SOUTH AFRICAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION OUTCOMES - ANC THE BIG LOSER - MESSAGE TO JACOB ZUMA!

South Africa has just had one of the most extraordinary elections in the short history of democracy from 1994.

When Nelson Mandela was elected to be president after the first democratic elections in April 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) had an enormous majority, winning with about 66 percent of the popular vote. Mandela was president for 5 years and did not seek another term of 5 years - very wisely - after 27 years in prison and already being over 70 years old.

However, one of Mandela's big mistakes - an error of judgement if ever there was one - was to anoint his successor in the form of the son of one of the main freedom fighters of the ANC, Govan Mbeki, and so his son Thabo Mbeki became the second president, leading South Africa down the path of AIDS denialism and thus being responsible for one of the world's worst HIV/AIDS affected states, from which, in 2016, it is slowly recovering.

After some years misleading South Africa, Mbeki was forced out of office and a temporary president appointed until a successor could be found to replace him. That successor was/is Jacob Zuma and the path to corruption has been steady and ongoing for at least the last 10 years. If it wasn't for the fact that South Africa has always been rich in diamonds, gold, steel, uranium, platinum and many other minerals which are in constant demand, South Africa would be in an even more parlous state than it is at the moment.

2016 saw national elections for local government areas across the country and the outcome has been a humiliating blow to the ANC, however the analysts try to disguise the results.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the EFF - the Economic Freedom Fighters - have reduced the overall vote throughout the country to its worst result so far - about 53 percent. The DA, which already held Cape Town, has now won control of Nelson Mandela Bay, which consists of an amalgamation of Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and a few other areas. The DA may also have won Johannesburg and Tshwana, which is an amalgamation of Pretoria and surrounding districts. The DA may have to form a coalition with one or more of the minor parties, but the ANC headquarters are in Johannesburg and it is a devastating blow to their control and prestige.

There is - and has been for some time - a cry for Zuma to go - he owes millions of Rand by court order on illegal alterations to his palace in the country - Nkandla - but so far he is not budging.

One name put forward to replace him is that of Cyril Ramaphosa, previously head of COSATU, the main trade union controlling body in South Africa, But Ramaphosa has become a millionaire business man and mining magnate since leaving COSATU and he was, with Zuma, responsible for the massacre at Marikana, not that long ago.

There are other candidates for the position of president and Zuma and Ramaphosa are not two of them.

Just as in Australia after the recent federal elections on 2 July 2016, South Africa, since the 3 August 2016 Local Government Elections, is in for some interesting times.







Cyril Ramaphosa COSATU

SOUTH AFRICAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION - 2016 CENSORSHIP - REMIND ONE OF 1986?

After 1994 our expectations were that the appalling South African Broadcasting Corporation would be transformed, and South Africa would have access to news that had been censored for so many years under the apartheid years.

Now in 2016 there is a new police state-type of censorship being reimposed by an upstart who believes he can do as he likes to run the SABC and control the journalists and staff who try to run a modern, up-to-date digital age organisation.

Wrong! Hlaudi Motsoeneng has other ideas. According to an article in the Daily Maverick on 21 JULY 2016, "Zwelinzima Vavi, who has publicly supported the dismissed workers, on Wednesday pointed the blame at Motsoeneng. 'Hlaudi Motsoeneng is a self-confessed President Jacob Zumas acolyte. He owes his position as the now de-facto head of the SABC to those, like him, who will do all that they can to be in the good books of No.1. If President Jacob Zuma is the deity, the god of patronage, then Hlaudi is his worshipping emperor,' he said. 'What is at stake here is not some small or insignificant workplace dispute. This is a test of strength that if allowed to go unchallenged will most definitely impcat on the future of our democracy.'"

The following report comes from the Sunday Times online in South Africa:

Hlaudi caves as SABC furore comes to a head

DOMINIC MAHLANGU, BABALO NDENZE and GRAEME HOSKEN | 21 July, 2016

SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng. File photo.
Image by: ALON SKUY

The SABC has been forced to get off its high horse and comply with the Independent Communications Authority of SA's order that it desist from censoring the news.

The SABC wrote to Icasa yesterday saying it would, with immediate effect, comply with the ruling that it abandon its policy of not televising images of violence and the destruction of property in protests.

The letter constituted a major about-face by Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the SABC's COO, who last week said he would challenge Icasa's ruling in court.

Also yesterday, the SABC reached an out-of-court settlement with the Helen Suzman Foundation with regard to news censorship.

The Pretoria High Court yesterday interdicted the SABC from implementing its new policy on the televising of protest violence, pending a final determination.

ANC insiders said yesterday that the "mismanagement" of the corporation by Motsoeneng and the board were coming to an end.

"There is no more place to hide, and their actions will be exposed,'' said a senior ANC source. "We cannot be ruled by individuals who have no clue what it takes to run the SABC. The sooner this ends the better."

Yesterday, parliament added its voice, saying it was "deeply concerned" by the summary dismissal by the SABC this week of eight of its senior journalists.

Communications Minister Faith Muthambi has been summoned by parliament's communications oversight committee to report on August 23 on the status of all entities that report to her, including the SABC.

"Although we are not privy to the details of the cases, resignations and dismissals are a concern, especially in a country with high unemployment," said Humphrey Maxegwana, chairman of the parliamentary communications portfolio committee.

The committee had noted the Pretoria High Court's SABC judgment and hoped the corporation would comply with it.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane said President Jacob Zuma should appoint a commission of inquiry into the SABC board's inability to perform its duties and the "unconstitutional" editorial policies being enforced by the leadership of the SABC.

Maimane said the commission should also look into allegations by former SABC executives that opposition political parties were deliberately cut out of news coverage.

"This request comes in the wake of a series of scandals, legal findings and public outrage against the SABC," said Maimane.

The SACP has also called for the immediate removal of Motsoeneng.