The ANC and the myth of the Money Tree

I do not think members and leaders of the ANC know where public money comes from. This is clearly visible in how they have been defending the ANC since the 2014 election campaign started.
Firstly, it is visible from the rhetorical responses of party members. For example, if someone said the party has meant nothing for them since 1994 the defence of party members would be by pointing out all of the services that have been delivered since 1994 and to make matters worse they do it in an arrogantly manner which imply that you need to be grateful. What they normally forget is that they are not doing South Africans a favour they (the ANC led government) is just fulfilling the social contract they signed-up for. The social contract works like this. Citizens elect a government who will use their money (the public money/taxes) to deliver services citizens need. The ANC and its members usually see it the other way around. The ANC promises certain services and in the process not just only denying the social contract but also make it as they are doing citizens a favour, which is all wrong.

Secondly, it is visible in how the ANC led government spend public funds. Every year the Auditor General is reporting about the increasing number of wasteful expenditure that amounts to 100s of millions of Rand. Once elected into government they starting to living the life they always dreamed of - the life of the Kardashians. They spent public funds like it grow on a tree somewhere in the garden of the Union Buildings or Nkandla which is protected by the SANDF.
Thirdly, it is visible in the way they (the President included) defend Nkandla and other corruption scandals. So far the total cost of the security upgrades to Zuma's private residence Nkandla are sold to the public as the President did nothing wrong. They also have the attitude as they do not know what the big fuss is about and that it is only over R240 million. One ANC member on Facebook even said that we think the President's house must look like that of our fathers' and if it was a white president there would have been no fuss. The issue they clearly miss is that it is R240 of public money; money that was collected in taxes from working South Africans; the ones who wake up every morning at five o'clock, who have to take two trains just to get to work on time and that for less R6000 which in the end of the day is taxed. It is heart breaking for any tax paying South African to see that kind of ignorance.

Their ignorance is based on their level of understanding - they really do not know where public money come from and what people have to go through just to make their contribution to a better life for all.

In their defence I do not think they have a clue where this money came from. I have to be honest it took me a whole semester studying public finance to fully comprehend this. For those ANC members reading this (please share this with the President), it normally works like this. We elect a parliament which is a representation of ordinary South Africans who is responsible for collecting and spending taxes. Sometimes some of these duties are delegated to more technically equipped institutions like SARS and the National Treasury. Based on the plans and the needs of the people tax targets are set every year. This is where things get interesting. The target will determine how much tax each South African must pay. SARS is tasked to collect these taxes. The task of the National Treasury is to provide Parliament (who is supposed to represent us) with a forecast of expenditure over the next couple years. This usually take place in October. Once Parliament is satisfied with the forecast it will task the National Treasury to draw up a budget for the next coming year which is usually tabled in February during the budget speech. After the speech, Parliament will look at the budget, debate it and approve it. It is only after this that public money can be used (which was collected the previous year) towards the services planned for in the budget.

Thus, it is time for us to re-orientate ourselves. It is time to place us at the receiving end of the social contract which is called democracy. We elect a government because we want them to spend our money so that it benefits us and not them. The ANC and no other political party can claim the right to that money, it is not theirs, it is ours. If the ANC want money they must plant a money tree in Luthuli House or Nkandla and harvest it every year. They can ask the MK veterans to protect it.

Voting Lottery as an alternative to Spoiled Ballots

I am a patriotic South African and that is why I am going to vote, However, I have quite a dilemma - I do not know who I am going to vote for. As a student of politics, please spare me the rhetoric/bullsh*t of spoiled ballot or voting for the opposition parties.

My vote is no secret but still my choice.

Thus, here is my dilemma. I am a greater South African than I am an ANC supporter, and currently I cannot give my vote to the Zuma led ANC. The Zuma led ANC is morally bankrupt and think we South Africans are stupid. I am not stupid and hence will not vote for the ANC.

I would have voted for the EFF but I cannot trust an economic freedom fighter with Lious Vuitton shoes. The contradiction is way to big and like the Zuma led ANC the Malema led EFF think we South Africans are stupid. I know the EFF attract a lot of the poor angry youth with its rethoric but, unfortunately, for me actions speaks louder than words.

I will never vote for the DA because Helen Zille is racial insensitive, and too middleclass for my liking. In addition to this, the DA leadership does not reflects its membership. Once again I cannot vote for a party who thinks black, coloured and Indian people are stupid. If you do not believe me take a closer look at its policies, leadership structure and membership. Once again I am not stupid.

I will also never vote for Agang and the Cope. Both middleclass parties that are very elitist in their approach. They do not speak the language of the poor but the language of the middleclass. My friends and family are still in the working class and hence, my reason not to vote for them

So my last hope is with the ACDP. Not the strongest party but at least I can somehow relate to it. The party was not rocked by any large scandals. So they are a strong maybe and if they also dissapoint me I will close my eyes and random choose a party from the list and vote for it.

And know the ANC, the EFF, the DA, the Agang and the Cope members and supporters will be sitting on May 7 with their fingers crossed hoping they will be the lucky one in my lottery. With this I still have the power to choose whoever I like or not like.

The Pornography of Poverty

About a year ago I attended a photo exhibition in the District Six Museum in Cape Town. The photos told a story of how people used to live in District Six before the force removals and its destruction.

A group us later had an interesting discussion with regards to the pornography of poverty. Those of you who does not know what it is, here is an explanation. The pornography of poverty is the explicit, hard-core photographic illustration of poor people in their living environment. Where photos are used to arouse the emotions in people but not necessarily do anything about it. Like the pornography of sex it is for personal purposes and not for charity.

Before that discussion that night at the museum, I had noticed how 'African safaris' have changed. In the 20th century safaris into the wilderness was a fashionable trend enjoyed by the upper classes of society. People went into the natural habitat of animals and took explicit and hard-core pictures of them. Once they had they pictures they went back to their societal circles and revelled over their pornographic content, and because this was fashion they soon became bored.

So they started a new trend which I call pornography of poverty. They do this via township tours. Like the animals they observed in their natural habitat they now observe poor ‘black’ people in their natural habitat. They take photos of explicit and hard-core poverty which they take back to their societal circles to talk about the unfortunate circumstances of the poor. These photos are merely to arouse them and not to anything about it.

So I am wondering which form of pornography is worst: the pornography of poverty or the pornography of sex. Both have immoral content (the pornography of poverty robs individuals of their humanity unknowingly, whilst the pornography of sex is for money and in most cases an individual choice) but which one is considered the worst.

Number 1 - A photo blog

Election time in South Africa

A family in Democratic Republic of the Congo

The national road that connects Uganda and the DRC with one another

Self Portrait 1

Poverty Eradication versus Economic Development

This is in response to President Zuma's State of the Nation Address. While many analysts regurgitated rhetoric and criticized the quality of the President's speech, I would like to offer a solution to poverty. It is a conceptual solution with regard to policy formulation and implementation. In this regard, I propose that the ANC led government's focus must be poverty eradication and not economic development. Economic development must be one of the strategies in the fight against poverty eradication.

What I am essentially suggesting is that we rethink the fight against poverty. The goal so far has been economic development so that it can reduce poverty and create jobs, and since 1994 we did not get any far. This simply resulted in some economic growth without significant reduction in poverty and almost stagnant unemployment figures.

My suggestion is that we make poverty eradication the goal and economic development as one of the strategies to eradicate poverty. This approach recognise poverty eradication as multifaceted and not just as a simple result of the lack of economic growth.

A multifaceted approach would thus include land reform, agricultural development and industry reform as poverty reduction strategies.This approach recognises poverty as the greatest challenge and align resources and effort accordingly.

This is a new way of thinking and obviously there would be resistance to this approach because after volumes of rhetoric and conventional wisdom, it is only the brave that would risk the unknown.

However, remember not so long ago conventional wisdom let people to believe that the world was flat and that you if you walked far enough you will get to the end of the world. Also, not so long ago it was believed that the earth was at the center of the universe and that everything orbited around it and those who dare to challenged it was ridiculed and faced the death penalty.

So, let it begin.

It is better to be a dog than a poor ‘black’ child

I can’t help but wondering about the value of a ‘black’ child in society; that is when you consider that dogs are treated better than starving ‘black’ children. It is safe to conclude that it is better to be a dog than a poor ‘black’ child.

As a dog you will at least have three meals a day. You will also have a comfortable place to sleep, be protected by high security fences, and receive regular pampered treatments by the owner.

As a dog you will not be abused by your owner because animal ‘brutality’ has become a greater sin than child abuse. Now days you cannot even swear at a dog because you will be crucified by animal activist all over the globe (like I would be after writing this).

And dare you defend yourself when a dog attacks you, you will be threatened and abuse by the owners. I know this because my brother not so long ago was attacked by a dog and when he defended himself, one of the ‘white’ (I have to emphasize the ‘race’) owners threatened him, and tried to chase him out the area.

She (the owner) said to my brother that he was not allowed in ‘their’ neighbourhood and hence, the dog had all the right to attack him (in a public road). When he stood up for himself and said that Mandela and others fought for his freedom he was cursed at and threatened more.

Minutes later after the incident on his way home he was almost ran over the other ‘white’ owner (husband). He brought a friend with and they threatened him. He was also advised never to set foot in that neighbourhood again.

This all happed because he did not allow a dog to bite him in a public road. Thus, my conclusion: it is better for a poor ‘black’ child to be a dog, than to be a poor ‘black’ human being.

P.S.: At least some celebrities stopped the dog trend and are adopting ‘black’ African children, but still I cannot help but wondering how much they value these ‘black’ children. 

Racial Segregation of Sport at UWC

Over the past eight years I have seen the transformation of UWC in terms of physical structure and the demographic composition of their student base. However, two things have stayed the same: the demographic composition of the university staff and how money is spend on the various sports codes.

Rugby who is played and enjoyed by only a handful of students gets the bulk of the resources. Cricket who is played by also a handful receives the second most resources and soccer who is played by the majority of students are receiving the least amount of resources.

What is troubling me is the racial segregation of sport at UWC. For example, rugby is largely dominated by coloured and white students whilst soccer is dominated by black students. Many might have noticed this, and thought of it as a coincidence but I see it otherwise.

Let me ask you this question: Is it a coincidence that the majority of Sport Admin staff is coloured and that sport dominated by coloured students are receiving the best resources and treatment? Given South Africa’s past I do not think this is a coincidence; I think it is racism (whether this racism is intentional or unintentional it is a discussion for another day).

For those of you who do not agree with me let me briefly explain how this is racism (if you after this explanation are not convinced, I would refer you to my manuscript The Runaway Slave). I define racism as the justification of exploitation and/or discrimination of the inferior ‘other’ on the basis of ‘race’.

Discrimination, exploitation and ‘race’ are the golden key words of this definition. ‘Race’ here refers to the classification of people based on their skin, morphology and ancestry with the aim of creating a superior other and an inferior other. So if we consider the ‘development’ of sport at UWC it tends to discriminates against black students, which is the way UWC treat black dominated sports. Black dominated sports do not get enough exposure and prestige as rugby at UWC.

UWC tends to exploit black athletes (generic terms for sportsmen and women) to promote rugby. Budget allocation is skewed in favour of rugby and critic, and neglected is soccer. Every year soccer players literally have to beg the UWC community for money which would allow them to attend USSA events. Sport Admin give these players forms where you can choose how much money you would like to donate. Rugby players do not pay for anything, not even the gym, whereas soccer players have to pay for access to the gym.

In addition, last night (03 February 2014) they asked poor black students living on residence R10 to enter the stadium. According to UWC Online approximately 3500 people attended the match which would amount R35 000. This money will go back into the coffers of rugby. The irony is that black resident students were the ones who filled up the stadium.

Considering this, it is clear that the university Sport Administration are racist towards black athletes, which is a pity if you take Prof Jakes Gerwel’s vision into account. He was the one who opened the doors of this historically ‘coloured’ university to all ‘races’ in South Africa. His vision established this university as the university of the working class; for those who are exploited and discriminated against in society, but it seems like we have become what we never wanted to become. 

Jacob Cloete