One cannot help but suspect that the now recent reports of Anglo Platinum being advised in splitting its South African assets into two has something, if not everything, to do with the country’s ruing party’s (Africa National Congress) youth movement ANC Youth League’s talk of nationalising the Platinum Mines.

Business Day newspaper reported this week of a leading international banking group, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, suggesting that Anglo American “should split into two and separate its South African from its non-South African assets, underlying the poor international perception of the state of the mining industry in SA.”

The split is believed, hopefully in the long run, to ‘boost’ Anglo’s international rating by 17%. “The rerating of the international assets could result in a 17% boost to Anglo American’s total valuation by one calculation, and would result in two London-listed vehicles worth $30bn and $34bn respectively.”

Analysts and investors, according to the report, have suggested that the split would result in “lay[ing] itself open to takeover bids from major competitors if it followed the suggestion” and that government was also likely to “oppose any such split vigorously”.

Since last year, the ANCYL president Julius Malema suggested that the country’s minerals be under the control of the state (read nationalisation) for the benefit of the greater population especially the poor communities. At the time, Malema said: “Our call for nationalisation of mines is in such a manner where the State will own mineral wealth and mines as a custodian of the entire South African population, and not a custodian of few big-businesses. All South Africans should equitably benefit from State owned and controlled mines and we are not mistaken when we make the call for the nationalisation of Mines. We are vividly aware of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) which retains State control of all mineral rights, but what we are calling for is State ownership and control of both the mineral wealth beneath the soil, and the extraction and production of these mineral resources in Mines thereof.”

Many observers, including the opposition party Democratic Alliance (DA), criticised the move as it was likely to have a “considerable (negative) effect on investor sentiment”.

Industrial unions, National Unions of Mine Workers South Africa, have also joined calls for nationalisation of some of the companies. Recently, NUMSA reportedly called for ArcelorMittal SA to be nationalised so as to “bring an end to its protracted steel price war with Kumba Iron Ore”. This after the two were involved in trade war (see fresh reports here) for longer than three months, at the time of writing.

Malema has long called for a 50% share of the country’s minerals by government on behalf of the poor despite president Jacob Zuma assuring investors a while back that nationalisation was not a government or even ANC policy, that people needed to engage with Malema instead. Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu, like Zuma, also denied nationalisation of the mines being a government policy as was suggested by Malema.

Therefore, one hopes that Anglo Platinum’s suggested split into two is not a result of a call for nationalisation of the country’s minerals, an industry in which Anglo trades. This is because if this to be the case or the reasons, the move will then continue to perpetuate and reinforce Malema’s call for nationalisation or 50% ownership of Anglo, Impala and other platinum and minerals companies as to date they are only interested making profits for themselves and leave the hard-working lower-class workers drowning in the high level of poverty we continue to witness on a daily basis. This is despite the millions and billions of profit they help bring in for these companies such as Anglo et al.

With recent Sunday Times newspaper report suggesting that nationalisation is back on the agenda and is to be tabled at the ANC National General Council this year, one waits with bated breath.

But I hope that I am wrong about the reasons behind Anglo’s split and that that is not to be the case nor should it ever be the case in future.

Akanyang Merementsi blogs at Akanyang Africa.

The Freedom Front Plus has laid a hate speech complaint against African National Congress Youth League president Julius ‘Juju’ Malema and even called for his prosecution.

This came after Juju allegedly said the boers (reference to white people) must be killed for they are rapists when he addressed students at the University of Johannesburg’s Doornfontein campus, as reported by the Star. “Kill the boers, they are rapists”, Juju is reported to have said at the time.

Hasn’t he heard of some black people accused of rape before (although some of them being found not guilty, including Pres Jacob Zuma)? Or maybe he does not know any of this because he is “too glamorous, too rich… and too arrogant to indentify [himself] with [the lives of ordinary people]” as Jackie Mapiloko once wondered?

In opposition to the controversial remarks by Juju, University of Johannesburg vice chancellor and principal Ihron Rensburg issued a statement saying while the university supported the  right to free speech and encouraged it in its campuses, it, however, did not condone nor encourage “comments that are potentially inflammatory, provocative and defamatory”.

Ihron said that UJ had first refrained from commenting on Juju’s statements until “a number of staff and students registered concern(s) about Mr Malema’s statements” and that parents, fee-payers and members of the general public had also expressed concerns over Juju’s remarks at the time. UJ, as many have come to know it, reassured members of the public of its determination “to uphold [its] values which include, integrity and respect for diversity and human dignity, and which run counter to any statements that provoke racial, gender or religious tensions”.

It was disappointing and unfortunate that Juju, president of a youth movement that should be providing leadership, had uttered such regrettable words. As a president, Juju should have known better for it is ill-informed statements and remarks such as these that set us back in achieving the one human race we envision.

And despite UJ distancing itself from Juju’s remarks, the ANC’s Gwede Mantashe and Jackson Mthembu have, however, continued to defend Juju. Mthembu said Juju’s words had been quoted out of context and that he should not be blamed as he [Mthembu] will defend him while Mantashe on the other hand allegedly defended Juju as saying the song did not “constitute hate speech” and even “condemned opposition parties that had filed complaints against Malema for singing it” according to a Cape Times newspaper report.

Strange as this may seem (or maybe not?) it will not be the first time that Juju is made to face the music over his controversial remarks he’s popularly known for. Recently he had been found guilty for hate speech by the Equality Court after he alleged that “when a woman didn’t enjoy it [sex], she leaves early in the morning. Those who had a nice time [a reference to a woman president Jacob "Love Pants" Zuma had allegedly raped] will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money”. He has, however — or his half-wit lawyer rather — indicated his intention to appeal against the Equality Court decision, according to the Mail & Guardian. Many commentators and editors have since questioned this and found it contradictory and unconstitutional, if not in contrast to the ‘right to opinion and freedom of expression’.

Pierre de Vos, a University of Cape Town Constitutional law expert said the decision [on Juju's hate speech] was wrong as it meant no one could say “anything rude about anyone” while Robert Brand, a lecturer in economics journalism and media ethics at Rhodes University, wondered if Juju’s words constituted any ‘hate speech’. Tim Cohen wondered how such words could have “explicitly [been] intended to do something as drastic as ‘incite harm’ or ‘propagate hatred’.

In his complaint sheet against Juju, Mulder said “kill the boer, kill the farmer” was declared a hate speech by the South African Human Rights Commission in July 2003 that he found Juju’s remarks as hate speech which is in contravention of section 16(2)(c) of the Constitution of South Africa. “In terms of this section, no person may advocate hate which is based on the grounds of race, ethnicity, gender or religion and which incites action to cause harm to others” read Mulder’s complaint sheet against Juju.

Juju’s remarks are suspectedly linked to the farmers recently killed in Kwa-Zulu Natal according to Democratic Alliance. DA said the attacks came after Juju’s “public appearance, singing a song promoting the killing of farmers” with FF Plus also blaming the attacks on Juju’s “kill the boers” comments. FF Plus has also threatened to investigate “the possibility to lay charges against Malema at the International Criminal Court, or in the least make the court aware of a growing phenomenon of the victimisation of minorities and specifically the Afrikaner in South Africa which could escalate to international crimes”.

One would agree on and commend efforts, despite how this may be seen by others especially from the ANC circle, by FF Plus in investigating the influence Juju’s comments could have had on the killings of farmers around the country however strange it may seem. This is because not once before (or at least as far as one can remember) has a decision, or rather lack thereof, such as this one been taken at the time when many farmers (white) and farm workers (black) were murdered or  killed. Has race got anything to do with this?

Put mildly: is it because many of these farmers killed are white? If not, then forget I said anything. But these remain questions for many South Africans, irrespective of their race, as there is the impression that it is only when ‘white’ people are subject to these unfair and ill-actions that the likes of DA, FF Plus and AfriForum seem more concerned than when it is black people which then leaves many of us wondering if the life or death of white people is still more important and superior to that of black people.

It was disturbing of FF Plus to launch a “Prosecute Malema” website. Just how effective and helpful does FF Plus think the anti-Malema campaign is? And whoever thought the anti-Malema campaign was in the “interest of all South Africans in general” must be as crazy as its subject, Juju. Or maybe this campaign is ONLY in the interest of “Afrikaners and minorities in particular” as FF Plus claimed in its statement.  It is therefore racial statements such as these that will ONLY benefit a few selected members of our society, Afrikaners and the minorities in this case. And if Juju’s comments are hate speech as alleged by the FF Plus why then resort to the racist campaign and not await the decision of the HRC or the Equality Court whose recent ruling on Juju has been widely criticised?

By this I am not saying Juju is right or anything like that. Of course the half-wit youth league president is very wrong and surely there are steps – like previously done with the hate speech complaint lodged with the HRC that saw him being found guilty – that can be taken and certainly not that of the FF Plus that is rather racist and ill-informed. FF Plus can do better that this for this anti-Malema campaign is not going to help the situation (of farmers and their workers’ murders) at all. And instead, the campaign — a sign of firm demonstration and the ONLY language the ANC understands — will only make things worse.

Aren’t there other means that can be used to “prevent him from continuing with his racial incitement performance”? It is however not clear whether FF Plus anti-Malema campaign will put Juju’s life at risk as is alleged by the ANC. “This campaign poses a danger to the personal safety and security of Cadre Malema.  As the ANC, we draw the conclusion that it is meant to incite, instigate and mobilise some people to harm and even lead to the execution the ANCYL President” claimed the ANC.

And as said before, and also noted by the ANC, it remains to be seen if Juju’s remarks “led to the death of some farmers” as this seem too convenient for both FF Plus and DA. Farmers have died before, and who killed them then if they are now assumed to have been killed by Juju or that their murders have been attributed to Juju’s comments?

The ANC saw the campaign as a “clear deliberate ploy on their side to mobilise the farming community and their next of kin not to hesitate in causing harm to the Youth League President” which could be true.

And as advised before, FF Plus should instead approach the “law enforcement authorities” and report the incident(s) for failure to do so, as said the ANC, will be indicative that even the Freedom Front itself does not believe in what it claims.

The ANC will also approach the Equality Court for recourse on this matter because it viewed the campaign as indicative of hate speech meant to endanger and pose a threat to the well-being and safety of Juju, according to the issued statement and that it had “instructed [its] lawyers to file papers with the Equality Court on this [anti-Malema] matter, with immediate effect.”

And it’s worth emphasizing and repeating that its defence of Juju’s ‘kill the boers’ comments has not helped much too for if this continues, as noted Alex Matthews, we might as well kill all black people, gays and women. Does it really have to come to this because by supporting Malema as the ANC has to date, we may as well be heading to war, according to Inkatha Freedom Party.

However strange this may seem, I just could not agree more with AfriForum Youth that Juju has now become the biggest embarrassment of not only [us] the youth, but also of the country and if he has really broken any law when he called for a person of any race to be killed then we should arrest him instead of being prosecuted (or may be later) — he asked for it mos, didn’t he?

Or rather we let the law take its course?

And while we are at it, we must do away with these ‘struggle songs’ as they can be quite dangerous and at times incite fear among us and a sense of superiority as we’ve now come to know.

Akanyang Merementsi blogs at Akanyang Africa.

Where do you start: nationalisation, disrespecting, swearing and even disgust at elders, shooting to kill, and labelling someone a “racist little girl”?

If anyone is to write a biography on Malema – that person would certainly have it both ways. This is because the process, not to forget the subject thereof, would certainly be quite interesting and enjoyable too. I mean, it’s Malema you’ll be writing about and too much should be expected.

Firstly, you are very much likely to have Malema agreeing to the biography wherein he would say many things, a lot of which we otherwise have never heard him say or being quoted as having said. Secondly, it would be funny in that you would hear a different version of his “controversial” statements which at times, have landed him in a ‘hot pot’ so that someone had to call in JZ.

However, what one can say for sure is that Julius Malema is an African National CongressYouth League president who speaks his mind. He does not care what position you hold in government or in the private sector. Moreover, the following are just some of the things likely to be included in Malema’s biography, I hope, by whoever will have the guts to write it.

• He is a “layman” who completed matric aged 21.
• He is, and can be very forgiving. He advised that former president Thabo Mbeki “not be charged” for a somewhat incomprehensible and ill-informed ‘genocide charged’ due to his alleged denial of HIV causing AIDS,
• Last year he said, “Nationalisation of mines was necessary to generate income for the government so that it could fund free education and provide better services for the people”. He recently reiterated that although the ANCYL agreed with JZ on nationalisation not being a government Public Policy, “no one should attempt to stop the… League [he leads] from raising the debate [on nationalisation]“ and that they therefore “don’t want Zuma’s or Mbalula’s support… [but] want the support of the masses” because the white people stole the land from the black majority, and he certainly will not let them steal the mines too this time.
• He can be very  mobilising of society against anyone he deems an enemy, or even corporations.
• He would certainly condemn you as “rascals and thugs” if you likened him to a “Mickey Mouse” probably for talking too much so that he sometimes gets into trouble with the big boss.
• He would eliminate anyone opposed to Zuma, and probably the ANC too — who knows?
• He certainly can be called to order for stepping out of “that line”.
• He can be very generous in giving to the somewhat needy when and as he sees fit.
• He is  ridiculously protected by state as if he is Mandela, Mbeki or even Zuma the president for his life is considered to be more in danger than yours and mine.
• He would tell you to accept the African leadership even when you do not agree with or accept it. Period!
• He believes that Zuma would probably even lead us from prison one day.

What South Africans came to know recently about Malema, except what we may have known before, is that the man is rich. The Sunday Times reported Malema as very rich. This was after the Star newspaper reported of his “millions” recently.

According to the Star report, Malema was able to buy two houses worth 4.6m, cars worth 1.2m and a Breitling watch to the value of 250.00. He now has about 3 cars, and is reportedly a director of four companies: 101 Junjus Trading CC, Blue Nightingale Trading 61, Ever Roaring Investment and SGL Engineering Projects.

When asked by the newspaper how he could afford such a luxurious lifestyle, the militant Malema said the journalist should rather write about herself, her husband and her family. “You and your husband and your family – that’s who you need to write about. You go away, just go away.” Now that’s AYOBA!

The league spokesperson Floyd Shivambu came to the defence of Malema in saying the newspaper was being “nonsensical” and asked if it could “rethink” what it was doing [reporting on Malema and auditing his 'luxurious' lifestyle]. “What business is this of yours? How dare you call me and ask for comment on this?” he asked the newspaper at the time.

DA youth league leader Khume Ramulifho told the Star that Malema is said to earn as much as a minister and “that is why he will not go to Parliament or take up any other office.”

Mail & Guardian Online reported that opposition party Freedom Front Plus was going to ask South Africa Revenue Service to “immediately investigate” Malema and his “real contribution” to income tax in recent years, and the ANC Youth League itself. The party’s parliamentary spokesperson Anton Alberts told the newspaper that if reports of Malema’s lifestyle are “correct” – it would only mean he lived “far above his income” and could not claim to be a communist by trying to nationalise the mines, but at the same time “live a capitalist”.

Given Malema’s response yesterday to SABC News that the ANC pays him well more than what the newspaper reported – then it is worth suspecting that he indeed he is being paid well enough to live this “lavishly luxurious” lifestyle. Or that somebody’s lying. And I just hope it is not the Star newspaper report that is lying to us, but Malema himself to the nation.

And this is your Julius Malema. He’s got a very good and expensive taste: look at his cars, the houses and the watch. Damn! As if that’s not enough, he is also very much protected by state security services, quite talkative and that comes with being “well paid”, I think.

I now have come to know and describe Malema as a “Communist Capitalist”. I must confess to not having heard such a name before or rather know of someone being described as such, and therefore, Malema sure as hell must be lucky to have such a name as names do not come easy for politicians in South Africa. This is because if former Heath Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang would still be alive, I would suggest you ask her on the Dr. Beetroot title and how that came about.

And what’s you definition of Malema? You heard mine?

By the way, I see no reason why The ANC and its youth wing would demand a “retraction and an apology from the Star newspaper as Mail & Guardian Online reported.

This, I think, is because someone – both the ANC and the Youth League in this case – has to prove the Star report otherwise by either stating all facts to the editor who will have to publish it – as it is already in the public domain and has generated “public interest” and is probably in the public interest by now – or write a complaint to the Ombudsman where all facts would be revealed.

But until then…

Akanyang Merementsi blogs at Akanyang Africa.

I have always said that Jacob Zuma would surprise the nation, despite his shortcomings. With all the state institutions against him, he rose victorious and the celebratory inauguration was a testimony to his indefatigable spirit to fight against a system he knew to be partial in whom, it targets. His inaugural speech was a clear commitment about upholding the constitution, respecting dissent, and free speech. He also pledged reconciliation and a cabinet that will be held accountable to the people.

I was still basking in the glory of this rain-soaked event, when Julius Malema declared Helen Zille, “a racist girl”, the enemy. When leading members of the ruling party declare its political competitors, the enemy, it does not bode well for political contestation and opposition, and they do themselves a great disservice when their party has so clearly charted a different path to Mbeki’s regime.

Regrettably, Helen Zille, our new premier, has fallen, hook line and sinker for the bait the incorrigible Malema and comrades threw at her. Having achieved international status as the world’s greatest mayor, it is unthinkable that she would respond to idiots like Malema and the MK veterans, and set the ruling party and the opposition on a collision course worse than Tony Leon had ever achieved. The atmosphere is further poisoned by her appointment of an all-male cabinet. When challenged about this, she claimed that competence rather than affirmative action bean-counting was the motive.

As much as I agree with Helen that race and gender not trump competence, in her instance, the story is much more complex.

Firstly, her choices were constrained by the gender, race, and track record composition of the members of her legislature. Secondly, like every political party, Helen had to reward those who made her extra million voters, her success. That is politics plain and simple. Thirdly, Helen should have told the public less stridently, about this, and that she had recruited black women before the elections already to make themselves available for the party. I was one of those approached.

The Premier should be careful not to stoop to the level of the Malemas of politics. She knows and has had experience of how the ANC tried to topple her when she became Mayor. The game now is the same, if not more vicious. That the MK war veterans threatened to make the province ungovernable; that Cosatu threatened to oppose her appointments at the Equality Court; that the Gender Commission threatened to challenge the Premier, all indicate to what lengths they would go to unravel a duly legitimately constituted government.

Helen Zille, unlike Jacob Zuma, cannot create ministries and split deputy posts to create jobs to loyalists, friends, and women. That is clear. But Helen should not justify her appointments on the grounds of competence, as though there are not enough competent black women around. A more serious issue for me was the response of Yvette Abrahams, a Gender Commissioner, to Julius Malema & Co’s libelous claims, that Helen Zille slept with the men in her cabinet and that they were her concubines. Yvette equivocated and would not condemn Malema outright for his base sexist utterances, proving again, that ye who pays the piper calls the tune. Instead Helen Zille became the villain.

The job of the Gender Commission is to take on the sexist defamatory utterances of Malema & Co against the Premier and show the public that they have balls. Maybe this is too much to ask from a Commission with BOOBS!

Rhoda Kadalie is a human rights activist based in Cape Town.