Savage Nobles
Bryan Britton
February 2017
I was born in South Africa. My parents are South African. My children are South African. We carry no passports other than South African ones. My grandparents were naturalised South Africans being originally from Europe – England, Ireland, Holland and Germany to be specific. They were attracted here, invited here, offered citizenship here, accepted here, employed here and happy here.
At no stage were they part of a foreign marauding tribe that dispossessed anybody.
They observed the laws of the land, worked hard, bought land, built houses, paid taxes, educated their children and loved their adopted country South Africa. They fought as South African troops in the two great wars. They absorbed the derision, scorn and sanction meted by the international community in the Apartheid years between 1948 and 1994 even though they voted against the governing party of the day. They never once supported nor condoned the policy of separate development.
I am South African and proud of it.
Why then are certain ANC Parliamentarians telling me to go back where I came from? I came from here, South Africa. I have no other country that I call home. This is the country in which I was born and I still live here.
There are a lot of South Africans in a similar position. We are stuck in a declining country that we used to call home. Once the domain of the noble savage it has become the enclave of the savage nobles.
South Africa has become a typical African Kleptocracy in its decline to third world standards through greedy elitism and black on black suppression. The governing party has surrendered the country’s position as the leading nation on the African Continent to become a mere also-ran.
We expected too much in 1994. With the collapse of communism, we anticipated that with the ANC under Mandela, South Africa would subscribe to Western Democracy. For a while under him and later Mbeki, we did just that. We applied Western Economic Policies and stepped back from the economic precipice upon which we were finely balanced.
Under Zuma that all changed. We are now in bed with Indian Gangsters, Russian Oligarchs, Chinese Colonialists, Impoverished Brazilians and anyone else who will pay Zuma and his cronies enough money.
Who stole my country?
White South Africa faces adapt or die moment as ANC talks up radical economic transformation
Gerhard Papenfus
He is the Chief Executive of the National Employers’ Association of South Africa (NEASA). He wrote this in his personal capacity.
Facing the next key fight for his political future, a cornered President Jacob Zuma has this year decided to notch up rhetoric on ‘radical economic transformation‘. As part of this call and amid the Zuptoids’ growing use of terminology such as ‘white monopoly capital’, Zuma recently sparked further scares in the local and international investment communities with his comments on the need for expropriation of land without compensation in South Africa. Despite the topic of land expropriation being excluded from the ANC’s just published policy discussion documents, the ruling party’s top-brass in its power base of KwaZulu-Natal want the topic on the table when it meets at its policy conference in June. Of course, one only needs to look to South Africa’s neighbor to the north to realize how land expropriation without compensation can plunge a country into crisis, kill its agricultural sector and drive millions of black and white citizens elsewhere to continue their livelihoods. In this piece below, Gerhard Papenfus, of the National Employers’ Association of South Africa (NEASA) explains how now is not the time for whites in South Africa – across their various income brackets and status in society – to succumb to constant attacks but rather stand up, overcome their prejudices, embrace non-racialism and help to contribute to South African society. – Stuart Lowman
‘Whites’ – a human phenomenon with a unique connotation in South Africa – is not a homogeneous entity; they are a very diverse group. Among them are the rich and the poor; from very rich to very poor. They fit into all the status strata in society, from very important to where they are deemed to no longer count. Some have benefitted through apartheid, others didn’t. Some found a way to survive and even prosper in the New South Africa, others can’t. Some speak English and others Afrikaans and somehow this is still an issue. Some have two passports and others don’t. Some want to leave South Africa, but can’t; others can but choose to stay. Some are racist; others less so. I find myself somewhere among all of this.
Gerhard Papenfus – chief executive of NEASA, voice of South African employers in the SMME sector.
For some reason writing a piece of this nature is an uncomfortable exercise. There are two reasons for this. The one is that I’ve never been into fighting for a group based on its color, and then there’s this subtle expectation for me to remain silent, not to do the unpopular thing, not speaking my mind, but to take what’s coming my way and to take my punishment for the sins of my forebears. Within my relative safety I am therefore tempted to remain quiet, hoping things will get better on its own, but quietly knowing it won’t, unless I, and others like me, make a difference.
Within the space South Africa finds itself, anti-white rhetoric is acceptable – even popular – the promotion of all-out black empowerment is applauded while the protection of anything white amounts to racism. This situation is so dire that the massacre of white farmers (under cover of the lack of condemnation and political will at the top) has almost become a non-event, even among Whites. We hear about it, we’re getting used to it, there’s nothing we can do about it and we move on. Whites have adhered to a subtle broad social expectation to remain quiet; as if we are not allowed to speak out, to honestly say how we feel, in case we might be branded as racists. It is after all not pleasant to be called a racist, even coming from another racist.
In the State of the Nation address on 9 February 2017, the State President made it abundantly clear that all possible measures available to the state will be utilized to transfer resources, in all its facets, away from Whites – in terms of the ANC’s program of ‘radical economic transformation’. The eventual outcome of this policy is articulated in the ANC’s National Democratic Revolution, which apportions to Whites (and Indians), in respect of every element of society, according to their demographic representativity – a ‘life quota’ of 9 percent for Whites, 9 percent for Coloreds and 2 percent for Indian people, a never ending race based scheme, the so-called ‘seamless transition’.
To restrict any group or nation into such an economic, social and educational cage, notwithstanding its contribution and abilities, is not transformation. This policy amounts to legalized genocide, in every respect except physical annihilation. For people subjected to this societal arrangement, even the privilege to vote is meaningless.
Whites find themselves in a very perplexing situation. One side of their experience is similar to that of the Jews in the German pre-genocide period, during the process of the radical erosion of all Jewish related economic activity. This process was of course followed by genocide – because envy, hatred and the emotion of revenge is never content. Ironically, it is also expected of Whites to carry guilt similar to those who were responsible for the genocide. This is quite surreal.
Although all this sounds very dooming, this is not the case. Finding oneself in such a situation is a character building adventure, albeit very challenging; a dilemma to be envied by anyone desiring a full life. Whites, now more than ever, have the opportunity to find meaning and fulfilment. Since they will henceforth constantly be sailing in unchartered waters, they will be forced to turn their focus away from self-enrichment and security, to a more noble cause – fulfilling their initial calling; not to do what is only in their best interest, but according to what is right – more than ever to contribute to make South Africa a better place for all. If you’re white, and if you desire true adventure, a life and death struggle, then South Africa is the place to be.
Whites will have to adapt to the new reality where fulfilment and meaning is found within constant inhospitable circumstances, where all obvious resources, which were more easily accessible in the past, will now be the target for redistribution policies and therefore no longer be accessible for Whites (and perhaps also not for Coloreds and Indians, and all other minorities). As it is, even Black people who are not prepared to engage in unethical trade, is finding access to elements of the ‘radical transformed economy’ very challenging.
Whites, at least those who are prepared to adapt to this new environment, will discover that for every door shut, another one will open – even wider; but to enter this door new sets of values will be required – among them faith, hope, sacrifice and utmost perseverance.
Whites will make an even bigger contribution, but now under circumstances where their ability to do so will be under constant attack. They will adapt to constant uncertainty, but will execute their calling notwithstanding. They will therefore have to venture into areas never been explored before, approach things differently, risk more and above all embrace this big opportunity, which on the surface appears to be extremely adverse.
So, going forward, we Whites – at least those of us who are prepared to adapt to this new reality – will not succumb, in fact cannot do so, because if we do, we will simply become extinct. We will therefore put up the fight of our lives, only this time round the right fight – we will fight where the real fight is:
Therefore, instead of retreating into our shells, we will shed all traces of self-entitlement, we will create real wealth (opposed to wealth redistribution), we will continue to provide employment and create jobs, provide food for the nation, sustain our families and, above all, draw on God’s wisdom and His blessing in order to fulfil our calling.
South Africa is finally African
Prince Mashele
Prince Mashele is a South African national and has a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Rhodes University; he has lectured in the Dept of Political Science at the University of Pretoria ; he has been Executive Director of the Centre for Politics and Research and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation ; he was speechwriter for President Thabo Mbeki ; he writes regularly for the Mail & Guardian and The Sowetan ; his book of 2014 'The Fall of the ANC : what next' was a best seller.
In the midst of the political confusion that has gripped our country many people are wondering if we have finally come to the end of South Africa.
The answer is simple: the thing called an "end" does not exist, not in relation to a country. South Africa will be there long after Jacob Zuma is gone.
What Zuma has done is to make us come to the realisation that ours is just another African country, not some exceptional country on the southern tip of the African continent.
During the presidency of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, some among us used to believe that the black people of South Africa are better than those of other African countries. We must all thank Zuma for revealing our true African character; that the idea of rule of law is not part of who we are, and that constitutionalism is a concept far ahead of us as a people.
How else are we to explain the thousands of people who flock to stadiums to clap hands for a president who has violated their country's constitution? Such people have no idea of constitutionalism.
Now that we have reclaimed our place as another African country, we must reflect on and come to terms with our real character, and imagine what our future portends. In a typical African country, ordinary people don't expect much of politicians because people get tired of repeated empty promises.
In a typical African country, people have no illusions about the unity of morality and governance. People know that those who have power have it for themselves and their friends and families.
The idea that the state is an instrument for people's development is a Western concept, and has been copied by pockets of Asian countries.
Africans and their leaders don't like to copy from the West. They are happy to remain African and do things "the African way".
The African way is rule by kings, chiefs and indunas in a setting of unwritten rules. Is there anyone who has seen a book of African customary laws?
The idea that a commoner can raise questions about public money spent on the residence of a king is not African. The ANC MPs who have been defending Zuma are true Africans.
Asking a ruler to be accountable is a foreign - Western - idea. In a situation where there is conflict between a ruler and laws, Africans simply change the laws to protect the ruler. This is why no single white person has called for King Dalindyebo to be released from jail.
The problem with clever blacks is that they think they live in Europe, where ideas of democracy have been refined over centuries.
What we need to do is to come back to reality, and accept that ours is a typical African country. Such a return to reality will give us a fairly good idea of what SA's future might look like.....
This country will not look like Denmark. It might look like Nigeria, where anti-corruption crusaders are an oddity. Being an African country, ours will not look like Germany. SA might look like Kenya, where tribalism drives politics.
People must not entertain the illusion that a day is coming when SA will look like the United States. Our future is more on the side of Zimbabwe, where one ruler is more powerful than the rest of the population. Even if Julius Malema were to become president, it would still be the same. African leaders don't like the idea of an educated populace, for clever people are difficult to govern.
Mandela and Mbeki were themselves corrupted by Western education.
Zuma remains African. His mentality is in line with Boko Haram. He is suspicious of educated people; what he calls "clever blacks". Remember that Boko Haram means "Against Western Education".
The people who think we have come to the end of SA don't realise that we have actually come to the beginning of a real African country, away from the Western illusions of exceptionalism. Those who are unsettled by this true African character need help. The best we can do for them is to ask them to look north of the Limpopo River, to learn more about governance in Africa.
What makes most people restless about the future of SA is that they have Western models in mind, forgetting that ours is an African country. The idea that a president can resign simply because a court of law has delivered an adverse judgment is Western. Only the Prime Minister of Iceland does that; African rulers will never do that.
Analysed carefully, the notion of SA coming to an "end" is an expression of a Western value system - of accountability, political morality, reason, and so on.
All these are lofty ideas of Socrates, Kant, Hegel, and so on. They are not African.
All of us must thank Jacob Zuma for introducing us to the real African Republic of South Africa, not some outpost of European values’.
So, I’m thinking, does that mean that as a nation we should accept mediocrity? Should we happily move from the powerhouse of Africa to a lowly also ran? Should we surrender our claim to First World Status to become a more comfortable basket case developing nation?
Should we not aspire to become the best that we can be as a nation – Bryan Britton
Only a matter of time before the bomb explodes
By Moletsi Mbeki
Mbeki is the author of Architects of Poverty: Why African Capitalism Needs Changing. This article forms part of a series on transformation supplied by the Centre for Development and Enterprise.
I can predict when SA’s Tunisia Day will arrive. Tunisia Day is when the masses rise against the powers that be, as happened recently in Tunisia. The year will be 2020, give or take a couple of years. The year 2020 is when China estimates that its current minerals-intensive industrialisation phase will be concluded. For SA, this will mean the African National Congress (ANC) government will have to cut back on social grants, which it uses to placate the black poor and to get their votes. China’s current industrialisation phase has forced up the prices of SA’s minerals, which has enabled the government to finance social welfare programmes.
The ANC is currently making SA a welfare state and tends to forget that there is only a minority that pay all the taxes. They are often quick to say that if people (read whites) are not happy they should leave. The more people that leave, the more their tax base shrinks. Yes, they will fill the positions with BEE candidates (read blacks), but if they are not capable of doing the job then the company will eventually fold as well as their new tax base. When there is no more money available for handouts they will then have a problem because they are breeding a culture of handouts instead of creating jobs so people can gain an idea of the value of money. If you keep getting things for free then you lose the sense of its value.
The current trend of saying if the west won’t help then China will is going to bite them. China will want payment – ie land for their people and will result in an influx of Chinese (there is no such thing as a free lunch!) The ANC inherited a flawed, complex society it barely understood; its tinkering with it are turning it into an explosive cocktail.
The ANC leaders are like a group of children playing with a hand grenade. One day one of them will figure out how to pull out the pin and everyone will be killed. …and 20 years on they still blame apartheid but have not done much to rectify things – changing names etc only costs money that could have been spent elsewhere.
A famous African liberation movement, the National Liberation Front of Algeria, after tinkering for 30 years, pulled the grenade pin by cancelling an election in 1991 that was won by the opposition Islamic Salvation Front. In the civil war that ensued, 200,000 people were killed. The ‘new’ leaders are forgetting the struggle heroes and the reasons for it – their agenda is now power and money and it suits them for the masses to be ignorant – same as Mugabe did in Zim. If you do not agree with the leaders then the followers intimidate you.
We all accept that a socialist model, along the lines of the Soviet Union, is not workable for SA today. The creation of a state-owned economy is not a formula that is an option for SA or for many parts of the world. Therefore, if we want to develop SA instead of shuffling pre-existing wealth, we have to create new entrepreneurs, and we need to support existing entrepreneurs to diversify into new economic sectors.
Make people work for their hand-outs even if it means they must sweep the streets or clean a park – just do something instead of getting all for nothing. Guaranteed there will then be less queuing for hand-outs because they would then be working and in most instances they do not want to work – they want everything for nothing.
And in my opinion the ANC created this culture before the first election in 1994 when they promised the masses housing, electricity etc. – they just neglected to tell them that they would have to pay for them. That is why the masses constantly do not want to pay for water, electricity, rates on their properties – they think the government must pay this – after all they were told by the ANC that they will be given these things – they just do not want to understand that the money to pay for this comes from somewhere and if you don’t pay you will eventually not have these services.
And then when the tax base has left they can grow their mielies in front of their shack and stretch out their open palms to the UN for food hand-outs and live a day to day existence that seems to be what they want – sit on their arse and do nothing.