Mozambique: Don't believe all the propaganda about how GREAT Mozambique is doing... Portuguese Whites there also fear...Date Posted: Saturday 08-May-2010I was chatting to a man who has a business in Mozambique. He really put incredible effort into this place. He was telling me that what few Portuguese whites are there also fear. He did not go into too much detail but he explained to me the frustrations he was having with his business and the staff and the rotten attitude of blacks. I will repeat to you: TRADE UNIONS - LEFTIST TRADE UNIONS - have done so much damage to what little work ethic the blacks once had that the blacks are TOTALLY RUINED AND WITHOUT ANY USE WHATSOEVER. My friend was describing various incidents to me, and frankly, one can't run a business, keep customers or make a cent if the blacks have this attitude. But my friend vaguely hinted to me, without giving too much detail that all the propaganda we've been hearing about how GREAT Mozambique is... isn't true. He also hinted to me that the Portguese who are still there also have certain fears and worries. So... all is not as well there despite all the propaganda that came out of there. Posted By: Jan AfricanCrisis Webmaster Author of: Government by Deception “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” (George Orwell) |
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Boston artist Steve Mills - realistic painting
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Mozambique: Don't believe the propaganda
S. AFRICA-Liberals gave blacks FAKE SUCCESS
WorldWide: Blacks are at the top of their game - they think they're INVINCIBLE - The Super White Racism of the 21st century... is COMING...Date Posted: Saturday 08-May-2010I got an email from someone in an Eastern European country - supporting Afrikaners. In Eastern Europe the whites aren't the Politically Correct wussies that exist in the Western world. I've seen over the years that Eastern European whites are not that enamoured with blacks. They support their own kind. I don't know much about Eastern Europe but I've been watching hits on my site over the years and some of these small Eastern European countries seem to be very interested in the problems of whites in Africa, and they seem very supportive too. Incidentally, I see AfricanCrisis now even seems to be drawing a lot of hits from LIBYA of all places! Maybe Gadaffi's people have started reading the site? I will not tell you what I've read, observed or who I spoke to, but this week I was chuckling quietly to myself on several scores. I think in America, blacks have OVER-REACHED and OVER-PLAYED their game. I think so. I think also a lot of politically correct stuff is dying out now. I think the world is changing fundamentally, and I think its not just Black Americans who have over-reached and over-played their game. I think White Liberals everywhere have also over-reached and over-played their game. The result is that there is a big and fundamental change in mindset that has quietly taken place without any fanfare whatsoever in the last 10-15 years. In the last 10-15 years, lots of events have occurred, widely accross the world which is bringing the Liberal molly-coddling of blacks to the fore. The blacks have lost a large part of the white support they once had. The Liberals have been losing too. In America, it seems to me we're looking at a split. It appears to me that in America itself we will see a big SPLIT occurring in the country. The Left will go more to the Left and the Right may go more to the right. So perhaps the Russian analysis of a future civil war in America decades from now... is not improbable. But here in Africa the blacks are on a big high too. Even though blacks are squabbling more and more among themselves the blacks are convinced that we whites are a TOTALLY SPENT FORCE. They regard us as: TOTALLY IRRELEVANT and COMPLETELY DEFEATED. In Zimbabwe... Mugabe still has a healthy fear of whites... knowing that even a handful can pack quite a punch when they merge in among the blacks and they affect black politics. HOW can whites merge into black politics? I disagree with Helen Zille's approach where she pretends she is black in every way except her skin colour. She identifies with them 110%. But I disagree with that. I don't think we should "try to be black". We are what we are. We must be ourselves and if we get involved in black politics... we must be what we are and not hide who we are. Blacks also are suspicious and if whites are too friendly, blacks will smell a rat. But blacks are deep enough that they can tell fact from fiction and can catch whites out if we try to sneak up on them. NB: When I refer to black people I refer to BLACK PEOPLE - NOT: Coloureds, Indians, etc. I'm talking BLACKS in the true sense of the word - not in the ANC misrepresented way of the word. Coloureds are another topic by themselves, and I like coloureds a lot. Another friend of mine who comes from the Cape told me that he'd challenge me any day on the coloureds and that the coloureds are pretty much the same as us. And I fully agree. He doesn't even have to argue the point with me. I already agree with him. I've long been an advocate that whites and coloureds get together (and let me tell you, I'll bet there are coloured people who would throw in their chips with the whites if they felt there was hope for them). I want to speak SPECIFICALLY about Black people. I've had stacks of interactions with black people. I've dealt with them in every conceivable way. I'm going to tell you something about them: DO NOT try to fool blacks. Blacks have BETTER SOCIAL SKILLS AND MORE HIGHLY DEVELOPED SOCIAL SKILLS THAN MOST WHITES. Black people have a very vibrant social life. Its what they live for, and if there's one thing they're good at... it is in dealing with other people face to face. Black people aren't into very deep friendships... nor very long-lasting ones. Black people are about QUANTITY. The have lots of "friends" ... they are very adept as seeking out lovers, etc. Now here's where we fall down completely: WE CAN'T FOOL THEM. DON'T EVEN TRY. Do not TRY TO BE BLACK. I think Helen Zille makes a big fundamental error in this approach. DO NOT TRY TO BE BLACK. We are NOT Black and the Blacks themselves won't accept or buy into that line of thinking. BE YOURSELF. I AM IN REAL LIFE THE MISERABLE SOD THAT I AM. I do not hide it. Be what you are. When you deal with blacks in a direct and honest manner they will have the social skills that tell them that you are just being honest. Be honest... and be yourself. They will see through any act you may try and then you'll be shooting yourself in the eye. Be yourself, and then be honest... and then only... will they listen to you. Blacks will sometimes even listen to you even if they hate what you say and even if they completely disbelieve it. They can at times be quite polite about matters. The key point when dealing with blacks is this: PLANT SEEDS IN THEIR MINDS. Those seeds might take 10-15 years to grow. Just tell them something and leave it to grow. If they ask you a question, give them an honest answer. PLANT SEEDS. Do nothing else. Plant the seed AND WALK AWAY. Do not try to force them to agree with you... PLANT THE SEED... PLANT THE IDEA... then leave them. For decades now it has been Western policy to molly coddle blacks. The previous theory was that blacks never got a chance. So then we gave them chances and we invented times to give them more chances than they could ever have. But Liberals went too far. They gave blacks FAKE SUCCESS. They gave them success that they had never achieved. They put them in positions they could not handle. We now see that these types of blacks, when in Africa, prefer to run away from Africa. Those blacks can only function in a FIRST WORLD situation. Those blacks cannot function in the THIRD WORLD. Those blacks can ONLY function effectively when they are merged into a fully functioning system. In America, because the majority are white and the system is FIRST WORLD, the weaknesses of blacks aren't that exposed... UNTIL you get to a situation like New Orleans where the blacks become the majority and they take over most of the reins of power. Then only do you see their shortcomings. In Africa, the blacks prefer to flee to the First world because they cannot function in a system of collapse. They can only function inside an already functioning system. We Whites in Africa are the complete opposite. We actually are at our best when we face total collapse. We can make anything work from THE GROUND UP. We don't need to be inside a system. We invent the system, make it work and build on it. We know how. But the blacks don't realise this. The blacks have been educated into a type of Politically Correct dunce state. They're "educated" but they really lack LOTS of other things. I observe the way blacks think, and I watch it with interest. I am working ever closer with them and will observe it more in detail. I have some simple observations about them, but not enough to give you a dissertation on. What I can say is that blacks live in a bubble where they believe they are cleverer than they really are. They believe they're completely responsible for their success. Now... if they are referring to the fact that they convinced Liberal whites to prop them up... then yes, that could be described as "success". But without those White Liberals backing them... their game plan would come horribly unstuck. For Blacks, Black Nationalism doesn't work anywhere nearly as well as White Nationalism works for whites. (Many Blacks know this or sense this). For Whites, White Nationalism totally ROCKS. The more nationalist whites are, the more they can achieve. For Blacks, the better way is: Black Liberalism (towards Whites). That way Blacks can tap into White skills and talents. But at this time, many blacks are at their peak and they believe THEY ARE INVINCIBLE. They think we are TOTALLY FINISHED, and they are TOTALLY UNBEATABLE. That is their perception. I like this. It is actually a good perception for them to have. In military circles they refer to "an appreciation" of a "military problem". What it boils down to is a deep analysis of the fundamental factors at work. Remember... in any struggle... there are things you do... things your opponent does and then there are other players - Third parties, neutrals, etc. There are other "unspoken" factors... that are just a basic part of the "human landscape". When one makes any moves you need to take these interlocking factors into account. Sometimes the struggle is more affected... not by what some side does, but by the interventions of Third Parties, etc. There is a slow realisation dawning, only in certain circles, that the whites are NOT TOTALLY FINISHED... but that they survived the worst. However, the vast, vast majority of blacks, even at very high levels... do, or would like to think Whites are finished. I have some ideas of my own that I've never written about, but I want to hint at it. I think I'll refer to it as: "Fundamental Politics". Politics, to a large degree is a lot like a bunch of women chatting to each other. Women can be such fakes, but they'll get together, all pretend to love and kiss each other, while deeply having some hatreds - but hiding them. These women will, SUPERFICIALLY pretend to love each other. The reality is that its all a big act. Then there is "Fundamental Politics". The Left discovered this. The Left discovered that if you are VIOLENT for long enough, that you can swerve politics in your direction. The Left discovered that VIOLENCE will force all those FAKE SUPERFICIAL TYPES to go along with your plans. Deep down... one force can MOVE EVERYONE. The Fakes move along... to the Left OR to the Right. The "true politicians"... the ones who talk with no underlying substance... are always adaptable and will move as the wind blows. Deep down... all politics is really governed and driven by the FUNDAMENTAL SIDE. Now... the Left uses VIOLENCE as the basic driving force. But Liberals and the West used MONEY as their fundamental driving force. There is a crucial aspect to politics. It has to do with the HANDFUL who drive the FUNDAMENTAL SIDE. They have more influence than the "true politicians". The Gun or the Dollar has more influence than the man who just has a mouth. A lot of politicians are nothing more than flies settling on a dead carcass. You wave them away and they come back and come to rest on another part of the dead carcass. They live off of it and they're drawn to it. But its the carcass that's the fundamental aspect. They are just features on it and around it. Blacks are at the top of their game and they believe that now they are ready for take-off... TO THE MOON. The reality is... they are ready for take-off to come crashing straight into the pavement head-first. Whites on the other hand have been pushed more and more aside, and getting angrier and angrier. Whites have a lot of potential energy that's not been tapped into. Whites are capable in many ways of driving the: FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF POLITICS. We can also create forces of our own... that are more powerful than just our vote. I don't want to elaborate more on the concept, but mull it over. There are a lot of aspects to it, and I have some ideas of my own. I have a theory that you can drive politics from a very small base as long as you fulfill certain basic requirements. You can shift the ENTIRE PARADIGM - LEFT OR RIGHT. The Left has been shifting it left for decades. But there's no reason why the Right can't shift the entire paradigm RIGHT! I think blacks are so full of their own self-confidence now that they don't realise when they make mistakes. I think you will see the return of racism - REAL RACISM and real RACIAL HATRED - in a way that you cannot imagine. It will be a messy business... but I think you will see a White rebellion against Blacks across the Western World in decades to come. In fact, it might be a general rebellion against multicultural things. It will even happen in America. America and Europe seem to be moving along somewhat different lines. I'm tending to regard America as a country that has reached its zenith and from here it can only be down. Europe on the other hand is rising. It has its problems, but it seems as if Europe will be passing America by. And Europe's makeup in many ways, for me, seems to offer more opportunities. Europe is not so monolithic. There is room for more shades of opinion and variations. I think America is heading, at the very least for some kind of big racial split that will tear it apart. The Left will want to go more to the Left and the Right will resist ever more fiercely. As I observe and mull over history, I think a RACIAL HATRED across the Western world as a whole will rise tremendously in this century. In the 21st century... you are going to see WHITE RACE HATRED, especially of Blacks... and you will be seeing it in FIRST WORLD COUNTRIES. It will take DECADES to get there, but I think it is well on its way. The basic cause of this is the result of the actions of the blacks themselves. Blacks, in 1001 different ways got on to the WORLD STAGE and complained and then got a chance - IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE WORLD. WHEN THEY GOT THEIR CHANCE THEY SCREWED IT UP TOTALLY. And they are losing credibility by the day, by the year, and by the decade. In decades yet to come... the blacks will pay the price for this. The Whites will stop molly coddling them... the whites will stop propping them up... the whites will start opposing them... the whites will start driving them back. (A tiny handful of the more thinking blacks have already seen this - like that Pastor Manning in America - he's seen the writing on the wall - he KNOWS it is coming... and he is trying to warn other black people about this day when the whites come back and hit back... HARD). The blacks are at the top of their game. The blacks believe they are invincible. But they are in for the most shocking surprise you can imagine... when the Western world changes fundamentally. Interestingly, the model for the future of the Western world may well be the actions of the Whites in Rhodesia and South Africa. By DECADES we may have preceded everyone. The future of the West will bear some resemblance to what happened in Africa. And what a mess its going to be. In many ways, the Liberals and Communists laid the foundations for more race hatred and more racial tensions than you can imagine. But the difference this time is that these problems will be sweeping across First World countries with populations of between 60-300 million people. There will be racial stresses like nobody has seen before. Blacks reached their pinnacle. They believe they are invincible... but they don't realise what will happen when all those artificial props are pulled quietly from under them. The fundamental factors are still on our side - in fact, perhaps more so than ever before. Posted By: Jan AfricanCrisis Webmaster Author of: Government by Deception “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” (George Orwell) |
S.Africa:In Turmoil
S.Africa: News for later: ANC is extremely cross with me - ANC Super-corruption is VERY TRUE... Jacob Zuma... Assassination of Eugene Terreblanche - New ANC strategy to go after Farms - Die Beeld's editor agrees with me... - COPE falling apartDate Posted: Sunday 02-May-2010I have been a bit out of action the last 2 days, just attending to other issues and to my life. This is the last day of my leave. I'm still tweaking and debugging and improving a most sophisticated program I need to control, backup and housekeep all my websites at the touch of a button. This is most important for the long term because of the volumes of traffic on my sites. I want real time backups, real-time statistics I can monitor without overloading my own servers. And I need good house-keeping to my sites don't get overloaded. I need to upgrage AmericanCrisis and AfricanCrisis before launching new sites, and I'm sitting with an AfricanCrisis database of over 1 Gb in size. So now upgrading is a problem because I have so much data to move and so little bandwidth. But a lot of it is unnecessary. If I did proper housekeeping it would be much easier. So I need to finish this. On friday, after much hounding I eventually went to the prize-giving at my work - where I was due to win an award. Then I got up and walked out of it. I'll take the heat for that tomorrow at work. But more on that later and what happened. I've been getting some feedback from various sources of mine. The ANC was EXTREMELY ANNOYED by my article the other day about super-corruption. My source is a bit jumpy and doesn't want me to tell you how he knows - but I made the ANC EXTREMELY CROSS. I really hit a sore point. Good. They hit a sore point with us when they plotted mass genocide against us with Julius Malema mouthing off and generating hate speech against us... and then they murdered one of our own, Eugene Terreblanche, thinking they could walk away from it and use it to justify further murder and theft from whites. AND for *ME* as a taxpayer... its a VERY SORE POINT knowing the ANC is stuffing their pockets with tens of billions if not hundreds of billions of rands - OF OUR MONEY. But more on ANC corruption later. These bastards will actually benefit from their own inefficiencies and will FLEECH US TO THE TUNE OF HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF RANDS... IN THE YEARS TO COME. EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US WILL BE PAYING A BIG FAT CHUNK OF OUR SALARIES TO FURTHER THEIR AMBITIONS. But more on that later... I hear that the Editor of the highly respected Afrikaans newspaper DIE BEELD actually says some very similar things to what I was saying about the real role of Julius Malema. Looking back on the BATTLE OF APRIL... which started with the murder of Eugene Terreblanche, I think we've acquitted ourselves well, despite being in a totally cr*p position. I think we've actually caused the ANC some stress and President Zuma is changing his strategy. Sadly, I hear COPE is fighting internally a lot. Sad. The ANC and the lefties may be tearing COPE apart. Sad. I really had hoped COPE would provide blacks with some option to the ANC. Black politics is in turmoil, and the ANC itself is struggling to hold the entire game together. I am not one to say that I think the ANC is divided - but I am starting to think it really is. I think Jacob Zuma is running around from pillar to post trying to just hold the ANC together. So far he is succeeding, but he is facing very serious problems. COPE may be a mess... but rest assured the ANC is struggling a LOT. There are some things that indicate to me the ANC is in trouble, and just holding the whole ship together is now proving problematic. JZ was hoping that by redirecting black hatred on whites that he could pull something off. JZ may be wiping his ass on the farmer at this time, but I think JZ has a load of his own problems. Do NOT think the ANC has everything its way. I am quietly smiling to myself. The ANC ran into some problems with this business of plotting white genocide here. I don't always tell people what I'm up to. In this stupid game of politics some things work a *LOT BETTER* when you just keep your mouth shut. Then the context of the game, and the game within the game works so much better. There is a game within the game. I had a theory and I wanted to test it out. I see glimmers that indicate to me that my theory is correct. So I'm smiling. What I have learned is of considerable value as we need to learn to defend ourselves. So I am happy. Returning to COPE: My Liberal friend has tremendous respect for Sam Shilowa and always felt that Shilowa was the smooth guy who knows how to play politics. I've never followed Shilowa much. I'm not too concerned with guys who are smoothies and who work well within the system. I sometimes have quite a liking for guys who are similar to me - weirdos who just do their own thing. That's why I'm not completely against Julius Malema. He shoots from the hip - not very well - but he has something a lot of the others in the ANC lack: COURAGE. Another favourite of mine was Vavi. In the enemy camp, Vavi is the guy I have the most respect for. So when it comes to COPE, I've developed something of a soft spot over time for Terror Lekota. I like a man with energy and determination. I even forgive him for laughing a Kortbroek on our side, because Kortbroek really made asses of the whole lot of us whites. He deserved to be laughed at because he made us whites look so pathetic. I quite like Lekota's spirit. He cut his ties with the ANC and he went in there with a fighting spirit. I like a man with fighting spirit. Interestingly, during his time in the ANC, Lekota was very smooth with the Afrikaners. He figured out a way of wrapping them around his fingers. He's a smoothie, but he's also himself. I will watch Lekota with interest. He's an interesting character. You get some of these non-whites who are cheeky and determined as men, and they're determined to show their stuff. At my work there is a coloured man like that. I have real soft spot for him. He tells me, "I'm a proud coloured boy". I have a special place for him, and I always do my utmost for him. He's a good guy. I like a man who is determined to show what he CAN DO, and he's not afraid to try. I like courage, and I like someone who can achieve things. So in that sense, Lekota interests me. You will recall that I said I invented a computer language of sorts. When I went back to work after 3 weeks, I was completely amazed at the progress of my black apprentice. He was starting to make some serious progress all by himself. He is working with "Version 1" of my "language". This is very old... He is keen to try "Version 2" - which is seriously advanced and which is truly self-contained. He was saying to me, "This is so fast". He was referring to how fast it was to develop systems using my language - compared to the Java development they are used to and which they studied as university. If they give me a chance at my work, I might yet unleash something which could be talk to blacks and which could make them very successful. Strangely, my ideas at my work were often opposed by YOUNG WHITES. I was so very cross with them. If they had just shut up and listened I had some tricks up my sleeve. So perhaps it will be BLACKS who might actually prove that my methods work. My methods are designed for speed and for ease of use. It seems my revenge against the young white Systems Architects who gave me such a hard time is about to begin. They're going to be taken down a peg or three. And given the way they treated me, I intend hammering them hard. Anyway... more about my work later. A friend of mine is trying to knock up some business somewhere... and he sits in on very interesting meetings that I hear bits of now and then. It looks as if this FIFA World cup will be full of chaos. It seems to me, the 2010 FIFA World cup will be held for the benefit of the residents of the black townships and the rest of the world will be watching it on the telly... and not too many will risk their lives coming here. FIFA won't make a loss... I'm sure the ANC will just pay them as many billion as they need to ensure that they can call it a success. Posted By: Jan AfricanCrisis Webmaster Author of: Government by Deception “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” (George Orwell) http://www.africancrisis.co.za/Article.php?ID=75240&M=D& |
South Africa: Creating a New South African Identity
South Africa: Creating a New South African Identity
William Gumede
29 April 2010
opinion
The raging debate over what makes one South African, which currently focuses on whether a person is African enough, is simply the wrong debate.Can we ever cobble together a common South African-ness?
To start with, diverse developing countries such as South Africa with such a politically divided past obviously cannot find a solution in a nationalism based on a shared culture, language or ethnicity. Neither can it rest on common citizenship or living in a shared space alone - often assumed in Western models of nationhood.
South Africa's bitter history of more than 350 years of colonialism and apartheid - with its accompanied ethnic divisions, conflict and state-sponsored economic inequalities - makes the challenge of cobbling together a new South African-ness, from our divided past, so much harder, yet so much more urgent.
We must start from the premise that there cannot be one single definition of who is a South African. The obvious, basic building block is identifying oneself as South African.
The ethnic, language and regional diversity bequeathed by both colonialism and apartheid must mean that modern South African-ness cannot be but a 'layered', plural and inclusive one.
Former president Nelson Mandela's 1962 statement in the dock during his political trial for inciting resistance against the apartheid government neatly put it that South African-ness cannot be defined in relation to a majority community. At the same time there cannot be one sole defining culture that indicates South African-ness.
The fact that we are so ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse should then be a central plank of a unique South African identity. South Africa's democracy is based on a compromise between diverse political groups and acceptance of our differences. The fact that South Africa has a multiple identity should be the basis of its shared South African-ness. South Africa is a melting pot of people with their roots in Africa, the East and also the West.
Colonial and apartheid governments have insisted that South Africa is a 'society of self-enforced communities, always potentially - and in the absence of the [colonial or apartheid] state, actually - gruesome conflict with one another'.
Yet more than 350 years of colonialism and apartheid have meant that South African cultures are not 'gated communities' with fixed borders, but more often the site of considerable overlap, beyond just the occasional shared word or value. This means that South African-ness is one of 'interconnected differences'.
The challenge for South Africa then is how to build 'a common sense of South African-ness' on the basis of our 'interconnected differences'. What makes our situation different is that creating a new South African-ness will have to be based on politics. And because of this, South African-ness will always have to be continuously persuaded for; it is not going to be one that will be enacted by decree or good intentions alone. This is both a weakness and a strength.
What then is the basis of our common political identity? South Africa's founding myths - based on politics - are the fact that the country managed to, out of the ashes of a civil war, peacefully construct a democratic dispensation based on a new democratic constitution, anchored in South Africa's ethnic diversity and a new set of democratic values, rules and political culture.
The founding document of our political settlement is our constitution.
A common South African-ness will have to be weaved around the idea of an inclusive democracy. Included in this is solidarity for the vulnerable that must cut across the racial and political divide; this means that social justice must underpin governing.
Altogether these would be the basis for common interests and a 'national consensus' across the ethnic, political and colour divide. Our common ambition should be to mould a new democratic identity for South Africa. We must put the emphasis on the now and the future, rather than remain trapped in the bitterness of the past.
Because South African-ness is a political construct, there are some obvious pitfalls.
For one, leadership style matters very much. There is going to be a premium on South Africa's political leaders to govern at all times for every South African, not one political party, faction or ethnic group.
A case in point is the fact that President Nelson Mandela, like India's Mohandas Gandhi, consciously tried to evoke through his own personality a symbol of all-South African patriotism around which all South Africans could rally, no matter their colour, ethnicity or political allegiance.
Leaders must follow the rules applicable to everyone else. Flagrant ignorance of the new democratic laws by post-apartheid leaders won't do.
Since democracy and the new constitution are at the heart of South Africa's new identity, undermining both cannot but undermine the formation of a new South African-ness. Yet increasingly the constitution has often been treated not as a founding document by some political leaders.
President Jacob Zuma for example some time ago warned that ANC (African National Congress) MPs should serve the ANC before the constitution. That is not right.
Democratic institutions, such as the courts, the media and civil society are critical watchdogs to ensure the values of democracy that are important for nation-building are lived out in everyday routines.
Furthermore, a new democratic South African identity necessitates widespread public trust in the democratic system and institutions.
Because a democratic state is so central in building a new common South African-ness, the legitimacy of the state will hinge on whether it delivers. For example, public corruption that appears to go without punishment or with selective punishment (perceptions that if the person is closely connected to the right faction of the ANC than wrongdoing is often not punished or is just given a slap on the wrist), also undermines the legitimacy and credibility of government.
A combination of a lack of delivery, a seemingly indifferent democratic state and the perception that only a few blacks connected to the top ANC leadership and whites, who by virtue of education and pre-1994 policies benefit economically from the democracy, will erode the legitimacy of the state and undermine any nation-building efforts.
A common prerequisite for developing a common South Africa is allowing the space for differing opinions. Absolute loyalty must not be to a party, leader or tribe, but to the constitution.
Another prerequisite is for the vast talents of all South Africans, not only those of the same colour, party or faction, to be used. If it is the opposite, it will undermine nation-building, as it leaves those deliberately marginalised or excluded, whether black or white, excluded.
Opportunistically using the race for self-enrichment or to cover up wrong-doing undermines the building of a common South African identity. So it is with retreating into 'nativism' - wanting to seek an exclusive definition of South African-ness or who is an African - which overrides the constitution's core definition, which argues for multiple identities, diversity and inclusivity as the pillars of South African-ness.
A common South African identity and the future will have to be built as a mosaic of the best elements of our diverse pasts and present, histories and cultures. This does not mean that we must commit identity or cultural suicide. You can still be Afrikaner, Zulu or Indian as part of broader South African identity. However, there should not be one way of practising Afrikaner-ness or Zulu-ness; others may practice their identity differently, and others may even opt out of wanting to be viewed as Afrikaner or Zulu, even if they are born within those cultures - and they must be respected for that. But most importantly, we must practice or Afrikaner-ness or Zulu-ness in such a way that it does not conflict with the democratic values set out in the constitution: human dignity and respect and empathy for others.
Race, and the continued legacy of apartheid inequalities where most blacks are poor and whites better off, is one of the fault lines of the country's efforts to build a common South African-ness. So at the heart of any economic development must be policies that genuinely uplift not only the poor, but the widest number of people at the same time - rather than a small elite, whether white or black or both. If the poor black majority is left out of prosperity, a common South African-ness will remain a fading dream. White and black hardliners will then continue to have fertile ground to manipulate black resentment and white anxieties to push for narrow definitions of South African-ness, which excludes others.
This article was originally published by City Press on 24 April 2010. William Gumede is the co-editor, with Leslie Dikeni, of the recently released 'The Poverty of Ideas' (Jacana).
Copyright © 2010 Fahamu. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
AllAfrica - All the Time
Israel Primed for War with Iran
Israel Primed for War with Iran
Dan Williams – Reuters May 10, 2010
By spearheading assaults on guerrillas in neighboring Lebanon and Palestinian territories, the Israeli air force had gained the techniques necessary for any future strikes on Iranian sites, Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said.
"There is no doubt that the technological capabilities, which improved in recent years, have improved range and aerial refueling capabilities, and have brought about a massive improvement in the accuracy of ordnance and intelligence," he told a conference of military officers and experts.
"This capability can be used for a war on terror in Gaza, for a war in the face of rockets from Lebanon, for war on the conventional Syrian army, and also for war on a peripheral state like Iran," said Yaalon, a former armed forces chief.
Israel, which is assumed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981 and launched a similar sortie in Syria in 2007.
But its veiled threats against foe Iran have been questioned by some independent analysts who see the potential targets as too distant, dispersed, numerous and well-defended for Israeli warplanes to take on alone.
Israel's leaders rarely use the term "war" while publicly discussing how to deal with Iran, in whose often secretive uranium enrichment, long-range missile projects and hostile rhetoric the Jewish state sees a mortal threat.
OPTIONS OPEN
Officially endorsing efforts by U.N. Security Council powers to step up sanctions against Tehran, which denies having hostile designs, Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials usually speak obliquely of a need to "keep all options on the table."
Two other senior Israeli officials said U.S.-led diplomatic pressure should be given a chance. But they voiced misgivings.
"I believe that, by the middle of June, there will be international sanctions that will be watered down, with very low chances of being effective," Defense Minister Ehud Barak told a closed-door parliamentary committee, according to a spokesman.
"With that said, there is nevertheless importance to such sanctions, because the delay has only served Iran," he said, adding: "It is very possible that there will be other, more effective sanctions by a specific set of European countries."
Dan Meridor – another deputy prime minister who, like Yaalon and Barak, belongs to Netanyahu's inner council – sought to play down Israel's particular interest in having Iran reined in, calling it a global challenge.
"If in the end of the day, Iran does get nuclear, in spite of what America says and wants, this will have grave implications for world order, the balance of power and the rules of the game," Meridor told foreign journalists in Jerusalem.
In his address to the Fisher Institute for Air & Space Strategic Studies, Yaalon said Israel was in a proxy war with Iran due to its sponsorship of Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas and the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas.
"There is no doubt, looking at the overall situation, that we are already in a military confrontation with Iran," he said. "Iran is the main motivator of those attacking us."
(Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6492H420100510
BP says oil spill cost $350M so far
BP says oil spill cost $350M so far
Company did not speculate on the final bill
Updated: Monday, 10 May 2010, 12:27 PM CDT
Published : Monday, 10 May 2010, 6:28 AM CDT
Published : Monday, 10 May 2010, 6:28 AM CDT
LONDON (AP) - BP PLC said Monday that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has cost the company $350 million so far as it outlined renewed efforts to contain the leak.
BP said the tally included the cost of the immediate response, containment, relief well drilling, commitments to the Gulf Coast states, and settlements and federal costs.
The company did not speculate on the final bill, which most analysts expect to run into tens of billions of dollars.
BP shares slipped 0.5 percent to $8.26 after the report, bucking an upward trend across the rest of the London Stock Exchange.
The London-based company said that it was preparing a second, smaller containment box to lower over the main leak point at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig after attempts to do the same with a larger box last week were foiled by icy slush.
BP said the smaller dome was designed to mitigate the formation of the "large hydrate volumes" that clogged the bigger dome.
However, it acknowledged that the maneuver, which is designed to siphon up to 85 percent of the leaking oil to a tanker at the surface, had never been done before in more than 5,000 feet of water. The blown-out well, which is gushing at least 200,000 gallons of crude each day, is a mile underwater.
BP added that further work on the well's blow out preventer, the device that was supposed to shut off the flow of oil after a deadly April 20 oil rig explosion but failed, meant the company was in a position to attempt a "top kill" to stop the flow of oil. That technique involves shooting mud and concrete directly into the blow out preventer.
The company said that work on the first relief well, which is considered a permanent fix and began a week ago, continues and is expected to take three months to complete.
"All of the techniques being attempted or evaluated to contain the flow of oil on the seabed involve significant uncertainties because they have not been tested in these conditions before," the company said in a statement.
"BP continues to do everything it can, in conjunction with governmental authorities and other industry experts, to find a solution to stem the flow of oil on the seabed," it added.
An estimated 3.5 million gallons of oil have spilled since the explosion at the Deepwater rig, about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. At that pace, the spill would surpass the 11 million gallons spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster by next month.
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