St. Nelson’s Legacy; Neo-Apartheid and the South African Miners Massacre

Thomas C Mountain

As the legendary life of South African leader Nelson Mandela draws to a close his legacy to his people has been brutally splashed across television screens worldwide showing neo-Apartheid police firing automatic weapons into crowds of striking African miners, killing two score or more and wounding nearly a hundred.

Every day crushed, broken and lifeless bodies of Africans are dragged from hellholes under the earth, joining a list of untold thousands who gave their lives enriching the bank accounts of western “shareholders” of gold, platinum and diamond mines in South Africa.

Working up to a mile underground, 10, 12 or more hours a day, where the very stones they bring crashing down are almost to hot to touch, and all for a dollar or two an hour.

With platinum in oversupply and prices steadily falling a British boardroom tightened the screws with safety slashed and workers, neo-Apartheid slaves really, pushed past their limit.

Last week the inevitable happened and Africans stood tall, downed tools and marched in the open air demanding to be treated as humans. Why risk our lives everyday yet not be able to provide a future for our children, to even afford to pay for their school fees they cried out.

And the answer given to them by their neo-Apartheid masters was no different than that received by their forefathers this century or more past, bullets shedding more African blood.

Only this time it was an African supposedly in command, with Africans standing side by side with Boers and Englishmen that fired weapons that massacred their erstwhile brothers.

While for the Africans slaving away everyday in the western owned mines life since the worst days of the Apartheid state has seen only small improvements, for the new, black, South African elite life has never been better.

Living in white neighborhoods, sending their children to white schools, sitting side by side at the tables of power with those they previously addressed as “baas”, the legacy of St. Nelson has been a true golden reward for some.

Today the servility of the neo-Apartheid African elite on behalf of their western masters has gone beyond all discretion.

It was the South African UN Ambassador, a black man, who cast the crucial vote allowing NATO to institute a “no fly zone” over Libya that saw the massacre by western air forces of 80,000 Libyans, or more.

It is a dark hued South African woman who sits as UN Commissioner of Human Rights who keeps under lock and key a report on the western funded genocide in the Ogaden, under the direct orders of Gayle Smith, a white woman in the White House, USA.

It is a black South African, former wife of the current President, who so proudly presides over the African Union soldiers enforcing their marching orders from Pax Americana, carrying out the occupation and slaughter of Somalis in Mogadishu.

While on her way to her AU installation ceremony in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Ms. Zuma must have made sure not to look out of the tinted, bullet proof windows of her limo so as not to catch sight of the hundreds of thousands of her fellow Africans in the streets surrounding the AU headquarters, protesting the high crimes and genocide of her by then comatose host, Meles Zenawi.

This past thursday saw black South African blood spilled once again but at least this time it was spilled by Africans standing up as men, in the open air, not dying an ignoble death deep in the bowels of the earth. Fighting for a future for their children, fighting against the racially mixed agents of violent enforcement of the neo-Apartheid legacy of St. Nelson, former President Mandela, the first black president of a “free, democratic” South Africa.

Thomas C. Mountain was active in the anti-Apartheid movement and represented the USA at the 1st Asia-Oceania Anti-Apartheid, Anti-Racist Conference in Tokyo, Japan in 1988. Today he is the most widely distributed independent journalist in Africa, living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006. He can be reached at thomascmountain at yahoo dot com.

MAD campaign ends

Fifty two people, three community organizations and a local school benefitted from the last Pick ‘n Pay Ramadan Make A Difference Campaign (MAD), which ended off on a high note at PNP Ottery on Friday afternoon. The grand finale saw a total of 62 people from various organizations and the Muslim community receive a small boost from the fifth campaign held over the last four weeks of Ramadan. Among the organisations were Little Fighters Cancer Trust and Vision Child and Youth Centre.

Mariam Barnes, who runs a feeding scheme in Mitchell's Plain, participated in a trolley dash held in store. Barnes was nominated by Koelthoem Khan who told VOC that Barnes and her children sell newspapers every Sunday come rain or shine and use the profit they make to buy ingredients for soup or food. The feeding scheme is run in Montrose Park. They then hand this out to those in need in their community, said Khan, adding that they do not have sufficient equipment and at times they borrow what they need from local businesses in the area.

The initiative which is mainly run by her children has been in operation since July last year and they also donate three pots of food to the Monteclar Place in Mitchells Plain. “This is not really my initiative but rather that of my children who are aged 11 and 12 and I am only supporting them. This allows them to see that not everyone is privileged enough to just open a fridge or pour them a glass of water,” said Barnes.

Barnes added that they are not registered as an NGO and that Mustadafin is already working in the area which means they do not have any sponsors. “When I was working I used to contribute towards the kitty from my own pocket. If we do not have money to buy gas or electricity we cook food on an open fire,” explained Barnes.

The groceries donated by PNP on Friday will be used to cook a meal for the community after Eid ul Fitr. Another recipient of PNP’s goodwill during this month was Grassdale High School who offers Hospitality as a subject. They were given a fridge to the value of approximately R4,000. The Acting Principal of the high school, Alperius Ellis said the fridge which they are currently using is 30 years old.

Sadie Ellie, who teaches the subject, said that the new fridge will go a long way in helping the learners improve on their current grades. “The fridge that we currently use is nearly 30 years old and ices up completely. This means that the food which needs to be refrigerated does not always last. We need a fridge to store the fresh produce and this will help the learners to improve their culinary skills,” said Ellie.

Mark Jennings, PNP marketing manager, told VOC the MAD campaign is in its seventh year. “The campaign was started seven years ago by Jonathan Ackerman and has been running ever since. The month of Ramadan is a very holy time of introspection and spiritual renewal. We wanted to make a difference in the lives of the needy with the help of Voice of the Cape listeners,” said Jennings.

Every week gift vouchers to the value of R10,000 is given away to individuals in the community nominated by loyal VOC listeners. “R40,000 of gift vouchers and other items are given away over a period of four weeks, but this year it was decided to double that amount to R80,000.” According to Jennings, this campaign forms of part of their corporate social responsibility programmes. “There is a great need out there and social responsibility is part of Pick n Pay’s DNA," he said.

In addition to the trolley dashes and fridge which was handed over, 40 food hampers were also distributed to those nominated by VOC listeners during the MAD campaign. While R80,000 was spent on goodwill this Ramadan, Jennings said they are not able to help everyone in need. “There is a great need in the community and during this campaign we have not been able to help everybody who was nominated during this year’s campaign,” said Jennings. VOC (Dorianne Arendse)

Cosatu holds press conference on strike action

The planned protest action by the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in the Western Cape on Wednesday has been suspended for now. The announcement was made by trade union Cosatu at a media briefing held on Tuesday at Community House in Salt River. I spoke to the provincial secretary for Cosatu in the Western Cape, Tony Ehrenreich about the decision to call off the protest action on Wednesday...

**This was first broadcast on Voice of the Cape's Breakfast show**

ANCYL protest suspended

The planned protest action by the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in the Western Cape on Wednesday has been suspended for now. The announcement was made by trade union Cosatu at a media briefing held on Tuesday at Community House in Salt River. The provincial secretary of Cosatu in the Western Cape, Tony Ehrenreich said the suspension of the protest action came after the trade union met with the ANCYL. Last week the ANCYL marched on the office of the Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille and handed over a memorandum highlighting their demands for better service delivery.

“Cosatu urged youth league to suspend any action until the parties have engaged, and the DA should provide feedback to the ANC youth League by the end of this week to ensure that dialogue is given a chance ahead of conflict and further protest. ”Ehrenreich said instead they will be engaging with the City of Cape Town on the pace of service delivery in the province. Recently Cape Town has experienced a flood of service delivery protests, with the most recent one taking place in Khayelitsha last week.

According to media reports last week, the youth league had also threatened to render the province ungovernable should their demands not be met by Tuesday. This prompted Zille as well as the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia De Lille to lay criminal charges against the ANCYL as well as Cosatu. “The failure of the DA to engage with communities on their desperate circumstances is a matter of grave concern and this arrogance is not the kind of leadership we require in these difficult times.”

Ehrenreich said Cosatu will not be involved in any protest action and that they were not party to the memorandum handed over to provincial government last week. “It is completely misplaced of the DA to site Cosatu as a respondent in any claims that they may have made. We believe that this an attempt to further divide and also an attempt to undermine a legitimate attempt right to protest that many organizations have,” added Ehrenreich.
Solutions

Ehrenreich told VOC News that solutions can easily be found to the service delivery protests. He maintains that the main reason for the lack of service delivery is a lack of political will. The unwillingness of the Democractic Alliance (DA) to engage with community organizations and sections of the community that they see as being historically ANC based organizations is one of the stumbling blocks to effective service delivery.

“They have got to get away from this prejudice and this bias. Leadership brings with the responsibility of engaging with even those whom you disagree upon. We want to urge political maturity so that we find solutions in the best interest of the community.” Ehrenreich added that on numerous occasions they have told the City that there are other sites of public land that is available that can be used to relocate residents living in informal settlements.

During winter in Cape Town, informal dwellings are often left water clogged or burnt down as residents try to keep warm or cook food. “Many of these sites are in wealthier, mainly white areas and the DA and the City of Cape Town refuses to move poor communities into what has been a historically white area, so it is that prejudice that stops us from finding long term solutions,” he said.
Threats

Meanwhile, De Lille on Tuesday said they would not be deterred by threats to disrupt a public meeting scheduled to take place in Khayelitsha in the evening. “I have received credible information from security services that there are plans in place to disrupt an Integrated Development Plan (IDP) report back session to be held in Khayelitsha. I wish to make it very clear that the City of Cape Town will not be deterred by such threats and that we will not allow any part of the City to be turned into a no-go zone,” said De Lille in a statement.

She was adamant that the public meeting will go ahead, but added that the threats cannot be viewed in isolation from the calls made by the ANCYL to make the City and Province ungovernable through disrupting transport routes and other forms of civil disobedience. “I would like to appeal to the leadership of the ANC as well as all other community organisations in the area to help ensure that tonight’s meeting goes ahead free of any form of disruption,” said the Mayor.

The meeting in Khayelitsha will be the last in a series of public meetings held by the Mayor and the Mayoral Committee across the City over the last month. Similar meetings have already been held in Mitchells Plain, Grassy Park, Strand, Atlantis and Kraaifontein. De Lille explained that the purpose of the meetings is for the political leadership of the City to report back to communities on how the extensive input into the IDP has been carefully considered used to ensure optimal service delivery in the metro.
Funding

De Lille said the following service delivery targets will be unveiled at the meeting in Khayelitisha:

- Each ward in Khayelitsha will receive R700 000 for funding of local projects such as the upgrading of community facilities.
- Wards in Khayelitsha will receive part of the R10,000,000 additional allocation as per the Mayoral Redress Program.
- The provision of free call lines to report service delivery complaints.
- The extensive provision of free basic services to the indigent.
- R20 million job creation project through area cleaning.
- R9,000,000 allocated to improve health facilities, including a new clinic in Town 2 and the expansion of the Luvuyo clinic.
- R3,275,196 allocated to enhance the provision of Anti-Retroviral medication.
- R7,500,000 for an upgrade to the Vuyani Market.
- R1,000,000 for an upgrade to the Site C Meat Market.
- R2,000,000 allocation for the Monwabisi Chalet Development.
- Over R500,000 set aside for traffic calming measures.
- R8,000,000 for the revamping of Solomon Mahlangu Hall
- R2,500,000 for an upgrade to the Khayelitsha Wetlands.
- R300,000 for a new swimming pool in Site B.
- R22,000,000 for a new regional library in Kuyasa.
- R8,818m048 for the construction of the Harare Square Business Hub.
- Upgrades of the sewer network and water supply at a cost of over R10,000,000.
- Updates on electrification in RR Section, DT Section, Enkanini, QQ Section and Site C.
- A comprehensive update on all forms of housing projects currently under construction and being planned for Khayelitsha. VOC (Dorianne Arendse)