Well firstly, let me say something which I hope our Harvard graduate will agree with and which has particular relevance in South Africa:

“A quality education is the best affirmative action there is.”

Actually, I believe one of the stated the premises upon which Samasource was started is that many poor people have skills but few opportunities to use them to earn a living.

The way out of our present situation – one which finds us the most economically polarised society on the planet – is to grow our economy and use that growth as a platform to allow more and more people to improve their lives conditions. Economic growth means that our economy produces more each year than the previous, that as a country we export more and thus earn more, and ultimately, it means that there is more money to go around. Another very important factor is for us to correctly implement the BEE legislation which will accelerate the transformation of our economy. As so often is the case, the legislation is good but the implementation is problematic – it must be implemented, as has recently been the case in the City of Cape Town, to the benefit of all emerging businesses, and not just those with connections to the ruling party.

The only alternate approach to using economic growth as a driver, and one which was recently used in Zimbabwe, is to take the economy as it exists today and then divide it up and give it to everyone. Zimbabwe did this with its farms and the unfortunate result was that when you take a farmer’s land and equipment away, he’s no longer interested in or able to farm and thus the value to the economy that the farm previously represented disappears. The new occupier of the farm, without the skills and experience required to make the farm work is then also unable to contribute to sustaining the value in the economy, let alone growing it.

Getting there
We must educate well, we must support small business, we must encourage innovation, we must liberalise our communications environment, we must stop stalling on the wage subsidy for new entrants to the labour market. Since the world cup, we’ve been making more noises about nationalisation and clamping down on press freedom; which combined with our terrifying strike season is not helping us attract foreign investment. We have to behave well, instil international confidence in our Democracy and our economy and thus encourage as much foreign direct investment as is possible. We must deal with crime and the negative perceptions which result from it.

Lethargy
I have travelled through much of southern and east Africa and I firmly believe that in general South Africans have serious chips on our shoulders. We don’t know how good we have it in this country compared to others. Let’s consider why African immigrants are so hated in South Africa? I believe it is because they’ve been through the worst in their countries, they’ve lost any culture of entitlement and are willing to work hard to improve their lot. South Africans by comparison are lazy, demanding and violent – it’s no wonder so many immigrants get jobs instead of us.

Can I relate a short tale of an experience I had in northern Mozambique in 2008?
I was fortunate to be a participant on the two month long Mozambique section of the Kingsley Holgate Outside Edge Humanitarian Expedition. During May 2008 we spent a few days travelling through the far northern coastal area of Mozambique, a couple of hundred kilometres south of Tanzania. The area is extremely poor with practically no infrastructure, no shops, virtually no employed people, and extremely basic schools if the village was lucky. Kids would roam the dusty tracks through the villages chewing on a cassava root. We handed out hundreds of mosquito nets and spectacles to people in this area to aid in the fight against Malaria and give sight to people who had never been able to see properly before.

Shortly after this experience, I was sitting on a beach in Pemba, Northern Mozambique, and started getting the first bits of news of what sounded like Xenophobic attacks happening in South Africa. As the picture became clear, I was overcome by a deep and tragic sense of disappointment in the people of our country. South Africans had so much more than the people I had just visited and yet they were massacring their African brothers and sisters. I wished at the moment that every South African was able to have seen what I’d seen in the days before; and wanted from that moment forth to help normal South Africans appreciate just how much we have as a nation.

So I firmly believe there are broadly 2 kinds of youngsters in South Africa: the “can do’s” and the “give me’s”. Government is supporting the proliferation of the “give me’s” through the travesty that is our abysmal education system, our ever expanding social grants scheme and the very real view that unless you’re connected with someone in the ruling party, you won’t get an in.

We all need to focus on supporting the “can do’s” out there, those youngsters willing and keen to learn and work hard to improve their lot in life. As Leila put in a print interview last year of Samasource – “We may be socially responsible but we aren’t keeping people who aren’t prepared to work hard.”

Those “can doers” who succeed must then become role models who inspire and encourage the “give me’s” to build a successful life instead of eeking out an existence based on handouts.

Way forward
First: We must, as our main priority, stop and begin a total overhaul our education system. We must invite good teachers who we previously chased away to come back. We must focus on the proper management of schools and staff. We must make teaching an essential service and ensure strikes do not compromise the education of our youth.

Innovation is also key. Leila was a keynote speaker at the Tech4Africa conference and during the Q&A session after her address, she exclaimed: “I’m sorta surprised that more people aren’t saying ‘Are you crazy!? How are you doing this?’”

Well that’s South Africa – we’ve got the most unequal society in the world. That means we’ve got people with good education, skills and means, sharing the same space as extremely poor and neglected people. If anything, that sense of perspective gives those people with the means, the motivation to take the opportunities before them and, frequently, use them to the benefit of others. Our unique and often trying circumstances mean that the solutions we find are often extremely innovative and practical. That’s possibly why Leila wasn’t getting anyone asking her if she was crazy.

Corruption busting
Second: Corruption, like AIDS, is a disease which comprises our economic growth and stresses our society. The rhetoric is there but the action is not. Fighting corruption must become, second to fixing our education system, the next most important priority of our government.

Responsible capitalism
Lastly: In South Africa, with our ever-present trade union movement and the very alive communist party, we often hear verbal attacks on so called capitalist pigs. I’m a liberal democrat but I couldn’t agree more with them. Not on the capitalist score, but on the pig score. We need corporates who are socially responsible, environmentally responsible and who do not focus of profit to the exclusion of everything else. That’s what the 20th century was for.

The M&G recently referred to Leila’s chosen career path as “far less chic” than it could be, but in my mind there nothing cooler in the 21st century than someone clearly realising that money is actually of little significance when compared with the challenge of finding the many issues confronting the world today.

We need more “can doers” to become Leila’s and the world will become a happier place.

BACKGROUND: If you want to read about an organisation is serious decline, you should read the ANC’s latest Strategy and Tactics document (it is on the ANC’s website). It sets out, in no uncertain terms, the condition of the ruling party: corruption, indiscipline, unethical behaviour, it’s all there. In response, I see from SAPA (below), they are considering establishing an ‘Integrity Committee’, in order to “protect the image and integrity of the movement and its leadership”. (The person doing the proposing is Fikile Mbalula, who as Deputy Minister of Police spent R1.6 million on a BMW 740i and a Mercedes Benz ML500 with off-road trim and special seats; so no questions about his integrity.) The committee is interesting when viewed against some of the other things the ANC has proposed: the creation of a ‘new person’ (a local version of Stalin’s ‘new man’), a media tribunal to better instil the ANC’s values into society and a national debate on our identity (who we are). Here is an organisation with no qualms about invading private space and dictating to individuals and institutions the values by which they should live. And yet, at the same time, it is an organisation who’s own values and moral standards are in complete meltdown. There is only one thing more dangerous than a government determined to define identity, and that is a corrupted government trying to do the same thing. Even then, the latter should not detract from the undemocratic nature of the former: even if it wasn’t in some sort of ethical implosion, few things stand as a greater threat to individual freedom and liberty than a ruling party which thinks it knows who you should be.

South African Press Association

17 August 2010

ANC mulls integrity committee

Johannesburg - A proposal for the establishment of an integrity committee has been put forward for discussion at the party’s National General Council, ANC organiser Fikile Mbalula said on Tuesday.

“In order to protect the image and integrity of the movement and its leadership, it is proposed that a integrity committee should be established at national, provincial and regional level,” Mbalula said.

The committee would be tasked with looking into ANC members on possible “conflicts of interest” of those who hold office in the State and the party.

Its role would be investigative in nature. The outcome of probes it would undertake would then be referred to a disciplinary committee if necessary.

“This will protect ANC leaders from false accusations and malicious allegations of corruption and abuse of power,” Mbalula said.

The proposal for the committee was being discussed within the ANC structures and the process will be taken further at the party’s NGC in September.

BACKGROUND: As far as I am aware, no one has ever done an analysis about the ANC’s relationship with the Eastern Cape – perhaps the DA should – but it really is the most fascinating (and depressing) thing. The Eastern Cape is the ANC’s political heartland. It is where the ANC was born, where its greatest leaders hail from, where its history is housed. Politically, historically, culturally, this is the ANC’s home. You would think it would follow that the ruling party would have gone out its way to make the Eastern Cape its flagship province – an example of how the ANC in government can make a real and tangible difference to the lives of the poorest of the poor? Not so. Instead, it is the one of the ANC’s most abusive relationships. To this day, the Eastern Cape remains a disaster zone on numerous important fronts. And this is taking into account the fact that you can’t change things over night. Even then, after 16 years, it seems to deliberately neglect and compromise good governance in this province. In all the key indicators: human development, education, audit outcomes, corruption, service delivery, the Eastern Cape bottoms out. Here is the latest example, from today’s Dispatch, about the state of that province’s education department. Just read it. How on earth is it possible to manage something so critically important, so badly, for so long? The A-G says the department should be put in ‘intensive care’, that it is mired in fraud, that it is ‘getting worse day by day’, that R1.5 billion cannot be accounted for, that this is the fifth consecutive year it finances are in a shambles. The ANC itself says the department has “totally collapsed”. It really is self destructive behaviour on a special level, and tells you everything about the ANC’s attitude – not just to the citizens of South Africa’s poorest province, but to the well-being of the ANC’s greatest supporters. I wonder if a single person will be fired?

The Daily Dispatch

By: Mayibongwe Maqhina
18 August 2010

East Cape education in critical condition

EASTERN Cape Auditor-General (AG) Singa Ngqwala yesterday called for the urgent takeover of the provincial Education Department, saying it was “literally in an intensive care unit (ICU) situation”.

“If you look at the history of the department, I don’t think they deserve to be given a budget,” Ngqwala bluntly told the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) in the Bhisho Legislature yesterday.

“We have tried our level best. The department must be taken to the ICU. We have a situation where fraudulent activities are taking place. It is getting worse day by day,” he said.

Yesterday Scopa scrutinised the department’s finances for the 2008-2009 financial year where it was revealed R1.5 billion had not been accounted for and therefore deemed as irregular expenditure by the AG.

The department also did not provide the AG with supporting documents for an additional R2.2bn during the same financial year for audit purposes, among other things.

And the 2009-2010 audit, to be made public soon, paints an equally bleak picture as Ngqwala also could not express an audit opinion.

The latest audit to be released for 2009-2010 is the fifth consecutive year the department finances have been in a sorry state.

Ngqwala said the situation was so bad that R12 million “mysteriously” went missing from the department’s coffers earlier this year.

Ngqwala said allegations had been levelled against its internal audit head, who was now suspended.

“Drastic action needs to happen. It is not nice to audit the department,” Ngqwala said .

Committee members agreed the situation was critical, saying the department needed a complete overhaul and takeover by national government.

Nkosinathi Kuluta of Cope said the department was “completely hopeless”.

“The state of affairs is still the same as it was in 1994. The systems are there, but they are not complied with .”

Kuluta said the national Education Department should administer its budget.

The ANC’s Mzoleli Mrara said the department had “totally collapsed”.

“What makes it breathe are the schools,” said Mrara, who is also the education portfolio chairperson.

He said a new organogram with competent personnel was needed, and it should get rid of managers who were “populists hell-bent to please officials”.

Committee chairperson Max Mhlati , of the UDM, said Scopa would haul the department before several meetings a year to monitor its compliance with Treasury regulations.

At yesterday’s meeting, Scopa rejected the department’s written responses on actions taken to correct anomalies.

It also found that the department had submitted supporting documents to Scopa which it failed to provide to the AG for audit purposes.

Acting superintendent-general Ronnie Swartz said there was already “urgent intervention” in the department’s financial management.

An audit team would meet weekly to follow up on issues raised by the AG, and managers would be served with letters asking why they should not be charged with contravening the Public Finance Management Act.

He blamed the department’s woes on leadership instability, turnover in MECs and SGs, as well as the lack of accountability of managers. There was a problem of “unruly elements” in the department who victimised indecisive managers for taking decisions.

I will provide bags and gloves to those who cannot bring their own. I ask residents and volunteers to bring lots of water with them and some tough shoes. The cleanup will start at 09h00 and finished when we run out of steam, bags or rubbish (whichever comes first).

I have read comments and/or requests from several members of the community in the local media that something be done about the Park – let’s get together on Sunday and do something about it.

The Crompton Park is opposite the Life Crompton Hospital and bounded by Crompton and Sunnyside as per the map below.

– Warwick Chapman (Cllr Ward 18) | 083 7797 094

Comrades, total shutdown of schools continues tomorrow (Monday - 16 Aug 2010). The ff. program must be implemented:
1) Intensify the closing down of former model c and private school.
2) All Regions have rejected the offer of 7% and R700 housing subsidy.
3) The program that will be followed going forward will be tabled and engaged at the Branch Chairs and Secretaries Forum that will be held at Regional Office at 14:00 tomorrow (16 Aug).
4) All SADTU members are expected to partake in the total shutdown program. We will meet @ Ptn Library @ 7H30.
Branch Secretary

I have notified the Pinetown SAPS and Metro Police and requested they protect the schools from being closed down. Please let as many people as you can know, especially those in the targeted schools.

Cllr Warwick Chapman
083 7797 094

During the course of this deployment, assisted by members of the Sakai community, especially UCT, a few lessons worth sharing, which assume Debian as they deployment platform, were learned:

1. Java can be deployed using the Debian packages:
   1. Add “non-free” to /etc/apt/sources.list:
      
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian lenny main
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian lenny non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main
deb http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates non-free


   2. Update aptitude and install Java 6 (more):
      
      aptitude update
      aptitude install sun-java6-jdk

2. Do NOT deploy Apache’s Tomcat and Maven from packages, use the source packages:
   1. Install Tomcat from Apache package:
      
cd /opt
wget http://ftp-stud.hs-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/ftp.apache.org/dist/tomcat/tomcat-5/v5.5.28/bin/apache-tomcat-5.5.28.tar.gz
tar xzf apache-tomcat-5.5.28.tar.gz
mv apache-tomcat-5.5.28 tomcat

   2. Install Maven from Apache package, Debian package (2.0.9) is too old:
      
      cd /opt
      wget http://ftp-stud.hs-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/ftp.apache.org/dist/maven/binaries/apache-maven-2.2.1-bin.tar.bz2
      tar xjf apache-maven-2.2.1-bin.tar.bz2
      mv apache-maven-2.2.1 maven2

3. Create a deployment script which does the following:
   1. Deploys a fresh Tomcat install
   2. (Optional) Patches the source tree with any changes
   3. Builds Sakai with Maven
   4. Copies Sakai configuration
   5. (Optional) Deploys the MySQL connector to Tomcat
   6. Replaces the running Tomcat instance with the new deployment
   7. Copies the skin and other post deployment templates

A sample of our deployment script is available here. The string “SakaiLocalName” should be replaced with the name for your organisation’s Sakai deployment.

The violations in question include an illegal recruitment office with illegal extensions, an illegal mosque with illegal building alterations, the notorious brothels, panel beaters operating in residential areas and illegal car sales. I consider these to be serious violations which must be dealt with strictly in order to avoid what are perceived as minor indiscretions becoming part of a greater culture of lawlessness.

Property owners have been required in the past to break down structures for which there is no building approval and to close down or move businesses for which they have no zoning rights.

I would like to assure all people running illegal businesses and other disruptive activities from their homes, and those engaging in illegal building and alterations that we will catch you and you will be penalised.

As a true liberal, I should laugh at such a comment, but in Africa, considering the post-colonial track record, I most certainly do appreciate the ANC for having taking reconciliation seriously.

However, as to recognising the contribution of the ANC since 1994, I struggle a little more. South Africa should have progressed further and improved the lives of more people than it has in the last 16 years.

The state of education in particular, is a travesty. Education is such a crucial issue to the empowerment of the poor and one which many young ANC members died fighting for. One cannot fathom why the ANC didn’t handle it in the world class manner it did Finance and SARS.

The poor management of the Department Health means facilities and human resources cannot cope with the burden of healthcare and, again, it is the poor ANC voter who suffers the most.

Then there’s service delivery, crime, land reform, agriculture, water and a hundred other areas which government is responsible for which have been poorly managed and are now not serving the country the way they should be.

The ANC was a most noble and historic organisation but its legacy as a liberator and moral compass of the world is being quickly replaced by that of just another a corrupt, inefficient and power abusing governing party.

Any consolidation which takes place will do more for the perception that the is DA growing rapidly than anything else. The ID is at the end of the road and other smaller parties are much, much smaller than they were before and the road ahead is looking bleak for them. If they are willing to adopt the DA’s vision of an Open, Opportunity Society for All and agree to comply with our regulations for the selection of candidates (we want the best people for the job), then they will be brought into the fold.

The rocking of the ANC boat will involve the DA winning far more municipalities in 2011 and in more provinces than we currently govern (1 Gauteng, Several WC, 1 EC). Helen has made it clear we’re not here to win for the sake of winning, we have to win in order to govern well and demonstrate what the OOS4All means to people on the ground when put into action.

“As most ANC-run cities broadly subside and most DA-run ones broadly prosper, the political effect becomes a little like compound interest. You don’t notice it at first but after a while it really begins to matter. A lot. It’s about doing your job – everyone doing their jobs -properly.” – Peter Bruce of Business Day

We will use that platform of demonstrating good good government to win over more voters and hopefully win more provinces in 2014 and show the ANC they no longer have a monopoly on power in South Africa and that if they don’t shape up, they might be shipped out in 2019.

Basically, like it or not, democracy needs balance and thus a successful DA will bring balance to our democracy. The DA’s success is thus South Africa’s success.

Note:
A comment by Zackie Achmat in his piece “Is the DA the racist old National Party in disguise? Is the ANC inexcusably arrogant?“, lamented “the DA’s rigidly free market pro-capitalist dogma”.

An interesting outcome of the Congress was the voting down of a proposal to restate the DA’s committment to free market principles. The proposal was rejected because we acknowledge that interventions we support such as a wage subsidy are in conflict with the rigid rules of pure free market thinking. We are, instead, liberal in our approach to the economy and thus the strict free market rules do not apply to the exclusion of all others.

Like so many things in life, a balance in inevitably what is needed.