On 6/30/2021 4:19 PM, Louis Proyect wrote:
Ronnie Kasrils, a genuine Marxist.
https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/46137/Life+in+South+Africa+after+a+decade+of+Zuma+interview+with+Ronnie+Kasrils
Full agreement. The interview was done in 2018 but is even more relevant
now, after a Constitutional Court judgement yesterday in which former
president (2009-18) Jacob Zuma was handed - or better said, /threatened
/- with 15-month jail term for failing to testify to an anti-corruption
commission (one he himself established in early 2018). And no, this
isn't the sort of Lula-style frame-up by a hostile right-wing bloc.
Coming days will reveal whether the liberal/neoliberal justice system
can defeat Zuma's pseudo-"Radical Economic Transformation" bloc of
chancers (led by his son Edward) who have suggested they could blockade
the cops so as to prevent his formal arrest. A showdown is likely at
Zuma's rural palace
<https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/zumas-family-vows-to-defend-him-from-going-to-prison/>.
Some years ago in /CounterPunch /I reviewed
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2012/03/28/the-leftist-spy-who-came-in-from-cold-pretoria/>
Kasrils' switch from ANC/SACP loyalist to a position close (in most
areas) to the indy left -
https://www.counterpunch.org/2012/03/28/the-leftist-spy-who-came-in-from-cold-pretoria/
- and he certainly keeps moving leftwards.
On a personal level, too, he's the most amazing mensch.
You see it in this video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ0k-F25ung> -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ0k-F25ung - in which he discusses his
2017 book about Zuma, /A Simple Man. /
Do add it to your library: https://jacana.co.za/product/a-simple-man/
<https://jacana.co.za/product/running-wild-the-story-of-zulu-an-african-stallion/>
A Simple Man
R265.00
Written like a thriller in the engaging style of his previous best
sellers about the liberation struggle, this book takes up the tale in
2004 when Ronnie Kasrils became Minister of Intelligence, and continues
to the present day. Kasrils fought against the lies and abuses of state
resources at the cost of his party popularity. His struggle for the
truth, for that is what the book is about, covers the tumultuous years
that saw Mbeki’s overthrow and replacement by Zuma at the ANC’s
Polokwane Conference, the scandal around the Nkandla property, growing
militarisation of the police resulting in the Marikana Massacre, the
outrageous appointment of flunkies to high office, the present ‘state
capture’ report and the unseemly relationship with the Gupta group. The
confusion engendered by Zuma has led Kasrils to explain the enigma and
contradictions of the man giving rise to the book’s title. But uppermost
in his mind is to explain that corruption and the abuse of power does
not begin with Zuma. His thesis points to the compromises on the economy
going back to Mandela and the negotiations of the 1990s which he refers
to as a ‘Faustian Pact.’ Political power but not control of the economy
occurred. The latter factor has given rise to the problems of
inequality, unemployment, poverty, protest and frustration that besets
the country. Kasrils argues that the scandalous corruption and crony
capitalism under Zuma is symptomatic of underlying contradictions.
Merely replacing Zuma without dealing with the economic factors will not
solve the problem and time is running out. Kasrils suggests firm
remedies to urgently turn around the situation in the interests of all.
Kasrils and the Zuma Enigma is a gripping page-turner that courageously
exposes the intrigues underway and threats to our young democracy. A
stark warning rings out of what may face us all if urgent systemic
remedies are not taken.
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