ANC Today 

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Volume 4, No. 23, 11-17 June 2004 

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THIS WEEK:

* Letter from the President: In Search of Enemies 
* Justice and crime prevention: Departments work to tackle crime and its causes 
* Youth emancipation: An ideal that propels us forward 

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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

In Search of Enemies

The October 4, 2001 edition of the British 'Guardian' newspaper published an
article written by Phillip Knightley entitled 'The disinformation campaign'. It
began with the words: "The way wars are reported in the western media follows a
depressingly predictable pattern". The writer then proceeds to discuss the
regular use and the various stages of disinformation campaigns during
preparations for wars intended to defeat and destroy an enemy. He wrote:

"The third stage in the pattern (of disinformation) is the demonisation not only
of the (enemy) leader but of his people. The simplest way of doing this is the
atrocity story. The problem is that although many stories are true -after all,
war itself is an atrocity - many are not.

"Take the Kuwaiti babies story. Its origins go back to the First World War when
British propaganda accused the Germans of tossing Belgian babies into the air
and catching them on their bayonets. Dusted off and updated for the Gulf War,
this version had Iraqi soldiers bursting into a modern Kuwaiti hospital, finding
the premature babies ward and then tossing the babies out of incubators so that
the incubators could be sent back to Iraq.

"The story, improbable from the start, was first reported by the Daily Telegraph
in London on September 5 1990. But the story lacked the human element; it was an
unverified report, there were no pictures for television and no interviews with
mothers grieving over dead babies.

"That was soon rectified. An organisation calling itself Citizens for a Free
Kuwait (financed by the Kuwaiti government in exile) had signed a $10m contract
with the giant American public relations company, Hill & Knowlton, to campaign
for American military intervention to oust Iraq from Kuwait.

"The Human Rights Caucus of the US Congress was meeting in October and Hill &
Knowlton arranged for a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl to tell the babies' story
before the congressmen. She did it brilliantly, choking with tears at the right
moment, her voice breaking as she struggled to continue. The congressional
committee knew her only as "Nayirah" and the television segment of her testimony
showed anger and resolution on the faces of the congressmen listening to her.
President Bush referred to the story six times in the next five weeks as an
example of the evil of Saddam's regime.

"In the Senate debate whether to approve military action to force Saddam out of
Kuwait, seven senators specifically mentioned the incubator babies atrocity and
the final margin in favour of war was just five votes. John R Macarthur's study
of propaganda in the war says that the baby's atrocity was a definitive moment
in the campaign to prepare the American public for the need to go to war.

"It was not until two years later that the truth emerged. The story was a
fabrication and a myth, and Nayirah, the teenage Kuwaiti girl, coached and
rehearsed by Hill & Knowlton for her appearance before the Congressional
Committee, was in fact the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United
States. By the time Macarthur revealed this, the war was won and over and it did
not matter any more."

This story, which we have quoted at some length, shows the extent to which
people are prepared to go to win their battles and wars, being prepared to
resort to the lies that Phillip Knightley more gently describes as "a
fabrication and a myth".

There are some in our country and elsewhere in the world who think they have a
task to win their own battles and wars against the ANC. They too have their own
"Nayirah's" ready to tell fabricated stories that would contribute to the
weakening and the final defeat of our movement.

A seemingly important "stage" in their disinformation campaign against us is the
apparently permanent search for enemies of our movement, the title of this
Letter, which we have borrowed from John Stockwell, who described the activities
of the CIA in Angola in his book "In Search of Enemies".

Many of those who are convinced that the ANC must be weakened and defeated are
convinced that individually and collectively the opposition parties do not have
the strength and capacity to achieve this goal. They are therefore permanently
on the look out for the enemies of our movement that would have the possibility
to accomplish this objective, whom they would obviously encourage and support.

A favourite hunting ground for these enemies is within the ANC itself, the
Alliance and the broad democratic movement. The popular thesis is that the
strongest and best opposition to the ANC will come from within the organisation,
as well as the broad democratic movement.

The desperation behind the search for the enemies of the ANC means that they
must be found, and where they do not exist, a Nayirah must be rehearsed to tell
a graphic story that the enemies of the ANC exist and are alive and well.

The cover page of the 'Financial Mail' of June 4 2004, announces a story in its
inside pages in these words: 'Ngcuka and ANC fault lines'. In the body of the
story, which appears under the headline 'Heat Builds on Ngcuka', Mr Peter Honey
writes:

"On a superficial level, Mushwana's criticism of Ngcuka and former justice
minister Penuell Maduna and their scathing responses revolve around a
constitutional issue: the extent to which the country's top prosecutor can wield
his powers against the rights of an accused to trial without prejudice.

"On a deeper level the dispute is the latest eruption in a seething power
struggle within the ANC harking back to the anti-apartheid days. It is a complex
and shifting amalgam of contrary alliances and patronage. Its fault line runs
roughly between elements that might be described as new-age progressives on one
hand and atavistic opportunists on the other.

"The war's most vivid expression was the spy claims against Ngcuka by Mac
Maharaj and Mo Shaik, struggle-era ANC intelligence operatives and long-time
allies of Zuma, former commander of the movement's intelligence arm."

Having made these statements about "a seething power struggle", "a complex and
shifting amalgam of contrary alliances and patronage", "long-time allies",
"internal (ANC) party rumblings", "the political forces ranged against Ngcuka",
and others elsewhere in the article, such as that "political pressures are
mounting on the country's top prosecutor as his Scorpions investigators uncover
more cases of alleged corruption involving influential figures in the ANC and
security establishment", one would expect that Mr Honey would provide some facts
to substantiate these dramatic disclosures.

Undoubtedly, a story about a seething power struggle, complex and shifting
alliances, the fight to the finish between the progressives and the
opportunists, the link between pre-liberation intelligence work and post-
liberation power struggles, the wars among various state institutions and
personalities within the state system, would make fascinating reading.

Unfortunately, Mr Honey does not tell this story, whose publication would almost
certainly make him rich and famous. Instead, he pretends that the story has
already been told and all that he is doing is to repeat established facts.
However there are no such established facts and there will not be.

Mr Honey's discovery of "a superficial level" and "a deeper level" exemplifies
precisely the kind of disinformation campaign of "fabrications and myths" of
which Phillip Knightley wrote. It is an established fact that the National
Prosecuting Authority investigated various allegations concerning Deputy
President Jacob Zuma. Mr Honey and others who think like him must tell us why
this process represents "a seething power struggle within the ANC harking back
to anti-apartheid days", and how it manifested itself as such a "power
struggle".

It is true that Mac Maharaj and Mo Shaik accused Bulelani Ngcuka of having been
an apartheid spy. When this allegation was first made during "the anti-apartheid
days", it had absolutely nothing to do with any factions, but had everything to
do with what proved to be faulty intelligence. Mr Honey and others like him will
have to explain since when this allegation suddenly became a "vivid expression"
of some "fault line" in the ANC.

The Public Protector processed a complaint submitted to him by the Deputy
President. The complaint was lodged without reference to the ANC in part or in
whole, and was processed without any reference to the ANC, in part or in whole.
Ngcuka and Maduna responded to the Public Protector's report without any
reference to the ANC, in part or in whole. Mr Honey and others like him will
have to explain why and how any of these activities represent "a seething power
struggle within the ANC".

Mr Honey has made other discoveries that are also unknown to the whole of the
ANC, including the people mentioned, such as that Maharaj and Shaik are "long-
time allies of Zuma", that Maharaj was an "intelligence operative", and that
Ramatlhodi is "President Thabo Mbeki's parliamentary go-between". Mr Honey will
have to educate us about these matters as well.

Mr Honey's problem is that his story about "ANC fault lines", "internal party
rumblings" etc etc., "lacks the human element, (is) an unverified report, (with)
no pictures for television and no interviews with mothers grieving over dead
(husbands)", to borrow Phillip Knightley's words.

Clearly, Mr Honey will have to rectify this with the production of his own
Nayirah, because he will not be able to produce the facts to illustrate the
story his tells with such great assurance. In other words, he will have to take
his disinformation campaign to its logical conclusion by providing episodes,
dates, and places, as well as actors and actresses who will contribute the
"human element" to the fabrication and the myth of "a seething power struggle
within the ANC". He has no choice but to improve the packaging of the lie.

As we have already said, the frantic search for enemies of the ANC had led to a
number of discoveries by the search parties. They have, for instance, discovered
that the ANC will be weakened and defeated either by COSATU fighting alone or
reinforced by the SACP. Others have found that "social movements", such as the
tiny Landless People's Movement (LPM) and the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF),
might very well give the ANC a run for its money, and therefore occasionally
give them the requisite media exposure.

Because the aim is not merely to make one spectacular discovery or another,
those engaged in the search for enemies of the ANC will, of course, work to
encourage and support such enemies of the ANC as they may find, even on the
basis that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

It was on this basis that Alan Paton's Liberal Party supported the PAC, setting
the stage for today's "liberals" to continue to search for enemies of the ANC,
whom they will encourage and support, even if they are dressed in "left"
clothes.

The law-enforcement agencies of our country must and will continue to do their
work, respecting their constitutional and legal mandates. They have to discharge
their responsibilities without fear or favour, and may, from time to time, have
to deal with people who occupy one or another political position.

It would be absurd to impute political intentions to any and all such actions
simply because they involved politicians. Such imputation would have to be
proved and not merely alleged. Of course we are not calling on Mr Honey and do
not expect him to prove anything, given that his objective is not that the truth
should be told.

His aim is that fabrications and myths should help him to win his battles and
his wars targeted at defeating the ANC. However, as he knows, others have walked
along the road he has chosen, without success.

Thabo Mbeki  

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JUSTICE AND CRIME PREVENTION

Departments work to tackle crime and its causes

By working with other government departments, the justice, crime prevention and
security cluster hopes to address the causes of crime and significantly reduce
crimes which have a greater impact on people living in poor socio-economic
conditions.

The cluster is also planning a review of the criminal justice system to bring
down the high number of repeat offenders in prisons. This is in response to the
finding that about 60 percent of convicted people in South African prisons are
repeat offenders. Briefing media in parliament recently, ministers in this
cluster said government would make available more human and material resources
to enhance the programme of prisoner rehabilitation.

"We will also establish partnerships with a larger number of civil society
organs to make possible more opportunities for inmates released from prison in a
bid to prevent recidivism," safety and security minister Charles Nqakula said.
The cluster will accelerate a pilot project started in Durban and Johannesburg
to track inmates using information technology.

In addition to the proposed review of the criminal justice system to reduce
repeat offences, the cluster will work with the social sector and economic
clusters of government to deal with social crimes. Social crimes are generally
those, such as interpersonal violent or contact crimes, which disproportionately
affect poor communities. These include murder, rape, assault and other forms of
abuse.

To assist in identifying the major problem areas, the cluster will conduct a
crime and socio-graphic profile of areas in the country with the highest
incidence of these contact crimes. The profiles will be used to develop action
plans in cooperation with the various role-players to address causes of social
crimes.

"We are already working the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and
Statistics South Africa to further enrich our understanding of the generators of
social crime. We will also work with relevant provincial governments and local
authorities to formulate programmes that will form part of our social crime
prevention thrust," Nqakula said.

One form of contact crime that is receiving particular attention from this
cluster is that committed against women and children. More specialised
investigators will be made available to deal with sexual offences and other
forms of abuse against women and children, and additional sexual offences courts
will be established. Around 50 such courts have already been set up around the
country. During the next five years, government will establish at least 10
additional courts each year.

Government will also build more 'Thuthuzela' centres to speed up the reporting,
investigation and prosecution of crimes against women and children. These
centres perform a multipurpose function to support victims of sexual offences.
Trauma councillors, prosecutors and officials from relevant departments operate
from the same complex, thereby speeding up the investigation and prosecution of
such crimes.

Consistent with the cluster's efforts to reduce the number of repeat offences,
focused attention is being given to the development of rape correction
programmes targeting especially young first offenders.

All of these efforts are taking place alongside work to upgrade and improve the
capacity of the criminal justice system to detect, prevent, investigate and
prosecute crime. New technology has already been introduced into the police's
forensic laboratories, which are experiencing a rapid growth in casework, with
an increase of 22 percent in 2003. Improvements have been made in the fields of
ballistics, DNA analysis and finger-printing.

The cluster is also concentrating on improving its intelligence capacity, both
in the collection of quality information and the ability to effectively analyse
it. Additional resources will go towards the training of members and the
recruitment of high-level specialists in technical fields.

An accelerated programmes is also underway to transform the immigration service
and improve border control and security. An interdepartmental training
institution, specialising in skills development programmes for those deployed at
ports of entry, will be established. There will also be an increased presence of
immigration officers at all ports of entry.

MORE INFORMATION:

PARLIAMENTARY MEDIA BRIEFINGS, MAY 2004 
http://www.gov.za/events/2004/briefingsmay.htm

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YOUTH EMANCIPATION

An ideal that propels us forward

In the coming week, on 16 June, we will be commemorating the 28th anniversary of
the Soweto uprising and remember the young people who laid down their lives so
we could all be free. It is true that South Africa is a very different place in
2004, than the South Africa of the 1970s, the 1980s or even the 1990s. Those who
lived through the death throes of apartheid would have a very vivid recollection
of how the state deliberately tried to indoctrinate the youth in an attempt to
create a generation destined to be subservient, unable to make a meaningful
contribution to the mainstream economy of the country.

As a nation, we dare not forget where we come from, lest we falter and get
trapped in the slumber of complacency and ignorance. The value system and
principles the youth of 1976 stood for remains the beacon to our quest for total
emancipation of young people.

In years past, when former leaders of the ANC Youth League led the young lions,
they roared with passion in search of liberation and economic freedom. That
liberation came to pass in 1994 with the first democratic elections. Ten years
on, their dream does not seem as elusive as it was those decades ago. Today's
youth yearn for a different form of liberation, one which guarantees a secure
future in an environment that has opportunities for growth and development in
abundance. Emancipation of young people has taken many forms and expressions, be
it through academia, the arts, science and technology. Today we speak of a "born
free" generation, a label that betrays a serious sentiment, which reflects the
difficult path we have charted as a nation and our appreciation of our freedom.
We have similarly acknowledged our obligation to this generation to ensure that
their dreams and aspirations are realised.

Educational integration remains one of the most visible terrains where the
principle of equality and commitment to growth and development of young people
has been successfully showcased over the last decade. The acceleration of this
process by government has served to secure the requisite confidence in the state
commitment to positioning young people as determinants of their own future. It
is true that many challenges remain to ensure that as a nation we are firmly on
a path to a fundamental and sustainable youth emancipation and empowerment path.
An equitable and integrated system is meaningless without relevant opportunities
to ensure that those who emerge from the education system are able to make a
contribution to the country's overall development. Hordes of unemployed youth
therefore become a stinging indictment on our efforts, which should serve to
provide us with valuable pointers to the path to a better tomorrow.

It is indeed significant that a number of members drawn from the ranks of the
ANC Youth League find themselves in positions of leadership within government.
It is by far the most visible demonstration of the ANC and the government's
unstinting commitment to ensuring upward mobility of young leaders, so they
could be better positioned to champion the cause of youth empowerment. It is
therefore incumbent upon those members to advance the mandate they carry as
custodians of youth emancipation.

A truly emancipated nation is a nation which is able to celebrate the successes
of its youth. Such youth must take responsibility for its own development and
empowerment without waiting for handouts. As young people, we must therefore not
be found wanting in this respect.

In 2004, we may be very far off from 1976, and likewise, the path we have
traversed and the storms we have weathered remind us of the immense challenges
we still have to deal with. Young people of today cannot and should not lament
yesteryear for these challenges, but rather find the courage and determination
to mould a future that will not only guarantee sustainable livelihood for
themselves, but for generations to come.

The current challenges facing the nation should be embraced by the youth and
they in turn should position themselves as champions of all processes that give
forward momentum to their emancipation. The expanded public works programme
seeks to create one million jobs over the next five years. It is therefore
important that young people position themselves such that they are in the
driving seat of this important initiative. This programme will also be
structured such that it provides an important capacity building aspect to the
young people who participate so that they can add value across the value chain
of the country's economy.

The hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup poses a particular challenge to young
people, to ensure that this event is a success. This event also presents
numerous opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs across industries. It is time
we showcased our country to the world, and the youth must once again be at the
forefront of securing benefits from the opportunities presented by the 2010
Soccer World Cup.

The traditions and culture of our glorious Youth League must continue to
permeate all sectors of civil society and young people must likewise position
themselves as the champions of community development. In the same vigour we
pursue issues of development, the young lions must continue to play a critical
role of being the vanguard of the struggle against disease, poverty and
underdevelopment and jealously guard the gains of our liberation. Young
activists must therefore campaign against religious fundamentalist tendencies
that are beginning to rear their ugly heads across campuses in our country. We
need to acknowledge that unity of purpose among young people is a fundamental
prerequisite for any form of empowerment. If South Africa's youth is not able to
speak in one voice and rise as a collective in confronting challenges, then the
future will remain gloomy with very little prospects for real empowerment and
development.

Census 2001 made some very noteworthy observations, one of which is that
approximately 40 percent of the country's population is youth. This imposes a
huge challenge on young people to champion their own empowerment and ensure that
they are able to take charge of their future. It is therefore in this spirit
that the ANC Youth League calls upon the youth of our country that while they
celebrate ten years of freedom they must not hesitate to seize the opportunities
of democracy.

During this 28th anniversary of the Soweto uprising and a celebration of youth
development, we unveil a tombstone of Peter Mokaba, the first President of the
ANC Youth League after the unbanning. We will be remembering the heroic
contribution of Mokaba in the emancipation of young people of South Africa. His
legacy remains a source of inspiration to the young lions of our beautiful land.

MORE INFORMATION:

ANC Youth League 
http://www.anc.org.za/youth

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