Umsebenzi Online
Umsebenzi Online, Volume 15, No. 18, 19 May 2016 In this Issue: . EFF hooliganism, media opportunism . The Negatives and positives of the past week http://www.sacp.org.za/pubs/umsebenzi/images/umsebenzi_hand.gifRed Alert EFF hooliganism, media opportunism By Cde Jeremy Cronin, SACP First Deputy General Secretary This week, once more, much of the mainstream media acted as a boom box to the EFF's parliamentary hooliganism. In most commercial media outlets, the EFF MPs were portrayed as unfortunate victims, or, at worst, as righteous retaliators in the face of unjustified violence. Malema was given acres of print media space and air-time to further elaborate on this victimhood theme coupled with sinister warnings of further EFF perpetrated violence. Before the arrival of the EFF in Parliament, forcible collective evictions of serving MPs from the House were unknown. An offending MP might be asked to leave the chambers. He or she would duly comply, sometimes with varying degrees of muttered reluctance. The National Assembly's Sergeant-of-Arms, the mild-mannered, middle-aged Regina Mohlomi, was intended more as a ceremonial appointment, a symbol of a transforming, demilitarised South Africa, and not so much a rule-enforcer. Before 2014 there was little or no parliamentary hooliganism but considerably more robust debate. Former leaders of the official opposition, I think of Tony Leon for instance, were arrogant and irritating, all the more so because they were effective debaters. When Leon called for a "muscular opposition", he meant it in the metaphoric and not physical hooliganism sense. Outflanked by the oppositional theatrics of the EFF, the DA in parliament has now lost much of its way. Tuesday's eviction of EFF MPs from the National Assembly was the fourth occasion in the current Parliament that this has had to happen. On each occasion the EFF MPs, seeking to pose as victims, have deliberately courted forcible eviction. And on each occasion much of the commercial media has duly played along with the EFF cry-baby, pseudo- martyrdom antics. This supine, media collaboration is typically constructed by the manner in which reporting on the hooliganism is framed. Consider one fairly typical sample of this - Marianne Merten's Daily Maverick column posted on Wednesday, the day following the 17th May episode. Headlined "Parliamentary Trenches: Hard hats and hardened attitudes", the story is placed beneath a graphic photo showing EFF MPs aggressively resisting attempts to escort them out of the House by the parliamentary protection services. They say that photographs don't lie. But what you imagine you are seeing in a photograph can be heavily influenced by the text informing it. This is how Merten's column begins: "Parliament is stuck in trench warfare between the ANC, using its numerical strength to get its way, and the EFF's brash and noisy provocation." Note how this opening sentence pretends to be "balanced reporting", with its on- the-one-hand and its on-the-other-hand. But note also the several sleights of hand at play. Let's take these one by one: "Parliament is stuck in trench warfare between the ANC.and the EFF". This is stated beneath the photo of the brawl, which triggers us to think that evoking "trench warfare" might be meant literally. Moreover, the juxtaposition of this claim with the photo further gives the impression that those involved in the brawl are the ANC and EFF, when in fact it is parliamentary protection officers seeking to remove the EFF. Merten does at least concede that the EFF's tactic of choice is "brash and noisy provocation". This is a minor shift in reporting from her side on the EFF's behaviour in parliament. But what is the ANC's alleged culpability in the matter? The ANC is guilty, according to Merten, "of using its numerical strength to get its way". That's ludicrous. This is a democratic parliament, after all, and decisions are taken either by multi-party consensus (and many are), or by voting based on the majority principle. It is therefore a stretch to establish an equivalence of responsibility for chronic mayhem in parliament between the exercise of the majoritarian principle and "brash and noisy provocation". The latter phrase is, itself, a rather mild description for the punching of parliamentary officers and the hurling of fire extinguishers. In all warfare there are victims. So who, in Merten's imaginary trench warfare, are the victims? It is here that Merten introduces an innovative construct. Having established this pseudo-equivalence between a warring ANC and EFF, it is the other opposition parties that emerge as the victims. "Caught in the middle are opposition parties wanting to use the rules to try to extract even just the smallest concession of accountability at the risk of, again, being dismissed through rules, protocol and procedure." Is Merten opposed to Parliament having rules, protocol and procedure? And what does she imply by the risk of "again, being dismissed"? Opposition parties might not always get their way, but that doesn't mean that they will also be dismissed in the sense of forcible removal from parliament simply for trying "to extract even just the smallest concession of accountability". At least Merten seeks to portray opposition parties other than the EFF as the victims of the chaos unleashed by the EFF. The day after, many other newspapers explicitly or implicitly portrayed the EFF MPs once more as the victims or, at worst, as legitimate responders to violence. Consider the Sowetan's article on this week's hooliganism (by Jan-Jan Joubert and Babalo Ndenze). It begins: "A glass entrance door was shattered, furniture damaged and clothes torn" (note how all the verbs are in the passive - no agency is attached, no culpability ascribed). "as EFF MPs fought back (i.e. they were supposedly just defending themselves) against parliamentary bouncers (note the loaded term "bouncers" invented by the EFF and uncritically taken up by the Sowetan) who removed them violently (again a loaded word, where "forcibly" would have been more appropriate) from the National Assembly at the behest of speaker Baleka Mbete." A long sentence that ends by implicitly blaming Mbete for it all. Malema is quoted extensively in the Sowetan article (eight paragraphs), the ANC's chief whip is given a four-line paragraph, in which the fourth line is "but this was denied by the EFF". A version of the same story (by the same journalists) is carried in The Times. It is headlined: "Juju: No peace until Zuma quits. Parliament in chaos as security staff battle with MPs". The body of the story repeats the line that the EFF members "fought back", that is, were responding to violence. Die Burger's front page has a prominent photo of the eviction of EFF MPs, headlined "Huis van skande" (House of scandal) - which, as we learn from its page two story, is a quote from parliamentary absentees COPE which described the eviction of the EFF (and not EFF hooliganism) as one of the "darkest hours" in South Africa's democracy. The front page photo focuses on EFF Nazier Paulsen in a head-lock, melodramatically squealing for the cameras as he is led out. As anyone in the House would have seen, it was Paulsen who was one of the first to aggressively attack the Parliamentary Protection Services. In its page two story, Die Burger quotes Malema extensively, justifying the EFF hooliganism and promising more. The ANC's Chief Whip's statement issued immediately afterwards, called for criminal charges to be laid against EFF MPs for violence and damage to parliamentary property. Die Burger gives it only one line. The Citizen has a full front-page photograph of EFF MPs scuffling with parliamentary protection members, but makes light of it with a headline "Parly war games". On page 3 its story on the hooliganism repeats the pattern of giving extensive space to Malema justifying EFF actions and threatening to "fight back with any weapon". At least The Star's headline took a different view with a bold (and surely correct) front page head-line: "DEMOCRACY CRITICAL. Analysts warn of dire consequences if mayhem in House isn't stopped". The Star's accompanying front page photographs appear to bear out the warning, with a Reuters photo of two EFF supporters (the one deceptively dressed in a smart white shirt - he is allegedly Malema's bodyguard) hurling a fire-extinguisher at the white-shirted parliamentary protection officers behind a glass door. Fortunately the glass was strong and no-one behind the door was injured. But the accompanying story on The Star front page (attributed to Thabiso Thakali, Siyabonga Mkhwanazi and Craig Dodds) unfortunately drifts back into the old paradigm of the EFF hooligans being the victims. "Chaos erupted when National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete ordered EFF MPs to stop disrupting the proceedings." (We are implicitly asked to believe that there was no chaos before Mbete asked the EFF MPs - repeatedly by the way - to stop their disruptive activity.) "School pupils seated in the public gallery shrieked in horror as the EFF members were dragged from the chamber." (Are the journalists sure that the scholars' horror was provoked by the eviction of the EFF MPs, or by the MPs unseemly behaviour?). But the crowning and disappointing moment in The Star story comes when the "experts" are quoted. Professor Shadrack Gutto blames the parliamentary officials' "strong arm tactics", and he asks "whether the force used is justifiable or proportional". Professor Pierre de Vos is quoted saying "normally in other democracies there wouldn't be a forceful removal of members of Parliament from the chamber, unless there is direct threat to lives." Either de Vos is being misquoted, or he is conveniently forgetting that "normally in other democracies" (unless we are remembering Germany early 1930s) opposition parties don't threaten (as Malema did) to "physically prevent" a sitting president to appear in Parliament. Malema has also recently said that he would take on the ANC-government "through the barrel of a gun", and that there would be "no peace in Parliament until Zuma goes". De Vos is also conveniently forgetting that in the US Congress, for instance, it is not infrequent for recalcitrant members to be forcibly evicted. The difference is that they compel the officials to carry them off one by one, without offering physical resistance. None of this is to argue that ANC conduct in recent times within the House has always been perfect. In the course of yesterday's budget votes, many of us on the ANC benches applauded when our Chief Whip stood up at one point and called the ANC caucus to show greater respect for the dignity of the House and for the DA speaker who was at the podium at the time. There have also been occasions in the past when parliamentary officials, caught flat-footed by the unprecedented recklessness of the EFF, handled difficult situations clumsily. All ANC members should certainly categorically condemn the ANC Youth League President's utterly stupid call (reported by News24 yesterday) that ANC MPs should carry the physical fight to the EFF in Parliament. "If they want a fight, they must be given a war." If asked whether he meant this literally, Maine is reported to have said "Yes". Maine must surely face an ANC disciplinary committee for his serial misconduct. But none of this justifies the EFF's extremely dangerous flirtation with violence and anarchy in Parliament and beyond. And none of this justifies the complacency and even collaboration of much of the media (and their "specialists") in the face of a very serious threat to our hard-won constitutional democracy. . Cde Jeremy Cronin is a stalwart of our liberation struggle, former member of the ANC NEC. He is currently an ANC MP and Deputy Minister of Public Works, and writes in his capacity as SACP First Deputy General Secretary. The Negatives and positives of the past week BY Cde Solly Mapaila, SACP 2nd Deputy General Secretary The past week or so has seen not only the negatives but also the positives. Unemployment South African's unemployment rate reflected its stubborn, structural feature in the context of the ongoing world capitalism crisis. The quarterly increase in unemployment rate of 2.2 percent to 26.7 percent is a serious problem that requires the action of all of us working together. The intervention "Public Works' plan tackles jobs snag" by the First Deputy General Secretary of the SACP and Minister of Public Works Cde Jeremy Cronin carried by the Sowetan newspaper yesterday, 18 May underlines a number of things we must get right in our efforts to address the problem. Among others we must strengthen public employment programmes interventions, re-industrialise our economy, expand and diversify manufacturing thus localise production including in particular by means of beneficiating our mineral recourses rather than export them largely as raw materials, support SMME development, ensure a sustained infrastructure-build pipe-line, significantly improve and fund vocational education and technical training, etc. In particular, we must advance and deepen the second, more radical phase of our country's democratic transformation. Racial undertones on rape The North Gauteng High Court Judge Mabel Jansen's social media post suggesting rape is an ingrained aspect of black people's culture was, and remains, unacceptable. The decision by the Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha granting her special leave while the matter is being attended is absolutely correct. The SACP fully supports the decision. South Africa's vision to transform and become a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society, prosperous for all citizens, thus lifting the historically oppressed and marginalised from the conditions of legacy of oppression, must be seen rigorously advanced. Judges have an important role to play in this regard. What they say matters a lot, and should not be seen entrenching wrong, including racial, stereotypes. In the same vein, as a people we can only deny at our own peril that rape is a problem. The construction of a non-sexist South Africa requires that we must eliminate rape incidents without regard to race and sex. Courts of Law Amendment Bill <http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/bills/2016-CourtsOfLawBill-Final.pdf> On Friday the Courts of Law Amendment Bill <http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/bills/2016-CourtsOfLawBill-Final.pdf> of April 2016 was formally tabled in parliament. This process is very important for the working class and poor, but also the various strata of the middle class, to engage with. In many ways the tabling of the Bill, on its own, is a victory. The SACP welcomes it. The Bill is in part a direct fruit of the SACP-led financial sector transformation and the 2015/6 Red October campaign, including combating unscrupulous garnishee orders and corruption in our court system with direct linkages in the financial sector. These problems have resulted in many people losing their salaries or wages and their houses. The tabling of the Bill offers an opportunity to strengthen it and to deal with those problems where needs be through parliamentary submissions and constant mobilisation in support of its objects. "The Bill", as it clearly states, "aims to curb alleged abuses in the EAO system and to provide for an additional mechanism in terms of which court judgments may be rescinded or abandoned without incurring prohibitive legal costs. The amendments are intended to alleviate the plight of certain debtors who often find themselves at the receiving end of a debt collecting system and certain common law principles that keep debtors in a state of indebtedness, from which it is difficult to escape." Its purpose "is to amend various sections of the Magistrates' Courts Act, 1944 (Act No. 32 of 1944), in order to address alleged abuses in the emoluments attachment order system. It further seeks to amend the sections of the Magistrate's Courts Act dealing with the rescission or abandonment of court judgments to accommodate the Department of Trade and Industry's removal of adverse consumer credit information project. The amendments have a bearing on civil debts and are aimed at protecting debtors who often find themselves in financial difficulties as a result of debts incurred by them and who cannot escape the 'debt trap' due to the abuses that seem to be taking place in this area of the law and also to put in place measures that will assist them in overcoming the effects of court judgments relating to their continued indebtedness. The Bill further amends the Superior Courts Act, 2013 (Act No. 10 of 2013), to provide for the rescission of judgments with the consent of the judgment creditor and for the rescission of judgments where the judgment debt has been settled." Local content play on SABC radio waves Our liberation alliance, as led by the ANC, committed the movement to artistic and cultural development and ensuring that the economic fruits of programming on our radios and televisions as a nation benefit our people. The SACP welcomes the decision to introduce 90 percent local content on SABC radios, and is looking forward to a similar progressive move on television programming. This is a progressive decision. Our artists and the economy stand to benefit, as opposed to the payment, for example, of millions of rands in royalties in the form of exports while local artists die poor, our economy is negatively affected by associated balance of payments problems and our artistic and cultural development is marginalised. The decision should be seen as an opportunity to enhance quality and produce progressive and revolutionary content. The mineworkers' court victory paving way to a class action on silicosis is a victory for all workers Last week's court judgement paving way to mineworkers launching a class action on silicosis against mining bosses should be seen as a victory for all workers. The SACP welcomes it. The court concluded that there are sufficient common grounds to justify the class action, one for silicosis and two for TB. Mining companies failed to protect the health of the workers when they were legally bound to do so, and as a result causing the workers to contract TB and silicosis, the court found. All workers and progressive trade union across all the sectors of our economy must deepen the struggle to ensure health and safety at work. Medical professionals should also take into account workplace environment when workers consult with them. They must always take into account the possibility that bosses in their pursuit of profit do compromise the health and safety of workers, as shown in this case, leading to workers contracting infections and suffering diseases and injuries, including repetitive strain injuries, from their work environments. . Cde Solly Mapaila is also former MK combatant and currently Chairperson of the Financial Sector Campaign Coalition. He writes in his capacity as the Second Deputy General Secretary of the SACP Umsebenzi Online is an online voice of the South African working class -- UMSEBENZI ONLINE IS THE VOICE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN WORKING CLASS _____________________________________________________________________ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Umsebenzi Online" group. To unsubscribe from this group, just send email to [email protected] For more options, archives, pages and files, visit the group web site at http://groups.google.com/group/umsebenzi-online?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Umsebenzi Online" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
