SUNDAY TIMES NEWS BY PIET RAMPEDI

'We need Mbeki's wisdom to rescue SA', says Mathews Phosa (podcast)

Matthews Phosa, former ANC treasure general, on 13 January 2016. 
Image: Simphiwe Nkwali / Sunday Times.

Even as he rejects the former president's washing of hands over claims of a plot against him, Mathews Phosa says the ANC still needs him. He spoke to Piet Rampedi

ANC veteran Mathews Phosa has called on the party to rope in Thabo Mbeki in an advisory role, arguing that the former president's "wisdom" is crucial to help resolve South Africa's crises.

Mbeki, said Phosa, should not be "hanged for one mistake" - a reference to perceptions that Mbeki had mistreated his political rivals, including President Jacob Zuma, when he was in power.

Phosa made his call in response to an article Mbeki published online this week giving his version of events in the alleged 2001 plot, later found to be false, to assassinate him.

Thabo Mbeki insists he had nothing to do with conspiracy allegations against rivals when he was president Image: JAMES OATWAY

Ironically, Phosa was named as one of the plotters - alongside Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and businessman Tokyo Sexwale.

Phosa this week urged Zuma and the ANC to create a council of elders to advise the party on difficult situations, rather than allowing personal differences to trump national interests.

"Mbeki is a great asset to this country and he will remain that," he said. "He is a strategist. He is a good leader. He is one of those leaders who was a shining example of strategy in action. He could find solutions where many people would see darkness."

A former ANC treasurer, Phosa said that despite Mbeki's weaknesses, his leadership capacity and management of the economy remained unmatched.

The ANC, which recalled Mbeki as president in September 2008, eight months before his five-year term would have ended, should "maximise the use for Mbeki", he said.

"Why is he locked up in Sudan and other far places? What are we making him do in this country? We should make use of the wisdom he has in the sense of giving advice on difficult issues, like economic issues.

"He is a very serious economist. He didn't read it from in the streets. He read it from the books," said Phosa.

  

Under Mbeki, he insisted, the economy had performed extremely well - the "graphs speak for themselves".

Asked whether he thought Zuma had allowed his personal differences with Mbeki to overshadow reason, Phosa replied: "My view has always been that if there are personal differences, they should not become more important than national interests because if they [do], then we are acting incorrectly."

Mbeki had all the time in the world as a retired politician, said Phosa, and "all those people in the cabinet are busy".

Phosa said Zuma's sacking of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister was "unfortunate" because it destroyed the world's confidence in South Africa's fiscal management.

"It doesn't matter whether you put Pravin [Gordhan] or you put whomever. That confidence is not going to come back tomorrow. And we all must sink that in our heads. The confidence in us as a country has been shattered."

Tokyo Sexwale was cleared by state agencies Image: Veli Nhlapo / Sowetan.

Phosa, however, rejected Mbeki's assertion in the letter this week that he, Mbeki, had nothing to do with implicating Phosa, Sexwale and Ramaphosa in the so-called plot to overthrow his government.

He said Mbeki's failure to dismiss the rumour plot when it surfaced in April 2001, the timing of his letter and his failure to break his silence while former Mpumalanga ANC Youth League leader James Nkambule and former safety and security minister Steve Tshwete - the two key players in the saga - were still alive raised ethical and moral questions.

Mbeki's letter opened old wounds and was defensive.

"If it was true, he would have said it when Steve was alive and Nkambule was alive. In the absence of evidence we must hold judgment on it. He should have spoken at the time. Why he didn't speak at the time I cannot explain. It's very strange to me and it's a bit of a problem."

Mbeki's failure to reprimand Tshwete in public meant that "he failed a moral standing there", Phosa said.

Mbeki's decision not to follow suit when Nelson Mandela dismissed the claims on the spot was a sign of "weakness in leadership" because he chose to "govern by gossips" rather than facts.

Mbeki's letter denied accusations that his administration had orchestrated the conspiracy claims. The former president said such beliefs were "based on deliberate misinformation" and "gross distortion" of history.

"The Nkambule saga . . . had nothing whatsoever to do with my alleged paranoia, which the domestic and international media has continuously trumpeted for almost 15 years now, to date, based on false deductions and pure self-serving speculation," Mbeki wrote.

SOURCE: SUNDAY TIMES NEWS BY PIET RAMPEDI, 2016-01-17

TRANSFORMATION NEWS

The trouble with whites and transformation in South Africa

By Staff WriterSeptember 12, 2015

 

Frans Cronjé, CEO of the South African Institute of Race Relations, says that young white South Africans must use every resource they have to help build South Africa into a world-beating nation.

According to an opinion piece in the Daily Maverick, Cronjé said that in the media, the concept of transformation has been abused to limit freedom of speech and shield the government from scrutiny.

“The trouble with whites’ relationship with transformation in South Africa is that the term has been so abused and corrupted that it has become a repugnant concept to them. In many cases, it has become a proxy for anti-white nationalism.

“What the government calls transformation is a means to increase state control and erode civil rights,” Cronjé said.

The chief executive said he recently witnessed a group of black private school-educated businessmen complaining about their disadvantage.

“In the hands of certain black activists the term ‘transformation’ is abused to represent nothing more than ‘white-hate’. Yet it remains essential that young whites remain committed to advancing true transformation in pursuit of a just and prosperous society,” he said.

Stellenbosch University has been embroiled in a debate about race following the release of a documentary titled: Luister – showing the lives of students of colour who attend the institution.

The university has since been criticized for being institutionally racist, leading to Prof Wim de Villiers, the vice-chancellor, to come to its defence.

Cronjé said he believes where de Villiers erred in his defence of Stellenbosch is to quote examples or statistics of where the university was transformed.

“It is almost as if the university sees transformation as an event or a project with a budget that must meet a target. However, it is not that – it is an attitude that says: can I use the position I am in to try and make South Africa a little bit better of place for the people around me?”

Cronjé said that he once wrote in a national paper that young whites do have to pay for the evils of Apartheid.

“By this, I did not mean that they must buy into all the socialist claptrap about redistribution and equality. This is a negative and destructive approach to transformation. What I meant is that they must use every opportunity to make the country better for all its people. This does not mean hand-outs or anything as paternalistic as that blacks need whites’ help if they are to succeed.

“What I mean is that young whites must use every resource they have to help build South Africa into a world-beating nation. They must invest themselves in launching new businesses, building the economy, creating employment, contributing to innovation, paying tax, building new skills, and increasing exports. They must work hard to create an opportunity for someone else – especially if they come from a different background.”

“It means becoming teachers, and doctors, and university lecturers in order to help shape new generations of world-beating South Africans. It means as a third- or fourth-generation Stellenbosch student going out of your way to make the first-generation student feel welcome and included. It means intervening when you see a fellow student tapping a black restaurant worker on the head and calling the police to lay a charge of assault against that student.”

He said that he believes that there are many whites who do far more for real transformation than many black business leaders, academics, journalists, and activists – a truth that the white-hate brigade seek to deny.

“Many whites owe their fellow citizens a hell of a lot for the ravages of Apartheid. They can best repay that debt by doing everything possible in support of the true transformation that builds the country and economy to ensure that, for all its people, today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today.”

Frans Cronjé is CEO of the South African Institute of Race Relation (IRR).

This article first appeared on The Daily Maverick

SOUTH AFRICAN NEWS

Why it’s hard to be black in South Africa

By Staff WriterSeptember 22, 2015

Bongani Mbindwane, CEO of mining company Platfields, says that “there remains a whiff of racism directed at blacks in most of South Africa’s news stories” and denying this is not assisting the country’s democracy.

Mbindwane has been involved in a war of words with political commentator and journalist Max du Preez in recent weeks over racial stereotyping.

In a column published on News24 on Tuesday, Mbindwane said that black people go through a life feeling that white people can be very cruel on a daily basis.

“Some, if not the majority of whites, do not carry on this way knowingly. It has been part of life. It’s the way things are. Unconsciously the black body gets ill-treated, abused, looked down upon and simply suppressed.

“Those of us who have a voice are duty bound to sensitise our fellow countrymen to understand that some of the acts they do are, in fact, racist and injurious.

“After saying this, we hope the perpetrator will take a step back, will not argue and will hear the victim out,” Mbindwane said.

He said that, unfortunately, victims of racism are shut down, told to keep quiet or told they are playing a game – a card game, the trump card being the “race card”.

“The use of the term ‘race card’ is offensive, racist and harmful. It aims to shut the victim down, rob the victims of a voice whilst delegitimising their complaint as worthless. Black lives are not a game, there is no trump card. There are real experiences of abuse, oppression and there are great anxieties,” the columnist said.

“It is not easy to live in a black skin across the world…The hardship is racism. Blacks are regarded as ‘black savages’, ‘coup plotters’, ‘thieves’, ‘backward’, ‘lazy’ and ‘corrupt’ among many other very negative stereotypes.”

“Laws have been passed, with our Constitution being supreme, abolishing all discrimination. However discrimination persists and suppresses the black body,” Mbindwane said.

He said that it now operates in a form of economic, media and education segregation. “This combination leads to many writers and the media being desensitised about what they publish. It should be a simple thing to settle if one person says you have offended them and have racially stereotyped them.

“Explicitly racism is gone, however, the victims of racism are still the experts in identifying racial undertones where they exist, be it consciously or unconsciously.”

In a follow-up column, du Preez said he was becoming concerned about the phenomenon where some black commentators, intellectuals and politicians give themselves license to insult the white minority.

“I sometimes get the idea that some of the gross insults dished out are the result of a form of bravado; saying, look what a brave African and militant I am, I fearlessly tell whites that they are evil intruders, rapists and murderers who should go on their knees to thank us for not taking their property or chasing them into the sea.

“It’s as if black people aren’t the overwhelming majority in South Africa; as if the political power hadn’t shifted into the hands of the majority 21 years ago,” he said.

“I believe there is a duty on politically aware black citizens to continue to challenge ‘whiteness’, to assert themselves, to take the lead and tailor our society into something that acknowledges and represents them fully.

“I’m asking whether it is reasonable and fair to expect the white minority to just take more and more extreme and generalised abuse in passive silence,” du Preez said.

The original columns can be found here.

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING NEWS

Skills development worth the investment

 

In the realm of skills development, innovation leads to greater ROI, while the effective management of people impacts on the holistic performance of the organisation - offering elevated ROI in terms of productivity and profitability.

© Robert Churchill – 123RF.com

At the MGIP Conference - Skills Development Laws and Policies Updates, held in the final quarter of 2015, Gizelle McIntyre, director of The Institute of People Development (IPD), confirmed that skills development is an investment; one which offers both short term and long term benefits. With reference to Benjamin Franklin's wise words, 'An investment in knowledge pays the best interest', McIntyre encouraged organisations to develop their workforce in 2016. 

"Audit the employees' current level of skill, plan their development and invest in their skills now. By doing so, your organisation will hold a competitive edge. Yes, skills development takes some investment, but compared to the cost of unskilled labour, it is worth every penny." 

She confirmed that an audit allows for investigation into the organisation as a whole, providing valuable guidance for the development of a unique and targeted skills development strategy and a valuable opportunity to see what is really going on in the business. "The TV show 'Undercover Boss' gives an interesting slant on this, with the same or similar result at the end of each show; top management needs to listen to those on the floor!" 

Example of costs saving

McIntyre illustrated the point with the example of Joe, a fictitious, under-skilled operator that makes 10 mistakes a day, costing his employer R12,000 per month. "If the company was to conduct a skills audit for R3,000, an observation session of R500 and coaching of R1,500 to correct the mistakes identified, it has spent R5,000. Even if Joe continues to make a couple of mistakes a day, the company will have received full ROI within the first month and will save a hefty amount going forward." This is without even considering the positive motivation and engagement possibilities emanating from the exercise. 

At management level, there is no doubt that skilled managers will make - while unskilled managers will break - any team or organisation. "If management itself is hungry to learn, it will pass this learning culture on to its subordinates. As the workforce continues to grow and develop, employees will begin to think 'out of the box', while identifying further skills scarce areas." In addition, managers that are aware of the areas in which their staff both excel and lack are better equipped to intervene when necessary, avoiding costly mistakes or strategic errors. 

McIntyre confirmed that skills development should be applied to all aspects of the company, while fostering an atmosphere of continuous learning and professional development. She concluded with the notion that creativity is key to successful planning, development and ROI. "Designing new ideas allows for an entirely new playing field in the world of skills development. As Steve Jobs said, 'Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things'."

HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

Last call for African Leadership Academy applications

 

Young leaders, aged 16 to 19 years from across Africa, are invited to submit their applications to participate in a unique curriculum at the African Leadership Academy (ALA) before 31 January 2016.

ALA identifies young leaders from across the continent with demonstrated leadership potential, a passion for Africa, an entrepreneurial spirit and a track record of community service and offers them a two-year pre-university programme.

The curriculum includes courses in Entrepreneurial Leadership, African Studies, Writing & Rhetoric and Cambridge A-Levels at its Johannesburg-based faculty. It offers a strong student-centred learning environment that provides young leaders with the knowledge and inspiration they need to develop as effective, positive-change agents on the African continent

For more information, go to www.africanleadershipacademy.org/apply.

Posted on 14 Jan 2016 16:02

HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

MSC Business College offers 150 bursaries, valued R2.7 million

 

In 2016, the MSC Business College, with SABC Education, will be awarding 150 bursaries valued at R2.7 million, reflecting the commitment of both organisations to provide access to higher education to those that cannot afford it. Applications close at the end of January 2016.

© karen roach – 123RF.com

"We are excited by this partnership which is now in its second year. Fulfilling an integral part of our CSI initiative, providing students with bursaries is a great way of giving them the opportunity they need to empower themselves for the connected future, irrespective of industry," says Jared Louw, national marketing manager for MSC Business College.

"Education forms the foundation of people's future. By working closely with one of the leading educational institutions in South Africa, the SABC wants to illustrate the importance of education and giving back to the community," says Danie Swart, head of SABC Education.

The college, in operation for 25 years, has 18 campuses throughout South Africa. It offers diploma and certificate courses in human resources, marketing, IT support, business administration, travel and tourism, accounting and bookkeeping, public relations and project management. 

For more information, go to msccollege.co.za or complete the submission application herestudy.msccollege.co.za

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL NEWS

News / Africa

South African Firebrand Malema's Book Causing a Stir

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FILE - Julius Malema, center, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), arrives at Parliament wearing a hard hat and overall to show solidarity with coal mine workers, in Cape Town, South Africa, May 21, 2014.

• 

Thuso Khumalo

July 29, 2014 10:00 AM

JOHANNESBURG—

The controversial South African politician Julius Malema has released a book entitledThe Coming Revolution.   Malema surprised everyone when his new Economic Freedom Fighters party took nearly 10 percent of the vote in this year's elections. The book and political ambitions of the young militant is causing worry within political circles.

The book titled The Coming Revolution: Julius Malema and the Fight for Economic Freedom, portrays Julius Malema and his party as the answer to South Africa's socio-economic problems.

Those problems include corruption, unemployment of at least 25 percent, poorly operating schools and chronic financial inequality 20 years after the end of apartheid.

Speaking at the book launch in July, Malema repeated his populist stance. "In everything else we do, we seek to achieve economic freedom in our lifetime and that is a strategic vision of the EFF, which we want all members of the EFF to internalize and appreciate," he said.

Economic freedom - as defined by the EFF - would be achieved through a socialist approach that includes nationalization of mines and banks, and the expropriation of land without compensation.  

In the book, which was not actually written by Malema, he does not hide his anger and hatred for whites.  He said they must return the land that they, in his words, stole from the South African black majority.

The message resonates with some South African blacks, who are increasingly disillusioned by the failure of the ruling African National Congress party to deliver basic services, and by seeing the party of the late Nelson Mandela named in one corruption scandal after another.

Malema himself has had his share of scandals, including being arrested and charged with fraud, tax evasion, money-laundering and racketeering.

But his appeal to the poor is undeniable, and that is what has more established political circles and analysts concerned. That, and the anger in the message, his confrontational style and potential for violence.

"The continuation to remove EFF from legislature, through wrong rulings. We will fight. They must never undermine us and take us for granted and think we are kids.  We contested the elections.  We have got the mandate of our people and no one should play with that mandate.  We are warning them," Malema said.

In just his first week in parliament, Malema was thrown out of the chamber for refusing to withdraw a statement in which he said the ANC killed 34 miners who were shot dead by police during strikes in Marikana in 2012.

In a separate incident, EFF representatives in the Gauteng Province legislature were evicted by police for coming into session wearing red overalls and domestic workers clothes.  EFF supporters retaliated with a protest in which they forced their way into the legislature, damaging property and looting.

This behavior has political leaders worried.  

ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe is as blunt as Malema in terms of his disapproval of the EFF's actions - known by their uniforms of red shirts and berets:

"If you begin to see the behavior in parliament today, I can tell you there is a formation that is getting into that space that I think in all forms -- it is Nazi-ist and fascist.  It is using uniforms to mobilize in the same way that Hitler used the brown shirts to mobilize," stated Mantashe.

But at some point, analysts suggest, the EFF must start delivering substance with their new mandate, or risk losing support.

"I think that people are looking at the EFF in parliament, and, in every other platform, to see whether it has a feasible and viable alternative program that is potentially economically prosperous.  And at this point the EFF has not demonstrated that," said Gideon Chitanga, a Johannesburg-based political researcher at the Centre for Study of Democracy.

While the EFF celebrates one year as a party -- with slogans such as "we have arrived, we are here to stay, ours is an unstoppable revolution" - Chitanga said history shows that similar socialist platforms and threats to the rule of law have ultimately failed in the modern world.

SOURCE: VOICE OF AMERICA
WRITTEN BY Thuso Khumalo ON July 29, 2014 10:00 AM

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