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HOMELESSNESS, AN AGE–OLD HEADACHE FOR THE CITY OF CAPE TOWN

The end of National State of Disaster could spell disaster for the homeless. Photo by Michael Cohen-Bloomberg

By Staff Reporters

hen everyone else is celebrating the end of the National State of Disaster and the return to normalcy, it could spell disaster for tens of thousands of people who call the parks, streets, pavements and bridges of Cape Town their home. For just over two years, the National State of Disaster became our way of life as the government was, like the rest of the world, seeking to help reduce the spread and impact of Covid-19. But for the homeless, the National State of Disaster was a blessing in disguise as it meant they would not be victims of harassment and evictions. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in the Western Cape says the State of Disaster Regulations have protected the public, particularly unlawful occupiers, from eviction during the pandemic. The SAHRC won a court battle against the City of Cape Town over eviction rights under the Disaster Regulations, last year. It says a plan of action was needed to address homelessness in the City. Speaking to Cape

Talk Radio, the SAHRC Western Cape commissioner Chris Nissen said a more sustainable solution for the homeless - and particularly those who have invaded land - was needed urgently. “The problem is that we are sitting with a homelessness issue. So, what will happen during those evictions and where are you taking those people to? The City of Cape Town needs to implement an integrated response to homelessness that includes alternative shelter and engaging affected communities,” Nissen said. Homelessness is a big challenge in South Africa, especially in Cape Town. A quick internet scan reveals that this problem was created by apartheid laws. “Racial segregation and anti-black policies were used to preserve white rule in the country. Zoning laws controlled movement and places of residence for black people, forcing them into black townships in the whiteruled cities,” according Wikipedia. Just like the City of Cape Town is doing, during apartheid, visible homelessness was not allowed on the streets. Those who were homeless due to apartheid policies moved into

shack settlements. The City of Cape Town relies on these types of apartheid-era laws like “vagrancy and pass laws” exported by the Dutch and the British to subjugate the indigenous peoples. “In Cape Town, those lying down, sitting or standing in public spaces have been fined up to R2,000, while these by-laws technically apply to everyone, they disproportionately affect the homeless who often have nowhere else to go,” Aljazeera reported. It said “in the United Kingdom, MPs are calling for the government to repeal the 1824 Vagrancy Act, which criminalises rough sleeping in Cape Town”. “But, instead of a repeal, there is an amendment to the by-laws. Those under review and public comment currently, would ‘allow law enforcement to physically remove homeless people from an area and arrest them on the spot if they refuse an offer of alternative shelter’.” According to the Western Cape government website, it is estimated that there are about 4,862 homeless people in the greater Cape Town area and an estimated 700 live in the central business district. With

the winter season approaching, this might mean more challenges for the City. Adi Kumar and Daniellé Louw, writing in the Daily Maverick, say the City cannot rely on the use of the law in addressing homelessness. They say the municipality needs compassion and respect for human dignity. “While we continue to represent the street-based community in court proceedings, the reality is that the courts will not solve the phenomenon of homelessness. At best, the courts will demonstrate that Law Enforcement works outside the parameters of the law and certainly does not operate in the interests of all people. “Is this the kind of city we want to live in? One that harasses the defenceless and impounds their belongings under a by-law relating to 'goods and animals", as if streetbased people are not human? “We recognise that the number of people living on the street has risen exponentially over the past two years. Covid-19 has decimated many people’s incomes, and many households with nowhere to turn have been forced on to the street,”

the report said. Two months ago, Cape Times reported that organisations working with homeless people were optimistic that the City of Cape Town has shown change of heart in its approach. It seems it has moved away from relying only on punitive measures when dealing with the homeless. The report says the change of heart was expressed by mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. According to the news report, the amended Streets, Public Places and the Prevention of Noise Nuisances by-law amendments are somewhat softer. “By-laws now uniquely require that alternative accommodation be offered, and ensure that sleeping and camping overnight in public places is no longer classified as an automatic offence if no other choice is available to a person,” it stated. The City said the amendments effectively decriminalised a conduct where no alternative was available while still ensuring that every intervention of the city was oriented towards assisting people to move off the streets.

Story Continues on Page 2

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

Story Continues from Page 1 “Cape Town must be, first and foremost, a caring city that always tries first to help people off the streets. No person should live on the streets. This is unsafe, unhealthy and undignified. Accepting sustainable solutions off the streets is the best choice for dignity, health and well-being. “Our city’s public places serve important social, community and economic purposes, and must be open and available to all. No person has the right to reserve a public space as exclusively theirs while indefinitely refusing all offers of shelter and social assistance, “ said HillLewis. “It is not an offence to sleep on the streets if you do not have a choice. Only after refusing offers of shelter and social assistance should the law take its course as a necessary last-resort deterrent for the sustainable management of public places and courts. “Prosecutors must ensure that rehabilitation is favoured over punitive fines and imprisonment wherever it is just to do so in matters relating to prohibited conduct in public places,” said Hill-Lewis. Cape Town to give an additional R10-million to shelters - reports groundup.org.za Access to ablution facilities, clean water and shelters for families were among the main issues raised by homeless people living in Cape Town’s city centre. This is according to a report by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) on homelessness in the city. The report comes on the back of the City’s amended by-law that provides for compliance notices to be issued to people sleeping in public places. The by-law states that they must be offered alternative shelter, and that they are committing an offence if a reasonable offer for shelter is refused. Activists have condemned

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Protesters at the Company Gardens in October 2021. Photo Supplied by iol.co.za the amendments. Researchers spoke to dozens of homeless people living in the Foreshore area and at the Company’s Garden between August 2021 and March 2022. The researchers also spoke to local businesses in the area as well

as the Central City Improvement District officials, non-profit organisations, municipal officials and City Bowl landlords. “If mindsets are not changed, the problem of homelessness will not be dealt with effectively because it will always be an ‘us and them’ approach … These people

are human beings. They are part of our society and we need to embrace them,” said HRC provincial manager Zena Nair at the launch of the report at the end March. According to the report, participants indicated that they are often unable to pay the R2 fee to use toilets

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at places like shopping malls and are therefore forced to relieve themselves in open public spaces. The shortage of shelters able to accommodate couples and families with children was also highlighted in the report. “This has led to those who cannot find shelters at night resorting to erecting their own structures across the city,” the report read. The HRC has suggested that the city use parking spaces as makeshift temporary shelters to accommodate homeless families at night. “People using these spaces would be advised to vacate the area during the day when it would be used again for parking,” Nair said. The report recommended that these overnight shelters be fitted with mobile ablution facilities. Commissioner Chris Nissen said there should be more focus on reintegrating homeless people into society. “We need more shelters to be built. We need to have the Department of Social Development enter the discussion of how we deal with families on the streets. Homelessness is not a Cape Town issue. It’s a South African and a global issue,” Nissan said. In response to the report, Mayco Member for Community Services and Health Patricia Van der Ross said the city manages 147 public ablution facilities across the metro. This includes public toilets at bathhouses, public transport interchanges, cemeteries, parks and along the coast. In his draft budget address, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said more assistance will be given to homeless people. The City’s Care Programme budget, which is aimed at helping people off the streets, has been increased to R77-million from R65-million. An additional R10-million will go directly to increasing beds at shelters this winter, said Hill-Lewis. A further R142-million has been set aside to operate and expand the City-run Safe Spaces over the next three years.

CAPE TOWN, A CITY WHERE AFFLUENCE AND POVERTY LIVE SIDE-BY-SIDE By Staff Reporters

s the poor and the homeless are at the mercy of brutal laws, Cape Town’s superrich live large. The city is known as a playground for those who own all the wealth. Not even the devastation of Covid-19 has touched Cape Town’s deep-pocketed. For them it was another good season of spending, and more spending. This is partly revealed by the in analysis by a high-end property company, Hardie Property. “In the last two years, Cape Town has set records for both the highest-ever sale price paid for a residential home - R290m for a house in Bantry Bay - as well as the highest-ever rental price‚ R450,000 per month for an estate in Constantia,” the company says in its website. This is likely to continue this year. Hardie says this trend will continue as there is an even stronger demand in rentals and sales in Cape Town. “Quarter 4 of 2021 showed unprecedented levels of activity in sales and rentals, including the Christmas period. There was no break for any agent worth their salt. “Fast forward to January 2022 and the market is busy across the board, including the luxury market in Cape Town encompassing the Atlantic Seaboard, Waterfront, Bishops court, Newlands and Constantia Upper. “Fellow agents in The Winelands are also run off their feet with demand for lifestyle properties,” Hardie said.

You can stay in this house if you can afford to pay R175 000 per month. Hardie said South Africans were given a respite from international buyers and had the freedom of the market without the influence of strong cash buyers with euros, dollars and pounds. “The semigration from Joburg, Pretoria and KwaZulu-Natal has really

driven the Cape Town market. However, we saw a flutter of international buyers in Q4 2019, including unseen sales and I believe the next three months will see a spike in international interest. “Hardie Property is experiencing strong interest from the Europeans,

Americans and the Arabs.” Strong demand is in areas like Constantia and surrounds with areas like Meadowridge and Bergvliet, which has seen demand outstrip supply. Newlands, Bishopscourt Village, Rondebosch and Claremont are very driven by schools. Family homes in Oranjezicht and Higgovale are also in strong demand due to the central location but also schooling in the area. The Atlantic Seaboard is a plethora of areas with buyers and tenants chasing the views or the convenience and village feel of Green Point and De Waterkant. Luxury homes in Fresnaye, Bantry Bay and Clifton have really seen a surge in sales. The Camps Bay market has had a revival after being one of the worst hit suburbs in Cape Town. President Cyril Ramaphosa, a billionaire, is one of the most famous among the affluent residents of Cape Town. Ramaphosa has built a massive private home on two plots of prime land that he bought for R30 million in 2010. The property has one of the best views in Cape Town’s most plush suburbs of Fresnaye in the Atlantic seaboard. It has a 180-degree panorama of the Atlantic Ocean, including Robben Island. On a clear day, Ramaphosa may just be able to see the very cell where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. The property is now complete and up for rental. It could be yours for only R175,000 a month. If you’re lucky, you may even spot the president — he owns the house next door, for private use only.

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PASTOR LUKAU’S R50M RENTAL

Paula Ingabire says innovation, technology and science are going to be key drivers of growth for the economy. Photo by https://4p.digital

news: VBS LIQUIDATORS GUN FOR VENDA KING The liquidators of VBS Mutual Bank applied for a writ of execution at the Johannesburg High Court last month to recoup more than R10 million allegedly owned by a family trust whose sole trustees are Venda King Toni Mphephu Ramabulana and Portia Mphephu.

President Paul Kagame during the launch of the centre for fourth Industrial Revolution in Kigali. Photo by www.ktpress.rw

SCANDARWANDA L RISES FROM

PAY UP Alleluia Ministries International in Kramerville, Sandton. The church defended pastor Alph Lukau (inset) after he performed the so-called miracle resurrection of Elliot Moyo in 2019 PHOTO: LUBA LESOLLE / GALLO IMAGES

MDUDUZI NONYANE

mduduzi.nonyane@citypress.co.za

“The guard, who refused to provide me with his name, did not allow me access but told me to wait. He disappeared into the guard hut on the property and spoke to this supervisor, who came out to speak to me. “After explaining the purpose of my visit and the documentation that I had with me, the supervisor also refused to provide me access. “Similarly, he refused to provide me with his name. I could see that he had been speaking to someone over his cellular phone from time to time ... After seeing the letters attached to the gate, the supervisor said that I in shaping the future of technology should come [back] the next day,” they say. governance. Lukau shot to fame over the past two years by performing miracles during his church services, “I so-called have no doubt that the centre including he publicly “resurrected” a man. willwhen herald a new era for Rwanda Lukau claimed that the man, Elliot Moyo, had died and the continent. Innovation and and the latter’s body was brought to the pastor by his are key in heralding familyentrepreneurship a few days later. Thethe incident angeredIndustrial some within the religious Fourth Revolution,” community, who said. called for Lukau to be investigated by Schwab the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the “The work of our 4IR Centres Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities has been resurrection important, butwent in after a videoalways of his purported of Moyo viral. this time of great global upheaval It also 2019 that than Lukau’s ever churchto members it isemerged moreincrucial build regarded him as being similar to Jesus, proclaiming that together a better future and use techhe was crucified for helping to heal others. nology do so.” The applicant’sto lawyer, Andrew Scarrott of AB Scarrott Attorneys, declinedBrende, to comment.President of the Børge “I have received your enquiry,Forum, [but] I havedelivered no World Economic instructions to make any comment at this time,” he said. the keynote address, where he underEfforts to source comment from Lukau and the linedwere theunsuccessful. C4IR networks’ role in helpcompanies

THE ASHES LIKE A PHOENIX R1M

echnology distribution and warehousing giant Tarsus Shared Services is battling to recover a R50 million deficit allegedly owed by controversial pastor Alph Lukau and several of his business associates. The matter relates to a cancelled lease agreement pertaining to the premises of Alleluia Ministries International in Sandton, Johannesburg. The company lodged a court application this week at the Johannesburg High Court, flagging three companies linked to Lukau for failing to declare their company wanda, thearbitration Land of a Thousecurity registers in their process as is the prescribed sand by the Hills, Companies Act,fourth-smallciting that the informationest sought would enable to track the intricate country in itAfrica, that web of companies that operate the church in South experienced one of the worst Africa and throughout Africa. genocides in history. The court papers also indicate that attempts to serve In and 1990, between the Lukau a close tensions business partner, identified as John Ferguson,and with athe summons have failed, as they have Hutus Tutsis sparked a civil allegedly taken up residence in in Portugal and refuse to war, which resulted the Rwandan accept service through legal counsel. genocide in 1994. They emphasise that “the appellant requires the This led toregisters the death oftojust about information in the in order unravel the relationship people. between Lukau and Ferguson, and the 800,000 respondents [King Vision Holdings, Alph Lukauhas Group Post-genocide, Rwanda and Al Resident Holdings] to recover the debts due by embarked on a remarkable journey Lukau and Ferguson”. ofAccording recovery. is nowdocuments, a country that to itsIt arbitration Tarsus Shared Services been of trying to recover debtmade since March is in ahas state repair andthehas 2018, relating to the period whenin theadvancing church was commendable strides

By Staff Reporters

Companies linked to the controversial megachurch preacher evade debt collection as he and his business associates are said to be in Portugal evicted from the premises early securities and/or members’ and last year because it could no directors’ registers follows multiple longer meet the R1 million monthly requests for access, and is such a rental fee. clear interference with an The company instituted, among unconditional statutory right. The other things, arbitration applicant requests that a punitive proceedings in which it claimed: cost award be made against each of . Arrear rentals and charges up the respondents.” ACCORDING TO ARBITRATION to the date it cancelled the The applicants say this refusal has DOCUMENTS, TARSUS SHARED sublease; put a strain on the arbitration SERVICES HAS BEEN TRYING . Damages for the period the process, further delaying the TO RECOVER THE DEBT defendant was in occupation after recovery of debts. SINCE MARCH 2018, LEADING the cancellation; They further highlighted that their TO THE PERIOD . Future loss of rentals and legal representative visited Lukau’s WHEN THE CHURCH WAS charges calculated from the date known place of business in June, EVICTED FROM THE PREMISES the defendant ceased to occupy but the representative was denied EARLY LAST YEAR, the premises as a church until the entry. AFTER WHICH IT COULD NO expiry date of the sublease; and “The premises has access control LONGER MEET THE R1 MILLION . Restoration of the premises. and requires a security guard to MONTHLY RENTAL FEE The proceedings also reveal that allow access. I spoke to the security church leaders, including Lukau, guard on duty and asked that I be have blatantly refused to grant the applicants access to allowed into the property in order to deliver the request information pertaining to company directors. to the respondents to inspect the securities and/or “As the refusal to allow access to the respondents’ member registers of the respondents.

ing leaders anticipate, understand the lives of its people. and shape the trajectory of technoIts commitment to recovery and logical change for human-centred, restoration has surpassed all forecasts society-serving outcomes to harness and silenced some naysayers. converging technologies to create an These improvements in Rwanda inclusive, human-centred future. are due to the great resiliency of the “This is the first centre to be forattach Segapo’s assets after the designer allegedly JULIA MADIBOGO BUSINESS nation’s people, a nation that will mally launched in Africa. It says a lot IS SLOW moved out of his place of business. julia.madibogo@citypress.co.za continue to rise above all obstacles. about the leadership in the country Fashion Segapo, who has styled celebrities including Idols SA The resilience has driven improvedesigner Businessperson Kabelo Ncholo has accused celebrity producer and host ProVerb, award-winning musician when it comes to leapfrogging and ment. Paledi fashion designer Paledi Segapo of reneging on a Prince Kaybee, veteran actor Warren Masemola and US being visionary when it comes to IN THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT, WHICH Segapo says repayment arrangement entered into out of singer Tevin Campbell, was hired by Ncholo in 2018 to Rwanda’s will the to pair continue rising CITY PRESS HAS SEEN AND WHICH IS DATED new technologies. his business court after latter allegedly the design attire for his wedding, which was scheduled to above allthe obstacles has failed seentoitdeliver become NOVEMBER 2020, THE SEASONED DESIGNER “I think this Centre for the Fourth has been wedding-related items that Ncholo had ordered and take place in 2019 at Sun City, North West. the first country in Africa to launch AGREED TO PAY BACK ABOUT R300 000 TO affected by paid for. The wedding did not take place that year and Ncholo Industrial Revolution Rwanda will NCHOLO BY THE END OF NOVEMBER the Centre ofSegapo the to Fourth Industrial Covid-19 Ncholo dragged the Johannesburg High got married in November last year after obtaining the play an important role in meeting PHOTO: OUPA Court in an effort to recoup payments he made to the services of other designers. Revolution (C4IR). the ratio of Rwanda becoming an BOPAPE/ seasoned designer backPhoto about R300 000 Palse fashionIngabire, label owner while preparing Minisfor his According to Ncholo, the popular designer was also Robots on display at the launch ofagreed C4IR to in pay Kigali. by Xinhua News Paula Rwanda’s upper middle-income country by GALLO IMAGES to Ncholo by the end of November. wedding. set to arrange a team that was meant to include a terSegapo of Information Communication “The defendant shall pay the plaintiff an amount of was scheduled to appear at the Randburg wedding planner, a photographer, a hair and make-up 2035. The centre, I hope, will be Technology and Innovation, saidcriminal the R297 000 in a full and final settlement of the dispute, Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday on a separate artist, and a booking for a segment in the lifestyle econ- this by making the Fourth Indus- a key enabler of Rwanda’s goal of have ety and a more sustainable offer] which the plaintiff accepts on the terms and charge of fraud for theissame transaction. television programme Top Billing. launch of C4IR a result of the fast Technology and[aninnovation been at the heart of our transformaomy,” said Ingabire. trialreportedly Revolution ana equalising force becoming an even more prosperous conditions contained herein,” reads the settlement. That matter was not placed on continent the roll, however, To secure his services, Segapo requested innovation seen in the in due society,” said Brende. The conditions were that Segapo “This had to make thetrue in to the out-of-court settlement agreement that the pair tion. We expect this R150 000 deposit ofthe the R300 000 contributing he had charged thesolutions to some is as Africa and and to become an the height of the Covid-19 in the first payment of R118 500 by the end of March, and the reached. businessperson for his suit, his bride’s gown and attire Ingabire concurred with Schwab: even greater driver of our economic developing world as it is anywhere.” of today’s most pressing challenges. past twoProsecuting years, asAuthority well asspokesperson the advent other payments were to be made in R20 000 monthly National Phindi for the entire bridal party. time has come for Africa to put The president of However, Rwanda, Paul We are happy to have the Worlddue to“The development in the coming years. instalments until the end of November. Covid-19 – not so that he could avoid making Mjonondwane confirmed that the matter was “not Segapo allegedly only created outfits for the of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, itself at the very centre of a new techKagame, who officiated at opening Economic Forum as a partner in this “With the advent of the Fourth Segapo was also asked to pay Ncholo’s R30 000 legal payment to Ncholo. on the roll, pending the bride and the bridesmaids. aplaced development that consultation has takenwith Africa nological revolution. Our continent of the Centre, said: “The and other endeavours.” Industrial Revolution the rapid costs onand or before December 31 ceremony this year. “Why would I discontinue my businesses while I complainant”. The settlement letter statescrucial that failure by the byNcholo storm. However, says Ncholo, Segapo has only paid R85 000 have to [conduct] business? I am not the first person to first opened a civil case against Segapo in seasoned designer to pay what is due to Ncholo per has a unique competitive advantage Klaus Schwab, Founder and Execinnovations witnessed during the launch of this centre is enabled by “For lastopened 28 years, Rwanda thus far and is expected to pay R45 000 by the end of close their store at the moment because we are going April 2019 the and then a criminal case ofhas fraud the settlement agreement will trigger pursuit of a that stems from an undeniably entreas a country, utive Chairman of the World Eco-through pandemic, there is an increased investments that we, this month or Ncholo will move to obtain a judgment a difficult time. in August of the same year to push the latter to pay civil case. deliberately explored every avenue preneurial spirit that is into have been making in science and urgency to develop digital and technomic Forum, who joined the cereagainst him. “What they are doing is making mebuilt look like I amour a him back. Yesterday, Segapo said he couldn’t comment as the available to deliver national transforgenerations an ability technology. to build more mony via video link, highlighted the But the businessperson says he is scared that, even if thug young on the run when the truth–isthat that Iis could not In the settlement agreement, which City Press has nological capacities matter was sub judice. mation through economic growth. a judgment, there might “I be no way to pay rent,” heout said. of necessity.” seen and which is dated November 2020, the he said his in Newtown wasof closed hope the centreHowever, will build onstoreimportance resilient systems he forobtains a healthier sociAfrica taking the leadaffordtoto innovate

TOP FASHION GURU MUST PAY BACK THE MONEY

R300 000

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

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JUSTICE FINALLY SERVED POSTHUMOUSLY IN SANKARA MURDER TRIAL By Staff Reporters

Blaise Compaore got life for the murder of Sankara. Photo by Mustafa Yalcin, Anadolu Agency/ Getty Images

homas Isidore Noël Sankara was a fiery revolutionary, and Pan-Africanist who lambasted the West for neo-colonialism and hypocrisy. Sankara became one of the youngest presidents in contemporary African history when he ascended to power in 1983 at age 33. In a period of four years, he earned prominence for his upstanding rule and strongwilled defiance of the West - a trait that won him admiration across the African continent. His administration was credited for improvement in education and healthcare provision and social reforms Burkina Faso. His resolute furtherance for independence from colonial rule, his rejection of continuing French political and economic influence in its former colonies and standpoint against aid from financial

institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, caused him to be loved by many in the continent. He was shot dead on 15 October 1987, in the country’s capital, Ouagadougou, at age 37, just a little more than four years after coming to power. Sankara and12 of his fellow comrades were slain by a hit squad at a meeting of the ruling National Revolutionary Council. Talking about his murder was forbidden throughout the rule of Blaise Compaore, Sankara’s former comrade-in-arms. He thwarted all efforts to investigate the events surrounding Sankara’s death. He also rejected relentless calls for Sankara’s remains to be exhumed, giving a boost to hypothesis of his involvement in the murder. Compaoré has now been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of collusion in the 1987 murder of Sankara, concluding a watershed trial and a 35-year-long pursuit of justice. The court also handed down life terms to Hyacinthe Kafando, an army officer suspected of leading the hit squad, and General Gilbert Diendere, an army commander at the time of the massacre. Eight other accused were given jail terms of between three and four 20 years, while three defendants were acquitted. In its closing statement on Wednesday, 2 April’s ruling, the prosecution recounted in grim detail a plot to ambush Sankara and his closest followers, reported africanews. com. Sankara headed to the National Revolutionary Council meeting for a rendezvous with death, for “his executioners were already there,” it said. After Sankara entered the meeting room, the hit squad burst in, killing his guards, the prosecution said. “The squad then ordered president Sankara and his colleagues to leave the room. They would then be killed one-by-one.” Ballistics experts told the trial Sankara had been shot in the chest at least seven times by the assassins using tracer rounds. But the defendants said the victims died in a botched attempt to arrest Sankara after he and Compaore fell out over the direction the country’s revolution was taking.

The New York Times reported that the trial avoided longstanding questions about the potential role of outside powers in the death of Sankara, including France, the former colonial ruler of Burkina Faso, and neighbouring Ivory Coast. It reported that one witness described how French officials visited Burkina Faso’s intelligence service one day after the killing, and removed sensitive surveillance material. But the trial mostly avoided the subject of any international role, which the Burkina Faso authorities have reserved for a separate investigation. Now that the trial is over, the Sankara family hopes to hold a proper funeral for the assassinated leader, who was buried in a pauper’s grave dug by prisoners at night within hours of his death. Reactions Paul Sankara, the slain president’s younger brother, who lives in the US, told The New York Times: “This is a relief. It’s been a long wait. This is not a moment for satisfaction, but at least now we can grieve.” Sankara’s widow Mariam, who has lived mostly in France since her husband’s murder, told The Associated Press: “The judges have done their job and I am satisfied. Of course, I wished the main suspects would be here before the judges. It is not good that people kill other people and stop the process of development of a country without being punished.” One of the prosecution lawyers, Prospère Farama, told africanews.com: “Yes, justice has been done. For the people, because it’s been 35 years of struggle of a people. We must not forget, it’s been 35 years that the Burkinabe people have been fighting against impunity. And with this case, I think that it is a great victory...” Serge Martin Bambara, a popular rapper and democracy activist known by the stage name Smockey, told africanews.com: “This is an historic verdict. It shows that nobody is untouchable.” Bénéwindé Sankara, another lawyer for the civil parties told africanews.com: “This decision, which comes after a quarter of a century of multiple procedures for us, is welcome. It is at the same time a lesson and Africans should be inspired by it and make sure no more such tragedies occur in our countries.”

Justice at last for Africa’s fearless son, Thomas Sankara. Photo by Getty Images

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By Jabu Kumalo

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

PEOPLE’S POET IS STILL MZANSI’S VOICE OF REASON!

uring the dark days of apartheid, his music was censored. He was also subjected to unending persecution, banning orders and detention without trial. Nevertheless, lovers of the “People’s Poet” – Mzwakhe Mbuli’s inspiring voice and messages played his music. Prayer meetings at Soweto’s Regina Mundi and other places during the 1980s were not complete without his poetic voice. Even when he was not on the agenda of the day, people would demand that Mzwakhe be given a platform to render his poems. His poems and music were a thorn in the side of the apartheid regime that the South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC) was ordered not to give him airplay for 13 years. That was understandable, according to him, because during the days of oppression the battle lines were clearly drawn. But he cannot understand it when the same censorship is applied in this century by the ‘people’s government’, which always prides itself of freedom of speech. He wonders what he has done to deserve such cruelty from those he probably fought in the trenches alongside. In an interview with The Telegram, Mzwakhe kept asking nobody in particular: “Manje mina ngenzeni?” (What have I done?) Is it my fault that I cannot romanticise the truth? Is it my fault that I cannot tap dance around the truth? Ngenzeni, because it was Oxfam that said our country thrives on three things, poverty, inequality and racism.” He is deeply aggrieved that he took his time and of his creative colleagues to come up with a great album, but at the end of the day, it is not getting airplay at the SABC. In the CD, called Vuka Darkie, Mbuli’s poems and music does not mince words with the state of affairs in the country today. It tells the truth that is too harsh to swallow. This album’s lyrics are a strong clarion call for action to do it ourselves. He was unapologetic when he said: “I will never sing about squeeze me baby nonsense because those are just empty lyrics. Under the democratic government, the doors of culture are still not open. “Last year, I launched Vuka Darkie and the lyrics are clear there. Now is the time to reclaim our dignity and power. It is not my fault that poverty has colour in South Africa. “Now is the time to think deep and change the narrative. My album is completely sabotaged. Virtually in this country, uMzwakhe uvaliwe (is censored). But I am a prisoner of hope mina, ngahlula amabhunu (I have defeated the Boers). I am there, I will prevail. No force will make me disappear. My credentials speak for themselves.” Mzwakhe has staged sit-ins before to bring attention when his music is not getting fair play: “I staged a a sit-in at the SABC during the era of Zwelakhe Sisulu, because they didn’t want to play my song about drugs. “But today people are crying about whoonga and nyaope. It was not the first or the last time I staged a sit-in. Last year I also staged a sit-in after realising that my new album was not being played. “The hatred some people have for me is mind boggling. I am not like those who have killed themselves and write a note that they were frustrated. I am not that kind. I have defeated all kinds of torture. I know all kinds of pain. So, I’ll never contemplate killing myself. I am socialised and groomed differently. Ubaba wakhulisa

In a sober society and normal country, the likes of the People’s Poet would be treated like a national asset. Unfortunately, not here. Here he is treated worse than apartheid assassins and murderers. Besides his music being censored, Mbuli has gone through pain that others would have to live nine lives to experience. He has survived assassination attempts where he was missed by nine bullets, while he was with Mama Winnie MadikizelaMandela.

insizwa la kumina (dad brought up a man in me). The People’s Poet was not the only one who has gone through pain of censorship. He said the likes of Mama Miriam Makeba died abroad because their music was not played here. Makeba died on stage while performing in Italy. The irate Mbuli continued: “I defeated the Boers. I defeated the Transvaal Publication Board. History is repeating itself. The more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s not the first time I work on an album, and work on it thoroughly, make sure I perfect it and package it, but at the end it gets censored. It happened under apartheid and it is happening again under democracy. So, it does not really bother me. “We have a democracy of bullies and poverty. This word democracy is like you are saying ‘Hallelujah Amen’ and people forget the pain. The Boers censorship was accom-

panied by detention, torture and imprisonment. So, this one is just ice cream. It’s nothing compared to what I have gone through. They must try something else, but not censorship. I have gone through censorship. So, that’s why I have a poem that says: I’m no longer a stranger to pain. “Airplay in this country is conditional. As we speak, they play music laced with insults like Omunye phez’komunye or Ha o morata o morotele. Airplay is not oxygen, otherwise I would be needing oxygen supply because I would die. Abantu abana dankie (people are not thankful). The SABC said Mzwakjh’s work is not banned or censored by the corporation. Gugu Ntuli, the SABC Executive for Corporate Affairs and Marketing told The Telegram: “The South African Broadcasting Corporation has addressed Mzwakhe Mbuli on this matter before. The broadcaster has not banned his music and the stations schedule his music as

and when the occasion permits. As the SABC receives new music on a weekly basis, music committees approve new music informed by the station’s strategy and researched listener preference.’’ Mzwakhe said he wishes “the dead could rise and see what their sacrifice has become. The rightful owners of this land have become sub-tenants. The land is not yet back. The wealth of the country is still in white hands.” In a sober society and normal country, the likes of the People’s Poet would be treated like a national asset. Unfortunately, not here. Here he is treated worse than apartheid assassins and murderers. Besides his music being censored, Mbuli has gone through pain that others would have to live nine lives to experience. He has survived assassination attempts where he was missed by nine bullets, while he was with Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. He also

survived many other assassination attempts. His Pimville house was attacked with hand grenades by Vlakplaas operatives. He was repeatedly detained and tortured by Security Branch Police. As if that was not enough, during this new democracy, he was arrested and spent 18 months awaiting trial and was denied bail five times. He recalls: “Some people who called themselves prosecutors once visited me. They said they were from the prosecutors’ office. They told me to tell all those who are trying to organise bail for me that they should stop wasting their time, because it’s like pouring water on a duck’s back.” He said those who are fighting him are like Covid-19. They are like doctors who fight an enemy they don’t see. “I am surprised that I went to jail, but there are those who have chowed billions and yet I don’t see any arrest,” said Mzwakhe.

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

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FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

TAKE BACK THE UNIONS FOR THEIR MEMBERS By AIDC.ORG.ZA

hat we are witnessing in the labour movement today is quite simply a tragedy. At a time when the working class is suffering as never before, leaders of Saftu are tearing the young federation to pieces. The working class needs this federation to strengthen and grow. It is the only potentially militant, independent grouping of trade unions in South Africa. And it is not just a question of the labour movement needing such a leading force. It is the working-class movement as a whole. Community organisations are weakened if they are unable to get the active support of organised workers. Abahlali baseMjondolo needs the active support and resources of organised workers. The Xolobeni struggle for the Right to say No is strengthened by the support of a federation of workers. The loss and the setback to the working-class movement will be huge. What lies behind The heart of the dispute inside Saftu comes down to a strategic difference over how to build the working-class movement politically. Numsa argues that the correct way is to build what it calls a Marxist-Leninist Vanguard Mass Party. The Saftu General Secretary and a number of affiliates favour the building of a mass working class party or Movement for Socialism. Numsa established its “vanguard party”, the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP). It now wants Saftu to throw its weight behind the SRWP. It views as a class enemy anyone who stands in the way of that project. And here is the first error, which can be traced back to the degeneration of the Bolshevik Party after the 1917 revolution. The Bolshevik Party regarded itself as indispensable to the working class. Without the Bolshevik Party, the revolution would fail. And it was not just the Bolshevik Party, it was its leadership. And not just its leadership, it was the General Secretary. So, the interests of the working class become reduced to the interests

of the Party and thereafter to the infallible leader. Defence of the Party becomes synonymous with defence of the working class. Perhaps it was more understandable at a time when the Bolshevik Party had just successfully played a leading role in a revolution. It is rather less understandable when the party we are talking about is a largely dysfunctional, factionalised, small grouping of mainly Numsa worker leaders and staff. It is an organisation that was able to secure only 24,439 votes nationally in the last election. It is support for this organisation that Numsa appears to be willing to shatter Saftu, a federation of 600,000 members. What an irony. The famous Numsa Special Congress in 2013 led to Numsa’s expulsion from Cosatu because the affiliates of Cosatu required allegiance to the ANC. Numsa is now ready to break Saftu apart because it requires allegiance to SRWP. Is there no learning from history? Whence the factionalism? Factional politics are narrow politics. Politics which fetishizes a tactic or strategy at the expense of having a perspective of the interests of the working class and the poor as a whole. Numsa fetishists a particular form of political party. Only a Marxist-Leninist Vanguard party will retain a revolutionary perspective. Only a Marxist-Leninist Vanguard party can be relied on to not sell out. Look at Syriza; Podemos: living proof. Era of investment companies And then there is the other aspect of this tragedy – the sell-out to a lifestyle for union leaders funded by a union investment company. In Numsa’s case it has been a particularly insidious process because of the business that the investment company engages in. The main customers of the Numsa Investment Company (NIC) are the union’s members. This has become clear as the sordid story of 3Sixty Life (the main subsidiary of NIC) has unravelled through amaBhungane and GroundUp. 3Sixty makes its money by selling insurance policies to workers. Numsa organises 350,000 workers. A perfect synergy you might think. The benign view of this model is that

Zwelinzima Vavi and Irvin Jim’s fallout is allegedly the reason for the ructions within Saftu. Photo by Matthews Baloyi/African News Agency Numsa’s company makes money by selling policies to members and then ploughs that money back into the union for the members’ benefit. It must have looked like a pretty model on someone’s computer 15 years ago. But what of the consequences of turning your members into customers? What of the consequences of turning your shop stewards and staff into sales people? What of the consequences of giving the union leadership a source of income separate from the subscriptions of its members? It might look like a clever financial model. But when looked at politically and organisationally it is a nightmare. So, the less kind view of the model sees a membership delivered as customers to an industry that has always been known as exploitative. It wants to sell policies. Selling of policies works on commission. The more you sell the better everybody does. So, workers are persuaded one way or another to spend some of the little they earn on policies, often with no clear idea of their real value. And Numsa opens its doors to this industry. Numsa becomes part of this industry. And the membership becomes its prey. And the problems grow. Once the investment company is so deeply entangled with the union, it starts to have an interest in how that union is run and by whom it is run. The doors to its customers must remain open. The tail starts to wag the dog as the interests of the company become more important than the interests of the union’s members. The results are plain to see in Numsa now. Bitter struggles for leadership positions have ended up in court cases around elections. Stories about money flow-

ing in the election process abound. Compared to ordinary workers, the investment company has plenty of money. It has the means to buy people. And if you think we exaggerate, listen to Khandani Msibi, the CEO of the investment company, himself. In recent court proceedings he was challenged – why did he spend money on the birthday party of the Numsa General Secretary? Why did he buy his daughter a laptop? What was the value for the company in these expenditures? They could not be valid expenditures if there was no benefit to the company. And what was his answer? It came straight out of the Bosasa playbook – these expenditures were “marketing initiatives”; they “allowed 3Sixty Life access to Numsa events where it could further its brand and strengthen relationships. When he said this, he jumped right out of a frying pan and straight into the fire. He was proudly proclaiming to the world that by sweetening the Numsa GS, he gained access to the union. What’s the difference between that and Gwede Mantashe’s security system? Or Malusi Gigaba’s bags full of cash? All of it is about access – access to the state as a market. Access to Numsa as a market. Looks very much the same. And now? So where does the trade union movement go from here? It seems clear that we have now reached a point where the interests of the leadership have become separated from those of the membership of many unions. A leadership layer enjoys a lifestyle very far from that of the members. They develop an inter-

est in making sure they remain the leadership. This happens at all levels. Which full-time shop steward, after four years working in an office, with access to a computer and a car, wants to go back to being a worker on the production line? Which General Secretary, who lives in a modern, middle class housing estate and drives a Mercedes Benz or a BMW to work, with a bodyguard to boot, wants to go back to the ranks of the union again? A new vision and practice for the labour movement is needed. The only direction when dealing with such a bureaucratised leadership is to organise workers again from the ground up. To build the capacity of members to challenge the vested interests of the leadership. To take back the union for its members. Such organising is often called a rank-and-file approach. It’s a foot soldiers’ approach. In fact, of course, it’s where unions started in the 70s and 80s in this country. There is a task to rebuild our trade union movement where the interests of members prevail and where to lead is to serve. We have to break the pattern where union leadership is about escaping your class position and status. In fact, we have an article in this issue about one such a successful rank and file struggle in the United States. It is time to begin the arduous task of building democratic organisation again from the grassroots. To struggle to wrest control of unions from those who currently mislead them. It won’t be a rapid process. There may be victories but there will certainly also be defeats along the way. But on this, there really is no alternative. - aidc.org.za

“The Saftu General Secretary and a number of affiliates favour the building of a mass working class party or Movement for Socialism.”

The Numsa Special Congress in 2013 led to its expulsion from Cosatu because affiliate unions wanted loyalty to the ANC. Numsa is now prepared to break Saftu apart because it wants loyalty to SRWP. Photo by Palesa Dlamini

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

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AUTISM AWARENESS– SA FACES LONG ROAD AHEAD World Autism Awareness Day is observed annually on 2 April and this year’s goal is to address inclusive education. The rest of the month is dedicated to putting a spotlight on the hurdles that people with autism face By Ndivhuwo Mukwevho

Embracing the condition Maanda Ndou, whose daughter was diagnosed when she was only four, believes autistic people can be successful if afforded opportunities. His daughter, Dembe Angel Ndou, is now 21. “It was hard to accept at first, especially since she is our first-born child. But through the love we have for her, we quickly learnt how to live with it and embraced her condition. “We raised Dembe to be an independent woman. It has, however, been challenging at times, since she can’t speak and we struggle to communicate with her. But we’ve learned to embrace and accept her the way she is,” said Ndou.

s the globe marked World Autism Awareness Day, South Africans living with autism continue to face several obstacles like unemployment, a limited choice of schools, discrimination and a lack of support. Vicky Oettlé, an Educational Specialist at Autism South Africa, said autistic people see the world differently as compared to neurotypical individuals. “Autism is a neurodevelopmental disability. It is not damage to the brain, but rather the brain that appears to develop differently. They communicate differently, behave differently and have different experiences of the world,” explained Oettlé. “We do not know the cause of autism. However, we do know that it is more than likely genetic. Nothing that a parent or family does will cause someone to be autistic. Autism should be considered a natural part of human diversity,” she explained. Oettlé also indicated that a child from around the age of 18 months can be diagnosed or identified as autistic. However, several studies are looking at being able to identify it as soon as at six months. Autism can be diagnosed throughout one’s lifespan – there are many adults seeking a diagnosis in their thirties, forties and fifties. Schooling – a problem She said autistic people face discrimination on a day-to-basis and that many children aren’t in schools due to various reasons. “Schools are often too far away, too expensive or do not understand autism. Autism South Africa works closely with the Basic Department of Education, and we are in the process of trying to rectify schooling options. “There are definitely not enough schools. Another big need is the teacher support, training, and continuous education to ensure they are supporting the autistic learners

Dembe, on of the millions of South African children living with Autism. in their class adequately. Families simply are not aware that they can take their child to school. One of our biggest gaps currently is in our older teens and adults,” Oettlé explained Another hurdle is the country’s high rate of unemployment as many employers lack basic understanding of autism. The unemployment factor “Families are often marginalised because they need to look after their children, and they often need to take additional time off to take their child to therapy or doctors’ appointments. Many of the families we support are unemployed, single parents.

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. Photo by ernieels.com

“We have many unemployed, young adults who are not supported by post-school options and are sitting at home. This is a group that we’ll be focusing on in the coming months. We campaign throughout the year to raise awareness and to create acceptance. It is no longer enough for us to just be aware of autism, we need to accept that it is part of our human race,” said Oettlé. Statistic South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the third quarter of 2021, stated that the official unemployment rate was 34,9%. This shows that the number of employed persons decreased by 660 000 to 14,3 million.

Oettlé also said autistic people need to be afforded opportunities so they can also succeed in life and become active members of the society. “In terms of government, unfortunately it is not doing enough to support autistic people. “There are currently no government facilities available for adults to go to, which will diagnose them. Children can access free therapy within government hospitals until the age of six. At this point, they should be able to access therapies at school. However, hospitals often have long waiting lists,” she said.

Voice of an Angel Though she cannot speak, Dembe can sing. To everyone’s amazement, she has just released her first gospel album and is often invited to sing at various churches in Gauteng and Limpopo. The proud father said: “When she was still young, doctors advised us that we buy her a soccer ball, so that she can learn how to use both of her hands and fingers. But I decided against the idea and instead, I bought her a small musical keyboard, which I believe is the one which triggered her love for music. And now she can play various musical instruments and is able to imitate various gospel songs with ease.” Dembe, who is originally from Limpopo but currently resides in Chiawelo, Gauteng with her parents, started singing and playing keyboard properly when she was 11-years old. Ndou urged parents who are raising children with various disabilities to embrace their uniqueness and encourage them to be independent. “Having a disability does not mean that one is ‘invalid’. It hurts me when I still read and hear stories of parents who hide their disabled children at home. Disabled children deserve to be supported and encouraged to follow their dreams like everyone else,” said Ndou. - Health-e News.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

TECH

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Two computer scientists explain how the Internet of Things can violate your privacy ● By Roberto Yus (Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County) and Primal Pappachan (Postdoctoral Scholar in Computer Science, Penn State)

Photo by www.theweek.in

ave you ever felt a creeping sensation that someone’s watching you? Then you turn around and you don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Depending on where you were, though, you might not have been completely imagining it. There are billions of things sensing you every day. They are everywhere, hidden in plain sight – inside your TV, fridge, car and office. These things know more about you than you might imagine, and many of them communicate that information over the internet. Back in 2007, it would have been hard to imagine the revolution of useful apps and services that smartphones ushered in. But they came with a cost in terms of intrusiveness and loss of privacy. As computer scientists who study data management and privacy, we find that with internet connectivity extended to devices in homes, offices and cities, privacy is in more danger than ever. Internet of Things Your appliances, car and home are designed to make your life easier and automate tasks you perform daily: switch lights on and off when you enter and exit a room, remind you that your tomatoes are about to go bad, personalize the temperature of the house depending on the weather and preferences of each person in the household. To do their magic, they need the internet to reach out for help and correlate data. Without internet access, your smart thermostat can collect data about you, but it doesn’t know what the weather forecast is, and it isn’t powerful enough to process all of the information to decide what to do. But it’s not just the things in your home that are communicating over the internet. Workplaces, malls and cities are also becoming smarter, and the smart devices in those places have similar requirements. In fact, the Internet of Things (IoT) is already widely used in transport and logistics, agriculture and farming, and industry automation. There were around 22 billion internet-connected devices in use around the world in 2018, and the

data. But this isn’t always the case. For example, Amazon workers listen to some conversations with Alexa, transcribe them and annotate them, before feeding them into automated decision-making systems. But even limiting access to personal data to automated decision-making systems can have unwanted consequences. Any private data that is shared over the internet could be vulnerable to hackers anywhere in the world, and few consumer internet-connected devices are very secure.

Photo by Thobias Schwarz-AFP-Getty number is projected to grow to over 50 billion by 2030. What these things know about you Smart devices collect a wide range of data about their users. Smart security cameras and smart assistants are, in the end, cameras and microphones in your home that collect video and audio information about your presence and activities. On the less obvious end of the spectrum, things like smart TVs use cameras and micro-

phones to spy on users, smart lightbulbs track your sleep and heart rate, and smart vacuum cleaners recognise objects in your home and map every inch of it. Sometimes, this surveillance is marketed as a feature. For example, some Wi-Fi routers can collect information about users’ whereabouts in the home and even coordinate with other smart devices to sense motion. Manufacturers typically promise that only automated decision-making systems and not humans see your

Understand your vulnerabilities With some devices, like smart speakers or cameras, users can occasionally turn them off for privacy. However, even when this is an option, disconnecting the devices from the internet can severely limit their usefulness. You also don’t have that option when you’re in workspaces, malls or smart cities, so you could be vulnerable even if you don’t own smart devices. Therefore, as a user, it is important to make an informed decision by understanding the trade-offs between privacy and comfort when buying, installing and using an internet-connected device. This is not always easy. Studies have shown that, for example, owners of smart home personal assistants have an incomplete understanding of what data the devices collect, where the data is stored and

who can access it. Governments all over the world have introduced laws to protect privacy and give people more control over their data. Some examples are the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Thanks to this, for instance, you can submit a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) to the organization that collects your data from an internet-connected device. The organizations are required to respond to requests within those jurisdictions within a month explaining what data is collected, how it is used within the organization and whether it is shared with any third parties. Limit the privacy damage Regulations are an important step; however, their enforcement is likely to take a while to catch up with the ever-increasing population of internet-connected devices. In the meantime, there are things you can do to take advantage of some of the benefits of internet-connected without giving away an inordinate amount of personal data. If you own a smart device, you can take steps to secure it and minimize risks to your privacy. The Federal Trade Commission offers suggestions on how to secure your internet-connected devices. Two key steps are updating the device’s firmware regularly and going through its settings and disabling any data collection that is not related to what you want the device to do. The Online Trust Alliance provides additional tips and a checklist for consumers to ensure safe and private use of consumer internet-connected devices. If you are on the fence about purchasing an internet-connected device, find out what data it captures and what the manufacturer’s data management policies are from independent sources such as Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included. By using this information, you can opt for a version of the smart device you want from a manufacturer that takes the privacy of its users seriously. Last but not least, you can pause and reflect on whether you really need all your devices to be smart. For example, are you willing to give away information about yourself to be able to verbally command your coffee machine to make you a coffee? – This article first appeared in theconversation. com

YOUR TAKE

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

Operation Dudula says illegal immigrants are a burden on the country’s economy. Photo by Michel Bega/citizen.co.za

ANTI-MIGRANT SENTIMENT IS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY A new national disgrace has begun – and no one seems eager to stop it.

ts source is a problem that is not new but which has worsened of late – blaming migrants for this country’s problems. For decades, politicians have found mileage in portraying migrants as a problem. They have found willing allies in sections of the media and other voices in the public debate who are happy to decry the presence in our midst of people whose sin is that they were born elsewhere. In a country wracked by poverty and inequality, politicians have created a climate in which people are encouraged to blame migrants for their frustrations and, if violence erupts, are denounced as uncivilised by precisely the opinion formers who created the problem. The issue has now worsened as political parties and citizens’ organisations proclaim their intention to seek out migrants and to make them pay a price – they never threaten violence but they do create a climate in which migrants are likely to be targeted. Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema threatens to root out migrants who are working without the required documents. And the country now has a movement, Operation Dudula, whose sole goal is to “tidy up the road of South Africa” from “illegal immigrants” who it portrays not as people but as a polluting substance. Inevitably, violence has broken out in Alexandra township and in the Western Cape as a result of the war against migrants. Political parties weigh in Politicians and political parties have, as ever, made the problem worse while decrying it. Government politicians have reacted as they always do when migrants are attacked – they have condemned Dudula but continue to talk and act as if migrants threaten South Africans. Lest anyone

YOUR TAKE STEVEN FRIEDMAN

suspect the government of being soft on migrants, it has tabled a law that will impose a ceiling on the number of migrants who can work in specified economic sectors. Deputy president David Mabuza blames anti-migrant sentiment on the fact that “our immigration system is grappling with the implementation of stringent measures to deal with the influx of undocumented foreign nationals into our country, who ultimately compete with our citizens for limited resources to survive”. For him, the problem is not that migrants are targeted, it is that this task should be left to the government. Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi sees keeping migrants out as his core function. When pressed, he claims he is merely applying laws that restrict migrants – and so assumes that no one notices that his ministry drafts and ensures the passage of these laws. The Democratic Alliance has condemned the targeting of migrants – a

shift from its 2019 election manifesto that stressed the need for tighter borders and more control on migrants. But its “solution” is a points-based system ranking migrants on “skills and education”. This sounds reasonable but is precisely the “remedy” proposed by British anti-immigration campaigner Nigel Farage. Points-based systems are usually used to favour people with resources and formal qualifications and to keep out hard-working, enterprising people who are impoverished and did not make it through school. Herman Mashaba, leader of ActionSA, has been hounding migrants ever since his days as Johannesburg mayor when he claimed that FNB Stadium was in danger of collapsing because of the illegal mining activities of migrants (no one in the other parties or the media asked him to justify this claim). So, the ANC and opposition parties denounce attacks on migrants while portraying them as a threat, contributing to what they condemn. People’s right to fairness Among social justice campaigners, a march in support of migrants was organised by Kopanang Africa, a coalition of organisations that insist migrants are being blamed for the country’s problems. But that hardly amounts to a concerted campaign to protect people born elsewhere from discrimination and threats of violence. The lack of a campaign suggests that the social justice movements that influence the debate do not see threats to migrants as a priority – they will oppose them but not with the same urgency with which they pursue other issues. But the threats against migrants are a national emergency. South Afri-

can society, despite nearly three decades of democracy, remains divided between insiders and outsiders – and the most “outside” of the outsiders are migrants. The organisations migrants form, have very little influence and there is no strong mainstream campaign committed to protecting their lives and livelihoods. Migrants are virtually friendless and unheard, at the mercy of any political entrepreneur who decides that, because they are the ultimate outsiders, they can be targeted almost at will. There is a mountain of evidence that migrants are not a threat to South Africans – they are an asset. There is no evidence to support the usual claims that migrants take houses or jobs that belong to South Africans or that they are any more responsible for crime than locals. One example of inventing a threat to locals is the Western Cape anti-migrant violence, which was prompted by claims that residents of a shack settlement were renting out parts of their shacks to migrants: it is not clear how this disadvantages South Africans. Perhaps the claim most often heard about migrants – that they take jobs from South Africans – is particularly absurd. Yes, some employers hire migrants rather than locals because they can underpay them. But why can they exploit them? Because the law makes them rightless and subject to deportation if they are caught without documentation. Remove this “protection” for locals and migrants would no longer have their claimed advantage. So, demanding immigration control and hounding people who happen to be born elsewhere is not a measure to protect the interests of South Africans – it is a form of bigotry. There is no difference between discriminating against someone

because of their race or gender and doing this because they were born in another country. Targeting migrants is the new racism – it pretties up a prejudice against people as a patriotic act. We can also be sure that the migrants who bear the brunt of this assault are not the well-off people with qualifications who work for formal employers but those who have fled poverty or persecution. The anti-migrant campaign is a war against the impoverished as well as against people who are being bullied because of where they were born. Given this, the fact that people are being hounded here should be a national scandal that prompts loud protest from anyone who believes all human beings are entitled to equal treatment. The campaign should target the real culprits – not the people in townships and shack settlements who blame migrants for their poverty but the well-heeled politicians, commentators and other opinion-formers who continually encourage them to blame migrants and, when they do, claim public opinion demands anti-migrant measures. And it should be led by everyone who claims to believe in people’s right to be treated with fairness and respect, wherever they were born. The new racism is no different from the older variety. People who believe in a free and equal society should be as vocal in campaigning against anti-migrant bigotry as they are at calling out other prejudices. ● This article was first published by New Frame. ● Steven Friedman is a Professor of Political Studies at the University of Johannesburg.

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

Editorial Double whammy of water- and load-shedding When load-shedding started in the later months of 2007, we thought it would be temporary, but it continues to this day. In the early autumn of 2008, it intensified. It became a permanent feature of our lives and we embraced the term as a way to deal with our country’s weakened electricity-generation capacity. The inevitability of power outages was brought about by the staggering discrepancy between electricity supply and demand as a result of mediocre planning, disorganised operation and a lack of maintenance of Eskom’s power plants. This has led to widespread rolling blackouts, which it would appear, will be with us for some time. When load-shedding was introduced, we were told it was some measure to mitigate the looming threat of the destabilisation of the national grid. At the time, we did not realise the initial period of chronic power shortages were a sign of deep trouble. A 1998 report by analysts and head honchos at the power utility and in government predicted that it would run out of power reserves by 2007, unless action was taken to prevent it. The governing party played deaf, hence no action was taken by government to increase the country’s electricity production capacity before 2007. They were seized by the desire to privatise Eskom. When Eskom implemented Stage 6 of load-shedding for the first time ever in December 2019, which resulted in nationwide blackouts, a mishmash of elements was blamed. These imaginary elements ranged from the weather to allegations of sabotage and negligence. We were sold a fable that unusually heavy rains, especially in the highveld areas of the country led to wet coal and flooding resulting in a number of power plants being unable to function efficiently. President Cyril Ramaphosa had the gumption to tell the nation that one of the reasons for the loss of about 2,000 MW was ascribable to a purported sabotage by an Eskom employee. Not to be left behind, Jan Oberholzer, Eskom’s chief operations officer, asserted that the main reason for load-shedding was due to “a lack of maintenance and neglect over the

preceding 12 years, resulting in an unpredictable and unreliable system”. What Oom Jan conveniently ignored was that government was told way back in 1998 that by 2007 Eskom would experience a shortage power reserves. The persistent predicaments at Eskom and the extraordinarily confused lawmakers are jeopardising our nation’s entire economy. An unreliable energy supply, which is a result of greedy, deaf and blind so-called leaders, is likely to deliver a terrible twin to load shedding, severe water shortage. Our uninspired and uninspiring Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, continues to insist: “There is no water crisis in the country at the moment, but there were reticulation problems that are a management issue and not one of water scarcity.” This is the very man who has acknowledged the country’s deteriorating sewage systems as a primary contaminator of water resources. This means there is diminishing availability of potable water. With an administration that talks but fails to act, this is scarcity. The reasonable and practical thing to do is for his department’s technocrats to get off their backsides and roll up their sleeves before we find ourselves dealing with water and load shedding. It is called a crisis when nearly 40% of piped-water is lost due to leakages and collapsing sewage works polluting scarce water resources. In April 2021, Ferrial Adam an activist working with the Co-operative and Policy Advice Centre, wrote in dailymaverick. co.za: “Some of the challenges affecting our water include the amount available, the unequal distribution and access to clean water, the quality and state of water infrastructure, drought causing towns to run dry and corruption that has affected municipal treatment plants, resulting in sewage flows into streets, rivers and groundwater.” South Africa, a naturally water-scarce country and the 30th-driest in the world, is already feeling the pressure. It is predicted that the country’s water demand will outstrip supply by 2030 - that’s fewer than a decade away.”

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OPINION & ANALYSIS

NESABA ABELUNGU: AFROPHOBIA RHETORIC IS OUT OF STEP AND TOXIC

renegade Afrophobic group in Johannesburg – Operation Dudula - has grabbed the nation’s attention, right up to that of the first citizen. Correctly so, president Cyril Ramaphosa, has dismissed those targeting foreign African migrants as “a vigilante group that must be stopped”. Just as he was quick to deal with the Afrophobic vigilantes, the president ought to have reprimanded the mischievous white capital. Recklessly, the majority white corporate South Africa undermine the country’s labour laws by choosing to hire migrants for jobs that South Africans can do. I battle to understand why we as a country are so afraid to admit that we are haunted by white supremacy. This evil got in through the back door in the transition to democracy under the pretext of the protection of property and minority rights. It seems like white supremacy has entrenched racism so deep in our society that self-hate among Africans is now natural. The power in the hands of the ruling black elite and the masses that vote them into government is so timid. Anger against migrants of African descent among the majority black poor is misplaced. For starters, we will never return any African migrants, legal or otherwise, back to their countries of origin. That notion is absurd. Secondly, these Africans are not responsible for our economic woes. They are not answerable for the poverty of the locals. The blame for that is at the door-step of white supremacy and our an inept government. South Africa is flirting dangerously with public revolt. The country’s unemployment is sitting at 32.6% and close to 60% of the population lives in poverty. To that add the more than two million jobs lost in just twenty-four months due to the devastating economic impact of COVID-19. Two years ago, delivering her Budget Vote speech, former State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo offered South Africa a mirror to see its true self: “We have thus identified as high priority risk the socio-economic condition and the high unemployment of people and youth in particular, the cyber-space security, regional influence, countering international terrorism, domestic political stabil-

MY TAKE

MBANGWA XABA ity and economic prosperity as our uppermost priorities,” she said. She was so frank, I can’t help but wonder: How can government be so clumsy and badly judge each step it takes with such information at its disposal? Dlodlo gave what I consider the most honest assessment of the root causes of the turbulence South Africa contends with daily. In sharp contrast to that honesty, a month ago, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, shortly after he was appointed State Security Minister, left me trembling with fear during an interview with Vuyo Mvoko on the SABC’s Watchdog. Mvoko asked him about the wisdom of his appointment to the portfolio of intelligence while he was holding another position and the appropriateness of placing national security in the Presidency and thus making it vulnerable to possible political abuse. Gungubele waffled a string of incoherent words about his leadership skills as a former mayor and how one function was “auxiliary” and the other “line”. The country’s security is in shambles - from intelligence, migration, the police, right up to the military. At the heart of the insipid performance of our security services is that there is no cogent national approach to security. Every element of the South African security is in crisis - policy gaps, poor accountability, absence of vision, poor co-ordination and principally, political interference. As Dlodlo pointed out, high levels

of unemployment especially among young people are spine-chilling. We live in a society where 10% of the population, mainly white, live in ludicrous opulence while 35% other South Africans are in the middle, with 55%, mainly the black majority, wallow in abject poverty. This alarming inequality and a stagnant economy pose massive security risks to our country. While Gungubele was boasting about his leadership talents, the current storm of Afrophobia was brewing in some parts of Soweto. Locals taunted foreign nationals trading at the Bara Taxi Rank and other areas. Instead of nipping this problem in the bud, government rhetoric was just out of step with reality. As if adding fuel to this raging inferno, Labour and Employment Minister Thulas Nxesi announced plans to crack down on the illegal employment of foreign nationals. Since then, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motswaledi was not to be outdone. With each passing week, he is on our television screens, proudly beating his chest because corrupt officials in his department are being arrested for selling South African citizenship documents to foreign nationals. Well, Mr. Minister, we shouldn’t be having this problem in the first place! These public relations soundbites and stunts divert us from the task at hand. Our priority task is to confront the elephant in the room, the lack of fundamental socio-economic transformation in our country. We need a substantial change to the structure of our economy, not some cosmetic adjustments at the fringes. The pyramid that is South Africa’s economic structure is unsustainable and perilous. If it continues and no one has the balls, the political will to reshape this structure more shocks await us - bodies piling up and critical services infrastructure destruction crumbling. We had a foretaste last July during the so-called Zuma unrests. Xenophobic violence of unprecedented scale is brewing. With eyes wide shut, lured along by the parasitic white capital, the South African government is fermenting public revolt against itself. Way too many people live in abject poverty. They have nothing to lose and with nothing to lose, stakes are high. Be warned.

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OPINION & ANALYSIS

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

INCESSANT GREED WREAKS DESTRUCTION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

reed and deceit are like predators. They sneak up on you like a pack of hyenas and devour your heart while you are watching. These two vices are like playground bullies who rob you of your lunch money and leave you bleeding and a black eye as a bonus. Greed and deceit are not different from a manic arsonist who burns your house down with you inside. They are like the wicked witches in folk tales who lure you into their den with sweets and cook you alive for their midnight snack. Greed makes people crude and vicious. Deceit makes them so mad that they keep staring into an abyss and deny it exists. Greed and deceit are the parents of corruption, which makes those pass themselves off as leaders trample on the dignity of the masses. In Southern Africa, we are led by individuals whose desire to hold onto power has turned them into ostriches that stick their corrupt heads in the sand while a starving pack of hyenas close in on them. These leaders, once in a while, give each other a pat on the back and a seat of power in that club called Southern African Development Community (SADC). Having given their hearts to hyenas to gain access to power that enables them to stuff their faces with the loot, they have successfully failed to take the required steps to protect the most vulnerable. As they pose for photos after talking a truckload of drivel, it never crosses their minds that they have an obligation to effectively deal with the systematic abuse of human rights that is unfolding in some states in the region. SADC conferences have, on no occasion, missed the mark in churning out the most flamboyant and assuring ideas. Most of them have come to naught. Our so-called leaders are great betrayers of the organisation’s founding principles, which compels member states to respect, protect, promote and ensure the fulfilment of the rights of citizens. “The main objectives of the SADC are to achieve economic development, peace and security, growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through Regional Integration. “These objectives are to be achieved through increased Regional Integration, built on democratic principles and equitable and sustainable development,” states www. sadc.int. We are told in the abovementioned website that the vision of SADC is to build a region in which there will be “a high degree of harmonisation and rationalisation, to enable the pooling of resources to achieve collective self-reliance in order to improve the living conditions of the people of the region.” Empty promises are fortified by a vision of a “Common Future, a

future within a regional community that will ensure economic well-being, improvement of the standards of living and quality of life, freedom, social justice, peace and security for the people of Southern Africa.” We have seen the SADC’s snailpace reaction to the bloody armed insurgencies in Mozambique. There is Zimbabwe and Eswatini where there is absence of equitable governance. The authoritarian rule and abuse of state resources in these countries have the potential to jeopardise peace and stability in the region. Even a village idiot can ascertain that SADC’s agenda for regional peace and security has proven to be inefficacious in view of the fact that those who call themselves leaders are too timid and reluctant to put into effect democratic values. They have turned SADC into a bulldog with false teeth. These heads of states cannot resolve conflicts in the region and are too cowardly to hold to account any member state that openly violates the rights of its citizens. This non-interference in member states’ internal problems is worrisome when one takes into account that the root causes of future threats to peace and security emanate from domestic instability. The devil-may-care attitude leadership was validated by the reprehensible decision of SADC’s heads of states and government representatives when they disbanded the SADC Tribunal, a sub-regional judicial organ, because Zimbabwe’s then senile president disagreed with a binding judgment of the Tribunal. The tribunal was meant to be a body where SADC citizens could take their cases if internal remedies proved unsuccessful. Citizens, supposedly, could take any case which could be of commercial, human rights or any nature, if they believed they had been failed by domestic courts of a member state. In 2014, the late former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe was not desirous of commercial farmers who had lost their farms to seek relief at the SADC’s Tribunal, therefore he convinced other member states to sign a set of rules that would block individuals from going there. ZIMBABWE

With the departure of Mugabe after ruling the country for 37 years, there was renewed hope for political and economic transformation. This was further fired up by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s public statements that the “new dispensation” was “open for business” and even willing to carry out democratic reforms. But all hope was dashed because his early years in power were marked by an increase in authoritarianism, insufficiency of reform, acute corruption and an intense economic crisis. Under Mnangagwa there has been an increase in the crackdown by the state security apparatus, which has enthusiastically responded with bru-

Mswati III’s regime has shown contempt for reform. Photo from Swati Newsweek

Emmerson Mnangagwa has also failed Zimbabwe. Photo from aljazeera.com tal force against protests over poor living conditions. There has also been an increase in repression against members of the opposition, activists and journalists. In 2020, at the height of Covid-19, there were alleged cases of abduction, torture, sexual abuse and arrest of three female opposition leaders. The silence from the SADC is eardrum-splitting. ESWATINI

On 3 April, King Mswati III pulled Eswatini off the agenda of a SADC meeting, which was held, in part,

to tackle the growing crisis in that country. This is clearly a sign that the proposed national dialogue is a stillborn. Contempt for human rights in Eswatini has reached alarming levels. Mswati’s despotic government remains resolute in its disregard for constitutional provisions on human rights. He is unbashful in using law enforcement and other legal provisions to suppress calls for justice and democratic reform. The SADC coyly accepted the withdrawal, disregarding the fact that there is ful-

ly-fledged dissent and repeated calls for full political and human rights reform. It does not seem to bother the rudderless SADC bigshots that Mswati’s regime has no appetite for reform and will continue to pulverise dissent. He will continue to deny civil, political, economic and social rights to the population of just over a million. Human rights defenders, activists and protestors will continue to live under the jackboot of a despot who has no qualms about using excessive force. Over the years, we have witnessed how emaSwati, who exercise their human rights on freedom of expression, association and assembly, have been injured and others killed through the use of extreme and lethal force by Mswati’s security forces. According to Amnesty International, over two thirds of the emaSwati live in rural areas under the control of chiefs, who are appointed by Mswati. “People can be evicted from their homes and livelihoods if they or their relatives are perceived to be critical of the royal family or their chief. “Two-thirds of the population lives below the poverty line and most of them live in rural areas,” said Amnesty. Once again, the leadership of SADC is coy and their silence is deafening. There is no denying that the SADC has shown itself to be a powerless club of greedy and crooked leaders who are seized with the desire to prolong their political power for nefarious reasons. The citizens of this region are sick to the core of their souls with leaders whose default position is to preserve their ravenous brotherhood at the expense of socio-economic development, peace, security, and the upholding of human rights. In its 2018 Peace and Security Challenges in Southern Africa Report, The Nordic Africa Institute made the following observation: “Southern Africa has some of the world’s most unequal societies, with enormous social cleavages that were forged by settler colonialism and racial segregation that have persisted in the post-colonial period. “Given this, it is unsurprising that socio-economic grievances should not only have an impact on human security, but also represent a formidable challenge to peace and stability in the region in the long-term. “Investment in human capital and the creation of economic opportunities have been impeded by sluggish growth rates and over the past decade, unemployment has risen steadily across much of the region. “In virtually every SADC country, vast swathes of the population continue to subsist below the national poverty line.” At the rate things are going, we might as well bid a heartbreaking farewell to the long-held belief that southern Africa is the most peaceful and stable region in the continent.

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

Photo by Zaleb.com

CURSED HEIRLOOMS More recent iterations of local soapie s explore the lived experiences and hotbutton issues affecting average South Africans By Tsogo Kupa

wo years ago, I wrote a review for Netflix’s flagship African series, Queen Sono, where I raised my concerns over the future of Netflix in South Africa. I assessed that Queen Sono valiantly attempted to spin the distinctly American genre of the spy-thriller into a South African setting which, as well-intentioned as it was, couldn’t overcome the expected inconsistencies with adapting the genre in a context far removed in space and time from its origin. Queen Sono’s flaws appeared to have reflected a wider trend that occurs mainly in our film and television, but rears its head in other cultural industries where South African art wrestles with its own identity under the influence of American cultural hegemony. The following years’ worth of South African Netflix originals haven’t proved my concerns wrong. Rather, they have illuminated an elephant in the room that I had missed when assessing Netflix’s incursion—namely, how soap operas dominate the South African television industry. South Africa’s first soap opera of the democratic era, eGoli: City of Gold, debuted in 1992 and was soon followed by the more famous Generations, which was commissioned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the country’s public broadcaster. During the democratic transition, the SABC and private broadcaster M-Net sought to promote a positive and multi-racial South Africa, depicting Black South Africans as affluent, upwardly mobile and integrating professionally and socially with other races. Soapies of this era emulated a new South Africa, and what new South Africans could look like in it. Thus, soap operas, though often thought to be devoid of socio-political significance, operated as socio-cultural barometers for many South Africans. More recent iterations of local soapies explore the lived experiences and hot-button issues affecting average South Africans, earning top viewership ratings across public and private service channels. Soapies become ubiquitous in social life,

and audiences consequently develop para-social relationships to a soapies characters and plot lines. The previous night’s episodes are hot topics of weekday conversations in many facets of South African life—from taxi ranks, school playgrounds to workplace lunchrooms. This baked-in viewership allows networks to sell expensive prime-time advertising, providing huge profit. Not surprisingly, the number of soapies in South Africa has grown exponentially over the years. Today, four out of SABC’s five free-to-air channels host a slate of flagship soapies that air during primetime hours. Soap operas currently own the top 10 spots for the most watched television programs in the country. The bulk of viewer shares in South African television is reliant on the soap opera model. It’s hard to believe that the situation is purely coincidental. With the SABC exponentially bleeding money - due to the mismanagement of funds by everyone from network executives to independent production houses - they remain one of the most consistent avenues of revenue for the troubled broadcaster, and still a pillar on which the industry in South Africa is built. When it comes to maximising profits through content, Netflix is no stranger. After earning reverence from their original slate of relatively daring and critically acclaimed series’ (including House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things and Black Mirror), its more recent priorities appear to be about producing a torrent of content to support its platform. With more and more networks divorcing from Netflix to launch their own streaming platforms (Disney+, Peacock, HBO Max) and newer competitive players in the market (Apple TV, Amazon Prime), the rules of competition are to be driven less by the “real art vs content to support a platform” struggle, but rather one to provide as much content as possible—a change spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and Netflix playing catch-up with an increasing number of larger and more established networks like NBC and Disney that have built-in catalogues of beloved series and films to support their streaming platforms.

With audiences having much more disposable time and less disposable income on their hands, as well as increasing competition in a market it once monopolised, Netflix appears to think viewers are less concerned about the quality of what they’re watching than the quantity of what they have to choose from. South African filmmakers have developed a cozy relationship with Netflix, pitching and creating series with a company unmoored by local trends. For Netflix, the partnership helps to not only supplement its global content stream, but South Africa seems a perfect avenue because its own industry has prioritized the efficient maximisation of content— an obvious segue to the streaming industry. The late 2000s and early 2010s saw the evolution of television into an increasingly auteur driven and dramatically compelling format. American television drew in Hollywood actors, writers and directors, their budgets grew, runtimes lengthened, and storytelling matured. The small screen began to feature nuanced, morally ambiguous and psychologically rich characters located within complex and carefully crafted stories. No longer the medium perceived as mindless, after-work entertainment, prestige dramas and high-concept comedies of the likes of Breaking Bad, Atlanta, Girls, The Sopranos and many others showed audiences, critics and producers alike that the small screen could stand in equal artistic regard to its big-screen companion. While there is a strong argument that some of the elements of what is colloquially referred to as ‘Peak TV’, owe their origins to the soap opera, the genre now finds itself playing among TV relics alongside 30-minute multi-cam sitcoms and family game shows. Ultimately, the guiding framework and principles behind all soap operas are less concerned with meaningful, considered and dexterous writing, but rather with an effort to maintain and deliver on the broadcasting demands of the genre. These are concessions most viewers passively consent to for the convenience of daily episodes ad infinitum. - africasacountry.com

Story Continues on Page 15

Photo by netflix.fandom.com

SHOWBIZ

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

Story Continues on from Page 14 similar ways in Blood and Water, the second South African co-production to debut on Netflix after Queen Sono, which landed to global fanfare, occupying the global #1 spot upon its launch. Across the two seasons the show suffers from an acute identity crisis. At times, it yearns to be a gritty and suspenseful thriller, which writer Nosipho Dumisa-Ngoasheng, whose previous work features an adaption of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, is more than adept at handling. Yet, it also wants the careless disenchantment of a Gossip Girl, where teenagers are so fantastically removed from parents, or any indication of adolescence, or responsibility. Blood and Water follows Puleng Khumalo (Ama Qamata), a teenage girl who enrols at a prestigious private high school in Cape Town on suspicion that one of its students, Fikile Bele (Khosi Ngema), is her elder sister who was abducted from her parents shortly after birth. Throughout the first season, as Puleng’s attempts to prove Fikile is her sister grow increasingly dangerous and often bone-headed, the audience is reminded of the void that is her fractured family dynamic and why she’s desperately compelled to solve the mystery. The second season lacks the thematic grounding that gave the first season a sense of focus, and like Jiva!, struggles to maintain any compelling stories or action outside of the main storyline. The plot is paced awkwardly in the second season, its complimentary sub-plots routinely picked up, forgotten, chopped and changed, without much resolution. The addition of newer characters feels exciting, but towards the end of the season is inconsequential. To be fair, bad writing is bad writing, whether or not said bad writing is situated in an industry overwhelmed by a singular mode of storytelling. The trading of storylines in this fashion harkens back to the soapie traditions of storytelling,

where the multiplicity of tangential and unresolved plot lines are commonplace to support the week-day broadcast schedule. Storylines haven’t reached neat resolutions, and subplots, twists and characters are generated, dropped and picked up again at a dizzying pace. These characteristics would be at home in a soap opera setting, but in a season with an eight-10 episode run, it results in lack of focus and cohesion. The nagging and overreaching influence of soapies obstructs South African shows from ever reaching the type of characterized and nuanced storytelling that made Squid Game, for example, a smashing success. Furthermore, the production of 260 episodes in a single year, is a gargantuan task for any production company. The tremendous workload has resulted in many workers in the South African film industry to complain about being overworked and underpaid. With more than a dozen soapies currently in production within a relatively small industry, one wonders if the framework is sustainable. What we need is more rigorous interrogation of the state of things, instead of a passive acceptance of the industry as current the state of things. If hit-shows like Is’thunzi, Tjovitjo, Hopeville or Yizo Yizo have shown us anything, it is that South Africans are capable of gravitating towards and supporting series television. Last year’s slate of South African Netflix series is a sign that the hegemony of soap operas is far from an isolated phenomenon; their influence is evidently constricting the creative imagination for what local television can look and feel like. The intent is not to malign the storied history of soap operas and the vital role they play in the lives of millions of South Africans, but to demand, as producers and consumers of content, that the soap not be the sole genre on which the television industry is driven. - africasacountry. com

Photo by netflix.fandom.com

The dominance of any form of television can be problematic. Peak TV, for all its esteem, had a shelf life and its own set of harmful attributes and consequences. Unlike Peak TV, the soap opera genre has a particularly pernicious influence due to how its tropes and narrative conventions are idiosyncratically tied to its unique broadcasting demands. When it comes to adapting the soap opera tradition to other forms of television, especially the series form, it’s unwise, even destructive, to ditch the bathwater while keeping the baby. It is this struggle that has coloured the South African Netflix shows. The omnipresence of soapies results in most, if not all filmmakers working in television owing a huge part of their career to the genre, and thus they struggle to break out of its very particular parameters. Apart from budget, the most immediate difference between a series and soap, is that series have endings. Soapies are characteristically devoid of endings, therefore outside of a soap’s respective premise, it’s impossible to get a true grasp of the conceptual totality of a soap. Struggling to find a compelling way to end stories, align storylines along an arc, and to find balanced pacing is a recurring problem in South African Netflix originals. Jiva!, for all its many charms, is a clear example. The series is a dance drama (a la the Step-Up series), which chronicles a young woman, Ntombi (Noxolo Dlamini), who works a deadend job as a guide at the local waterpark, but risks it all to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer. Jiva! boasts a gamut of storylines throughout its eight-episode first season, yet only a handful of them feel engaging because most fail to cohere to the series’ central theme. Everything else falls into a predictable romance storyline once it escapes the space of the central dance competition. Thematic incoherence appears in

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

LABOUR MATTERS

EMPLOYERS MUST TREAD CAREFULLY WHEN RECRUITING

n the previous column on dismissal for poor performance during probation, I indicated that the judgment warranted a follow-up. The judgment we continue to examine relates to the case of Ubuntu Education Fund (UEF) (Appellant) versus Paulsen, CCMA, Nehawu and Sonyaya (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Respondents, respectively), citation: Case no: PA 12/17. UEF had employed Zandile Sonyaya, as a Supply Chain Co-ordinator, effective from 18 August 2014. Sonyaya was employed subject to a six-month probationary period which was envisaged to end in February 2015. The employer’s offer of employment dated 4 July 2014 stated: ‘The first six (6) months of your appointment will be a probationary period. Upon the successful completion of your probationary period, you will receive confirmation of your appointment as a permanent staff. Performance appraisals will be conducted during this six-month period by your supervisor.’ Clause 1.2 of the contract of employment provided: ‘The employee is appointed for a probationary period of 6 (six) months during which period the Employee will be assessed for confirmation of his suitability of employment…’ Sonyaya was initially given a task of achieving four Key Performance Areas “KPAs”. It however became clear that she was unable to achieve the four KPAs. During one of the performance review sessions, it was agreed by the parties that the KPAs would be reduced from four to one with effect from 8 October 2014, to allow Sonyaya to concentrate on the administrative tasks of the job. In addition, a temporary worker was employed to focus on the procurement function while Sonyaya familiarised himself with the administration systems. This was intended to be a temporary arrangement aimed at giving him the opportunity to find his feet. In addition to this

UMSEBENZI TEBOHO MOKOENA

measure, the organisation assigned a quality assurance manager and a financial accountant to provide close supervision and technical support to Sonyaya. As we saw in the previous article, UEF conceded that Sonyaya had to perform functions that had previously been separated into two posts: buyer and supply chain co-ordinator. One can understand that as a non-profit organisation, with limited resources, they had to rationalise certain positions and combine others to reduce their wage bill. UEF also stated, in advancing their case, that, subsequent to Sonyaya’s dismissal, they had hired another person as its supply chain co-ordinator. According to UEF, this new person achieved the required performance standards within two weeks. Now, let us pause for a moment and ask ourselves a number of pertinent questions. How robust was the recruitment process that UEF had embarked on to hire Sonyaya? How did they determine a job-person fit? Typically, a recruitment process starts off once an organisational structure has been determined, signed off

and a number of positions to be filled identified. An organisational structure comprises various positions and each job, as part of its architecture, at a granular level, represents a job profile which in turn, outlines positional outputs, as well as skills and competencies, inputs, required for a job holder to be able to perform the tasks/deliverables at hand (outputs). Ordinarily, as part of the recruitment process, a position would be advertised, a pool of suitable candidates is then identified through what is commonly referred to as a shortlisting process. Candidates selected via this process ought to be those whose personal profiles (skills and competencies) match what the position requires. An organisation might then either take the selected candidates through a competency assessment exercise, which is designed to assess their capacity and capability in a real work life experience, linked to the position they are vying for. This is referred to as another filtering process in the overall selection process. Candidates that successfully complete this process qualify for the next stage - interviews.

On the other hand, mainly due to financial considerations, (assessment exercises, are by their very nature, an expensive process) An organisation may elect to conduct in-house interviews first to reduce the number of candidates who would then have to be taken through the technical assessment process. If an organisation adopts this process, those who are successful during the interview stage, are then taken through a technical assessment process. At the end of the process outlined above, the responsible selection panel then takes into account the combined results of the technical assessment, as well as the interview stage for purposes of determining the most suitable candidate. The next stage would normally involve vetting and reference checks, before the most suitable candidate is recommended for appointment. Typically, and advisedly so, selection panels refer the top two to three candidates for the ultimate stage i.e. vetting and reference checks. This they do in order to ensure that, in the event that the first candidate fails to make the cut, the selection panel can then recommend the second or the third candidate. At this stage, it is critical to point out that, based on my experience, it does happen that there is sometimes a gap, between what the job profile requires (outputs), relative to the profile of the recommended candidate (inputs). It then becomes the responsibility of the selection panel, in its final submission to an appropriate authority, to identify these gaps, based on a technical assessment and the interview, primarily, to flag these gaps and recommend interventions for purposes of closing any gaps which would have been picked up during the afore-mentioned selection process. Now, going back to the Sonyaya matter, how could it be that a replace-

ment was able to perform the tasks assigned to them, beyond scrutiny, within two weeks? This immediately raises the question: could it be said that Sonyaya’s skills and competency set were comparable to the person who had been hired subsequent to their dismissal? Unfortunately, this question appears not to have been dealt with during the court proceedings. The only plausible inference that one can deduce from this submission by UEF is that, taking into account the selection process I have outlined above, that, perhaps, Sonyaya, was not an appropriate candidate for the role from the outset. Be that as it may, UEF, needs to take accountability for a selection process which went awry. It is said that Sonyaya conceded that she had been struggling with the job and complained that she “got tired from driving and spending time getting the requested items”. The question is: why would the employee “struggle with the job” and spending time getting the requested items, if they were eminently qualified for the role? Let us not even deal with the “driving matter” as the employee would have known, beforehand, that they would be required to drive to and from work. In this instance, I take up an issue with the LAC’s stance that, seeing that the job was advertised with specified KPAs and that UEF had no obligation to re-write the job description. The LAC held that UEF had reasonably set the criteria for the position to suit its particular needs. It is a non-profit organisation with relatively limited resources. The LAC further held that UEF could not be expected to amend the requirements of an advertised position to accommodate the limitations of a probationary employee who proves unsuitable. My challenge with the LAC stance is that, it appears to ignore the fact that, previously, this role comprised two separate entities, and that it was combined into a single role, ostensibly, due to financial constraints. Granted, organisations such as UEF may, due to their financial constraints, combine roles, but they cannot be absolved from anticipating that this combination could present challenges to certain candidates. Therefore, it was incumbent on them to select candidates who could deliver the tasks at hand. Yes, Sonyaya did apply for the role, mindful of what was expected of them. In the current rife unemployment scenario, I have seen unqualified candidates apply for roles which they are patently unqualified for. I cannot fault them. They are merely taking chances, with the hope that they get the nod. On the other hand, we should hold entities such as UEF responsible for appointing candidates that clearly do not meet the criteria. Things did not go according to plan, hence UEF had to, among others, hire an additional worker to assist with the workload. In addition, they had to provide technical and supervisory support to Sonyaya to help her cope with the tasks at hand. In closing, it is my considered view that, with what we know now, organisational re-organisation notwithstanding, the recruitment process could have been more robust. UEF could have also considered alternative placement for Sonyaya. They could have also considered further training and development to bring Sonyaya up to par with the requirements of the role. This, assuming that this had been identified as a deficiency during her technical assessment.

MOTORING

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

NEW POLO GTI SETS BAR HIGH! The interior is really porch and you get all the bells and whistles reserved for high end cars. The build quality is sound. I felt that GTI Golf presence in the polo, says the writer

ow exactly do you improve on a perfect design loved by millions without the risk of destroying the best formula? You must have nerves of steel! A lot of research and market feedback was engaged before this decision was taken. According to Naamsa, Polo sales accounted for 24.5% of all AO segment car sales. This was usually the territory of the mighty Corolla, which was dethroned by folks from Kariega South Africa. Yes, this is a proudly South African product. I was invited a day after the launch since I couldn’t get a slot on a launch date to sample the newcomer. I was greeted by a huge honeycomb grille and the usual GTI red stripes at the front. You will be forgiven to mistake it for its big brother at first glance. The new IQ LED lights stand out and make it obvious that you’re looking at a new car. Remember, this is the bread and butter of VW and they can’t afford

RIDE ON DUMI XABA

to jinx it. The clean lines on the side make it look sporty. At the rear, that’s where you see obvious changes, the Golf 8 GTI like rear lights. Inside, you are greeted by pure leather with

red stitching. Those red seductive lipstick-like trimmings are retained. You don’t need a key to enter or start this beauty and you will be forgiven to mistake those hugging bucket seats to the golf 7 GTI. The interior is really porch and you get all the bells and whistles reserved for high end cars. The build quality is sound. I felt that GTI Golf presence in the polo. Not that I was off the mark, it is built on the same MQB platforms as the Golf. The same super Intelligent EA888 2l VW turbocharged engine is also used but tamed a little as not to step on the big brother’s toes. Press the Start button and you immediately know that this is not 1L TSI standard polo. The cockpit comes alive and the 8-inch infotainment stares at you. The new polo is so spacious and comfortable. I was allowed to take this beauty on some few twists and bends and yes that XDS front diff makes handling this beauty a pleasure. I must

admit though that there is a lot of power on low range but it sort of becomes kept in check on mid-range. I think this was cleverly well thought of by engineers as not to encroach on the GTI Golf territory. But some competitors like Fiesta and Peugeot 208 GTI feels more willing to play. The test model had Dr Dre beats sound system which is really not negotiable for the target market, although I switched it off most of the journey. The exhaust note is music to my ears. The gears are good but tend to haste or hesitate. The Dsg gear box works quite well with VW torque vectoring to give you the most blissful ride. This baby comes with all bells and whistles like heated front seat, keyless entry; keyless start; electronic cockpit and 8-inch touch screen infotainment with intelligent navigation and full leather upholstery with red edge stitching. The back seats and space are huge almost Golf like. VW claims that it

has been increased and it surely feels like it. Panoramic sun roof. Camera for PDC and park assist to mention just a few. You are really getting a car for buck and a good value for money on a Polo. Most of the tech you get on this GTI can only be found in a million plus price range cars. Those 17 inches or 18 optional boots keeps the are polo glued to the road. The three-year 120,000km warranty gives you peace of mind. Sadly, you will still get only three services with 15,000 intervals. The polo will sprint from 0 to 100km in just 6.7 seconds. Although this is a 2l consumption is 6.4 per 100km, which is reasonable. For R500,000 this is really value for money. Has polo kept the magic and improved on the winning formula? Definitely yes. Does the Polo really beat the competition? For daily refined driving and all rounds practicality, it’s a resounding yes. Also look at Ford Fiesta ST and Peugeot 208 GTI.

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

FEATURES

On his Limpopo farm, Kolobe Lebepe and his business partner, Fannie Malala, specialise in tomato and watermelon production. Photo by Manare Matabola/Food For Mzansi

KOLOBE DEFENDS AND FEEDS HIS FELLOW CITIZENS For many people, dividing time between worlds that are poles apart is one helluva task; one which Kolobe Lebepe embraces fearlessly. By Manare Matabola

n weekdays, he is a member of the South African Army Engineer Formation, the controlling entity of the country’s military engineering units. But every two weeks, you are sure to find him in a grubby work suit on his three-hectare farm in Moletši Ga-Komape, just a few kilos outside Polokwane, Limpopo. “I have one full-time helper who oversees most things at the farm and, who I must also admit, he’s doing quite well for himself. Pretoria is not that far. It’s approximately a fourhour drive. So, at the end of every two weeks I am here at the farm to assist with ideas of what needs to be done,” he told Food For Mzansi. “When I have too many orders, I sometimes leave here around 4am and by 7:40am I would be reporting for work. Then, thereafter, I would again leave for Limpopo after work, and leave for Pretoria the next morning.” On his piece of land nestled near mountains, Lebepe and co-owner Fannie Malala only grow cultivars that are not labour-intense, such as tomatoes and watermelons. In this day and age, it is quite rare to find an up-and-coming farmer who has never applied for funding to grow their business, but Lebepe

surprisingly never did. He points to the funding criterion used by government and other institutions. The downside of being a civil servant “The main reason why I never applied for funding is that one of their prerequisites is that you must not be employed by the government sector and you must be at the farm full-time, which I find to be discriminatory, especially the one saying you should not be employed by the government sector,” Lebepe disappointedly declared. “Because it is not like I am getting that money from the government sector for free. I work very hard for it. On the other hand, I also work very hard on the farm, and I am producing. We should be assessed on merit. I am also previously disadvantaged.” The idea to expand and commercialise appeals to many a farmer, but Lebepe is not yet swayed. According to him, he would rather sell his produce out of hand in the informal market, as opposed to being ripped apart by the big retailers that determine prices for him. “Big retailers are very exploitative. I prefer to create my market through selling to street vendors and locals, and though locals don’t usually buy in bulks, at least you get all the profits,” says Lebepe. “The retailers, on the other hand,

dictate the prices for you. Their pricing model is not that good. Maybe in the long run when I am a commercial farmer I will have to deliver to retailers, but for now, the focus is on locals and street vendors. Also, commercial farming is very much mechanised, and mechanised farming requires a lot of money.” Integrating graphic design into farming In contrast to many farmers who are only interested in growing and selling crops, Lebepe is interestingly drawn to other parts of the agricultural vale chain such as processing and packaging design. “I would like to own the whole supply chain in crop production from produce to processing, to packaging, and to distributing to my fresh produce market,” Lebepe explains. Even better, he revealed this interest is what led to him to register for a Master’s degree in graphic design at the Vaal University of Technology. His thesis investigates the communication of graphic visuals on food packaging design. Lebepe pointed out, however, that many communities still don’t take him seriously. Just three days before the country went into a hard Covid19 lockdown, he was finally given the three-hectare farm by the village’s induna. It took him a while to persuade

Besides being a soldier and farmer, Kolobe Lebepe is also studying towards a Master’s degree in graphic design at the Vaal University of Technology. Photo Supplied/Food For Mzansi

him, largely due to his small physique which often makes him appear younger than his actual age. Lebepe insisted on being judged for his results on the farm rather than his appearance. And, thanks in large part to Malala, his mechanical engineer friend, a former SANDF colleague and the co-owner of Chakula Lifestyle, Lebepe has never punched below weight

during the harvest season. Furthermore, Lebepe keeps a limited number of cattle and goats, which are also looked after by someone else at the 72ha farm that he inherited from his father in Bochum, Ga-Raweshi village. He embraces every opportunity in agriculture. “Monna wa tlala ga a robale!” he says. A hungry man cannot sleep. - foodformzansi.co.za

SPORT

FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22

I LOVE BEING A BLACK CYCLIST, BUT IT’S EXHAUSTING By Ayesha McGowan

t has been said that Ayesha McGowan’s secret sauce is her mental toughness. Mental toughness is the eloquent version of stubbornness, and Ayesha’s ok with owning up to that quality trait as well. It comes from a life of being harder on herself than anyone else. She doesn’t accept the word “no” for an answer and she certainly doesn’t stand for being told of what she is capable. “I come from a stubborn family,” said Ayesha. “My grandparents had seven kids, they weren’t very wealthy and they managed to get them all into college. I have a history of strong people to look up to. That, in combination with my own stubbornness, has been pretty helpful in my journey.” Ayesha’s journey isn’t a straightforward one. She was a pre-school music teacher who found cycling as a commuter in college and is now pursuing a professional road racing career. It’s a journey that has required strength and stubbornness in equal doses. “My grandma forbid me from riding my bike to see her, but I do it anyway.” Ayesha rides128 kilometres from her house near Atlanta, Georgia to her grandmother’s. It’s great for training. To her grandmother, the idea of riding 128 kilometres alone near a heavily-populated city sounds like the most dangerous thing in the world. To Ayesha, it’s just another day on the bike. “My grandma is my favourite person in the world,” said Ayesha. “She’s just so capable. She couldn’t get the lawnmower to start and there were all these men around and nobody could do it. She just did it herself. She does the things that she wants to do and doesn’t ask for permission.” Turns out, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Ayesha’s grandma has been very supportive of her cycling. In fact, Ayesha claims her greatest cycling achievement was riding a tandem with her 80+-yearold grandma in Atlanta. “She never says no. Her only complaint was that the saddle was uncom-

Ayesha McGowan is an aspiring professional road cyclist, an advocate, and a creator – of music, of video and photography; she’s also a traveler, and most importantly, a granddaughter – a daughter – a wife. This is Ayesha

“I’ve been able to use bikes as a tool for encouraging other people,” Ayesha. Photo by images.giant-bicycles.com

fortable; she got so mad because I didn’t tell her about chamois shorts,” said Ayesha through belly laughs. I am bike racer “I race bikes. I am a bike racer,” Ayesha says confidently. “I’ve made sure I have all the things I need. I

feel physically prepared, I’m with Liv now and I feel prepared equipment-wise, I’ve got nutrition figured out – I feel like I have all the pieces and it’s up to me now to carry it across the finish line.” Ayesha’s cycling journey started when she moved away from home.

Simultaneously she gained independence and a commuting bicycle. Together, they broke out of a limited view of the world to find freedom and empowerment. “I’ve always been a very obsessive person, to a degree,” said Ayesha. “But I feel like bikes gave me a posi-

tive obsession.” When racing presented itself as an opportunity, Ayesha wasn’t immediately winning any races but she progressed quickly. It’s when she started looking for other women to look up to in the sport that she realized there were no other African American women racing road bikes. And, being stubborn, she wasn’t having that. “The goal to turn pro was impulsive, but it didn’t seem like a ridiculous thing in my head in that moment… so here we are.” Opening Doors Though Ayesha admits her racing goals are for her, solely to see what she’s capable of and how far she can go in the sport, her elevated position in the cycling world and growing accomplishments have bestowed on her the title of, “Inspiration.” Inspiring the next generation of African American female cyclists is a role that seems so natural for her now, but it was something that she had to grow into. “I’ve been able to use bikes as a tool for encouraging other people, which made me a leader,” said Ayesha. “This simple machine gave me the tools I needed to become a better person and a more confident wperson. Bikes are empowering in general, for so many reasons.” The empowering nature of cycling has helped Ayesha grow into advocacy. She’s a staunch believer in being an advocate by example, which most of the time means showing up and putting herself out there – easier said than done. Showing up in a space where you don’t see anyone who looks like you, takes courage and a certain level of risk. You feel like you have something to prove, not just for yourself, but for everyone else you are representing. “It’s much easier to enter a space where you can identify already and you don’t have to blaze a trail. I’ve constantly found myself in spaces where most of the people around me were not women of colour or black women. It’s something that by the time you get to where I am, you get tired of it. Bike racing is super fun and I want everyone to have access to that.” - www.liv-cycling.com

DARE WHEN OTHERS DON’T — {sportdesk@thetelegramlive.co.za} — FRIDAY, APRIL 8/APRIL 22 —

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“IS IT A RACIST SPORT? I WOULD SAY IT IS, YES” – DR MARLON MONCRIEFFE ON CYCLING’S URGENT NEED TO CHANGE

There needs to be broader investment in cycling. Photo by www.bicycling.com

Dr Marlon Moncrieffe of Brighton University is on a mission to raise the profile of Black cyclists, past and present, in order to help the sport become the best version of itself. Through his work, Dr Moncrieffe has highlighted the unsung achievements of Black hampions, with the hope of helping cyclists from historically white countries break through to the highest level of the sport. By Nick Christian

r Moncrieffe is on a mission to change cycling. In fact, the Brighton University lecturer would argue that his goal is to help the sport become the best version of itself. The aim of his work, he said on Cycling Show, is “to advance the sport, to make it much more accessible for all willing people, of all ethnicities, in all colours.” Through his academic writing, and through his art, Dr Moncrieffe has sought to raise the profile of those he calls Black Champions of Cycling. They are the individuals whose contributions to the sport he believes have been historically under-recognised. They include Russell Williams, whose career in cycling spanned from the late 70s to the early 2000s. Williams won 18 national championships and was “always knocking on the door, but with the setup at the time when he was racing, he just wasn’t allowed in.” Williams represented Great Britain just once at the World Track Championships, in 1986, and has since said he was left with the impression the selectors “would rather send nobody than send a Black man.” In an interview with cyclry.com, Williams, unearthed “something that has been buried in me for over 40 years. Now it’s uncovered there’s no going back.” He claimed repeated refusal to select him for the national team and Olympics, despite huge successes on

Dr Moncrieffe says cycling is a racist sport. Photo by www.antiracismcycling.com

Russell Williams: “I could never ride fast enough, or win enough, because of one thing I couldn’t do anything about, the colour of my skin.” Photo by cyclingtips.com

the bike. “I could never ride fast enough or win enough, because the one thing I couldn’t do anything about was the colour of my skin.” Another name Dr Moncrieffe has highlighted is that of multiple British track champion, and successful sixday racer, Maurice Burton. Despite competing for England at the Commonwealth Games in 1974 and being an obvious pick for the Olympics two years later, Burton was denied a place

in the team. He spoke at length to Eurosport in 2020 about his experience of racism in cycling. British Cycling say they are striving to “ensure that everyone feels free to participate regardless of their age, ability, gender, disability, race, parental or marital status, religion or belief or sexual orientation.” ‘I would have expected an equal opportunity’ – Maurice Burton on his experiences in cycling

Although Black riders are slowly breaking through to the men’s and women’s World Tours, they are still exceptions while the rule remains very white. That the likes of Teniel Campbell (Bike Exchange Jayco), who comes from Trinidad and Tobago, and Biniam Girmay (Intermarche Wanty Gobert), who won the Gent-Wevelgem, spring to mind so easily only serves to prove Dr Moncrieffe’s point that the sport has a history of a lack of diverse representation. “Cycling... is it a racist sport? I would say that it is racist, yeah,” Moncrieffe told Eurosport on the latest episode of The Cycling Show, which is available to watch on discovery+. “What I’ve tried to do is show the sport through a different lens. A black lens, a black imagination.” With Campbell, Moncrieffe admits “it’s almost as if she’s representing the entire human race as a Black woman. It’s not fair on her and it’s not fair on black people. There needs to be broader investment.” Dr Moncrieffe points to the fact that almost none have come from the historically successful cycling countries. “There are some opportunities for Black riders from the African continent to race on the World Tour, but from a European perspective, from the UK, the USA - none. We haven’t really seen anyone progress to that level.” He contrasts cycling with athletics, which has seen no small amount of

success on the world stage for British athletes of colour. “Where Black cyclists have aimed to reach the highest point in the sport, their careers have been stymied,” he says. Dr Moncrieffe has been particularly outspoken in his criticism of British Cycling. Despite pouring many millions of pounds into its elite development programme, over several Olympic cycles, the organisation has yet to produce a Black professional cyclist or Olympic medallist. Although “there’s been some movement to address that gap,” he says, “we haven’t really seen that transcend into racing at the national level.” He adds, however, that “it’s not just about national bodies.” For despite not being cheap for the individual to get into, compared to other professional sports cycling has relatively low financial barriers to entry. Dr Moncrieffe envisages a scenario in which a wealthy individual decides to “invest a billion pounds into African cycling,” aiming “to bring an East African team to the Tour de France, to do just as well as Team Ineos.” “It can be done,” he says. “I’d like to see a Black British champion racing at the Tour de France for a British team.” - www.eurosport.co.uk ● Dr Moncrieffe is a principal lecturer in the school of education at the University of Brighton. He is the author of Desire, Determination, Discrimination: Black Champions in Cycling, published by Rapha Editions.