Dogs Bark. Caravan Must Move On.

The Resolutions of the 52nd National Congress of the ANC (Polokwane, Limpopo Province, December, 2007) have been published. The amended Constitution and the amended Strategy and Tactics document are still to come. The first of the nine resolutions, on Organisational Renewal, is linked below. In size, it accounts for about one quarter of the volume of all the resolutions taken together (11 pages out of 45). It needs to be studied in detail, so that it can live.

Two centres of power? No leadership? It sounds familiar, but it’s the DA we are talking about for the moment, and the two leaders in question are Helen Zille and Sandra Botha. See the second item for a snapshot of the DA, the party of the living dead.

And then there are the insects. Scorpion Ivor Powell, once a Mail & Guardian arts journalist, doing reviews of snobby picture exhibitions and the like, is a guy who nowadays hangs out with gangsters, such as the head of the “Americans” gang. See the next two items for details of his arrest. He is presently out on R1000 bail having been charged with driving under the influence of drink, and defeating the ends of justice.

The police (SAPS) cannot prosecute and are not allowed to engage advocates of their own. They are obliged to go to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), owners of the Scorpions, to ask them to prosecute any case. Once the case is in the hands of the NPA, the latter are at liberty to withdraw it again, which is what they did with Gerrie Nel’s case. Now we will see what happens with this other NPA character, Powell. Will it be another instance of “case withdrawn”? More than likely, it will.

The SACP Johannesburg Central Branch has issued its 2008 schedule. See the link below. So has the Communist University. We still await the Year Planners of the national SACP, ANC, and COSATU. Even without the dates of the Alliance partners, the year’s diary is beginning to look busy. Click on the bottom line below for the “Coming Events” page, wherein any line can be clicked for further details of the event that it advertises.

David Gleason’s famous “Torque” column is available nowadays from a web site, on subscription, here. The trailer for the column this week says: “The Eskom farrago underlines the extent to which President Thabo Mbeki’s nine-year tenure has been such a comprehensive disaster, both for his party, the ANC, and South Africa”.

No legacy, then, for Comrade Mbeki. He hopes for rescue (see illustration) but none will come. The best thing he could do for us is to resign, quickly. He will not, and cannot, deal decisively with the Eskom crisis. His presence merely interferes with the ability of the new leadership to take command, as it must do if we are to have relief. Waiting another eighteen months for a firm hand on the wheel is a terrifying, risky prospect. Let the man go, now! Let the caravan move on, without delay.

Click on these links:

ANC 52nd National Conference 2007, Organisational Renewal (7434 words)

DA caucus split as dual leadership sows discord, Ensor, B Day (556 words)

Another top Scorpion held, Maughan and Mtyala, The Star (512 words)

Top Scorpion arrested for drunk driving, Sapa, Mail and Guardian (327 words)

SACP Johannesburg Central Branch 2008 Schedule (schedule)

Coming Events