Revolution Not Succession

The Sunday Times broke the story about ministerial interests in “the poverty alleviations scheme know as the Gautrain” (as Vukani Mde called it in his Weekender “Political Diary”), two weeks ago. But it is their rival the Sunday Independent which is running with it. Christelle Terreblanche and Thokozani Mtshali together bring the story to the boil around the central point: Should ministers or their spouses be having business interests, or not? See the first article linked below for the argument and a lot of detailed information. All the Sunday Times carried was some references in the Hogarth column (linked below) to the SACP’s Umsebenzi Online article on the subject. The Sunday Times also carried an article (linked below) by Xolani Xundu and Paddy Harper that shows signs of rebellion by these journalists against the relentless “framing” by editors of the “succession struggle” as “Zuma vs Mbeki”. It is clear from their article that they can see that the players do not so easily fall into “camps”. It is even possible that they see that the whole premise is thoroughly false, and that South Africa’s politics today are not about “succession”, as in continuation of the status quo, but rather about a general revulsion against such a conservative “succession”. Even the article that makes the Weekender’s front page banner, although stereotypically headlined: “Don’t you dare charge Zuma again, warns Vavi”, on closer reading shows awareness among another lot of journalists that what is going on is much more than a “Zuma affair”. See the link below. Elsewhere in the Weekender is a rare piece of bad press for the multi-millionaire businessperson and once-and-would-be-future politician Tokyo Sexwale, saved for years and written down at last by Jacob Dlamini. They say you should keep friends with people on the way up, because you meet them again on the way down. Sexwale was foolish enough to threaten Dlamini, and Dlamini did not forget it. On Friday Terry Bell in the Business Report did some justice to the position of the cleaners in South Africa House, our High Commission building in Trafalgar Square, London. These workers have been refused recognition and negotiating rights as trade unionists. The cleaners are organised by the Transport and General Workers Union. See the link below. Click on these links: Ministerial business links, business spouses, Terreblanche, Mtshali, Sindy (1514 words) Hogarth on social ties, 061217 Sunday Times (340 words) Bruising battle on road to Limpopo, Xundu and Harper, Sunday Times (1258 words) Vavi - Dont you dare, Brown, Mde, West, Musgrave, Weekender (930 words) Tokyo cried and became a media darling, Jacob Dlamini, Weekender (881 words) London pickets focus on fresh SA atrocity, Terry Bell, Business Report (857 words)