@ Oupoot – Thanks for the link. Very interesting stuff.

Would a similar agricultural subsidy for small scale agriculture not also benefit agriculture in rural Eastern Cape, KZN, Mpumalanga and Limpopo as a first step to radically develop the agricultural sector in these parts of the country. Possibly also smaller land reform and redistribution projects?

@ MidaFo – I am always cautious of cultural explanations of social phenomena. The Chinese story from a policy perspective fascinates me, and I am still learning about it. However, it would seem that egalitarian policies have provided a foundation for economic progress. But, there are of course problems even in China.

Some online history of the SACP for your info. My understanding from other literature is that majority of those white communists left the SACP and joined with the nationalists.

The history of the South African Communist Party (SACP), formed in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) and subsequently banned in 1950, has generated a very rich and fascinating literature. During the first phase of its existence, between 1921 and the early 1930s, the CPSA battled with the reality of being a largely white organisation that had to adapt its Marxism-Leninism to conditions in which the African majority, irrespective of class affiliation, were subjected to one of the most oppressive systems of settler colonial rule. Thus the CPSA supported the 1922 white miners’ strike whose main objective was the protection of the job reservation regime for white workers. The Communist International, the Comintern, intervened in the form of the famous 1928 “Native Republic” resolution which called upon the SACP to work with the nationalist movement for the establishment of the national democratic order.

During the second phase, from the late 1930s to the outbreak of World War II, the CPSA underwent a strategic reorientation and was fully Africanised, at least in terms of its membership. The period 1931-35 was however one of the most difficult, as the CPSA had to survive Stalinisation efforts in the form of purges and expulsions, the organisation’s membership dropping from about 3 000 in 1929 to below 300 in the mid-1930s. The first generation of African CPSA leaders emerged during this phase, beginning with Albert Nzula who became the first African general secretary of the organisation. Other notable African figures who emerged during this phase were Moses Kotane (who became general secretary in 1938), Edwin Mofutsanyane, and JB Marks.

Over the last three years I have become increasingly convinced that much of the difficulty in the last century and more is closely associated with the previous white presence here, which presence can reasonably be summed up with the word piracy. Moreover the sophistication of Eastern culture, the gentle nature of interpersonal communication, the respect for the scholar, the tolerance and praise of differences, makes me think deeply about Western basics such as monotheism and our brand of individualism, which are beginning to make me feel curiously uncomfortable. Your confident assertions brought this to mind.

It is relevant to say that there is somehow no poverty here in that those without position or money blame no one but themselves. Don’t push me too hard on this. The most relevant word in my mind is somehow, so it is a mystery to me. I see grannies in the streets, little and old and wizened, pulling carts of scraps they find by grovelling in the dust on building sites and they are not ashamed, in fact they are respected even if most who do so desperately work to avoid such a fate. Then I hear from the smart and wealthy executive lady I consult with that her mother of 85 runs a clothes stall in the street market, every day of the week and on Chinese New Year (half the day)! And the sweet lady is deeply ashamed of this because her neighbours may think that she is not looking after her mother, but mother refuses to stop. The money is saved.

Somehow again it seems that the answer lies in the fact that the Chinese are not Christian. Moreover they are not anti-Christian: they would happily put a crucifix in their temple if they did not think the the Christians would object. Please regard this as a puzzle I share with you.

We have a lot to learn. If the Americans, with their “virtue of selfishness”, fail in their desire to queer the pitch, cause war between China and Taiwan and cannot enslave Iraq to starve China of oil, then China is going to be the economic king of the world. They probably will be whatever the Americans do

From this vantage we Westerners look increasingly like brigands. It is becoming embarrassing to think that as a boy I used to believe that it was the Chinese in the China Sea who were the pirates! Who made me believe it?

Municipal Demarcations Board
http://www.demarcation.org.za/

South African Cities Network – for metro areas
http://www.sacities.net/

Community Profiles from the 2001 census can be ordered from Statistics South Africa

http://www.statssa.gov.za/census01/html/C2001CommProfile.asp

Owen, I think you a strechting reality to argue that the Nats had there roots in the SACP. There was this thing called nationalism, and some fisticuffs with the Brits, that might be more important to explain the rise of the Nats.

@ MidaFo and Robert- just back from a presentation, and chatted to some informal traders. I think I am getting the point on the informal sector, more clearly. Thanks

Rich and poor don’t know skin color.

Can a government make a difference, yes they can. Will they, unlikely as self interest normally prevails.

In the eighties an english friend of mine came to this country from working in Poland. I still think that he worked for British intelligence but he never admitted it and he now works in China. Anyway he maintained that the Nats ruled SA in much the same way as the communists ruled Poland.

The old Nats, other than skin color problems, had / have more in common with the ANC than the DA.