A hundred flowers under the African sun

In the last but one edition of this journal (Vol 3 No 28), we said that the African Union (AU), had to do everything possible, urgently to end the coup d'etat in Sao Tome and Principe, and restore the democratically elected government of this African island state. Happily this has happened.

On the direction of the Chairperson of the AU, President Chissano, we sent a delegation to Sao Tome to help achieve these results. This was composed of senior officials from the Presidency, Foreign Affairs and the National Defence Force. They were accompanied by our Ambassador to Sao Tome.

Working together with their colleagues from Nigeria, supported by US diplomats at the request of the rebels, they succeeded to bring about a peaceful resolution of the problem. President Obasanjo of Nigeria also came to give the necessary authority to the negotiating team. Subsequently, the countries of Central Africa, together with those in the Lusophone group, concluded an additional agreement with representatives of the people of Sao Tome.

We rejoice at this success, which confirmed the commitment of our continent and the AU, to respect the decisions we had taken to defend African democracy, and oppose military and unconstitutional rule.

Our continent's determination to ensure that this happens was demonstrated last week by the convening, in Cape Town, of the first meeting of the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism.

Meeting together for the first time to conduct a comprehensive study of their responsibilities, these outstanding African men and women communicated the strong message that they were fully committed to discharge the responsibilities Africa had put on their shoulders. They understood and accepted the seriousness of the challenge they face, to ensure that they help our continent to address the critically important issues of good political, economic and corporate governance.

It was very assuring and inspiring to spend some time with them to hear them speak of their confidence in the success of the task we have taken on as Africans, to extricate ourselves from a deeply troubled and painful past that has brought incalculable suffering to all Africans everywhere, both on our continent and the African Diaspora.

A day or so ago, I received a moving letter from a citizen of Cameroon, Suzanne B. Awenti. The writer, a young woman, is a teacher, a musical composer, a singer, a poet and a playwright. Though French speaking, she wrote her letter in English. This is what she said, in part:

"The circumstances surrounding Africa are compelling. It is not a banal duty to serve Africa! The light that streams from South Africa enjoins our weary fierce fears into a committed present, thus fights against the established ills of past years. Our load heavy it may be, yet not intimidating but inspirational. Indeed, it dignifies us as well as re-engages our feeble thoughts to what must be done. To such a call to African reawakening I duff my heart, devote my life, my time and all. Through my God given talent of music, your support will be no mistake given that music remains the unchallenged vehicle for expressing love, peace and joy both to humanity and to God, our omnipotent Father and Creator. May the Almighty God nerve your feeble legs as you carry the mantle of continuity for Africa."

We owe the success Africa and its continental organisation, the AU, achieved in Sao Tome, as well as the giant step forward we took to operationalise the African Peer Review Mechanism, to the millions of Africans, such as Suzanne Awenti, who have the courage to say - to such a call to African reawakening I duff my heart, devote my life, my time and all!

During the 1960s and the 1970s, the African intelligentsia engaged in an intense debate about the future of our continent. Whatever else might have been happening, it could be said that then, that Africa was going through a period in which our continent had accepted the injunction - let a hundred flowers bloom: let a hundred schools of thought contend! - to quote the late Chinese leader, Chairman Mao Tse-Tung.

I was very pleased to hear that one of the outstanding intellectuals from that period, the Kenyan novelist and thinker, Ngugi wa Thiongo, will soon be visiting our country. As we bid him welcome - karibu mzee! - we trust that he will help all of us to rekindle the spirit of engagement with Africa's future among our intelligentsia, to which he has contributed so much.

In this effort, he is joined by Suzanne Awenti of Cameroon, who speaks of music, the African music she sings, as being the unchallenged vehicle for expressing love, peace and joy to humanity; who says that it is not a banal duty to serve Africa.

It seems to have happened that the African period during which the hundred flowers bloomed came to an end. The contending voices representing the hundred schools of thought fell silent.

This happened as Africa fell victim to a seemingly interminable succession of military coups d'etat. The promise of a people-driven process of African transformation turned into a nightmare of misrule by a rapacious elite.

These fellow Africans, acting in collusion with others outside our continent, destroyed what small economies we had, and contributed to the further impoverishment of the African masses that were already overburdened with intolerable poverty.

They supervised the destruction of the universities; worked for the regimentation of African thought; imprisoned, killed and drove into exile those among Africa's intellectuals who sought lasting African solutions to Africa's problems; and co-opted many who survived the tyrannical search-and-destroy campaigns of those among us who saw the purpose of the exercise of state power as self-enrichment.

In the end, a deadly silence fell on our continent, only broken by what could not be killed, the unwavering commitment of the peoples of Africa to the total liberation of our continent from colonialism and apartheid. Outside this, the only other voice that could be heard was the voice of orthodoxy.

So dependent did we become on foreign donors that we felt obliged to proclaim as loudly as we could, the messages, the words and phrases the donors needed to hear, so that they could approve official development assistance for the following year. And so we studied the textbooks and the manuals, to understand what the benefactors wanted of us.

Having memorised the words, we sought never to lose any opportunity to deliver our impeccable oratorical presentations of our prescribed texts, hopefully in the presence and languages of the benefactors.

The bright African sun that had caused a hundred flowers to bloom had set. In the night, the contending hundred schools of thought ceased to exist. It seemed that a dream of hope of an entire people had vanished in an African night without a moon and without even a dim light, a diminished sense of hope which the natural seasons of the bright African sun could not restore to life.

But what has happened tells us that the appearance, however long its duration, and dramatic in its essence and presentation, told a story about Africa that was not true. Once more, all around us, the hundred flowers have begun to bloom, again. Once more, the voices have started to contend. Africa is regaining the vigour and dynamism she needs, to address the compelling circumstances that surround her, to use the words of Suzanne Awenti. What happened in Sao Tome and Cape Town tell us that the African sun is shining once more.

We see these processes in our country as well. Gradually, a serious and difficult battle of ideas is being joined. It is serious and difficult because its outcome will determine the future of our country for a long period of time.

Its outcome will provide the answers about whether we will succeed or fail, in the struggle to build a South Africa defined by an entrenched democratic system and genuine popular participation, non-racism, non-sexism, prosperity for all, safety and security, national reconciliation, national unity and solidarity, the flowering of all our cultures and languages, the affirmation of our African identity, and the location of Africa among the rest of the continents as an equal partner with the rest.

Not so long ago, the representatives of all our people gathered at the Growth and Development Summit to decide what we should do about these matters. Not so long ago, Christian leaders convened in their thousands, to reflect on these questions. The women of our country met for a number of days to say what we should do about our future. So did our judiciary, our traditional leaders, the national government, the medical researchers, the latter to consider issues about nutrition and immune deficiency, and others in other important meetings that were never reported.

And high-level visitors have also honoured us by calling on us. These have ranged from President Bush, to the President of Burundi, the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, the Foreign Ministers of India, Brazil, China, the UK, France, Iran, Congo Brazzaville, Libya, the UN Security Council, special envoys from Namibia, Zimbabwe, Palestine and elsewhere, African and other scientists, and others. Together with them all, we had the opportunity to debate the question - what is the future of Africa and the world!

Some questions burst suddenly over our heads, such as some of the outcomes of our Census 2001, and the decisions of the Medicines Control Council (MCC), about the anti-retroviral drug, 'Nevirapine'. This announcement illustrated the challenge we face, to ensure that even on this vexed question, we honour our commitment to let a hundred flowers bloom, and a hundred schools of thought to contend, refusing to allow the never-ending search for scientific truth to be suffocated by self-serving beliefs.

Critical to the success of the historic African transformation project is our courage to stand up for what we think and feel is correct. We must have the confidence in ourselves to say and do what we believe is right, and openly to admit and correct any wrongs we might commit.

We must free ourselves of the 'friends' who populate our ranks, originating from the world of the rich, who come to us, perhaps dressed in jeans and T-shirts, as advisers and consultants, while we end up as the voice that gives popular legitimacy to decisions we neither made, nor intended to make, which our 'friends' made for us, taking advantage of an admission that perhaps we are not sufficiently educated.

Once more, our country and our continent have the opportunity to make a new start. This time, we must, together as Africans, make the determination that it will not be a false start! The truly African intelligentsia has a new opportunity to lead the march forward towards Africa's renaissance.

The reality, however, is that the road we have to travel, from our past to our rebirth, is not smooth and comfortable. It is not paved with asphalt or prefabricated concrete slabs. It demands that all who would take to this African highway must understand that to travel this road is to commit oneself to a long, hard and punishing journey, with no rewards from donors, and no acclaim from their domestic African dependants and propagandists.

This is a road which only our Suzanne Awenti's can travel - the Africans who have the courage to say: our load heavy it may be, yet not intimidating but inspirational. Empty stomachs can be good or bad teachers. One of our problems is that our African intellectuals also have stomachs, like our politicians, in addition to their excellent brains.

Relying on the latter, we trust that our intelligentsia will act to ensure that we have no more Sao Tomes', and act to ensure that we achieve the objectives for which the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism has been established, and act to ensure that we realise our goals of reconstruction and development, ready to stand up against those who oppose the fundamental transformation of our country. The matter in contention is - who will set the national and continental agenda!

The General Editor of this journal, Smuts Ngonyama, has lost his mother, a lovely lady and a keen and fearless observer of the evolution of her country. A lifelong member of the Ethiopian Church, which was formed towards the end of the 19th century, and was one of our own African impulses that led directly to the formation of the African National Congress in 1912, she will be buried a day after the publication of this edition of ANC Today.

She and her husband, whose tombstone she was working to unveil, gave us our General Editor, Smuts Ngonyama. Before and after 1994, she instructed and advised us, constantly, that we had survived, one for well over a century, the Ethiopian Church, and the other for more than ninety years, the African National Congress, because both had remained loyal to the injunction to serve the people of Africa. We are privileged and saddened to convey our condolences to our General Editor and his family, and wish his late mother, who is also ours, a peaceful rest, assured that we will not betray her hopes.

Cabinet Lekgotla

Massive progress in South Africa's development

Massive progress has been made in building a democratic state, tackling poverty and neglect, setting the economy on a sustainable growth path, entrenching safety and security, and placing South Africa at the forefront of Africa's development and equitable global relations, cabinet said at its mid-year lekgotla, held last week.

Briefing the media after the lekgotla, President Thabo Mbeki said the overwhelming evidence is that government has met most its immediate objectives as set out in the Reconstruction and Development Programme, the ANC's policy for transformation adopted in 1994.

Many challenges remain, however. Some reflect the legacy of apartheid, others are a consequence of the very freedom and development that the new state has introduced. These include changing demographic patterns, the massive increase in the economically-active population compared to the number of jobs the economy is creating, changes in the structure of the economy and migration trends.

Medium-term projects

The lekgotla considered progress and shortcomings in a number of medium-term projects aimed at further improving the quality of life of South Africans as quickly as possible.

One of these programmes is widening access to social grants. The number of children registered for Child Support Grants had, for example, reached 3.4 million, with 264,000 children registered since the beginning of April. The total number of recipients of social grants has now passed the six million mark. The lekgotla agreed the registration campaign should be further intensified, and the partnership with communities and non-governmental organisations strengthened.

In working to meet its commitment that by the end of 2004, "no child should study under a tree", government has managed to reduce the backlog of classes from over 755 in 2000 to 18 in 2003.

Preparatory work has been done in identifying projects for an extended Public Works Programme, both as an instrument of poverty alleviation and a basis for skills development. This programme, cabinet said, is critical for the inclusion of a great number of South Africans - many of whom have little possibility for immediate absorption into the formal economy - in income-generating activity from which they are also able to acquire skills.

It will focus on the building of social infrastructure including housing, municipal services, roads, government facilities, coastal care and land care. It is also aimed at providing skills and services in areas of AIDS awareness, home-based care and adult literacy.

As part of the improvement of the integrated criminal justice system, high and district courts have improved their conviction rates from about 76 to 83 percent in the past three to four years. Additional courts and Saturday courts have reduced the cases backlog by 55,000. A sample of court centres shows the average case preparation period has been reduced from 110 to 71 days.

These medium-term programmes which have the potential to make a speedy impact on people's quality of life, and which in some instances have already started to do so, form only a small part of the broader programmes of government in the various sectors. The Cabinet lekgotla examined all these sectors comprehensively; and below we outline some of the major issues.

Strategic interventions

The country's macroeconomic balances remain sound, despite the effect of the global economic slowdown on South Africa's export performance. While this slowed the growth rate in the first quarter of 2003, indicated are that this is starting to reverse.

The lekgotla agreed it was necessary to "stay the course" in building on export success, expanding service sectors, providing critical economic infrastructure, expanding economic opportunities for SMMEs, strengthening regulation and management of parastatals, boosting investor confidence and implementing projects aimed at immediate job creation.

The meeting agreed on a number of interventions to ensure the country's roads, rail, ports, air transport and border post infrastructure was capable of meeting the demands of a growing economy. Among other things, government would provide additional resources to improve the rail network, ease congestion at the Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth container terminals, and improve the road programme. and along with the Spoornet upgrade, there will be a phased reduction in axle mass limits on the roads.

To help meet the country's need for scarce skills, government's interventions will include recruitment from outside South Africa; setting aside a portion of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and National Skills Fund to pursue training in priority areas; firm measures to ensure efficiency in the Sector Education and Training (SETA) system; and possibilities of extending some of the financial benefits accruing to learnerships into the internship programme.

The lekgotla welcomed the start of free health services for certain categories of disabled people. The fight against tuberculosis, prevention and containment of cholera, and rolling back malaria are proceeding well; and the task team report on an enhanced treatment programme against AIDS will be presented to Cabinet soon.

The lekgotla decided to extend the distribution of food parcels as part of the immediate temporary measures to deal with the impact of high food prices to the original 244,000 beneficiaries for a further three months, with better follow-up on sustainable self-help projects.

Preliminary indications from crime statistics for 2002, which will be released by the South African Police Service next month, is that the trend of reduction and stabilisation in priority crimes continues. Together with improved conviction rates in many courts, the number of prisoner escapes has been reduced from 1,244 in 1996 to 325 in 2002.

Cabinet accepted a proposal on the immediate implementation of the programme to employ Community Development Workers who will help to improve contact between government and citizens especially in poor communities. It was agreed that these "generalist, multi-skilled" workers would be introduced in a phased manner and training will start as soon as possible.

Arms deal allegations

Another way of 'fighting back'

South Africa is an important voice of the developing world in general and Africa in particular in all great international councils, from the United Nations to the G-8. We are recognised far and wide as a significant motor for progress on the continent. We are the birthplace of NEPAD, driver of peace processes in Burundi and the Congo. That is South Africa, led by the ANC, as we strive to improve the quality of life of our people and build a better world.

And then there is the opposition. It is singularly lacking vision. There is no visible or instinctive generosity of spirit. There is an all too often inimical relationship with the truth. And there is an increasingly visible attachment to scurrilous, fundamentalist politics associated with the far right.

Take the repeated attempts to create a hullabaloo around the defence procurement. And, more specifically, how the opposition and its dwindling number of allies in the media repeatedly try to make something out of nothing.

That South Africa needs to modernise its defence capability is no longer up for debate. Of course there are some who oppose defence spending on principle. Their pacifist view must be respected, even if deployments in the Congo and Burundi in support of political stabilisation and ending conflict, and the precarious global situation after 11 September 2001, show how out of touch with reality they can sometimes be.

But even these opponents have fallen - or been duped - into the trap of believing one can stop the expenditure by making it appear corrupt. They are willing accomplices of an unscrupulous opposition, not to mention contractors angry that, unlike in the past, they have to compete for business openly, and sometimes lose to better bidders.

And yet, the opposition and its cronies must be desperate, judging by the way they keep returning to a subject which was thoroughly investigated by the Public Protector, the Auditor-General and the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions. They are like those who still insist the Iraq war was about the chimera of weapons of mass destruction.

There are of course continuing investigations on allegations of impropriety by individuals mainly outside of the decision-making structures of the procurement process. But the three investigating agencies, in deciding on these investigations, asserted that, systemically, the procurement had the highest integrity. This is however much the UK Guardian, the DA, and their local media chums insist otherwise.

This time, the Guardian was on about "secret commissions" paid on the Hawk jet. That is, until the name of the company getting the normal commission -which had been known to the British and South African authorities all along and which provided logistical support and tender and regulatory guidance -was made public. No more secret.

Anyway, here's the really curious thing: Within hours of the Guardian story appearing, journalists across South Africa pounce on it, apparently alerted from London. The headlines were worthy of World War.

The tendency in the past, especially with the apartheid Stratcom structures, was to plant stories in Fleet Street and get them regurgitated in South Africa as Holy Grail. In recent years, there have been all kinds of strange stories about Mandela being an agent of the British MI6, Kosovo's Milosevic stashing his funds in South Africa, Libya's Ghaddafi paying for former President Mandela's retirement house in Cape Town and so on.

On the latest Guardian story, the South African Broadcasting Corporation seemed to have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. It took a few days of vain and tortuous self-justification for them to realise that they were milking a dry udder. One can only be embarrassed on their behalf.

The DA is always in on these attempts to rehash this kind of chaff, never with any concrete information, always fishing. No sooner is the Guardian story out than their "expert investigator", ReanetteTaljaard is firing off statements and demands to prosecutors for confidential information. She also has an inside track to some partisan journalists, planting questions. One is informed that some of them are stupid enough to say "Rina suggested I should ask.".

But is there not more to it? Why would the DA and some media houses fire off so much ammunition now, months before the election? Maybe it's more than just simple electioneering: this is the time when all political parties go looking for election donations.

The DA can be sure of getting a fat wad of money from its traditional supporters. And many would give to the ANC too, if only to hedge bets. So this campaign is a warning: you might find yourself the subject of a media smear if you contribute to the ANC.

No, this is not another conspiracy theory. It is about the agony of an opposition which has no substantive policies of its own, no hope of capturing significant votes, and therefore no hope of coming anywhere near political influence in the next five years and more. A party which, by "fighting back", has become fundamentalist and rightist and so robbed itself of any influence over events or policy in our country.

This makes them destructive of the national interest and the truth. It is calculated to damage the reputation and investment potential of a fine, democratic country. And it is all of us who pay the price as we continually find ourselves hijacked into irrelevant, but very heated, debates. Give it a break.

** Kgalema Motlanthe is Secretary General of the ANC.

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