Corrupt, corrupt, corrupt.

R44bn disappears

Three of the country's provincial education departments cannot explain what they did with more than R44-billion allocated to them in the past financial year.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article705988.ece/R44bn-disappears

Most of the Education budget, R123bn, is allocated to the 9 provinces. The office of the Auditor General has stated that, of the nine, only three of the country's provincial education departments were given clean audits for the 2009-2010 financial year.

That R44bn could buy a lot of health care, housing and infrastructure maintenance and development.

What happened to the Anti Apartheid Movement?

Paul Trewhela, former member of the South African Communist Party, once gaoled by the South African Government for his involvement with it, co-author of the Marxist journal Searchlight South Africa, writes:-

'This regime of terror,.... was a necessary element in the total practice of repression and deception which made the Anti-Apartheid Movement the most successful Popular Front lobby for Stalinism anywhere in the world. No international Stalinist-run public organization has ever had such an influence and shown such stability, reaching into so many major countries, for so long,

In its thirty years’ existence, the AAM put international collaborative organisations of the period of the Spanish Civil War and of the Stalin-Roosevelt-Churchill alliance to shame. Extending to the press, the churches, the bourgeois political parties, the trade unions and the radical, even the ‘trotskyist’ left, the AAM has been an outstanding success for Stalinism....'

http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/marxists/history/etol/revhist/supplem/hirson/quadro.html

Now another cockroach has come crawling out from under his filth covered rock.

Breyten Breytenbach, Afrikaner, poet, writer, painter and activist in the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), founder member of Okhela (zulu - spark) an anti-apartheid group aligned with the ANC, arrested and imprisoned for 'high treason' during an illegal visit whilst travelling on a false passport in South Africa in 1975; has written a letter to Nelson Mandela which has been published by Harper Magazine.

In this long diatribe of fawning, incoherent, self-indulgent crap, Breytenbach has laid into other Mandela-worshipers:-

..because I find it obscene the way everybody and his or her partner the ex-presidents and other vacuous and egomaniacal politicians, the starlets and coke-addled fashion models, the intellectually challenged and morally strained musicians, the hollow international jet set treat you like some exotic teddy bear to slobber over.

..and the present government:-

The seemingly never-ending parade of corrupt clowns in power at all levels, their incompetence and indifference, indeed their arrogance as historic victors drunkenly driven by a culture of entitlement...

..the crime:-

..the sense of impending horror in the air because of the violence and the cruelty with which crimes are committed, to be tortured and killed for a cell phone or a few coins ...

..the attitude of the police, especially towards whites:-

Do you know what constitutes the nightmare fear of young, middle-class men in South Africa these days? ....(being) thrown into a cell with hardened criminals as often as not now infected with HIV before being released a few days later......The police cells are dark. All night long he will be sodomized repeatedly. His screams of anguish and pain elicit no reaction from the police.

..and the failure of the ANC:-

We, my wife and I, had been in the country for little over a month then, and it was an unsettling experience. ...It was heartbreaking, in that leaving is the confirmation of a failed experience and a broken dream 'the dream' was probably my own naive expectation that a new dispensation ushered in by a liberation movement would realize at least some of the objectives we fought for: economic justice, an ethical public life . .

..and I came across, in notes and letters and snippets of essays, the recurring references to barbaric criminality, the plague of raping, theft, and fraud, the indecent enrichment of the few, manipulation, redeployment as a form of impunity, public office as an exercise in scavenging, the breakdown of essential services, entrenched and continuing racism, the lack of public morals or even common sense.

..and finally his advice to the future leaders of the country:-

I must tell you this terrible thing, my old and revered leader: if a young South African were to ask me whether he or she should stay or leave, my bitter advice would be to go. For the foreseeable future now, if you want to live your life to the full and with some satisfaction and usefulness....

..and a very telling comment from someone who sought the treasonous downfall of 'Apartheid' South Africa:-

More important now for us, old master: Did you, did we, ever seriously intend to bring about a democratic dispensation in South Africa, with its checks and balances and accountability? Or was it about settling old colonial scores?.....Why do we call 'national democratic revolution' the process by which the state and all its institutions and, by extension, its culture and economy become the feeding trough for the party and its cadres? Was it ever conceivable that a national liberation government could cede power if outvoted? For how much longer are we going to play the role of 'victims of history'?

Well, Breyten, what did you think you would get by supporting a Marxist organisation and helping them getting into government in South Africa. I hope the mantle of failure rests heavily on your shoulders!

For those who don't want to pay the subscription to Harpers, follow this link.

http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=9848

Bodyguard of Lies

I have unashamedly copied this from http://southafrica-pig.blogspot.com/

What conclusions can one draw from mounting evidence that the ANC is steeped in corruption?

When the ANC adopted the principle of the armed struggle, like the USA under Bush at Guantanamo, or the Nazi functionaries at the Wannsee Conference, they abandoned 'ordinary' concepts of morality and legality and resorted to the Law of Moral Entitlement.

It is a context in which graft, murder and torture - even democide - become conceivable and eventually acceptable, because it is done in the name of the greater good - racial purity, human progress, freedom, democracy or some such noble cause.

Most people would probably say that during the Second World War this higher ethic was appropriate. It is debatable.

Some people would agree that such an ethic is also acceptable in a war of liberation. Gandhi would have disagreed, but it is arguable.

Once a liberation movement becomes a government, it often finds it impossible to change its liberationist mind-set and accept 'ordinary' ideas of the rule of law. The ANC may have accepted the constitution and the Bill of Rights (read their lips), but always with a casuistic reservatio mentalis that everything was still subject to the higher Law of Moral Entitlement.

The NEC of the ANC alone could be trusted with the sacred duty of upholding its concept of democracy. No-one else can be trusted.

Zuma has twice publicly announced the supremacy of the ANC over the Constitution.

So to pilfer state assets and divert money intended for the poor in order to fund elections and to buy the loyalty of influential people would not only be acceptable, but indeed a moral duty - the duty to protect Democracy. Even when things go badly wrong and corruption takes on a life of its own and gets completely out of hand, the Guardians of Democracy may still cling to their sense of moral entitlement - like corrupt and degenerate popes who still somehow managed to believe that they were doing God's work - even while moving in mysterious ways from one 'nephew's' bed chamber to the next.

Is it acceptable for the Guardians of Democracy to lie about their transgressions?

No less a man than Winston Churchill answered this question: 'In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.'

The frightening thing is that this sense of moral entitlement probably implies that it is impossible for the Guardians to even think of the possibility of losing an election - and we know what that means in Africa (Mugabe, Kenya) ANC leaders pay lip service to multiparty democracy, but every now and then give the game away.

It is significant that when Mbeki went to Polokawne to seek a third term as ANC president, he did not bring an heir apparent with him. It was either Mbeki or nothing; losing was simply inconceivable. Stalin was also known for his policy of never permitting anyone to be seen as a possible successor.

Zuma finds it inconceivable that a mere charge of corruption could possibly be allowed to stand between him and the presidency to which he is morally entitled, because only he really cares about the poor.

The whole top structure of the ANC believes, like Zuma, that the ANC will (and must) be in power 'until Jesus comes'.

Unfortunately - a painful lesson Mbeki recently learnt: the gods take a very dim view of hubris.

The Problem with Africa

ANC funder took millions meant for starving kids

Controversial ANC funder Sandi Majali has been fingered in a forensic audit into the disappearance of more than R100-million intended for starving children in the Eastern Cape.
The audit found that companies under Majali’s control had been involved in the collapse of the R230-million school feeding scheme.
The Scorpions (the high powered invesigative unit) are now investigating irregularities uncovered during the audit.

Majali’s Imvume group was at the centre of the Oilgate scandal, in which R11-million of public money was diverted to ANC coffers ahead of the 2004 elections. He was also implicated in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal.

He is closely associated with top ANC figures, including secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe, treasurer-general Mendi Msimang and spokesman Smuts Ngonyama.

The schools feeding scheme, which was meant to cater for a million children, collapsed barely six months after it was launched in June last year when it emerged that food was not getting to children at about 5000 schools in the province.

http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=570590

This is yet another in a litany of corruption where 'well connected' members of the ANC have used huge sums of public money to enrich themselves. This is roumored to extend to the highest office - both past and present.

What makes this so apalling is that this money was earmarked to alleviate hunger in black children.

The ANC, champion of the poor, should hide its collective head in shame.

Atrocities of War

When the ANC took over from the National Party as the government of South Africa they decided to have a 'cleansing of the soul' by forming the euphemistically named Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC). Through out this emotional time, when former security forces confessed their 'sins', there was the underlying threat of formal prosecution if one did not come forward.

The ANC, with Nelson Mandela's blessing, had declared their 'armed struggle' against the Apartheid Government. Literally South Africa were at war with the ANC. The ANC were targeting civilian targets by bombing supermarkets, etc. One infamous attack was the bombing of Magoo's bar in Durban by Robert McBride.

Many of the security forces were caught up in the defence of their country against this enemy.

Although the TRC, under the guidance of the gentle hand of Desmond Tutu, did some wonderful work and many black people were able to have closure about the loss of their loved ones, there was the unfortunate taste of revenge evident amongst some of the ANC.

Now thirteen years later the ANC government is setting out to prosecute former Justice Minister Adriaan Vlok for crimes that he did not confess.

I have attached a link to a Blog site of a former South African Paratrooper who was one of the thousands of white conscripts who fought this war against the ANC, fought the insurgency by SWAPO (South West African Peoples Organisation) in northern Namibia which was heavily supported by the ANC by supplying them with a large number of soldiers.

There have been many stories of the atrocities perpetrated by these ANC cadres against their own kind in these camps in Angola. This blog chronicles this young paratroopers observations following the abduction of young black convent girls in Namibia, after the nuns had been raped and had had their breasts cut off, these young girls were taken across the border to an ANC camp.

He was sent on reconnaissance into Angola where he laid up for 14 days observing the ANC cadres raping these young girls, some 6 years old, incessantly night and day. Later on he was with the South African Defence Force that went into Angola to rescue these children.

It is a heart rending story, written in a mixture of English and Afrikaans and questions when is there going to be justice and these ANC cadres going to be taken to task for perpetrating such atrocities; and when is the old government going to be left alone.

The war between the SA government and the ANC was an extremely dirty war, but to date only the old government's atrocities have been explored whilst the perpetrators of innumerable and unspeakable atrocities and attacks on civilians, those who now now govern the country, continue to hide behind the 'struggle' as an excuse.

One of these is the odious Robert McBride, the Magoo's bomber, who is a big shot in the local government in Gauteng and more lately responsible for a shocking drunken driving episode where he used his power to stop being investigated and charged.

http://diggingupthedirt.amagama.com/blog/2007/07/17/anccannot-let-the-sleeping-dogs-lie/#comments

Out of Africa II

The annual African National Congress meeting is taking place at Gallagher Estate outside Johannesburg. There are several issues of interest.

Firstly is the thorny subject of succession. Current South African President and leader of the ANC, Thabo Mbeki, is constitutionally bound to step down as President at the end of this election cycle.

His erstwhile deputy, Jacob Zuma, is positioning himself to stand for President. Recently Zuma has been acquitted on a messy rape charge and is currently being investigated on charges of accepting a bribe. Zuma is a populist choice but is a huge threat to business as he supports the idea of nationalisation of banks, mining, etc.

Mbeki and his supporters have made suggestions of the need to alter the constitution so that he can stand for a third term.

Of more interest is the second issue. Currently the ANC govern with a huge majority. This is because it is a tripartite alliance between them, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). At the ANC meeting, the SACP representatives have been suggesting that it is time to go on their own as many of their policies are ignored by the government, whilst the ANC (Mbeki) have said that they, the ANC, are not a Communist party and will continue pursuing a capitalist agenda.

This is all happening against the background of a large, prolonged and messy Public Service strike for increased wages which has all but paralysed government.

The tripartite alliance is on shaky ground.

Democratic governments are really as good as there opposition allows them to be. For any government to remain unchallenged is the foundation for for poor governance, corruption and plain old incompetence. Strengthening opposition to a sitting government will keep them honest.

There is a pre-existing example of this in South Africa. During PW Botha's reign, when he wanted to start change, the Afrikaans community became divided between the 'verligtes' (enlightened) and the 'verkramptes' (narrow minded), and this eventually lead to weakening of the National Party Government as a separate Afrikaans party was formed, the Herstigte Nationaal Party. This marked the beginning of the end of Apartheid.

Out of Africa I

In a speech to the Financial Times in London South African Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has warned that the gap between rich and poor in South Africa is widening.

He said “most (people) are languishing in the wilderness,” criticising the slow pace of wealth redistribution since the end of apartheid in the country in 1994.

It is not the first time Tutu has spoken out against South Africa’s economic policies, arguing that that had enriched only the few, and not the many. Many of the ruling ANC upper eschelon have accumulated wealth beyond belief in the 13 years that they have had the opportunity to dip into the public purse.

This is against a background of suspicion that very senior ANC politicians accepted bribes from British arms dealer BAE estimated at approximately ₤150 million.

Earlier this year Tutu also criticised the South African government for failing to back a UN resolution condemning human rights abuses in Burma, and in 2004 suggested the ruling African National Congress party was stifling internal dissent.

The ANC's Hypocrisy

An article unashamedly copied from http://supernatural.blogs.com/weblog/2006/12/ronnie_kasrils_.html highlights the hypocrisy of the ANC Government of South Africa. Kasril's was a member of the ANC in exile campaining for isolation of the Apartheid Government and for equality and freedom of the peoples of South Africa. Now he is singing a different tune as the ANC strengthens it's ties with the polecats of the world such as Assad, Mugabe, Castro, Gadaffi and Aristide. The man is an idiot!

Ronnie Kasrils: SA Minister of Totalitarian Affairs
Hot on the heels of signing a defence pact with one of Africa’s most repressive regimes (Zimbabawe), Minister Kasrils spent the last week breaking pita with the leadership of the Arab equivalent (Syria). The South African department of Intelligence states on its website that the purpose of the visit was ‘to hold discussions to strengthen relations between the two countries (South Africa and Syria)’.
The choice of Kasrils as the envoy for such a diplomatic mission is rather strange. Someone from the department of Foreign Affairs would surely have been a more appropriate choice. The Syrians however seem to have been ecstatic with the choice. For Ronnie received a red carpet roll out reserved only for tin pot dictators and leaders of terrorist gangs. He met the Syrian Interior Minister, Foreign Minister, deputy Foreign Minister, Minister of Expatriates (what ever that maybe) and Syria’s President Bashar Assad.
And the admiration seems to have been mutual. For Red Ronnie did not stop fawning over his Syrian hosts. After meeting Syria’s deputy foreign Minister, for example, Kasrils ‘expressed on our behalf his respect and appreciation of Syria's stances and important role for realizing stability and security in the region.’ I wonder if the poor people of Lebanon now on the brink of civil war (as a result of Syrian meddling) would see it quite the same way. Or the poor people of Iraq for that matter. The Syrian border is only the most popular entry point for foreign terrorist in Iraq.
Not only is the Syrian regime a threat to its neighbours, Iraq, Israel and Lebanon but it is also a menace to its own people. Although Syria has a constitution that in theory should protect the rights of its citizens, a state of emergency has been in place since the 1960’s effectively giving the government absolute authority. More than 4 decades of martial law has reduced Syria to one of the most unfree countries in the world. According to freedom house, an independent organisation that monitors freedom around the world, on a scale of 1-7 from free to unfree, Syria scores a whopping 7 (just like Zimbabwe). It has no free press, no real opposition parties and uncontested presidential elections. Moreover like most totalitarian regimes the Syrian government from time to time murders any potential political opponents. In fact 2 years ago 30 Kurds were murdered in cold blood by security forces for staging a protest against the government.
But not only does our good Minister respect and admire one of the world’s most totalitarian states, he actually believes that South Africa should emulate them. Kasrils told the Syrian press of his visit that
'We've dealt with bilateral relations between our two peoples and governments in addition to Syria's experience in the Security Council as a non-permanent member because South Africa will also occupy the same position next year…I have a lot to tell my president about Syria.’
If Red Ronnie has his way, South Africa’s U.N. Security Council seat will be used not to export the ideals of our democratic revolution but rather in the service of tyranny and terror.
What disgusts me most about Kasrils and his political road trip through the Syrian halls of power, is his blatant double standard. In classical Kasrilspeak, Ronnie called on the West to engage with Syria saying that
South Africa rejects every policy aimed to isolate states and peoples instead of getting them close by enhancing dialogue among them.’
This is the same Ronnie Kasrils who has been campaigning tirelessly to sever South African diplomatic ties with Israel and to impose anti-Apartheid type sanctions on the Jewish state.
Hypocrisy has become Minister Kasrils’ political trademark.