Comments on: The enduring liabilities of a dictatorship

By: Rory Short

Rory Short — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:35:29 +0000

@Jerrry you, in my view, are spot on with your anaysis of the situation in Zimbabwe and in your warnings to us here that under the ANC in its present form we are veering towards a Zimbabwe type situation right here. A major nail in the coffin that South Africa is in the process of becoming is the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment.

A old term for this kind of thing is ‘jobs for brothers’, but to call these positions jobs is a misnomer because in practice what they become under cadre deployment is paid positions for political fellow travellers and whether the appointees can do the real work normally associated with the position, or not, is simply not a consideration.

The consequences for the whole country in the long term are absolutely disastrous as can be all too clearly seen in the case of Zimbabwe.

I was living in Zimbabwe in the early 80′s when there was a major train derailment near Hwange outside of Bulawayo. The derailment killed 40 people who were returning from visiting family in the rural areas. Bulawayo is a railway town and rumour had it that the person who was driving the train was drunk at the time of the derailment. Apparently railways management had earlier tried to dismiss this man because of his drinking problems but they had been forced by the local ZANU-PF branch to re-instate him.

Interesting a leading politician addressing the mourners at the mass funeral for the 40 victims equated their deaths to the deaths of those who had died in the struggle for independence. At the time I wondered whether the politician knew how right he was except that the victims did not know that they died so that their brother could have a job which he was quite incapable of performing.

By: Mthwakazi

Mthwakazi — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:28:40 +0000

I rarely agree with you Jerry but this time I must say you were dead right. The abscence of the military top brass during the PM’s swearing in ceremony was a message to Mugabe as to who is actually in charge.

If Mugabe is a leader (unelected of course) he would immediately appoint a new army general, a new police commissioner and a new commissioner of prisons. From what I know most of the junior army members are supportive of Tswangirayi and these so called generals will not manage to convince them to rise up against the GNU.

By: Monica Seeber

Monica Seeber — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:59:39 +0000

I found this article outstanding in its clarity of thought and expression, and was very sorry to see a critical response from a reader who seems to think that Black Africans [sic] are incapable of learning from history – despite there not being the faintest shred of evidence in the blog that Jeremiah Kure is unaware of the lessons of history.
It is sad that some readers just can’t resist the opportunity to produce a ranting display of their prejudices.
The point in the blog about a growing culture of intolerance within the ANC is well taken, and so is the point about cronyism. It is time for the South African public to take a very sharp look at those who seek power and to separate those who have already made, or have the potential to make, a meaningful contribution, from those who are merely riding to Parliament on others’coat-tails, and to remind the ANC of the ideals to which it is committed and which – going by some recent utterances – seem to be forgotten.

By: Alisdair Budd

Alisdair Budd — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:36:33 +0000

One wonders if you are, like many other Black Africans, going to stop ignoring the last forty years of African history and ex colonies, and start learning from your history, instead of repeating it.

Try Mubotu Sese Seko, Houari Boumédienne, Yakubu Gowon, Daniel Arap Moi, Jamal Nassar, Paul Biya, etc etc.

And then you might learn from experience and stop making the same mistake over and over again.

Nor be so surprised when it happens once more.

And if you dont like the “West” or White people, despite them showing they have changed and moved on, after electing a Coloured as USA President, then why not go and ask the Latin Americans or SE Asians what they did with their ex colonies, rather than what Africa did with hers.

By: Belle

Belle — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:38:34 +0000

Brilliant analysis.

Though I disagree with your take that the GNU is a triumph for Mugabe. While it may have brought his enemies (the MDC) closer, it has also made enemies of his old friends, the military junta.

Also, there is growing speculation that the JOC could mount a military coup in order to protect their necks from inevitable justice. If this happens Mugabe would top the assassination list.

By: HD

HD — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:43:17 +0000

Very few commentators on Zim get any deeper than the personality of Mugabe and the “invasion of white owned farms” analysis. You correctly point out that the problems are far deeper and systemic. The ZANU-PF one-party elitist project has a long history in which Mugabe is a very important player, but not the only one.