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.

President Jacob Zuma had an affair with a woman who was not his wife. They both had a child, and as per cultural norms, Zuma did pay his dues and apologised to South Africa (and probably his wives too — one just wonders how they took the news) with the hope of being forgiven and forgotten that it never happen. Well, not so easily.

Democratic Alliance Hellen Zille was up in arms at the time, arguing that if Zuma does not like public scrutiny, he should then resign. This after ANC defended Zuma when Zille said Zuma thought he was above the law and could do anything and get away with it (having as many kids outside wedlock as he sees fit, maybe?).

It was after Zuma’s apology that everyone moved on. Or at least so it seemed at the time, until Congress of the People said it would pass a vote of no confidence for Zuma in continuing to be the country’s president.

Zille has defended Western Cape MEC for community safety Lennit Max’s “alleged extramarital affair” after Rapport newspaper reported on Max’s alleged sexual harassment. According to the report Max is accused ‘four previous allegations of sexual harassment when he was still the provincial police commissioner’.

At the time of writing Max was on a ‘paid leave’ – something Zuma told the SABC recently, after his state of the nation address last week, that government would have to take a firm stand on irrespective of which political party one is a member of – pending the outcome of the investigation.

It was very contradictory of Zille to defend Max in saying ‘an extramarital affair between consenting adults in private is not a matter that can be regulated by a political party’.

This, according to a Sunday Times report, was after Max was ‘accused of having an extramarital affair and unprotected sex with a former police clerk, Belinda Peterson’ several times in 2007 as ’she had been unable to pay him in cash when he was her legal representative during a police disciplinary hearing’ Max  unashamedly did all this allegedly ‘on his son’s bed and in the main bedroom’. Jesus Christ!

A few years ago Zuma had a “sexual and consenting adult” relationship with a friend’s daughter – something he is very good and excellent at – while still a deputy president of the African National Congress and South Africa which cost him the former role.

Both Zuma and Max hold high positions in government and surely their conduct as public servants and representatives should be the same. Or shouldn’t they because on the one hand Max is just an MEC who less is expected from while on the other hand Zuma as THE PRESIDENT, too much is expected?

What’s the difference?

Akanyang Merementsi blogs at Akanyang Africa.

You actually did not hear me say this, but write it because some parliamentarian is reported to have told another parliamentarian (possibly the president) exactly that. Now that’s AYOBA!

One says AYOBA because this has never happened in the Mandela time, or even Mbeki time for that matter. And it’s worth admitting that during Jacob Zuma’s tenure as president of the country we are very much likely to see what otherwise would not have been seeing, hearing or happening in both Mandela and Mbeki’s time. Or worse, even during De Klerk’s time — otherwise he would have made sure he sends you to jail like he did to some now-turned politicians and parliamentarians.

Plus, you have to agree with me on this one; it is only here in South Africa where you would hear another politician “fucking up the other one”. Unless of course…

Mail & Guardian Online reported that Democratic Alliance MP Kohler-Barnard was heard saying “fuck” in the National Assembly during a walkout by her party and another political party Congress of the People (Cope) in support of Cope MP Mluleki George.

According to the ruling party African National Congress’s statement on Politicsweb.co.za, George has accused JZ of “leading the nation into lawlessness”. It is not clear what George could be basing his allegation(s) on. But surely it must have been a lot of things that Zuma may have, if not suspected to have, done. A child out of wedlock maybe? Anyway this is not about Zuma, but the “fuck-ups” that are taking place in our parliament of recent times.

The ANC believed the allegation to be as “serious charge that should be brought before the House through a substantive motion”. And it was not long before DA decided to suspend Kohler-Barnard, M&G Online reported.

Just imagine telling another parliamentarian or whoever: “Fuck you!”

It was good that  DA decide to act on the matter by suspending her (see also here) before things got even more damaging and tarnished its image than it already has as that of “sex pest” Lennit Max as an article by the Mail & Guardian’s Pearlie Joubert described him. I mean, what else was she going to tell Zuma, or another parliamentarian — maybe, “Go to…”?

Maybe SASCO president Mbulelo Mandlana is somewhat right and correct, after all, in saying “foul language is da [in] language [in parliament].”

Akanyang Merementsi blogs at Akanyang Africa.

The Daily Maverick recently came up with its version of last week Thursday night’s State of the Nation address delivered by President Jacob Zuma entitled, “President Zuma’s State of the Nation address – as it should be”.

Writing for the Maverick, the ever pragmatic Stephen Grootes presented what in most affable circles would pass as, well, a jolly sensible speech ol’ boy.

Alas, Grootes’ liberal pragmatism sounds wonderful on the surface to the average mug, but, is mostly just pragmatic bloviation embedded in a silver tongue.

While Grootes’ speech clearly aims at something within the realms of reality, and is undoubtedly far superior to what will surely be a dull, predictable, and poorly delivered oratorical nullity on Thursday night, it nevertheless, like all political speeches, leaves far too much to be desired to be considered anyone’s ideal.  Surely the Maverick could have come up with something a little zingier?

Maybe Grootes was trying to be as realistic as possible, given that the ANC actually controls power and that Zuma, not Grootes, would be delivering the speech to a hoard of seething commies, unionists, and persistently irritating Fabian socialists.  Perhaps Grootes was trying his hand at hopeful realism, envisaging what might just be possible for a president that, in reality, will try his utmost to placate the more boorish factions of the tripartite ‘alliance’ while at the same time endeavour to appeal, reluctantly, to those unlovable but ultimately important bunch who actually build and create stuff, business.

Why else would Grootes advocate an exemption from labour legislation for companies employing less than 100 people, but not for those employing more than 100?  If liberalising labour law is good for some, surely it’s good for all?

Why else would the writer bother to insert that start-up companies be exempt from all labour law except regulations on working hours, of all things?  As if employers are a band of rapacious sweaty-toothed bloodshot-eyed imperialists out to replicate the conditions of soot-encrusted 19^th century Dickensian factory-hovels… were it not for those pesky working hours laws!

Why else would Grootes’ Zuma say, “we need to first get everyone jobs, and decent jobs”?  Is it really the state’s job to get us all jobs?  And, pray tell, what is a decent job?

Why else would Zuma in Grootes Land speak of engaging private electricity companies to “hear their concerns and suggestions” rather than scrap in one mighty foul swoop and swish of the pen all existing energy regulation, with a sunset clause on NERSA (the national ‘energy regulator’) lasting approximately 1 day to give employees time to clear their desks, and announcing with immediate effect the sale of every existing functioning power station to private vendors?

To be fair to Mr Grootes and the usually superb, although sometimes compromising, The Daily Maverick, there are a few good points which our fantasy Zuma makes.  Liberalising labour law in any fashion can only be a good thing, getting rid of affirmative action in public services (which I think Grootes subtly implies) is a great step away from utter mediocrity toward meritocracy, and resisting moves to a National Healthcare Insurance Scheme is vital for maintaining any semblance of sanity in the healthcare debate otherwise overrun by excitable lefties envisaging healthcare Cuba-style, where healthcare rocks but nothing else rolls.

So, with that, below is what Human Action thinks Zuma should say to the nation on Thursday night.  Before that, just a few quick points up front:

1. Why do our presidents still give speeches in English?  Zuma should speak in Zulu or Zotho (Zulu and Sotho slang) and any other black-African language that would allow the bulk of the nation to truly understand him.
2. Zuma should split his speech into two parts: One part for the average Joe out there, and one part for the more sophisticated business and investor class.  He could speak English in part two as it is the de facto language of business.
3. Get radical.  Zuma needs to get off that predictable snooze-script and get proper Zulu on us!  That’s right, South Africa’s problems aren’t polite-English-garden-high-tea problems, they’re ugly-deep-guttural-get-down-in-the-mud problems and they require, first and foremost, ugly-deep-guttural-get-down-in-the-mud presidential speeches.  Enough pansying about.  SA doesn’t need stable, softy soft policies that keep everyone happy.  Zuma, while he still has some political capital, should use the speech to ram home what really needs to be done in SA to move past the stultifying political correctness, move past the mediocrity, and move past the drudgery of conventional politics.

The President’s 2010 State of the Nation Address – as it REALLY should be:

Part 1: Message to the People
(In Zulu with English subtitles for TV audience)

Greetings my fellow partners in freedom!  Are you ready for an explosive 2010?!

Amandla!! (response Awethu!!) Amandla!! (response Awethu!!)

Viva freedom, Viva! (response Viva!!)

Viva freedom, Viva! (response Viva!!)

We stand at the edge of greatness my comrades, for 2010 will be the start of the second revolution of this nation!  No more will we be slaves to tyranny.  No more will we accept laws of discrimination.  No more will we accept second best for this beautiful nation.  No more will we accept poverty in our midst.  No more will we labour under hopelessness and corrupt leadership.

My fellow lovers of freedom and freedom-fighters, what started in 1994 must be finished now.  The half-freedom we attained due to the heroic struggles of our fathers and comrades must be turned into the full-freedom that we deserve and deeply desire.

It is not the African way to be bound in chains.  Our slave brothers and sisters broke free from their chains in North America, and all African countries today have broken free of the burdens of systematic racial and imperial oppression.  African’s always choose freedom over slavery and oppression, and once more we must bravely choose the same.

To this we say,

Amandla!! (response Awethu!!) Amandla!! (response Awethu!!)

Viva freedom, Viva! (response Viva!!)

Viva freedom, Viva! (response Viva!!)

We are a people who have always defeated adversity.  At Isandlwana the brave Zulu warriors crushed an invasion of tyranny in their land as they showed that the desire for freedom can be, and is, more powerful than guns and cannons.  Boer men and woman overcame adversity when they trekked inland in search of their own freedom to live and prosper as they pleased.  The 1820 British settlers defeated adversity when a few weather-beaten souls arrived on the barren shores of the Eastern Cape with only a few seeds and no farming implements and by the sweat of their brow made the land produce for them.  And, most importantly, people of all races, blacks, whites, coloureds and those of Asian decent, overcame the adversity of a tyrannical, fascist, apartheid state bent on total control of people’s lives, thoughts, economic actions and morality.  Long may that spirit of tyranny lie destroyed in the scrap-heap of history!

Amandla!! (response Awethu!!) Amandla!! (response Awethu!!)

Yes, indeed, we are a naturally free people, and we will rip off the shackles of tyranny wherever it arises and whatever subtle and cunning disguise it adorns.

To this end I say NO to a government that keeps growing and fat-cats that keep enriching themselves at the expense of the nation.  For too long this government, the government in whom you had higher hopes and ideals for in 1994, has been squandering money, your money, people who work hard every day to put food on the table for their families.  This has to stop today. Indeed this will stop with immediate effect.

• The size of Government will be cut in half in 2010 and tax money given back to those who really know how to spend it – the people.
• The entire government debt of 30% of our GDP will be fully repaid by the end of my term.  It is a trap and drag on prosperity.  Government will live within its means. My Finance Minister will see to it that he scraps all forecasts of deficits at next week’s budget statement.  From now on until the national debt is repaid, this great and free republic runs budget surpluses!
• The current tax structure will be scrapped and a uniform flat rate tax of 10% adopted for all income earners, in line with many other developing economies from the Americas to Eastern Europe.
• Government will fit to the size of the tax collection not fit the tax collection to the size of government!

Along with a smaller government it is time to get serious about creating real employment opportunities in this country.  For too long we have believed the lie that government can and must create jobs.  This cannot ever be true because government doesn’t produce anything and only spends what it can tax.  No, we can only rely on businessmen and businesswomen, from the small entrepreneurs running spaza shops in Diepsloot, to the large companies in our major cities that have helped build this country to what it is today.  These are the real engines of growth and jobs, not government.

These engines of growth need a supply of hard working productive labour that is paid what it is worth.  From today a new reality begins, one where government stops pretending it can create economic prosperity, and one where we finally take the handbrake off the real heroes in our new democracy: the entrepreneurs and business owners who sometimes risk everything they have.

• Following the budget speech from the Finance Minister on the 17^th February, the company tax rate will be reduced from 28% to 10%.
• Labour legislation will be completely scrapped and common contractual law and criminal law will be the sole recourse for business and labour within the workplace.
• There will no longer be legislation governing how much maternal leave an employer has to give, how many hours a worker must work, or how much holiday and sick leave an employer must give.  All labour law scrapped!
• Free adults in South Africa are mature enough to strike up their own contracts and government has no place telling you where you can and cannot work or who you can and cannot hire or fire.  To this end, affirmative action and BEE legislation will be totally repealed.  It is surely embarrassing for non-whites that we feel we have had to resort to the same repulsive tactics in the workplace as the architects of apartheid once did to give ourselves an unfair advantage.
• Unions will remain free to operate as they always have.  Freedom of association is a fundamental right.  There shall be no more need for special laws governing strike action.  Any group of people should be free to down tools and protest against unfair treatment.  Illegal strikes are a thing of the past.  Viva the right to strike for any reason, Viva!
• However, while workers are to have full freedom to strike, they must not forget that their unemployed brothers and sisters who are worse of than them would be very grateful for any job, even their job, and employers have the right to hire their unemployed brothers and sisters in their place should they wish.
• The minimum wage is legalised discrimination and will be abolished as soon as parliament next sits in session.  The minimum wage says that if you can’t produce R1800 per month of value then you are not fit to work.  This hideous policy of discrimination against the most vulnerable and most uneducated in our society must be wiped away and never return.

Our municipal infrastructure is a mess and national basic services are crumbling.  This administration will not make the same mistakes as were made in the past.

• Before the end of my fist term as president, all road, rail, electricity and water infrastructure will be sold and maintained and operated for profit by private vendors.
• Within four years there will be no such thing as an SOE, or State Owned Enterprise, otherwise known as ‘parastatals’.  Barbara Hogan’s primary function now will be winding up her portfolio and taking all these assets off the states books.
• The highest priority on the list will be Eskom.  All Eskom assets will be 100% privately owned within 2 years.

The changes made to our police service have seen an improvement, but if we are honest with ourselves criminals will always stay ahead of us under the current system of policing.  It’s time to put power back where it belongs – in the hands of the people!

Amandla! (response Awethu!)

Down with criminals, down! (response Down!)

The community is the best police force in the country.  How can the police save you when your home is under attack? How can they protect you when they are sitting in their police department and not in your street?  How can they save your life when they are not anywhere to be seen?

They cannot!

• With immediate effect the state shall relinquish control over arms.  No licence is required to own and operate a firearm.  Communities must endeavour to become better armed and better skilled in the use of lethal weapons.  For too long have violent criminals had free reign to terrorise communities.  In future violent criminals will not find it so easy!
• We will with immediate effect privatise policing and will disband the police force entirely by the end of my first term.  There is no reason why privately paid men and woman cannot act in the best interests of their communities and be the first line of defence.

Umshini wami mshini wami
khawuleth’umshini wami
Umshini wami mshini wami,
khawuleth’umshini wami
Umshini wami mshini wami,
khawuleth’umshini wami
khawuleth’umshini wami
Wen’uyang’ibambezela
umshini wami, khawuleth’umshini wami

Part 2: Message to Business and Investors
(In English with Sotho subtitles)
Short and to the point

This is a short message to business people and investors of all kinds.  From the small Zozo maker and his township financier, to the high flyers of local and international finance, our message to you is the same – do business!

Do business wherever you can.  Make profits and hire labour freely.  Invest in productive capital.  We will no longer tax capital gains.  We will no longer tax investment income.  We will no long tax interest income.

As I have said already in part 1 of my address, personal taxes will be slashed to a flat rate of 10%, as will corporate taxes.  However we recognise that corporate taxes are simply passed on to consumers anyway who end up paying an extra tax through higher prices.  People don’t need to pay more taxes than they already do, so within 10 years the corporate tax will be completely phased out – zip, nada, zero-%.

This administration acknowledges that for too long business and investors have been sent the wrong message.  That stops today.  The message is clear, you are free to do business, free to start up a business and start trading without government approval and any red tape.  All capital controls will be lifted.  There is no limit to how much money anyone can bring into the country or take out.  All ‘employment equity’ requirements are scrapped!

Our five main points to business are as follows:

1. We will scrap the inflation target and instead target an unchanging money supply.  This will be part of a move toward a fully gold-backed currency.
2. We will remove all capital controls.
3. The state has no currency policy other than to move toward a commodity backed currency.
4. There will be full privatisation of the economy with no bailouts – ever.
5. Labour legislation is to be scrapped.

Government states emphatically that the business of South Arica is business!  We humbly say to all entrepreneurs and investors that you, along with those you employ, are the true creators of wealth in this society.  Government never has and never will create wealth, and we certainly should not be trying to.

Concluding remarks:
(In Zulu again)

It is the priority of this government to aid each and every citizen, without prejudice, in the protection of their life, liberty and property.  But it is first and foremost every citizen’s responsibility to do these things.  The state is not your mother or your father, the state is part of society not separate from it.  Government is here to govern, not dominate by force or legislative decree according to its whims and desires.

It’s time to finish what we started in 1994.  It’s time to complete the revolution.  It’s time for real freedom.

Viva South Africa, Viva!  Long live South Africa, long live!!

I thank you.

Recent reports that President Jacob Zuma has fathered his twentieth child with a woman he is not married to has disturbing implications for the battle against HIV/Aids.

The three basic tenets of HIV prevention, used to great effect in Uganda in the 1990s, is “Abstain”, “Be faithful” and “Use condoms”.

By impregnating a woman he wasn’t married to, it’s clear that President Zuma ignored the ABC of safe sex. In failing to use a condom, he put his wives and other sexual partners at risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

As president, Jacob Zuma is meant to lead South Africa and set an example. Yet what kind of example is the one he has set in private life?

His actions effectively communicate that it’s fine to sleep around – and without even bothering to use protection. As Business Day pointed out on Thursday, “If he finds it impossible to follow the safe-sex guidelines that the government he leads has been trying to sell to the country’s youth, why should they?”

In a statement released on 3 February, Zuma said, “It is mischievous to argue that I have changed or undermined government’s stance on the HIV and AIDS campaign. I will not compromise on the campaign. Rather we will intensify our efforts to promote prevention, treatment, research and the fight against the stigma, attached to the epidemic.”

These comments are hugely worrying because they show that the president cannot grasp the impact of his behaviour and the kind of example it sets. The HIV pandemic is one of South Africa’s greatest tragedies and a mammoth challenge that, as a nation, we have to solve. We cannot conquer it without leadership. We cannot fight it without safe sex. If South Africans follow Zuma’s cavalier approach to sex, then our horrifying HIV infection rates will continue, and the disease will continue to ravage this country.

The spread of HIV – and its resulting impact on the people who have contracted the virus – has been devastating South Africa for over a decade. I am therefore quite bewildered as to why Zuma would still appear to hold contempt for safe sex. Does a condom ruin his sexual experience? Is it culturally inappropriate or unmanly to wear one? Or does the president get a thrill out of playing a game of sexual Russian roulette?

Whatever the reasons, President Zuma’s behaviour is simply inexcusable. The man did not have to become president; but, as the holder of that office, it is time he accept the responsibility that comes with it.

In his statement on the third, he said, “I said during World Aids Day that we must all take personal responsibility for our actions. I have done so. I have done the necessary cultural imperatives in a situation of this nature, for example the formal acknowledgement of paternity and responsibility, including the payment of inhlawulo to the family.”

But the president has not, in fact, taken responsibility for what he has done. He has not, because he has failed to acknowledge that he erred in failing to be faithful and in failing to conduct safe sex.

As a leader, Zuma owes it to South Africa to publicly admit that he has made a mistake and that his behaviour was dangerous and wrong. He must also ensure that in future his sexual behaviour does not contradict the painstaking efforts being made to encourage young South Africans to use protection during sex and be loyal to their sexual partners.

And if President Zuma is unable to do that, he should resign and retreat from public life. That way his sexual life is less likely to endanger the millions who look to their president to set an example.

Alex Matthews is editor of The Soapbox. He writes this in his personal capacity.

Robert Frost wrote of two roads that diverged into the woods and how his opting for the one less taken made all the difference. As President Zuma applies the finishing touches to his State of the Nation speech, one hopes that he will use this opportunity to take the people of South Africa into his confidence and deliver something which accurately details the state of our nation without needless rhetoric and sugar-coating. It is not too late to change course and steer his government towards the light.

Even a cursory reading of documents such as the ANC’s 2009 Election Manifesto and its 8 January 2010 statement makes it clear that much has been done since 1994. In fact, a brief glance at any street in South Africa will attest to the fact that we have come far from where we once were; yet, juxtaposed against that, is the harsh reality that on that very same street you will find evidence of just how vast a distance still remains to be travelled. It is to the road ahead that we must focus, despite how tempting it may be to dwell on past achievements or failures.

Since his inauguration, Zuma’s performance can, at best, be described as symbolic. He has, among other things, flown on the national carrier, held mass meetings with police officers and school principals, stepped onto the scene of service delivery protests and ambushed a truant mayor, and he has set up a presidential call-centre –going so far as to take a call in person. His cabinet is rather large and some of the departments now sport new names – most notably the Ministry of Police in what he argues was an attempt to toughen the attack on crime. Most recently he has imposed night shift duty on Members of Parliament by deciding to deliver the State of the Nation address in the evening. But has all of this made a tangible or discernible difference in the way that services are delivered to South Africans? For let us not forget that amidst all the obfuscation, the core task of the State is to serve “the people”.

However, all is not lost – just as it never was in the darkest hours of despair during the negotiations towards the 1994 democratic election. The ruling party has correctly identified the pressing challenges that currently hinder our country, namely job creation, education, health, rural development and crime. What they have not done successfully is to defeat these challenges or at least present coherent strategies of how they intend to do so.

Whilst I do not personally presume to have all of the answers, there have been certain glaring errors made by the ruling party and their obstinate refusal to concede where they have erred or accept constructive criticism suggests that the interests of their voters (and other South Africans) are not always foremost in their minds.

The president may easily deliver a flaccid speech which promises everything but offers nothing, and take comfort in knowing that he has failed those who depend upon him the most by not giving the desirable leadership to ensure that civil servants raise their game.

Alternatively, he may break from convention and come out with his guns blazing in a manner that is unprecedented – after all, what is the point of having the power of being president if one doesn’t use it occasionally? Whichever route he elects to take, he cannot complain of having not known what is at stake.

Lungelo Magubane is a fourth year student in the Faculty of Law at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban.

The negotiations that will plot the world’s new climate change framework are less than six months away. But you wouldn’t think so if you listened to President Jacob Zuma’s first “State of the Nation” address. This subject matter, on the mind of every President or Prime Minister worth his or her salt, did not feature in the President’s programme of action.

The closest he came to the topic was acknowledging that South Africa was a dry country and that it required urgent action “to mitigate adverse environmental changes and to ensure the provision of water to citizens.” He also said that the government would work to improve energy efficiency and the uptake of renewable energy. But where was the detail and how do these programmes relate to rejuvenating an economy that is in recession?

If this was an attempt by the President to introduce climate change into his address, he could have at least mentioned this human-induced phenomenon that has the potential to wreak disaster on Southern Africa by its name.

Climate change is not going to go away, hence President Zuma would do well not to cast himself as a denialist. . South Africa cannot afford to wait in responding to the challenges of climate change. The science suggests that Southern Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world. Localised decreased run-off from rainfall, increased frequency of droughts and the change in the ranges of biodiversity all have the potential to undermine our economic growth and undermine this country’s attempts at poverty alleviation.

Much of the warming that will occur is already locked into the system meaning that adaptation to climate change is the initial priority. However, South Africa has one of the highest per capita CO2 emissions ratios in the world and therefore mitigation action is a necessity if South Africa is to be a responsible global player in stabilising the world’s climate and keeping global warming to no more than 2 °C.

There will be no binding emission reduction targets for South Africa at the Copenhagen Climate negotiations, but the developed world will expect some mitigation action from the likes of China, India, Brazil, South Africa and India. But what does President Zuma have to say about this?

It is not as if the previous administration did nothing to prepare South Africa for the response to the climate change challenge. The Long Term Mitigation Scenarios for South Africa clearly outline the various paths that South Africa can choose to follow. We know the dangers of the business-as-usual scenario and we understand what is required by science. The previous Minister of Environmental Affairs also started a gases inventory project and the biggest emitters are now encouraged to voluntarily report on their emissions. And the Climate Change Summit began the process of outlining the action steps that will need to be taken by various stakeholders in the economy and in government.  We have to move to the introduction of climate change legislation at some point in the term of this government.

President Zuma has inherited an economy that is in recession and it is his task to lead us out of it in way that makes us more resilient and better prepared to capitalize on long term growth. The response to climate change is an economic response and therefore it must be fully integrated into economic policy.

Like many other governments in the world it is clear that the South African government aims to stimulate demand by spending. Notwithstanding the likelihood that tax revenues will fall in the immediate period going forward and that government needs to act responsibly, President Zuma should consider spending in areas that will stimulate new green industries. Projects that promote energy efficiency appear to be on the agenda. But large capital projects like concentrated solar thermal deserve thorough consideration as well.

When investing in rural infrastructure and social relief programmes, President Zuma needs to make it clear that such spending will take into account the need to adapt to climate change. The promotion of small-scale agriculture, improving access to water, and “climate proofing” human settlements all need to take into account that the climate of today will not necessarily be the climate of tomorrow.

President Zuma also needs to take us into his confidence about how his government intends to approach the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen. We face the prospect of a new lead Minister, Buyelwa Sonjica, who has no history in these negotiations and is unlikely to understand the dynamics. I have been told by one senior civil servant of a G8 country that there is considerable consternation that Minister Van Schalkwyk will not be at Copenhagen. Despite his numerous faults, Van Schalkwyk knew the negotiation process well. He had established a rapport with other Ministers and he was regarded by many G8 countries as a bridge between the developed economies and the major emerging economies.

Minister Sonjica deserves her chance to show what she can do, and she has no doubt inherited the majority of the negotiating team that Van Schalkwyk had at his disposal, but I cannot shake the feeling that Sonjica’s explicit focus as Minister is going to be on water. It is obviously not a case of “either or”. Climate change and water are both important.

Will South Africa push the developed world to take up ambitious emission reduction targets? We don’t know because President Zuma does not think climate change is an important topic for State of the Nation address.

It is now the responsibility of Parliament to hold President Zuma to account for what he has said and what he has not said. I will certainly be asking questions on what his government will do tackle climate change. I hope other MPs will join me.

Gareth Morgan is the DA shadow Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs.

I have finally decided to break my self-imposed silence on our recent elections.

The first thing I would like to do is congratulate our new president, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. Whatever one thinks of the man, you have to admire how he managed to clear every single obstacle in his way. I know that many people have mixed feelings about him. Whatever you feel for the man, it is imperative we support him because if we don’t we won’t be able to solve the unemployment problem.

It is for this reason that I believe we need to look forward to his success as president. If he fails, we fail. If he is a disaster, we become one. If he succeeds, you succeed. Wishing him to fail will be counter-productive to the goals we have as a country. We have to put the country above whatever personal feelings we may have towards him. Our support does not mean we blindly follow every decision he makes.

As some of you may or may not know, and in the interests of full disclosure, I would like to point out that I campaigned for and voted for Cope.

It is a mistake for Cope supporters to wish that the president or his government fail. Our success as a party should not be built on the failures of the ANC but rather on our ability to communicate a superior message and an improved articulation of our positions. To wish that the government fails so that we can succeed is self-defeating. It puts party before country. We cannot afford that. When Barack Obama took over, one of America’s most famous conservative radio talk-show hosts, Rush Limbaugh, said he wanted Obama to fail. Of course, if Obama does fail Limbaugh will not suffer because he is a multi-millionaire but those people who lose their homes will feel the failure.

During these past few months I have become a born-again South African. We live in a truly beautiful, surprising, resilient country. My faith in this country was renewed by the debates I saw, the interest young people showed in politics for the first time. We live in a new South Africa again. It is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But it is being perfected every day by those who know they have a responsibility to the country, by those who know their success depends on the political success of the country.

There is something remarkable about how the ANC achieved its overwhelming victory. And I am not talking about the huge percentage it got. I’m talking about the small percentage it did not.

Think about it. They needed less than 1% to achieve a two-thirds majority. So, what is so remarkable about that you may ask? They could have cheated so easily just to get that, yet they chose not to. That is evidence that we live in a true democracy. This small, yet great, temptation was resisted. This achievement must be commended. We just have to be grateful our votes weren’t counted by M-Net. On the flipside one can also say why congratulate them on doing the right thing? As Chris Rock once said: “Some men like to brag about never having been to jail. Well, you’re not supposed to go to jail!”

So what’s next? We cannot talk about what’s next before we have talked about what has been. The future is always connected to the past. We should not talk about the future while we forget about the past. It is often said, “forget the past”. “No,” I say. To remember the past is to pay tribute to the future. The past may shape us but we decide who we become. Maybe the real question is what kind of a people are we deciding to become? We are either shackled by the past or freed from it. We are either shaped by it or we use it to shape the future. The choice ladies and gentlemen is ours. First as individuals, then as a people. The destiny of this country is not written for us. We chose the kind of future we want. And the people chose a Zuma future.

As a people we need to realise that we come from different pasts but what we all want is the same future — a better one. I would like to drive through Khayelitsha without being assaulted by shacks all dressed up in poverty and nowhere to go. Many of the residents there see a bleak future for themselves, a vicious, poverty-stricken future, with no way to escape, except through crime, drugs and violence. The social consequences of this endemic poverty are too depressing to enumerate. We don’t want that to happen. We want to see all South Africans employed. And we as South Africans can have solutions to these problems, they are not going to take a generation to solve, but we can’t just close our eyes and pretend there is no problem.

If there is one man living in a shack, then I am not yet free. If there is a farm worker who still endures being called a “kaffir” by his bass on a daily basis then I am not yet free. If there is a white farmer killed simply because he is white then I am not yet free. We are not free. If I bribe a traffic officer for my freedom, then I am not free. All of us are still striving towards freedom.

We have to hold our government accountable. We must question them without fear or favour. We need a youthful, respectful academic militancy. We need to cultivate the celebration of intellectualism. There has been a rise of anti-intellectualism in our political discourse. Anti-intellectualism is something new, we cannot accept it and to abandon it is to insult the Sol Plaatjies, Oliver Tambos and Steve Bikos who celebrated intellect.

For us to turn this into an extraordinary country will take a few ordinary people to take ordinary steps. If we all do what we are supposed to do, what we must do, we can turn this into an extraordinary country. Small things like not jumping a red robot. Refusing to bribe a traffic officer, refusing to bribe that home affairs official, demanding good, not great, just good service at the restaurant. Doing our best at work. Starting a business instead of being employed. All these small ordinary actions will turn us into an extraordinary country. If we have high ethical standards for ourselves, then we have every right to have high expectations of our leaders. But as long as we continue to cut corners, lie, cheat and bribe, we deserve the leaders we get.

So, what is next? The truth is we don’t truly know what is next. None of us are prophets. The important thing is we all know what needs to be done. But what’s even more important is doing what needs to be done. What young people need to do is turn us into a generation that future South Africans will talk about, we should be a tribute to the 1976 generation that fought despite insurmountable odds. The odds we face today are nothing like the ones they did. Maybe we are not desperate enough to see a great South Africa. Maybe we are too comfortable to change anything. Maybe we are not restless enough. Natives of South Africa, be restless, the country needs you to be.

Khaya Dlanga was named Africa’s top Digital Citizen Journalist in 2008.

“Everything changes but change itself.”

– John F. Kennedy

In a world where we hold onto the good of the past, weather it be rumbling through second-hand clothing stores, that family secret recipe or upholding the tradition of opening the door for lady, change will always come and has come. Living in a country that has gone through so much in our 15 years of democracy allows us as South Africans to see the potential that change can bring. If a boy from a town at the tip of Africa can move a black and white nation into one that is now multi-coloured and make the world believe that change of mindset can bring new beliefs, practices and forgiveness, who can doubt the potential of change.

As a first time voter I stood in a booth and made my mark hoping for a change but instead I got a leader who I’m suppose to respect and take seriously but can’t due to his beliefs, disengagement with my generation and culture, and dance moves. In his inauguration speech our new president stated “Compatriots, today, we enter a new era in the history of our nation, imbued with a resolve to do everything within our means to build a better life for all our people.” This statement calls for a huge amount of change in terms of poverty, corruption, HIV/AIDS and crime. And if, like me, you are a believer of words we have a lot of change to look forward to. I have hope that this change is an opportunity for our president to prove himself to the non-believers of words, an opportunity to change the views of those South Africans who have laid shameful eyes on him and an opportunity for South Africans to embrace change.

Lara Moses believes in looking at the brighter side.