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DARE WHEN OTHERS DON’T

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— SOUTH AFRICA {thetelegramlive.co.za} — FRIDAY,JULY 15/JULY 28, 2022 —

POTCH RESIDENTS FACE DOUBLE WHAMMY OF WATER SHORTAGE AND LOAD-SHEDDING

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JUDICIAL RECOURSE STOPS ANOTHER VBS HEIST DEAD IN ITS TRACKS

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BUSKAID CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE!

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Bheki Cele is under siege. Photo by GCIS

SKELETONS RATTLE INSIDE CELE’S CLOSET…CAN HE ARREST THEM?

By Thabang Mbulase

I

n recent weeks, it does not seem to rain, but pours for the beleaguered Minister of Police, Bheki Cele.

The latest broadside has been fired by the suspended Deputy National Commissioner of Assets and Legal Management Lieutenant-General Francinah Vuma, who has thrown damning allegations Cele’s way.

She has also made serious allegations against the National Commis-

sioner Lieutenant- General Fannie Masemola and other cops.

Vuma said she decided to make these “protected disclosures” as she feared for her life.

She said on 30 June she was summoned to the office of the National Police Commissioner, General Masemola, “who told me he was under pressure from people internally and externally of the SAPS to suspend me from duty.”

Vuma, who has worked for the police for 34 years, said it was evident to her “from the determined haste

General Masemola was in to suspend me, that he is driven by improper motives other than the objectives of the SAPS’s Discipline Regulation of 2016”.

She said in the disclosure: “In this regard, I have reasons to believe that General Masemola is working with people in and outside the SAPS to obstruct certain investigations against his colleagues, his seniors and acquaintances.”

Colonel Athlenda Mathe, spokesperson for the National Commissioner’s office, told The Telegram: “The

correspondence referred to, was not addressed to the media and as such the SAPS is not at liberty to discuss the contents thereof.”

Vuma said there was an occasion when a colleague, named Lt-General Mgwenya, persistently asked her to appoint some specific companies for PPE tenders.

“What was strange about this was her continuous punctuation that she had been given these companies by the minister of police, ostensibly to ensure that I should make it easy for the purchasing orders to be issued

in favour of these companies without following due processes,” Vuma claimed.

When Vuma refused to follow these instructions, she said she was called with another colleague to a meeting with Cele.

“We were berated by the minister for not wanting to buy from companies that we were given by Mgwenya.

This happened in the presence of other colleagues.

Story Continues on Page 2

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FRIDAY, JULY 15/ JULY 28 remains unutilised and wasted. I have instituted fruitless and wasteful expenditure investigations against all involved,” she said.

Masemola was accused by Vuma of instituting an unjustified suspension against her on Cele’s behalf.

She said Masemola was driving a corrupt agenda involving a number of “unlawful instructions” she was refusing to execute due to professional ethics and conscience.

“As you would know, the Act declares that employees making protected disclosures like myself should not be subjected to the occupational detriment by the employer, or partly on account of having a protected disclosure,” she said.

Story Continued from Page 1 "I stood my ground and informed the minister that we will never be coerced by anyone not to follow due process.

“I reported this to the National Commissioner and requested that it be under protected disclosure and that he should look into it. That was done.”

She said another incident that put her into conflict with her superiors was when she investigated and delivered a report about one of her colleagues, Lt. Gen. Jacobs.

Vuma said: “In 2016 I investigated Lieutenant General Jacobs for committing irregularities. Soon after that report, I was summoned to the office of the minister and was berated for having produced reports that implicated Jacobs. I stood my ground and informed the minister that the conclusions of the reports were derived from evidence gathered.

“Another matter was when I removed Major General Nkosi, because she was appointed irregularly. I was heavily berated by Cele who wanted me to retain Major General Nkosi. I refused and removed her.”

Vuma said in 2021, she started receiving “intimidating messages from Collins Arendse, in retaliation against the investigation” she conducted on Lt-General Jacobs.

She said around the same time, she also started receiving telephone threats from different telephone numbers around the same time and unknown cars were observed lingering around her house.

“I was also informed by Brigadier Mathebula that Cele held a meeting with Lt. General Mgwenya and others, where they hatched plans to falsely implicate me in non-existent PPE corruption.

“During March 2021, Lt. General Jacobs and Cele purchased interception equipment to the tune of R120 Million without the prerequisite exemption certificates from the Department of Justice and State Security. The equipment purchased remains unused. I have instituted fruitless and wasteful investigations

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Not the first time Vuma said this was not the first protected disclosures letter she was making.

“I have made a couple of disclosures to the former national commissioner and other members of the investigative arms of the government relating to various matters.

Lieutenant-General Francinah Vuma alleges Cele was involved in a R120 million purchase of interception equipment without the required certificate from the Departments of State Security and Justice. against all involved. This has seen me getting more threats and calls about this matter. I informed the former National Commissioner as well and steps were being taken to ensure that I was safe.”

She believes all the allegations she has made are the cause for her to be suspended.

“This, I believe, is the reason there may be an attempt to suspend or transfer me as I am a stumbling block who seeks to ensure fair and lawful governance,” Vuma said.

Cele's spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, said “the ministry is aware of the protected disclosure and studying its contents.”

“There is no comment on the document at this stage,” Themba said.

She further implicates Cele in a 2010 World Cup procurement scandal (R47 million was spent to securing accommodation, among other things, for police officers who were deployed during the World Cup), coercion during her investigation into a multimillion-rand SAPS PPE deal and interference in retaining a general who was not suitably qualified.

She also claimed the minister had spent R5.5 million of police money

on travelling to Dubai and paying for his court cases.

Vuma said she feared her life was in danger, as a result of these and other high-profile investigations into senior SAPS figures.

“I am both scared for my life and livelihood as both are being threatened ... The (State Security Agency) SSA, who at a particular point, were of the view that my life is in danger.

“It’s evident from the determined haste of General (Fannie) Masemola to suspend me. He is driven by improper motives. I believe Masemola is working with people inside and outside the SAPS to obstruct certain investigations against his colleagues,” Vuma alleges.

Vuma has used the disclosure to clear herself from accusations of an attempt to launder more than R45 million to be used at ANC conference for vote-buying. The incident has been widely referred to as the “Nasrec Grabber” scandal in the media.

She has placed the blame on Cele’s door as well.

“Lieutenant-General Peter Jacobs and minister Cele purchased interception equipment to the value of R120m. As a result, the interception equipment they purchased

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Who will lead them since their leaders are embroiled in controversies?

Cele has failed Meanwhile, the minister faced a barrage from opposition parties. First up was the DA after they received “an eye-opening” response from a Parliamentary question. In the response, Cele admits that South Africa has ‘lost’ almost 1,300 detectives since he became the minister – a shocking drop which is crippling our crime-fighting forces.

DA’s Shadow Minister of Police Andrew Whitfield said he was outraged by this revelation “while the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, is telling concerned citizens and community organisations to “shut up”, policing in the country is collapsing”.

“For years, the SAPS has been understaffed, under-resourced and under-trained,” Whitfield fumed.

He said this was “despite a damning report by the expert panel on the July 2021 unrest putting the blame on the weaknesses in the cluster, especially Cele’s department, for failing to prevent — and quickly react to — the devastating unrest”.

Freedom Front Plus leader, Pieter Groenewald, said Cele must respond to these allegations as soon as possible.

Said Groenewald: “The allegations

by Lt-Gen Francinah Vuma that the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, spent R5,5 million of police money, without authorisation, to pay for his court cases are serious and must be thoroughly investigated.

“According to the allegations

by Lt-Gen Vuma, it seems Minister Cele has once again interfered with the awarding of contracts to certain service providers. It is nothing but corruption and state capture.

I will request Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police to launch a thorough investigation into the matter. I will also ask President Cyril Ramaphosa in writing to appoint a

NEWS

judicial commission to investigate allegations of corruption.”

Groenewald said it was “clear that the faction fights in the police's top management did not come to an end when the former National Police Commissioner, Gen Khehla Sitole, was removed from the position”.

He said seemingly, Minister Cele appointed Lt-Gen Masemola “to be his lapdog and they are actively furthering their own agenda”.

Then appeared the EFF, saying the time was ripe to sack Cele for the mess within the police and “dysfunctionality in the security cluster”.

But the minister said: “Our security cluster is functional. This is why our prisons are full as we speak. Minister Lamola can attest to this. Those incarcerated criminals did not walk there on their own free will,” said Cele.

Not new to controversy In 2012, former president Jacob Zuma fired Cele as National Police Commissioner because of his “dishonest” role in the awarding of a R1.7 billion contract for police accommodation.

Cele tried to fight for his job in court but Zuma submitted an affidavit to the High Court in Pretoria saying anything short of dismissing Cele would have been inappropriate.

The previous year, 2011, former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found Cele's involvement in deals to acquire police office space was "improper, unlawful and amounted to maladministration".

She said while Cele had not signed the final lease, he had initiated negotiations with Roux Shabangu and had seemed determined to secure the leases despite warnings against them.

Meanwhile, iol.co.za reports that Arendse denied the allegations and said Vuma was using her letter as a smokescreen to cover her tracks.

“Why didn’t she mention that she was found guilty of the grabbers’ scandal? Also, how does one respond with a protected disclosure letter after you get a letter of intent to suspend? That protective disclosure is supposed to be handed in before this, because she had knowledge of certain things.”

Arendse said he would be taking legal steps against Vuma.

“We need to be able to separate fact from fiction. It’s bizarre that she mentions nothing about the finding in the grabber ruling, but you go ahead resurrecting the same stuff again. She is bringing things into the public domain that have nothing to do with her suspension, it’s just a smokescreen.”

Vearey told Weekend Argus he did not know Vuma from “a bar of soap”.

“The only time I had spoken to her was when I approached her for a statement for a related matter. She refused to either testify or submit a statement. That was the only time I engaged with her. Other than that, the only other times I’ve seen her was when she was on TV.”

CITY PRESS, 5 SEPTEMBER, 2021

news MOVE TO HELP AFRICAN YOUTH GET PASTOR OUT OF UNEMPLOYMENT RUT

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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.

LUKAU’S O R50M RENTAL

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By Staff Reporter

ver 540 million people out of 1.3 billion in Africa are aged 15 to 24, making the continent home to the world’s largest youth population.

But Africa has no jobs for this highly agile youth population and that’s a big problem.

But an even bigger problem is Afro-phobia and stringent mobility requirements within the African continent that hamper trade and employment opportunities for young people.

To address this challenge, young people from all 55 member states of the African Union gathered in PAY UP Alleluia Ministries International in Kramerville, Sandton. The church defended pastor Alph Lukau (inset) Kampala, Uganda from 4 to 9 July. after he performed the so-called miracle resurrection of Elliot Moyo in 2019 PHOTO: LUBA LESOLLE / GALLO IMAGES They came from civil society, business, parliaments, education MDUDUZI NONYANE “The guard, who refused to provide me with his mduduzi.nonyane@citypress.co.za name, did not allow me access but told me to wait. He and religious bodies to figure out disappeared into the guard hut on the property and how to deal with this and other echnology distribution and warehousing spoke to this supervisor, who came out to speak to me. challenges faced by young people giant Tarsus Shared Services is battling to “After explaining the purpose of my visit and the in the African continent. recover a R50 million deficit allegedly documentation that I had with me, the supervisor also The get owed together was organised by controversial pastor Alph as Lukau refused to provide me access. a symposium by the members’ and several of hisAU business associates.

“Similarly, he refused to provide me with his name. I voluntary self-regulatory instrument The matter relates to a cancelled lease could see that he had been speaking to someone over evicted from the premises early securities and/or members’ and pertaining the premises of Alleluia his cellular phone from time to time ... After seeing the –agreement African Peer toReview Mechanism last year because it could no directors’ registers follows multiple Ministries International in Sandton, Johannesburg. letters attached to the gate, the supervisor said that I (APRM) in partnership with the longer meet the R1 million monthly requests for access, and is such a The company lodged a court application this week at should come [back] the next day,” they say.

Ugandan government. rental fee. clear interference with an the Johannesburg High Court, flagging three companies Lukau shot to fame over the past two years by Professor Eddy Maloka, the Chief The company instituted, among unconditional statutory right. The linked to Lukau for failing to declare their company performing so-called miracles during his church services, Executive Officer of the APRM, other things, arbitration applicant requests that a punitive security registers in their arbitration process assaid including when he publicly “resurrected” a man. the symposium wasAct,a citing significant proceedings in which it claimed: cost award be made against each of prescribed by the Companies that the Lukau claimed that the man, Elliot Moyo, had died . Arrear rentals and charges up the respondents.” information sought would enableitit to track the intricate and the latter’s body was brought to the pastor by his achievement because provided a ACCORDING TO ARBITRATION to the date it cancelled the The applicants say this refusal has web of companies operate people the church themin South family a few days later. platform for that young DOCUMENTS, TARSUS SHARED sublease; put a strain on the arbitration Africa and throughout Africa.

The incident angered some within the religious selves to reflect on these challenges.

SERVICES HAS BEEN TRYING . Damages for the period the process, further delaying the The court papers also indicate that attempts to serve community, who called for Lukau to be investigated by He said this was especially so TO RECOVER THE DEBT defendant was in occupation after recovery of debts.

Lukau and a close business partner, identified as John the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the in addressing challenges related to SINCE MARCH 2018, LEADING the cancellation; They further highlighted that their Ferguson, with a summons have failed, as they have Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities TO THE PERIOD mobility and ease ofinmovement. . Future loss of rentals and legal representative visited Lukau’s allegedly taken up residence Portugal and refuse to after a video of his purported resurrection of Moyo went WHEN THE CHURCH WAS “Mobility and are charges calculated from the date known place of business in June, accept service through legalAfro-phobia counsel. viral.

EVICTED FROM THE PREMISES the defendant ceased to occupy but the representative was denied They emphasise “the appellant requires the It also emerged in 2019 that Lukau’s church members among majorthatchallenges in securEARLY LAST YEAR, the premises as a church until the entry. information in the registersin in order to unravel the regarded him as being similar to Jesus, proclaiming that ing employment other African AFTER WHICH IT COULD NO expiry date of the sublease; and “The premises has access control relationship between Lukau and excessive Ferguson, andvisa the he was crucified for helping to heal others. countries, particularly LONGER MEET THE R1 MILLION . Restoration of the premises. and requires a security guard to respondents [King Vision Holdings, Alph Lukau Group The applicant’s lawyer, Andrew Scarrott of AB Scarrott restrictions which affect Africa’s RENTAL FEE 55proceedings memberalso states ofthat the AfricanMONTHLY Union gathered in Kampala,allow Uganda tothe 9 July.

The reveal access. from I spoke4 to securityPhoto by APRM and Al Resident Holdings] to recover the debts due by Young people from all Attorneys, declined to comment. youth. church leaders, including Lukau, guard on duty and asked that I be Lukau and Ferguson”.

“I have received your enquiry, [but] I have no “It wasto its forarbitration this reason that the have blatantly refused to grant the applicants access to allowed into the property in order to deliver the request According documents, Tarsus Shared instructions to make any comment at this time,” he said.

APRM is been committed to supporting information pertaining to company directors. to the respondents to inspectcan the securities and/or Services has trying to recover the debt since March Efforts to source comment from Lukau and the find work. four of the 15-country ratifications “As the refusal to allow access to the respondents’ member registers of the respondents.

2018, relating to the period the church wasof companies were unsuccessful. efforts towards thewhen realisation Jemima Idinoba, a researcher with needed to operationalise it. governance policies aimed at achievthe International Organisation for Ugandan President Yoweri Museving free movement of persons in Migration (IOM) based in Ethiopia, eni opened the symposium by urgaccordance with the laws and protold the symposium that they have ing African youths to get acquainted cedures of Member States,” he said. partnered with the African Union with the idea of market integration Maloka said free movement was Commission and others, including and shun the continent’s persistent essential as Africa needs innovative, the APRM, to encourage Member dependency syndrome, the African inclusive, and globally connected States to adopt policiesBUSINESS that har- Newspage reported. attach Segapo’s assets after the designer allegedly JULIA MADIBOGO and Communication Information nessed migration for economic “Africa must start producing IS SLOW moved out of his place of business. julia.madibogo@citypress.co.za Technology solutions to address its development. goods and services which will not Fashion Segapo, who has styled celebrities including Idols SA huge unemployment problems.

She saidmusician they were working only be viable for intra-African designer to Businessperson Kabelo Ncholo has accused celebrity producer and host ProVerb, award-winning According to a United Nations Paledi fashion designer Paledi Segapo of reneging on a Prince Kaybee, veteran actorpartner Warren Masemola US with and youth ambassadors export but could also be exported IN THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT, WHICH special on youth employSegapo says repaymentreport arrangement the pair and entered into out of singer Tevin Campbell, was hired

by Ncholo in 2018 to across the continent to help advoto other parts of the world,” he was CITY PRESS HAS SEEN AND WHICH IS DATED hisfree business court afteryoung the latter allegedly to deliver for the design attire for his wedding,cate whichfor wasthe scheduled to ment, peoplefailed account adoption of move- quoted as saying.

NOVEMBER 2020, THE SEASONED DESIGNER been wedding-related items that Ncholo had ordered and take place in 2019 at Sun City, North West.

60% of all of Africa’s jobless popument ofyearpersons laws affected byhasgovernMuseveni beseeched the youth to AGREED TO PAY BACK ABOUT R300 000 TO by paid for.

The wedding did not take place that and Ncholo lation. ments. imbibe the spirit of Pan Africanism, NCHOLO BY THE END OF NOVEMBER Covid-19 Ncholo dragged Segapo to the Johannesburg High got married in November last year after obtaining the In North Africa, the youth unemThis sentiment wasPHOTO:widely which he described as the only pathOUPA Court in an effort to recoup payments he made to the services of other designers. ployment rate is while 25% but for is his far accepted bywas other way for the youth to contribute to seasoned designer agreed to pay back about R300 000 Palse fashion label owner preparing According to Ncholo, the popular designer also attendees.BOPAPE/ greater GALLO IMAGES to Ncholo by the end of November. wedding. in Southern Africa, with 51% set to arrange a team that was meant to include a Among other issues, they the creation of prosperity and stabilofSegapo young 43% of young “The defendant shall pay the plaintiff an amount of waswomen scheduled and to appear at the Randburg wedding planner, a photographer, a hair andthe make-up lamented slow progress in ity and end the security challenges R297 000 in a full and final settlement of the dispute, Magistrates’ on Tuesday on a separate criminal artist, and a booking for a segment in the lifestyle men not Court working. achieving a framework that facili- ravaging parts of the continent. [an offer] which the plaintiff accepts on the terms and charge of fraud for theissame transaction. television programme Top Billing.

This picture glimmer in South tated mobility and the protection “If African problems must be conditions contained herein,” reads the settlement.

That matter was not placed on the roll, however, due To secure his services, Segapo reportedly requested a Africa where more than 70% of of000 refugees and vulnerable migrants. solved, there has to be political The conditions were that Segapo had to make the to the out-of-court settlement agreement that the pair R150 000 deposit of the R300 he had charged the young The symposium unity and for prosperity and stratefirst payment of R118 500 by the end of March, and the reached. people cannot find work. businessperson for his suit, his bride’s gown and attire heard about the This is the highest of any G20 counother payments were to be made in R20 000 monthly National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi for the entire bridal party. need for greater space for young gic security, patriotism, Pan Africantry, followed

by Brazil with was about instalments until the end of November.

Covid-19 – not so that he could avoid making Mjonondwane confirmed that the matter “not Segapo allegedlypeople only created for the tooutfits influence policies thatdue toism, social-economic transformation Professor Eddy Maloka, the Chief Executive Officer of the APRM, saidHowever, the symposium Segapo was also asked to pay Ncholo’s R30 000 legal to Ncholo. placed on the roll, pending consultation with the bride and the bridesmaids. impact their lives such as the ongo-payment 30,5%. and democracy must be prioritised,” was a significant achievement.

Photo by APRM costs on or before December 31 this year.

“Why would I discontinue my businesses while I complainant”.

The settlement letter states that failure by the In contrast, Japan’s youth uneming implementation of the AU Afrihe said.

However, says Ncholo, Segapo has only paid R85 000 have to [conduct] business? I am not the first person to Ncholo first opened a civil case against Segapo seasoned designer to pay what is due to Ncholo per ployment rate was the lowest in thein can Continental Free Trade Area The for this year’s thus far and is expected to pay R45 000 by the end of close their storetheme at the moment because we areyouth going April 2019 and then opened a criminal case of fraud the settlement agreement will trigger pursuit of a world at roughly 4,5%. rising majority of potentially (AfCFTA) and the 2018 AU Protocolthrough conference - a third session of its this month or to Ncholo will movethe to obtain a judgment a difficult time. in August of the same year to push the latter to pay of factors contributing civil case. employable active youth regularly suffer unemployment against among Freecomment Movement kind by the was: him. the youth theyorganised are doing is making me APRM look like -I am a himThere back. is no unique determinant Yesterday, Segapo said he on couldn’t as the of Persons, Right “What ofInthe youth employment problem from under-employment poor of Residence and Right of Estab-thug “Repositioning disputes in But the businessperson says he is scared that, even if on the run when the truth that I could not the settlement agreement, which City Press has which creates political matter wasand sub judice. theis Youth Agenda in African region but2020, thethepool the region. In sub-Saharan he obtains a judgment, be no way to to pay rent,” he said. seenthe and which is dated November However, heifsaid his storelishment, in Newtown was closed has received onlyaffordfor decent working conditions they Africathere is might which a Transformative Continent.”

SCANDAL

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Companies linked to the controversial megachurch preacher evade debt collection as he and his business associates are said to be in Portugal

R1M

TOP FASHION GURU MUST PAY BACK THE MONEY

R300 000

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FRIDAY, JULY 15/ JULY 28

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POTCH RESIDENTS FACE DOUBLE WHAMMY OF WATER SHORTAGE AND LOAD-SHEDDING

Taps have run completely dry. Photo by Martin Bernetti /AFP

By Molefi Sompane

R

esidents in Potchefstroom and surrounding areas have had to live with little or no water for weeks. Load-shedding has been identified as the most recent cause as water problems continue to plague the JB Marks Municipality.

Public health facilities have also been severely impacted, with some having to shut their doors. At some clinics, patients aren’t allowed to use the toilets.

It’s been a challenging year for township residents who have had to deal with intermittent water supply for most of 2022. Several issues have surfaced, including old infrastructure, water contamination and now the theft of property and Eskom’s woes.

Residents demand answers According to residents, the water cuts began over two weeks ago without notice and they had to find alternative water sources.

Ernest Sehaole (45) from Kanana Township, said the cuts had forced him to look for water at night.

“We are suffering. I have to come home with water from work because there is nowhere I’ll find it unless I go to the old location where there’s a slow supply. The tankers only come during the day,” said Sehaole.

Another resident, Rakhadi Moleleki (49) insists that water cuts are putting lives in danger and adds that authorities are failing the people.

“How do you provide two tankers for the community? Why is the municipality oppressing us in this way? We need water and can’t go to work without having a bath,” she fumed.

Opposition parties jump in The JB Marks Municipality has also been lambasted by the opposition parties for what they call ‘failure of the ANC to govern’, with the DA calling for more tankers.

“The DA believes there should be more the municipality is doing to provide the people of the city with water. We are calling for more tankers instead of the two the municipality has announced,” read the statement.

Meanwhile, water cuts have affected several clinics in the city and surrounding townships.

They include the Boikie Tlhapi Clinic, Top City Clinic, Mooimed Clinic, Mogadishu Clinic, Wieland Hospital, Ext 7 Clinic and the old age home and clinic in Promosa.

Employees are fed up with having to perform their duties without the most basic amenities.

Old age home feels the brunt Nelly Masemola* from the Promosa old age home explained: “We need water to bath our residents, cook for them and keep the home clean. For us, we have double the trouble here

and at home.”

Wilhelmina Matrons (78) has spent over a decade at the old age home and is calling for a speedy solution.

“I want to call on the mayor to ensure that they find a solution to this matter as soon as possible. We drink medication daily and need drinkable water to do so. And the kitchen staff needs water to be able to cook food,” she said.

According to Jeanette Tshite, Acting Communications Manager at JB Marks, continuous vandalism, cable theft and load-shedding are at the core of the problem.

“Because of these interruptions, our reservoir levels are low, affecting water quality and colour,” she explained.

Additional tankers With no end in sight as load-shedding continues, the municipality aims to fill the Eersterantjies Reservoir. Some residents claim the water was poisoned.

“We’ve added three additional tankers to increase water delivery.

We want to reassure the community that the water from the Eersterantjies Reservoir wasn’t poisoned and can be consumed,” said Tshite.

Meanwhile, the entire province is reeling from water cuts. Cities such as Rustenburg, Mafikeng and Klerksdorp are under close watch as the Intergovernmental Task Team monitors the situation.

Finding a sustainable solution Premier Bushy Maape confirmed that his government aims to give all municipalities a stable supply.

He identified long-term sustainability as one of his main priorities.

“We visited the Mmabatho Water Treatment in order to gain first-hand insight into the problems that have been experienced by this facility over the past days. Water has since been restored to Unit 3, Unit 6, and Leopard Park within the Mahikeng area,” he said.

“However, we have also instructed officials of the province, the national departments, the district and local municipalities as well as the water board to come up with a plan which ensures sustainability and that water outages will be a thing of the past,” Maape added.

The harsh reality These words ring hollow as residents have to deal with no water and load-shedding in the middle of winter.

Dora Mafoko, an Extension 7 resident, said the problem started over four weeks ago.

“We didn’t have water from 8am to 8pm for two weeks. But on Father’s Day, the taps were completely dry, and we haven’t had a drop of water since. We are unable to bath or clean our houses. It’s a terrible situation and we don’t know what to do or who to turn to,” said the mom-of-two.

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FRIDAY, JULY 15/ JULY 28

The Basic Education Employment Initiative is intended to help teachers and reduce youth unemployment, but teacher’s assistants in the Eastern Cape are being left to teach classes and not paid on time. Photo by elitshanews.org.za

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OVERWORKED EASTERN CAPE EDUCATION ASSISTANTS UNPAID

ungile Jacobs*, 32, was looking forward to helping learners as a “reading champion” in a quiet corner of the classroom while the teacher focused on teaching the curriculum.

He was shocked when he was handed a textbook instead and given three full classes to teach.

“I teach on my own, with no supervision. Right now, I’m marking tests for my three classes,” says Jacobs, an education assistant from a primary school in rural Tsomo, 60km inland from Butterworth. “In grade one, there is an education assistant struggling with a whole class on her own. Some of us teach classes of 120 pupils in high school.”

Jacobs is part of a number of frustrated education assistants hired under the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative. By law, they are not supposed to be teaching classes as they are neither qualified nor registered as teachers with the South African Council of Educators.

These education assistants marched to the Eastern Cape Department of Education on 20 June, demanding to be paid their outstanding R4 080 monthly stipends. They spoke about how they are being exploited, sworn at by government employees and not paid on time.

Six million unemployed young people applied for the 320 000 jobs that were set up in 2020 across South Africa as part of the initiative.

Young people can work as education, general or sports assistants as part of five-month contracts rolled out in phases. Phase three is currently under way from May to Septem-

ber 2022. But in the Eastern Cape’s Tsomo, Butterworth and Mthatha areas, the education assistants say their five-month phase-three contracts have been reduced to four or three months and some have not yet been paid for May’s work.

Zimasa Shezi*, 31, has been working as an English language reading champion in a Butterworth school since November 2021. She is concerned because she signed a contract that had not been properly filled in and has not yet been paid.

“When we signed our contracts we were told not to mind if contracts had blanks because the department would fill them. Because we are hungry, we will do anything. But now we are told we will only get half pay.

We don’t know where the money is going,” says Shezi.

According to Shezi, education assistants have to use their stipends to photocopy worksheets for learners. “The school just tells us this is a [President Cyril] Ramaphosa project and there’s nothing in their budget for anything,” she adds.

She says they don’t have a trade union to represent them as a group, and so the education officials either “swear [at] or insult” them when they ask for clarity, or fob them off, telling them “not to panic”.

A battle of words Luzuko Mqadi*, 25, has an undergraduate science degree and is hoping to get a bursary for postgraduate study. He loves his temporary job as an education assistant but has experienced all the problems that Shezi and Jacobs have.

“We make a real difference. The learners find it easy to interact with us because we are young. There were no jobs for us when we graduated and this work and stipend was making a huge difference in our lives but now the department is messing with us while we are desperate,” says Mqadi.

He says the department often asks rural education assistants to bring their documents immediately to the district offices in towns or cities.

They have to spend more than R100 on taxi fares to get there, only to be told later that the documents have been lost and that they have to come back again.

The frustrated young workers have taken to social media to accuse the department of corruption and “eating our cent”, with one person writing on Eastern Cape education member of the executive council (MEC) Fundile Gade’s Facebook page: “Shame on you and your greedy department … You are taking advantage of the voiceless.”

Gade lashed out at her in a comment that was later deleted but not before the youth employees had distributed a screenshot.

“In SA we all have a right to choose, if you have such an argument and you so believe you can be better somewhere where you comparing the province to, just take a decision to go there and make such demands. Ungrateful people like you are a problem in every society … We trying to employ as many people as we can by trying to flatten the rate of payment. Wena, you come with insults and all sundry because you

are entitled to be rich over a year, we don’t have time for insults now that don’t have basis … There are many families we need to touch without making you a rich girl of a city overnight [sic],” Gade wrote.

Gade’s spokesperson Vuyiseka Mboxela was unrepentant, saying, “We all have a right to ask and critic government and its leaders, but the tone is also important … This lady for some time has been having that unfortunate tone for some time without even gathering facts. The word ‘greedy’ is wrong and can be interpreted in many ways [sic].”

But a few days later, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya supplied a comment from the Eastern Cape education department claiming that Gade never wrote the post.

“We are also saddened that there are imposters who are pretending to be the honourable MEC and post defamatory statements which are meant to tarnish the name of the MEC. The MEC will never post such irresponsible derogatory messages as the department we would like to apologise and assure everyone that the purported post was never from the MEC but to distractors who want to bring the good name of the honourable MEC into disrepute [sic].”

Department plays for time The Eastern Cape was allocated the second largest slice of the budget for the presidential initiative in public schools. The province received just over R1 billion to fund 40 100 positions.

In response to the education assistants’ concerns, Basic Educa-

tion Department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said his department had given the Eastern Cape permission to start phase three contracts later so that they could save money to fund phase four.

It was not clear where the funds initially budgeted for phase four had gone.

He added that education assistants were not permitted to teach classes on their own and should contact the national department to lodge complaints about this.

The Eastern Cape Department of Education says all education assistants who worked in May were paid and those who started on 15 May would be paid on 15 June.

“The department is only making sure that all participants are paid for work done and ensuring that no one is paid without rendering any services,” says the department.

But by 21 June the assistants who were interviewed said they had still not been paid.

“We didn’t even get a cent,” said one. In February this year, GroundUp reported that “hundreds, possibly thousands” of the Eastern Cape education assistants had not been paid for two months of their phase two contracts.

At that time, the department blamed a payroll bungle by three officials and said it would conduct a forensic audit. – This article was first published by New Frame. * Not their real names. The workers asked to use pseudonyms for fear their contracts would not be extended in phase four.

MEN ARE ALSO VICTIMS OF ABUSE It’s time to talk

Just because I am a man, it does not mean she cannot hurt me.

I am human too…but nobody believes me.

www.mensvoice.co.za

NEWS

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FRIDAY, JULY 15/ JULY 28

Pit toilets at Lekgwareng Primary were built in early 2000. Photo by Ezekiel Kekana/ groundup.org.za

EIGHT YEARS AFTER MICHAEL KOMAPE’S DEATH WE VISITED LIMPOPO SCHOOLS TO SEE IF THEIR TOILETS HAVE IMPROVED “Pit toilets pose a fatal risk to the lives, safety and health of learners” says SECTION27 ● Most schools in the Mopani District in Limpopo still have unhygienic and dangerous pit toilets. ● A court ruling last year ordered the provincial government to take steps to eliminate pit toilets from schools in Limpopo. ● We visited several schools in Mopani District to find out about their toilets. Most were in a terrible state and principals and parents were not hopeful that government will improve the situation.

By Ezekiel Kekana

see,” said principal Frank Itswene, pointing to a construction site on the grounds.

School governing body chairperson Eddie Machete accused provincial officials and MEC Polly Boshielo of “failing us because these are not good toilets for children”.

P

arents in the Mopani District in Limpopo say they have given up hope that the provincial education department will install safe and hygienic toilets at their children’s schools.

Last year, the High Court in Limpopo handed down judgment in the Michael Komape trial compelling the state to provide a list of schools with pit toilets along with plans to eradicate them within 90 days and to report every six months on progress.

Komape was five years old when he drowned in a pit toilet at his school near Polokwane in 2014. His death caused an outrage and put the use of pit toilets in some 1,500 schools across the province under scrutiny.

Earlier this month, we visited primary and high schools in Mpepule, Ga-Abel, Ga-Kgapane, Madibeng, Moohokoni and Lekgawereng. All of them still use pit latrines.

Mahekgwe At Mahekgwe primary school near Bolobedu learners share three pit toilets and seven mobile toilets. The pit toilets are uncovered.

The school’s principal Shadrack Moshia said: “We tried so many times to speak to the Department of Education to assist us to close these open pits. I just hope nothing bad happens one day because we are dealing with

Masokisi Masokisi primary school has 98 learners who share two pit toilets and five rental mobile toilets.

One parent Modjadji Kapa asked: “Why can’t our government just build our children flushing toilets?

“When they brought mobile toilets we thought they would be building proper toilets soon but it’s been two years.”

Most of the mobile toilets at the schools we visited were only delivered in 2020 in response to an instruction under the national State of Disaster regulations to mitigate Covid infections and improve hygiene at schools.

Open pit toilets at Mahekgwe primary school. - Photo by Ezekiel Kekana/ groundup.org.za young children.” He said the school has 100 learners and four teachers.

Rosina Thele, whose grandchild is in grade 4, said it felt as though the government had forgotten about learners in Mahekgwe.

The school is dilapidated – the roof

rusting and windows broken. Meals for learners are cooked in a shack.

Mohookone At Mohookone primary school, there were four pit toilets used by both girls and boys. There were faeces

and urine on the seats and floor of the stalls.

“These toilets were built by the community years back. The children have been using them for years and we have no choice … New toilets are still being built as you can

Lekgwareng We were told the department built pit toilets at Lekgwareng Primary and Mpepule Primary when it built the schools in early 2000.

At Lekgwareng, there are four pit toilets for girls and four for boys.

The toilets for boys are without stalls.

Story Continues on Page 8

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NEWS

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

An exhibit showing school children who have died in pit latrines was put up outside the Limpopo High Court in August 2021. Archive photo by Ciaran Ryan/ groundup.org.za

Story Continued from Page 8 At Mpepule, one of the toilets had a normal chair which had been cut to be used as a toilet seat. The seat was covered in faeces.

At Matarapane high school, the toilets, built by the community, were in a bad state.

A senior teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, told us that the poor sanitation at the school was a health risk. The seats are dirty and bricks are used to keep some of the toilet seats in place.

Civil society’s fight against pit toilets SECTION27 has been in a long legal battle with the state over its plans to

eradicate pit toilets in schools. The organisation said the government’s most recent plan to replace these toilets appears promising.

The organisation had previously argued in court that the state’s plans are not clear and are inconsistent with the basic norms and standards for school infrastructure.

“I’m unfortunately unable to share the plan with you at this moment.

We are analysing it and will release our own report next week,” said Motheo Brodie of SECTION27.

“It’s extremely concerning that in 2022; learners still have to use unsafe and undignified school sanitation.

Pit toilets pose a fatal risk to the lives, safety and health of learners at our schools,” he said.

The department had previously

One of the four pit toilets used by both boys and girls at Mohookone primary school. There were faeces and urine on the seats and floor of the stalls. Photo by Ezekiel Kekana/ groundup.org.za

claimed it would be able to do away with pit toilets by 2031. The department had until the end of June to submit a progress report.

Education department GroundUp first contacted provincial education spokesperson Tidimalo Chuene on 6 June to ask about its reports to the court on progress to do away with pit toilets at schools.

On 7 June, she said: “I need an extension on the deadline to respond.

There is information that I am still supposed to receive from our infrastructure team. I will respond as soon as I receive it.”

Following several calls and messages, Chuene promised again on 13 June to respond “as soon as possible”.

Our attempts to get comment

since then have been ignored.

According to spokesperson for the national education department Terence Khala, there are 3,701 public schools in the province.

He explained that schools are divided into three categories.

Priority one schools have “inappropriate sanitation” and either have no appropriate toilets or there may be inappropriate toilets that should be demolished.

Priority two schools have “inadequate sanitation” which means they either have some appropriate toilets, a number the toilets don’t work or there may be inappropriate toilets that should be demolished.

Priority three schools have “compliant sanitation” with a number of toilets that may need refurbishment

Five mobile toilets at Masokisi primary school delivered in 2020 in response to an instruction under the national State of Disaster regulations to mitigate the spread of Covid. Photo by Ezekiel Kekana/ groundup.org.za

or there may be inappropriate toilets that should be demolished.

Khala said the province has 380 schools in Priority one, 1,798 in Priority two and 1,523 schools in Priority three.

Of the Priority one schools 158 have already completed sanitation projects, said Khala. 337 have been completed for Priority two and 902 for Priority three.

The national department did not answer detailed questions about the toilets at schools we visited but said that R140-million had been allocated to Limpopo in the 2022/23 financial year for the construction of new toilets.

– groundup.org.za Ezekiel Kekana is an Open Society Foundation Fellow at Wits University.

The top of a normal chair seat was cut out and used as the toilet seat for a pit toilet at Mpepule Primary in Lekgwareng, Limpopo.

Photo by Ezekiel Kekana/ groundup.org.za

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TECH

Women in tech doesn’t necessarily mean more female engineers and developers. Photo by techopedia.com

MORE “WOMEN IN TECH” DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN MORE FEMALE DEVELOPERS H

aving more women in tech doesn’t necessarily mean more female engineers and developers, but rather getting more young women tech-ready, to see that technology can and must underpin and complement their business ideas.

That is according to Omobola Johnson and Andreata Muforo, who together make up two-fifths of the management team at Africa-focused VC firm TLcom Capital, which is the first focus of a series of case studies and podcasts produced by Disrupt Africa, commissioned by Boost Africa Technical Assistance Facility and financed by the European Union under EDF Thematic Blending and Cotonou Investment Facility.

Female fund managers are very much in the minority worldwide. In the US, only nine percent of decision-makers in the VC space are women.

In Africa, no definitive numbers are yet available, but female fund managers are hard to come by – a big mistake for the VC world, as data clearly demonstrates a direct link between gender diversity in teams and increased profitability. The Diversity dividend: Female fund managers in Africa series looks at firms that recognise this truth, and put diversity front and centre.

Johnson and Muforo come from different backgrounds and have followed different career paths, but now they are united in a set of common goals – building VC success stories in the African tech space, and bringing more women into Africa’s tech ecosystem.

Women in tech doesn’t necessarily mean more female engineers and

developers, Johnson said.

Rather, it’s more about getting young women tech-ready – to see that technology can and must underpin and complement their business ideas.

Few of the male founders that TLcom encounters on a daily basis are “tech founders” in the sense that most don’t come from a hard technical background. But men are more willing to found a tech business based on their ideas, she says.

Muforo adds that in Africa, cultural values around perceived success and failure may contribute to the lack of female entrepreneurs.

“The concept of failure is something that is really looked down upon, so I think many people are deterred from entrepreneurship. But in practice, there’s always something that you learn. It never amounts to anything. You’ve learned something, and you get up and you try something else as well,” she said.

Both of them have advice for young women considering the tech startup or investment space for their career path – jump in and work hard.

Johnson, during four years in government, saw some “really outstanding” technology entrepreneurs in Africa. So when she was considering her options post-politics, she was drawn to a career path that allowed her to apply her skills gained during 25 years in consulting and her stint in government, in helping these entrepreneurs to thrive.

Muforo’s desire, meanwhile, was motivated by the ability to be closer to the entrepreneur and the business they are pursuing.

“In my previous capacity it was only advisory, but as an investor

Omobola Johnson: “The thing is, unless you are intentional and deliberate about getting more females into any sphere, it’s never going to happen.” Photo by medium.com

Andreata Muforo: “The world is a better place when both men and women are participating.” Photo by proparco.fr

can be a conduit for capital direct to entrepreneurs, and support their business building,” she said.

“At the time when I joined TLcom, it was still fairly early in the African tech VC ecosystem, so I was more excited about the opportunity to be a manager in a tech VC fund […] because I could see the role that tech is playing in providing the services that African residents and citizens really need, at a more affordable price, with more efficiency, and

increasing access,” she said.

Johnson’s thoughts on what it takes to get more women involved in the African VC space.

“When I came into TLcom we started talking about how there’s not enough female entrepreneurs in our deal pipeline, and we need to do something about it. The thing is, unless you are intentional and deliberate about getting more females into any sphere, it’s never going to happen,” she said.

“In general, the world is a better place when both men and women are participating, versus if only half the population is contributing – there’s something that is missed there,” said Muforo.

“It’s more about trying to get to the point where we have representation that allows us to build more holistic, more robust, more sustainable ecosystems, and more sustainable and successful companies,” Johnson said. – appsafrica.com

YOUR TAKE

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JUDICIAL RECOURSE STOPS ANOTHER VBS HEIST DEAD IN ITS TRACKS

Amid the hustle and bustle of South Africa’s relentlessly shocking news, a key judgment was handed down over a week ago, in a dispute around the administration of the multi-billion rand Chemical Industries National Pension Fund. In doing so, the full-bench of the High Court in Johannesburg found some of the fund’s trustees received bribes to dislodge its then incumbent administrator, in favour of a service provider that was willing to bend the rules to get the lucrative contract. Industry observer Surprise Seema argues that the judgment was nothing short of a judicial save from a VBS-like capture of a fund started 35 years ago, with transformation of the pension benefits industry and worker control at its heart.

I

n late 2018, South Africans were left with their mouths agape with incredulity when Advocate Terry Motau’s Great Bank Heist report into what was an orgy of fraud, corruption and looting at VBS bank was released.

This was nothing short of a financial sector transformation horror story. Here was an institution founded in the darkest years of apartheid’s dispossession and disempowerment of black South Africans, carried over decades on the shoulders of gritty and financially resilient ordinary black investors, stokvels and burial societies, only to be smashed to smithereens by looters who harbour no pretence to conscientiousness about our country’s transformation imperative. Ugly!

It's against this backdrop that those of us with our antennae attuned to issues of transformation in sectors previously impenetrable by historically disadvantaged demographic groups, watch hawkishly any developments that threaten that goal.

I take this long and scenic route to make the point that about a week ago, another ‘heist’ may just have been averted and an egregious wrong

YOUR TAKE

BY SURPRISE SEEMA

to our transformation imperative thwarted by the full bench of the High Court, Gauteng Local Division – Joburg.

To be clear, the scheme I’m talking about had not yet developed to anything on the VBS scale. But its corrosion of the public interest in the proper administration of the pension funds sector would have been devastating had it gone unchecked.

Fortunately, despite our country’s myriad problems, the centre still holds, at least in the administration of justice and due process.

In the hurly-burly of South African news developments, the High Court’s judgment in the matter between Moropa and others v Chemical Industries National Provident Fund and others went under-reported. It could also be that its importance wasn’t fully appreciated. It’s that anomaly I hope to redress in this contribution.

At the outset, a summary of what the case was about and the court’s judgment is appropriate. It stemmed from a November 2019 decision by

the board of trustees of the Chemical Industries National Provident Fund (CINPF) to terminate the services of its long-standing administrator, NBC. The trustees then moved swiftly, bulldozing through any due process, to appoint as NBC’s replacement, three service providers: Akani Retirement Fund Administrators, Novare Investments Consultants and Moruba Consultants and Actuaries.

Long story short, it turns out the Provident Fund’s top three officials (Principal Officer, Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Trustees) who championed, cajoled and bamboozled the board of trustees into this decision, had been paid handsomely by a front entity (Neighbour Funeral Scheme) whose sole director was also the CEO of the ‘successful bidder’ for the fund administration contract - Akani.

Okay, paid ‘handsomely’ is perhaps not even accurate, because as it turns out this trio were willing to pervert their fiduciary and statutory duties for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver.

The now late principal officer received the miserable sum of R40 000, while the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the board of trustees each received a measly R25 000. Sadly, the dagger-and-cloak plot couldn’t be consummated fully without sucking into its maelstrom 23 employees of NBC, amongst whom were the two top officials entrusted with maintaining the business relationship with the CINPF, but alas they found the allure of Akani’s dirty-money too tempting.

Needless to say, they’re all former employees today. But the damage done is immeasurable. In the wake of the saga, NBC suffered business losses in the millions of rand and was forced to retrench some of its workers, just some of the real victims of this corn job.

The High Court rightly rejected as fabrications, the explanations proffered by the three-fund officials for

why an entity (Neighbour Funeral Scheme) owned by the same owners of the service provider (Akani) had awarded a lucrative contract for the administration of the fund a week prior, was, a week later, making these payments to each of them.

They all fell back to the flimsy cover story that the funds were in lieu of funeral insurance payouts for some relative or another who had apparently died in each of their family circles in that week in late November/early December 2019.

The said relatives, whose relationships with the three fund officials were never explained to the court’s satisfaction, also “just happened” to have been covered by the same funeral insurance company (NFS), on policies also “coincidentally” taken by the CINPF officials separately in exactly the same month (August 2019).

Them taking funeral policies with a company whose sister-entity they were to award a lucrative contract a mere three months later, was also said to have been “coincidental”.

Lately, they tried to weave, but the court said: “...it is so far-fetched that it can and should be rejected...”

A perplexing feature of this scheme is how relatively small the bribe amounts involved are, given how lucrative the contract the three entities were to gain in exchange, and the extent to which the stratagem was going to tear the fabric of trust in the employee benefits system while undermining member-control of funds like the CINPF in one fell swoop.

But, as we have come to appreciate, as we’ve been regaled with apalling stories of bribery and corruption over the last few years, it’s not always the quantum of the bribe that matters.

It’s also the betrayal of the legal duty of care and diligence, the erosion of our country’s values of transparency and accountability, and important as the court found in this case; the undermining of human rights, in

this case, the right to administrative justice.

The corrosion of our democratic society’s values, rights and principles I describe above is precisely why the court felt public interest was implicated enough in this ostensible mere private-law dispute.

So much so that the court resorted to applying the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) – a tool mainly reserved for judging conduct by organs of state, and which courts use rarely and sparingly to gauge private entities’ behaviour.

It’s also precisely why I believed more ought to be said about this under-reported judicial outcome.

See, had the scheme succeeded, who knows what would have been next for its conspirators, who would have been emboldened by their initial “success” in unlawfully elbowing out NBC and entrenching Akani, Novare and Moruba in the fund administration contract?

Here, we’re talking about CINPF, a pension fund whose founding in 1987 and history hitherto has always been about foregrounding control and participation in key decision-making by its mainly blue-collar members in sectors such as petroleum, paper, chemicals, wood and glass.

It’s not far-fetched, I’d argue, that further plots were going to be hatched that possibly would have ended with CINPF members crying as VBS investors and depositors have been in recent years.

South Africans are understandably fed-up with corruption. I believe this judgment, under-reported as it was in the news media, actually carries more significance in its emphasis on what criminology’s broken window theory has always held: "untoward behaviour left unchecked leads to further decay and undermining of laws and values. Fortunately for us as a country, the broken window in this instance was swiftly attended to by a robust system of judicial recourse."

12

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Editorial

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Our country is on fire. Photo by pbs.twimg.com

SELF-SERVING ANC LEADERS LIVE IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE

T

his winter has turned out to be a tough and cold one for South Africans.

Fuel and food prices have risen to outer space.

The rolling blackouts have become so normal that people freak out when they see the lights on. The unacceptably massive unemployment rate is creating indescribable misery.

We live in a systemically dysfunctional state that is manipulated by an elite capitalist and political class with zero moral authority.

It is therefore not surprising that more and more people are starting to express their rage against the disconnected and uncaring government ministers.

The riots that we are experiencing have long been in the making.

The self-centred apparatchiks have been too busy stuffing their faces with looted food that they failed to take a fleeting moment and see riots, caused by betrayal, staring at them from the horizon. As the rage rises and riots spread countrywide, the 2024 elections are a foregone conclusion and there is a substantial probability the ANC hegemony as a political force will come to a welcome end.

The prevailing circumstances behoves the ANC to proceed with uttermost vigilance, seizing every opportunity to prevent intensifying its spiralling degeneration. But that is expecting too much from a collective of blind and arrogant hyenas.

They are so immersed in their delusions of grandeur such that they have failed to accurately read and learn from the events of the past few months.

On 1 May, President Cyril Ramaphosa blue-lighted his way to Rustenburg to address workers on a May Day rally organised by Cosatu. It turned out ugly for him as disgruntled Sibanye-Stillwater workers belonging to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) disrupted proceedings and refused to allow him to speak.

Ramaphosa was spurned by the workers and the mood became hostile, forcing the police to intervene while his bodyguards hastily shepherded him out of the Royal Bafokeng Stadium where the event was meant to take place.

In April, residents of Pimville and Kilptown in Soweto were unflinching when they declared they were disappointed and ashamed to call Bheki Cele their police minister.

Last week, Cele went into a fiery rage at a consultative gathering between police, community organisations and residents in Cape Town, when Action Society director Ian Cameron interrupted, bringing to light that the minister had completely failed to protect citizens by not deploying police to crime hotspots.

On 7 July, Public Enterprises

Minister Pravin Gordhan was booed and shouted down by some furious students, midway through his address at a public lecture organised by Wits School of Governance in Joburg.

Angry students accused Gordhan of failing to fix SOEs, including Eskom, and called for his immediate resignation.

A fuming student told Gordhan: "You have given us unending load-shedding. You are the prime minister, and here we are speaking about South African issues.”

Another student took a verbal shot at Gordhan, reminding him he was part of the so-called nine wasted years under former president Jacob Zuma. The student said Gordhan “did not resign when things went wrong”.

If leaders of the governing party find it difficult to make sense of facts as frosty as these, then their heads are far too deep in the sand or they live in a parallel universe. Their attitude has been one of utter contempt for ordinary South Africans who have faithfully voted the ANC into power for 28 years.

No citizen in their right mind would continue to put trust on a self-serving and hypocritical party. Not only has the better life become a raging inferno of poverty and despair, as citizens we now have to contend with a billionaire president squirreling huge amounts of dollars under the mattress and other furniture.

The damning allegations have cruelly marred the little that is left of the perception that Ramaphosa is the decent and dependable corruption buster.

These days the president does not only appear a tad shady, he also gives the impression of being foolish and in any sane person’s book that is a horrifying image for a man whose task is to hold the country together through difficult times like these.

For all the faithful optimists, who hitched their hopes on the belief that Ramaphosa’s administration would achieve some demonstrable progress toward vacuuming the graft dirt, this is a discomforting hour.

The road to the revival of this country has neared its end because the ANC, including Ramaphosa, has lost the moral authority to remain in power.

This is also our mess Much as it is important to focus on the tumultuous malfunctioning ANC, we need to take stock of ourselves. We are in this mess because of the choices we made.

Joseph de Maistre put it well when he said: “Every country has the government it deserves.”

When the ANC’s enfranchisement vision got derailed, we continued to give them an undeserved benefit of the doubt.

We dangerously assumed that at some point the party will get the train back on the rail…hence the treacherous path we find ourselves on.

We were wrong and have been duped!

Cyril Ramaphosa, Jacob Zuma and Baleka Mbete. Photo by Mike Hutchings/Reuters

ALARM BELLS SOUNDED, GOVERNMENT CHOSE TO BE ALOOF AND TONE-DEAF

T

he evil of last July has revisited our nation. Once more, it has left bereavement, heartbreak and a clueless government in its wake.

A vile gang has murdered 44 young people across the country. They opened fire with rifles and pistols on revellers in Soweto, Katlehong and in Pietermaritzburg killing 23 in total. Two weeks earlier, 21 teenagers died mysteriously at a tavern in the Eastern Cape.

Besides offering a fake mass funeral for the Eastern Cape massacre, the government, like the rest of us, is none the wiser about the crimes.

The bitter, unpleasant, upsetting and debilitating truth is, these murders, are an ever-present risk of crime in South Africa. In 2020, The Africa Report, a continental political news pundit, said life expectancy in South Africa was worse than in war-ravaged and failed states.

It states: “Out of 191 countries, South Africa ranked 165 in life expectancy at 64.8 years, less than that of Afghanistan at 65 years and Haiti at 64.9 years.”

The report went unnoticed by a population of a country known as the murder capital of the world.

So, when Police Minister Bheki Cele went about reciting his usual public relations political rhetoric at a community meeting on Tuesday evening, 5 July in Gugulethu, Cape Town, he did not expect to be challenged.

Lo and behold! Ian Cameron did the unthinkable.

He took Cele to task and the minister lost it. He kicked him out of the meeting. Much has been said since.

My take? I share the sentiment of those who think Cameron is a patriot.

His actions resonated well with a quote from a 1935 novel – It Can't Happen Here by American author Sinclair Lewis.

The passage explains the silence of the majority, the loud praise singers of a failing government and heroics of people like Cameron.

It reads: “Under a tyranny, most friends are a liability. One quarter of them turn "reasonable" and become your enemies, one quarter are afraid to speak, and one quarter are killed and you die with them. But the blessed final quarter keeps you alive.”

Sporadic individual rebellions like Cameron are patriotic actions of people who love their country and its people.

The type of people who find it easy to transcend habitual racial nuances of a society like ours with an ugly racist past.

His actions are especially heroic given how our party political system which is rooted on racial lines often justifies racism or supports corrupt politicians.

MY TAKE

MBANGWA XABA

Cameron is the type of patriot that Nigerian philosopher, academic and political scientist Chuba Okadigbo must have had this in mind when said: “If you are emotionally attached to your tribe, religion or political leaning to the point that truth and justice become secondary considerations, your education and exposure is useless. If you cannot reason beyond petty sentiments, you are a liability.”

Like its short history will quickly tell you, our government has commit- ted horrendous crimes in the name of freedom and justice.

The darkest being the betrayal of the poor at whose behest the gratuitous politicians are fidgeting with the levers of power to do nothing but self-enrichment.

Professor Eddy Maloka has made an apt observation in his latest offering to the Daily Maverick. He likened the ANC to a colony of ants. The poorest of the poor are ravaged by harsh economic conditions that the nation faces today, because the ANC – “a colony of blind ants”, is oblivious to the destruction it has coursed in its quest to satisfy “its queen of political factions”.

It has shepherded us to a disaster for over two decades, and we gaily complied. No one dared to speak out like Cameron.

Not even those whose voices would have made a difference. Because to do so would be ‘unpatriotic’ and ‘anti-democracy’.

Look where that brought us. Today, South Africa – a one-time globally iconic nation, is now one of the worst places to live in.

According to the 2020 global Human Development Index, South Africa has been ranked 114 out 189 assessed in the index due to its declining standards of living and worsening

income inequality.

We fit the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-IDSR) classification of disaster like a hand to a glove. It defines a national disaster as “a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources”.

We have a failing energy supply.

We knew about it years in advance but nothing was done.

The same thing happened with our water management systems and both have now collapsed.

Lack of foresight by our leaders, coupled with our collective silence, has made our country to endure bouts of six or even nine hours without power daily.

An entire metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Cape, just to spite our history, named after the democratic society’s founding president – Nelson Mandela Bay, is without water.

These failings mirror our national security. Like Cameron’s cries, alarms bells have been sounded to no avail.

This year’s tavern murders are reminiscent of last year’s riots.

Just as we do now, we held our hands over our heads as the deadliest riots and looting since the end of apartheid hit the nation.

More than 330 lives were lost and over R50 billion is thought to have been lost in the process.

At sixes and sevens, the president blamed an insurrection that remains a reality only in his head to this day.

To ensure we don’t cross this path again, South Africa needs social cohesion urgently. We need national effort to address the fundamental inequality and social challenges of our society pronto!

We need a national consultative conference – the type, the magnitude and representative of the 1955 Congress of the People or at minimum the 1986 National Education Crisis Conference type in order to deal with our problems fundamentally as a people, bar the talk shop government.

Mass-based civil society organisations are our only hope and should be revived in our communities.

We can’t just have shutdown groups whose sole contribution is violent protests without any policy input to shape our future.

In any event, it is unhealthy that when it comes to civil society our country only benefits the wisdom of right wingers like AfriForum.

Where are progressive civil society organisation?

Cameron has spoken it’s time for you to get out and speak up!

OPINION & ANALYSIS

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EmaSwati are yearning for a government that will act in the interests of the citizens.

Photo by democracynow.org

EMASWATI WANT KING MSWATI III OUT F

or over five decades, the tiny and despotic kingdom of Eswatini attracted little or no attention in international political affairs, save for heightening the curiosity of social anthropologists.

Lately though, an exceptional blend of internal and external circumstances has reshaped the kingdom’s political landscape.

As the last stronghold of absolute monarchy in sub-Saharan Africa, Eswatini is experiencing the power of the political tempests that are sweeping through the continent.

EmaSwati want a government that has the political will and commitment to change socio-economic policies to encourage growth and common prosperity. They yearn for a government that will act in the interests of its citizens.

For this to happen, there must be a democratic government that is based on the rule of law.

This unfortunately, scares the royal hell out of the brutal and clown king who is referred to as King Mswati III. Mswati’s regime is hell-bent on pulverising dissension.

The despot seems to see it as his royal blessing to deny civil, political, economic and social rights to emaSwati.

Trade unionists, human rights champions, social and political activists have been subjected to lethal force by the police and the army.

He has soiled his royal pants, took them off and opted for the brutalisation of those who are calling for change. He has chosen to intensify the state of brutality.

State violence in Eswatini includes restriction of the freedom of speech, jailing of activists, torture and all hues of cruelty. The most vocal activists live under the threat of being executed, just like the apartheid system used to do in South Africa.

Arbitrary arrests, refusal of fair trials and the carrying out of unfair

trials based on trumped up charges have become too common. The inexplicable disappearance of prodemocracy activists, the physical and psychological terrorisation such as death threats or the threat of persecution, have become useful tools for Mswati and his colony of greedy bootlickers.

The dimwits, who dance naked for benefits from the king, would like us to believe those who are calling for change are a threat to the kingdom.

They have labelled them as terrorists in order to justify the state’s brutality.

What a sickening truckload of drivel: “protecting the state”.

How are dehumanised people calling for constitutional transformation, comprising the unbanning of political parties, the right to elect a prime minister who will be accountable to the emaSwati, as well as better public services and an end to police brutality, become a threat to the kingdom?

The editor of an online publication, The Swaziland News, Zweli Martin Dlamini who also has been branded a terrorist, summed up the current mood when he wrote: “The state-controlled and captured media has been parading him (Mswati) as a symbol of peace and stability, but the reality on the ground, proved by videos of royal police violence against the people suggests that the King is a symbol of oppression and dictatorship.

“It should be noted that the King has been described as a unifying figure, perhaps that’s what a majority of Swazis, including me, expected him to be, but the reality is that King Mswati represents an apartheid government and a royal supremacy that created a monopoly of ‘intelligence’ among the Dlaminis to hold the position of prime minister.

“When we describe the King as a unifying figure, we shouldn’t do so to please him, some of us don’t exist to please King Mswati who deprived highly capable Swazis an opportunity

to serve the nation as prime ministers just because they were not Dlaminis.

“It is for these reasons we are calling for a democratic government where the people would elect their own prime minister or president without any political discrimination. We can’t surrender our intelligence and capabilities to a man whose thinking capacity remains questionable.”

The brain-deprived knuckle draggers probably got more peeved when Zwemart, as the editor is fondly called, opine: “The only option we have now is to give him an endless political headache and make him feel like he is living in exile in his own glittering palaces.

“Swazis must not allow the King to enjoy peace while killing innocent civilians, the calls for democratic reforms must be intensified for him to understand that we are human beings who deserve to live in a democratic country.”

In August 1995, political ramblings sent shock waves through the royal den, forcing Mswati to pay the late President Nelson Mandela a visit to assure him that everything was under control eSwatini.

During the said visit the tyrannical ruler informed Mandela that emaSwati did not want political parties and were comfortable with the Tinkhundla.

This was a blatant lie, the general population has never been comfortable with a traditional councils system of government, which has no provisions for opposition politics.

If they were comfortable, the political earthquakes that have shaken that country would not have happened.

The state of human rights Eswatini has gone downhill at blindingly dangerous speed.

Mswati and his hyenas do not give a constitutional damn about human rights. Instead, they have weaponised law enforcement and legal instruments to suppress calls for justice and

democratic reform.

A report by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has declared Eswatini to be among the world’s 10 worst countries for workers in 2022.

Part of the report states: “Eswatini descended into a spiral of violence and repression as 2021 pro-democracy protests were met with extreme police brutality. Police and government forces killed at least 72 protestor, hundreds more were injured and others detained, while some remained missing.

“Some activists have gone into hiding and others have fled into exile.

Freedom of speech and assembly were heavily curtailed as, later in the year, other marches and strikes were violently repressed by police, who used live rounds, rubber bullets, tear gas and batons to disperse protesters. At least three workers were shot dead and many more severely injured.”

Then, there is the moribund Southern African Development Community (SADC) which has failed to provide proper leadership to avert worst-case scenarios… an armed insurrection or worse a bloody civil war…something that is good for the country and the region.

“Unfortunately, the wires in the heads of the big kahunas at the SADC are malfunctioning hence the failure to hear people who are saying, “enough is enough now. We will achieve our freedom by any means necessary.”

You do not have to be a genius to notice that the SADC is laden with a flaccid and lumbering bureaucracy that seems to have been created to suffocate plans than implementing them.

The SADC was correctly criticised for failing to handle the situation Eswatini in a mature manner. The weaklings failed to pay appropriate attention to the demands of Mswa-

ti’s critics.

Their meek and belated efforts to stabilise the kingdom have yielded zilch because Mswati has not shown sincere interest to hold court with discontented citizens.

SADC Protocol The prevailing conditions eSwatini compel the SADC not only to be seen as an honest broker, but also an organisation that is committed to defending the rights of its member states’ citizens.

SADC lackeys must get off their backsides and set in motion mechanisms specifically deal with the challenges ESwatini. They must have the requisite testicular fortitude to be assertive with Mswati.

They are his peers and must stop pussyfooting around him. They must demand a national dialogue conducted by SADC, not the palace of deaf hyenas.

The organisation’s Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation has it welded to the advancement of democracy and safeguarding human rights.

The SADC has for a long time been bedevilled by ineptitude and a tradition of ignoring gross violations of socio-economic and political rights in member states. They couldn’t be bothered that this tradition has had an adverse impact on regional development.

Our challenges as a region are taking a turn for the worst and the time has for a more efficient and vibrant organisation is now.

Citizens of Southern Africa can do with the termination of the age of pretentious muteness and staved off scrutiny when member states violate the rights of their citizens.

It can no longer be business as usual because there has been a massive betrayal of the democratic aspirations of emaSwati and the SADC’s own claimed values.

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SHOWBIZ

BUSKAID CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE!

This internationally acclaimed string ensemble will perform the World Première of Scarlatti in Soweto. Photo by citylifearts.co.za

C

lassical music lovers who may have missed the performance by Buskaid in March must be happy to know that on July 17, the Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble will perform once again at the Linder Auditorium as part of their 25 years of extraordinary music-making celebration.

Rosemary Nalden, founder of Buskaid, reminisces: “Twenty five years ago I stepped on to the stage of the Linder Auditorium for the first time to perform in Buskaid’s inaugural concert, with 15 school-age children from Diepkloof, Soweto.

"Little did I imagine on that day, that 25 years later, I would find myself on the same stage, celebrating some

of the most extraordinary achievements imaginable – from the London Proms at the Royal Albert Hall to a World Cup fan park in Damascus, from the Cité de la Musique in Paris to a Mori P in New Zealand, from the Bamboo Cathedral in Colombia to a Dutch barge in Holland.

“The list is endless, but our annual appearance at the Linder is, for all of us, extra-special, as we get to play to our loyal, enthusiastic and supportive Joburg audience.

“Our innovative programme will highlight the diverse talents of these extraordinary young Buskaid musicians – a few of whom actually played in that first concert.”

This internationally acclaimed

string ensemble will perform the World Première of Scarlatti in Soweto, a quirky, jazzy piece by the renowned British, US-based composer, Julian Grant, written especially for Buskaid.

Also included in the billing, is a suite of stunning music by the French baroque composer, Lully.

Buskaid’s brilliant young violinist Mzwandile Twala will be performing Dvoák’s magical Romance for Violin and Orchestra. Mzwandile (born in 2000) was one of the youngest children to start learning the violin at Buskaid.

In 2018, he gained his DipABRSM with Distinction. He enjoys playing chamber music and experimenting with jazz improvisation.

The performance will have a selection of pieces by Northern European composers as well as a few new pop songs and kwela music.

Photo by citylifearts.co.za

He is currently freelancing with both the Joburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Phoenix Orchestra.

Buskaid is a charitable trust registered both in the UK and SA. It was founded in 1992 by British viola player Rosemary Nalden in response to a BBC radio interview highlighting the plight of a group of young string players in Diepkloof, Soweto. Rosemary enlisted the support of 120 of her professional colleagues who took part in a simultaneous ‘busk’ in March 1992 at 16 British Rail stations.

In two hours, they raised £6000 for the benefit of the young township musicians. Since then, several hundred distinguished musicians have

participated in a further four ‘busks’.

Funding now comes from South African corporate sponsorship, various South African and UK Trusts, individual donations, CD/DVD sales and performances by the Buskaid musicians.

The performance will end with a selection of pieces by Northern European composers, as well as a few new pop songs and a good helping of energetic Kwela, which will have the audience smiling and dancing.

– citylifearts.co.za Performance details: 17 July at 3pm, Linder Auditorium, Wits.

Tickets: R300 (concessions R175).

No children under the age of six years.

Rosemary Nalden, founder of Buskaid: “Our innovative programme will highlight the diverse talents of these extraordinary young Buskaid musicians – a few of whom actually played in that first concert.”

-Photo by citylifearts.co.za

FEATURE

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Artifact displayed in French museums, like this one, are also set to go back to Nigeria.

AFRICA CELEBRATES THE RETURN OF BENIN BRONZES, BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN A cross Africa, many are excited about Germany’s decision to return more than 1,000 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. But there are calls for monetary compensation, too.

"This is perhaps the most significant agreement signed by a European nation with Nigeria with regards to cultural diplomacy," Yusuf Tuggar, Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, told DW after the agreement to return more than 1,000 Benin Bronze artefacts was signed on 1 July.

"It is a very significant achievement, a very significant milestone and we hope that it will lead to the return of not just the Benin Bronzes, but other stolen cultural properties from other countries as well."

In all, German museums hold more than 1,130 artefacts. They're spread across the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, Berlin's Humboldt Forum, the Museum in Cologne, the Hamburg Museum for World Cultures and the State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony.

The importance of the decision to return the Benin Bronzes is underscored by the leader of the Bana people in Cameroon, Sikam Happi V. "It's a very good thing. This will allow Africa to come to terms with its past and reclaim these objects that would never have left Africa" if colonizers hadn't taken them, Happi told DW. The valuable artefacts were stolen from the former Kingdom of Benin by the British when they sacked Benin City in 1897. The royal palace was razed to the ground, and Benin City, in what is now the southern Nigerian state of Edo was almost destroyed.

For many residents of Edo, the news of the return couldn't have come at a better time.

"We are really happy about the news of the return of the Benin artefacts," Friday Osaro told DW. "Our heritage and assets that were stolen years back are being returned to the rightful owner, Benin Kingdom. We are really happy."

Lancelot Imasuen, a renowned Nigerian filmmaker from Benin City, the capital of Edo State, believes this decision will inspire creatives.

"As an artist, as an Edo man, as a creative, I feel very elated by this move by the German government to return these artworks," Imasuen told DW. Across Nigeria, others also see this as an opportunity to learn their history.

"This is like physical history for us.

Everyone today can see this and know that our people had history and they were civilized to an extent because all these artefacts are not toys, they tell a story," Samuel Marv, a history graduate and user interface designer, said in an interview with DW. For some, repatriation is not enough Although there is excitement about the return of cultural artefacts to Africa, there are still questions surrounding the payment of compensation.

“Beyond the restitution of objects that have been stolen and exhibited in European museums, compensation must be paid. This would help Africa build proper museums to house these artefacts," Fon Happi added.

Ify James, an independent contractor, told DW: "I think that the return of the Benin Bronzes should come with huge compensation because it made them tons of money while they had them.”

The agitation is particularly strong on Facebook.

Justin Curtis, a user from Liberia, commented on a DW Africa video about the bronzes that “the healing process should be extended further to paying for what was done to Africa.

This is a new way of seeing Africans as partners to a global solution to the many challenges we all face as a people.”

Harry Koffi, another user on DW Africa's Facebook page added: “They must also return all monies they accrued from the museums that

which will also display Benin Bronzes in the future.”

Pieces like this lion displayed in Cologne are among the artifacts set to be returned to Nigeria.

These Benin bronze artifacts and more than 1,000 others will soon return to their rightful home.

housed these artefacts.”

And while it is unlikely that Germany will pay any monetary compensation, German Foreign Minister

Annalena Baerbock said during the official ceremony on Friday that the country is “assisting Nigeria in establishing a new museum in Benin City,

Benin Bronzes open up the conversation on African art Other African countries are taking a cue from 1 July’s event, demanding that other artefacts be returned too.

Togo, which was a German colony until 1914, says it will soon make a formal request for its art to be returned.

“There are teacher-researchers who are in German galleries and museums, identifying cultural property from Togo," Kossi Gbenyo Lamadokou, Togo's Minister of Culture and Tourism, told DW. "At the end of the identification of items in Germany and France, we will be able to say which of the items need to be repatriated.”

Lamadokou explained that not all African art in European museums was illicitly taken and that Togo is specifically targeting stolen art.

In Tanzania, there is a growing debate over the return of the dinosaur ‘Brachiosaurus brancai' bones recovered by German palaeontologists in 1909.

The dinosaur bones were excavated from more than 100 sites in Tendaguru in southern Tanzania.

Today, the dinosaur skeleton is the star exhibit at Berlin's natural history museum.

“The dinosaur fossil is important in matters of research in the area of archaeology and palaeontology so if we are to receive it, we must also make sure that we have the human resources to retain it ― not only for the benefit of Tanzania but also for the world," Tanzania's ambassador to Germany Abdallah Possi told DW. Possi explained that the East African nation has been in negotiations with Germany over the return of the dinosaur fossils. – dw.com Saumu Yusuf, Abdullahi Bala, Muhammad Bello in Nigeria, Noel Tadegnon in Togo, and Elisabeth Asen Somo in Cameroon contributed to this article.

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LABOUR MATTERS

IS MANDATORY COVID–19 VACCINATION IN THE WORKPLACE STILL RELEVANT?

A

s you will recall, this column has dedicated no less three articles on the subject of Covid-19 in the workplace, with specific focus on the controversial issue of mandatory vaccinations in the workplace. The articles I am referring to were published on 30 July 2021, 13 August 2021 and 19 December 2021.

In one of the, I predicted that the matter of mandatory vaccination in the workplace would remain a divisive subject of interest within our labour law discourse.

You will also recall I did say that what we require as a country is for this matter to come up before the Constitutional Court, in order to have a final, binding precedent in this regard.

As things stand, we may not have to wait for too long before we receive the much-needed judgment from the apex court. Sunday Independent recently reported that the National Black Consumer Council (NBCC) has already approached the Constitutional Court to decide, on an urgent basis, “whether or not the implementation of mandatory vaccines was ultra vires (beyond the powers) and derogates non-derogable constitutional rights”.

The paper reported that the NBCC secretary-general Dr Raynauld Russon has issued a stern warning to employers.

Dr Russon said: "It is advisable for employers to be patient because they may find themselves facing class action and liability cases.

“Any employee who is asked to take mandatory vaccination must ask the employer to sign a liability statement confirming that the employer will be responsible for any consequences of the vaccine.”

This piece was prompted by the recent debate which was sparked by the dismissal of a number of Standard Bank and Old Mutual employees who had refused to undergo mandatory vaccination in their respective workplaces.

As we have seen, these dismissals reignited the already smouldering embers around this issue, with labour federations, Cosatu and Saftu denouncing the position adopted by the Standard Bank and Old Mutual

UMSEBENZI TEBOHO MOKOENA

and calling on the affected workers to lodge disputes with the CCMA and the Labour Court.

To be fair, organised labour, civil society groups started raising concerns as far back as the Mulderiji case. In a joint statement issued then, Cosatu, Fedusa and Nactu said they were extremely disappointed by the CCMA's upholding the dismissal of Mulderiji for refusing to be vaccinated.

Pandemic Data Analytics (Panda) chairperson Nick Hudson said the judgment implemented the wrong assumptions about what the vaccines do and was "very flawed".

"This can be challenged at the Labour Court on appeal, and I hope it does. It is an irrational judgment," said Hudson.

The non-profit HBR Foundation, which also represents those who were fired for refusing to be vaccinated, said it was not true that the unvaccinated were putting those who are vaccinated at risk.

Human rights activist Schalk van der Merwe said: "What started as protection for employees, and to make the workplace a safe place for employees, has turned into gross human rights infringement against many. If the

Standard Bank has withdrawn its mandatory vaccination policy. Photo by Eduardo Munoz-Pool/Getty Images

government wanted the protection of people, then certain measures should have been put in place. Measures that do not infringe people's basic human rights."

Christian group Watchers and Gatekeepers' Pastor John Mosepele said the ruling against Mulderiji was used to scare those who don't want to take "this experimental" injection.

My analysis of the position held by all the above groups, including organised labour, is that the case is largely premised on upholding Section 12(2) and 13 of the Constitution: “Everyone has the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which

includes the right— (a) to make decisions concerning reproduction; (b) to security in and control over their body; and (c) not to be subjected to medical or scientific experiments without their informed consent.”

Section 13 guarantees one’s rights to freedom of religion, belief and opinion.

Medically, among others, employees may state in their objections that they could potentially experience allergic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines.

On the other hand, the CCMA, in a number of its arbitration awards on this subject, appears to have relied on Section 36(1) of the Constitution, which states that the “general requirements for the limitation of any right is that

it may be limited only in terms of law of general application "to the extent that the limitation is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom".

Based on this constitutional clause, the CCMA upheld a number of dismissals of employees who refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

On 22 June, CCMA Commissioner Richard Byrne found that it was unfair and unconstitutional for Baroque Medical, which supplies and sells medical equipment, to retrench Kgomotso Tshatshu for refusing to get a Covid-19 vaccination. The company was ordered to pay her 12 months’ salary as compensation (the maximum allowed). This award marked a notable departure from what had become somewhat of a norm as far as CCMA ruling in this regard were concerned.

Critically, this ruling contradicted an earlier award by the same CCMA which was delivered in May wherein a Commissioner in that case held that the same company, Baroque Medical, was within its rights to retrench another employee, Cecilia Bessick, who had also refused to get a Covid19 vaccine.

Of course, this was to be anticipated as the CCMA awards, by their very nature, do not constitute binding legal precedents in the manner that court judgments do. So, different commissioners are allowed to arrive at varying conclusions when faced with similar matters.

It is also worth mentioning, as has also been observed by other commentators on this subject, that until the Labour Court issues a binding judgment on the issue of mandatory vaccinations; we will continue to grapple with varying rulings from the CCMA. That said, it remains my firm opinion that in as much as the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court may provide a much-needed degree of clarity, it will be up to the Constitutional Court to issue a final, binding precedent on this matter.

In closing, going back to the Standard Bank matter, it is also worth mentioning that the bank has subsequently withdrawn its mandatory vaccination policy, citing the recent government directive on the relaxation of some of the Covid-19 preventative measures.

Notable as this development might be, I am of the opinion that a firmer policy position is required to deal not only with the Covid-19, but all other contagious diseases in the workplace.

MOTORING

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NEW JEEP GLADIATOR IS A MEAN MACHINE!

A

fter floods of tears, wailing and whining, the folks at Toledo, Ohio in the US finally gave in. Back in 2018 when the Jeep Gladiator was launched, bringing it to South African market was not on the top of the list of priorities for Stellantis.

Just when we thought it was not going to happen, they surprised us with this beast. Although South Africa is one of the biggest bakkie markets, second only to Australia, we were ignored.

Beasts like the Ford F150, Toyota Tundra, Chevrolet Silverado, Nissan Titan and Dodge Ram 1500 have been converted from left hand drive to right hand drive locally but not really manufactured for our local market.

Perhaps, the sky-high fuel price might be the reason, but what about the Ford Falcon mini-Ute and the Fiat Toro which are not guzzlers?

Well, let's forget about car politics and concentrate on the good news.

When we talk about the double-cab market we think of established brands such as the Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara, Ford Ranger and Isuzu D max.

Is the Jeep Gladiator really a double-cab bakkie?

Most Jeep cars have been crash-tested and you can rate them high in terms of safety. While the Gladiator has no comprehensive safety record or stats, all we can rely on is its Rubicon sibling.

At 5.5m, this is not your average bakkie; it is a monster that has road presence. It is not one of those that you take to a China mall with its mini-parking bays, unless you want to park on a delivery spot.

The mere sight of the Gladiator makes you think you are looking at a war tank: a beast that can clear a battlefield, just like that! It is a typical American truck.

I am really struggling whether to classify this car as a beauty or a beast.

Maybe I must settle for beauty in the beast. Approaching this beauty in the beast car, you are taken by its ground clearance. The beautiful red that I managed to lay my hands on was absolutely stunning. The front is almost similar to its sibling, the Jeep Rubicon.

It has quite an angry look that says I am not here to play…I mean business.

With its one trim, I can vouch that even the most cynical critic will struggle not to praise the level of luxury in this beast. Inside and out nothing was spared - its 35 BF Goodrich Tyres can

RIDE ON DUMI XABA

handle easily our notorious potholes.

The interior is donned with redstitched leather and Rubicon engraved in red on the front seats. The generously sized touch screen is something to behold. There is a backseat bench that can be folded when not in use.

You can customise this beast in ways than you will never imagine on a bakkie. Press the start button and the 3.6litre V6 roars to life.

I took this beast on the road and these were my findings: ● The suspension is quite hard.

This is meant for serious off-road. ● The Goodrich all-terrain tyres couldn’t even be silenced by stereo. ● The road noise is quite significant, especially from around 80km/h.

At 120km/h it is noisy. ● The 3.6litre V6 and the 8-speed auto gearbox are perfectly paired. ● It tends to be a bit thirsty as expected from such a big engine. ● You can overtake easily on the freeway but this is by any means a sport car. Don’t expect the Mercedes X350 or VW Amarok kind of gallop.

I am not an off-road enthusiast but I handled all terrains like a pro in this beast.

I won't really say this is your daily companion. It's more of your weekend special. As a daily runner, the Rubicon can cause a lot of headache.

What's on offer from Stellantis?

With its ground clearance of 249mm, you get the sensation of riding in

an army tank. This gives you the approach angle of 43 degrees and the departure angle of 26 degrees. You can tackle any urban and rural obstacles with ease. You can easily drive out of those sticky road grids with a smile.

Gladiator in Brief Engine: 3.6lire V6 Petrol.

Service interval: 12000km (indicated).

Drive train: 8 Speed automatic.

Fuel capacity: 83 litres.

Consumption: 12,4litres (claimed).

Power: 209KW. Torque: 347Nm. Green house CO2: 288g/km.

Tyres: 255/70 R17 back and front (around R6000 per Tyre).

It comes with a three-year/100,000km service plan.

Retailing at R1 259 900, it is a bit pricey, but with its luxury and capability, it is worth every cent.

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FEATURE

CULTIVATORS MAKE TRIUMPHANT COMEBACK Coffee connoisseurs from all over the world have long craved Angolan coffee. Photo by dreamstime.com

By Lucinda Dordley

C

offee connoisseurs from all over the world have long craved Angolan coffee. This original Angolan black gold was generated annually at a rate of about 25 000 tons in the 1970s.

This was halted by civil war, but today, after almost 20 years of peace, Angola is recovering, and two Angolan businesses are once more establishing themselves within the international market. Their objective is to elevate Angola back to the top

tier of exporters globally. By growing in the traditional coffee-producing regions of Angola, the businesses Café Cazengo and Fazenda Vissolela are attempting to achieve this.

Quiculungo, a town in the Cuanza Norte province, was primarily developed around coffee because during colonial times. This commodity was what drove Angola’s economy. In the early 19th century, a Brazilian established Angola’s first commercial plantation.

A rich history However, Mr Miguel, an Angolan

whose family had been cultivating coffee for centuries before Angola’s battle for independence, founded Café Cazengo. A total of 500 growers currently work for him, providing the raw material for the business he started in 2010.

The company has a website and sells its coffee worldwide, although the majority of its production is exported to the United States.

One of those bigger industrial farms is Fazenda Vissolela. A total of 1000 of its 5000 hectares are used for its project. These crops are entirely concentrated on specialty coffee.

Every Arabica type is anticipated to receive 100 hectares of land, with 80% of these coffees being exported.

Expansion tops the list The 25 000 smaller farms that produce nearly half of the nation’s coffee output include the 500 growers of Café Cazengo. The remainder is produced by about 500 larger commercial farms.

To increase productivity and enhance growers’ quality of life, Café Cazengo collaborates with them.

Additionally, they are assisting producers in formalizing their coop-

eratives through an initiative with an Angolan higher education centre.

In an effort to expand the private sector and diversify Angola’s primarily oil-based economy, producers are also receiving assistance from an EU-UN programme.

A major factor in it is agriculture, which accounts for roughly 13% of the nation’s GDP. In 2019–2020, Angola produced 34% more commercial coffee beans.

Angola is making a triumphant comeback based on the nation’s new agricultural methods and flavour.

– foodforafrika.com

KENYAN PRESIDENT WANTS MORE VALUE ADDED TO TEA EXPORTS

By Lucinda Dordley

T

he Kenya Tea Development Agency Holdings (KTDA) has been challenged by President Uhuru Kenyatta to come up with a comprehensive plan that will guarantee value addition to 90% of the country’s tea production before it is exported.

The president believes that tea growers would gain the most payback from their labour if they added more value to the tea they produced, instead of selling it raw.

“The real future for tea is value adding 90% of our tea and finding direct markets from the farm to the one consuming the tea in a cup.

"That will be the long-term solution and that solution lies with you to set the foundation,” Kenyatta said.

Value addition, according to Kenyatta, will help to increase employment opportunities for young people in the nation while also raising the revenue of tea producers.

He emphasised that as a result of the government-initiated changes, the profits of smallholder tea farmers grew by 42.4%, from Sh44 bil-

lion (R6.2 billion) in 2021 to Sh63 billion (R8.9 billion) in 2022.

“This is approximately an additional Sh18.74 billion that will be paid to tea farmers courtesy of the interventions we, as a government, made to revitalise this sub-sector,” the Kenyan president added.

“With this performance, the average bonus payment per kilogram of green leaf in 2022 will rise by 76% from Sh21.07 (R3.00) earned last year to Sh37.11 (R5.00) in 2022.”

Revitalising the industry He highlighted that each tea business will pay various rates based on its performance, with some firms paying more than others, noting that the increase of 76% is an average.

According to Kenyatta, the over 650 000 smallholder tea farmers and the approximately 30% of Kenyans who work in the broader agricultural sector will have more hope as a result of the tea subsector’s stronger performance this year.

The establishment of the minimum reserve price at the Mombasa tea auction in July 2021, which resulted in an increase in tea export profits from Sh120 billion (R17

Workers pluck tea leaves at a plantation in Kenya. Photo by istock/downtoearth.org.in billion) in 2020 to Sh136 billion (R19 billion) in 2022, was one of Kenyatta’s important interventions that helped the tea sub-sector earn more money. “I am confident that once the ongoing reforms are fully implemented, the tea industry will

be fully revitalised for the benefit of the tea farmers and the country.

Monthly payments to tea farmers are also being done by the first week (by fifth of every month) as opposed to the third week.”

Kenyatta gave Peter Munya, the

Cabinet secretary for agriculture, instructions to guarantee that the fertiliser subsidy is enhanced from Sh1 billion (R141 million) to Sh3 billion (R423 million) in order to significantly increase the revenue of tea producers. – foodforafrika.com

SPORT

19

FRIDAY, JULY 15/ JULY 28

The protests by football supporters sunk the formation of the European Super League and demonstrated the potential power of supporters. Photo by amandla.org.za

CAN WE RECLAIM FOOTBALL FROM BELOW?

By Mazibuko Kanyiso Jara

I

n 2021, we saw mass protests by supporters of Liverpool, Manchester United and other English Premiership clubs against the establishment of a European Super League.

This action sunk the proposed elite Super League and demonstrated the potential power of supporters, which reached all the way to the inaccessible boardrooms controlling European football.

In South Africa, such action is unimaginable. The famous, popular and solidarity-based Iwisa Charity Spectacular tournament was killed by the commercial interests of the once-dominant Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. And there was no action by football supporters.

The season-opening tournament had existed for more than 15 years and participation in it was always based on the telephone-based popular vote of at least 2 million football supporters each year determining which four teams competed. The entire proceeds were given to “charity”.

Football commodified away from popular control It is the power of money over football that has led to the decade-long domination of the Premier Soccer League by Mamelodi Sundowns. Sundowns have been financed from the mining-based profits and wealth held by the family of Patrice Motsepe, whose mining companies largely pay starvation wages to tens of thousands of mine workers.

This commodification of football can be seen elsewhere too – the cap-

ture of TV rights by the Naspersowned DSTV, the dependence of professional football on sponsorships by capitalist companies, and the control of football clubs by unelected and unaccountable families and private companies.

As implied above, the reality of commodified and elite-controlled football is taken as given and unchangeable by the majority of football fans. This hegemonic reality is actually in direct contradiction to what had existed as the popular control of football at earlier moments of our history.

Orlando Pirates was not known as the People’s Club for a trite reason. It was precisely because its supporters attended its meetings in numbers and held significant weight in the decisions made about the direction of the club.

Earlier, the club even had a more community character when the old Orlando Boys Club, from which Pirates originated, was controlled by a community-elected and women-dominated committee.

The same was the case for Moroka Swallows, the early Sundowns, Witbank Black Aces, the defunct Pimville United Brothers and many others.

Importantly, this culture of working class control of a club was not the case with Chiefs which has always centred on Kaizer Motaung.

The rolling back of popular control of these clubs was often bloody and deadly. The presently dominant mafia would not tolerate any opposition to its rising control of these clubs. It is a great omission that little has been written or recorded in film about this aspect of our football history.

The only semblance of football

supporter participation is in the supporters’ club that the leading clubs have. Through country-wide branch networks there is some limited exercise of supporter power and voice at the most basic level. However, there is limited autonomy and ultimate subordination to the marketing divisions of the actual football club.

Supporters still do not have any say, voice and power in the ownership, control and administration of the clubs.

Primitive accumulation by a football mafia The mafia-style control of our football has led to the disaster that the national men’s team has been for more than 15 years now. This failure largely stems from the absence of a broad-based, resourced, dynamic and innovative football development agenda. Instead, the mafia at the helm of our football uses its power to primitively accumulate wealth, which takes away from bottom-up football development.

When the PSL first negotiated TV rights with Supersport in 2007, it decided to pay a R70 million bonus to a three-person committee (Irvin Khoza, Kaizer Motaung and Mato Madlala) that negotiated the R1.6 billion deal. They did this instead of meeting the demand from lower tier clubs to increase the monthly grant from R50 000 to R200 000. This went together with another demand to increase voting powers for these clubs from two to five.

No broad-based development Safa scored a windfall of R685 million for football development from hosting the 2010 Fifa World Cup tournament. Fifa transferred this amount

into the 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy Trust which was established by Fifa and Safa to promote and develop football. The most logical thing was to promote grassroots football starting with school football.

Despite this windfall, Safa has never initiated any such grassroots development programme. In many townships and rural villages, school football is not supported at all.

There are no coach development programmes, schools do not have budgets for playing equipment, transport costs to games are self-financed by each school, and school sports grounds are poorly developed. Safa has also not publicly accounted for how the Fifa windfall was used. The only reported activity was the R137 million used to build Safa House next to FNB Stadium.

Already by 2014, Safa financial statements confirmed a loss of R55m for that year.

Instead of promoting real bottom-up development, the mafia dangles the false promise of commercialised football as the path to football development. Even university-based clubs are encouraged to secure private sponsorships in the same way it happened with varsity rugby.

It is also the same for second-tier and third-tier and lower division clubs which have far smaller resources than the premier division. As a result, many of the newly enriched BEE beneficiaries have sought ownership of these lower tier clubs as a demonstration of their newly arrived status.

Some have taken short cuts by buying premier clubs’ statuses. All this perpetuates the domination of the commercial logic over broadbased development.

The underdevelopment of wom-

en’s soccer is another symptom of the mafia approach to our football. If women’s football proves to be commercially viable, it is likely that the same mafia will capture it in order to continue with accumulation and not for the development of women’s football.

Seeds for change Despite the limits of the supporters’ clubs mentioned, the seed for change in football actually lies in them. They can become an important platform and voice in the necessary struggle to democratise football and reclaim it from the elites.

This agenda can start with the demand for the return of the Charity Tournament, creating institutional space for the role of supporters in the ownership and control of clubs and the redirecting of resources to lower level football development.

Beyond the clubs, there is much work to do to raise the banner of school football development. This is where teacher trade unions, student organisations and parents need to be better organised around the revival of school sports in general. It is on that basis that they can be an organised voice putting mass pressure on the state, the football establishment and private companies for the redirection of resources away from the mafia into school sports.

These ideas can only become real with much activist effort and the effective organisation of a radical sports transformation agenda in supporters clubs, and in school sports.

This would the more sustainable and democratic foundation that can guarantee quality and success of our national teams in the long term.

– amandla.org.za

20

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AFRICA MISSES FINE CHANCE AND SCORES OWN GOAL

By Ngozi Nwaubani Photo by fcbayern.com

W

hy African teams fail at the World Cup is no mystery, as some football fans may think. In this article, you’ll understand five reasons why they do. But before then, let’s understand why the subject is important.

No African nation has never won the Fifa World Cup. It’s a shame that most African teams show a great deal of promise in soccer but miserably fail at the World Cup. The great Pele predicted that they an African nation would win before the turn of the 20th century. This is a prediction that is yet to be fulfilled to date. Thirty one years after, and no African team has reached the semi-final, let alone the final!

Clearly, surpassing the Europeans, South Americans, and even the Asian teams are still proving to be a big challenge.

This is somewhat disconcerting because an Asian country, South Korea, reached the tournament’s semifinal in 2002 even though Asia has fewer World Cup slots than Africa.

Africa by now ought to be doing significantly better than Asia and North America at the World Cup. Anyway, let’s find answers to why African teams fail at the World Cup. 1. Individual Success over National team There are many African players who have made great accomplishments in football. Players like George Weah – one of very few footballers who went into politics, Samuel Eto’o and Didier Drogba – who are some of the most decorated Africans – set a gap between individual and national team successes.

For Pele to predict a World Cup win for Africans, he must have seen a great deal of potential. And I must mention that his prediction is one of Pele’s wrong predictions. However, this potential is limited to only individual development instead of national team development.

Well, this goes down to the Africans’ administration of their football teams. Most African teams enter the tournament thinking they will do well simply because they have some individually talented players.

They are yet to realise that other soccer nations limit the effectiveness of brilliant star players of opposing teams. These other nations also have sound tactics that bring out the effectiveness of every member of their team. This makes them unable to dwell solely on the abilities of star players.

Also, most of these African star players play in the European leagues; hence their skills are quite known.

Sometimes they can heavily be marked by opposing teams who were once former teammates, making star players lose their effectiveness on the field.

African teams have to rely less on individual brilliance and more on their next World Cup tournament tactics. This explains Why African teams fail at the World Cup.

When compared to European and South American World Cup sides, most African teams build up their attack slowly. This is easier for the bigger teams to organize their defence.

2. Age Fraud This problem is more prominent with the sub-Saharan African Teams than the North African Teams.

Although most of these players are from some of the best football academies in Africa, getting their ages right can be a challenge.

Today, African soccer is plagued by false age grades. Since the 1980s, African teams have always succeeded in Under-17 or Under-21 Fifa World Cup or Olympic soccer tournaments.

However, there is a problem with these victories. The problem has been that these tournaments are always won with over-aged players. This mirage often over-hypes African talents.

This creates a great overestimation of player’s capabilities, and many African countries are guilty of this.

It also appears that age-grade competitions distract African nations from focusing on developing their senior national teams, unlike their European and South American coun-

terparts. Another bad effect of agegrade soccer is that it places African talents at the mercy of top European clubs. When new players, mostly Under-17 stars, are signed, they watch him closely. To see if he’s significantly above the claimed age. If he is, then he must meet and exceed the standard for his suspected real age or be neglected in a corner.

If anything, African teams are more focused on winning junior Fifa competitions than the senior World Cup. It is said that they use over-aged players to perform amazing feats at junior tournaments only to fail at the senior tournament.

They will rise to the challenge if they develop players at the right age and at the right time.

3. Foreign League Players over Domestic Players African countries cannot produce domestic players of the same quality as Germany, Spain, and Italy. This is because they do not recognise their home-based players. Largely, this contributes to why African teams fail at the World Cup. They prioritise players who play abroad over those playing local leagues. Typical African sides at a World Cup tournament hardly have

up to 5 players playing in that country’s domestic league.

Unlike African teams, the most recent World Cup-winning squads are mostly players from their local leagues.

At times domestic players have to fight their way to top domestic clubs before they can get a good chance of making it into their country’s team and then to the World Cup. They have to achieve quite a lot before earning a national team shirt.

This setup is actually bad. By giving automatic entry to players simply because they play in foreign leagues, the team loses its effectiveness. European and South American playing patterns are different from African styles of play.

Merging this up in a national team will actually bring confusion.

Sometimes, these players miss training sessions only to rely on their individual skills, which are quite unwise. There is no team spirit.

Football is a team game, and why eleven players are needed, not one.

It’s not tennis neither, nor is it figure skating.

4. Coach Management Level No country, African or non-African, has ever won the World Cup with a

foreign manager. This doesn’t mean that foreign managers cannot bring about World Cup successes. It only shows that world-class managers should be raised at home.

Most African teams have foreign managers who introduce foreign playing patterns that players are not conversant with.

On other occasions, there is indiscipline on the part of players and short tenure for coaches. One World Cup, and they are gone. They don’t stay long enough to perfect a winning system. For them, it’s merely a job. Even if they fail, they get their huge salaries and move on to the next post.

The management also tries to skip the years of work to put together a reliable team by selecting the best individual players. They assemble indigenous players scattered around the world and put them all together just before the World Cup. 5. Psychological Barrier/ Lack of Confidence Africa lags in winning a World Cup, and this had created a mentality for players to fear teams who currently dominate the World Cup. In other words, a perceived lack of confidence is one of the reasons why African teams fail at the World Cup. African countries are usually excited to reach the quarter-finals of a World Cup while other countries like Brazil, Italy, etc., consider this achievement a failure. African teams settle for less while other teams do not.

Their basic approach to football is mild and docile, while other countries regard the game as war. They either totally fail or totally win. This group of professional footballers seems to lack confidence playing against their counterparts from club football.

A good example is Ghana’s 2010 World Cup campaign, which almost saw them make history. They would have become the first African team to play in the semi-finals but were knocked out by Uruguay on penalty shootout.

Another example of a general lack of confidence in crucial moments of World Cup games was the game between Nigeria and Argentina at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The Super Eagles were tied at 1-1 with less than 10 minutes on the clock. The result would have seen them advance to the Round of 16 if they knocked out Argentina. However, a display of nervousness from the coach and the players cost them the match, and the Argentines won and progressed.

Conclusion There are other reasons why African teams fail at the World Cup. Poor finance, tactics, coaching, etc., could be factors too. Football Associations in Africa should resort to solving their soccer problems before aspiring for the World Cup trophy.

African teams need to start showing good faith in the home-based coaches and players. If not, the 2022 Qatar Fifa World Cup might elude them as well. – soofootball.com