The present student unrest in South Africa is endemic to the culture the ANC, ever since taking over the government in 1994, has been promoting in this beleaguered little country on the southern tip of Africa – ENTITLEMENT.

 

   This insane policy came home to roost on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, when thousands of chanting, foot-stomping, shouting, fist-saluting, students from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) descended on Parliament ahead of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s medium term budget policy statement.

 

     After burning tyres outside the building (as riot police looked on), they eventually forced their way through Parliament’s gates, making their way into the Parliamentary precinct, shouting, “Down with 6%, down with fees, down”, in reference to the deal struck by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande and university vice chancellors on Tuesday after a marathon meeting in the Mother City, where they agreed fee increases for 2016 would be capped at 6%.

 

  Their numbers swelled by more students arriving, the unruly mob broke through one of the gates, stopped by police at the very doors of parliament, where earlier the red-overalled Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party’s chant, “Fees must Fall”, had disrupted parliament to such an extent during Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s Mini Budget speech, the “honourable” members of the EFF had to be forcefully ejected from the proceedings. 

 

   Riot police, to control the rowdy mob, were forced to fire off tear gas and stun grenades after the students started chanting for the Higher Education Minister, Blade Nzimande, to address them. He, however, failed to make his appearance. After firing off more stun grenades, the police eventually managed to expel the students from the Parliamentary precinct. Nevertheless they had succeeded in their stated intention to disrupt the minister’s speech.

 

   Later, addressing the media, Economic Freedom Fighter’s chief whip, Floyd Shivambu, said his party supported the call for university education to be free, adding that they would ask Nene about it during the sitting on Wednesday.

 

     In similar protests in Stellenbosch one of the rioting students apparently said, “This is the bastion of apartheid. The Broederbond must fall.”

 

   The protest  action in Cape Town flared up after students at the University of the Witwatersrand last week protested against a 10.5% fee increase for the 2016 academic year, also sparking similar action on campuses across South Africa, including UWC, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in Port Elizabeth, the University of Pretoria, the Tshwane University of Technology, Stellenbosch University, Rhodes University in Grahamstown, the University of Fort Hare, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and the University of Limpopo.

 

   These students, their emotions fuelled by single-minded, short-sighted activists, were demanding what they believe they are entitled to, FREE TERTIARY EDUCATION.

 

   Why are they postulating such an impractical (for South Africa) demand? Because Jacob Zuma, in one of his pre-election speeches promised it, like the jobs and homes for all promises, and according to some Soweto residents, even free electricity! And like the Soweto residents, who now owe Eskom over 3 BILLION RAND and refuse to pay, are claiming what was promised, the students are doing likewise, unfortunately at a time the country can ill afford it, thanks mainly to Zuma and his cohorts pillaging its resources.

 

   Although I understand where these actions stem from, viewing these events on national TV at the various tertiary institutions throughout the country, reminded me more of the gyrating, foot-stomping, fist-thumping, obscenity-shouting, mindless louts usually gathered to protest at one or other political grievance, than serious young people wanting to better themselves through higher education.

 

   Unfortunately, endemic to the mind-set of this sector of the population, violence and vandalism is never far off. Destruction of campus buildings and property is certainly not a way to reduce fees. Don’t they realize it costs money to repair and replace? Never mind to simply maintain, a concept the ANC dominated government has in 21 years still not grasped, hence the country’s infrastructure steadily collapsing around us.

 

    As optimistic as I try to be, I do not see a suitable solution to this problem. There is a myriad of factors compounding it. The least not being the present government’s inability to sustain the economy.

 

   Alec Hogg, renowned reporter, founder and publisher of Biznews.com, former CEO and founder of Moneyweb, recently commented:

“The only surprise about the past week’s student protests in South Africa is that they did not happen sooner. History tells us regimes which abuse their power have the most to fear from the youth and, in predominantly Christian nations like South Africa, the churches. Opposition political parties can be trumped through election fraud. Business prefers working works behind the scenes and if rejected, simply enters an investment strike or exports capital. But from Tiananmen Square to Kent State, from the Soviet invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia through to Arab Spring, it has been idealistic students who first gasped the nettle. Political scientists believe events of the past week are a watershed for a nation wracked by incompetent economic management, growing corruption and blatant cronyism. In his classic book, How Long Will South Africa Survive, Rhodes Scholar and former Oxford Don RW Johnson says the ANC’s failing is not one of mis-governance. It is one of no-governance. The ANC leadership’s “rabbit in headlights” impersonation during this crisis supports his argument” – Alec Hogg

 

   It puts it in a nutshell; no-governance is exactly what the ANC-led government has been doing for 21 years.

 

   To make matters worse for Zuma and his cohorts, on Tuesday, more than 10,000 people joined an EFF march to the stock exchange, central bank and Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg to demand interest rate cuts, minimum wages for miners and a more equitable distribution of the country’s wealth.

 

   But what “Juju” and his red brigade don’t seem to understand is that the country’s wealth has evaporated into the pockets of the ANC’s top elite, their stalwarts, and their cronies, et al. How much can be left if it has been evaporating to the tune of 98 million rand each and every day for the past twenty years?

 

  A ridiculous statement? Unfortunately, no:

 

“South Africa has lost R700 billion to corruption over the last 20 years, the Institute of Internal Auditors said on Wednesday.

 

   The cost of corruption in the last 20 years... we have lost R700bn," CEO Claudelle von Eck said at the launch of the Anti-Intimidation and Ethical Practices Forum in Johannesburg.

   Von Eck, who is the forum's chairwoman, said people who tried to report corruption were often muzzled.

   "Members are being intimidated when they try and raise the issue of corruption in an organisation."

   Von Eck said the forum aimed to educate its members about corruption, advise them how to reveal corruption, and what to do when whistle-blowers were intimidated.

It was intended to be a professional collective voice which would make pronouncements about the state of governance in the country.

   "We cannot be silent. As professionals we should be able to say this is what the state is, this is what we need to do to rectify things."

   The forum consists of an executive committee, agencies who can take action, interested organisations, and an evaluation panel.

   "As professionals we have a responsibility, an understanding that our responsibility does not begin and end just at our desk and just at our jobs. We've got to carry South Africa," she said.”

 

(By Sapa | Jan 28, 2015 Article as it appeared in The Sowetan and other publications)

 

   Is it any wonder then foreign investment in South Africa is drying up, business ventures fail on a daily basis, the unemployment figure is rising faster than the meter on a winning slot machine, essential infrastructure is crumbling, service delivery protests are becoming increasingly violent, intrinsic with rampant vandalism and looting, and most municipalities and parastatals in the country are bankrupt, tottering on the brink of total collapse?

 

   This is the root cause of the country’s present dilemma. In the nearly 21 years of ruining (read as running) this country, the ANC has managed to bring it to its knees. Wholesale corruption, bribery, false tenders, excessive salaries, cronyism, maladministration, outright theft, mindless spending, over-inflated government departments, nonsensical “commissions” of enquiry that come to nothing, imbecilic short-sightedness, and a massively bloated parliament, has led to money WASTED, STOLEN, LOST, to the tune of 700 BILLION RAND, that is 35 BILLION per year, 2,92 BILLION per month, which amounts to 98 MILLION RAND PER DAY FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS!

 

   Is that a shocking revelation? Or have we become so used to reports in the media of wholesale bribery and corruption to the tune of billions, that we have adapted a blasé, “so what?’ attitude to it?

 

   Any economy, whether it be a household, a small business venture, huge corporations, or naturally countries, can only sustain so much abuse and misuse before it starts to collapse. It’s the age-old Cosmic Law, Every action, has a reaction, and I’m afraid for South Africa, its reaction time.

 

   In his book, How Will South Africa Survive, author and historian Robert Wood Johnson, the same man who in 1977 accurately predicted the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa, and now believes the country is in a similar situation as it was in the seventies, stated in a recent News24 interview:

 

   “We have a regime [ANC government] which is facing a crisis and change before very long. South Africa is dependent on an inward flow of investment. If that stops for any length of time, there will be a regime change. No government can survive that.”

 

   Speaking recently at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, Johnson said foreign investment in the country has dried up, South Africa‘s investment abroad far exceeded that which was invested here, our debt levels were exceptionally high,  and that the country  would soon be facing a debt trap and would have to resort to an IMF bailout. He added that the conditions of such a bailout would most likely include cuts in public service and social grants spending which would change the political environment, causing a crisis for the ruling party.

 

    Whilst I agree with everything he said, I doubt however it would lead to a regime change. The ANC is far too wily to allow that to happen. Utilising every dirty trick in the book, like they did to keep Zuma out of jail, the party’s top elite will stop at nothing to keep their seats on the very lucrative gravy train, no matter what is held in store for the country, or what it does to the economy.

 

   Jacob Zuma might not have passed Std. 6, and he might not be the brightest brick on the block, but he is as sly as a fox, witness his meteoritic rise from trial awaiting (on multiple charges of fraud and corruption) accused, to president of South Africa, ousting Mbeki prematurely. Unfortunately, the day he became president is undoubtedly the blackest day in the history of this country.  I am convinced he firmly believes his alleged statement to the NPA in 2009, that corruption is only a crime in a “Western paradigm”, and that there are no victims.

 

   Conveniently blind, he does not notice the string of victims strewn in his path to the top, not even the biggest victim of them all, the very country he “rules”.

   But why should he care?  He is doing very well, thank you. As soon as he steps down as president (can’t be soon enough if the country is to survive), he’ll be snugly ensconced in his own private little fiefdom, fire-pool et al. NKANDLA! Be sure you pronounce it correctly though …. heh, heh, heh! And oh, all these figures, they confuse me …. heh, heh, heh!

 

   Although, having said the above, I have the faint suspicion that Cyril Rhamaphosa might be rubbing his hands in the wings in vain. I won’t be at all surprised if the guileful Zuma pips him at the post and manages to stay on for another five years after the next election. The fact that the Constitution stipulates a president may only serve for two terms is a minor, witness the gross abuse of our once proud justice system to allow Zuma to ascend the coveted throne. Notwithstanding the inescapable fact that the Emperor has no clothes.

 

    But, in spite of the Emperor not having clothes, he has a lot up his sleeve. Not only has he built himself a fiefdom at Nkandla, he has also constructed a very sturdy one within his own cabinet, manned by a chosen few, and in addition another little fortress, whose battlements are zealously guarded by those individuals appointed without due consideration or process, into the top positions of the country’s parastatals, like for instance that amazing genius, and self-styled intellectual, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the matric-less guru controversially appointed as COO of that illustrious institution, the cash-strapped, bungling SABC, by a cabinet stalwart, Azwihangwisi Faith Muthambi, the 9th Minister of Communications, whom Zuma controversially appointed on the 25th may, 2014.

 

   How #1 feels about the fact that his stalwart’s appointee has just been awarded yet another pay hike, in spite of the fact that in 2014, the Public Protector found Motsoeneng guilty of unlawfully increasing his own salary three times in the space of one year, of, according to the SABC’s Annual Report, R912 000, taking his meagre salary from R2,872,000 to R3,784,000 in this financial year, is not known. If he’s happy with the fact that Motsoeneng now earns nearly a million rand more per annum than his holy self, is open to speculation.

 

   I suspect though that our eminent president will swallow his pride and go along with it, because why did he allow Muthambi to force Motsoeneng, her godson, on the SABC in the first instance?

 

   Taking into consideration what the new Minister of Communications has achieved in the time since her appointment, might furnish a clue as to why she was appointed in the first instance.

 

   Immediately after controversially imposing her godson, Motsoeneng, on the luckless SABC, Muthambi placed the parliamentary oversight process in her hands, allegedly using the Companies Act to deftly execute one of the most blatant power grabs yet in this country, replacing the Articles of Association with her own Memorandum of Incorporation, thereby acquiring the power to remove board members without Parliament’s involvement.

 

   Apparently she can now appoint senior executives without the necessary procedures like advertising the post and the sanction of the Board. But the most disturbing is that allegedly she can change the SABC’s governance codes and rules to whatever suits her.

 

    Another clue as to the reasons for her appointment can be found in the crushing by the ANC’s top elite, the top dogs, of an attempt by Parliament’s communications portfolio committee to stop her.  Ironically the ANC parliamentarian and committee chairperson, Joyce Moloi-Moropa, who led a principled stand against Muthambi’s shenanigans, could soon find herself out in the cold.

 

    Notwithstanding the appointment of Frans Matlala, a keen supporter of Motsoeneng, as the new SABC chief executive officer, Zuma now has, thanks to the antics of Motsoeneng and his godmother, Faith Muthambi, who reversed the reasonably free public broadcaster into a state broadcaster, a powerful media outlet who will, in his bid for a third term, do his every bidding.

 

Zuma, the supreme populist (in speech only), more than anyone else before him understands the mentality of the rural populace, the ANC’s strongest and most powerful voter’s base. What better vehicle to reach them than an ever-willing SABC?

 

   These are simple, no frills people, of whom most are devout Christians, belonging to one or other of the many rural churches. So that when Zuma in 2011 said, “When you vote for the ANC, you are also choosing to go to heaven”, they believed him. And when he added, “When you don’t vote for the ANC you should know that you are choosing that man who carries a fork … who cooks people. When you are carrying an ANC membership card, you are blessed. When you get up there, there are different cards used but when you have an ANC card, you will be let through to go to heaven.” they knew that God sent Zuma to lead the country. As a result, no matter what terrible deeds he gets up to, they will not judge, but rather forgive him. Does the Bible not say, “Thou shalt not judge.”? And when they pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” they fervently believe in that particular tenet of the faith. So Zuma’s home base is firmly cemented and in place. And precisely herein lies Zuma’s political strength.

 

   Although he professes to be a Christian, at the same time he believes in his divine right to know what’s right for the country and the ANC, and in this he has been extremely successful. Many of his detractors and the opposition were hoping that the party would oust him after the last election, rumours abounded that his days as a leader were numbered, but he emerged stronger than before, and at present is so well ensconced it would take a nuclear device to unseat him.

 

   And while we’re on the subject, don’t take Juju Malema at face value either. Don’t be surprised when, in Zuma’s inevitable bid for a third term as president of this besieged country, Julius Malema steps to the fore as the champion of South Africa’s nightmare president.

 

   How is it possible that such a man, the perpetrator of so many embarrassing international gaffes, a womaniser with no less than five wives costing the taxpayers a fortune annually to support, of the laughable take a shower to prevent Aids fame, a proven fraud and corrupter, with virtually no education, can lord it over a once proud country and its people? A good question, to which the answer is surprisingly simple. Zuma is a supreme Puppet Master and illusionist. He knows exactly how to manipulate people, how to play them off the one against the other, how to hint at reward, how to create expectation, and how to subtly threaten.

 

   The fact that he long ago abandoned the founding principles of the African National Congress, and that the party has become a pariah to itself, is of little consequence, as long as he attains his end goal, which is to go down in history as the greatest president the country has ever had. And not to mention, it has to be cloaked in secrecy, the multiple awards and financial gains incumbent to the power of such a position.

 

   How does he do it? Here’s how. South Africa at present has a population of just under 54 million people, of which, according to Piet le Roux, Senior Researcher at the Solidarity Research Institute, in his speech in response to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s Medium Term Budget and Policy Statement in 2013, a mere 3.3 million  pay 99% of all Income Tax.

 

    Yet incredibly we have the largest cabinet (74 members) in the world, 35 ministers, and 37 deputy ministers, costing the Taxpayer 143 million rand a year, excluding the host of perks they get, whilst the USA, against whose economy South Africa’s pales into a vacuum, with a population of over 320 million people, has a cabinet of 16!

 

      A striking difference is that over in the States everything works (I’ve been there, I’ve seen it, it’s impressive), each cabinet minister oversees several ministries, whilst here in South Africa there is a minister and deputy minister for every conceivable function, and nothing works! I have thought of suggesting to Number One we should perhaps have a ministry for the correct use and dispensing of toilet paper. The minister can spend his valuable time instructing the populace how to use it correctly, whilst his deputy could be kept busy in parliament wiping the honourable member’s mouths, especially that of Juju and the EFF.

 

   Do we need such a large cabinet? Of course not. It’s a White Elephant., and a very costly one. But it is Jacob Zuma’s white elephant, and he alone rides it.

 

   I doubt if he’s ever read extensively, and I very much doubt if he’s read the satires of that rebellious Roman satirical poet, Decimus Juvenal. But if ever a man understood exactly what Juvenal wrote millennia ago in one of his Satires:

 

“Do you see all that steam and bustle?

 The great man’s hangers-on

 Are getting their free dinner, each with his own

 Kitchen-boy in attendance.”

 

it’s Jacob Zuma. And that’s exactly why we are saddled with such a bloated, uselessly incompetent cabinet. Zuma appointed them, and they dance to Zuma’s corrupt tune.

 

What I believe Zuma must have read, or at least be acquainted with the principles espoused therein, is the famous ancient Chinese military treatise, “The Art of War”, attributed to Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general, renowned tactician and strategist. For more than two thousand years this has been accepted as the definitive manual on military tactics and strategies, so much so that even the common people knew it by name. What is certain is that this treatise has had an immense influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, legal strategy, business tactics, politics, and way beyond.  I surmise that Zuma, in his days as the strategist for the ANC’s armed struggle, must have been introduced to this by his Chinese mentors, for he is certainly applying its many principles.

 

       But at what exorbitant expense to the country. It is difficult to exactly determine what it is costing the taxpayer, the Presidency has been of very little help, choosing to rather conceal than disclose. But what with expensive fancy cars, executives jets, VIP protection (as if someone would be daft enough to kidnap one of the esteemed members of the cabinet, the populace would be only too pleased if it meant cutting costs for one less), Zuma’s many spouses and their protection, government limousines, bodyguards et al, the numerous overseas trips and five star hotels, the meaningless conferences, it must come to a pretty daunting sum.

 

   The reporter and ex DA man, Gareth van Onselen attempted it in an article called:

 

“The Billion Rand President: How much Jacob Zuma costs the taxpayer

By: Gareth van Onselen

 

There are a number of costs I have not included in this analysis. For example, the cost of Zuma’s inauguration (R75m), the cost of renovations done to official residencies, the cost of the town supposedly being built outside Nkandla at the President’s behest and smaller items, like the cost of the credit card to which he is entitled (no doubt small and for which it is next to impossible to work out an amount). Essentially I have focused on the President’s running costs. Where one to include actual government programmes, you might as well include the cost of the Presidency in its entirety, which would be to defeat the purpose of the exercise.

In turn, the President is funded in numerous other ways. The ANC, for example, would pay his costs when it comes to party political activity. Likewise, the President might benefit from various private benefits, financial or otherwise.” (Extract from the main article)

 

   van Onselen reaches the conclusion that Zuma will cost the taxpayers and incredible R514 million over five years. He breaks it down to R102 million per year, and then breaks it down into months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes. Thus Zuma will cost the public R196,00 every minute.

 

  Personally I think this is a very conservative figure, if everything is taken into account, all the expenses the Presidency is loathe divulging, the amount would probably top R 650m. And this is for Zuma alone, it does not take into account what his vice-president , 35 ministers, and 37 deputy ministers will cost the country! 

 

   In 1994, just prior to the incredibly unfortunate day the country’s government was handed over to the ANC, F.W. de Klerk’s cabinet consisted of 29 members (including himself), Ministers responsible for the various departments entrusted with the good governance of the country. And good governance it was indeed, in spite of the ANC’s numerous attempts to derail it. Although the Apartheid policy was most unfortunate and ill-devised, the country itself was one of the foremost in the world and a much sought after foreign investment haven.

 

   What the ANC and its followers fail to grasp is that it was not entirely due to their freedom struggle, or their guerrilla fighters, or terrorist attacks (the South African Defense Force was one of the best in the world) that a change in the political setup in the country took place, it boiled down to the population demographics of the country and the insight and leadership of people like F.W. de Klerk, who realised the country could not indefinitely sustain the offensive apartheid regime. Apart from it being morally wrong, the mechanics of the exercise became increasingly difficult to defend and maintain.

 

   Throughout history it has been shown that the group of people in any country, who form the majority, will inevitably end up ruling that country. Witness what happened to the Red Indians, the original, legitimate inhabitants of North America. With the massive inflow of settlers from Europe and other countries, the formation of the American government with its huge troop deployments, the natives of the country did not stand a snowballs chance in hell. The same happened to the British in India. There is power in numbers, the majority always wins. And that is exactly what happened in South Africa. It was simply unsustainable for a minority of Whites (less than 5 million) to keep governing a country where the majority of its inhabitants (47 million) were Black. The demographics didn’t add up. 

 

   Make no error, if the then government had decided to hell with the Western world powers who were exerting pressure to change to majority rule, and tackled the ANC’s military wing head-on, even if a revolution did take place, the security forces would have exacted a gruesome toll on the Black population, and the National government would have carried on regardless.

 

   What few people knew at the time was that South Africa had developed sophisticated nuclear weapons with even more sophisticated delivering devices, based on the mighty Denel-developed G6 self-propelled gun. Two British journalists wrote an amazing book on the subject, exposing just how deadly and sophisticated these weapons were, also that once exploded it could be area-contained. I had a copy, but unfortunately lent it to a friend, never to be seen again. I can’t remember the exact title, and I can’t find it on Google, but I think it was somewhere in the line of, “Mandela’s’ Mini Nuke Nightmare”. Suffice it to say that the then South African government could have successfully, admittedly at a horrific price and loss of life, put down any uprising. Fortunately, sanity prevailed on both sides and we saw the birth of the much vaunted Rainbow Nation. 

 

   That this wonderful vision soon turned out to be a pipe dream is incredibly sad and an incalculable loss to the country and its people.

 

   In the beginning, under the able leadership of the inimitable Nelson Mandela, things got off to a good start, the crowning glory of that wonderful period being when President Mandela donned a Springbok jersey and held aloft the coveted World Rugby Cup the Springboks had won in an unforgettable match of epic proportions. We were truly a Rainbow Nation then.

 

   Sadly, when he became too old, and Mbeki took over as the second Black president of South Africa, cracks began to show, the unfortunate Aids and beetroot saga being one of the low points of his term.

 

    But the blackest of black days Jacob Zuma forced his way into the presidency, riding roughshod over everybody and our much respected (up to then) justice system, side-lining President Mbeki in the most disgusting and impervious manner, the whole thing started to unravel, and continues to do so at an ever increasing, alarming rate. The once proud Rainbow Nation is destroyed, trembling at the precipice of impending doom.

 

   To illustrate the point above I am taking the liberty of including here an interesting e-mail a friend of mine sent me some time back. I cannot vouch for its accuracy, I haven’t checked the figures myself, and I don’t necessarily support every aspect of its contents. I am adding it here merely for comparison to what the country was before the ANC took over, and the dire straits we find ourselves in at present.

 

   Having lived through those years I can state that a lot of the content is true, I experienced it myself. Of course the ANC’s publicity department and the sections of the media it has in its pocket through various means of persuasion, will immediately want to rubbish it as nonsense and not the true story of the struggle, but as far as I’m concerned the much publicized, much vaunted struggle was mainly media generated:

 

“THE LIE OF APARTHEID - Interessante feite (Interesting facts – my translation)

 

NOTE: To expedite matters I will be adding, where I believe it warrants comment, my own footnotes in the body of the article. Such foot notes will be clearly labelled as (Rossfour’s Comments:… )

In 1988, a German book published how benevolent the White giant of Africa actually was. Below are some of the facts referencing 1988 

Rossfour’s Comments:

 

(As far as I could ascertain the book was written by one Arthur Kemp, who was born in Southern Rhodesia. He spent his formative early political years in South Africa, where he worked as a journalist for the South African Conservative Party. He also wrote for The Citizen newspaper.  Conscripted, he served as a sergeant in the South African Police from 1987 to 1988, based in Johannesburg. In 1993 he served as a witness for the prosecution in the trial relating to the murder of the South African Communist party leader, Chris Hani. According to Kemp he was expelled from the Conservative Party for publicly opposing Apartheid and being in favour of Afrikaner separatism.)

 

In 1972, SA blacks owned 360,000 vehicles. (More than all the black African states together).  The monthly income of blacks per capita in 1988 was R352 per month in South Africa – Malawi and Mozambique was

less than R20 per month.

 

In 1988 black people could undergo a complicated heart valve surgery for just more than $ 1 while black Americans had to pay $ 15,000. In a Pretoria hospital between 2,000 and 3,000 of these surgeries were done per year.

Rossfour’s Comments:

(Health services for Blacks were basically free and of a high standard. The ANC’s activists unfortunately

continuously goaded people to burn down the hospitals, clinics, and schools.)

In 1970, black workers earned R1,751 million, or 25.5% of the total wage fees in SA and increased to R17,238 million in 1984 (1,000% growth) and 32.3% of total wages in SA.

In the 1986/1987 financial year, whites paid R9,000 million and blacks R171 million tax. Indians paid R257 million and coloreds paid R315 million on tax.

Between 1962 and 1972 the UN paid $ 298 million to underdeveloped countries compared to South Africa that spent $ 558 million on the development of its black areas.

The budget amount for black education increases every year from 1970 to almost 30% more than any other government department.

From 1955 to 1984 the number of black scholars increased from 35,000 to 1,096,000. In 1988 71% of the adult black population could read and write versus 47% in Kenya, 38% in Egypt and 34% in Nigeria. On average during the year 15 new classrooms per working day were built for black scholars.

Rossfour’s Comments:

(Many of these were burnt down by “students”, apparently on instructions from the ANC.)


In 1985 there were 42,000 black students enrolled at SA universities.

There were 5 black universities and 28 higher education institutions funded by the government.

Soweto with its population of 1.2 million had 5 modern stadiums versus Pretoria with its 600,000 whites who had three. Soweto had 365 schools versus Pretoria 229. 

In Soweto in 1978, there were 115 football fields, three rugby fields, 4 athletic tracks, 11 cricket fields, two golf courses, 47 tennis courts, 7 swimming pools, 5 bowling halls, 81 basketball fields, 39 children playgrounds and countless community halls, cinemas and clubhouses.

In Soweto in 1978, there were 300 churches, 365 schools, 2 technicons, 8 clinics, 63 kindergartens, 11 post offices and its own fruit and vegetable market.

The white government built a huge hospital Baragwanath  3,000 beds in Soweto. One of the largest and most modern hospitals in the world. Its 23 operating theatres were equipped with the best equipment money can buy. Here blacks were treated at a nominal cost of R2 for an unlimited period. In 1982, no fewer than 898 heart surgeries were done here.

 

Next to the Baragwantha Hospital is the St. John-eye clinic, famous for the treatment of glaucoma, previous fix retinas, traumatic eye injuries and rare tropical diseases.

Rossfour’s Comments:

(I can vouch for that. I was involved in the Pharmaceutical industry and had a lot to do with the hospital.)

There were over 2,300 registered firms, 1,000 taxi operators and 50,000 car owners in Soweto.

Dr. Kenneth Walker, a Canadian physician, visited Soweto and made the following observations:
He saw several houses worth more than R100 000 with various BMW’s at the door.

Only 2% of homes are shacks with neat buildings with lawns. If he had to choose between the decaying apartments in New York, Detroit or Chicago than he would rather stay in Soweto.
He’d rather be very ill in Soweto as in some Canadian cities.
He says the city has more schools, churches, cars, taxis, and sports fields than any other independent African states.

In 1978 the South African government built a highly modern hospital MEDUNSA on the border of the independent state of Bophuthatswana at a cost of R70 million on 35 hectares. In this “city” there were living and sleeping facilities for male and female students.

Black doctors, dentists, veterinarians and para-medical staff were trained. It is the only specialized university of its kind in Africa and one of the few in the world financed by white taxpayers exclusively to benefit blacks. Almost all students who mainly came from the national homelands costs were taken care of by the government.

The practical training took place in the nearby Garankuwa Hospital farm where the whole range of human ailments is covered.

Garankuwa had the facilities for kidney transplants, isotopes units with specialized laboratories where 200 doctors were trained practically every year.

South Africa provided training for the airline personnel of Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zaire and the Comores.

In 1979, when the train traffic to the Malawian capital Lilongwe was interrupted by rebels, SA sent transport aircrafts with fuel drums to keep their economy going.

In 1986, 80,000 black businessmen from Africa visited Cape Town to finalize business deals.

South Africa provided the grain needs of its neighboring countries and wider. In 1980, Zambia received 250 000 tons of maize, Mozambique 150,000 tons maize and 50 000 tons of wheat, Kenya 128,000 tons maize and Zimbabwe 100 000 tons. Other countries that also received South African grain were Angola, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauritius, Tanzania and Zaire.

At least 12 countries of Africa, according to the “Argus African News Service” were so dependent on SA grain that a total ban on imports and exports would have destroyed them economically.

About half of Lesotho’s male population worked in South Africa, about 146,000 in 1983, and earned R280,6 million which was about half of Lesotho’s treasury.

In the 1982/83 financial year SA budgeted R434 million for assistance to the independent neighboring states.

SA produced more electrical energy than Italy, as much crude steel as France, more wheat than Canada, more wool than the US, more wine than Greece and more fish than Great Britain.

South African trains ran on more rail lines than in West Germany, carried more passengers than Switzerland, have better punctuality record than Austria and exported car parts to 100 countries.

SA mines bore down to the depth of 3,480 meters and holds the record for the deepest vertical shaft at 2,498m deep into the hardest rock in the world.

They were accused by the world that they were a police state:
In SA 1.4 officers for every 1,000 people while the world is as follows: UK 2.2, Israel 3.5, New York 4.3, and Moscow 10 per 1000. In South Africa there were 16,292 white policemen versus 19 177 non-white.

They were accused of killing their political offenders:
In 1979-1980 there were no deaths in SA prisons. In the previous 10 years 37 died versus 274 in the same period in Wales and England.

Rossfour’s Comments:

(Although there were a few unfortunate incidents, the then government was definitely not on a spree to kill political offenders. This aspect of the struggle was hugely pulled out of proportion, mainly by overseas media eager for sensation and fuelled by ANC activists.)

They were accused that they paid starvation wages:
In 1974, the average monthly income of black workers in South Africa were $ 127 versus the $ 140 in the US, the richest country in the world.

Rossfour’s Comments:

(It was not starvation wages, but I do believe it could have been better. I must add though, I think people basically paid what they could afford. A lot of domestic workers stayed on the property and the majority were treated kindly, eating the same food as the family they worked for.)

They were accused that they locked up thousands of political prisoners:
In 1983, 127 such prisoners are confined in SA and 11 whose movements were limited. A further 32 were under house arrest.”

Rossfour’s Comments:

(This is pure ANC propaganda. It suited the aims of the ANC to spread such a blatant lie. I lived through that era, and have no idea where these thousands of political prisoners would have been housed, or how the government could have kept it a secret.)

ASA JUSTIN 
VAN DEVENTER
+61 402 842 136
Skype : ASAJUSTIN
TWEET : ASAJUSTIN”

 

    But yet another e-mail crossed my desk. I am adding it here as well; it gives another insight to the present picture:

 

“Statement by Juju Mkize SRC president of University Cape Town –

THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT RACISM IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT, SO DIFFERENT FROM THE RUBISH YOU ARE FED BY THE NEWSPAPERS!!

 How the hell can we believe you Mr President ? 

" South Africans are psychologically sick as a result of the violence inflicted upon the majority of the country’s people during the apartheid era ", President Jacob Zuma said.?????WHAT!!

This blatant lie is getting really old and boring even to us blacks! Even we know the history of black South Africans has always been that of violence, death and destruction – NOT inflicted upon them by white people in this country. Stop lying!

Shaka Zulu, during his 10-year reign butchered more than 2 million black people in South Africa, not counting the deaths during mass tribal migrations to escape his armies. He had his warriors clubbed to death upon the merest sign of weakness. He neither took a legal wife nor fathered a son, for fear that his heir would plot against him, and had his concubines executed if he discovered they were pregnant. When his mother died, he massacred thousands of his subjects so their families would mourn along with him.

 

FACT: Shaka retained his throne through the worst kind of sheer terror, vast mass executions, torture and mindless butchery. 

His brother, Dingane, was no better. He took power after the assassination of Shaka and started his reign by butchering those loyal to Shaka. 

THAT, amongst many other horror stories of black-on-black violence, is the history of Black South Africa.

During the Apartheid years it was not better but unlike all are led to believe,  black factional fighting and tribal conflict was the main cause of violence and death amongst black South Africans.

During the Apartheid era, from 1948 to 1994, the average life expectancy of black South Africans had risen to 64 years, thanks to the white Government, on par with Europe's average life expectancy. Infant death rates had by been reduced from 174 to 55 infant deaths per thousand, higher than Europe's, but considerably lower than the rest of the African continent's. The African population in South Africa increased by 50%.

Deaths due to political violence during “apartheid” years were:

 21 000 people died in political violence in South Africa during apartheid of whom 14 000 died during the transition process from 1990 to 1994.

This includes SA Defence Force border actions against terrorists outside the borders, for instance the 600 deaths at Kassinga in Angola during the war in 1978.

NB: Of those deaths, the vast majority, 92%, have been primarily due to Africans killing Africans, such as the inter-tribal battles for territory.

During the period June 1990 to July 1993 a total of 8580 (92%) of the 9 325 violent deaths during the period June 1990 to July 1993 were caused by Africans killing Africans, or as the news media often calls it, "Black on Black" violence - hostel killings, Inkatha Freedom Party versus ANC killings and taxi and turf war violence and not White Policemen as often recklessly stated and believed by foreigners!!

  The security forces only caused 518 deaths (5.6%) throughout this period.

During the transitional period, the primary causes of deaths were not security forces nor white right-wing violence against blacks, but due to "black-on-black necklace murders", tribal conflict between the ANC-IFP, bombs by the ANC and PAC's military wings in shopping centers, landmines on farm roads, etc.

 In this country TODAY (under black rule) as many as 18 000 people are murdered EVERY year. ...and those are your official statistics. More than 400 000 people have been murdered in South Africa under ANC rule. The past 20 years have been the most violent in the history of this country since the death of Shaka Zulu

 ...and NONE of it has anything to do with WHITE people or APARTHEID... but I guess if you repeat the lie often enough foreigners actually start believing the drivel coming from your mouth, Mr. Uneducated President !!!”

 

Unfortunately, people from all over the world believe the lies you have spread and wrongly blame the Whites for Racism!!”

 

 

 

   I have placed it above exactly as I received it. I cannot vouch for its authenticity, having not contacted Mr Mkize myself.

 

   But, coming back to the reason I am writing this article, the present student unrest in South Africa:

 

   Here is an article by Stuart Lowman of Biznews.com, posted earlier:

 

   “An institution cannot run on empty, while government says it’s already allocating the tax money needed. An interesting email came across the Biznews news desk earlier, again it’s not a solution but may offer a starting point. It was a short compilation of projects (some of which are corrupt) and government departments annual results. These losses are then compared to the cost of a Bachelor of Science undergraduate degree at the University of the Witwatersrand, basic fees R41,080 annually (2015 fees below). Remember stats and numbers can always be used to manipulate a situation but they’re still eye-opening. To start, Nkandla cost around R246 million, that’s 1,996 three year BSC degrees. – Stuart Lowman”

 

   Lowman lists the projects, and next to that the number of 3 year BSc courses at Wits University at their 2015 fee structure, the wasted, hard-earned taxpayer’s money, could have funded. I surmise the fees, as outlined, represent tuition fees only, and does not include hostel and living expenditure allowances:

 

   Starting off with the R 246mn spent on the infamous Nkandla, the money could have funded 1,996, 3-year degree courses at Wits, fully paid for, not costing the student a cent. Similarly, the SA Post Office loss of R 1,37bn could have funded 11,115 courses, the R 2bn spent on Government VIP jets, 16, 227 courses, the bailout of R 6,5bn for the terminally ill SAA, 52,740 courses, the R 14,5bn PetroSA loss, 117,650 courses, the eToll project’s R 10bn, 81,138 courses, and the proposed pipe-dream nuclear deal’s R 1,2trn, 9,7mn courses:   

 

NKANDLA –                R 246mn   would have paid for       1,996       3-yr BSc degrees at Wits

SA Post Office Loss      R 1,37bn        “        “       “     “     11, 115          “      “      “      “      “

Government VIP Jets     R 2bn             “        “       “     “     16, 227         “      “      “      “      “

SAA Bailout                  R 6,5bn          “        “       “     “     52, 740         “      “       “      “      “

PetroSA Loss                R 14,5bn         “        “       “     “   117,650         “      “       “      “      “

eToll Project                R 10b              “        “       “     “      81,138        “      “       “      “      “

Nuclear Deal                 R 1,2trn          “        “       “     “       9,7mn        “      “       “      “      “

TOTAL                        R 1,23trn                                     9 980 866       “      “       “      “      “

 

   So, with the money misspent, wasted, lost, misappropriated, the government could have funded nearly TEN MILLION needy South African students to complete a 3-year degree course at Wits!

 

 

   HOW MANY COULD HAVE BEEN EDUCATED FREE OF CHARGE WITH 700 BILLION RAND?