ANC GOVERNMENT'S WASTEFUL MISSION TO NOWHERE

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa recently led a large delegation of ministers and business leaders to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Kigile, Rwanda. The delegation's primary purpose was to attract potential investors under the trite slogan that South Africa was open for business. It did not resonate at the WEF in Davos earlier this year, and very likely has fallen on deaf ears in Kagile as well. Realistically what did South Africa's delegation have to offer potential investors? Certainly not a thriving economy replete with viable economic indicators for attracting direct foreign investment. So, on what facts was Ramaphosa able to hail the WEF mission as "fruitful?" Also, on what facts could he represent to investors that positive returns on investment "are almost guaranteed in the infrastructure and ICT sectors" of South Africa? Answers to these questions remain unanswerable - no facts, no data, except Ramaphosa's proclivity for rhetoric over reality. What does not escape one is the wasteful cost to taxpayers in sending a delegation on a mission doomed to fail.

RACIST RANTS & MORE. . .

First it was Sparrow, then Theunissen, and now Jansen, besides being white, have one more thing in common - racist comments against blacks. The response from organisations and community activists was furious and swift, reminiscent of medieval times, but in a figurative sense akin to burning villains at the stake, or hanging them in the public square. Knee jerk lynch mentality may offer some vengeful relief, but it will not lead to a change in racist attitudes. It will take more than visceral reaction to change the mindset of a racist. The creation of South Africa's constitutional democracy offered white South Africans an antidote to racist attitudes. Instead of embracing the "elixir vitae" they paid lip service to the "Mandela miracle" and never accepted the fallout: the end of their privileged existence. The antidote could not penetrate the deeply embedded ramparts of white racist attitudes against blacks. It has continued unabated, but in discreet mode. No more - white racist comments against blacks are now increasingly evident on social media and elsewhere. There are a myriad of reasons that fall under the umbrella of demographic marginalization or representation triggering overt white racism. We cannot ignore them inasmuch as we cannot ignore the causes for black racism. We have yet to learn the need to walk and talk together to close the racial divide. There must be no delay as nation building hangs in the balance.

DEADPAN DAVIES & BBC's HARDTALKING SACKUR

To many viewers Minister Rob Davies must have showed signs of a "deer in headlights" syndrome when aggressively interviewed by BBC's Hardtalk anchor Stephen Sackur. Davies displayed classic traits of transient lack of motor reactions. To those of us who are used to annoyingly deadpan ramblings of ANC government ministers, it was no surprise. Sackur, on the other hand, was clearly taken aback, incredulous, and bemused at the minister's robotic responses couched in ANC collective jargon. Sackur is to be excused for not knowing the ANC's political structure embedded in group collectivism. Individuality is an anathema to the functioning of the collective. The collective comprises a hive-minded group mentality with a loss of individual identity. Watch a group of bees as they coalesce to move as a committed unit to prevent splitting up the hive and losing the queen. Is it any different from the ANC executive coalescing around Zuma, of which Davies is one of the more prominent coalescing comrades? One must conclude that Davies televised performance was well received by his comrades. Not so by international viewers as the cringe factor has yet to dissipate.

OPEN LETTER TO JACOB ZUMA

Dear President Zuma: In the past, through print media, I have excoriated, admonished and castigated your government for incompetence, neglect and corruption, to mention a few systemic problems within your administration. For purposes of this open letter to you, I will assume that you do keep your finger on the pulse of the nation through media outlets. That being so, I write, not to berate your government (as I regularly do), but to urge you to take cognizance of the plight of thousands of citizens living in abject squalour on the doorstep of our cities. You, like many of us, travel on the N2 highway to and from Cape Town. Townships abound on both sides of the highway, abominably unfit for human habitation. It boggles the mind that your government, in more than two decades, has taken no meaningful steps to improve living conditions for these desperate people. Before you protest too much, the installation of fire hazardous electrical connections, and satellite dishes on tin shacks do not qualify as meaningful. For these voiceless, forgotten people the misery and despair continues unabated, despite promises of a better life post-1994. Inasmuch as there is a government program to provide housing, it is a drop in the ocean. You may say that funding for housing is limited, and is insufficient to meet demand. This is not so, as all you need to do is earmark the money saved from stamping out rampant government maladministration and waste. This could be a positive legacy in the making for you - think about it.

FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT & PRAY

South Africa's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is a stand-alone government agency responsible for civil aviation safety. The agency is concerned with ensuring that aircraft flying in South African airspace are airworthy. Although a government agency, CAA is considered independent, manages its own activities, and does not depend on larger government for approval. Its independence is pivotal to civil aviation safety and security. CAA's independence was brought into question after it grounded SA Express for serious systemic problems that were putting passengers' lives at risk. Just one day later, after being grounded, SA Express was Inexplicably again flying South Africa's skies. How could a decision to ground SA Express for serious systemic failures be reversed overnight? One possibility for the reversal was Department of Public Enterprises intervention on behalf of SA Express - a critical source of passenger revenue for the money-losing national airline SAA. Whatever the reason for reversing the no-fly order certainly does not engender confidence in SA Express or CAA. One thing, however, is clear: forewarned is forearmed as simply fastening one's seat belt may not be enough.

RAMAPHOSA DROWNING IN DENIALISM

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa must take us for fools. Replete with empty platitudes, he recently told South Africans that the country's sovereign credit rating would not be downgraded to junk status. One can only conclude that he did so with the upcoming World Economic Forum on Africa in mind, where he and the country's delegation will likewise take foreign investors for fools. They, like us, see through Ramaphosa's self-serving talking points. What Ramaphosa will discover, however, on his visit to Rwanda is that the world is no longer interested in us. True to form Ramaphosa did not back up his "firm belief" that South Africa would avoid a downgrade to junk status. No facts, or statistical data, or divine intervention - nothing at all! This is not the time for Ramaphosa to deny reality, and an uncomfortable truth - the country's credit rating will be cut to junk. All economic and political indicators point to a downgrade to junk status, underscored recently by Moody's confirmation of the country's credit rating at Baa2, but adjusting the outlook from stable to negative. Surely Ramophosa should rather prepare the nation for the onset of extreme economic hardship instead of creating a false sense of hope. Churchill must have had Ramaphosa in mind when he said: "There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hope soon to be swept away".

ABRAHAMS BETWEEN A ROCK & A HARD PLACE

When Shawn Abrahams was appointed national director of public prosecutions, I welcomed his appointment.  At the time I wrote: "At long last, a career prosecutor assumes the position . . . in contrast to previous political appointments".  However, recognising that naïveté can come back to haunt one, I concluded:  "In light of previous appalling incumbents , the appointment of Abrahams, although encouraging, must be viewed with some skepticism".

Others who commented on the appointment unequivocally rejected Abrahams as simply one more in a long line of Zuma lackeys.

Abrahams will now be put to the test following Pretoria's High Court decision on the dropping of charges against Zuma several years ago.  It now remains to be seen if Abrahams is, as he has repeatedly stated, his own man, mindful of faithfully carrying out his duties effectively and without favour.

The prosecuting authority's reputation is in tatters owing to political interference that has severely compromised its integrity.  Will political interference prevail, or will Abrahams have the independence and fearlessness he professes to reinstate charges against Zuma for corruption, fraud and racketeering?

On principle not a difficult decision, but a politically untenable one for Abrahams.