Racial groups!

[Citizen X]

I think we’ve come along way since 1994 in that the vast majority of us have basic human rights which we were deprived of pre 1994. I think the vast majority of South Africans regardless of their race, religion or political opinion want to genuinely live together under the label of South African. I think that the vast majority of South Africans are against any form of racial prejudice. I have observed in my experience that there is reverse racism against the White minority.This is simply wrong In my experience I’ve come across racist Indians, racist Blacks, racist Whites and racist Coloureds. No racial group can take the moral high ground as no racial group is without its criminals, rogue elements and hate mongers. I think we do need to redress past unfairness but in a manner that will not be to the detriment of any minority group. I think the vast majority of South Africans are against corruption, nepotism, maladministration and poor service delivery.I was born into diversity! My mom is Coloured, My dad Indian. 3 of my mums sisters married Muslim men, so I was very privileged to grow up with various religious groups up close and personal. To date I maintain close relationships with my many Muslim cozens. They are an integral part of my life. The fact that I’m Christian never caused a problem ever, not even on one occasion. I have Indian family and I have Coloured family. There are different denomination of Christian in my family. I have far closer relationship with my Muslim family than I do with my Christian family! We were born into religious diversity in Lenasia. We coexist and respect each other’s religious practices and holy days etc.The vast majority of my closest friends are Black individuals in Soweto. I spend a great deal of my spare time in Soweto with my friends there. I got to know each racial group up close and personal. Between 1995 and 1997 I lived in VanDerbiljpark, a place called “The van Riebeck hotel,’ not sure if it still exists. I got to know the White Afrikaaner community intimately in this time. In my experience, they were nothing but welcoming, accommodating and very friendly. My stance remains humanitarian in nature.I have a religious belief system that informs me and as such impacts on how I see my fellow human beings. I remain optimistic for the future!

[Citizen X]

"The more things change the more they stay the same…"
1. Tec0, your sentiment holds perfectly true in many ways! As far as I’m concerned it’s the final analysis on this matter! The parallel that I would like to draw is our current South African situation with: George Orwell’s 1945 Animal Farm. This satire was largely about the Russian revolution in which the author went through great lengths to demonstrate that the central idea of that revolution was to promote equality and human rights and in essence change. Not only did things get worse but human rights infringements was by by necessary implication far worse;
2. In my experience(again no qualitative and quantitative research done), but from what I have personally observed over these past 18 years in the workplace, in the community and from the media is that there is reverse racism against the White minority;
3. Freedom of speech was one of the cornerstones of the Constitutional Assemblies final product the Constitution of 1996. The Constitution of 1996 was seen as so supreme that it is no longer referred to as “The Constitution 108 of 1996.” This is so because the Consitution is not an Act of Parliament such as The Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977(which is an Act of Parliament, hence Act 51 of Parliament);
4. South African popular opinion which in essence is the will of South Africa is that The Protection of Information Act,” is there for only one purpose i.e. to hide and protect corruption and corrupt public servants. We not in a state of war! We don’t have an arsenal of nuclear weapons! What is it exactly that needs protection that is not already well protected? No reporter is reporting on South African weapons and defence capabilities. No reporter is reporting on any single thing that can be seen as a threat to National Security! They are by and large reporting on corruption and tenderpreneuship;
5. There is a misconception in South Africa that if you get the ministry of Public works involve in tenders , then there is no corruption. Ever heard of cronyism? It’s not implausible to think that you can have a situation where some officials in public works are equally as corrupt as the other role players and that some of their transactions can be a façade or sharade to create the impression that because public works is involved then there’s definitely no corruption;
6. “Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy.Cronyism exists when the appointer and the beneficiary are in social contact; often, the appointer is inadequate to hold his or her own job or position of authority, and for this reason the appointer appoints individuals who will not try to weaken him or her, or express views contrary to those of the appointer. Politically, "cronyism" is derogatorily used.”
7. “Governments are particularly susceptible to accusations of cronyism, as they spend public money. Many democratic governments are encouraged to practice administrative transparency in accounting and contracting, however, there often is no clear delineation of when an appointment to government office is "cronyism".
8. “It is not unusual for a politician to surround him- or herself with highly-qualified subordinates, and to develop social, business, or political friendships leading to the appointment to office of friends, likewise in granting government contracts. In fact, the counsel of such friends is why the officeholder successfully obtained his or her powerful position — therefore, cronyism usually is easier to perceive than to demonstrate and prove. However, "The practice of favoritism based on relationships and connections - rather than someone who demonstrates top credentials and well-suited experience – ultimately results in vastly inferior government service to the public.”
9. A dictatorship in a democratic country is easily established by very simple croynism
10. I thank God for our vociferous media houses. They do South Africa great credit. They protect our interests by exposing corruption and engaging in difficult investigative journalism.

[Justloadit]

I just heard on the news today that the minister of Agriculture, being grilled by a member of the Freedom Front, then shouted out that his shouting by a man who shout at two children, and I must add that these were black children. A statement that has to do with the fact that the FF asked her to resign because of her incompetence. She later retracted her statement.

This from an MP who says she is not racist? Being caught in a corner, now looked at bringing in racism to deviate the real crises. I tried looking for it under the www.ewn.co.za, but could not find it.

[wynn]

"The more things change the more they stay the same…"
1. We not in a state of war! We don’t have an arsenal of nuclear weapons! What is it exactly that needs protection that is not already well protected? No reporter is reporting on South African weapons and defence capabilities. No reporter is reporting on any single thing that can be seen as a threat to National Security!.

Until today see http://mg.co.za/article/2012-05-04-l...-sa-vulnerable It is a good thing that Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe do not seem to have any territorial ambitions, because if they chose to annex a few South African provinces, the defence force would be hard-pressed to stop them, especially if Lesotho decided to get into the action.

[Citizen X]

Phillip's map and supporting graphs paint a dismal picture!

[Citizen X]

The conflict between North and South Sudan, This is the lengthiest conflict on our continent of Africa. The human rights violations on both sides demonstrate what I mean when I say I’m concerned with humanitarian/ human rights issues. This conflict is not one between Black and White yet thousands of families have been displaced over the years, thousands have lost their lives and still thousands are living in abject misery. The economy has been decimated by this conflict, as concerned as we are with etolling, their very infrastructure has been largely destroyed. This is a humanitarian crisis and the real tragedy is that there does not seem be a quick resolution to this crisis based on how many years have already been lost to this conflict…

[gac]

To answer Vanash's 1st Question, NO I am not comfortable and certainly will not vote for an inefficient (guilty of all those shortcomings Vanash mentions).

Like Blurock & Wynn I vote for the opposition and think I will keep doing so until there is no majority. Majority Rule historically creates Dictatorships with all the ills that go hand-in-hand with it. Ruling Politics is a business sadly and politicians (generally) are in it for the money, so getting into and staying in power offers a financially lucrative opportunity. Say no more.

Racism seems to me to be the ultimate rersponse when one's back is to the wall and one has no reasonably acceptable answer. Very noticeably it appears to be an accusation only applicable to whites when in fact it cannot be so by definition. It is a very useful political defensive term used to illicit black unity against whites in SA and distract attention from the core issue. It seems to have far less effect these days than it had 15 years ago, so its only a matter of time before the politicians are going to have to inventsomething else to "hide" their nonsense.

[tec0]

Source


AfriForum Youth laid a charge of intimidation against ANC Youth League deputy president Ronald Lamola on Wednesday over comments he made about land reform.

"AfriForum Youth hopes to achieve justice with this charge against Ronald Lamola, because statements that instigate hatred have a ripple effect on communities and sow further division," spokesperson Charl Oberholzer said in a statement.

The charge of intimidation was laid at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria and a case number would be issued soon, Oberholzer said.

Brooklyn police station spokesperson Warrant Officer Annabelle Middleton confirmed that a charge had been laid and that it had been referred to the Lyttelton police station.

On Tuesday, Lamola called for the Constitution to be changed to allow the expropriation of land without compensation.

He warned that if white South Africans did not hand over land to poor blacks, there could be land invasions like those that took place in Zimbabwe.

He was briefing the media at the St George's Hotel in Irene, Pretoria, following an African National Congress Youth League policy workshop, ahead of the ANC's policy conference later this month.

Oberholzer said the ANCYL did not belong in South Africa if it made such statements.

"Not only are such statements criminal, but they are also immoral and racist," he said

AfriForum said it would also lay criminal charges against Lamola and take the matter to the Equality Court.

AfriForum's legal representative Willie Spies said Lamola's comments amounted to hate speech and fell within the definition of incitement to violence.

Spies said Lamola specifically referred to "the Van Tonders and the Van der Merwes on farms" and warned that their safety could not be guaranteed.

The agricultural union Tau SA said it was "disgusted" by Lamola's comments and would file a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission.

"Tau SA has instructed its legal team to start with the strongest possible measures against Lamola, the ANCYL, the ANC and its president."

ANCYL spokesperson Magdalene Moonsamy said the groups needed to be "ready for the fight of their lives".

"We welcome this battle, and we will not retreat. We are adamant that this issue of land cannot be negotiated, and at no point will we back down," she said.

The ANCYL later issued a statement calling AfriForum "the defender of white privilege".

"We reaffirm the statement made by [Lamola] that those who continue to hold land which was illegally and immorally taken away from the indigenous people of South Africa must voluntarily co-operate with the ANC-led government [to] ensure swift and equitable redistribution of such land to the masses of our people."

The ANCYL again warned that it might not be able to stem the impatience of millions of landless South Africans.

"Such a precautionary note raising the hopeless plight of our people, blacks in general and Africans in particular, can only be construed as an incitement to violence... by those hell-bent to protect white minority privilege at the expense of the black majority."

The Democratic Alliance called on the government to reject the ANCYL's calls for changes to the Constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation.

"It must declare its support of the constitutionally enshrined assurance of security of tenure and protection of private property rights," DA MP Athol Trollip said in a statement.

He said calls for expropriation undermined the government's efforts to attract investment, to grow the economy and to create jobs.

Trollip said it was repugnant that Lamola's comments were given any publicity.

"Lamola's specific reference to the 'Van Tonders and Van der Merwes' having to hand over their land is tantamount to a declaration of 'war' based on ethnicity," Trollip said.

or is it?

Is it not also true that there are many minorities that cannot afford land?

[adrianh]

Lets think about this, so now each and every person owns a 100m^2 of land....ok, what then.

It seems that those clever young people think that land is like the earth's breast.....milk, in the form of wealth just gushes forth forever from each and every square meter....

What hapens in reality is that they take the land and then either sell, or rent it back to the farmer. This issue has nothing to do with land, it has to do with money. They think that having land gives them a fixed asset that is easily converted into cash...nothing more...nothing less.

[Blurock]

There is no country in the world that prospers where property rights are not secure and guaranteed. You mess with property rights and you disappear into the abyss...! You only need to look at Zim to understand the real risk. No further explanation required!