When the ANC launched its elections manifesto recently, two senior South African politicians (Zille from that party of the rich and arrogant and the other, Trevor Manuel, from the ANC — monopoly capital’s new kid on the block) expressed their concern for this supposedly “left turn” of Zuma’s party.
Now, it must be said: the pro-worker elements in the ANC’s elections manifesto have nothing to do with the party’s move to adopt a working class perspective on the challenges facing South Africa’s poor. These zigzags are perfectly within the character of bourgeois parties faced with the erosion of their historical support base (the Cope phenomenon) and itself mortgaged to capital and its retention. Whilst it remains important to analyse the election manifesto of the ANC in relation to its significance for meeting the basic needs of South Africa’s poor, our interest here is the responses of Manuel (and by slight of hand we’ll make a pronouncement on Zille’s phony paper tiger comment) of what the economy can afford.
Whatever the percentage weight of the election promises in relation to the country’s GDP, I still believe they represent nothing more than a gesture from the ANC. Tokenistic to the core. The apparent broadening of social welfare policies will be undercut by service charges run amok. Zille is simply beating the air with her unintelligent chatter about a “development state”. Really, it hard to see anything developmental in the South African state’s spending priorities or in the ANC’s election promises when one evaluates them against the history of the same people who did not resist Mbeki’s neoliberal macroeconomic framework. In fact, Umshini Wami assured Citibank and Merill Lynch that none of Mbeki’s economic policies would change. I suggest people believe this assurance, whatever else you hold the man to be a liar for.
Manuel, of course, loud hailed his concern with one eye on the economic crisis, the capitalist world economy and its implications for South Africa and his counsel is: tighten the belts even further; there’s no way we will be able to afford additional spending on poor people. What we have to do is position ourselves so we remain internationally competitive. In other words, the capitalist economy over which the ANC state functions as administrator, must continue to serve as guardian and protector and rescue the rotten monster from its demise. How? Continue with current commitments, even cutting down on some of them in relation to the working class and ensure the profit making of the few. Manuel dreams (along with others, notably Obama and Gordon Brown) of a re-establishment of some economic equilibrium on a capitalist basis … and he wants it done in a socially neutral and peaceful manner.
It’s not going to happen.
A solution to the economic crisis gripping South Africa (as an integral part of the world economy) that seeks to avoid “tinkering” with the foundation of the system is a treasure-hunting trip into La la-land. There are two reasons for this: one is the intensification of diverse interests of the poor and the unemployed on one hand and the profit makers on the other. We already see the consequences of this contradiction around us: rising of people against food price hikes, military expeditions and genocidal wars and, of course, mass repressions and political assassination of political opponents. The second feature is a consequence of the first: an increase in the political militancy of the working class, not only in South Africa, but also across the globe. The key issue is (and this is what the two bourgeois politicians terminally fear): which of these two processes will win out in the end?
Both Manuel and Zille (true, each in their own way) argue against using the state as an instrument of poverty alleviation in the economy. With a year behind us where 74 000 people were thrown out into the ranks of the unemployed and a further 320 000 estimated for 2009, the instability of Citi continuing and Barclays laying off people (watch the space for developments in Absa where Barclays has a majority share), we still have these high priests of capital who maintain that economic problems be left to the market (Zille) and we all must tighten the belt (Manuel) — as though this crisis is the doing of the poor and middle classes — yet, like elsewhere, they will be the first to urge the state to bail out institutions threatening to take the entire South African capitalist economy with them. Hypocrites!
In the ensuing months calls will go out for unity to face our “common” problems together in these turbulent economic times. Capitalist finance ministers and capitalist retainers in unions will join hands in this call. Social movements and other organisations of the poor must chart out an independent political march and insist that this economy is not theirs to rescue. They must build their organisations as weapons in defence of their class interests and replenish an activist cadre with the patience gained through a long view of history; replace the capitalist state with one that places needs of people above profits for the few, where the ANC’s election promises and the many left talks of a right walk will not even have footnote status.
LOL! This is a hilarious cariacture of a left-wing … person. Welcome back, your satirical dispatches have been much missed.
Alternative? I mean a real alternative, not everyone digging his/her own plot of land for the collective. That also did not work out too well?
Even if you don’t like capitalism you must agree that unless a vast majority of the poeple are not productive, a country can never be well off. The attitude of expecting the state to provide and support is a destructive one.
Communism failed all over in the world.
Capitalism might not be the best solution but is there a working alternative?
With a good non corrupt goverment the capitalism can provide work for all. It works quite well in most European contries. Go to Europe and you will see the high standard of the working class.
Communism will bring down South Africa and will harm the working class even more.
The money for the weapons could have been used to advance the black working class. All politicians including Zuma kept quite. Nobody in goverment objected.
Steven… what are you on about?
South Africa is not a capitalist state.
If this was true the government would have needed to have raised only R165.6bn (the allocation to security services and transport), plus whatever it costs to run a proper home affairs department) in taxes last year. That would have been 76% less tax to be collected.
http://www.oldmutual.co.za/documents/budgetspeech/2008/BudgetPeoplesguide.pdf
In fact I do not receive any benefit from many categories of government spending like welfare, housing and health services (R233bn or 33% of the budget). The benefit I receive from government in regards to education and protection services is also questionable, 38% of matrics failed last year and crime is rampant (these two categories makes up another R216.4bn or 30%). It should also be noted that most government departments in South Africa are mostly inefficient.
South Africa might be a country of have and have-nots, but it is also a country of those who get from government and those who gives to government. I give way more than I receive.
So Steve… who exactly are these people who deserve to benefit from the fact that I get up early in the morning, give my best effort at work, then only to give almost a third of my hard earned salary to a government that gives me almost nothing in return? Why should be poor be more deserving than the rich?
_________
Disclaimer – The above response is to assist Steven not tumble to left too far… there might be nobody able to pick him up again.
Steven,
I challenge you to name a SINGLE country which has implemented socialism of the type you preach, and remained economically successful and prosperous and which did have to resort to repression to impose its ideology on its population.
And, no, the Scandinavian countries do not count: they are fundamentally capitalist albeit with extensive social welfare programmes.
With that all said. No one in government will offer to cut his salary. Any bets that there will be an allowance increase this year.
That should read:
“which did NOT have to resort to repression to impose its ideology on its population”
For an altrnative view, check http://www.jamesrobertson.com/newsletter.htm
I do agree that Manuel and Zille are from the same school of economic thinking. Just a different presentation of priorities.
Manuel looking for his next job and Zille for electoral gain. Both short time thinkers.
WHAT….. A Load…… of Bullshit! Couldn’t get beyond paragraph 3.
Why the attempt at linking your beloved ANC failed and apathetic upliftment policies to Zille? Desperate times I suppose.
I love your bravery in your well taken risk to be lebeled “leftists”, or “communists” as if this freedom was brought about by capitalists – where were they during those dark days to now define our agenda and now set our standards. To all South Africans, don’t be fooled, Chris Hani, Moses Kotane, Joe Slovo, Govan Mbeki,many more cadres and almost half of Mbeki’s cabinet were communists who brought about this freedom – why villify them now that some were convinced to dump freedom charter by Mbeki in 1996 – funny is’nt?
Whew Steven,
Where do we start with someone like you who’s swallowed a Communist party commissar’s checklist?
Well, bugger the working class, what about the unemployed class? They are already touchy (a symptom of this has been called xenophobia) and ignored by government. If something sets them off we’re going to kak big time.
The solution? Start employing. Kick out superfluous managers from municipalities (they are full of lazy supernumeraries). Start training and employing bricklayers, street sweepers, grass trimmers, sewage plant operators etc etc. Cut these silly stadiums, stations, waterfront subsidies for pals, bus handouts for pals etc etc off or to the bone (talking Durban with Silly Smutcliffe; hope you are not an adviser to them). Don’t increase budgets.
Sort out Zim and stop the refugee influx,
and so on and so on. My suggestion for a start. Pack your theories away and do some proper work.
I do hope this is satire! If so, I’m missing the boat – twice!
“…replace the capitalist state with one that places needs of people above profits for the few.”
This is where I go drag my horse out of its grave and start beating it savagely. I’m amazed that statements like these are not just made and considered, but are actually seen as a viable solution. In no uncertain terms: This is pure and absolute evil.
Allow me to rephrase that statement for you in a way that is a lot more accurate and will make a LOT more sense and solve a LOT more problems: “…replace the current authoritarian beurocratic (sp?) nepotistic lobbyist government with a pure capitalist state”. Make no bones about it – the current system in SA is NOT pure capitalist – it’s anything but. We cannot say capitalism failed the poor, because there is no capitalism in South Africa except in name only.
When a pure capitalist system is introduced, it works for the betterment of all. A natural economic ecosystem evolves into a rich and diverse economy that benefits all – through individual effort, initiative and effort. Capitalism rewards any and all that plays by its rules. Socialism – either in its extreme forms of Stalinism (gives me shivers just to think that), or in its mild forms of corporate bail-outs and government interventions, will ALWAYS fail. It is a system that does not make logical, physical or scientific sense. There is no sustainable system either philosophical or scientific where output is greater than input. Socialism is exactly that. In 55 States that has adopted a variant of communism/socialism since Marx and Engels wrote their Danse Macabre of a political system – 50 has failed. 5 are busy failing! It’s a spectacular failure. Show me ONE example where “poor above profits” actually served the poor? I can show you 55 examples where “poor above profits” resulted in failed economies, where the poor were ever more desolate, impoverished and forgotten than before the inception of this dastardly system. The same people who started prospering after the system was lifted and a more market-friendly system was introduced. What makes us so different that if we adopt a “poor above profit” stance we will make it work? Nothing – we will go deeper and deeper into the cycle of entrenched and endemic poverty.
Allow those that can to do, and the rest will follow. Allow the Fat Cat businessmen to make their profits, and the workers will always have well-paid jobs. The moment you legislate it with anything, even as “menial” as minimum wage, you will see a beautiful and enriching thing tethered and toothless, and you wonder why you can’t make it work.
What do you expect from someone living safely in York and sponging of the system?
He should apply the latter part of the second last sentence in the last para. in his profile to himself or relocate to Cuba or Zimbabwe.
The likes of him are only tolerated by Europe – they don’t really need his ‘advice’.
This is a reasonable critique of the ANC’s very moderate manifesto (which I don’t believe will actually be implemented) and the ridiculous responses to it.
But Lamini has no intelligent response. Social movements are all fantasists, frauds and sell-outs. The South African Left has disintegrated completely. Lamini’s pretending that it hasn’t is simply childish — if it isn’t dishonest.
Sounds like you advocate an African replica of Cuba, that stagnent, stale place of ever increasing poverty and mediocrity where the working classes are told they have a say but actually don’t. I, for one, can’t wait to have my individual ability-ceiling enforced and sell my talents into the state collective just like the rows of other grey people standing in the bread queues next to me. Sounds much better than dreaming of making it big one day and stiving to get there!
The current financial crisis hardly spells the end of the capitalist system, in case you were getting excited. If anything, it spells the end of the abuse of that system and it will come back stronger, leaner and better. Sorry to ruin your party for the people.
The world has tried in the most brutal and repressive ways to force people into social uniformity of wealth and even China has had to start running a parallel system of a capitalistic nature. They realise that to form a social net for those at the bottom of the pile, you need those at the top of the pile making the magic. Cramp the style of your money-making magicians and watch the whole fragile mess come falling down (dare I even mention Zim?).
Even Sweden needs to sell millions of Volvos, Grippens, Saabs and Ikea flat packs to support their poorer people in the famous social net. 60% tax on the wealthy sees to that and little grey people don’t design sleek Volvos, they design Ladas that nobody wants. History has spoken, time to move on.
Another load of crock
The only place socialism kind of works is Scandinavia, but only because they are VERY capitalist, VERY rich (because they are capitalist), and have VERY small populations (Sweden only has 9mil people). And even then they are struggling to pay for their socialism.
Lamini, far from being a ‘thought leader’ I have to wonder if you have any actual thoughts at all – just a knee prone to jerking!
“Zille from that party of the rich and arrogant” – have you seen a DA rally lately? Usually in a township and hardly a white face to be seen!
Well said
@GS Van Zyl
“[..]only to give almost a third of my hard earned salary to a government that gives me almost nothing in return?”
If only that were true, it would not be too bad.
By my calculations, all told, about 76cents in every Rand goes toward our privilege of being ‘governed’
We have personal income tax, yes, and ‘companies’ those over rich, undeserving lazy bastards must pay more of their profits, ( evil ‘profits’ are economic growth…duh!) amassed by cruel exploitation, to the deserving social collective.
We then have ‘value added’ tax, which presumably discourages adding value to anything!
By the same ‘logic’ we have taxes to discourage state approved ‘sins’, alcohol and cigarettes.
We have an ‘ad valorum’ tax on the ownership of property, rendering the government our eternal landlord with discretionary power to increase the rent, anytime.
We pay a hefty tax on fuel, a primary energy resource, which in an effective tax upon every single service and commodity, and hits the poor the hardest.
The state ‘sells’ permission (licenses) to do things, because they have the ‘authority’ to do so.
The annual banking institution license is R250 million, (a billion Rand for the ‘Big Four’) which the banks pass on to us piggy backed onto banking charges and ends up in state coffers.
Licenses paid to the state for the privilege and ‘permission’ to establish a communications network, eg: cellular, are parsimoniously eked out to ‘approved’ operators,( ones which comply with ‘equity’ legislation, i.e. filled with government cronies) which restricts free competition, drives up prices and the cost of which is again passed on to the end user as a hidden ‘tax’
Ditto to mineral resources, which suddenly are all owned by the state because these public servants won an election, and who get to decide who is ‘approved’ to benefit from their extraction, all for the good of ‘the collective’ no doubt.
Through further ‘licensing’ the government sells us permission to drive automobiles, conduct business in the ‘formal sector’ takes a cut on the deal when we by a house, and takes a cut when we die.
Then the Reserve Bank (ultimately it’s them) stuffs the money supply with more Rand, which nips off a bit more of the value of the money in your pocket (i.e. theft) to finance their deficit spending because they can’t ever collect enough.
The kings of old used to literally nip of bits of the gold coins to make more, or adulterate the gold with base metals to finance their nefarious schemes (wars, arms deals?).
Commoners got hanged or imprisoned if they did the same thing, and still do today.
None of this has anything to do with ‘capitalism’ or a free market…exactly the opposite in fact.
It is these ‘socialist’ components of an economic system which stifle growth and a free market which promotes individual economic freedom.
@Penny
Yep… i agree with your revised numbers.
And then there is the issue of paying twice for services that the government taxed us already for:
– education (we pay school fees)
– security (we pay ADT, Coin ect.)
– roads (we pay toll fees
– private medical care (would you really go to a government hospital)
They are also a huge shareholder in Telkom whose charges is robbery by international standards. Then there is Eskom – or EKSDOM – who could not plan for the future and know we will have to pay the price for their stupidity.
Bottom line… We not getting our worthwhile services from government. If we did I might have more time for socialism as a concept.
Wow,
Some very interesting comments which shed some light on the current mood of readers.
Capitalists create the wealth which socialists and and communists always squander. There are many hard working South Africans who deserve to co exist in a safe and healthy enlightened environment . Government should focus on safety and security, education health and infrastructure first and foremost and stop wasting money on any thing else.
Constructive development creates jobs and improves quality of life for all.
Lets stop focussing on the past and find the courage to deal with the future.
Every man made form of governance has failed when the chips are down. capitalism may have endured the longest – whilst enduring poverty and unemployment among a minority.
The role of the state imo is to provide the environment,resources and protection for every individual to flourish.
A flourishing individual
Has sustenance and covering
Knowledge
Fun
health
Belonging
Confidence
self worth
self actualization
amongst others – The state should focus on providing the tools every human needs to flourish.
Black smoking industrial chimneys – may not always be what’s needed.
The ANC are the party of the rich and the arrogant, not the DA. The DA are the realists whereas the ANC are the corrupt and denialists. Kill for Mugabe is supported by the ANC. When is Kill For Zuma coming to South Africa with equal support and denialism?
Peter Joffe
Well said Brandon
A huge concept for our current generation of “politicians” to grasp