Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale has blamed councillors elected during former president Thabo Mbeki’s time as the reason for the latest wave of protests sweeping the country. He then goes on to suggest that it has to be the former government’s fault because this one has only been in power for three months.
Minister, this government has been in power since 1994.
Moreover it has always been the ANC’s strength that no single individual decides on policy — that is the work of the collective. It is down to the national conference and thereafter the NEC, guided thereby, to give direction. Accordingly to lay the blame, and worse to even name Mbeki as the problem is wholly unfair.
The problems experienced in this country right now are down to the same issues that have troubled us for a while now. During the height of the xenophobia riots I went in to speak to our people and asked them about the basis for their anger. I set it out in a series of articles but primarily in the first one which you can find here and here.
It certainly does not help the government and ruling party’s cause when almost immediately after the election of President Zuma a whole battery of crippling strikes are launched. Coming so soon after a bitter and hard-earned election victory and in the shadow of the xenophobia riots the utmost caution should have been exercised.
Vested interest overshadowed the interests of the government and country.
That these strikes set off or compounded the protests, there can be little doubt — that they were unfortunate and unhelpful in this global economic crisis is beyond question.
President Zuma has inherited many problems that were beyond the control of the previous administration of president Mbeki in terms of the financial meltdown. The way Mbeki’s government was structured and the role played by the ruling party cannot be in dispute. The current waves of violence are self-inflicted by people who don’t want to allow the president any breathing space and demand satisfaction now.
The problems of the people as I set out above are there and here, as in the case of xenophobia, they must be dealt with without being distracted by those with personal agendas.
It is time for ALL the members of the Alliance as well as all South Africans to start pulling together to help the masses of our country.
As I said elsewhere, I think Sexwale’s latest tirade is rooted in his past political and personal struggles with the former President.
To be honest, I think there is some, maybe very little, but some merit in this argument, especially considering Mbeki’s leadership style, policy-making style and tolerance of cronyism, corruption and nepotism.
But I also stressed, as you do, that the ANC has to accept collective culpability for the failures of their successive governments, all of them elected and endorsed by them.
This government is very good at blaming others, not so good at solving problems.
Duplicity, hypocrisy and falsehood are the nature of realpolitik.
Any positive development is seized upon and immediately ascribed to the success of ‘policy’.
Any failures are blamed upon externalities, the legacy of previous, equally dishonest politicians, unfavourable phases of the global ‘business cycle’ (which are themselves caused by governments pursuing interventionist monetary policy) , acts of God, absolutely anything but accepting accountability.
Old news… Boring.
More importantly, unionized labour is itself an arm of the political classes, those who use force to realise their objectives.
Strikes cripple the economy, not the state; COSATU is after all, an alliance partner of the state itself.
The entire coercive apparatus of the state, in turn, appropriates private capital to finance itself and subsidize its friends and partners in a manner which serves short term political rather than sound longer term economic objectives
The myth many buy into is that the interests of the ‘The State’ and those of ‘The People’ are one and the same.
‘The State’ is not some abstract benign entity, it is a bunch of actual people, and a line of patronage to other people, forming the political classes, which are NOT by any stretch of imagination ‘The Masses’
Strikers want more regardless of productivity or broader economic consequences, and the power to legally use force to secure such demands comes courtesy of the state.
These demands arise in response to ‘inflation’ which is itself caused ultimately through chronic deficit spending by government.
It just cracks me up the way the current ANC leadership takes “collective” credit for all the positive stuff the government achieved over the past fifteen years whilst it expects former President Thabo Mbeki, who effectively ran the country for almost fourteen years, to take personal, individual responsibility for any negatives! The leadership has been at pains to convince us that we should not be concerned that JZ will make any policy changes on his own because that is not how its works in the ANC – THE LEADERSHIP MAKE COLLECTIVE DECISIONS!!!! and the President and his cabinet is expected to tow the line…. so either the ANC enjoy the accolades and take the knocks or they let Mbeki take all the credit and enjoy all the accolades and all the knocks on his own.
Tokyo Sexwale is playing cheap politiks:
I am saddened by the way Mr Sexwale is playing politiks, During the election campaign. people were promised good jobs, housing, health and many more, so far nothing has materialised instead some ministers are buying expensive cars, while we face recession. where is logic? Sexwale is an opportunist not a politician. He benefited under Mbeki government, he managed to set up Mvelaphanda and now he has positioned himself again to benefit from Zuma administration, blaming Mbeki. Sexwale you resembles Robert Mugabe, he blames Britain yet taking the country down.
I am very disappointed at you, i am waiting to see the house you will deliver as the new minister of Human Settlement. In five years time should we blame you when people still don’t have houses? lastly ” If you are living in a glass house, don’t throw stones” I hope you will understand the meaning of the quote.
Sexwale has been a populist all his life; he knows no better form of public engagement. What’s with him arranging to spend the night in Diepsloot anyway? How does this help the residents there? How about he relocates his entire family there? But of course he won’t; this is just another of his many publicity stunts.
It is the people like Sexwale with their thoughtless, reckless comments and inertia, who may end up subverting any chances of the Zuma administration succeeding. President Zuma must also start applying himself and show leadership; how he let the 500 000 jobs “scam” onto the state of the nation address in the middle of a recession, before realizing the emptiness in the promise, boggles the mind. No amount of smiling and singing will ameliorate the embarrassment of a President flip-flopping and back-paddling like he did recently.
“time tells no line”. Now if my memory serves me well one the tagline for the ANC electioneering was ” ANC may not be perfect, but we at least have 15 yrs experience to build on” and this I tell you sounded like a reasonable proposition especially when uttered by the very former Premier of Gauteng, who had gone on to prove that if you can advantage of the Mbeki policies you can become a billionare…just stop being lazy!!! Under his stewardship a lot was achieved and a lot went wrong..only fair right?but nooooooooooooo don’t mention that, lest you be reminded that it was during Mandela’s tenure..please man. When is ANC a collective and when is it not? We now have our “bulldog No-nonsense” new Premier(in the administration…MEC twice in the previous admin)..Anyone care to tell me what Mbeki had to do with the 58m housing tender irregularity when the MADAM was MEC for Housisng..The ANC must stop insulting our intelligence and get on with the work at hand..they have already wasted 2 months of their NEW ADMIN( new my foot)term in office already looking for third forces and Mbeki in the cupboard and soon they will all be jiving with Xmas parties and 2010 activities and come to irritate us with promises again in July 2010 when they prep for local elections!!!!No thanks
In the area where I live we have a monthly crime report from our local ratepayers association and the local police station. I t makes very interesting reading in that we are no longer saying that blacks did this and whites did that! We are now hearing that Zimbabweans did this and Zimbabweans did that.
If you open your borders to your ‘brothers’ from Africa and don’t see to it that they have employment or skills, you can bet that your Northern ‘brothers’ will prey on hapless South Africans as they have to feed themselves somehow. Nowhere in the civilised world do they allow people into their countries at the expense of the citizens. Try to get a Green card for the USA or a work permit for Europe. Not so here, anyone who can climb under or over a fence is welcomed with open arms and now they don’t even have to sneak in as they are welcomed through the border check points, might as well get rid of them as they serve no real purpose
Xenophobia – - we have seen nothing yet and it is all due to moronic policies of the ANC in their support for foreigners in allowing them unchecked into South African.
I wonder what the 3,000,000 odd immigrants that we have in South Africa has done to the food prices? On the demand on electricity and other services?
We have to pay for the crimes of Mugabe because he assisted the ANC.
Sexwale is right on the money! The full extent of Mbeki’s destructive regime is only recently slowly starting to be understood. The latest turmoil of unrests are not against the popular JZ but a venting of the anger against decades of neglect.
Our HIV/AIDS pandemic is another area that has been exacerbated by Mbeki’s leadership that directly caused the death of hundreds of thousands. I wish there was some way to make him accountable for this injustice!
In the election campaign, what was good belonged to the ANC and what was bad belonged to the Mbeki camp.
This post-Polokwane ANC is behaving as predicted, let them sing, chant and vilify.They are good at that.
As for governing, ‘mshini wami’ doesn’t cut it.
Then again, this was said way before Polokwane.
Those lazy councillors were too busy spending their R300k salaries and driving their R200k cars to bother. Tokyo, on the other hand was gallantly and fearlessly spending his BILLIONS and driving his many million Rand cars on behalf of the poor. He was stinking rich on their behalf – and they should thank him.
@Tseko Tsotetsi, you say: “Sexwale is an opportunist not a politician”. Is the later not a prerequisite of the former? Sexwale could not be a politician without being an opportunist.
One wonders if opposing the worst of ANC actions is the correct approach.
Consider the Zanu PF. The whites blocked the worst of Bobs actions for 40 years and there can be no doubt that this substantially lengthened his rule, probably by 15 years. The whites kept fixing and adapting to compensate for his stupidity. If they had remained silent on Nationalisation, the economy would have collapsed much sooner. If they hadn’t fought and resisted farm invasions, the people would have starved 10 years ago. In both cases, the whites have lost everything anyway so their resistance has only prolonged the country’s agony.
Consider the despotic Congress Party of India. Indian intellectuals fought the corruption for 49 years whereas if they had just left the party to do its worst, the country would have collapsed in perhaps 20 years sooner.
Fighting the inevitable destruction of our country will just be prolonging the pain. We are long past the point of no return, our country is doomed anyway. Our choice now is do we suffer another 15 years or another 30…
Looking back and apportioning blame and making people accountable acceptable provided we also look further back to the apartheid government (and prior) – after all if you deny people a proper education how are they to govern a country when they come to power? Thank God for Oliver Thambo and the ANC leadership of the day who had the foresight and wisdom to get a handful of people well educated outside the country. And thank God for the courage of that handful who accepted the challenge of leaving their homes and families at fairly tender ages to travel to England / Russia, etc for an education… not to mention having to live in an entirely foreign culture and environment. Thank God for mission / church schools that offered a better education…. It’s easy to be critical…..
Peter gives some interesting stats regarding the policing reports for his region. Xenophobia cannot be tolerated particularly when South Africans violently attack foreigners and destroy their possessions and businesses. That said, there is a lot for foreign nationals to learn – i.e. DO NOT BRIBE SA OFFICIALS TO GET ILLEGAL DOCUMENTATION AND THEN PRESENT THEM TO GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS SO YOU GET A FREE HOUSE OR OTHER BENEFITS AHEAD OF SOUTH AFRICANS – DO NOT TAKE JOBS AT VASTLY REDUCED WAGES SO THAT UNSCRUPULOUS, EXPLOITATIVE EMPLOYERS EMPLOY FOREIGNERS IN PREFERENCE TO SOUTH AFRICANS – DO NOT STEAL FROM OR MURDER SOUTH AFRICAN CITIZENS OR ANYONE ELSE. Yes, South Africans have much to learn and need to be hospitable – but let the foreign nationals learn too – when you live in someone else’s house, it is incumbent upon you to abide by their house rules and accede to their requirements – and so it is when you live in a foreign country. Ask the South Africans who have lived in Arab countries, America or anywhere else for that matter!
Yes “me-too” – 100% right!
The Minister is already discovering just how difficult it will be to deal with 15 years of ANC incompetence. Minister, it is still the same ANC because only some of the leaders have changed. In the corporate world you were surrounded by highly skilled and competent excutives and senior managers. Now you are probably surrounded by mediocrities and have no idea where to turn to start delivering on your portfolio. A shocking wake-up call and the only response is to play the very tired blame game. It will not work because success going forward depends on you!
By Sexwale’s logic if these people are protesting against Mbeki, then surely they’re protesting against Zuma, who was deputy president for the better part of Mbeki’s presidency; against Sexwale himself from whom his successors inherited problems of service delivery in Gauteng.
The problem here is that the ANC raised unrealistic expectations and it will find it more and more difficult to meet them as the economy continue to falter. Zuma was touted as man of the people; yet he’s no where to be seen around those people. The people have been sold a defective product. There has been clear gross misrepresentation of the true facts about who Zuma is and what he’s capable of.
Lawlessness during protests will continue unabated as the ANC government appear to place greater consideration over maintain votes than enforcing the law. Sexwale must tell the people how he’s going to address the problem of collapsing RDP houses instead of making this stupid comments.
The constant reminder that “we are a new government” is the latest laughable hot-air,it ceases to amuses me.Mbeki was the president then but who was his deputy from 1999-2005?Didnt he approve the councillors’ appointments?
I couldnt help but started remembering the Pre-Polokwane contest when mediocre Tokyo declared himself available(before nomination from branches started as per ANC constitution)and then went to address a very wealthy audience at the exclusive Cape Town Country Club where he ran down Zuma and Selebi without mentioning them by name(referring to them as rotten politicians and rotten cops who shouldnt be in power)with the cheering audience egging him on.After the ANC branches gave him a middle finger,he didnt waste time in jumping into the ever-accomodating Zuma camp.
What a shameless opportunists.
Dear Tokyo
Your observation might be right. There is shit in your department. But do not blame the old government because it is basically the same as the old one. Few new faces.
Instead tell us what you are going to do about it.
Tell us when all the protesters will have water, electricity, a decent house and an income. That is your portfolio.
Publish a housing sector plan. Show us our priorities in the roll out.
You are a successful business man I have been told. You should understand this kind of language. I am sure you will be able to negotiate and secure the necessary budget allocations.
In the process you might assist mr Zuma in fulfilling the promise of 500.000 jobs by the end of the year.
Looking forward to your next public appearance with all of the above. Do not disappoint us.
Your Electorate
The handful of exiles sent back from “education” had NO practical experience, and no good education either.
None of them had ever even run a business, and suddenly they were running a country.
The only one with management experience was Ramaphosa, and he was shafted.
And if Mbeki is supposed to have been their “intellectual” the standard was very low.
It’s not gonna help him in blaming Mbeki.
And assuming that it is the case, should then Mbeki blame Madela for the problems he interited and Mandela himself, will blame the apartheird government?
Where is all this ‘blaming’ going to end. He must just govern-up, not to forget man-up, and solve the problems as a collective government they always claim to be. PERIOD!
Amazing! Just one voice who blames the present situation on apartheid. That is progress indeed.
Peter Joffe do you really believe what you just typed? High food prices blamed on foreigners!
100% agree with Sentletse, George and Benzol. Tokyo is shameless at exploitation and seems not to have a sincere bone in his body! Mbeki saw straight through him and Tokyo didn’t like being put in his place on little bit. He (and others like him) has tried (and somewhat succeeded) in turning the gullible people in the ANC against Mbeki – all for his own selfish gains and to his own advantage. He is a turncoat and cannot be trusted – birds of a feather…….
@ Peter Joffe why is brothers in quotation marks, who is this your you refer to? So basically your saying Zimbabweans are responsible for all the crime in your area? Was there no crime in your area in the 90′s? Could it be the police in your are are looking for a scapegoat? Maybe all the Zimbabweans should just leave and take the eastern european strippers at teazers with them?
Tseko Tsotetsi – He lives in a fortified Mansion guarded by a platoon of guards.
Peter Joffe – What fences ?
Musa – ‘mshini wami’ did do it so why not keep on ?
john Bond – you got it ! I sit back and wait for final solution. Hurling insults help one’s ego.
Rose – a handful of people well educated to lead the ever illiterate African Nations.
anton – surrounded by mediocrities is the standard for 2009 SA.
Sentlentse – Lawlessness during protests is inaccurate. SAMWU is proud of the peace demonstration (Politicsweb letter). Besides workers created 50,000 jobs for the clean up
after the “disciplined” march.
George – shameless ? What is definition of Shame? Cheap cars ?
Traps,
It should by now be apparent that the ‘strength of the ANC’ is NOT in its ‘collective’ decision-making. For a ‘collective’ to work it’s members must have a meeting of the minds. MINDS. That is what is lacking in the ANC leadership. [Mbeki's mind was marred by serious neuroses and a defensive ego. His idea of the 'collective' was cronyism and nepotism.]
We need minds that have been developed in an atmosphere of dispassionate reason tempered by compassion for human suffering.
We need intelligent pragmatism combined with humane policy.
We need BALANCE, not extremist rhetoric a al Julius , Floyd, Vavi, etc.
We need direct election of all officials including the President.
We need not a ‘collective’ that avoids responsibility but a CONSENSUS on the most effective and practical way to deal with our huge problems.
We need a CONSENSUS on:
Border controls and immigration.
Housing that is both affordable and adequate.
Health care that balances individual responsibility with public health.
Universal birth control (white, black, coloured, Asian, etc.) to limit family size to no more than 2 children so that our poorest people can make a better life for their children.
Education that produces fully literate and numerate matriculants.
Universities deserving of the name.
Separate vocational schools for trades, technical education, law enforcement, lab techs, and all adjunct or semi-professional jobs (medical and legal assistants, sport mgmt, etc.)
We need CONSENSUS on pay for performance only; not pay for pals.
Collective? No. Consensus? Yes.
In the end, the matter of ‘who’ is to blame is academic or historical. Your quoted articles and this one taken together suggests that the interaction of various aspects of this problem is understood by the current president, Ms de Lille, Afriforum & others.
Your conclusion is valid: ‘It is time for ALL the members of the Alliance as well as all South Africans to start pulling together to help the masses of our country.’ How can this preparedness to be part of the solution be harnessed? How exactly can individual citizens plug in so that we all sing (and implement!) from the same page? Is our contribution wanted?
Tokyo Sexwale is no good for South Africa – mark My Words!!!!
This man does not know when to stop to shoot himself in the foot. How he got to be a minister bits me.
This is the man who championed the ‘single flat’ stuctures aptly called Tokyo house in Gauteng. This is the man who dished out shares to media practitioners to enhance his reputation. This is the man who handsomely benefited from the BEE project, a product of the now not so popular former regime.
Where were Tokyo and the likes of Lindiwe Sisulu, Jef Radebe, Jeremy Cronin, Blade Nzimande, Zweli Mkhize etc, when the former regime was messing up as Tokyo allege? They sat in the ANC NEC and Working Committee endorsing what we are told today to be the mess of the former regime.
Tokyo has no shame at all!!!
A sycophant of the highest order if you ask me.
A good analysis which also offer sensible solution. Indeed it is time for those in power to pull together and deliver on the mandate given to them by the majority of the people. Blaming Mbeki’s regime is like flogging a dead snake, as Zuma once wisely advised. Zuma need to continue on the good work that he has started of rectifying the mistakes that his own party was responsible for. He has done well in removing all the deadwood in government structures who were impeding the delivery mandate as we have witnessed the number of useless DGs like the ones responsible for local government and Correctional services. More heads still to roll. The next level will have to be at provincial and local government, which are coalface for delivery. It would not be an easy task, as these officials and politicians are only there for vested interests and not committed to delivery. however Zuma and his new admnistrators need to be resolute in dealing with them. For too long ordinary people have been patient waiting for basic services, whilst the new elite has been pandering to the whims of the chattering classes.
Yes Sentletse and your fellow reactionary clique, Zuma did make promises for delivery and he is delivering on them. In two months in power he has delivered on many fronts: appointed Reserve Bank Governor, reformed JSC, dynamic cabinet, strenghten the ANC as a party, avoided trying to be an expert on everything. He still has 58 months!
Siobhan, you are on point.
As a dispassionate observer from afar it strikes me that the ANC is corrupt, riven and bad news for the people of SA. How did you let them con you? I’m sure the ANC is patriotic, altruistic and wonderfully nationalistic but also utterly self-serving. The people of SA deserve far better from their supposedly “national liberation movement”. Liberation from what? Corruption? Croneyism? Preferment? Rigging? Judicial incompetents? Parliamentary blindness? SA is stuffed. Zuma is an international joke.
I am not surprise about that, this is from one unstable politician in our congress movement. He once had ambition s to lead this great movement, which he pronouced through BBC and and was rebuked by teh ANC YL for that. Now that he has been given the responsibility to take charg in soem dept. he feels he is nearing the West wing of the Union Buildings. I think like others haev said, hi sdislike of TM makes him bitter even when it is not necessary and correct. The best way to do things here and now is for the current administration, which he happens to be part of, take responsibility of what is happening,without necessarily shifting the blame. All those councilors which seem to be redundant, according to his poor undestanding, are of the ANC and remain in the ANC even after COPE was formed. They are the ANC elected councillors, not Mbeki. Next time, comrade Tokyo, please use your brains than your bitter heart when speaking to the media about governance issues, otherwise you might not make it into our list of potential people to lead the ANC after 2012. You are such a paranoia! Sies!
Sheesh!
Wo can read all this toss?
Lyndall, I love you, you manage to say so much with the least ammount of words.
Will you marry me?
Mike
Mike
Thanks for the compliment – but my husband is not into polygamy (I can never remember the name for the female version).