Dear Sasco Member and your Referee (Prince) To the Referee, You are extrapolating issues about the Odili mentality into the thinking of the membership and supporters of the ANC, You are insinuating a situation where the ANC membership and supporters do not know what they want to achieve through the presidency of Jacob Zuma, You postulate all these derogatory mentalities behind the claim that you are a political analyst, INTERESTING! It is important to note some fundamental contradictions in your post, one, that the issues you raised under your 'HARD WORK' sub heading inwhich you make reference to statistis sa journal, are captured, considered and resolved upon as you are suggesting in many policy documents of the ANC under the leadership of Jacob Zuma including the recent economic summit declaration. It will then be safe to say we will be able as we have always been to put measures in both protecting and advancing the reproductive capabilities of our manufacturing industry in making sure that our economy grows in a more balanced manner (The Motor Industry Development Plan, The Textile Industry Agreement on Chineese Goods Qouta and our Industrial Strategy in General might give the glimpse if you care to know) and surely all that, unlike Odili,are the strides that the ANC is making in making sure that we have a realised developmental state not a consuming state or "ODILI STATE". I know Prince it must be difficult when you are asked (bought) to take a knife and stabb your mother or when you have been asked to tell the lies that your mother who brought up and sent you to school was infact all along intending to kill you. Its a difficult task full of contradictions, IS N'T IT? To the Protege (SASCO MEMBER) You have put us in difficulty of engaging your post for one reason, that you are alleging that Khaye has told the lies about the previous Sasco Leadership and that he must stop telling those lies, you then give us an essay about the difference between the truth and the lies. I think that you would assist us or the forum by telling us exactly what is it that has been lied about and what it is that's truthful and stop assuming that all of us in the forum were in or intimating with SASCO in the period between 1991 and the seemingly infamous Umthatha Congress
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:18:40 -0200Subject: [YCLSA Discussion] Re: Call me counter-revolutionary!From: [email protected]: [email protected] Dear Sasco member, Thank you for revealing to the forum that your ``hero`` is Mr Mashele. Before I comment on what he is trying to say I think it would be important for you to find out from him if the leadership of SASCO in the institution of higher learning where he was accussed of emblezzing funds meant for the student body did not defend him? Did they reduce the institution into a one man entity? I am just asking, let me now engage with Mr Mashele. Firstly, congratulations on the inordinate airplay that you get Mr. Mashele. Do you qualify for this kind of airplay if you have worked in the Presidency at a particular moment? I read your article, trying to understand the flow of your argument. I have failed dismally because I do not know whether you are discussing the black diamonds or an obsession with this unnamed one man, whom I presume is Jacob Zuma since you mentioned the ruling party. I also suspect that Mr Mashele is trying to demostrate to all and sundry that he reads, unlike the character in Chinua´s book. He has quoted too many authors for a short piece of writing like his. Mr. Mashele, is trying to talk about what his former boss calls a ``cult personality``. It is painful to note that when people are the ones that share that status, there is nothing wrong but when others share it then it is a problem. I had a privilege of visiting Nkandla on a number of occassions and I have seen the President of the African National Congress interacting with ordinary people and I feel proud and as a young leader I always say that I want to be humbly like him. People love Jacom Zuma Mr. Mashele, no matter how many articles you write, just remember the East London rally! I was in a NUMSA 20th anniversary when I heard Smuts saying, ``the ANC has never had a President like him``, Smuts was talking about Thabo. I wondered if Thabo had heard that, was he going to say that Snuts nust not say that? I would like to appeal to Mr. Mashele to become a real political analyst seeing that he likes it. Dealing with Jacob Zuma all the time your mouth is opened is not going to help the young man. I noticed that you were to address a forum on what we can learn from Obama, it would be nice for Mr Mashele to tell us what would Cope leaders learn from Hillary Clinton- me thinks a lot. Mr Sasco Member, please forward to your hero- if you two different people. Comradely, Cedric Sabelo Gina. On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 12:52 PM, sasco member <[email protected]> wrote: 'Call me counter-revolutionary'21/01/2009 08:37 - (SA) Want to know more?Answerit can help. Prince Mashele Following on the heels of the judgment recently delivered by the Supreme Court of Appeal, it would not be surprising for readers to expect this column to at least say something about a man who is threatened by a string of criminal charges. But such is exactly the mistake committed by the man's own political party: reducing the whole party to one man! When the man runs into trouble with the law, the party also gets entangled. The wisdom being: this man or nothing! It is precisely this mistake committed by the political party in question that our nation should do everything to avoid: reducing South Africa to one man! When there is a man battling with this or that court case, South Africans should rather talk about more important matters that affect the real future of our country; a future that stretches beyond the "importance" of one man. Accordingly, this column concerns itself with a more important question: how can we engender a culture of productivity and hard work in our society? But what makes this question important? Hard work Two weeks ago, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released data that must worry those whose minds have room for important matters. Stats SA informs us that, in November last year, manufacturing in our country fell by 4.4 percent. In the third quarter of the year, it shrunk by 6.9% - a decline we had not seen in 17 years, leading to a loss of about 19 000 jobs. That this decline in manufacturing has something to do with the global economic environment is indeed undeniable, but this correct acknowledgement should not make us feel justified to hide behind our fingers. We must admit the part we have and continue to play in this. In his satirical play, A Man of the People, Chinua Achebe uses the main character, Odili Samalu, to express a profound observation. Odili narrates: I could not help thinking also of the quick transformations that were such a feature of our country, and in particular of the changes of attitude in my own self. I had gone to the University with the clear intention of coming out again after three years as a full member of the privileged class whose symbol was the car. In Odili's mind, a car clearly rang louder than making a contribution to his society. He dreamed of producing nothing, but buying a car! Having bought the car and having finally joined the "privileged" class, Odili must have whispered to himself: "I have now reached in my dreamland!" Then life became a monotonous cycle: perfunctorily going to work, earning a salary to refuel the car and driving to pubs - near and far - for drinks with friends and a variety of new girlfriends. Even if, in Odili's country, manufacturing were to decline by 6.9 percent in one quarter - as it has been the case in our own country - he wouldn't care at all; as long as his car moves. Nor would Odili be worried that every third item on the shelves of his local retailers are made in China or outside his country. For him, nothing beats his big German sedan. At best, Odili thinks constantly of a man who is facing a string of criminal charges: "this man must lead my country!" As our manufacturing products keep on declining, are we not to be concerned that ours is a country soon to be handicapped by an Odili syndrome? In Problems of Knowledge and Freedom, Noam Chomsky reminds us: "Radical transformation of any society is unthinkable without the participation of those engaged in creative and productive work." Indeed, Chomsky would be extremely troubled to learn that Odili neither reads a book nor produces a commodity. In recent times, songs and choruses have been sung about the so-called "Black Diamond", the black middle class. But few in society have the guts to ask what exactly does this class produce. Where are the factories that have sprung up as a result of this class? In other words, how different are member of this class from Odili; the fictional fellow who neither reads a book nor produces a single commodity? Squandering wealth Sadly, in The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon tells a heartbreaking story of post independence African states, which we must consider each time the "Black Diamond" spring to mind. Although writing in 1962, Fanon makes an observation that would make you think that he had today's South Africa in mind: "This get-rich-quick middle class shows itself incapable of great ideas or of inventiveness." Indeed, this also applies to members of the white middle class who, too, love their German sedans. Infuriated by the same observation painfully made by Fanon, Walter Rodney has no kind words for the middle class in post-colonial Africa. In his book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Rodney criticises the African middle class for "squander[ing] the wealth created by the peasants and workers by purchasing cars, whisky, and perfume." What a conscience troubling criticism! While he may not be as harsh as Walter Rodney, Tito Mboweni seems equally concerned about our middle class. He has repeatedly complained that South Africans generally do not save; they spend their money as if tomorrow is the apocalyptic end of the world! Could it be that the South African middle class, too, "squander the wealth created by the peasants and workers by purchasing cars, whisky, and perfume"? The problem with our country is that critical issues such as these are generally considered boring, politically irrelevant or taboo. Those who raise such issues, especially if they dare talk about race, do so at the risk of being pelted with all sorts of insults. If they are lucky, they are called counter-revolutionaries! Thus, it would not come as a surprise if the author of this very column also suffers the same fate. Alas! But when are we going to mature? When are we going to make what matters the content of our national politics? Until when are we going to allow the man facing a string of criminal charges to dominate our political agenda? Are we not worried that the world might laugh at us? How is having, or not having, him going to change the economic plight of the poor? And what are we going to do, collectively and individually, to save South Africa from a dangerous Odili syndrome? Well, one hopes this is not a lone cry in the wilderness! Mashele is Head of Crime, Justice and Politics Programme at the Institute for Security Studies. He writes in his personal capacity. <br_________________________________________________________________ What can you do with the new Windows Live? Find out http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/default.aspx --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
