Politics.za

The following two press releases were sent to me today in the daily speeches and statements digest sent out by government:

• T Mbeki to depart for Brazil for India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit
  
• T Mbeki arrives in Brazil ahead of IBSA Summit

• T Mbeki orders chicken over fish for inflight meal
• T Mbeki stretches legs, makes statement encouraging others to avoid deep vein thrombosis
• T Mbeki dozes off during screening of Schwarzenegger classic ‘Commando’

In what he probably considers the crowning glory of his tenure as president, Thabo Mbeki has announced that South Africa is to be given a seat on the UN Security Council for two years. Mbeki announced this during Russian president Vladimir Putin’s state visit so I assume Mbeki took the opportunity to sweet talk a vote out of Putin. I take it Mbeki has locked in all the other required votes if he is already announcing that the seat is ours.

Wits journalism professor Anton Harber calls the proposed amendment to the Film and Publications Act a “gross mistake”. Supposedly the amendments would remove the exemption news publications and broadcasts had from the Film and Publication Board (i.e. the censors). It should be noted that this exemption was even honored by the nationalist apartheid government.

News organisations will either have to submit articles before publication/broadcast or apply for individual exemption. The former is unworkable, the latter most probably unconstitutional. This ANC government has a habit of passing stupid laws before sheepishly redrafting them so be prepared for this to actually get through parliament before being quietly redrafted in two years time.

Meanwhile Human Rights Watch has released a report critical of government for it’s treatment of Zimbabwean immigrants.

After having her job over the past few months taken over by Pres. Mbeki, Vice Pres. Mlambo-Ngcuka and Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will finally be going on a state visit to another country.

I always get the warm fuzzies when we receive state visits from the most oppressive government in existence today. Trade with North Korea is (thankfully) pretty dismal (a miniscule R36 million last year) and I’m hoping Aziz Pahad will be doing his part to convince the NK leadership to undertake some political reforms.

Now when are we going to start increasing those trade, cultural and technological exchanges from South Korea which 50 years ago was one of the poorest nations in Asia and is now the 10th largest economy in the world (and who hosted a pretty decent World Cup as well).

I wonder if anyone in government is feeling a little bit embarassed that they had to kindly ask China to stop kicking our behind in the textile industry. China has now promised to limit it’s textile exports to South Africa.

To me this is a stop gap measure that probably won’t do much to help our industry. While this agreement limits imports into South Africa it does not help local textile producers who wish to export to other countries and who will have to compete against China in foreign markets. Industry and unions say this provides a chance for SA to upgrade it’s textile factories and provide better training for it’s workers, except that China is probably doing the exact same thing.

In an attempt to “kick-start” talks with Zimbabwe, President Mbeki is sending Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils to meet with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Isn’t he sending the wrong minister? Shouldn’t he be sending Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma? She’s been out of the news for an awful long time and seems to have ceded her role over to Mbeki with his constant role in conflicts around Africa, and now to other ministers like Kasrils. Does Kasrils has some special relationship with Mugabe that makes him the better choice?

It’s just not Thabo Mbeki’s week is it? He’s facing an uprising within the ANC at home and it seems he might be facing another embarassment, this time abroad. It has become clear that the ‘quiet diplomacy’ with Zimbabwe that the Mbeki administration has pursued has been something of a failure.

For Mbeki, who has spent an inordinate amount of time trying to resolve disputes outside SA’s borders, this has got to sting. First of all the ‘quiet diplomacy’ approach has been criticised from the beginning by many but government persisted that they were doing the right thing. Secondly it’s a failure right on our doorstop and a failure that has meant 2 million Zimbabwean refugees in the country adding to the pressure on social services especially in urban areas. Thirdly it’s a failure for Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosasana Dlamini-Zuma, who has bascially become invisible in her role and seemingly ceded most of her duties to Mbeki. Considering that she is considered by some as a contender for president (especially with Mbeki’s ‘woman president’ quote) a big foul up like this will reduce her standing.

I’m not sure what Mbeki can do now. Coming out vocally against Robert Mugabe at this point in time is too little too late. All he can hope for at the moment is for Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF to take Mugabe out of power.

Sometimes you wonder if the media in South Africa is truly free or if they aren’t self censoring as Tony Leon sometimes claims. But then you read an article and you get the feeling things are alright. An excerpt:

The decision, relayed to the eight by the Refugee Status Determination Office in Pretoria, confirms long-held suspicions it has scant regard for the human rights crisis in Zimbabwe. It also exposed its ignorance on what is happening on the ground in its neighbour.

Kudos to Ntandoyenkosi Ncube!

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