid by switching off non-essential appliances and geysers. Every day there is a maintenance crises, cable theft, no diesel and other spin stories why the power giant cannot supply the country with electricity.

People are becoming accustomed to life in the dark and the inconvenience of depending on government to provide electricity. Alternate measures are sought to ensure that some form of stability is attained. The wind and renewable solar energy are cost-effective, reliable and sustainable. South Africans are moving forward and attempting to find solutions to ensure that the quality of life is not downgraded any more than it has been over the last 20 years.

The ANC government is a non-responsive government because it is a non-delivery government. The power crises is a cause for concern, especially when considering the billions lost in mismanagement, unaccounted for, or lost in a system footed by taxpayers.

Ironically in 1996 Eskom generated a capacity of 42000MW and produced slightly over 41000MW. Today Eskom’s capacity remains at 42000MW and can only produce 28000MW. The shortage has nothing to do with increased consumption, but rather with decreased production.

It would seem that the Africans are not skilled with electricity production, judging by the rest of Africa. It is a simple fact, that although the knowledge was available, nothing was done to expand the generating capacity. It is all about shoddy maintenance, corruption and greed.

South Africa is not so bright now; lights are dimming for the third world country. No longer can the power shortage be blamed on Apartheid. It is the zero service and incompetence of the ruling ANC government that has failed the people. Perhaps the ANC agenda is to bring South Africa in line with the rest of the dark African continent.

Opinion by Laura Oneale