expected, because policing has been structurally and systematically com promised.“There are things that we read about in the media. These include police officials working without a case number and deploying seri ous resources such as helicopters in cross-border raids. “It is obvious that there are peo ple who have captured the SAPS. The involvement of people outside of the law enforcement agencies, which translates into interference in policing actions, inhibits the institutions of law enforcement,” saidHeMashaile.maintains that when you have police management or a national police commissioner taking instruc tions from the president, you have a serious problem. “In terms of the South African Police Service Act 68 of 1995, pro vincial commissioners should estab lish a provincial community police board.
MINING COMPANIES TURN POVERTY INTO A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTIONPAGE12 MARIKANA–LESTWEFORGET PAGE 14 AFRICAN FOOTBALL:WOMEN’SHOMOPHOBIASTILLPOSESABARRIERPAGE20 Story Continues on Page 2 By Staff Reporters @ telegramrsaT he Telegram ZA— SOUTH AFRICA { thetelegramlive.co.za } — FRIDAY, AUGUST 12/ 25, 2022 — REPLACE THE BLAME GAME WITH ACCOUNTABILITYPAGE 13 INTRANSIGENCE AND POOR POLICING HAVE LED TO CRIME UPSURGE Police protecting at a crime scene in Soweto where fifteen people were shot dead. Photo by AFP-JIJI
T he South African Police Ser vices (SAPS) has suffered yet another knock to its tum bling reputation. This as violent crime is on the rise and allegations of a cover-up by political elites have been levelled againstTherethem.hasbeen a spike in violent incidents of crime; the recent one being the mass killings and shoot ings at taverns in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. These incidents were followed by the horrifying gang-rape of eight women on an abandoned mine dump in Krugersdorp, in Gaut eng’s West Rand, allegedly by illegal migrants known as zama zamas who are involved in illegal mining. The incident underscored claims of poor policing and the increase of illegal imigrants in the country. Meanwhile, the police watch dog body, the Independent Police Investigations Directorate (Ipid), announced that it will be investigat ing allegations of police cover-ups in the investigations of the theft of millions in foreign currency at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala Farm two years ago. Experts and academics say police work is compromised by political interference, poor governance, lack of community participation, poor resources and a lack of technical skills in the SAPS. Interpol's ambassador for the Turn Back Crime Campaign, Andy Mashaile, said the crime upsurge and inquiries by Ipid are to be
The Future of Policing in South Africa, agrees with Mashaile. Speaking at the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) seminar on mass shootings, she said poor governance has compromised police“Masswork.killings are interconnected and should not be seen as isolated. The collapse of government due to corruption has undermined good policing and escalated violent crime,” said Stuurman. “Many of the issues that manifest as random violence need a solution from the government. "Good governance lies at the cen tre of these issues. “It has been long in the mak ing with gangs in KZN, the West ern Cape, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, mostly with gangs but also political murders and assassinations of polit ical“Thereopponents.hasalso been a problem of unequal distribution of resources, as well as a lack of media attention on some of these issues.” Like Mashaile, Stuurman says police intelligence is poor. Hence the police are “reactive”. Prof Irvin Kinnes from the Cen tre for Criminology at the Univer sity of Cape Town, speaking at the same event, said the current wave of crime, especially the mass kill ings in Gauteng, KZN, the Eastern Cape appear to be committed by groups that have the semblance of the pre-democracy mass killings like those who killed people in the trains in “TheseGauteng.men are said to travel around in white Toyota Quantums. These killers make sure people are dead. It is clear that these people have been trained and have killed before,” said Kinnes. Kinnes said another similarity with the early 90s violence was the ease with which they have access to and moved firearms. He said they seem to be politically motivated to achieve a particular political“Theseobjective.attacks are on the soft underbelly of society like in the tav erns. The perpetrators could harbour political motives to undermine the security of the country and create fear and pandemonium,” he said. Another expert, Dr Guy Lamb of the Stellenbosch University and National Planning Commission, also told the ISS seminar that police intel ligence has been found wanting. “Police need to work on rebuild ing intelligence and working better with local communities. People are aware of these activities but can’t report them to the police because they are scared of putting their lives in danger,” said Dr Lamb.
Story Continued from Page 1 Interpol's ambassador for the Turn Back Crime Campaign,
Another policing expert, Ziyanda Stuurman, author of Can We Be Safe?
2 NEWSFRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25 CONTACT US 9 Main Road Farrarmere, Benoni, ThePublishedJohannesburgbyTelegramMediaNEWSDESK+27104481108EDITORThembaKhumalo thembakhumalo@thetelegramlive.co.za MANAGING EDITOR Mbangwa Xaba mbangwaxaba@thetelegramlive.co.za NEWS newsdesk@thetelegramlive.co.za PRODUCTION production@thetelegramlive.co.za NEWS DESK advertising@thetelegramlive.co.za DISTRIBUTION distribution@thetelegramlive.co.za Illegal mining is a lucrative business for organised crime groups.
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Photo by Rock Cafe Andy Photo by timeslive.co.za Ziyanda Stuurman: “Mass
"The provincial commissioner also has the responsibility to instruct police stations to establish commu nity policing forums,” said Mashaile. “During my tenure in the Gauteng Provincial Community Police Board, I pushed for the establishment of Section 21 companies at station level. Powers that be were opposed to CPFs establishing Section 21 companies. “So, you would have had a situa tion where, with regards to strategic management, there was smart-think ing and the operationalisation of the Act. Regulations and other legal instruments of policing are not in place because those who give direc tion and focus to these policing enabling structures and resources never studied or spend time trying to understand the enabling environ ment of Mashailepolicing.”saidmore heinous crimes like the Krugersdorp gang rape incident were expected to happen because police in the West Rand have turned a blind eye. “You have mines that have been abandoned by Sibanye Mine that have been targeted by zama zamas. Frequently at night, they would fire random shots using AK-47s and R1 riffles to intimidate ordinary people and the police do nothing,” he said. Mashaile criticises the police’s operational capability “In terms of understating these peo ple, gathering intelligence, knowing the modus operandi and analysing their operations is important. Why is it difficult for them to prevent these crimes? Remember, this thing started in the East Rand. What lessons has the SAPS learned from the ERPM mines in the East Rand?”
Mashaile.
killings are interconnected and should not be seen as isolated.”
He also bemoaned poor tactical aptitude.“Police need to focus on crime intelligence, leadership, the ability to get tactical response teams, establish ing intelligence structures to prevent these crimes rather than having a militarised response that comes after the“Policefact. are faced with corruption and weaknesses. These create serious problems.”Legalexpert, Advocate Sephiri Moshodi of the Justice Equality Foun dation said the country needs to deal with its decaying morality. He said South African religious leaders should play a more active role in society. He also called for tighter regulations to keep taverns in check. He concurred with Prof Kinnes and Mashaile on the need for organ ised community involvement. He said there was a need to vet all security companies that guard government buildings and this must be extended to those involved in community policing forums. “Intransigent and apartheid police officers cannot work with commu nity members because of the hard ened mindset and the arrogance of apartheid police who feel uncom fortable working with ordinary South Africans in dealing with crime,” he said.
Photo by Je’nine May/
Companies linked to the controversial megachurch preacher evade debt collection as he and his business associates are said to be in Portugal
seasoned designer agreed to pay back about R300 000 to Ncholo by the end of November. “The defendant shall pay the plaintiff an amount of R297 000 in a full and final settlement of the dispute, [an offer] which the plaintiff accepts on the terms and conditions contained herein,” reads the settlement. The conditions were that Segapo had to make the first payment of R118 500 by the end of March, and the other payments were to be made in R20 000 monthly instalments until the end of November. Segapo was also asked to pay Ncholo’s R30 000 legal costs on or before December 31 this year. However, says Ncholo, Segapo has only paid R85 000 thus far and is expected to pay R45 000 by the end of this month or Ncholo will move to obtain a judgment against him. But the businessperson says he is scared that, even if he obtains a judgment, there might be no way to payment to Ncholo. “Why would I discontinue my businesses while I have to [conduct] business? I am not the first person to close their store at the moment because we are going through a difficult time. “What they are doing is making me look like I am a thug on the run when the truth is that I could not afford to pay rent,” he said.
TOP FASHION GURU MUST PAY BACK
Businessperson Kabelo Ncholo has accused celebrity fashion designer Paledi Segapo of reneging on a repayment arrangement the pair entered into out of court after the latter allegedly failed to deliver the wedding-related items that Ncholo had ordered and paidNcholofor. dragged Segapo to the Johannesburg High Court in an effort to recoup payments he made to the Palse fashion label owner while preparing for his wedding.Segapo was scheduled to appear at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday on a separate criminal charge of fraud for the same transaction. That matter was not placed on the roll, however, due to the out-of-court settlement agreement that the pair reached.National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane confirmed that the matter was “not placed on the roll, pending consultation with the complainant”.Ncholofirst opened a civil case against Segapo in April 2019 and then opened a criminal case of fraud in August of the same year to push the latter to pay him back. In the settlement agreement, which City Press has seen and which is dated November 2020, the attach Segapo’s assets after the designer allegedly moved out of his place of business. Segapo, who has styled celebrities including Idols SA producer and host ProVerb, award-winning musician Prince Kaybee, veteran actor Warren Masemola and US singer Tevin Campbell, was hired by Ncholo in 2018 to design attire for his wedding, which was scheduled to take place in 2019 at Sun City, North West. The wedding did not take place that year and Ncholo got married in November last year after obtaining the services of other designers. According to Ncholo, the popular designer was also set to arrange a team that was meant to include a wedding planner, a photographer, a hair and make-up artist, and a booking for a segment in the lifestyle television programme Top Billing. To secure his services, Segapo reportedly requested a R150 000 deposit of the R300 000 he had charged the businessperson for his suit, his bride’s gown and attire for the entire bridal party. However, Segapo allegedly only created outfits for the bride and the bridesmaids. The settlement letter states that failure by the seasoned designer to pay what is due to Ncholo per the settlement agreement will trigger pursuit of a civilYesterday,case. Segapo said he couldn’t comment as the matter was sub judice. However, he said his store in Newtown was closed
R1R1M
IN THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT, WHICH CITY PRESS HAS SEEN AND WHICH IS DATED NOVEMBER 2020, THE SEASONED DESIGNER AGREED TO PAY BACK ABOUT R300 000 TO NCHOLO BY THE END OF NOVEMBER
Selaelo Selota is active in organising his own gigs. Photo by Instagram
One Country Concert will be held at Ditsong Pioneer Museum in Silverton.
“The guard, who refused to provide me with his name, did not allow me access but told me to wait. He disappeared into the guard hut on the property and spoke to this supervisor, who came out to speak to me. “After explaining the purpose of my visit and the documentation that I had with me, the supervisor also refused to provide me access. “Similarly, he refused to provide me with his name. I could see that he had been speaking to someone over his cellular phone from time to time ... After seeing the letters attached to the gate, the supervisor said that I should come [back] the next day,” they say. Lukau shot to fame over the past two years by performing so-called miracles during his church services, including when he publicly “resurrected” a man. Lukau claimed that the man, Elliot Moyo, had died and the latter’s body was brought to the pastor by his family a few days later. The incident angered some within the religious community, who called for Lukau to be investigated by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities after a video of his purported resurrection of Moyo went viral.Italso emerged in 2019 that Lukau’s church members regarded him as being similar to Jesus, proclaiming that he was crucified for helping to heal others. The applicant’s lawyer, Andrew Scarrott of AB Scarrott Attorneys, declined to comment. “I have received your enquiry, [but] I have no instructions to make any comment at this time,” he said. Efforts to source comment from Lukau and the companies were unsuccessful.
PAY UP Alleluia Ministries International in Kramerville, Sandton. The church defended pastor Alph Lukau (inset) after he performed the so-called miracle resurrection of Elliot Moyo in 2019
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3NEWS FRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25
By Edward Tsumele J azz guitar maestro Selaelo Selota is not only innovative in pro ducing great sounds that have over the years impressed many Helisteners.isalsoactive in organising his own gigs, something every musician should emulate, especially because the global pandemic has disrupted several industries, including the music promotion sector. A lot of music promoters have been affected by Covid-19, which has also seen sponsorship for gigs dry up. It is in this context that what Selaelo and other innovative musicians are doing, which is to organise their own gigs, should be applauded. One such artist, who is also known for organising his own gigs, is Man dlaMeanwhile,Mlangeni. all roads lead to Dit song: Pioneer Museum in Silverton on 10 September where Selaelo will be hosting his inaugural One Country Concert For this event, which promises to be the talk of the town, he will feature singer-songwriter, multi-in strumentalists and music producer, Howie Combrink, and award win ning Afro-Soul musician and song writer, Ami Faku. One Country Concert is a concept based on the song One Country that became the bedrock of the theme for Selaelo’s latest album, 8 Colours of The Rainbow “I was prompted to write a song that addresses the need for South Africans to unite as a nation, regard less of their background, race, status and political affiliation. I also looked into the social cohesion that is lack ing within the music and entertain ment industry and immediately came up with this concept where I can feature artists who speak to my vision of a united country,” Selaelo said. “Ami Faku and Howie Combrink were my first choices because of their talent, artistry and the fire they bring on stage. This inaugural concert is the beginning of a line-up that I plan to take on a national tour.” Howie is no stranger to the South African music scene. He is known to his fans and music lovers for his up-tempo folk-pop tunes. During his time as a band member and as a solo artist, he has shared the stage with acts such as Roxette, James, Prime Circle, The Parlotones, Jeremy Loops, Fokofpolisiekar, The Kiffness, Goodluck and Majozi, among others. “I was thrilled and honoured to be invited to share the stage with the legendary Selaelo. People can expect to reconnect with the vision and dream that brought us together when we ushered in our democracy,” saidAward-winningHowie. Ami Faku rose to fame as a contestant in The Voice SA in 2017 and gained recognition in the music industry. Since her big break into the music industry she has featured in a number of Mzansi hits. She is currently one of the female artists everyone wants to collaborate with. She was featured on President Obama’s favourite music list for her single, Uwrongo, and also made it onto Time Magazine’s coveted “10 Best Songs of 2020” list for the same single.“When I received that call from Selaelo, I was so excited and there is no way I was gonna say no to such an opportunity,” Ami said. “As a young musician, I have always looked up to him and to be featured in his inaugural One Country Concert is a dream come true.” The concert is bound to attract many music lovers to witness what promises to be a magical afternoon of performances by these three for midable musicians. Each a crowd puller in their own right, having the three of them on the same stage, is clearly a winning formula and combination. – citylifearts.co.za
A restricted area warning sign sits on the site of old kimberlite rock tailings beside a water filled excavation pit at the Voorspoed diamond mine, operated by De Beers SA, in Kroonstad. Photo by Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
PHOTO: LUBA LESOLLE / GALLO IMAGES evicted from the premises early last year because it could no “As the refusal to allow access to the respondents’ securities and/or members’ and directors’ registers follows multiple requests for access, and is such a clear interference with an unconditional statutory right. The applicant requests that a punitive cost award be made against each of theTherespondents.”applicants say this refusal has put a strain on the arbitration process, further delaying the recovery of debts. They further highlighted that their legal representative visited Lukau’s known place of business in June, but the representative was denied entry.“The premises has access control and requires a security guard to allow access. I spoke to the security guard on duty and asked that I be allowed into the property in order to deliver the request to the respondents to inspect the securities and/or member registers of the respondents.
MDUDUZI NONYANE mduduzi.nonyane@citypress.co.za
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. ONLINE LUKAU’ S S R50 R50M M RENTA L L SCANDA L L
Technology distribution and warehousing giant Tarsus Shared Services is battling to recover a R50 million deficit allegedly owed by controversial pastor Alph Lukau and several of his business associates. The matter relates to a cancelled lease agreement pertaining to the premises of Alleluia Ministries International in Sandton, Johannesburg. The company lodged a court application this week at the Johannesburg High Court, flagging three companies linked to Lukau for failing to declare their company security registers in their arbitration process as prescribed by the Companies Act, citing that the information sought would enable it to track the intricate web of companies that operate the church in South Africa and throughout Africa. The court papers also indicate that attempts to serve Lukau and a close business partner, identified as John Ferguson, with a summons have failed, as they have allegedly taken up residence in Portugal and refuse to accept service through legal counsel. They emphasise that “the appellant requires the information in the registers in order to unravel the relationship between Lukau and Ferguson, and the respondents [King Vision Holdings, Alph Lukau Group and Al Resident Holdings] to recover the debts due by Lukau and AccordingFerguson”.toitsarbitration documents, Tarsus Shared Services has been trying to recover the debt since March 2018, relating to the period when the church was
JULIA MADIBOGO julia.madibogo@citypress.co.za
SA IS SITTING ON AN ILLEGAL MINING TIME BOMB By Staff Writer I llegal mining has, once again, come into sharp focus. This follows the gang rape of eight young women at a mine dump in Krugersdorp, west of InJohannesburg.anarticlerepublished in The Conversation, Professor Tracy-Lynn Field of Wits University’s Law School points out government’s failure to deal with the problem of illegal mining and accuses authori ties of exposing local communities to a serious security threat. “Recent incidents point to a spike in the scale of illegal activ ity, conflict and criminality. In October 2021, approximately 300 illegal miners, known as zama zamas, attacked and shot at police and security personnel when the officers tried to prevent them from delivering food parcels to under ground miners,” said Field. “In June 2022, about 150 ille gal miners stormed gold miner Sibanye-Stillwater mothballed the Cooke Shaft near Randfontein in an attempt to gain control. And since over a week ago, South Afri cans have been reeling following the horrific robbery and gang rape of a film crew at a mine dump close to West Village, a multi-racial suburb of Krugersdorp on the West Rand.”According to Field, the govern ment has long failed to nip the unregulated and illegal artisanal gold mining industry in the bud. In her view, the government could not provide security or lead ership in containing the problem by formalising artisanal mining “as a livelihood strategy through appropriate policies and legislative provisions”.Fieldsays the 1994 Reconstruc tion and Development Programme committed the government to encourage small-scale mining. This was on the proviso that safety, labour, environment and health conditions were to be maintained. She said the 1998 Minerals Policy identified artisanal mining with subsistence mining. It raised the need for the state to employ resources to “control artisanal min ing as effectively as possible”. Even the 2002 Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act was not up to the task. “It only recognises large- and small-scale mining and criminal ises all mining outside these cat egories.” The 2005 Precious Metal Act, also doesn’t cut it. Field said: “It empowered the South African Diamonds and Pre cious Metals Regulator to regulate the acquisition, smelting, refining and beneficiation of gold. “This removed the prior involve ment of the South African Police Service and has been a key ena bling factor for the unregulated gold mining industry.” She said artisanal mining was ideal for job creation. “It is a labour-intensive form of mining that uses rudimentary tools and technologies. Other sub-Sa haran African countries recognise artisanal mining as a formal min ing category. These include Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Kenya,” Field explained. She said South Africa’s Witwa tersrand goldfields have produced over 30% of all the gold ever mined. But in recent decades, large-scale gold mining has declined precipi tously. Between 2012 and 2019 the industry shed 42,000 jobs. “In this context, an illegal and unregulated gold mining industry, among the most lucrative and vio lent on the African continent, has taken root.”
THRRR… PHAAA! ALL THE WAY WITH GUITAR MAESTRO SELAELO SELOTA!
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THE ANC NEEDS TO SELF-RECONSTRUCT
4 NEWSFRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25
T he African National Con gress held its much-awaited National Policy Conference from 28 to 31 July. The mandate of the conference was to take stock of the implemen tation of the policies adopted at its 2017 national conference, as well as discuss new policy proposals ema nating from its members and struc tures. Having done so, the conference had the task to recommend policy changes to its 55th National Confer ence in December. The policy conference took place against the backdrop of a fast-chang ing global reality, sluggish economic growth, energy crisis (load-shedding), the devastating effects of the Covid19, rising cost of living, uncertain political developments and the chill ing revelations of state capture and corruption by the Zondo Commis sion.The ANC is confronted with the challenge of a trust deficit among its key constituencies. This has been shown by the decline in electoral support in the last municipal elec tions. Of the eight metropolitan municipalities, four are governed by the opposition; two are run by coa litions led by the ANC and only two by the ANC. For some time, the ANC has been losing momentum. Was the policy conference significant in stopping the decline and signal an emergence of a new ANC and chart a way for ward?The ANC has two inter-related tasks that are fundamental to its continuous existence. One of the policy documents pointed out an existential crisis. It needs to accelerate a genuine organ isational renewal process. This must result in the restoration of its core values, mission and vision. President Cyril Ramaphosa has conceded that the ANC has been weakened on a number of fronts. Again, the question remains, should the sixth national policy conference be seen as a turning point in the ANC’s renewal and innovation pro cess? Are we to see an organisation that is at peace and aligned with the 21st century realities? One delegate pointed out that the world is changing and that the ANC itself is changing. This means understanding the profile of its membership. Who are these members? What is their social base? What are their expectations of the organisation and how do they connect with the legacy and tradition of the ANC? The second task is to win the sup port of the electorate in the 2024 national and provincial elections. The key question is how does the ANC regain the trust of most South Africans? What can the ANC and its government do to reverse its electoral decline?Thesuccess or failure of the national policy conference’s propo sitions should be measured by the extent to which it will address these tasks.The ANC’s commitment to renewal and making the country work for all citizens is challenged by its own internal weaknesses. These range from a weak membership system, distance between leadership and the membership and the broader com munity, corruption and inability to discipline wayward members. In recent years, measures have been put in place to preserve organ isational integrity and reputation. These measures have been extraor dinary in that they would not be necessary if there was adherence to its values and practices by members in the first Ramaphosaplace.has called for unity against corruption, patronage and factionalism. The conference stood firm on the step-aside provisions and other proxy wars that demonstrated residual stamina to fight back threats to its Theexistence.roadtothe 55th national con ference is still fraught with risks such as delegitimising the national confer ence as a sounding board, external challenges and other social tensions that could be weaponised by differ ent groupings to secure advantage at conference.Thebuild-up to the conference is characterised by the narrative of the non-delivery of the 54th national conference resolutions. Key among these were matters of the nationalisa tion of the reserve bank, land expro priation, state bank, state-owned enterprises and the emotive issue of the step-aside clause for those who have been charged to appear in court. This narrative can best be described as euphemistic arguments that hide the real issues at play. In Ramaphosa’s words, divisions within the ANC are not about policies or ideology, but driven by competition for positions, contestation of structures and the pursuit of access to public resources. Most resolutions adopted at the 54th National Conference were reaf firmed with emphasis on speed in implementation. Government got the support to undertake extraordi nary and urgent measures to acceler ate inclusive growth; create employ ment and alleviate poverty. This will depend on how fast gov ernment is able to conclude a social compact with business and labour. The reality of unemployment, rising fuel and food prices requires that social partners act fast to address the plight of South Africans. While understanding the short and medium interests of the key social partners such as government, business and labour, there is a need to re-imagine and address issues of national interest. In other words, each one should work out what could be in interest of the nation. The resolution of the unreliable electricity supply is a necessary con dition for the restoration of eco nomic growth. The Energy Action Plan recently announced by Rama phosa was discussed and endorsed. Crucial to the plan is to achieve energy security. This hinges on two objectives: improving the perfor mance of Eskom’s existing power stations and creating new generation capacity.
Can the ANC stop its haemorrhaging…or will the people stop it from governing beyond 2024? Photo by enca.com BY MANDLA NKOMFE
The Zondo Commission The litmus test for the ANC leader ship, membership and government will be how it responds to the Zondo Commission findings and its recom mendations.Forstarters, the conference has affirmed the ANC framework and approach to the processing of the findings and recommendations by the Commission. It is also expected that branches and society at large will have conversations about the find ings and recommendations. These will help the 55th National Confer ence to deliberate on state capture andTocorruption.thisextent, a discussion docu ment on state capture and corruption has been released for discussion by the branches of the ANC, its allies and society at large. The test will be whether the ANC will stay true to what the document says, “We may find some of the obser vations and findings unsettling, and there may be some assessments that we disagree with, but we must engage honestly and openly with all aspects of the commission’s report.” This will require courage, wisdom, and talent to manage the contradic tions that will arise from acting on theTherecommendations.step-asideprovision was over whelmingly endorsed by conference with the noting of concerns on its perceived lack of consistency on how it is applied and implemented. The renewal and rebuilding of the ANC will require courage and the determination from leaders and ordi nary members. A leadership that will not flinch in the face of corruption and those who, by their actions, seek to undermine a better life for all SouthNationalAfricans.and provincial elections will take place in just more than 20 months. Will the ANC regain the trust of the people or will it let the rot find a permanent home in its ranks? In truth, the ANC faces an extraor dinary task of renewing itself and remaining alive to the concerns of South Africans. It can be done!
UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Eamonn Murphy: “We need societal enablers to reach impact goals.” Photo-Twitter Professor Refilwe Phaswana-Mafuya said South Africa continues to record the highest share of the HIV/Aids epidemic worldwide. Photo by www.uj.ac.za
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Phaswana-Mafuya said the highest prevalence is among Black Africans (17%) and the least among whites and Asians (1%). In terms of age, there is a higher prevalence in younger age groups (15-49%), with higher proportions among females (15-24 years). This is almost three times more than their maleTherecounterparts.isalsoahigher prevalence in key populations, for example, gay and other men who have sex with men (29,7%) and female sex workers (59,2%). The gap between goals and achievements Phaswana-Mafuya said South Africa has to jump several hurdles to end the epidemic by 2030. “Clearly, South Africa has ambition and focus. To date, the gap between achievements and the goal to end HIV remain too wide. “South Africa needs to use its accu mulated implementation experience, political will, human rights advances and follow the science toward epi demic control by 2030,” she said.
News 5NEWS FRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25
By Ndivhuwo Mukwevho I n the fight against HIV, ignoring societal enablers could see new infections and deaths reach over 4 million by 2030. This is accord ing to UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Eamonn Murphy. “We need societal enablers to reach impact goals. Failure to make any progress would undermine efforts to reach the HIV service tar gets, resulting in an additional 1,7 million Aids-related deaths and 2,5 million additional new HIV infec tions between 2021 and 2030,” said Murphy.Hewas speaking at the 24th Inter national Aids conference in Montreal on Sunday, 31 July. The role of societal enablers According to Murphy, the globe would not reach epidemic transition without focusing on societal enablers and community engagement. “We will not reach epidemic tran sition without focusing on societal enablers and community engage mentMurphy30-80-60.”saidit is concerning that the decline in the number of new HIV infections has stagnated. “Last year, governments commit ted to 25 targets within the political declaration. Two of the targets were prevention and treatment. Gender equity, human rights, community leadership, integration and invest ments were also targeted. “But the decline in new HIV infec tions has stagnated,” said Murphy. “We are all familiar with the epi demic and the targets, the reduction of new infections and Aids-related deaths. But we are missing these targets. The challenge for us is how do we get back on track? “This year’s report highlights the danger of the risk we are facing. We had success, but gaps in the response prevent us from reaching the levels we want to reach.” Murphy said the disparity between the number of children under treat ment compared to adults is worrying. “We will miss the 2025 target, unless we accelerate the treatment coverage, re-invigorate effective pre vention efforts and remove all barri ers to “Noinclusion.regionhas achieved the 95-9595 or the 90-90-90 targets. Children remain far behind adults. 52% of children are living with HIV on treatment, compared to 76% among adults,” he said. SA’s huge brunt Professor Refilwe Phaswana-Mafuya, of the faculty of health sciences at the University of Joburg, said South Africa continues to record the high est share of the HIV/Aids epidemic worldwide.“Although HIV prevalence pla teaued at 13%, during the last five years, South Africa still has the largest HIV epidemic in the world,” said Phaswana-Mafuya.“Almost20%of people living with HIV worldwide are in South Africa. And the South African epi demic is heterogeneous as it differs by socio-demographics such as race, gender, age and geographic location.”
Stigma and discrimination According to Murphy, stigma and discrimination remain some of the hurdles in the fight against HIV. “Stigma and discrimination still block the way forward. In nine of the 21 countries, more than half of the people living with HIV surveyed reported feeling ashamed. Although we see increased action on stigma and discrimination, more needs to be done,” Murphy explained. “Countries must also take action to meet broader human rights obli gations and reduce the underlying inequalities and intersecting forms of discrimination that hold back pro gress.“They also need to support and effectively resource community-led responses. New policies and models are needed for the scale-up of inte grated community-led responses. “More consistent and easily acces sible funding and capacity-building support should also be made avail able to enable women and young people in their diversity to assume leadership roles.” Health-e
COMMUNITY-LED RESPONSES ARE KEY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV
Francis Ngannou holding the flag of Cameroon and his Ultimate Fighting Championship belt after winning the UFC 270 event in California in January. Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
Smugglers packed him into the back of a pickup truck alongside 24 others, all of them jostling for space as thick clouds of sand swirled around them. The drivers were indifferent to whether they had enough water or could bear the conditions. “We were just goods that they were delivering.” The desert landscape was dotted with reminders of what was at stake. “You get to some places and just see a bunch of skeletons. You don’t even need an explanation because you are in the same situation,” he said. “If your car breaks down, it’s over. If you fall off the back of the truck, it’s over.”
Twenty five days after leaving Cameroon, he made it through Niger and Algeria, arriving in Morocco. He made his way to Nador – the city that borders Spain’s Melilla and the site of last month’s deadly tragedy. He launched himself into the daunting task of trying to cross into Europe. Attempts to scale the six-me tre chain-link fences that straddle the border left his skin sliced by barbed wire.Despite not knowing how to swim, he tried to cross the western Mediterranean in a dinghy, steeling his nerves each time he clambered into the flimsy inflatable raft with as many as nine other people. “You’re shitting yourself; you’re scared. You’re going into the ocean with this little boat that people use in swimming pools,” he said. “You’re seeing these violent waves and you’re like ‘Man, I might not make it. This might be it.’ But what else can you do?” His attempts to cross in a dinghy were foiled six times by Moroccan forces, who penalised him by drop ping him in the desert or temporarily jailing him. As the months dragged on, he learned to live in the shadows, avoiding Moroccan police as he spent his days in internet cafes, researching how best to get across the border, and his nights sleeping rough in nearby forests. “You have to just sleep in the bush, like an animal.” Ngannou made it to Spain on the seventh try, stepping foot on European soil exactly one year after leaving Cameroon. After nearly two months in a migrant detention facil ity, he was released thanks to the absence of any repatriation agree ment between Spain and Cameroon. Homeless and without papers, he made his way to France and found a covered parking garage to sleep in – “I had been through hell. The parking lot was like a four-star hotel” – and began canvassing for a gym willing to take a gamble on him. His perseverance landed him a gym with a coach who persuaded him to switch to MMA – a career change that would catapult Ngannou on to the world stage as the “baddest man” on the planet. It was these conflicting facets of his life – his celebrity status as a top-ranked athlete and the hellish, 3,000-mile journey that he had been forced to take in order to get there – that came crashing together as he watched footage of the tragedy in Melilla.“Itcould have been me,” said Ngannou, his hulking frame filling the screen of a videochat from his home in Las Vegas. “What happened in that video, that’s what happens there all the time. It’s some of the most barbaric, inhumane treatment you could ever imagine,” he said. “It’s not [a journey] I would recom mend to my worst enemy.” Ngannou drew a direct link between the treatment of migrants and the EU’s policy of externalis ing control of its only land borders with Africa, providing Morocco with several hundred million euros in the past few years to counter illegal migration. “Europe is the one that finances this,” Ngannou said. “Yes, it’s illegal but it’s our only way out,” he said. “Was that enough to cost them their lives?” More than a month after the deadly incident, at least 64 people remain missing, according to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, suggesting that the death toll is likely higher than 23 people. A recent investigation by the rights group suggested that the deaths occurred as Moroccan and Spanish authorities lobbed smoke bombs and teargas at the migrants in an attempt to deter them from crossing the border, leading many to die of asphyxiation while others were trampled in the ensuing panic. Neither country responded to the report, and generally blames deaths on human traffickers. “These are people’s brothers and sisters, they are sons and daughters, they are fathers and mothers,” said Ngannou, a gold pendant in the shape of the African continent dan gling around his neck. While the images had stayed with him for weeks, he had been shocked at how fleeting global interest had been in the tragedy. “They act like nothing happened; like we are worth less. What have we done that’s so bad to deserve this treatment?” Ngannou asked. “Are we not human enough for you?” – theguardian.com
BARBARIC’: UFC CHAMPION FRANCIS NGANNOU ON BEING SMUGGLED INTO EUROPE
‘IT’S
For the past decade, as Ngannou battled his way into the upper eche lons of mixed martial arts – becoming the UFC heavyweight champion – he had tried to wipe out the memories of his journey’s unlikely starting point: the Spanish enclave of Melilla in north Africa, home to one of Europe’s most heavily fortified borders. “You want to convince your self that it’s not true, that it was a nightmare,” the 35-year-old told the Guardian. “You don’t want to keep being traumatised or have those scars on you for your entire life.” Growing up impoverished in Cam eroon, Ngannou had long felt the pull of American culture; whether it was snippets of Hollywood movies caught on the televisions of others or rap songs that had travelled 8,000 miles.Hebegan working in a sand quarry at the age of nine, the hours of gru elling physical labour filling out his sturdy frame. By his 20s, he was convinced that a career in profes sional boxing lay in the cards for him. “But I knew that in order to succeed I had to leave.”
Getting a visa to travel abroad was out of the question. “Coming from a small village and a very poor family, you don’t have any family you can call, you don’t have a bank account, you don’t have a regular job,” he said.Instead, he set off on foot, fol lowing a path trodden by thousands of sub-Saharan Africans hoping for a better life in the west. He crossed through Nigeria, at times catching rides, other times walking for miles and sleeping wherever he could. “Every single step you took, it was tough. And then the next one was tougher,” he said. “And then you find yourself at some place and there’s no way back. You’re trapped in your ownThedream.”fullweight of what he was doing hit him as he stared down the Sahara. “That was the first time I started to ask myself, ‘What the hell did I get myself into? Where am I?’”
By Ashifa Kassam T he bright lights of the Las Vegas strip shimmered in the background as Francis Ngan nou clicked on the video. Scenes of horror filled his screen; scores of young men, many of them motionless, lying on the blood stained ground. In one shot, a man lay prone as a Moroccan security officer appeared to beat him with a stick.The UFC world heavyweight champion instantly recognised the spot along the Spain-Morocco border where the video had been shot. “I couldn’t sleep for two days,” he said. The images, along with the news that at least 23 people were killed that day after 2,000 attempted to cross the border, played over and over in his mind. “I had to force myself to remem ber ‘you’re not there anymore. Look around, you’re not there anymore'.”
Riot police officers patrolling the fences separating the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco. Photo by Javier Bernardo/AP
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By Naadira Munshi N othing could have prepared South Africa for the Mari kana Massacre on August 16, 2012, when 34 mine workers were mowed down by mem bers of the police force during a wildcatWitnessingstrike. the lives of innocent people being taken by the police, while ambulances took far too long to arrive, signalled a failure of the state that shook the country to its core. A democratic government had killed mineworkers for fighting for a livingThewage.historic and once proud National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) left a stain on its history when it blamed “vigilante” workers for the wildcat strike, in a press conference where its leaders sat alongside the executives of mining giant, Lonmin. One of Lonmin’s shareholders was also the country’s then deputy presi dent and a founding member of the NUM, President Cyril Ramaphosa. It is little wonder that 10 years on, the shockwaves that the massacre set in motion are still being felt. The strike at Lonmin was one part of a wave that swept the Platinum Belt, beginning at Impala Platinum, before spreading to Lonmin and then Anglo Platinum. At all three compa nies, while workers may have disa greed on strategies, they agreed that it was time to organise independently of their trade union. Following the massacre, the 2013 wage negotiations reached a dead lock. Marikana dealt a devastating blow to South Africa’s long proud and politically strong trade union movement. But it marked the rise of a relatively new union on the platinum belt, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu). The NUM had become so disconnected from the workers, that it was accused of selling jobs, placing limits on the length of strikes, and corrupt collu sion with the bosses. What followed was a five-month long strike (January-June 2014) led by Amcu. The strike achieved work ers’ demands for a wage increase to R12 500 per month. The unexpected result was that the once mighty NUM lost approximately 100,000 members to Amcu in just two years. Marikana had a seismic effect on the labour movement leading to a split in South Africa’s largest and most powerful union federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the formation of a new rival, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu). Formed by the so-called “9-plus unions,” the majority of whom were expelled from Cosatu for the crime of wanting to exit the tripartite alli ance - a formal political alliance with the South African Communist Party (SACP) and African National Con gress (ANC) - Saftu promised a new vision.Itoffered a new trade unionism for the workers frustrated by the political compromises and inertia of Cosatu; a trade unionism that was independent of political parties, but not apolitical; a social movement unionism con nected to and part of working-class struggles, and responsive to the needs of workers on the ground. On the other hand, Cosatu affil iated unions used the moment to recommit to the ANC, closing ranks and later backing Ramaphosa as the next president of South Africa. Meanwhile, workers from gold and diamond mining also started to join Amcu - then affiliated to the National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu)and that promised to listen to work ers and take up their demands.
WHERE DO TRADE UNIONS GO FROM HERE?
On 16 August 2012, the South African Police Service (SAPS) opened fire on a crowd of striking mineworkers at Marikana, in the North West.
The state of South Africa’s unionism today It is worth reflecting on the state of unionism today, 10 years after the event that altered South Africa’s labour relations permanently. The dream of Saftu hangs by a thread. Its second congress, in May 2022, showed how deeply divided the federation has become. Once friends, comrades and founders of the feder ation, its leaders are in open conflict over strategy and it has become para lyzed by leadership battles. The federation’s biggest affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers South Africa (Numsa), is going ahead with its congress days after being interdicted on the basis of unlawful suspensions. This leadership crisis is unlikely to dissipate as factionalism deepens.Cosatu, by virtue of its member ship of the tripartite alliance, has been placed in a corner by the ANC, a spot where it has chosen to remain.
Story Continued from Page 7 Lest we forget - The
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While living costs rise, Cosatu remains aligned to a government committed to austerity, one that refuses to increase public sector wages. A culture of business union ism is firmly entrenched and Cosatu struggles to find a new path forward as it battles internal leadership strug gles.On the platinum belt, Amcu remains dominant with NUM and Numsa also contesting the space. The ongoing murders of shop stewards there since 2012 cannot be over looked, as unionism has become a dangerous business. Amcu had also disaffiliated from Nactu becoming an independent trade union after being relegated to observer status at the 2018 congress for apparently failing to pay its mem bership fees. The workers on the platinum belt who desired a union of their own have not had their expectations met. Amcu’s leader, Joseph Mathunjwa -who featured prominently in trying to negotiate on behalf of the Mari kana workers in the days leading up to the massacre - has long been called a dictator by his critics, and his sur vival as the union’s president remains tenuous, with his election to that position in 2019 declared unlawful by the Johannesburg Labour Court. The real tragedy is that the seismic shifts in unionism, triggered by the death of 44 people over the course of August 2012, have not resulted in a union movement that is any better equipped to tackle the issues that workers face in a world of increasing automation and casualization. Yet, evidence of militant trade unionism still exists within the labour movement. There are unions from across all federations attempting to organise informal and casual workers and fight against privatisation and austerity, linking workers’ struggles to a broader working-class struggle. Amid the leadership battles, work ers remain reliant on unions for pro tection and shop stewards continue to organize in trying conditions. One of the key challenges is that casual ised work is here to stay. Fixed-term contracts are eroding worker power through a lack of job and wage secu rity.Where do trade unions go from here? How do they reflect on the dif ficult and challenging questions that Marikana raised about the future of the working class, living wages, and worker representation in a vastly dif ferent economic climate? Ten years since the massacre, do platinum mine workers feel heard? Do workers believe that their voices are adequately represented? These are difficult questions but ones we must answer if we are to rebuild our labour movement. – africasacountry.com Marikana koppie of death. Photo by Bongiwe Mchunu/ African News Agency
By Nasi Hako T he latest REIPPP Programme directive substantially changes the wind project capacity range to a maxi mum of 240MW from its previous 140MW ceiling. This changing energy landscape, which is defined by the acceler ated uptake of renewable energy for the foreseeable future, requires technology that delivers increased power capacity, according to Comp ton Saunders, Managing Director of Nordex Energy South Africa. An optimistic wind power pro curement environment that is underpinned by three government bid windows for renewable energy in close succession, as well as the imminent release of the 513MW energy storage Request for Propos als will require Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to prepare to meet burgeoning market needs. “This follows global trends, which demonstrates that as markets have matured, wind turbine generators with augmented unitary power are required, to not only deliver better output but relative improved cost,” said Compton Saunders, Managing Director of Nordex Energy South Africa. In preparation to meet market needs, Nordex Energy South Africa has decided to introduce newer gen eration technology and standardise it across its new wind farms. The increase in unitary power not only leads to improved energy cost but also reduces land usage and visual impact, as wind farms require fewer wind turbines. “The Delta 4000 platform incor porates products with a power capacity starting from 4.5MW to 6MW+ with the N163/6X, which is significantly higher than the previ ous AW platform that had a range of power from 3MW to 3.4MW. Furthermore, because the plat form incorporates different products that share certain sub-components between them, the standardisation eases the Operations and Main tenance of those wind turbines,” explained Saunders. To deliver on this, the core local construction operations team are currently in Spain to train on Nor dex’s updated wind turbine technol ogy in preparation for the exponen tial growth of South Africa’s wind sector, which will require robust construction expertise. As stated by the Head of Oper ations for Nordex Energy South Africa, Innes Louw, the proudly South African team are benefiting from the global exposure and skills that will be brought back to home, in preparation for the expected period of intense construction that the wind sector will soon enter into. The company sees Bid Windows 5 and 6, as an important link in driving the local value chain, which will directly stimulate the domestic job market. – esi-africa.com Photo by Freepik.com
Resources Makarutse added that technology was also “helping industry leaders balance the drive for resilient, inclu sive universal healthcare with the reality of constrained human, med ical, and technological resources”. According to a report by the IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, healthcare in the continent is, on average, the worst in the world. It accounts for approxi mately a quarter of all global dis ease-related disability and death, while it only has 1 percent of global health expenditure and 3 percent of the world’s health employees. The lack of adequate infrastruc ture makes it challenging to obtain even the most basic medical care. However advances in technology, such as computer-controlled vend ing machines, drones, and smart phone apps are helping to remove these obstacles, allowing more peo ple to gain access to life-saving medications. Smartphones In recent years Africa has wit nessed a huge rise in the number of smartphone users. According to The Global System for Mobile Com munications (GSMA) the continent will have over 700 million users by 2025.Observers have highlighted peo ple are using their smartphones to gain access to medical consultations and diagnoses without having to travel several miles to the nearest medical facility. For example, in South Africa apps like Hello Doctor have soared in popularity. It offers users essential healthcare informa tion and a call back from a doctor for the price of R55 ($3) per month. In Nigeria pregnant women and mothers can use an app like Omomi to keep track of their children’s health and have live chats with doctors on a subscription or payas-you-go basis. Evolution “Entire new sub-fields within the healthcare industry, such as have emerged around these technologies and are already driving the evolution of Africa’s healthcare systems” said Makarutse.“Beyond simply following the developed world, Africa has the poten tial to lead in the R&D, production, and manufacture of innovative techdriven healthcare solutions tailored to our unique healthcare challenges.” – voice-online.co.uk
By Vic Motune T echnological innovation is set to play a major role in improving healthcare in Africa experts have predicted ahead a major conference in South Africa later this year. The role played by sustainable tech-driven innovations and the inclusion of digitisation into health policy agendas are among the key themes to be discussed at this year’s Africa Health Conference to be held in South Africa in October. Among the other topics to be discussed at the conference are how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used by medical professionals and how African countries are handling Covid-19 recovery.
The wind sector is expected enter into a period of intense construction. Photo by kinwun@123rf.com
TECHNOLOGY WILL TRANSFORM HEALTHCARE IN AFRICA SAY EXPERTS
10 TECHFRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25
Opportunities Over 8 000 people representing 56 countries are expected to attend the event which will see a range of healthcare professionals, policy makers and industry leaders discuss the role played by digitisation and technology in creating new oppor tunities for Africa’s often under-re sourced health systems. Speaking ahead of the event, con ference producer Cynthia Makarutse highlighted the fact that techno logical advancements are having a positive impact on every area of medicine and healthcare in Africa. These include fields such as phar maceuticals, the manufacturing of medicines and health IT infrastruc ture.She said: “Ever-advancing health care tech is presenting new oppor tunities to deliver the medicine, technology, and human capacity to the people and places where they are needed most.”
INCOMING WIND TECHNOLOGY TO MEET THE RAISED CAPACITY CEILING
THE NEW STRANGEIMPERIALISM’SBEDFELLOWS
liance, Cuba developed its medicine and bio-technology industries, while centring medical internationalism. That is the example for Africa. It is not countries or governments that need to be liberated, it is people living in various countries under var ious political regimes that need to be liberated so they can live with free dom, liberty, dignity, and equality. In fact, we must organise the masses of Africa to be their own liber ators. Through trade unions, mutual aid groups, social movements, and political parties, we must seize power through our collective imagination andThatlabour.iswhy I am proud to join the Progressive International’s Council, whose declaration clearly states that internationalism means anti-impe rialism: “Our internationalism,” it reads, “stands against imperialism in all its forms: from war and sanc tions to privatisation and ‘structural adjustment'."Thesearenot only tools of domi nation by some nations over others but are also the tools of division to set the peoples of the world against eachTheother.”political liberation of the African people and our economic emancipation cannot be a one-coun try affair. By necessity it must be a pan-African movement with inter national solidarity with progressive socialThis,forces.too, is the only viable way by which regional and continental economic and political integration shall be achieved. – africasacountry. com Peter Anyang' Nyong'o is a Kenyan politician and author who is also the current governor of Kisumu County. TAKE BY P. ANYANG’ NYONG’O
11YOUR TAKE FRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25
Africans must liberate their continent. Photo by wikimedia.org
YOUR
Anew imperialism stalks the Third World. It shares an unquenchable thirst – for our labour, our land, our minerals, and our water with the old. If colonisation depended on the political strategies of divide and rule, the imperialists no longer have to rule today. Instead, they rely on local elites eager to aid their peoples’ exploitation in return for a share of the spoils; a process sanitised with the language of investments, trade deals and partnerships. That imperialism would find a way to become more efficient, not less, was not inevitable. At the 1945 Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England, the declaration was clear: “We welcome economic democracy as the only real democracy.” As pan-Africanism gained prom inence, intellectuals like W.E.B. Du Bois, alongside political actors, workers, and peasants, endorsed the unity of the African people for the purpose of liberation from political oppression and emancipation from economic exploitation from imperi alism and its running dogs. Three future African presidents were at the 1945 conference: Hast ings Kamuzu Banda of Malawi, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, and Kwame Nkru mah of Ghana. All three men led their nations to independence but encountered different fortunes. Banda and Kenyatta, happy to side with the imperialists once in office, ruled their countries until death did them part. Nkrumah, like the pan-Af ricanist Milton Obote of Uganda much later, faced hostile domestic forces supported by the West - and was removed from power. The loss of leaders like Nkrumah was part of a gruesome period of assassinations and mysterious killings that eliminated pan-Africanists and anti-imperialist intellectuals across the world. Another conference in Accra bore witness to the election of Thomas Joseph Mboya of Kenya, as the chairman of the first All African Peoples’ Conference (AAPC). At the age of 28, Mboya flew to the US to win the support of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy for the famous “airlift” of Kenyan students to access higher education there.All three leaders fell to the assas sin’s bullet: Mboya and King for standing against the imperialists, and Kennedy for standing with the civil rights“Whilemovement.revolutionaries as individ uals can be murdered,” said Thomas Sankara, the pan-Africanist president of Burkina Faso, “you cannot kill ideas.” Sankara’s words would turn out to be tragically prophetic. Hailed as “the new Nkrumah,” Sankara threatened the stranglehold that French imperialism had on West Africa by pushing for pan-Africanism and resisting the illegitimate debts that kept African nations subordinate to imperialist financiers. He too, was assassinated in 1987 in a coup backed by France and the US. Whenever Africa has tried to forge her own future, she has been thwarted.During the Covid-19 crisis, Africa depended entirely on the Western world for her future, exposing the fra gility of the continent in the global political and economic order. Super highways, giant factories, and bil lionaires stood no chance against a ragingWhyvirus.isit that a small island like Cuba, with only 11 million people and sugar cane as its main agricul tural endowment, could respond to Covid-19 much more effectively than the whole of Africa? The answer is simple: While Africa looked to the West for the import of vaccines, Cuba produced three of its own and offered to share them with otherWhennations.theUS tried to isolate Cuba from the rest of the world through sanctions, Cuba turned towards her own people. By emphasising self-re
The post-apartheid South Africa dream is daily becoming a blood-chilling nightmare. It is a fallacy to assert that we live in a democracy when we have to watch our loved ones put into body bags daily. Freedom is an illusion when every day and night women and children are subjected to gang bangs and all kinds of abuse. Amid the terror on women, we find ourselves with a minister of police who is clearly unaware of the impact of rape…or he just does not care. To begin with, Bheki Cele does not seem to realise rather than being an act of sexual gratification, rape is a wrath ful and violent expression of an irascible rapist’s desire to domi nate another person. Rape does not only affect the survivor, it also affects family, friends and acquaintances.Cele,giving an update on the Krugersdorp rape incident, where eight women were gangraped, told eNCA news anchors Thulasizwe Simelane and Sally Burdett: “They ordered the rest to watch as others were raped, one woman was raped by 10 different men, the other one by eight, the other one by six, the other one by six, four and three and all that. The one 19- yearold was lucky, if it is lucky, that was raped by one man.” At what point does being raped by one man become LUCK? How can the violation of a teenager turn into some kind of luck because it was carried out by one man? We will say it again; the after-effects of rape entail a col lection of severe and long-last ing physical and psychologi cal effects. So, Cele must just shut up and not tell us about a “lucky”Socialvictim.justice as the way for ward. The attainment of social justice is an enormous task for everyone. It requires genuine commitment because it is a lifelong process. The culture of abuse, murder, rape and the manner in which we are socialised are the major social justice problems. Social justice and society are designed to ensure that the communities we live in operate decently by making available essential support and the right tools to effect positive change. There are many of us who take social justice as a feature of only courting equality, yet the important aspect we tend to overlook is deeply rooted within each one of us. It compels each individual to be a catalyst for change in society. The United Kingdom Centre for Social Justice sums it well when it states: “It is only by cre ating a just society where crime rates are low and the public feels confident about its safety, that community cohesion and pride in local neighbourhoods can flourish.”
“The Institute of Security Studies estimates that about 30,000 illegal miners produce R14 billion worth of gold per annum. From the state’s perspective, this is 'lost production'. The United Arab Emirates and Swit zerland have been identified as the primary export destinations,” stated the report.
MBANGWA
It goes on to explain that those who spend long periods underground digging for gold faced many dangers, including rock falls, methane poison ing and underground fires. Invariably, such desperation comes with nefarious activities like illegal drug and gun trade, prostitution and human trafficking. The mining industry’s recklessness is enough to make its bosses the co-accused in the gang rape of the eight young women. They are just as responsible for other assortment of mayhem that came before and that which is still to come - because most certainly, more is coming.Theheroism of the people of Mohlakeng is all but betrayed. Each day, we will wake up to mine dumbs and illegal mining that comes with it. The attended terror, including sab otage of infrastructure and system atic economic marginalisation of the majority poor will still persist and, of course, crime will rise. In fact, we can lock up all the zama zamas and throw away the key, but poverty here and wherever else they came from will still be there. That’s the reason they are here in the first place, and it won’t just disappear. Clearly, we are in this situation because this world is a “paradise that the rich have made hell for the poor,” as the French writer and politician, Victor-Marie Hugo, once observed. “Bear in mind that a series of kings armed with swords were interrupted with Cromwell with the axe.” This warning from Hugo should serve as a sobering reminder to the wealthy mining industry, together with our scatter-brained government. They are concocting their own demise, as well as that of all the super-rich. Besides finding lasting solutions to their mess, the wealthy must now appreciate the need for inclusive eco nomic solutions. Far too many people live in pov erty. It is not only unsustainable; it is also detrimental to us all. Poverty breeds crime. Given the enormity of our impoverishment, I can bet you my last cent that it is not inconceivable that every South African has experienced crime in one form or another. A word of advice to the democratic government: if you can find time between your trips to courts, Par liament or commissions of inquiry to defend all kinds malfeasances or attending to incessant factional feuding, please legalise artisanal and small-scale mining. The sector has a great potential to create jobs in a society facing a sea of unemployment and destitution. Currently, although it operates ille gally, it is estimated to have tens of thousands of participants with tens of billions of rand in turnover per annum. This is an obvious opportu nity for entrepreneurship and poverty alleviation.Whileat it, do something about the informal recycling business. It is the next bomb close to its timed explosion. TAKE XABA WOMEN ABUSE
A ugust is Women’s Month and as it is a habitual action, the nation will methodically focus its attention on, and direct voices of condemnation to, a selection of the most macabre incidents of abuse against women and children.Horrifying statistics of tales of gruesome murder and rape have become the staple diet for narrators as a gauge to draw attention to how depraved we are. It is highly commendable to tell the stories of brutality that women are subjected to. It really is a noble gesture for the nation to embark on campaigns that raise awareness about violence against the vul nerable in society. We up the volume in August driven by the hope that the heinous crimes committed against women and children will decrease.Instead, the beasts that pass themselves off as human beings have little regard for human life and do not care about women’s lamentations. Every August we engage in an exercise to see how much ground we have covered from the previ ous years. The depressing truth tells us nothing has changed and no long-lasting solution is forthcoming. The beasts that pour out from different homes into our streets have proven us dismally wrong to think that we are able to create safer spaces for women and children. Rapists and murderers have never been shaken into humane sense by awareness campaigns and the tough talk by activists, society and authorities. We have spoken and can speak until our voices are hoarse. We can march until our feet bleed, but nothing will shame the doers of evil into quitting. In the back of their heads there is no single brain cell that reminds them that their criminal deeds are traumatising the country. It does not occur to them that the nation needs some modicum of Theserespite.hooligans, like the rest of the nation, are aware that there is absence of efficient and effective policing to deter them from brazenly engaging in orgies of rape and murder. The scourge and mayhem continue relentlessly because the police, who are under-resourced and overworked, tend to show up late, if they come at all. Our men and women in blue are without a doubt over whelmed and not properly trained and well-equipped to soundly do anything about the gravity of the debauchery visited on the country’s women and children.Multiple calls for an improved and efficient policing that can help in reducing crime have gone unheeded because those in charge are obsessed with protect ing their seats in the gravy train.
the mining companies realised that we were headed to where we are today.They committed to sealing disused mines and rehabilitating the land, only to renege later. Funds, as well as laws governing this funding, were put in place. Financial provisions for rehabilitation were put up. These provisions came in three forms – cash guarantees, bank guar antees and mine closure trust funds – and were supposed to be either held by or audited by the government. They would only be made available to a company when it applied for and received a closure certificate. Nearly R60 billion was set aside for the rehabilitation of close to 6,000 mines across South Africa. It was also agreed that the money would not be made available while a mine was still operational.Thatmoney is still to be touched. Mining companies never bothered to declare their mines closed. Why should they? They made their money and after all, who cares what happens to the Accordingpoor? to the Daily Maverick, the Minerals Council South Africa and the government had intimate knowledge about illegal mining. They knew the structures, hier archy and the value chain of illegal mining. The report states that there is a five-tier hierarchy in the illegal and unregulated gold-mining industry. “Illegal miners are on the bottom tier. Gangs and illegal mining bosses, licensed bulk buyers (scrap metal deal ers and pawnbrokers) at national or regional level, front company export ers and international intermediaries and companies are the more signifi cant criminal actors.
Editorial MZANSI NEEDS RESPITE FROM THE TERRIBLE SCOURGE OF
MINING COMPANIES TURN POVERTY INTO A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION
The Minerals Council South Africa and the government have always known about illegal mining. BHEKI Cele in conversation with eNCA news anchors Thulasizwe Simelane and Sally Burdett.
12 OPINION & ANALYSISFRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25 MY
T he local mining industry’s silence, following the gang rape of eight innocent young women at one of their mine dumps in Krugersdorp, is unsettling. It is disgusting, especially in a country battling gender-based vio lence.Tomake matters worse, this hap pened at a time when we are celebrat ing Women’s Month. Then again, this cold and insen sitive attitude is all too familiar. It is consistent with this industry’s disdain toward black people as a norm. The fate these young women suf fered is the same misery and pain that has been visited upon black people since the likes of Cecil John Rhodes discovered the natural treasure of this land. It mirrors the cocky swag that all colonialists, the British in particular, have displayed from the moment they set foot on our shores. It is always peppered with sadistic poking of the noses of a nation they take pleasure in subjugating. It is now morally wrong because they have ruined our people to a point where poverty is guaranteed forAsgenerations.partofthis custom, to this day, one of the British monarch’s treasured assets is the world’s largest diamond - the Cullinan - that was mined here in Mzansi. It is placed in the front of the Imperial State Crown as a symbol of Littlepower.wonder that a large dose of this conceitedness can still be found in those who betrayed the Krugers dorp rape victims. They irresponsibly abandoned the mines with the full knowledge that the people will suffer the conse quences. This bad situation has been made worse by an absent-minded government.Creditmust go to the people of Mohlakeng. To confront heavily armed illegal immigrants - thugs who brandish automatic weapons with which they have terrorised commu nities of the West Rand with absolute impunity, was nothing short of hero ism. In a matter of hours, after a crime that outraged the nation, the people dealt with those monsters decisively. They razed the hoodlums’ shacks down and hunted them like animals that they are. This could have ensured cessation of a major criminal opera tion. It could have nipped the scourge of this particular crime in this area in theBut,bud.alas, that won’t be the case. Only those who made off with mountains of wealth from these mines can come up with a permanent solution.Having looted all the wealth, they left the land in ruins, thus creating juicy conditions for a brutal legacy of poverty, crime and gripe. These people are so cruel they have turned poverty into a weapon of mass destruction. Illegal mining in South Africa is one of the most vicious bi-products of poverty. And they knew it. As early as 2004, government and
A ccountability in government has been essentially shrunk to an annoying speculative idea. If you expect any change of atti tude from the clumsy apparatchiks, goodNoneluck.of these myopic lickspittles have a clue that accountability is a significant component in attaining victory.The governing party appears to be having serious problems with accountability.Noneofthese gluttonous scat terbrains has a grasp of a simple fact. When the government looks to blame someone for its own failures, it endangers and disempowers citizens. I find it offending and morally repugnant when a bunch of so-called leaders do the best they can to escape the consequences of their shoddi ness.Nobody in the corridors of power is gifted with an understanding that when you embrace accountability you place yourself in a spot where you can rustle up the crucial adjust ments to be effective. Each passing day, I can’t help but wonder if any of these comrades realise that leaders are tasked with a duty to fillip accountability via their aptitude to accept responsibility rather than apportioning the blame to an array of sometimes concocted circumstances.Surprisedoes not stare my way that we find ourselves struggling to breathe under the shiny and spiky boot of an inept, dishonest and sadis tic Thestate.governing party that falsely hails itself as a dependable leader of society has become a triple goldplated predatory entity devoid of any social conscience and vision. Not only do they lack vision, they also make a concerted effort to spin lies to create some kind of truth. The current administration has buttered us into a corner with a nar rative of nine wasted years and state capture when we complain about Eskom.Thereality is that the ANC govern ment knew about this problem as far back as 1998 and they did nothing. They are still fumbling in the dark when it comes to solving the electric ity crisis. They trip over proposal after proposal and no concrete solution has been forthcoming. Let’s leave Eskom in the dark and dig into the issue of illegal mining, which is an ever-increasing threat to the security of communities and the country.Thehoodlums involved in illegal mining have made the lives of a number of communities unbearable. Horrific tales have been reported by affected communities but the state could not be bothered. The myrmidons, tasked with pro tecting citizens, sat with their fingers up a very dark and stinky hole. They were deaf to the endless lamentations of the victims of heinous crimes per petrated by illegal miners. On 28 July, depraved and slimy beasts crawled out of their holes and wreaked havoc. They inflicted a horrible crime that continues to make women’s life a daily nightmare. I would rather not recap the atroc ities committed on that dreadful Thursday at West Village in Krugers dorp in pronounced detail, except to restate that eight women were robbed and gang raped multiple times while filming a music video. As is always the case, the police, led by the indolent Police Minister Bheki Cele descended on the area when the tragic news broke. Residents of the area have said repeatedly that the area is a noto rious crime hotspot. They say they have become “prisoners in their own homes”.Theshock expressed by the gov ernment makes me want to puke. For years, they have known about the security risk posed by illegal miners… zama Zamas.
The outrageous Machiavellian schemes of high-level corruption have led to the failure by the state to deal decisively with illegal mining by not going for the filthy-rich head honchos who sell our gold overseas. Zama zamas are but a tiny part of the big puzzle. These guys, according to reports make between R4 000 and R8 000, while some scoundrels rake up millions.
In September 2009, then Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu, on the debate on illegal mining at the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) said: “The theft of gold and illicit mining is nothing new in South Africa. While theft has been occurring since the inception of the gold mining industry, illicit min ing in South Africa started gaining momentum from the late 1990s. “Illegal mining first reared its ugly head in Welkom as far back as 1999 and the department and min ing companies have been working together over the last decade to put an end to this problem - with little success.”Shabangu was reacting to the death of 91 illegal miners in Welkom. She said: “This has again brought into sharp relief the scourge of illicit mining, focusing public attention on the issue like never before. “Illicit mining poses serious chal lenges for the industry - this issue is extremely complex and should not be Ifunderestimated.”itwasacknowledged in 2009 that illegal mining is a multi-billion rand illegitimate industry, which comprises national and international syndicates, why has there been no demonstrable and firm action? At the time, the illegal mining industry was estimated to be about R5.6 billion. A report published in gfintegrity. org in November 2014 by Channing Mavrellis titled Good as Gold? South Africa’s Problem with Illegal Gold Min ing Is Severe and Growing revealed: “Credible estimates of the value of the illegal gold mining industry vary widely, ranging from R7.5 billion to R30 billion annually. Not included in these figures is the tax fraud involved in these activities. “The bottom line is clear, the level and severity of illegal gold mining in South Africa is escalating. Whether it is measured in revenue, security risks, or human lives, in the end, everyone loses.”
REPLACE THE BLAME GAME WITH ACCOUNTABILITY
13OPINION & ANALYSIS FRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25
The sluggishness of the government is nauseating when you consider what Shabangu told the NCOP: “These gold-smuggling syndicates are highly organised, dangerous and well-resourced.“Whenconsidering the question of how these syndicates manage to transport food and other consum ables deep down into the mines, it is clear that illicit miners are being assisted by legal miners, both workers and“Explosivesmanagers. and equipment are also transported and stolen from underground stores of operating mines.”Minerals Council South Africa also made a similar statement: “Ille gal mining and organised crime are inter-related. Very often, illegal min ing is spearheaded by globally con nected criminal syndicates. “Zama zamas are often heavily armed, have explosives and, when trespassing on operating mines, set ambushes and booby traps for employees, security personnel and rival groups of illegal miners. “Following the severe drought in 2016, the excessive use of water by zama zamas to process the gold-bear ing material became apparent, which directly impacts on local communi ties.”We were also told the illegal min ing trade is a well supervised five-tier syndicate system: First tier: The underground work ers, mostly illegal immigrants, do the physical mining. Many have worked in the mines previously. They use chemical substances to primitively refine the product. Second tier: The buyers on the surface around the mines also organ ise the first tier illegal miners and support them with food, protection and equipment. Third tier: The regional bulk buy ers, who are usually entities with, in most cases, permits issued in terms of the Precious Metals Act of 2005 to trade in precious metals. Fourth tier: Distributors, nation ally and sometimes internationally, work through front companies or legitimate exporters. Fifth tier: The top international receivers and distributors usually work through international refineries and intermediary companies.
Illegal mining and organised crime
The Dark World of the Zama Zamas A 2019 April Policy Brief titled Uncovered: The Dark World of the zama zamas , published by the ENACT project told a chilling tale when it revealed: “The violence and insecu rity caused by criminality associated with illegal mining makes some min ing areas in South Africa more cha otic and conflict ridden than mine sites elsewhere in Africa.” It also touched on the issues of police corruption: “Zama zamas complain that police regularly shake them down for bribes in return for not arresting them, or confiscate their gold and sell it directly to the syndicates.“Thecomplicity of local police in illegal mining also complicates efforts to contain the activities of the miners. Zama zamas complain that police regularly shake them down for bribes in return for not arresting them, or confiscate their gold and sell it directly to the syndicates. “One gun retrieved during an underground firefight was registered to the South African Police Service, suggesting police collusion with the most violent strata of the syndicates.”
Marikana - The Musical The musical is written and directed by Aubrey Sekhabi, a multiple award-winning playwright and direc tor. Marikana - The Musical is an adap tion of the book We Are Going to Kill Each Other Today: The Marikana Story by written by Thanduxolo Jika, Seba batso Mosamo, Leon Sadiki, Athand iwe Saba, Lucas Ledwaba and Felix Dlangamandla.Thebooktakes a closer look at the lives of mineworkers, such as the late Mgcineni “Mambush” Noki and their families and the events leading up to the Mambushmassacre.became the face of the strike and was known as the “man in the green blanket” because of the blanket he was often photographed wearing.Aftera four-year stage hiatus, the South African State Theatre (SAST) has reassembled renowned artists Meshack Mavuso-Magabane, Aubrey Poo, Siyasanga Papu, Emma Mmekwa and Mpho “Mckenzie” Matome to lead a 40-member cast and a 13-piece band in unleashing a blow-by-blow account of the events that led to the loss of 44 lives at the hands of the police.Last seen on stage in 2017, Mari kana - The Musical premiered in 2014 and garnered respect from audiences and critics alike. It won six Naledi Awards out of 18 nominations the following year. It won awards, including Best Production of a Musical, Best Direc tor (Aubrey Sekhabi), Best Perfor mance in a Musical: Female (Emma Mmekwa), Best Set Design (Wil helm Disbergen), Best Musical Score (Mckenzie Matome, Zakele Mabena and Aubrey Sekhabi), Best original and Choreography (Thabo Rapoo). The musical returned on stage on 2 August and will run till 28 August at the South African State Theatre. Tickets for the musical are available via Webtickets, at SAST and at Pick n Pay stores countrywide.
FORGET–MARIKANALESTWE
By Nathi Mntungwa T his August marks a decade since the massive slaughter of protesting mineworkers at Marikana. On 16 August 2012 a tactical response unit of the South African police gunned down 34 miners who were on strike for a living wage. Observers, international and local media described the terrible event as the most brutal and lethal use of force by police in post-apartheid South Africa. The massacre brought back pain ful memories of the brutality and cruelty of the apartheid regime. Many of the miners, just like the Sharpeville Massacre, were shot in the back…some were shot from long range. Government’s finger-wring ing and muddled up statements in response to the dastardly act, defied logic.Reminiscent of apartheid subter fuge, the government blamed the miners for their own deaths. Mine executives and officials at Lonmin, the police and the state avoided taking responsibility for the massacre.Theyconsumed huge spaces in the media in an attempt to portray the miners as violent hooligans who were all out to wreak havoc. Their storyline abounded and predictably, sheathed bureaucrats, shareholders and politicians from accountability.Theobfuscation, which passed as “official and true” account, was incomplete. As others have opined, the Marikana Massacre is a national tragedy which must become one of the focal points of socio-economical and legal Creativesimportance.continue to fight to memorialise people’s truth and dis seminate that history as widely and truthfully as possible.
Meshack MagabaneMavuso-inMarikana - The Musical. Photo by SAST All they wanted was R12 500. Photo by SAST
14 FEATUREFRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25
Photo by Sanmari Marais
15MOTORING FRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25
A s we all know, a little over a year ago, we paid almost half of what we currently shell out for fuel. A number of car manufacturers are coming to the table to help us save money by dumping petrol-guzzlers in favour of four-cylinder economi calDoengines.youremember the baby Hyun dai Tucson, which came in the form of the Hyundai Creta that was launched a few years ago? Well, Hyundai has given the baby a facelift with the launch of the Grand Creta. I was among a few lucky ones to sample this new beauty that was launched not so long ago. A fleeting glance of the front gives you the impression that you are looking at a minimised Hyundai Pali sade that boasts the daytime running lights.The Grand Creta bears strong resemblance to its big brother the Palisade. For its minimised size, it is hard to believe the Grand Creta is a seven-seater.Engineers have cleverly played with the space on a small platform –almost like in the Mercedes B Class. The latest offering is good-look ing. The wide grille and chrome lips make this baby Palisade a stunner. The squares stick out almost in a 3D format. The black and silver rims are impressive. They enhance the car’s appearance. It may appear to be the same size as the Creta’s earlier version. But the Grand has been stretched by 200mm to accommo date the third row of seats. As a creature of habit, I went around the car a few times, looking for something that might be out of place. I tried as hard as I could and couldn’t find anything to falter this product.Therear is as beautiful as the front is engraved with the chrome Creta logo. And more chrome is found on the diffuser. The name Grand is engraved on the left rear to ensure you know which model it is. Stepping inside, I was greeted by a well-put-together interior. I was mesmerised by the eye-catching electronic cockpit and a generously sized and user-friendly infotainment screen. White leather dominates the car’s interior. On offer The car boasts a four-cylinder engine which, at high speed, will not take you where you heading. I am not suggesting that this is a lazy mule. It is clearly not made for speedsters. It is a comfortable family car that is not too noisy and will give you decent freeway power at low revs. This reliable horse will comfortably take you around urban roads and those long trips stress-free. The steering wheel is not too soft and over-responsive. It is just right for the engine and the gearbox. It has all the necessary safety fea tures, including six airbags and side airbags to keep your family safe in the event of a collusion. The model I tested was an exec utive, so it also came with keyless entry, wireless smartphone charging, park-assist and rear view camera and climate control all the way to the third row seats. It also has a hill-hold assist, which comes handy on those tricky inclines; especially if you are in a gridlock. Models Specs
DYNAMITE COMES IN SMALL PACKAGES!
● The 20 Elite automatic price range is from R539 000. ● The 1.5 Elite diesel automatic is from R559 900 My pick of the bunch will be the 1.5 Executive automatic. All of this comes standard with a seven-year 200,000km peace of mind warranty or whichever comes first. You get 60,000km or a fouryear service plan and a seven-year or 150,000km roadside assistance, which is quite substantive, if you are an average driver. ON DUMI XABA
● The 2.0 Petrol Executive manual will cost you from R449 000 ● The 2.0 petrol Executive petrol is from R489 000 ● The 1.5 Executive diesel automatic is from R510 000.
RIDE
On the third question, the court held that once it had been established and accepted that the respondent had a policy which, not only estab lished clear rules, but was consistently applied across the board, the issue of discrimination fell away. It will also be recalled that the applicant sought to argue that the policy was unfair in that it did not take into account her unique medical condition.Itmust also be recalled that the applicant not only failed to get a medical practitioner to sanction her use of cannabis, but also did not take the initiative of informing or alerting the respondent that her medical con dition warranted the use of cannabis. It was only after she had tested positive that she raised this a defence. In the circumstances, the only reason able conclusion that one could draw was this was an afterthought, meant to stave off looming charges. And indeed, that is the conclusion that the court arrived at. In the case of Mbana v Shepstone & Wylie (2015) 36 ILJ 1805 (CC) at para 26, the court said the following: “The first step is to establish whether the respondent's policy differentiates between people. The second step entails establishing whether that differentiation amounts to discrimination. The third step involves determining whether thediscrimination is unfair…”
CANNABIS MAKES FINAL RULING
The court’s approach in handling this matter was to distil this case into a set of key questions: 1. Was there differentiation between the Applicant and other employees? 2. Could it be said that there was causal link between testing positive for cannabis and the dismissal? 3. Whether the Respondent’s alco hol and substance abuse policy is unfair and discriminatory? 4. Was the applicant subjected to insulting, degrading, humiliating treatment which impaired her dignity as a result of the unfair and unconsti tutional discrimination? In this case, the respondent was able to prove that their Alcohol and Substance Abuse policy had been con sistently applied to all their employ ees.In other words, there was no dis tinction between how the applicant was treated, relative to other employ ees.In so far as the second question is concerned, we once again have to take into cognisance the fact that it was not in dispute that there was a clear and unambiguous policy in place which had to be adhered to by all Contraventionemployees. of this policy was not permissible. As highlighted in the previous column, the applicant had placed on record that due to her personal circumstances, she did not envisage a situation where she was going to refrain from using cannabis. Clearly, this meant the applicant would always be in breach of this policy. To compound matters further, let us recall that the Respondent’s application of the policy meant that all those who tested positive were allocated time off to “clean-up”. In essence, this meant the appli cant, a committed user of cannabis, would never be in a state where she had “cleaned-up” to a point where she could be allowed to return to work. The court was therefore faced with an untenable scenario, where finding in favour of the applicant implied that the respondent would have had to cope with an employee who would permanently be absent from work. Viewed from any angle, this would have been an unimaginably oner ous cross to bear on the part of the respondent.Thecourt also had to determine whether the sanction of dismissal was fair or not. In this regard, it will be recalled that whereas the Discipli nary Officer had made a case for a lesser sanction, the chairperson of the hearing felt that any sanction other than a dismissal would not serve any purpose; this in light of the fact that the applicant had made it known that she would not cease using cannabis.
Section 11 of the EEA deals with the burden of proof in unfair discrim ination matters. It provides that: (1) If unfair discrimination is alleged on the ground listed in Sec tion 6(1), the employer against whom the allegation is made must prove, on a balance of probability, that such discrimination –(a) did not take place as alleged or (b) is rational and not unfair, or is otherwise justifiable. Was the Respondent’s policy rational of justified? (2) If unfair discrimination is alleged on an arbitrary ground, the complainant must prove, on a balance of probabilities, that –(a) the conduct complained of is not(b)rational.theconduct complained of amounts to discrimination and (c) the discrimination is unfair.
As promised in the previous column, we continue to examine issues raised in the Bernadette Enever (Applicant) v Barloworld Equipment, a division of Barloworld South Africa (Pty) Ltd (Respondent), case number JS 633/20 andTheJS926/20.applicant, having been dis missed on account of testing positive for the cannabis, and in breach of the respondent’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Policy, escalated the matter to the Labour Court. The applicant’s claim was that her dismissal was automatically unfair. The applicant further averred that the respondent’s policy discriminated against her on arbitrary grounds and sought to be retrospectively reinstated in her previous role. The applicant based her claims of unfair discrimination and automatic unfair dismissal on sections 6(1) and 187 (1) of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) and Labour Relations Act (LRA), respectively.Section6(1) of the EEA provides that: “No person may unfairly discriminate, directly or indirectly, against an employee, in any employment policy or practice, on one or more grounds, including race, gen der, sex, pregnancy, marital status, family responsibility, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, HIV status, conscience, belief, political opinion, culture, language, or birth or on any other arbitrary grounds.”
IN THE WORKPLACE: COURT
In the case of Gcwensha v Com mission for Conciliation, Mediation and Others (2006) 27 ILJ 927 (LAC), Nicholson AJ stated the following: “Even in the absence of a valid final written warning an employer is entitled to dismiss an employee in appropriate cir cumstances. The appellant has a deplor able employment record and there is a litany of transgressions to which I have alluded. An employer is always entitled to take into account the cumulative effect of these acts of negligence, inefficiency and/or misconduct. “To hold otherwise would be to open an employer to the duty to continue employing a worker who regularly com mits a series of transgressions at suitable intervals, falling outside the periods of applicability of final written warnings. “An employee's duties include the care ful execution of his work. An employee who continuously and repeatedly breaches such a duty is not carrying out his obliga tions in terms of his employment contract and can be dismissed in appropriate circumstances.”
The court further held that “even if it can be said that in applying the policy to the Applicant there was perhaps some kind of differentiation because of her purported pleaded medical condition, the Applicant will still fail in establishing discrimination.” In this regard, the court in Sithole and others v Dr Kenneth Kaunda Dis trict Municipality [2018] 1 BLLR 74, it summarised the position as follows: “… only specific kinds of differentia tion would be impermissible. This would be differentiation that is irrational, or arbitrary, or based on what the court called a ‘naked preference’, or served no legitimate purpose. Differentiation that cannot be shown to fall within one of these categories would be permissible dif ferentiation, the discrimination enquiry would be at an end there and then, and the discrimination claim must fail.” Accordingly, the court determined that the respondent’s conduct was rational and served a legitimate pur pose. There was no naked preference established. Hence there could be no case of Lastly,discrimination.therewasno evidence pre sented before the court to prove that the applicant was subjected to insult ing, degrading, humiliating treatment which impaired her dignity as a result of the unfair and unconstitutional discrimination.Itisnotablethat the applicant raised the fact that the Constitutional Court had decriminalised/legalised the use of cannabis in a private space. The court, however, noted that the Constitutional Court judgment does not offer any protection to employees against disciplinary action should they act in contravention of company poli cies. It also did not help the applicant’s case that she had also revealed she also uses cannabis for recreational purposes.
UMSEBENZI TEBOHO MOKOENA 16 LABOUR MATTERSFRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25
Post-settlement support for beneficiaries of South Africa’s land reform programme is a crucial factor that will guarantee the success of this initiative, enabling emerging farmers to benefit from the growth of the agricultural sector. Says Peter Setou, chief executive of the Vumelana Advisory Fund; a non-profit organisation that helps beneficiaries of the land reform programme to make their land profitable.
17NEWS FRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25 LAND REFORM:
Story Continues on Page 18
These women are challenging key state departments to promote women’s access to use, control, own, inherit and transfer land and natural resources.
Photo by foodformzansi.co.za
T he agricultural sector has continued to buck the trend of the sluggish growth expe rienced by other sectors of the economy in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Peter Setou, the agricultural industry has registered a solid growth, with its gross value-added expanding by 13.4% year on year in 2020 and 8.3% in Since2021. the government embarked on its policy of land reform to redress the historical injustices of land dis possession, the programme has been criticised as a failure. Once flourishing farms now lie fallow after they were purchased from commercial white farmers and allocated to emerging black farmers. To date, the government has settled more than 82 000 claims, reaching some 2,2 million beneficiaries, at a cost of R40 billion, including financial compensation, according to statistics recently cited by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD). The 3.5 million hectares of land restored to dispossessed communities can be used as a catalyst for agri cultural and economic development. However, returning the land is not enough. Support to beneficiaries crucial “The importance of post-settlement support to the beneficiaries of the land reform programme cannot be overemphasised.“Whiletheefforts by the govern ment to purchase disputed land on behalf of claimants were commenda ble, in many instances communities were left to their own devices and not provided with the requisite sup port to allow them to sustain the farms. There is ample evidence that land ownership on its own, will not transform the lives of the claimant communities,” Setou says. As it currently stands, many com munities feel that they have been set up for failure, Setou explains, adding that a multi-pronged post settlement support approach is required to give the claimant communities a leg up. “Such support must include access to finance and markets, clear water usage rights and technical knowhow.”Edward Lahiff, a land reform scholar from the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the Uni versity of the Western Cape (UWC), made this point forcefully in a paper titled Joint ventures in agriculture: Lessons from land reform projects in South Africa. He reckoned the lack of post-set tlement support is one of the factors that has led to the failure of many land reform projects. Using Lim popo as an example, he argued that although the former department of agriculture was the lead agency in the implementation of land reform in the province, it did not take responsibility for post-transfer support of beneficiar ies. Limited support was provided to the new farmers despite such support being central for their success, he explains. Role of agriculture in stimulating economic growth The agriculture sector has shown resil ience in the face of the devastation brought about by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
POST-SETTLEMENTWHYSUPPORTISKEY
Peter Setou says strategic partnerships and alternative funding models are necessary for a successful land reform programme. Photo by www.harvestsa.co.za
By Staff Reporter
Reform policies to redress the historical injustices of land dispossession, has been criticised as a failure. Photo by www.fairplanet. org
Importance of partnerships with private investors Partnerships between the claimant communities and private sector inves tors, according to Setou, can go a long way towards improving the fortunes of land reform beneficiaries. “It is also important to note that these partnerships do not just happen. They need independent facilitation to ensure fairness and sustainability. This unfortunately requires funding, which government, corporates and other players could contribute to. “Organisations involved in this area of work should be supported to ensure that communities and other emerging farmers are supported. “However, claimant communities also need to play their part, adopting good corporate governance structures in the communal property associations (CPAs), the juristic bodies that over see the management of the claimant land,” he Currentlyemphasises.manyCPAs are dysfunc tional and riddled with internal strife, which makes them unattractive to private“Anyinvestors.investment decision is based on whether the investor will get a return on their investment. Having proper corporate governance struc tures gives prospective investors a sense of comfort that there is account ability and risk management in place. “Implementing good corporate governance will help the CPAs to become more efficient, mitigate risk and insulate them from misman agement. These key ingredients will attract the much-needed finance that will help the farming operation become not only sustainable, but to thrive, Setou notes. Once again com munities need to be supported on this to ensure that they have governance processes in place,” explains Setou Skills transfer Due to historical factors, the majority of commercial farmers in South Africa are white farmers who have amassed a wealth of technical expertise over the years. These skills need to be passed on to the emerging farmers. Practical programmes should be established to give expression to the National Development Plan’s Vision 2030 to ensure “human capabilities precede land transfer through incuba tors, learnerships, mentoring, appren ticeships, and accelerated training in agricultural sciences”, Setou says. To that end, he adds, white com mercial farmers and organised indus try bodies should be enticed to con tribute to the success of black farmers through mentorships, chain integra tion, preferential procurement, and meaningful skills development. “The challenge, however, is that white commercial farmers don’t have the incentive to do this. While we have witnessed some private initia tives by established farmers and other players to support emerging farmers, this has had a limited impact due to the limited scale and extent of reach.” On the other hand, Setou notes, there is lack of monitoring and over sight on some of these informal pro grammes, which undermines their objectives and renders them futile.
Access to markets “One critical component that is often overlooked in the land reform pro gramme is access to markets. Access to markets is a key determinant at the tail end of an agricultural venture. “Lack of access to markets has com pelled many emerging farmers to rely on unpredictable informal markets to sell their produce," said Gumede. Citing Stephen Greenberg’s paper, “The Disjuncture is of Land and Agri cultural Reform in South Africa: Impli cations for the Agri-Food system”, Setou says lack of market support is a major constraint to the success of new farmers under the land reform. “Marketing strategies are very weak and traditional. Consequently, they have been an obstacle to growth in farmGreenbergproduction.”argues that new farm ers are failing to break the barriers of markets which are controlled by white commercial farmers who have well-versed marketing strategies and resources for both local and interna tional“Thismarkets.too,is an important issue that needs to be addressed post set tlement,” Setou urges. foodformzansi.co.za
Members of the Mamphodo Mushasha Begwa Community Property Association
In addition, Setou explains, many beneficiary communities are ham strung from accessing capital from commercial finance institutions due to lack of collateral and little track record in farming. “If we are to make progress and ensure inclusion of disadvantaged communities into the mainstream economy and promote their meaning ful participation, we need to develop innovative ways through which they have access to affordable finance.”
Access or lack thereof to finance “Although partnerships with private investors are important in attract ing financial injections into claimant farms, this does not exonerate the government from giving a helping hand to claimant communities.”
His observations are echoed by Nkanyiso Gumede, a researcher at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at UWC. Gumede says access to finance is biased towards elite farmers who have collateral.Inthecase of individual emerging farmers, who are part of land redistri bution efforts, most will not be able to provide collateral since the land given to them by government is under a lease agreement and cannot be used as collateral.
It is little wonder that the industry has been identified as a cornerstone of the country’s economic reconstruction andGovernmentrecovery. departments and industry role players are in the final stages of concluding an agricultural and agro-processing master plan. It focuses on, among others, ensuring food security, expanded production, employment creation, import reduc tion, expanded agro-processing, pro viding comprehensive farmer assis tance and development finance. The plan has also identified the key industries to focus on that can play a critical role in bringing about the necessary transformation towards an inclusive sector. This is a welcome development provided it is imple mented without any delay. “The role the agricultural sector is envisaged to play in the master plan is crucial in light of the importance of food security and the contribution that the sector can make in allevi ating unemployment and poverty,” Setou says, adding “it is important that emerging black farmers should not be left behind by these major developments.“Itiscritical that structural and institutional impediments that stifle the success of the land reform pro gramme be addressed expeditiously to ensure that emerging farmers are given an opportunity to play a mean ingful role in the growth of the sector going forward.”
Photo by foodformzansi.co.za
18 FEATUREFRIDAY, AUGUST 12/25
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A scapegoat In 2004, aged just 18, Cynthia Uwak made her international debut for Nigeria; her performance instantly announced her as a star to watch outThefor.attacker was a key part of the Super Falcons’ runs at the 2004 and 2006 Wafcon and was adjudged Afri ca’s best player by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 2006 and 2007. There was an unmistakable sense among pundits, industry insid ers and fans that this was a player of truly historic potential. However, as she turned 36 in July, she had gone close to 12 years since her last appearance for Nigeria. After missing the 2010 Wafcon due to an injury, she was surpris ingly dropped from the Super Fal cons’ squad to the World Cup the following year. Aside from unsuccessful calls by members of the public to recall her to the national team in 2016, Uwak has simply vanished from the public eye. In an interview with Al Jazeera, she said her exclusion from the national team was on account of her sexual preference. “Some of the best players were left out of the squad because they were practising lesbians,” she confirmed. “It was a long time ago, but it’s something I still remember because that was why I stopped play ing in the national team.”
Banyana Banyana were crowned 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations champions after beating Morocco 2 - 1. Photo by Backpagepix Cynthia Uwak was actively persecuted for her sexual identity. Photo by olorisupergal.com
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Former international Eucharia Uche, who was the Nigeria coach from January 2009 to October 2011, made headlines when she said homo sexuality was a “dirty issue” while speaking to the New York Times on the eve of the 2011 World Cup.
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While Uche claimed she did not witness overt lesbian expression, she nevertheless made it her business to address “strong rumours” to that effect through recourse to “divine intervention”.Uwaksaid she was stunned by Uche’s remarks, calling them hypo critical and claimed Uche was herself a closeted homosexual during her playing“[Uche’sdays.comments] actually swept me off my feet,” the former Olym pique Lyon forward said. “Like, whoa! These are the people you looked up to and they were practising this same thing they condemned you about. They even dropped you. That is like trying to take food out of somebody’s mouth. That was what Uche Eucharia did.” Uwak also said she was actively persecuted for her sexual identity. “I never hid my identity,” Uwak said. “I had to stand my ground even though these people did that to me at a tender age. They kicked me out, tried to make me a scapegoat.” ‘No longer an issue’ Speaking to Al Jazeera 11 years on, Peters says he regrets his prior stance, one which was born out of a “Chris tian, cultural and performance point of Whileview”. his statements made him a pariah internationally and culmi nated in him losing his position of privilege within the structure of Nige rian football, he insists he arrived at his change of heart through re-edu cation and a reappraisal of the world. “I don’t share that point [of view] any longer,” he said. “The world is a different place and we just have to live with it, work with it, and accommodate it. It’s no longer an Uche,issue.” when contacted for a response to Uwak’s comments, declined to comment by insisting she “doesn’t want to join issues”. On his part, Akinwunmi claimed that his words were taken out of their intended context. For Uwak, there is a lingering scep ticism that there will ever be a true change of attitude toward lesbians in Africa, both in general and in football specifically.“Itwillnever happen in Africa because, everything, they term it witchcraft,” she said. “They want to pray and deliver a gay person, or they prefer you hide your sexuality. It would only change if people keep pushing. “Don’t let society make you, and don’t live someone else’s life.” – Al Jazeera
Continental obstacle Nigeria is not the only country in Africa with these attitudes toward women in sports. South African Football Association (SAFA) former vice-president Ria Ledwaba stunned many back in 2005 when she lashed out at the country’s national wom en’s side, Banyana Banyana, saying the players “need to learn how to be ladies”.That she was the chairperson of SAFA’s women’s committee at the time made the statement even more impolitic. Instead of seeking to dismantle the high pay disparity between women and men at the national team level, she was suggest ing Banyana Banyana players needed to attend etiquette classes. On 27 July, when he welcomed Banyana at the Union Buildings, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the country should outlaw pay discrimi nation and embark on a programme to bridge the gender pay gap. “You deserve equal pay for equal work that you do,” he told the play ers,He also urged the country’s min isters of finance and sports to up the bonus: “We need to give added remu neration to these young women who have made our country so proud. But having done so, we must then make sure that we eliminate the whole process of unequal pay out of our system.”
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“Corrective rape” In 2008, South African footballer and queer activist Eudy Simelane was gang-raped and stabbed multiple times, leading to her death. Lesbians in Zimbabwe are being subjected to “corrective rape” and severe violence by men trying to “cure” them of their sexual orien tation, according to human rights group ActionAid. In Ghana, lesbian footballers live in fear. Gay sex is already punishable in the West African nation with a prison term of three years. A Bill proposed in 2021 seeks to increase jail terms to up to a decade and force some to undergo “conver sion therapy”, where attempts are made to change people’s sexuality.
Besides the low pay, sponsorship, and marketing, African female players have to put up with discrimination on and off the pitch. Photo by dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com
By Oluwashina Okeleji N igeria’s hegemonic dec ades-long dominance over Africa’s women’s football scene has long masked a dark secret: Openly homosexual play ers are not allowed. The Super Falcons are Africa’s most prosperous national team, but this discriminatory attitude has cast a shadow over their success and led to the ostracisation of talented football ers over the years. In 2014, the Nigerian parliament passed a Bill into law prohibiting same-sex unions and making them punishable by as much as 14 years in Whileprison.homosexuality was already illegal before that, sports insiders say the edict was a backdrop for a concerted campaign against queer people in football. ‘Because they were lesbians’ In a 2011 interview published by the Nigerian Daily Sun newspaper, former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) technical assistant James Peters said he had overseen the removal of players from the women’s national team “because they were lesbians”. Two years later, comments made by Dilichukwu Onyedinma, then chairperson of the Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) and member of the NFF, drew the attention of world football governing body FIFA. In response to her categorical directive for the sacking and disqual ification of “any player that we find is associated with it [lesbianism]”, FIFA wrote to the NFF demanding clarification and reiterating its stance against discrimination of all kinds. By virtue of its affiliation with FIFA and its implicit agreement to abide by the body’s rules, the NFF is qual ified for grants and financial assis tance from the Zurich-based body, and so it was in the interest of the country’s top football brass to, at the very least, keep their discriminatory views in check. That did not stop Seyi Akinwunmi, vice-president of the NFF, from lay ing the blame for the Super Falcons’ failure to qualify for the women’s football event of the 2016 Olympic Games on the alleged presence of gay players within the squad. “Lesbianism kills teams,” he claimed. A few months later, Nigeria claimed their ninth African crown. “We [gay players] have decided to keep working hard and hopefully find clubs in Europe, because that is the only safe place to be yourself,” one player in the country’s top flight told Al Jazeera anonymously. “There is a WhatsApp group where we all talk and share information. My parents are aware and unbothered that I am a lesbian but they are always worried about my safety in Nigeria. Whenever the team wins, it’s a great performance but when we lose, some of these coaches are quick to blame it on ‘dirty lesbians’ and ‘evil players’.”
AFRICAN WOMEN’S FOOTBALL: HOMOPHOBIA STILL POSES A BARRIER Story
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