ZUMA'S RIGHT TO REJECT PLEA
Jacob Zuma’s defence team was right to dismiss a plea bargain, writes NKONZWENHLE MQADI, of Durban
MEDIA speculation over the possibility of ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma entering into a plea and sentence bargain with the National Prosecuting Authority, to have a “non-custodial sentence” in his two criminal charges of corruption, is immoral and unprincipled.
What journalists should have done was to unpack in full this criminal justice “short cut”, and educate their uninformed readership on the pros and cons of the Criminal Procedure Act Section 105.
Only common-law criminals, such as Mark Thatcher, who had committed offences beyond any reasonable doubt, normally opt for this legal settlement.
For some observers to construe plea-bargaining to mean in this case that Zuma was prepared to buy the Scorpions out of the “mess” they had created and plunged the whole country into, is totally off the mark.
Rather, true to the principles of natural justice, Msholozi has re-assured South Africans that he’s itching for his day to prove his innocence in an open court of law.
What is this so-called “plea and bargaining agreement” all of a sudden mooted as a viable option for the former Deputy President?
It is Section 105 A (i.e Plea & Sentence Agreements) of the CPA 51 of 1977 as amended, substituted by Section 1 of Act 62 of 2001, which came into operation on 14 December 2001 (see Government Gazette 22933).
Several experts criticized the informal plea-bargaining “system” when it was passed into law.
Argument was that plea-bargaining is inherently destructive of the values of the trial process, as it is designed to prevent proper trials.
Therefore,the question begs as to whom exactly should this approach dispense criminal justice?
Ordinarily, hardcore criminals capitalize on this legal settlement.
Legal authorities do confirm that even the South African Law Commission was initially skeptical of plea-bargaining until it concluded plea negotiations or agreements were legal.
This nullification of constitutional values (S 105A) provides the necessary statutory framework for dealing with plea and sentence agreements between the prosecutor and the accussed’s legal representative.
The court may not participate in the negotiations as contemplated in S 105A (1), but judicial approval of the plea and sentence agreement is required.
But it should be emphasized that after the parties reach a plea agreement, and should for whatever reason seek an indication from the presiding officer as to what an appropriate sentence would be, such an indication would also amount to impermissible judicial participation as contemplated in S 105A (1).
In a nutshell, S 105A is as non-prescriptive as possible. It was left to the prosecutor and the accussed’s legal representative to initiate the process and find “common ground”.
Notably, the prosecutor retains his discretion that may ultimately be decisive in the settlement. There’s no guarantee that the agreement reached by parties and approved by the Bench would not trample or be at the expense of the accussed’s constitutional and common law rights.
In a constitutional democracy such as ours, the package (i.e terms of the agreement, including any admission made by the accussed) is at a specific stage disclosed.
Although judicial participation is not permitted, the court’s function in questioning the accussed to assess his or her guilt makes it the final arbiter of what an appropriate (“just”) sentence is.
And the National Director of Public Prosecutions, after consultation with the Minister of Justice, may issue directives regarding certain matters that bind the prosecution – see “Directives issued by NDPP on 14 March 2002”.
What does the plea bargain mean to the Jacob Zuma criminal charges? “A plea bargain means entering a plea of guilty and my client won’t and is not prepared to plead guilty,” Zuma’s attorney Michael Hulley said in setting the record straight.
The plea tendered in response to a charge serves an important dual purpose in that it determines first the ambit of the dispute and, second the procedure to be adopted.
The constitutionality of a plea bargain depends in part on the burden the state may place on the defendant’s exercise of his fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination, which in the context of plea-bargaining takes the form of a right not to plead guilty.
The legislature had attempted to ensure that a plea and sentence agreement as provided in Section 105A (1) (a) is not attained at the expense of the constitutional rights of the accussed.
Therefore, the Zuma defence team should be commended for dismissing the plae bargain.
PUBLISHED ON 15 November 2005 by The CITIZEN
Thursday, May 14, 2009
REQUEST HELP TO EXPOSE RACISM!
Mr Nkonzwenhle Mqadi
c/o Media Consultant & Political Correspondent
Z 484
Umlazi Township
Durban
4031
12 January 2009
Tel/Fax: 031-9096457
Cell: 0825816323
0762557826
0790550536
Email: emaqadinimedia@webmail.co.za
Sir/Madam
re: EXPOSE THIS UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
Herewith, find the detailed complaint that was submitted to the KZN Law Society in 2006 lodging a complaint about harrassment meted to me as Indian lawyers started ganging up against my civil action.
Regards
From: nkonzo mqadi
Subject: LAWYER ACTED UNPROFESSIONALLY
To: complaints@lawsoc.co.za
Cc: thuli@lawsoc.co.za, roshinig@lawsoc.co.za
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2007, 1:56 PM
Your Ref: ACR/NN/C6/S1321/06
Mr Nkonzwenhle Mqadi
{Writer,Researcher & Commentator}
Z 484
UMlazi Township
Durban
4031
Cell: 0825816323
0762557826
Att: EC Rees
Manager: Regulatory Affairs
KZN Law Society
Sir/Madam
re:INVESTIGATE UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AGAINST SHA SINGH & ASSOCIATES
I hereby request the KZN Law Society to undertake an extensive investigation by the Sha Singh & Associates firm of attorneys about the delay in instituting summons on behalf of a client they were presenting on behalf of Durban Justice Centre Judicare basis.
In 2004 the complainant laid a civil claim against three state departments through the Durban Justice Centre, after Legal Aid Board attorney Yusuf Mohamed had messed up the 'notice to institute civil proccedings' dated 17 July 2005, client had lodged a formal complaint with the Public Protector-KZN, whereby the matter was then handed over to Sha Singh & Associates.
KZN Law Society was served with an extensive correspondence in 2006 complaining about the conduct of Sha Singh & Associates, which included a merit report prepared by Sha Singh & Associates to Durban Justice Centre's Mr Metha, "Amended Notice to Institute Action" prepared by Sha Singh & Associates that was faxed to three state departments dated 20 December 2005, and correspodence exchanged between myself and Durban Equality Court over "Racism, Misrepresntation & Unreasonable Delay" charges I'd laid against the attorney.
My instructions to her practise was to demand R 10 million damages { copy of an affidavitt served to a consultation with Sha Singh & Associates is in my possession}
NB. Worst conduct to be seen by this racist firm of attorneys was the information given to me by Durban Justice Centres, Ms Vasie Govender that all my records in the client file were destroyed by Sha Singh & Associates.
As an experienced lawyer, I aver that during a "one-on-one consultation" with the client Sha Singh had intimated that the matter was to prescribe in July 2006, and I have telephonic transcripts in my possession of audience she held with Mr Metha (Durban Justice Centre Head) private assistant, known as Shamla, whereby Sha Singh repeated her concerns about the urgency of the mater before it prescribed.
Further, take notice that Sha Singh & Associates had misrepresented facts to the KZN Law Society by alleging that the client (myself) had terminated representation from/by their practise.This assertion by Sha Singh & Associates is devoid of truth.
It state categorically that Sha Singh & Associates Office Manager, known as Viveck, started to gang up in a racial manner and compelled his wife Sha Singh not to proceed with my matter as in Viveck's words to me at their practise
"You Mr Mqadi think you're clever by laying false allegations against Adv Shiren Lakhi at the Durban Equality Court.
There's no Indian Firm of lawyers that must represents you because you're anti-Indian people" Viveck said.
This information was submitted in an affidavitt form to Mr Rees-KZN Law Society- but was never investigated. This information is also before Durban Equality Court whereby lawyer Sha Singh simply ignore by not attending, ask Presiding Officer/s Ngubane and Luthuli Esq.
The Durban Justice Centre Head (Mr Metha) should also be held accountable for having failed to addrees this matter with Sha Singh & Associates as they are the ones who had referred my civil claim matter on Judicare.
My instructions to Sha Singh & Associates was to serve summons to the ff:
1. Minister of Safety & Security
2.Minister of Justice & Constitutional Development, and
3. Minister of Correctional Services
timeously, but to no avail.
This is the cause for action.
NB. I bring to your attention that Sha Singh & Associates had served an 'Amended Notice To Institute Action' to the three state departments dated 20 December 2006 (copies in Sha Singh & Associates in their LetterHeads are my possession) BUT that was never acted/followed up ever since.
Sincerely
N.Mqadi
{0825816323 / 0762557826}
c/o Media Consultant & Political Correspondent
Z 484
Umlazi Township
Durban
4031
12 January 2009
Tel/Fax: 031-9096457
Cell: 0825816323
0762557826
0790550536
Email: emaqadinimedia@webmail.co.za
Sir/Madam
re: EXPOSE THIS UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
Herewith, find the detailed complaint that was submitted to the KZN Law Society in 2006 lodging a complaint about harrassment meted to me as Indian lawyers started ganging up against my civil action.
Regards
From: nkonzo mqadi
Subject: LAWYER ACTED UNPROFESSIONALLY
To: complaints@lawsoc.co.za
Cc: thuli@lawsoc.co.za, roshinig@lawsoc.co.za
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2007, 1:56 PM
Your Ref: ACR/NN/C6/S1321/06
Mr Nkonzwenhle Mqadi
{Writer,Researcher & Commentator}
Z 484
UMlazi Township
Durban
4031
Cell: 0825816323
0762557826
Att: EC Rees
Manager: Regulatory Affairs
KZN Law Society
Sir/Madam
re:INVESTIGATE UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AGAINST SHA SINGH & ASSOCIATES
I hereby request the KZN Law Society to undertake an extensive investigation by the Sha Singh & Associates firm of attorneys about the delay in instituting summons on behalf of a client they were presenting on behalf of Durban Justice Centre Judicare basis.
In 2004 the complainant laid a civil claim against three state departments through the Durban Justice Centre, after Legal Aid Board attorney Yusuf Mohamed had messed up the 'notice to institute civil proccedings' dated 17 July 2005, client had lodged a formal complaint with the Public Protector-KZN, whereby the matter was then handed over to Sha Singh & Associates.
KZN Law Society was served with an extensive correspondence in 2006 complaining about the conduct of Sha Singh & Associates, which included a merit report prepared by Sha Singh & Associates to Durban Justice Centre's Mr Metha, "Amended Notice to Institute Action" prepared by Sha Singh & Associates that was faxed to three state departments dated 20 December 2005, and correspodence exchanged between myself and Durban Equality Court over "Racism, Misrepresntation & Unreasonable Delay" charges I'd laid against the attorney.
My instructions to her practise was to demand R 10 million damages { copy of an affidavitt served to a consultation with Sha Singh & Associates is in my possession}
NB. Worst conduct to be seen by this racist firm of attorneys was the information given to me by Durban Justice Centres, Ms Vasie Govender that all my records in the client file were destroyed by Sha Singh & Associates.
As an experienced lawyer, I aver that during a "one-on-one consultation" with the client Sha Singh had intimated that the matter was to prescribe in July 2006, and I have telephonic transcripts in my possession of audience she held with Mr Metha (Durban Justice Centre Head) private assistant, known as Shamla, whereby Sha Singh repeated her concerns about the urgency of the mater before it prescribed.
Further, take notice that Sha Singh & Associates had misrepresented facts to the KZN Law Society by alleging that the client (myself) had terminated representation from/by their practise.This assertion by Sha Singh & Associates is devoid of truth.
It state categorically that Sha Singh & Associates Office Manager, known as Viveck, started to gang up in a racial manner and compelled his wife Sha Singh not to proceed with my matter as in Viveck's words to me at their practise
"You Mr Mqadi think you're clever by laying false allegations against Adv Shiren Lakhi at the Durban Equality Court.
There's no Indian Firm of lawyers that must represents you because you're anti-Indian people" Viveck said.
This information was submitted in an affidavitt form to Mr Rees-KZN Law Society- but was never investigated. This information is also before Durban Equality Court whereby lawyer Sha Singh simply ignore by not attending, ask Presiding Officer/s Ngubane and Luthuli Esq.
The Durban Justice Centre Head (Mr Metha) should also be held accountable for having failed to addrees this matter with Sha Singh & Associates as they are the ones who had referred my civil claim matter on Judicare.
My instructions to Sha Singh & Associates was to serve summons to the ff:
1. Minister of Safety & Security
2.Minister of Justice & Constitutional Development, and
3. Minister of Correctional Services
timeously, but to no avail.
This is the cause for action.
NB. I bring to your attention that Sha Singh & Associates had served an 'Amended Notice To Institute Action' to the three state departments dated 20 December 2006 (copies in Sha Singh & Associates in their LetterHeads are my possession) BUT that was never acted/followed up ever since.
Sincerely
N.Mqadi
{0825816323 / 0762557826}
Analysis - The Citizen - Tuesday 04 April 2006
By NKONZWENHLE MQADI
Will the black business or middle class grow, and have a positive effect on the growth and transformation of the national economy? Is the black business or middle class aligned to the country's transformation mandate?
These are the most frequently asked questions, and the groundswell of disillusionment is brewing among the African masses, as people make this concern our national discourse.
The South African emerging business or middle class and its social responsiveness has left the wider civil society questioning whether or not the black elite's new-found purchasing power is really fuelling a broader consumer boom.
Some observers argue these nouveau-riche or elites, located in the most affluent surburbs, lack the class consciousness to create sustainable investment and empower their communities.
Eminent scholars such as KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbusiso Ndebele go out of their way to challenge and address the social conscience of the province's more affluent citizens.
"Where are the black business and intelligentsia located in the South African economy, and are they contributing to the much-vaunted 6% economic growth and the development of our own communities" has become Ndebele's daily mantra.
This new phenomenon-whereby more and more upwardly mobile black people are getting richer while the majority of their compatriots get left behind-is considered as one of the outstanding characteristics of the political, social and economic transformation of the post-1994 era.
And this begs the central question: how do we use this new black economic power to fast-track the gap between the so-called first and second economies?
Figures from a South African Advertising & Research Foundation survey released last year provided a clear picture of the strong growth in the number of blacks in the top LSM (Living Standard Measure) indicating that black people were taking huge strides into the higher categories, wealth-wise.
However, Empowerdex CEO Vuyo Jack criticises the new black buying power because, he argues, it is being spent on consumerism rather than investments.
People are doing what they were previously unable to do-such as going on holidays or buying a nice brand-new car.
"Without a focus on investments the massive spending boom may not be sustainable.
The real middle class are those with income enabling them to build assets, and this income should also be used to support their extended families," according to Jack.
On the other hand, world-renowned Nigerian-born writer Chika Onyeani has warned the South African black middle class that once they go into business arena they should take cognisance of the insidious 'spider web" of economic dependence.
Onyeani sounds a warning about the dangers of economic dependency, that could simply perpetuate the formerly one-sided power relations between haves and have-nots, a decade after the advent of democracy.
Onyeani sees our BBE (Black Economic Empowerment) deals as a good policy that gives Africans first-hand insight into how multi-nationals listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange operate.
However, he urges the black middle class to encourage the growth of a manufacturing class- either by providing access to reasonably=priced money or by buying goods and services that have been produced by their own people.
Merril Lynch economist Nazmeera Moola concurs. He states that " generally there has been an increase in purchasing power, mostly in the sales of consumer goods, financial services, motor cars and tourism".
Moola, though, adds that it is difficult to pinpoint what does constitute the " black middle class".
Interestingly, an ideological debate about the black middle class in the global economy is proving quite contentious.
Strong arguments are that surely it was a good thing that the aspirant black business or middle class had come out of the so-called second economy and have overcome the hardships that the majority of African people are still confronted with.
A pertinent question is whether this so-called class of elites is socially responsible-whether they will empower their close relatives and friends still trapped in the second economy.
What measures have they put in place, working in partnership with the three tiers of governance, to help their communities gain access to basic services?
And is the black business or middle class able to reconcile the huge disparities so prevalent among South African communities' living standards?
Former Black Management Forum MD Jerry Vilakazi argues that it is high time for the black business or middle class to forget about investing in golf estates found in the most affluent surburbs. They need to start investing back into their communities-those still residing in the townships and rural areas, as he warned during the BMF conference last year.
Our black business or middle class faces a critical, fundamental challenge. It is their responsibility, their social imperative, to reverse capital flow back into the townships and rural areas.
Grassroots communities have been asking whether black middle class is using its position and influence to advance the transformation objectives of our democracy.
Seen within the context of revisionist sociology, or in the Marxist idiom, the South African business or middle class lacks the class consciousness and characteristics to become a fully-fledged class in itself.
The pragmatic understanding of the black business or middle class needs to be build more on more than just generating income and immediate profit. It should, instead, start building wealth via assett classes, such as property, manufacturing and securities.
Our black business or middle class has a social duty, the masses argue, to help inculcate entrepreneurial skills to the huge numbers of our unemployed school graduates. And they should also be able to inculcate middle class status to the younger generation.
Simply put, through people development and education programmes our emerging black business or middle class occupying strategic positions should form, shape and influence government policies towards the total economic liberation of the African people.
This assumes a black middle class exists. Suprisingly, renowned black businessman StanLib chairman Saki Macozoma denies the existence of this class: stating the social category we call the black middle class in South Africa is a conceptual construct rather than an objective reality.
"A black bourgeoisie in South Africa" according to Macozoma,"is pure fiction".
# Mqadi is a Durban-based writer.
By NKONZWENHLE MQADI
Will the black business or middle class grow, and have a positive effect on the growth and transformation of the national economy? Is the black business or middle class aligned to the country's transformation mandate?
These are the most frequently asked questions, and the groundswell of disillusionment is brewing among the African masses, as people make this concern our national discourse.
The South African emerging business or middle class and its social responsiveness has left the wider civil society questioning whether or not the black elite's new-found purchasing power is really fuelling a broader consumer boom.
Some observers argue these nouveau-riche or elites, located in the most affluent surburbs, lack the class consciousness to create sustainable investment and empower their communities.
Eminent scholars such as KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbusiso Ndebele go out of their way to challenge and address the social conscience of the province's more affluent citizens.
"Where are the black business and intelligentsia located in the South African economy, and are they contributing to the much-vaunted 6% economic growth and the development of our own communities" has become Ndebele's daily mantra.
This new phenomenon-whereby more and more upwardly mobile black people are getting richer while the majority of their compatriots get left behind-is considered as one of the outstanding characteristics of the political, social and economic transformation of the post-1994 era.
And this begs the central question: how do we use this new black economic power to fast-track the gap between the so-called first and second economies?
Figures from a South African Advertising & Research Foundation survey released last year provided a clear picture of the strong growth in the number of blacks in the top LSM (Living Standard Measure) indicating that black people were taking huge strides into the higher categories, wealth-wise.
However, Empowerdex CEO Vuyo Jack criticises the new black buying power because, he argues, it is being spent on consumerism rather than investments.
People are doing what they were previously unable to do-such as going on holidays or buying a nice brand-new car.
"Without a focus on investments the massive spending boom may not be sustainable.
The real middle class are those with income enabling them to build assets, and this income should also be used to support their extended families," according to Jack.
On the other hand, world-renowned Nigerian-born writer Chika Onyeani has warned the South African black middle class that once they go into business arena they should take cognisance of the insidious 'spider web" of economic dependence.
Onyeani sounds a warning about the dangers of economic dependency, that could simply perpetuate the formerly one-sided power relations between haves and have-nots, a decade after the advent of democracy.
Onyeani sees our BBE (Black Economic Empowerment) deals as a good policy that gives Africans first-hand insight into how multi-nationals listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange operate.
However, he urges the black middle class to encourage the growth of a manufacturing class- either by providing access to reasonably=priced money or by buying goods and services that have been produced by their own people.
Merril Lynch economist Nazmeera Moola concurs. He states that " generally there has been an increase in purchasing power, mostly in the sales of consumer goods, financial services, motor cars and tourism".
Moola, though, adds that it is difficult to pinpoint what does constitute the " black middle class".
Interestingly, an ideological debate about the black middle class in the global economy is proving quite contentious.
Strong arguments are that surely it was a good thing that the aspirant black business or middle class had come out of the so-called second economy and have overcome the hardships that the majority of African people are still confronted with.
A pertinent question is whether this so-called class of elites is socially responsible-whether they will empower their close relatives and friends still trapped in the second economy.
What measures have they put in place, working in partnership with the three tiers of governance, to help their communities gain access to basic services?
And is the black business or middle class able to reconcile the huge disparities so prevalent among South African communities' living standards?
Former Black Management Forum MD Jerry Vilakazi argues that it is high time for the black business or middle class to forget about investing in golf estates found in the most affluent surburbs. They need to start investing back into their communities-those still residing in the townships and rural areas, as he warned during the BMF conference last year.
Our black business or middle class faces a critical, fundamental challenge. It is their responsibility, their social imperative, to reverse capital flow back into the townships and rural areas.
Grassroots communities have been asking whether black middle class is using its position and influence to advance the transformation objectives of our democracy.
Seen within the context of revisionist sociology, or in the Marxist idiom, the South African business or middle class lacks the class consciousness and characteristics to become a fully-fledged class in itself.
The pragmatic understanding of the black business or middle class needs to be build more on more than just generating income and immediate profit. It should, instead, start building wealth via assett classes, such as property, manufacturing and securities.
Our black business or middle class has a social duty, the masses argue, to help inculcate entrepreneurial skills to the huge numbers of our unemployed school graduates. And they should also be able to inculcate middle class status to the younger generation.
Simply put, through people development and education programmes our emerging black business or middle class occupying strategic positions should form, shape and influence government policies towards the total economic liberation of the African people.
This assumes a black middle class exists. Suprisingly, renowned black businessman StanLib chairman Saki Macozoma denies the existence of this class: stating the social category we call the black middle class in South Africa is a conceptual construct rather than an objective reality.
"A black bourgeoisie in South Africa" according to Macozoma,"is pure fiction".
# Mqadi is a Durban-based writer.
BLACK MIDDLE CLASS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Analysis - The Citizen - Tuesday 04 April 2006
By NKONZWENHLE MQADI
Will the black business or middle class grow, and have a positive effect on the growth and transformation of the national economy? Is the black business or middle class aligned to the country's transformation mandate?
These are the most frequently asked questions, and the groundswell of disillusionment is brewing among the African masses, as people make this concern our national discourse.
The South African emerging business or middle class and its social responsiveness has left the wider civil society questioning whether or not the black elite's new-found purchasing power is really fuelling a broader consumer boom.
Some observers argue these nouveau-riche or elites, located in the most affluent surburbs, lack the class consciousness to create sustainable investment and empower their communities.
Eminent scholars such as KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbusiso Ndebele go out of their way to challenge and address the social conscience of the province's more affluent citizens.
"Where are the black business and intelligentsia located in the South African economy, and are they contributing to the much-vaunted 6% economic growth and the development of our own communities" has become Ndebele's daily mantra.
This new phenomenon-whereby more and more upwardly mobile black people are getting richer while the majority of their compatriots get left behind-is considered as one of the outstanding characteristics of the political, social and economic transformation of the post-1994 era.
And this begs the central question: how do we use this new black economic power to fast-track the gap between the so-called first and second economies?
Figures from a South African Advertising & Research Foundation survey released last year provided a clear picture of the strong growth in the number of blacks in the top LSM (Living Standard Measure) indicating that black people were taking huge strides into the higher categories, wealth-wise.
However, Empowerdex CEO Vuyo Jack criticises the new black buying power because, he argues, it is being spent on consumerism rather than investments.
People are doing what they were previously unable to do-such as going on holidays or buying a nice brand-new car.
"Without a focus on investments the massive spending boom may not be sustainable.
The real middle class are those with income enabling them to build assets, and this income should also be used to support their extended families," according to Jack.
On the other hand, world-renowned Nigerian-born writer Chika Onyeani has warned the South African black middle class that once they go into business arena they should take cognisance of the insidious 'spider web" of economic dependence.
Onyeani sounds a warning about the dangers of economic dependency, that could simply perpetuate the formerly one-sided power relations between haves and have-nots, a decade after the advent of democracy.
Onyeani sees our BBE (Black Economic Empowerment) deals as a good policy that gives Africans first-hand insight into how multi-nationals listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange operate.
However, he urges the black middle class to encourage the growth of a manufacturing class- either by providing access to reasonably=priced money or by buying goods and services that have been produced by their own people.
Merril Lynch economist Nazmeera Moola concurs. He states that " generally there has been an increase in purchasing power, mostly in the sales of consumer goods, financial services, motor cars and tourism".
Moola, though, adds that it is difficult to pinpoint what does constitute the " black middle class".
Interestingly, an ideological debate about the black middle class in the global economy is proving quite contentious.
Strong arguments are that surely it was a good thing that the aspirant black business or middle class had come out of the so-called second economy and have overcome the hardships that the majority of African people are still confronted with.
A pertinent question is whether this so-called class of elites is socially responsible-whether they will empower their close relatives and friends still trapped in the second economy.
What measures have they put in place, working in partnership with the three tiers of governance, to help their communities gain access to basic services?
And is the black business or middle class able to reconcile the huge disparities so prevalent among South African communities' living standards?
Former Black Management Forum MD Jerry Vilakazi argues that it is high time for the black business or middle class to forget about investing in golf estates found in the most affluent surburbs. They need to start investing back into their communities-those still residing in the townships and rural areas, as he warned during the BMF conference last year.
Our black business or middle class faces a critical, fundamental challenge. It is their responsibility, their social imperative, to reverse capital flow back into the townships and rural areas.
Grassroots communities have been asking whether black middle class is using its position and influence to advance the transformation objectives of our democracy.
Seen within the context of revisionist sociology, or in the Marxist idiom, the South African business or middle class lacks the class consciousness and characteristics to become a fully-fledged class in itself.
The pragmatic understanding of the black business or middle class needs to be build more on more than just generating income and immediate profit. It should, instead, start building wealth via assett classes, such as property, manufacturing and securities.
Our black business or middle class has a social duty, the masses argue, to help inculcate entrepreneurial skills to the huge numbers of our unemployed school graduates. And they should also be able to inculcate middle class status to the younger generation.
Simply put, through people development and education programmes our emerging black business or middle class occupying strategic positions should form, shape and influence government policies towards the total economic liberation of the African people.
This assumes a black middle class exists. Suprisingly, renowned black businessman StanLib chairman Saki Macozoma denies the existence of this class: stating the social category we call the black middle class in South Africa is a conceptual construct rather than an objective reality.
"A black bourgeoisie in South Africa" according to Macozoma,"is pure fiction".
# Mqadi is a Durban-based writer.
By NKONZWENHLE MQADI
Will the black business or middle class grow, and have a positive effect on the growth and transformation of the national economy? Is the black business or middle class aligned to the country's transformation mandate?
These are the most frequently asked questions, and the groundswell of disillusionment is brewing among the African masses, as people make this concern our national discourse.
The South African emerging business or middle class and its social responsiveness has left the wider civil society questioning whether or not the black elite's new-found purchasing power is really fuelling a broader consumer boom.
Some observers argue these nouveau-riche or elites, located in the most affluent surburbs, lack the class consciousness to create sustainable investment and empower their communities.
Eminent scholars such as KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbusiso Ndebele go out of their way to challenge and address the social conscience of the province's more affluent citizens.
"Where are the black business and intelligentsia located in the South African economy, and are they contributing to the much-vaunted 6% economic growth and the development of our own communities" has become Ndebele's daily mantra.
This new phenomenon-whereby more and more upwardly mobile black people are getting richer while the majority of their compatriots get left behind-is considered as one of the outstanding characteristics of the political, social and economic transformation of the post-1994 era.
And this begs the central question: how do we use this new black economic power to fast-track the gap between the so-called first and second economies?
Figures from a South African Advertising & Research Foundation survey released last year provided a clear picture of the strong growth in the number of blacks in the top LSM (Living Standard Measure) indicating that black people were taking huge strides into the higher categories, wealth-wise.
However, Empowerdex CEO Vuyo Jack criticises the new black buying power because, he argues, it is being spent on consumerism rather than investments.
People are doing what they were previously unable to do-such as going on holidays or buying a nice brand-new car.
"Without a focus on investments the massive spending boom may not be sustainable.
The real middle class are those with income enabling them to build assets, and this income should also be used to support their extended families," according to Jack.
On the other hand, world-renowned Nigerian-born writer Chika Onyeani has warned the South African black middle class that once they go into business arena they should take cognisance of the insidious 'spider web" of economic dependence.
Onyeani sounds a warning about the dangers of economic dependency, that could simply perpetuate the formerly one-sided power relations between haves and have-nots, a decade after the advent of democracy.
Onyeani sees our BBE (Black Economic Empowerment) deals as a good policy that gives Africans first-hand insight into how multi-nationals listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange operate.
However, he urges the black middle class to encourage the growth of a manufacturing class- either by providing access to reasonably=priced money or by buying goods and services that have been produced by their own people.
Merril Lynch economist Nazmeera Moola concurs. He states that " generally there has been an increase in purchasing power, mostly in the sales of consumer goods, financial services, motor cars and tourism".
Moola, though, adds that it is difficult to pinpoint what does constitute the " black middle class".
Interestingly, an ideological debate about the black middle class in the global economy is proving quite contentious.
Strong arguments are that surely it was a good thing that the aspirant black business or middle class had come out of the so-called second economy and have overcome the hardships that the majority of African people are still confronted with.
A pertinent question is whether this so-called class of elites is socially responsible-whether they will empower their close relatives and friends still trapped in the second economy.
What measures have they put in place, working in partnership with the three tiers of governance, to help their communities gain access to basic services?
And is the black business or middle class able to reconcile the huge disparities so prevalent among South African communities' living standards?
Former Black Management Forum MD Jerry Vilakazi argues that it is high time for the black business or middle class to forget about investing in golf estates found in the most affluent surburbs. They need to start investing back into their communities-those still residing in the townships and rural areas, as he warned during the BMF conference last year.
Our black business or middle class faces a critical, fundamental challenge. It is their responsibility, their social imperative, to reverse capital flow back into the townships and rural areas.
Grassroots communities have been asking whether black middle class is using its position and influence to advance the transformation objectives of our democracy.
Seen within the context of revisionist sociology, or in the Marxist idiom, the South African business or middle class lacks the class consciousness and characteristics to become a fully-fledged class in itself.
The pragmatic understanding of the black business or middle class needs to be build more on more than just generating income and immediate profit. It should, instead, start building wealth via assett classes, such as property, manufacturing and securities.
Our black business or middle class has a social duty, the masses argue, to help inculcate entrepreneurial skills to the huge numbers of our unemployed school graduates. And they should also be able to inculcate middle class status to the younger generation.
Simply put, through people development and education programmes our emerging black business or middle class occupying strategic positions should form, shape and influence government policies towards the total economic liberation of the African people.
This assumes a black middle class exists. Suprisingly, renowned black businessman StanLib chairman Saki Macozoma denies the existence of this class: stating the social category we call the black middle class in South Africa is a conceptual construct rather than an objective reality.
"A black bourgeoisie in South Africa" according to Macozoma,"is pure fiction".
# Mqadi is a Durban-based writer.
DISCUSSION DOCUMENT DELIVERED TO SADC
Nkonzwenhle Mqadi writings available on website:
http://www.safcei.org.za/wildcoast/education/htm ;search/surf Google website for emaqadinimedia@webmail.co.za
SADC REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME
(06 October 2005)
DISCUSSION DOCUMENT ON THE SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL & ECONOMIC IMPACT ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF N2 WILD COAST TOLL-FREE ROAD TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES
Submitted by: NKONZWENHLE MQADI
(Independent Media Practitioner)
Contact: 0825816323 / 0762557826
E-mail :emaqadinimedia@webmail.co.za
nmqadi@yahoo.com
DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA
INTRODUCTION
The profound changes to the environment during the last decade have resulted in a strong focus on resource materials development, use and dissemination with a participatory orientation to local communities. The development of environmental educational awareness support material should play an advocacy role for environmental sustainability, global partnership development, peace, human rights and the eradication of extreme poverty among communities.
The local communities should be empowered through education and training that involves environmental education methodologies and development programmes to enhance the achievement of the UN Declaration on Sustainable Development.
Lack of a sound consultative process with local communities has resulted in many environmentalists questioning the rationale employed to justify the construction of a toll free road across two provinces as the project will sacrifice one of the most spectacular coastlines in the name of development.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROJECT
Research shows that some time in October 2002 a group of consultants hired by a major road-building consortium to investigate the ramifications of creating a new 550 kilometre toll road between Durban in KwaZulu-Natal and East London in the Eastern Cape presented the Draft Impact Report for public submissions.
The Consultants report had stated that there were no significant social or environmental hurdles preventing the construction of a new N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road. The consultants report pointed to a wide range of potentially positive long-term spin offs, such as better access and better prospects for economic, tourist and industrial development.
The environmental issues such as that the road would carve a completely new section of almost 100 kilometres through the steep river valleys of the Transkei to create a new coastal route between the Wild Coast Casino scenery and Port St John’s were overlooked or ignored.
The numerous village residents along the length of the road who will be forced to resettle or lose grazing or farming rights to make way for new road interchanges, re-alignment or creation of road reserves and biodiversity interests were never considered in the report.
The consultants’ finding stated that the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative would create better road networks that would also increase the prospects for cash economy, jobs and economic development. However, the Consultants’ report made no mention of any comprehensive consultation process with all the interested stakeholders.
The Draft Impact Report listed five major companies outsourced for the Toll Road construction. They are namely; Group Five Construction, Grinaker-LTA, Hawkins Hawkins and Osborn, Steward Scott, and WBHO Consortium.
Members of the public were thereon given until 1 November 2002 to make submissions about the Draft Impact Report.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE
The environmental issue under discussion here is the impact of the construction of the N2 Wild Coast Toll-Free Road and the link between people
and nature that was deliberately broken by the private developers.
The proposed road construction reveals a bitter struggle in which the rural communities’ desire to hold onto the lands of their ancestors is pitted against the private developers who are projected as forces that do not value the environmental, cultural and historical allegiance of the local inhabitants but are more concerned with economic motives.
Several spokespersons for environmentalists, community representatives, church leaders and civil society formations opposed to the Draft Impact Report and are questioning the environmental impact assessment findings. The majority of Non Governmental Organisations are challenging the proposed construction of the N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road.
VIEWS OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS
Vance Martin, President of the WILD Foundation and Executive Editor of the International Journal of Wilderness advocates that the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) should suspend any final decision on the proposed Toll Road construction until all the local communities who were never involved in the development of a comprehensive land-use plan are consulted.
Interviewed by the SABC 2 on 26 January 2003, John Costello of the Wild Coast Conservation Forum dismissed the N2 Toll Road by saying it will destroy the area where karoid sediments support extremely rare plant endemics of great antiquity which have no relatives on distant islands and continents of Gondwana origin. Costello also emphasised that the N2 Toll Road would be cutting a swathe along the cultural and scenic offerings that affects the Pondoland Coast that was recently granted World Heritage Status. “How can you justify blasting a highway through one of South Africa’s
most pristine areas? ” asks Costello.
Well-known local botanist Tony Abbot argues that there are many endemics in the Wild Coast that have just been discovered and there are countless plants in the grasslands still unnamed and waiting to be discovered. Abbot says the Wild Coast is one of South Africa’s magical areas. It is not only plants that will be disturbed by development but also the local rural communities that will suffer from the noise of the Toll Road traffic passing through their area.
THE POSITION OF CHURCH LEADERS
Bishop Geoff Davies of the Anglican Diocese of Umzimvubu, which extends from the Pondoland Wild Coast to the Drakensberg Mountains describes the go ahead for the proposed N2 Wild Coast Toll Road as illogical. He warns that there will be disastrous consequences, and he proposes that a commission should be appointed immediately to ensure the implementation of sustainable development and democratic decision-making.
“We should turn the existing R61 main road into the N2 Wild Coast Highway and establish and protect the eco-tourist potential of this area. Wild Coast is one of the 25 botanical hotspots and most incredible coastlines in the world,” says Bishop Davies.
South African Council of Churches (SACC) General Secretary, Dr Melefe Tsele, noted that their Biblical and historic mandate to be good stewards of God’s resources and to deal justly in the face of human, social and ecological challenges. This forces them to respond with deep concern to the suggestions contained in the Record of Decision.
In the letter which SACC addressed to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism dated 17 December 2003, it is illegal that the construction of the N2 Wild Coast Toll Road will not address adequately concerns on poverty eradication, sustainable ecological development or due civil empowerment.
Therefore, the SACC said they were obligated to urge the Minister to withhold approval for the road construction and appealed on behalf of affected communities that the provincial governments and local government authorities be given adequate time to consult and discuss the Draft Impact Assessment Report proposals with the affected communities.
FEARS OF COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES
Local people are up in arms and they accuse the government and private developers of doing things unilaterally as was the case during the building of the Wild Coast Resort when they were never consulted but were forcefully uprooted and displaced from their ancestral lands because of other people development motives.
According to Rev N M Gable of Lusikisiki, they fear that the toll road will divide communities and create numerous social problems. Further, he complains that the suggested wide range of potentially positive spinoffs, including employment opportunities to the local people were a pipedream because such promises were made when the casino was built on the banks of Umzamba River but to date very few locals have been gainfully employed.
STANCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS
The Save Wild Coast Campaign (SWC), which is a loose coalition of over 200 organisations and individuals, have voiced opposition to the current route of the proposed N2 Toll Road too. SWC states it was environmentally insensitive for South African National Roads Agency Limited to obtain financial gains at the expense of the rural communities. They cited a 1996 Indaba called and attended by the then Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Prof Kader Asmal, in the area.
They allege it was resolved to establish a broadly acceptable decision-making framework for forestry planning, with a strategy aimed at meeting the needs and demands of community by establishing procedures that will empower the rural people.
Several other member organisations have voiced concerns that the government dealings have shown no insight into environmental ethics, bio-diversity protection or economic justice.
According to SWC, the consultation, if any, was so minimal that even the Pondoland King, Mpondompini Sigcawu, was excluded from the process. Wild Coast communities have concluded that the project was forced upon them without the due consultation process. Because the mining of iron ore and titanium of the sand dunes was proposed on the Wild Coast, fast, reliable and efficient transportation mode was needed to ferry the resources to East London industries.
In a letter dated August 2004, the SWC calls for the South African National Roads Agency Limited to offer a public apology to the people of South Africa for false impressions arising from the ambiguous full-page advertising on the proposed N2 toll road placed in various newspapers, including “The Mercury”, “Daily Dispatch”, and “ Sunday Tribune” in February and March 2004.
The Save Wild Coast campaign have also proposed that South African National Roads Agency Limited transfers the two billion rands earmarked to construct the two Msikaba and Mtentu bridges to be spent on developing and upgrading the infrastructure of Pondoland for the benefit of her communities.
They say 90% of the area is made of plantations; therefore, the money should develop agriculture and train and equip the Pondoland people with skills for sustainable development.
Rehema White, the Acting Dean of Research at the University of Transkei says relocating and finding alternative land for uprooted communities caused by building the proposed N2 Wild Coast Toll Road would be complex under the communal land ownership structure, and the local communities should start preparing themselves for new transport strategies.
The Wild Coast local communities’ anger has fostered the creation of a community-based empowerment initiative called the Wild Coast Empowerment and Monitoring Project (WEMP).
Accordingly, the Wild Coast Empowerment and Monitoring Project aims to help the rural communities develop the capacities and strategies as well as skills for both the sustainable utilization and equitable distribution of the land and other national resources along the Wild Coast.
Wild Coast Empowerment and Monitoring Project says there should be a institutional capacity building of local community structures to ensure co-ordinated and effective local structures such as participation and active involvement in the local government process. WEMP argues that having well-informed communities will help influence the government policy on land tenure legislation on the simultaneous movements towards both traditional forms and elected institutions.
WEMP’s argument is that there is a lack of viable institutions to champion and take custody of communal land rights because there are still unaddressed complaints about the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative (WCSDI) that were launched in 1996 to attract investment in the area. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has championed eco-tourism as its flagship for economic development since 1994 but there is nothing tangible in this direction, says WEMP.
Development Bank of Southern Africa analyst Julie Clarke says there is no convincing evidence to prove that the Wild Coast proposal is in the interest of the local communities. Clarke challenges the notion that big bridges and fast roads automatically bring development and warns that the days of getting away with poor development proposals before selling them on the grounds of “job creation” are over. She argues that there are several questions that investors have to answer to and that these questions have not been answered in the existing documentation presented by developers to date. “Building a freeway through the global hotspot of bio-diversity will not only have an impact on the endemic ecology but will also deflate the opportunities to uplift local communities through promoting the region as an eco-tourism destination,” warns Clarke.
SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ROADS AGENCY LTD
Writing in the “Business Report” dated 16 October 2003 SANRAL Chief Executive Nazir Alli dismissed all the various stakeholders’ concerns and media statements about the Environmental Impact Assessment Report as ill-informed and baseless. “There is a general misrepresentation with no foundation to remark that the proposed highway is being planned by an almost secret community of road engineering contractors, planners and the South African National Roads Agency Limited. The process of planning, financing, designing, constructing and maintaining is subject to extensive legislation that requires comprehensive public participation, open to public tender scrutiny and adjudication of more senior tribunals, including our courts of law” explained Alli.
In addition, according to South African National Roads Agency Limited Marketing Manager, Connie Nel, the N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road should be viewed within its proper context of furthering sustainable development and improving the quality of life of our citizens. Therefore, added Nel, it as for the above reasons that the Wild Coast Toll Free Road was identified as one of the areas for strategic development in accordance with the Government’s Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) strategy. “The inefficiencies of the transport sector and the lack of a proper road network in many pars of South Africa have been identified as major impediments to economic growth and development, as well as to national and international trade.
The construction of the highway was to fast-track the delivery of goods and services, access to employment opportunities and household access to consumer goods since all the above depended on transport, and more particularly roads” said Nel.
The Hibiscus Coast Municipality website, where the Wild Coast area falls, insists that all the environmental planning frameworks were followed properly before the construction tender was awarded to the five toll road constructing companies.
East London Buffalo City and Umthatha Chamber of business fully supported the toll road but opinion was divided among the smaller Eastern Cape municipalities.
Mbashe municipality criticised the location of the toll plaza next to poor communities while the Kei municipality and Nyandeni municipality were non-committal over the proposed toll free road.
The eThekwini Municipality’s Transportation Advisory Board dismissed new toll roads driven by private sector interests. Its website reads “The eThekwini Metro is planning to restructure its public transport system and has not taken into account the proposed toll road”.
BUSINESS GROUP
Businesses trading from the Joyner Road Interchange (Isiphingo-Durban) felt the location of a major toll plaza on their front doors could push up costs by at least R 750 000 00 a year, says South African Breweries District Manager Greg Foreman. Foreman added that 50% of their staff lived south of the toll plaza; therefore, their transport costs would escalate and the value of the company’s business would decline because of its proximity to a toll plaza.
The Chairperson of the Ogwini Taxi Association, M E Mkhize, says taxi operators would have no option but to increase fares. Durban Chamber of Commerce representative Colin Butler said the building of toll roads in remote rural areas was likely to yield little revenue and said proponents of the proposed highway should be aware of the dire consequences which can be attributed to a lack of extensive consultative processes.
SOCIO-HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE AREA
People that reside along the stretch of Umzimvubu River, Umtamvuma River and the Umzamba River regard the Wild Coast area as part of their cultural heritage. Even when many rural households were forced to re-settle at the nearby villages of Bizana, Port St John’s and Lusikisiki when large tracts of land were turned into the Wild Coast Resort and Casino, they have always related to it as the resting lands of their ancestors.
The Wild Coast area is situated on the Lower South Coast and falls under the Hibiscus Coast District Municipality under the Ugu Regional Council in KwaZulu-Natal and it stretches into Port St John’s and beyond to the Eastern Cape.
According to the 2001 national census, Statistics South Africa and the Independent Electoral Commission records, the area known as Umzamba to the local African inhabitants, covers approximately two hundred and fifty (250) kilometres of coastline, two (2) district municipalities, seven (7) local municipalities, twenty (20) wall-to-wall municipal wards, four (4) regional authorities, about thirty (30) tribal authorities and their respective administrative areas total about 12 000 households.
The local community is a mix of IsiZulu-speaking and IsiXhosa-speaking people as the area was on the edge of a cross-border region between the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape.
Since the Municipal Demarcation Board delimitation of ward boundaries in 2000 and the subsequent local government elections, KwaZulu-Natal governs the area.
BIOPHYSICAL CONTEXT
The Wild Coast has pristine vegetation which have been identified by the South African National Parks (San Parks) and the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA). The Wild Coast area is seen as the last remaining habitant of its kind on the continent.
Despite its critical challenges the area faces regarding the proposed N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road, her scenery remains untapped in terms of economic, social and sustainable environmental development.
Local people link the proposed development of the N2 road in the Wild Coast area to plans by Trans-World Energy and Minerals to extract titanium and iron ore resources from the Xholobeni sand dunes in the not too distant future.
CONCLUSION
When Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk decided to uphold appeals against the construction of the N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road, he cited ‘extensive and inappropriate links between the consultants, Bohlweki Environmental company that had compiled the EIA, the Group Five Developers, and the Wild Coast Consortium’ for breaches that had been highlighted by the environmentalists and civil society institutions the previous year (The Mercury 14 December 2004). Therefore, the critical challenge facing all stakeholders and the wider South African public is to-re-visit the country’s supreme legislation, the S.A Constitution Act 108 of 1996.
The Constitution establishes that negative impacts on the environment and on the people’s environmental rights should be anticipated and prevented, and where they cannot be altogether prevented, at least should be minimised and remedied. Weighing and balancing the pro’s and con’s of the obligations and rights of both the environment and the welfare of the people, it becomes imperative that the democratic government principles of EAT (i.e ethical, accountability and transparency) should be followed at all times. Failure to uphold these cardinal principles of our Constitution remain critical aspects as we deepen the pillars of a democratic culture in South Africa. SANRAL, as the government representative, should take the blame because finding the wider civil society institutions challenging the proposed N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road in unison proves that the due processes as enshrined in the Constitution was never followed.
We should address the dilemma posed by the need for economic development dictates on the one hand and the need to preserve and conserve environmental imperatives on the other by using the ideal approach of transparent consultative processes.
Engaging communities at all levels or across the board in their respective contexts would help to enhance the achievements of the Millenium Development Goals, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development resolutions and the principles of the UN Declaration on Sustainable Development.
Writing in Caring for the Earth-South Africa. A Guide to Sustainable Living (WWF, 1997: 41) John Yeld warns readers that “We must not burden later generations with an ecological debt that will condemn most of them to an even more precarious poverty stricken existence than that endured by millions of people today”.
REFERENCES
1. The Mercury, 17 October 2002; The Mercury, 17 June 2003
2. SABC 2 Interview, Sandra Herrington, 26 January 2003
3. Business Report, 16 October 2003
4. The Mercury, 14 December 2004
5. SACC Public Policy Liaison Unit, 17 December 2003
6. SANRAL presentation (undated)
7. WEMP presentation (undated)
8. The Herald, 16 January 2004 (http.www.epherald.co.za)
9. Caring for the Earth-South Africa. A Guide to Sustainable Living, Yeld.J, Stellenbosch: WWF,1997,41
http://www.safcei.org.za/wildcoast/education/htm ;search/surf Google website for emaqadinimedia@webmail.co.za
SADC REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME
(06 October 2005)
DISCUSSION DOCUMENT ON THE SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL & ECONOMIC IMPACT ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF N2 WILD COAST TOLL-FREE ROAD TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES
Submitted by: NKONZWENHLE MQADI
(Independent Media Practitioner)
Contact: 0825816323 / 0762557826
E-mail :emaqadinimedia@webmail.co.za
nmqadi@yahoo.com
DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA
INTRODUCTION
The profound changes to the environment during the last decade have resulted in a strong focus on resource materials development, use and dissemination with a participatory orientation to local communities. The development of environmental educational awareness support material should play an advocacy role for environmental sustainability, global partnership development, peace, human rights and the eradication of extreme poverty among communities.
The local communities should be empowered through education and training that involves environmental education methodologies and development programmes to enhance the achievement of the UN Declaration on Sustainable Development.
Lack of a sound consultative process with local communities has resulted in many environmentalists questioning the rationale employed to justify the construction of a toll free road across two provinces as the project will sacrifice one of the most spectacular coastlines in the name of development.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROJECT
Research shows that some time in October 2002 a group of consultants hired by a major road-building consortium to investigate the ramifications of creating a new 550 kilometre toll road between Durban in KwaZulu-Natal and East London in the Eastern Cape presented the Draft Impact Report for public submissions.
The Consultants report had stated that there were no significant social or environmental hurdles preventing the construction of a new N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road. The consultants report pointed to a wide range of potentially positive long-term spin offs, such as better access and better prospects for economic, tourist and industrial development.
The environmental issues such as that the road would carve a completely new section of almost 100 kilometres through the steep river valleys of the Transkei to create a new coastal route between the Wild Coast Casino scenery and Port St John’s were overlooked or ignored.
The numerous village residents along the length of the road who will be forced to resettle or lose grazing or farming rights to make way for new road interchanges, re-alignment or creation of road reserves and biodiversity interests were never considered in the report.
The consultants’ finding stated that the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative would create better road networks that would also increase the prospects for cash economy, jobs and economic development. However, the Consultants’ report made no mention of any comprehensive consultation process with all the interested stakeholders.
The Draft Impact Report listed five major companies outsourced for the Toll Road construction. They are namely; Group Five Construction, Grinaker-LTA, Hawkins Hawkins and Osborn, Steward Scott, and WBHO Consortium.
Members of the public were thereon given until 1 November 2002 to make submissions about the Draft Impact Report.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE
The environmental issue under discussion here is the impact of the construction of the N2 Wild Coast Toll-Free Road and the link between people
and nature that was deliberately broken by the private developers.
The proposed road construction reveals a bitter struggle in which the rural communities’ desire to hold onto the lands of their ancestors is pitted against the private developers who are projected as forces that do not value the environmental, cultural and historical allegiance of the local inhabitants but are more concerned with economic motives.
Several spokespersons for environmentalists, community representatives, church leaders and civil society formations opposed to the Draft Impact Report and are questioning the environmental impact assessment findings. The majority of Non Governmental Organisations are challenging the proposed construction of the N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road.
VIEWS OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS
Vance Martin, President of the WILD Foundation and Executive Editor of the International Journal of Wilderness advocates that the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) should suspend any final decision on the proposed Toll Road construction until all the local communities who were never involved in the development of a comprehensive land-use plan are consulted.
Interviewed by the SABC 2 on 26 January 2003, John Costello of the Wild Coast Conservation Forum dismissed the N2 Toll Road by saying it will destroy the area where karoid sediments support extremely rare plant endemics of great antiquity which have no relatives on distant islands and continents of Gondwana origin. Costello also emphasised that the N2 Toll Road would be cutting a swathe along the cultural and scenic offerings that affects the Pondoland Coast that was recently granted World Heritage Status. “How can you justify blasting a highway through one of South Africa’s
most pristine areas? ” asks Costello.
Well-known local botanist Tony Abbot argues that there are many endemics in the Wild Coast that have just been discovered and there are countless plants in the grasslands still unnamed and waiting to be discovered. Abbot says the Wild Coast is one of South Africa’s magical areas. It is not only plants that will be disturbed by development but also the local rural communities that will suffer from the noise of the Toll Road traffic passing through their area.
THE POSITION OF CHURCH LEADERS
Bishop Geoff Davies of the Anglican Diocese of Umzimvubu, which extends from the Pondoland Wild Coast to the Drakensberg Mountains describes the go ahead for the proposed N2 Wild Coast Toll Road as illogical. He warns that there will be disastrous consequences, and he proposes that a commission should be appointed immediately to ensure the implementation of sustainable development and democratic decision-making.
“We should turn the existing R61 main road into the N2 Wild Coast Highway and establish and protect the eco-tourist potential of this area. Wild Coast is one of the 25 botanical hotspots and most incredible coastlines in the world,” says Bishop Davies.
South African Council of Churches (SACC) General Secretary, Dr Melefe Tsele, noted that their Biblical and historic mandate to be good stewards of God’s resources and to deal justly in the face of human, social and ecological challenges. This forces them to respond with deep concern to the suggestions contained in the Record of Decision.
In the letter which SACC addressed to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism dated 17 December 2003, it is illegal that the construction of the N2 Wild Coast Toll Road will not address adequately concerns on poverty eradication, sustainable ecological development or due civil empowerment.
Therefore, the SACC said they were obligated to urge the Minister to withhold approval for the road construction and appealed on behalf of affected communities that the provincial governments and local government authorities be given adequate time to consult and discuss the Draft Impact Assessment Report proposals with the affected communities.
FEARS OF COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES
Local people are up in arms and they accuse the government and private developers of doing things unilaterally as was the case during the building of the Wild Coast Resort when they were never consulted but were forcefully uprooted and displaced from their ancestral lands because of other people development motives.
According to Rev N M Gable of Lusikisiki, they fear that the toll road will divide communities and create numerous social problems. Further, he complains that the suggested wide range of potentially positive spinoffs, including employment opportunities to the local people were a pipedream because such promises were made when the casino was built on the banks of Umzamba River but to date very few locals have been gainfully employed.
STANCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS
The Save Wild Coast Campaign (SWC), which is a loose coalition of over 200 organisations and individuals, have voiced opposition to the current route of the proposed N2 Toll Road too. SWC states it was environmentally insensitive for South African National Roads Agency Limited to obtain financial gains at the expense of the rural communities. They cited a 1996 Indaba called and attended by the then Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Prof Kader Asmal, in the area.
They allege it was resolved to establish a broadly acceptable decision-making framework for forestry planning, with a strategy aimed at meeting the needs and demands of community by establishing procedures that will empower the rural people.
Several other member organisations have voiced concerns that the government dealings have shown no insight into environmental ethics, bio-diversity protection or economic justice.
According to SWC, the consultation, if any, was so minimal that even the Pondoland King, Mpondompini Sigcawu, was excluded from the process. Wild Coast communities have concluded that the project was forced upon them without the due consultation process. Because the mining of iron ore and titanium of the sand dunes was proposed on the Wild Coast, fast, reliable and efficient transportation mode was needed to ferry the resources to East London industries.
In a letter dated August 2004, the SWC calls for the South African National Roads Agency Limited to offer a public apology to the people of South Africa for false impressions arising from the ambiguous full-page advertising on the proposed N2 toll road placed in various newspapers, including “The Mercury”, “Daily Dispatch”, and “ Sunday Tribune” in February and March 2004.
The Save Wild Coast campaign have also proposed that South African National Roads Agency Limited transfers the two billion rands earmarked to construct the two Msikaba and Mtentu bridges to be spent on developing and upgrading the infrastructure of Pondoland for the benefit of her communities.
They say 90% of the area is made of plantations; therefore, the money should develop agriculture and train and equip the Pondoland people with skills for sustainable development.
Rehema White, the Acting Dean of Research at the University of Transkei says relocating and finding alternative land for uprooted communities caused by building the proposed N2 Wild Coast Toll Road would be complex under the communal land ownership structure, and the local communities should start preparing themselves for new transport strategies.
The Wild Coast local communities’ anger has fostered the creation of a community-based empowerment initiative called the Wild Coast Empowerment and Monitoring Project (WEMP).
Accordingly, the Wild Coast Empowerment and Monitoring Project aims to help the rural communities develop the capacities and strategies as well as skills for both the sustainable utilization and equitable distribution of the land and other national resources along the Wild Coast.
Wild Coast Empowerment and Monitoring Project says there should be a institutional capacity building of local community structures to ensure co-ordinated and effective local structures such as participation and active involvement in the local government process. WEMP argues that having well-informed communities will help influence the government policy on land tenure legislation on the simultaneous movements towards both traditional forms and elected institutions.
WEMP’s argument is that there is a lack of viable institutions to champion and take custody of communal land rights because there are still unaddressed complaints about the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative (WCSDI) that were launched in 1996 to attract investment in the area. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has championed eco-tourism as its flagship for economic development since 1994 but there is nothing tangible in this direction, says WEMP.
Development Bank of Southern Africa analyst Julie Clarke says there is no convincing evidence to prove that the Wild Coast proposal is in the interest of the local communities. Clarke challenges the notion that big bridges and fast roads automatically bring development and warns that the days of getting away with poor development proposals before selling them on the grounds of “job creation” are over. She argues that there are several questions that investors have to answer to and that these questions have not been answered in the existing documentation presented by developers to date. “Building a freeway through the global hotspot of bio-diversity will not only have an impact on the endemic ecology but will also deflate the opportunities to uplift local communities through promoting the region as an eco-tourism destination,” warns Clarke.
SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ROADS AGENCY LTD
Writing in the “Business Report” dated 16 October 2003 SANRAL Chief Executive Nazir Alli dismissed all the various stakeholders’ concerns and media statements about the Environmental Impact Assessment Report as ill-informed and baseless. “There is a general misrepresentation with no foundation to remark that the proposed highway is being planned by an almost secret community of road engineering contractors, planners and the South African National Roads Agency Limited. The process of planning, financing, designing, constructing and maintaining is subject to extensive legislation that requires comprehensive public participation, open to public tender scrutiny and adjudication of more senior tribunals, including our courts of law” explained Alli.
In addition, according to South African National Roads Agency Limited Marketing Manager, Connie Nel, the N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road should be viewed within its proper context of furthering sustainable development and improving the quality of life of our citizens. Therefore, added Nel, it as for the above reasons that the Wild Coast Toll Free Road was identified as one of the areas for strategic development in accordance with the Government’s Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) strategy. “The inefficiencies of the transport sector and the lack of a proper road network in many pars of South Africa have been identified as major impediments to economic growth and development, as well as to national and international trade.
The construction of the highway was to fast-track the delivery of goods and services, access to employment opportunities and household access to consumer goods since all the above depended on transport, and more particularly roads” said Nel.
The Hibiscus Coast Municipality website, where the Wild Coast area falls, insists that all the environmental planning frameworks were followed properly before the construction tender was awarded to the five toll road constructing companies.
East London Buffalo City and Umthatha Chamber of business fully supported the toll road but opinion was divided among the smaller Eastern Cape municipalities.
Mbashe municipality criticised the location of the toll plaza next to poor communities while the Kei municipality and Nyandeni municipality were non-committal over the proposed toll free road.
The eThekwini Municipality’s Transportation Advisory Board dismissed new toll roads driven by private sector interests. Its website reads “The eThekwini Metro is planning to restructure its public transport system and has not taken into account the proposed toll road”.
BUSINESS GROUP
Businesses trading from the Joyner Road Interchange (Isiphingo-Durban) felt the location of a major toll plaza on their front doors could push up costs by at least R 750 000 00 a year, says South African Breweries District Manager Greg Foreman. Foreman added that 50% of their staff lived south of the toll plaza; therefore, their transport costs would escalate and the value of the company’s business would decline because of its proximity to a toll plaza.
The Chairperson of the Ogwini Taxi Association, M E Mkhize, says taxi operators would have no option but to increase fares. Durban Chamber of Commerce representative Colin Butler said the building of toll roads in remote rural areas was likely to yield little revenue and said proponents of the proposed highway should be aware of the dire consequences which can be attributed to a lack of extensive consultative processes.
SOCIO-HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE AREA
People that reside along the stretch of Umzimvubu River, Umtamvuma River and the Umzamba River regard the Wild Coast area as part of their cultural heritage. Even when many rural households were forced to re-settle at the nearby villages of Bizana, Port St John’s and Lusikisiki when large tracts of land were turned into the Wild Coast Resort and Casino, they have always related to it as the resting lands of their ancestors.
The Wild Coast area is situated on the Lower South Coast and falls under the Hibiscus Coast District Municipality under the Ugu Regional Council in KwaZulu-Natal and it stretches into Port St John’s and beyond to the Eastern Cape.
According to the 2001 national census, Statistics South Africa and the Independent Electoral Commission records, the area known as Umzamba to the local African inhabitants, covers approximately two hundred and fifty (250) kilometres of coastline, two (2) district municipalities, seven (7) local municipalities, twenty (20) wall-to-wall municipal wards, four (4) regional authorities, about thirty (30) tribal authorities and their respective administrative areas total about 12 000 households.
The local community is a mix of IsiZulu-speaking and IsiXhosa-speaking people as the area was on the edge of a cross-border region between the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape.
Since the Municipal Demarcation Board delimitation of ward boundaries in 2000 and the subsequent local government elections, KwaZulu-Natal governs the area.
BIOPHYSICAL CONTEXT
The Wild Coast has pristine vegetation which have been identified by the South African National Parks (San Parks) and the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA). The Wild Coast area is seen as the last remaining habitant of its kind on the continent.
Despite its critical challenges the area faces regarding the proposed N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road, her scenery remains untapped in terms of economic, social and sustainable environmental development.
Local people link the proposed development of the N2 road in the Wild Coast area to plans by Trans-World Energy and Minerals to extract titanium and iron ore resources from the Xholobeni sand dunes in the not too distant future.
CONCLUSION
When Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk decided to uphold appeals against the construction of the N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road, he cited ‘extensive and inappropriate links between the consultants, Bohlweki Environmental company that had compiled the EIA, the Group Five Developers, and the Wild Coast Consortium’ for breaches that had been highlighted by the environmentalists and civil society institutions the previous year (The Mercury 14 December 2004). Therefore, the critical challenge facing all stakeholders and the wider South African public is to-re-visit the country’s supreme legislation, the S.A Constitution Act 108 of 1996.
The Constitution establishes that negative impacts on the environment and on the people’s environmental rights should be anticipated and prevented, and where they cannot be altogether prevented, at least should be minimised and remedied. Weighing and balancing the pro’s and con’s of the obligations and rights of both the environment and the welfare of the people, it becomes imperative that the democratic government principles of EAT (i.e ethical, accountability and transparency) should be followed at all times. Failure to uphold these cardinal principles of our Constitution remain critical aspects as we deepen the pillars of a democratic culture in South Africa. SANRAL, as the government representative, should take the blame because finding the wider civil society institutions challenging the proposed N2 Wild Coast Toll Free Road in unison proves that the due processes as enshrined in the Constitution was never followed.
We should address the dilemma posed by the need for economic development dictates on the one hand and the need to preserve and conserve environmental imperatives on the other by using the ideal approach of transparent consultative processes.
Engaging communities at all levels or across the board in their respective contexts would help to enhance the achievements of the Millenium Development Goals, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development resolutions and the principles of the UN Declaration on Sustainable Development.
Writing in Caring for the Earth-South Africa. A Guide to Sustainable Living (WWF, 1997: 41) John Yeld warns readers that “We must not burden later generations with an ecological debt that will condemn most of them to an even more precarious poverty stricken existence than that endured by millions of people today”.
REFERENCES
1. The Mercury, 17 October 2002; The Mercury, 17 June 2003
2. SABC 2 Interview, Sandra Herrington, 26 January 2003
3. Business Report, 16 October 2003
4. The Mercury, 14 December 2004
5. SACC Public Policy Liaison Unit, 17 December 2003
6. SANRAL presentation (undated)
7. WEMP presentation (undated)
8. The Herald, 16 January 2004 (http.www.epherald.co.za)
9. Caring for the Earth-South Africa. A Guide to Sustainable Living, Yeld.J, Stellenbosch: WWF,1997,41
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