WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT?

                                                                                                                                                                     As the Republic of South Africa's ruling party marches towards the 54th African National Congress elective conference in December 2017, the future of the current nine provinces will be up for extensive and robust debate by the almost 5000 African National Congress delegates attending the all-important event.

Thou the democratic state provinces remain one of the contentious compromise that flow from the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) negotiations, but after two decades of constitutional democracy there were now genteel murmurs over the country's three-tier system of governance.
From central government policymakers, various political parties and the wider civil society organisations were debating the relevance of the second layer of governance (i.e provincial arm of government).

Research inform us that way back in August 2007, the Department of Provincial and Local Government had commissioned and initiated a policy review process on the future of provincial governments.

However, it was the debate and discussions about the future of provincial government at the ANC's 2010 National General Council and subsequent 2012 National Policy Conference which endorsed that the current nine provinces should be reconfigured or reduced into a manageable six.

Some two years ago, Professor Otty Nxumalo (the first Director-General of the KwaZulu-Natal province) described the nine provinces as a result of some political expendiency.
Nxumalo argued that they were simply a duplication of taxpayers expenditure and said it would have been ideal that South Africa had introduced a federal system of government.

Pertinent question that arises would be why were the country's nine provinces created in the first instance.

Eminent political fundis were of the view that the certain recalcitrant political viewpoints under the COSAG grouping of early 1990's were the main drivers behind the wide devolution of political power to every ethnic power - region.

And this co-operative model of government resulted in the three-tier system of national, provincial and local government sphere of political power. And the current RSA's proportional representation system dovetails with the party political patronage, as opposed to the constituent based representation.

Will the ANC conference give rise to the scrapping, decreasing or new form of government after the December 2017 conference? Why review the provincial sphere of government, when 23 years ago it was seen as a viable vehicle that brought closer and provided service delivery to communities better compared to the national government deliverable framework.

COSATU President, Sdumo Dlamini, is reported saying the provincial arm of government was rather a "long unnecessary pipe in terms of efficient service delivery to local communities" , and he would not care a damn if provinces were scrapped once an for all.

However, it was Dr Bertus de Villiers, who has in his clairyovant paper titled "The future of provinces in SA-The Debate Continues'" gives a scholarly perspective on what should be done on the question of provinces in South Africa.

de Villiers argues that "ïn order to determine the way forward for provinces, it is important to revisit the reasons why provinces were created, why they were demarcated in their current form (a wide shift from the previous government four provinces) and how their political power were allocated.
Once the background to the provinces is understood, one can consider reasons why alterations or modifications may be required as the ruling party go to the December 2017 conference."

Personally, I verily contend that South Africa could never become a victim of political dogmatic values.
What may have been a viable organ to drive and consolidate a constitutional democracy some twenty years ago, requires that it was brought in line with the contemporary political economic programmes of the new millenium century in the developed and developing nation states.

Why were the current nine provinces created in the first instance, was a question that was neither here nor there. The ANC leadership and the present day rank and file membership was not necessarily bound to the policy debates and deliberations that may have brought about and cemented the country''s system of government.

And if the argument to decrease the provinces or to scrap this middle layer of government were to prevail at the 54th ANC national conference, let South African reconfigure itself anew.
ENDS

#THOUSANDS OF CANCER PATIENTS DYING IN KZN

Dr Mzukisi Mgulwa, the Secretary of the South African Medical Profession-KZN (East Coast Region) has lambasted the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health administrators for allowing a high number of terminally-ill cancer patients to die in their hospitals which could have been prevented. It is alleged that the machines used by the oncologists department to treat patients were lying used or not operational in many hospitals for a number of years, hence the highest number of deaths.

Speaking on the Raido 2000 interview on Tuesday afternoon (after the 16h00 news slot) he said the provincial department health authorities were responsible for the high number of deaths as all the cancerous ailment suffering patients were not receiving high care treatment because all the cancer experts ( he mentioned the oncologists and urologists) were leaving the state hospitals in droves to the private sector as there was visible lack of incentives in working for the state hospitals.

He accused the provincial health department authorities for being responsible for so many deaths that could have been prevented if there was a political willingness if they wanted to save those lives.

He announced that so much hardship was still to happen as all the oncologists were finding it difficult and unbearable to treat their patients as all the machinery provided for top quality medication were malfacturing or allowed to to be be in a state of disuse by the health authorities.

The South African Human Rights Commission, too, has entered the fray on the victimisation of the state hospitally-dependent patients. SAHRC is reported to have issued a stern rebuke to the Health Department MEC, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, whereby they accused him of being careless about the poor people's lives and also responsible for the high toll of cancer-suffering patients in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Attempts to get comments the KwaZulu-Natal state hospitals or the department of health spokesperson drew blank at the time of going to print.
The End.

Durban-KZN HOST 27th TOURISM INDABA

Durban-KZN HOSTS 27th TOURISM INDABA

APPROXIMATELY over 20 000 trade and tourism delegates were expected to descent to the Durban's Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) to attend South Africa's flagship Tourism Indaba from 16-18 May 2017.

Tourism Indaba showcases and promotes the country's locaLly-manufactured content and the Durban/KwaZulu-Natal provincial landscape to the wider international audience.

Tourism KZN Chief Executive, Ndabo Khoza, hailed the Durban's magnificent hosting capabilities and ecellent standards over the past 26 consecutive years.

"Tourism Indaba remains the greatest marketing platform for the local trade and tourism offerings as it links the traders, tour operators with the international exhibitors and traders from the global stage.

Furthermore, Tourism Indaba creates over 1 000 piece-jobs to the tertiary students and the 
unemployed graduates residing within our municipality. And the hospitality industry benefits handsomely as all our establishments were normally reported fully booked during Tourism Indaba," explained Acting Deputy City Manager for the Economic Development & Planning, Phillip Sithole.

South African Tourism (SAT) Media & Communications Officer, Funeka Kraai, also elaborated that during the 2017 trade and tourism show SAT was expecting a huge turn-out of registered delegates that would exceed by far the international exhibitors, buyers and the foreign media contingent that attended the previous years.

Her breakdown of figures reveals that some 168 overseas reporters and over 900 exhibitors attended the 2016 edition of the trade-show held in the Durban's ICC.

ENDS

PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES TO THE Reunion & Glebe Hostel RESIDENTS

RIL 24, 2017

EDUCATION facilities for Reunion and Glebe Hostel Residents

Top priority was uppermost to the construction of the new democratic South Africa to provide equal opportunities that aimed o improve the lives of all the inhabitants of the communities residing inside the Republic, irrespective whether they had previously resided in enclaves that were created by the old-apartheid regime.                                                                           And, of course, all the places previously established-enclaves or compounds by the Afrikaner government, commonly-referred as those previously made for 'own separate development and for themselves' from other communities were destroyed. 

In particular, we saw such residential facilities offered by the apartheid government areas to the so-called "compounds", where the employees were housed together to be closer closer to their employment activities destroyed..
That's why today we're contemplating residences that were built by the employer of the time, (South African Railways) whereby they housed the workers and their families, such as the houses situated at Burlinghan, Klaarwater,  west of Durban, and the residential area, commonly known as "KwesikaGandhi", which were family residential houses  above the old railway town (Pietermaritzburg), and other places previously provided by SAR, almost the entire province and throughout the Republic of South Africa, seen as history nowadays.

However, today we must focus on the area of Reunion, the South African Railways employee-residence that was built on the other side of the old airport in Durban Ministry (Durban Airport) and was still close to Interchange.

However, it is commendable to witness that the democratic government is responsible for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Department of Local Government and Administration were able to combine the location of Reunion surrounding communities and the nearby Glebelands Hostel residents into a single ward that qualify for all the service deliverables under  Ward 76 within eThekwini Municipality.

And the government records reflect that the multitude of citizens and social of the inhabitants of the surrounding area of Reunion, reflects that there were approximately hundred houses previously constructed by the, then, employer -South African Railways. Nowadays,the number of people (residents) of Reunion have grown multiple times, as the number has outgrown the number of houses earlier earmarked for South African Railways employees.

Discussion with fellow citizens who live in the territory of Reunion, they raised a few complaints on the key developmental issues, such as the provision of infrastructure opportunities under a democratic government.
One elderly, who has stayed in the area of Reunion for over twenty years, Mrs Noh Mtshali, now a single parent raising few children after the death of her husband who weas employed by South African Railways, and an activist of the ANCWL  has proposed that the local government (i.e eThekwini Municipality) has to attend to the needs of the residents by providing them with the educational infrastructure, such as schools.                       According to Mtshali, the construction of such facilities for the youth development will go a long way towards nurturing a new culture to the Reunion kids and their Glebe Hostel counterparts that were born and raised from the hostel. 

Even one citizen born and bred (grew up) in the Reunion area, Mr Jomo Ngqingwana, who's a businessman (SME) on the other side of the railway station (at Glebe Hostel) commends their integration to the Glebe Hostel and identified business opportunities they were now exposed to with the Glebe Hostel communities. 

However, it was a former trade union activist, Mr Kholi Dlamini, who argued strongly that Reunion residents they should be consulted on every developmental initiated that were earmarked for their residential area.        He expressed annoyance that the park facilities meant for the development of the children was vandalised and destroyed in the area.  He also lambasted the "Fly-by-Night" charismatic churches that worship in the tents that have blossomed in their area without the citizens being invited into a forum whereby they were consulted.

The overarching question to the inhabitants of the Reunion Glebe Hostel is how long it will be to be able to get their children the opportunity to learn close to their families?   For many parents it was proving expensive to hire commuters daily athat ferry their children to and from schools in the neighbouring townships, such as Lamontville or Umlazi, and to the other multiracial schools of Wentworth and Isiphingo surburbs.

Does the leadership of the eThekwini Municipality only care a damn about the Reunion and Glebe Hostel residents only when the IEC start making preparations for the voting periods only? Basically, how many votes were required to sustain the constituency of Ward 76?                                                                              When will the basic needs for the development of young people growing up in these areas be made a top prior  Efforts to find the input of the Department of Education circle constellation could not be found.
ENDS 

Author: Nkonzwenhle ''Nkonzo" Mqadi  
[Independent Media Practitioner from EMAQADINI MEDIA, and also, a teacher employed by the KZN DoE - Umlazi , the provincial Department of Education]

MAZIHLINZEKWE NGENGQALASIZINDA YEZEMFUNDO IZAKHAMUZI ZASE REUNION NASE GLEBE HOSTEL

EQHULWINI lezincomo zokwakha iNingizimu Afrika ekhululekile kwaba ngukuhlinzeka ngamathuba alinganayo okuthuthukisa izimpilo zazo zonke izakhamuzi ezakhele lelizwe. Futhi-ke, kwaqhakambiswa nokuziqeda nya zonke izindawo ezabe zakhiwe nguHulumeni wamaBhunu njenge ngalezo ezabe ziyiziqhingana ezazinempilo yazo zodwa ngokwazo ehlukile kweminye imiphakathi.

Kakhulukazi nje, emqondweni wami ngisanesithombe samathuba entuthuko esesiwabone ehlinzekwa kulezozindawo uhulumeni wobandlululo ayezibiza ngezi"Nkompolo", lapho ayehlalisa khona bonke abasebenzi bakhe ngokubasondezela babe seduzane nokuya-nokubuya emisebenzini abaqashwe kuyo.
Yingakho-ke namuhla ngibhekisisa izindawo zokuhlala ezazakhiwe nguMqashi onguLoliwe (South African Railways & Harbour) lapho kwakuhlaliswa abasebenzi nemindeni yabo, njengaseBurlinghan eseKlaarwater engaseNtshonalanga neTheku, kube ilaphaya "KwesikaGandhi" okuyimizi yemindeni engehla kwesiteshi sesitimela esidala eThawini (Pietermaritzburg), nezinye izindawo zemindeni ezabe zihlinzekwe ngabakwaLoliwe cishe kuso sonke isifundazwe nezwe laseMzansi.

Kodwa-ke, namuhla ngizobhekisisa indawo yaseReunion, eyakhiwe ngaphesheya kwesikhumulo samabhanoyi sakudala eThekwini (okwakuyi Durban Airport) esondelene nasese Isiphingo.

Nokho-ke, kuyancomeka ukubona ukuthi uhulumeni wezaseKhaya benenhlangano ebhekele ezoKhetho (ICE)  sebekwazile ukuhlanganisa indawo yase Reunion nemiphakathi eyakhelene nayo bakubhekiswe kwezenhlakahle ngokwezidingo zikahulumeni ngoba seyahlanganiswa yafakwa ngangaphansi kukaWard 76 ngaphansi koMkhandlu waseThekwini.

Makufundisiswa ngobuningi bezakhamuzi nakwezenhlalakahle yezakhamuzi ezakhele indawo yase Reunion, kuyavela emabhukwini ukuthi kunezindlu ezibalelwa kwinkulungwane ezabe zakhiwe ngu Mqashi onguLoliwe. Namuhla abahlali base Reunion sebekhuphuke ngenani eliqavile ngokuba kuthiwa sebengaphezu kwezinkulungwane ezintathu abayizakhamuzi ngokuhlala khona.

Ngixoxisana nabanye abayizakhamuzi ezihlala endaweni yase Reunion, kuvele izikhalazo ezimbalwa futhi ezisemqoka ngokuhlinzekwa ngamathuba nangengqalasizinda sokubathuthukisa ngaphansi kwalohulumeni weNtando yeNingi.
Ongumama wekhaya futhi osineminyaka-nyaka ehlala njengesakhamuzi endaweni yase Reunion, uNkosikazi Noh Mtshali,  ongumzali ozikhulisela ngayedwana izingane ngemuvs kokushiywa ngumyeni owayeqashwe kwaLoliwe, futhi oyisiShabasheki samakhosikazi kaKhongolose (ANCWL),  uphakamise ukuthi uhulumeni sekufanele abasondezele izidingo zomphakathi zibe seduzane nendawo abayakhele ezobasiza njengokwakhiwa kwezikole ezizothuthukisa izingane ngezemfundo.

Ngokunjalo nesinye isakhamuzi esazalelwa sakhulela kulendawo, uMnumzane Jomo Ngqingwana, onguSomabhizinisi osathuthuka (SME) ngebhizinisi analo ngaphesheya kukajantshi wesitimela khona eGlebe Hostel, uveze ukuwajabulela amathuba asebe nawo ngokuhlanganiswa basebenzisana nendawo yase Glebelands.

Nowaziwa njengeNgcitha-buchopho yesiShabasheki esilwela amalungelo abasebenzi kwiNyunyana iSAMWU, uMnumzane Kholi Dlamini, uyakuncoma ukubhekelwelwa kwezidingo zezakhamuzi ezikulendawo, njengoba kwayena esekemaphethelweni okuzivulela isitolo khona eReunion.  Kodwa-ke, uzwakalise ukunengeka ngokubona izindawo uLoliwe ayezakhele ukuthuthukisa abantwana babo sezicekelwe phansi, njengeyokuncebeleka ePaki (phecelezi park facilities) eyakhiwe lapha Reunion. Ubuye wakhahlela lendaba yo"Qhibi-Khowe" yamaTende esonto asevele athi cithi saka kulendawo, kube bona abayizakhamuzi endaweni bengaziswanga muntu ngawo.

Umbuzo-ngqangi ongaphenduleki ngezakhamuzi ezihlala eReunion nezakhona ehositela laseGlebe ngothi, kusazothatha isikhathi esingakanani ukuba abantwana babo bakwazi ukuthola ithuba lokufunda eduze nemindeni yabo na? Kubazali abaningi sekuyabesinda ukuqasha abezimoto nsukuzonke abazobathuthela izingane ziya noma zibuya ezikoleni ezakhiwe emalokishini angamakhelwane, njengase Umlaza naseLamontville, kanye nasezindaweni zolunye uhlanga okungaba kuse Isiphingo nase Wentworth.

Kungabe ubuholi boMkhandlu waseThekwini unokuwukhumbula umphakazi oyizakhamuzi zase Reunion beno IEC mhlazane sekuzoyovotwa kuphela na? Ngamangakhi lamavoti adingakala ukusimamisa uWard 76, uma izidingo-ngqangi zokuthuthukisa intsha esakhula zingasondezwa kubo? Imizamo yokuthola uvo lwaboMnyango wezeMfundo eSiyingini sase uMlaza ayitholakalanga.
IYAPHELA

KUBHALE: Nkonzwenhle 'Nkonzo' Mqadi
[OnguMbhali ozimele wase EMAQADINI MEDIA, futhi-ke, onguThisha oqashwe ngaphansi kweSiyingi saseMlaza nguMnyango wezeMfundo kulesiFundazwe]

Whitney Houston - The Night the Music Stopped - RIP.

Folks, it's almost five years since the entire world woke up to the sad news that one of the most remarkable and powerful voices of all-time in music was no more.

I'm currently reading the 'Remembering Whitney
My Story of Love, Loss, and the Night the Music Stopped' written by her mother, Cissy Houston, a gospel music legend, herself in her own right.
The book was written with Lisa Dickey, with the foreword by Nippy's aunt, Dionne Warwick.

NB: 'Nippy', The Child of Newark Died' Rest In Peace.
Remembering Whitney' is rated amongst the New York Times bestsellers.

FELLOW COMPATRIOTS, WHY ATTACK FOREIGN NATIONALS?

A wave of vigilante violence has recently rocked the working class suburb of Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg. It’s the latest instalment of a now all too familiar phenomenon in South Africa.

Images of people being brutally beaten or even killed by a vengeful mob are a regular feature on television, in newspapers and on social media. Private citizens often take the law into their own hands to punish perceived wrongdoers in their communities. Their aim is to improve their collective security and social order where formal law enforcement is absent or ineffective.

The fundamental issues of law, order, justice and power that lie at the heart of vigilante activities have a myriad of significant wider implications. Vigilantism challenges the formal boundary between crime and punishment, between law and justice.

Despite its ubiquity, vigilantism has largely been overlooked as a legal topic worthy of in-depth consideration, or even definition. My recent doctoral study aimed to fill this gap.

The central questions my research sought to answer were how to conceptualise, understand and address vigilantism from a legal perspective.

My study showed that vigilantes resort to violence to “fill the gap” left by unsatisfactory law enforcement. This is because of the state’s failure to command widespread legitimacy.

This loss of legitimacy is due to the state being inefficient, corrupt and out of touch with popular concerns. The situation is exacerbated in marginalised and poverty stricken communities, where violence is commonplace.

Vigilantes as both victims and perpetrators

There are inherent contradictions in how we respond towards vigilantism in South Africa. Vigilantes are viewed as criminals who deserve to be punished. But they are also sometimes portrayed as being proactive citizens fighting crime. As Judge Binns-Ward J in one case stated:

vigilantes are seen by many in the communities … as upstanding and respectable members of the community, and indeed see themselves as serving the interests of their community. On reflection, even if wholly unacceptable, this much is understandable in the context of a perception by a community that the formal and constitutionally established criminal justice system is not functioning.
The courts and the executive seem to share the popular assumption that vigilante violence deserves harsh condemnation. This goes hand-in-hand with an uneasy acknowledgement that vigilantism is essentially an attempt to address a long standing and ongoing problem – namely the state’s woefully inadequate response to societal order and security demands.

This ambivalence is reflected in the words South Africans use to talk about vigilantism. These include oxymoronic terms such as “popular justice”, “kangaroo court”, “vengeance attacks” and “mob justice”.

And the ambivalence is reinforced by the fact that there are very low levels of trust between citizens of the country and the police. This was borne out again with the release of the country’s latest victims of crime survey by Statistics South Africa. It showed that, on the whole, South Africans are reluctant to report crime because they think the police can’t, or won’t, do anything about it.

COSATU's annoited ANC presidential candidate - What to expect from Cyril Ramaphosa's presidency?

The biggest labour federation in the country -Congress of the South African Trade Unions - has pronounced that the former trade unionist - turned a multimillionare, the 65-year old Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, as their preferred presidential candidate during the ANC's elective conference scheduled for December 2017 in the Northern Cape province.

Was it not proper that the ordinary citizens begin to grapple with pertinent questions such as what does this "nomination" signifies for the social-economic-political changes in South Africa within the next five years?

If and when Ramaphosa emerges victorious from the ANC conference, he would subsequently become the country's head of state after the 2019 general elections, and, again if the current ruling party were to secure a substantial endorsement from the electorate to continue governance in the Republic of South Africa.

How much impact to our political economy would the successful businessperson in him translate to, for the ordinary working class?
Will Ramaphosa redefine the Republic of South Africa's power structure and reshape our political, labour an d economic institutions?

The critical question that arises about his "earliest" preference, (as the ANC has not formally declared the nomination process open) are the outcomes of the historical junctures which are extremely important whenever there was a change in the leadership of the government administration.

No one would deny what COSATU members play a critical role in crafting and shaping the government policies as it sits in the Tripartite Alliance (including the SACP) with the ANC. Its widely published that the first democratic government's blueprint, aptly referred as the Reconstruction Development Programme (RDP) was the COSATU membership brainchild?

Without prejudging Ramaphosa as the RSA's No.1, but were there any prospects that he will introduce laudable programmes that aim to close and/or eliminate the high rate of unemployment in our country?
How will South Africa prosper under his presidential tenure as the country continue to suffer from the wide margins of social and economic inequalities amongst the citizens across the skin colour?
Ramaphosa is currently the leader of RSA Government Business, once he becomes the head of state, will he approve the NEDLAC recommendations R 3 500,00 minimum wage to the poorest of the poor - working class communities?
What ace up Ramaphosa's sleeve does he carry to silence COSATU as he tackle and/or abolish the labour federation's contentious gripe with the two successive heads of state over the labour brokers, and the rentrechment stranglehold of workers by big business on the working class?

Amongst pressing issues too, was the fact that South African economy is fraught with severe problems, such as decreasing per capita income, lack of real growth in gross domestic product (GDP) and the ever-increasing rate of unemployment, in particular, the newly-qualified graduates.

Mind you, the labour market flexibility and international competitiveness remain South Africa's prime economic objectives.
It was a sustainable economic growth and job creation opportunities that the citizens want as, in turn, will lead South Africa towards a sustainable level of global competitiveness nowadays.

Organized labour (i.e COSATU) demands a reduction in the wage gap between the highest and lower paid workers. On the other hand, big business in South Africa advocates minimal interventions to the country's labour market.
Does this not shed light that Ramaphosa's government would be held captive by the labour federation on job creation programmes?

NB: Folks, I am only giving you a "preview" on the piece about the Cosatu's preferredd ANC presidential candidate.
Everyone was at liberty to engage constructively and scholarly on this post.
Once I've collected enough data (ur views, comments & opinions) I shall then publish the full text on my Blog - EMAQADINI MEDIA, and also it will be published by the mainstream media network in South Africa and internationally.

                              RAMAPHOSA bona fides

Born in Chiawelo, Soweto on November 17, 1952, Ramaphosa's activism began when he studied law at the University of the North (i.e Turfloop University) where he joined the SASO and the Black People's Convention, as he was drawn to the ideology of the black consciousness which was prevalent at the time.

After completing his legal degree in the early 1980's, Ramaphosa emerges as the leader of the National Union of Mineworkers, which would become one of the biggest and powerful trade unions in the old-apartheid South Africa.

Archives also proves that Ramaphosa was also instrumental in the formation of the Congress of the South African Trade Unions (COSATU) IN at the beginning of the 1980's.

Thou, Ramaphosa never occupied any higher office within the United Democratic Front, but COSATU's alliance with the mass-bassed grassroots structures, had broadened Ramaphosa's influence across anti-apartheid groupings.

Some historical facts reveal that it was the NUM under Ramaphosa's stewardship that was pivotal in helping 'Oom Gov', that communist firebrand, Govan Mbeki, who was released from Robben Island Prison with the the sole mandate and instructions to revive the ANC structures inside South Africa.

Ramaphosa's importance within the NUM was his major influence that he transmitted ANC beliefs in an overall package. One is tempted to argue that Ramaphosa emphasized that 'the main content of the present stage of the S.A revolution is the national liberation of the largest and most oppressed group -the African people (ANC Strategies  & Tactics).

Ramaphosa's pre-eminent role to the S.A struggle against apartheid can be seen from the pivotal role he played when the country's politics had reached a stage of what Antonio Gramsci calls "reciprocal seige" - whereby negotiations become an option and the contending parties are forced to reach a sttlement [Selections from the Prison Notebooks, A, Gramsci et al, London, 1971 (p. 238-9)]
Simply put, the S.A white regime was intransigent, powerfully-armed and bolstered by the major Western powers (despite sanctions0, but the ANC underground operations led by the Operation Vula operatives had established a solid offensive range against the Boers on a wide range of fronts from inside eMzansi.

When the apartheid government lifted bannings on the ANC and other liberation organizations, Ramaphosa was already politically-well established after having worked clandestinely with the Operation Vula network for many years.
And, it came as no suprise at all when he was elected the ANC Secretary---General on July 1991 at the first elective conference held in Durban of the liberation movement inside the country since the 1960s.

Many a commentator regard Ramaphosa as the 'forefather' of the RSA constitutional democracy because he played a leading role in the negotiations for a new democratic dispensation.
After the first democratic elections held on April 27, 1994, Ramaphosa was selected to chair the Constitutional Assembly.
Suprisingly though, he decided to leave politics and pursued business opportrunities in 1996 - immediately after the RSA Constitution Act was promulgated.
However, it suffices to add that Ramaphosa never turned his back on the ANC structures as he continued to serve on the ANC National Executive Committe.

Numerous eminent persons inside and outside of South Africa have painted a glossy picture of Ramaphosa if and when he were to become the president of South Africa one day.
"Ramaphosa is the man to lead South Africa in the long run," former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was once qouted uttering these words on her judgement of the politician [The Privatisation of Cyril Ramaphosa by Hugh Murray, Leadership, July 1997, p.23]

And one senior and leading ANC politician, the late Kader Asmal, had quite a philosophical description of Ramaphosa.
"As an ameliorator and a processor Ramaphosa transfers the antagonistic of his into an unexpected consensus. His own deeper beliefs and opinions remain hidden.
People who have known him for many years have no idea what his position might be on central aspects of economy or foreign policy," Kader said during the interview with Ramaphosa biographer, Anthony Butler in the RSA Parliament on 3 Dember 2006.

Nonetheless, but it was the apt and concise words of the leader of the opposition party, General Bantu Holomisa of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) who had said a mouthful about Ramaphosa.
"Beneath his bonhomie and charm, morever, there's a coldness and dispassionate equality. He is not a 'prisoner of friendship' who would feel obliged to pay back his friends for loyalty.
'If he was president, he would be president,' said Holomisa during an interview with Anthony Butler in Parliament on 5 September 2006.

                          MEXICO'S Government - Labour Pact
Certainly, there some genteel murmurings that COSATU was hasty in pronouncing on the ANC's next presidential candidate, but then they argue that they were an autonomous organisation within the tripartite alliance.
Futhermore, they argue that they were following the ANC's traditional norm whereby the deputy president succeeds the president when vacates office.

Our case study reflects on Mexico after the revolution, after the fall of the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, and the "constitutionalists" emerged victorious and formed a pact with organized labour.
Subsequently, Mexico government established what they called a "tarrif wall" and moved away from a system with an extremely high degree of market control.
The tarrif wall and the provisions of the Mexican constitution favoured labour and transferred control from employers to a newly-organized labour federation, and the constitutionalists ultimately strengthened government control.

History tells us that the alliance between the labour and the state resulted in three decades of rising real wages, until such time that the alliance partners agreed to a law wage policy with emphasis on productivity increases to justify wage gains.

As in Mexico, the South African labour movement has a strong state-labour alliance existed and in both countries control shifted from employers to a strengthened state.
The power of organized labour was derived from its ability to influence the political process.
However, the Mexico case should be noted and must act as a caution for South Africa under the leadership of Cyril Ramaphosa.
In the new globalised political economy, Mexican labour force learnt that the promise of big and influential positions could be "seductive".

Therefore, president elect Ramaphosa should also consider earnestly the constituencies carrying his ticket and their ambitions post the ANC elective conference.
COSATU, too, should consider trading off short-term legislative gains and influence in the Ramaphosa-led government for a long-term strength achieved towards the realisation of the National Democratic Revolution, in our lifetime.

Written by: Nkonzwenhle 'Nkonzo' Mqadi
(Qualified Schoolteacher, Writer, Blogger & Socio-Econo-Political Commentator)
Based in Durban
Cell: 0730439611 / 0825816323
Email: qadimaqadini@gmail.com
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