Politics.za

Minister of Education Naledi Pandor has said that officials and administrators in the Department of Education can no longer play the ‘Apartheid!’ card when quizzed on why they’re not performing.

Some cite apartheid. I acknowledge that the legacy of apartheid continues to affect us, but it no longer serves to explain continued failures on our part. Others cite inadequate resources. Yet, given our budget, this is also no longer a persuasive argument.

That’s kind of refreshing to hear from a cabinet minister, we’ll see if other departments start expressing the same sentiment.

Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool (be sure to read his scintillating blog) is to face a probe deciding whether he misled the provincial legislature about the costs of security upgrades to his house. The DA brought forth the motion and surprisingly it was supported by the ANC. No doubt the ‘Africanist’ faction led by Mcebisi Skwatsha of the Western Cape ANC is behind this, they’ve had their targets on Rasool for a while now.

Still it’s nice to know that bipartisanship is actually possible in SA politics.

I always love it when politicians state the obvious and act as if they have discovered some radical new idea or when they repeat their job description as being some lofty goal to achieve in the future instead of something they should be doing right now. Here’s a prime example of both from Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya:

Children living in extreme poverty were unlikely to make it to the top without help, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Monday.

“Most of the South African families and communities – in particular those who were disadvantaged by the past regime – find it very difficult to get out of the poverty trap.

“They have remained poor throughout their life span and in most cases across generations.”

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However, he acknowledged that tackling child poverty will require improving access to employment, essential public services and early childhood development for poverty stricken families.

Thank you Captain Obvious.

Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe says the first time he heard about the proposed monorail between Soweto and Johannesburg was when he read about it in the paper.

Radebe said it was not clear “what particular process” had been followed to secure the contract for the monorail. “I’m as in the dark as you are at the moment,” he told the committee.

Now the federalists amongst you out there might very well be cheering the Gauteng provincial government along, after all what business does the national government have in a province’s affairs. Unfortunately with the current administrations love for central planning and considering that all rail projects are considered an area of ‘national competence’ I guess we can assume the monorail is all but dead now.

Update: Government halts Gauteng monorail

The building of a 44,7 kilometre monorail between Johannesburg and Soweto has been “put on hold”, the Transport ministry said on Friday.

Is anyone besides me getting a little bit nervous that in a country with an average income of about R50 000 a year, the average house price is now over R900 000?

Average house price to hit R1m mark

The average price of a house in South Africa is set to top the R1 million mark next year – and economists warn that this will make it difficult for first-time buyers to enter the market.

The projected price is based on house price index figures supplied by Absa bank, which showed that by April the average price of a house in SA was R911 800.

What is it with Gauteng and expensive railway projects? Gauteng Finance and Economic Affairs MEC Paul Mashatile has announced the building of a R12 billion monorail linking Soweto and Johannesburg.

This one actually makes a bit more sense than the Gautrain (which links Johannesburg, OR Tambo Airport and Pretoria) as the Soweto Monorail will carry close to 1 500 000 people a day, compared to the Gautrain which will carry a pitiful 20 000/day.

If you asked government today what is the strategic goal for South Africa in relation to the rest of the continent I bet the answer would probably be something along the lines of: “To be the driving economic force on the continent and to be a strong influence on African governments”. Unfortunately for the SA government in a few short years that phrase may apply to China more than it does SA.

China is investing billions in Africa and in doing so is quickly becoming the “go to” government for infrastructure investment. The May issue of Maverick has an article about the massive investments China is making in special economic zones in Zambia, Mauritius, Nigeria and Tanzania. China is aiming to lock up massive amounts of raw and mineral resources from central Africa and is investing in railways and manufacturing.

All this investment always has a political price attached and should SA and China ever differ on some issue it will be interesting to see who the African countries that have received Chinese investment stand behind.

Here’s an Erwin-level foot-in-mouth quote from Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi.

Germiston is a station where a lot of industrial goods pass through, especially cargo going to industrial areas of Gauteng. If you take that cable wire you are in fact stopping the economy from growing, you’re slowing down the economy.

I have reached a conclusion that it is highly organised and is not only organised but also has got certain objectives of arriving at certain goals including economic ones.

It is entirely possible that organised crime is involved in cable theft, but I think the monetary value of the metal in the cable is far higher on the criminal mind than ruining the economy.

This is a hallmark of the paranoia that is rife in the Mbeki administration. The problems at Koeberg, a problem due to negligence, were initially blamed on ‘sabotage’. The TAC have been implied by the government to be working in cahoots with the pharmaceutical companies, when in actual fact they have fought just as hard against them as they have against the Minister of Health.

It is much easier to blame some secret conspiracy out to keep you down than it is your own negligence.

The Mail & Guardian is rerporting that the NPA is making significant inroads in their investigation into the the links between Police Commisioner Jackie Selebi and the criminal network led by Glenn Agliotti, who is facing trial for the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble.

Agliotti, who has since been named as “the Landlord” in an international narcotics syndicate, was arrested for Kebble’s murder last November. All indications are that Agliotti has become a cooperative witness and has given the Scorpions full details of the murder, the crime network and his relationship with Selebi.

The article states that a number of other associates of Agliotti have made statements implicating Selebi in some extremely shady deals.

If Selebi is arrested it will be one of the biggest embarassments the Mbeki administration will have ever seen.

Parliament’s legal advisers believe that the proposed Film And Publication Amendment Bill (which we’ve covered before) is unconstitutional. Hopefully this will stop this idiotic piece of legislation from being passed but there’s always the chance the ANC will push this through parliament to be rubberstamped into law.

This law is as stupid as the RICA Amendment Bill (which I haven’t seen any activity over in almost a year). They both need to go into the legislative dustbin.