OCTOBER 31, 2016 - THE DAY SHAWN ABRAHAM AFFIRMED HE HAS ELECTRICAL BRAIN IMPULSES OF A HUMMINGBIRD

Following Shawn Abraham's decision to drop charges against Minister Pravin Gordhan and his co-accused, calls for his resignation will intensify with each passing day.  Even his puerile attempt to blame others for the decision to charge Gordhan and his co-accused will not mute calls for his resignation. 

It is bad enough being one of Zuma's lackeys.  It is worse being an order of fries short of a Happy Meal.   Sadly he does not know it.   He has no idea how shameless he is, especially when his competence level pales in comparison to the mediocrity that surrounds him.

Abrahams will not resign notwithstanding been told he is incompetent.  The NPA is a good place for him, as no one in the real world wants a lawyer riddled with incompetence.

JACKSON'S MTHEMBU'S PLAINTIFF CRY TO DO RIGHT

The centrality of South Africa's deepening political and economic crisis lies in its lack of leadership.  An absence of performance of leadership obligations prevails, exacerbating the social lives of many more people forced to live under unspeakable conditions.

Lack of leadership and its endless deleterious impact on the country was implicitly the catalyst for prominent ANC member Jackson Mthembu to courageously speak out.  He said that top party leaders should step down.  In his view, the public has lost confidence in the ANC "because of factional behaviour [and] because of arrogance . . . "  Arrogance decidedly personified, and driven by Faustian myopic, selfish and doctrinarian collectivism.

Those singled out by Mthembu must heed his call, as they clearly lack the traits of good leadership.  What they do have in common are one or more traits of naïveté, lack of vision, incompetence, opportunism and parasitism.  They have compromised millions of people who are suffering for no reason other than the appalling choices of these so-called leaders.

THE NEWBIE PP - A WIN FOR ZUMA

I was left with a number of misgivings after listening to the new Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's recent presentation to parliament.  Admittedly she is under pressure, wanting to set her own agenda.  But, in doing so, she seemingly denigrated her predecessor, that was well received by the ANC-dominated parliamentary portfolio committee.

Although one should not draw definitive conclusions from her presentation to parliament, nevertheless there is warranted cause for concern.  For example, she joined with some ANC MPs in expressing disdain for the term "state capture".  Whether she was giving a signal of where her loyalties lie, or naively sugar-coating the country's pervasive political corruption, is unclear.  One thing is clear, however, her presentation was heavy on form and light on the mandate "to strengthen constitutional democracy by investigating and redressing  . . . maladministration. . . abuse of power in state affairs".

Inasmuch as South Africa's political landscape is a breeding ground for skepticism, Mkhwebane will have to categorically demonstrate that she will exercise her powers as public protector without fear or favour.  Her presentation to parliament did little to allay skepticism that she would, in fact, do so.  To put it bluntly, her actions since her maiden presentation to parliament are harbingers of who she really is - another dyed-in-the-wool Zuma lackey.

ANC'S ANNOINTED CARNIVAL BARKER

When Shawn Abrahams was appointed National Director of Public Prosecutions, I welcomed his appointment. At last a career prosecutor was appointed to the position.  However, recognising that naïveté could come back to haunt one, I viewed his appointment with scepticism, and as it has turned out with good reason.

Abrahams has repeatedly stated that he is his own man, mindful of faithfully carrying out his duties effectively and without favour.  Nothing is further from the truth in light of a litany of indefensible political decisions ranging from dropping charges against Nomgcobo Jiba, refusing to prefer charges against Zuma, and more recently a spurious charge of fraud, alternatively theft, against the finance minister akin to road kill that stinks to high heaven.

Abrahams, in announcing the charge against Pravin Gordhan gratuitously postured that "the days of disrespecting the National Prosecuting Authority are over".  It had a similar ring to the ubiquitous barker attempting to attract  passersby at a carnival, but whose exhortations fell on deaf ears.

What Abrahams fails to understand is that "respect is for those who deserve it, not for those who demand it".  The train to board for him and the NPA for earning respect left the station shortly after his appointment.

THULI SPEAKS SOFTLY BUT CARRIES A BLUDGEON

It was reported that Public Protector Thuli Madonsela  will issue her findings of state capture on October 14, 2016, her last day of office.

Despite appeals from President Zuma, and the Guptas not to issue her report, she intends doing so.

Zuma and his friends, the Guptas, have long known of the public protector's investigation into state capture. Now at the eleventh hour they have taken her to task for doing her job.  In fact, a lawyer for the Gupta family accused Madonsela of engaging in "window dressing", and questions whether she was leaving "a well-respected office with ill-intent",  aimed at the president.

Vigorous objections by those implicated leads to the presumptive conclusion:  evidence of the selling of the South African government to the highest bidder.  That being so, will the ruling party follow the same pattern of behaviour as in Nkandla:  defending the president and his friends at all costs?

PROPAGANDA MAN

Minister Pravin Gordhan was in London recently to convince foreign investors that South Africa economy "may well have bottomed out".  It was a prediction and nothing more - no economic indicators to support his prediction that the economy would grow by more than 1% next year.  

Minister Gordhan had the unenviable task in proffering that South Africa was ripe for investment opportunities.  To the sophisticated investor Gordhan's "bottoming out" prediction, without giving reasons, was a non sequitur.

If Minister Gordhan believes the South African economy is about to undergo a turnaround, he is not only mistaken, but also naive.  Too many political and economic factors militate against his optimism  - an economy that is structurally impaired, plagued by incoherent policies, dysfunctional state-owned enterprises, crippling unemployment, corruption, and incompetence.  All will combine and result in a ratings downgrade to junk status.

With this in mind foreign investors would be sitting on the fence notwithstanding Gordhan's cheerleading.  Surely his time will be better spent by staying at home, and reining in the excesses of his comrades.

TIME TO OVERHAUL SA'S BROKEN BASIC EDUCATION SYSTEM

South Africa's educational system consists of a complex set of circumstances that remind one of a gunpowder keg.  Provided a barrel of gunpowder is handled with care, all appears seemingly peaceful and dormant until an event triggers an explosive outburst of violence and destruction.  So it is with student 'fees must fall' protests that have grounded universities to a halt.

The upheaval was bound to happen, but not solely on the issue of free tertiary tuition.  There are many systemic problems rooted in education policies that have demonstrably eviscerated the country's educational system. These policies, the equivalent of toxic vapors, have commingled to trigger the mayhem on university campuses.

One unassailable root cause facing tertiary education is South Africa's basic education embedded in a bureaucratically bloated government department with  poorly trained and unmotivated teachers, and incompetent school administrators.  They jointly and severally have failed to meet the needs of students, reminiscent of the insidious educational system that led to the 1976 student uprising.

Year after year the Basic Education Department churns out an assembly line of dysfunctional young people lacking in the three basic R's of education.   The department, unions and teachers disavow responsibility in creating and perpetuating decades of dysfunctional children.  However, they decidedly contribute to the cycle of inter-generational poverty and exclusion.  In addition, they place undue burdens on tertiary institutions who grapple with yearly intakes of essentially illiterate students requiring in-depth remedial tutoring.

Desperate and asinine measures have been introduced by government to turn education around. A prime example is so-called Outcomes Based Education that rewards failing pupils by promoting them to the next grade level.  As a result, millions of children are trapped in a system lacking accountability, poor teacher training, complacent and disinterested administrators content with the status quo.

Shaking the bureaucratic tree of complacency and disinterest, based on personal experience, can be a challenging task.  I was a volunteer at a primary school, run by a not-for-profit literacy organisation, tutoring eight year olds.  It soon became apparent that individualized tutoring was a wasteful exercise.  What  these young people, and likely many others, desperately needed  was cognitive and learning disorder assessment followed by remedial or special needs intervention.  I raised the issue with a school administrator, but to no avail.  Perturbed by the lack of disinterest and concern, I approached Minister Motshega for assistance.  After persistent follow-up requests, the matter was eventually referred to Specialised Support, Western Cape Education Department.

Shortly thereafter a department delegation was dispatched to the school.  It must have not been a pleasant experience for the principal as she confronted me at the first opportunity.  It was neither a cordial or constructive discussion.  Suffice to say she expressed displeasure for being "shown up".  The fact that her basic instinct in self-preservation preempted the interests of the affected children is emblematic of rife self-interest amongst do-nothing administrators.  What was equally disturbing was her threat to disband the volunteer literacy program if I continued to volunteer.   It will be no surprise to learn that at the behest of the NGO I am no longer a volunteer.  Personal agenda and cowardice once again trumped the best interests of children.

As long as bureaucrats persist in dumbing down the basic education system, there can be no realistic expectation of fundamental change.  But, fundamental change is imperative if matriculants are to be equipped with the educational tools to perform in a university environment.  Whether this is politically feasible is an open question, particularly since change will  likely alter the territorial imperative dynamic that bureaucrats in the Basic Education Department selfishly
guard, as if their lives depended on it.  Truth be told, it does!

The presence of pervasive under-performance and mediocrity in government schools is not unique to South Africa. Schools in the United States have had to deal with the phenomenon.  Their solution was the establishment of charter schools which has dramatically improved the quality of education.

Charter schools are public schools operating under a charter between the school and government. Schools are independently run in their operations  in return for greater accountability.  Although publicly funded, a charter school is established by teachers, parents, or community groups.  In return for public funding, charter schools must demonstrate performance in the areas of academic performance, financial management and organisational stability. Equally important charter schools have the ability to recruit and retain high-quality and motivated teachers.

Charter schools raise the bar of what is possible, and what should be expected in public education.  Those who sought refuge in private schools are returning in greater numbers to public schools.  In doing so, they are contributing to an inclusive, positive and growing multi-racial environment for young people from all socio-economic backgrounds.  The introduction of charter schools in South Africa will markedly decrease the racial divide currently existing between public and private schools.

Children attending public schools in South Africa are denied the opportunity to succeed in school, career and life. Government  in partnership with communities across the country can effect change through the introduction of charter schools.

The ANC government has propagated a lie as to its commitment to quality education for too long.   South Africa's young people know it all too well.

South Africa's children do not deserve an educational system that is irreparably broken. We owe it them to overhaul the system, because "if not us, then who? If not now, then when?"