Remember Mahlangu: say no to the parasites!

Two days before the publication of this edition of ANC TODAY, on 6 April, the media published horrifying stories of massive fraud. One newspaper led with the headline "Billions 'stolen' from the poor". The front page story was sub-titled "37 000 civil servants fingered in grant scam, 'major arrests imminent'."

On the same day, 6 April, we observed the 26th anniversary of the execution of the outstanding young patriot, Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, who was hanged in Pretoria Central Prison in 1979. As far as we can determine, most of the media did not comment on this anniversary, which was and is being marked by our movement in various public activities, under the leadership of the ANC Youth League.

The media story was based on comments made by our Minister of Social Development, Zola Skweyiya, when he spoke in Parliament on 5 April, during the debate of his departmental Budget Vote. What he said fully justified the prominence the media gave to the story of the "grant scam".

Reflecting on the tasks of his Ministry and Department, he said, among other things: "All our efforts are geared towards ensuring that we care for all our people and restore dignity to them. That is why in 2000, we presented to this house the norms and standards for social assistance social delivery... I am pleased to announce that in a number of areas we have improved the capacity of the grants system to ensure that the right person receives the right grant amount, in a manner that respects their dignity...Budget Vote 18 of the Department of Social Development is an indication that the democratic state will not walk away from its obligations to come to the aid of poor and vulnerable people in our country."

Earlier in his address, he said: "As announced by the President in the State of the Nation Address, over nine million South Africans receive social grants, thus ensuring direct income support and social protection to millions who otherwise would have continued to be marginalised. The vast majority of the beneficiaries of social grants are children. Numerous research studies have confirmed the poverty alleviation impact of these measures."

Correctly, during the year of the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter, he drew attention to the direct relevance of the objectives contained in the Charter to the work of the Ministry and Department of Social Development. In this regard he said: "Eleven years after the inauguration of our democratic dispensation, we have achieved much in ensuring that the fundamental principles set out in the Freedom Charter become a reality for our people. To achieve this goal, in particular the provision of 'security and comfort for all', my Department followed a path that sought to ensure the provision of comprehensive social protection services against vulnerability and poverty to as many deserving people as possible."

With all this serving as a backdrop, he then drew attention to the terrible story subsequently reported by the media on 6 April, Solomon Mahlangu Day. He said:

"The integrity of our grants administration system is a critical success factor. As a step in improving this integrity, in December 2004, government offered indemnity to all those illegally accessing social grants. Over 30,000 people have used the opportunity and have come forward to request that we stop the payment of grants that they are not eligible for. If all the current applications are granted, it will translate into a savings of no less than R12 million per month and over R446 million over the MTEF [Medium Term Expenditure Framework] period. Savings to this tune could result in an additional 66,000 children receiving the Child Support Grant per month.

"I have to emphasise that we are not satisfied with the results of the campaign. More people should have come forward. For those people who have not heeded the call to voluntarily come forward, we will now be enforcing the law. We are currently doing this with the public servants and syndicates behind much of the fraud...

"The government's resolve to uproot all the fraud and corruption in our programme of social assistance is unwavering. Already we have the names of over 37,000 people who are being or will be investigated. In addition to investigations into current fraudulent activities, we will continue to enhance our fraud prevention and detection capacities by deploying the necessary expertise."

The figures mentioned by Minister Skweyiya concerning those who have applied to be removed from the lists of those receiving grants, as well as those being investigated with a view to possible prosecution, paint an extremely worrying picture of anti-people practices that we must root out.

Consistent with the very essence of the character of our movement, Zola Skweyiya pointed to the people-centred objectives of our social development policies, which include the system of social welfare grants.

He was therefore correct to draw attention to such objectives as "car(ing) for all our people and restor(ing) dignity to them", honouring our "obligations to come to the aid of poor and vulnerable people in our country" through the "provision of comprehensive social protection services against vulnerability and poverty to as many deserving people as possible", thus providing "protection to millions who otherwise would have continued to be marginalised."

All of us are very familiar with the endemic poverty that continues to afflict millions of our people. We know what the colonial and apartheid systems did deliberately to impoverish the masses of the black people to create the best possible conditions for the enrichment of the white minority.

That process began with the land dispossession of the Khoi people, which started a mere few years after the Dutch settlers under the leadership of Jan van Riebeeck, arrived at the Cape Peninsula on 6 April 1652. It should therefore come as no surprise that 11 years after our liberation, we are still faced with the grave crisis of entrenched poverty that affects many of our people.

The system of white minority rule constituted systematic denial of the dignity of the black people. Outraged, in the end, the world community categorised and denounced white minority domination in our country, then expressed through the apartheid system, as a crime against humanity.

The denial of the dignity of the black people did not only emanate from the racism practised by our oppressors and their treatment of the majority as sub-humans. Their absolute deprivation, imposing on these masses the most desperate socio-economic conditions, was itself central to the denial of the dignity of the masses of our people.

Inherently, poverty demeans all those it affects, and diminishes their humanity. It forces ordinary decent folk to go out into the streets to beg. It forces proud women to sell their bodies merely to get a meal. It obliges people to rob and steal and even to kill, just to provide a plate of food for their families. Poverty constitutes a sustained assault on the dignity that is a fundamental human right, the inalienable right of every human being.

The victory we scored on 27 April 1994 gave us the possibility to restore the dignity of all our people. It meant that we would, for all time, end the insult and crime of white supremacy. It meant that we would now have the possibility to wage a determined struggle against poverty, secure a better life for all our people, and restore their dignity.

For this reason, we ensured that we used our First Decade of Liberation to focus on the central struggle against poverty. This has affected all elements of our policies and programmes. We have created the basis for us to make even bigger advances against poverty during our Second Decade of Liberation.

Already our 2002 51st National Conference, held at Stellenbosch University, resolved that essentially we had laid the policy and legislative basis for the fundamental social transformation of our country. It resolved that our central task is to build the capacity practically to achieve the objectives our movement had set, which had already been translated into law as well as our government's policies and programmes.

It resolved that implementation should be the key area of focus. This reflected the determination of our movement rapidly to meet the goals contained in our programme for reconstruction and development, including the eradication of poverty.

Everything we have said points to the seriousness with which we must respond to the information released by Minister Zola Skweyiya. Those responsible for the theft of grants meant to help restore the dignity of millions of our people, including children, stand guilty of a heinous crime against the people. What they are doing constitutes a serious challenge to the goals of achieving a better life for all and building a humane society.

Their activities reflect a social cancer that affects all societies, including ours. In our situation, it is clear that there are some people who are determined to continue the corrupt practices that were a feature of the apartheid system, to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.

It is also clear that there are others who believe that our liberation and the establishment of the democratic order have opened the doors for them similarly to engage in corrupt practices, again to enrich themselves at the expense of the people. In particular, some of these are quite ready to abuse their positions of authority within the state machinery to achieve their criminal objectives, which are opposed to the advancement of the most sacred interests of the people.

In this regard we must state the matter firmly that these are parasites who are waging a war against the people. It is the task of all our members and supporters and all the structures of our movement to declare war against these parasites.

This means that through our practical actions, we must make the clear statement that we have joined the war against the parasites, and that to be a member of Congress means to be a militant fighter against corruption and the theft of the people's wealth and hopes. Among other things, this imposes an immediate obligation on all of us actively to assist the Minister of Social Development, Comrade Zola Skweyiya, to unearth and defeat the parasites that are robbing the poor of their social grants.

Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu was only 23 years old when the apartheid hangman took his life. Drawn into struggle by the 16 June 1976 student uprising, he ultimately went into exile to join Umkhonto we Sizwe. He returned to the country as an armed combatant. Forced to fight when he and his comrades were unexpectedly confronted by hostile forces, he was wounded and captured.

Despite his youth, he refused to break under torture. Throughout his trial and the period of his imprisonment as the apartheid courts refused him leave to appeal against his death sentence, he was not cowed. As the hangman's noose was about to encircle his youthful neck, he shouted - Amandla!

His last words to his mother, Martha Mahlangu, an ordinary working woman, the words that have lived long after him, were: "My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom. Tell my people that I love them. They must continue the fight."

In its statement condemning his execution, the ANC said: "Comrade Solomon Mahlangu, a young hero of the South African revolutionary struggle, a survivor of the Soweto and other massacres perpetrated throughout the country by the fascist regime in 1976, a dedicated opponent of racism, apartheid and colonial domination, was hanged in Pretoria at 6 a.m. on Friday, April 6th, 1979. Solomon Mahlangu's only crime was his deep love for his people, his commitment and dedication to the noble ideal of freedom, human dignity and happiness of the people."

As the Youth League, our movement and people marked the 26th anniversary of the political murder of this young hero of the South African revolutionary struggle, a father of our democracy despite his youth, the media carried prominent reports of acts of theft and fraud committed against the people whom Solomon Mahlangu loved, for whose human dignity and happiness he sacrificed his life, with no expectation of personal reward.

We must work to ensure that the spirit of Solomon Mahlangu continues to define the morality of the cadres and members of our movement. Inspired by that noble spirit, they must occupy the forward trenches in the struggle against the parasites about whom Zola Skweyiya spoke, and others who abuse our freedom to steal from the poor or corrupt our society.

Nutrition and AIDS

Good nutrition essential to a comprehensive response to AIDS

The promotion of healthy lifestyles is central to the ANC's programme of action because of its integral role in reducing communicable and non-communicable diseases and high levels of injuries and violence.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Charter this year, the ANC has highlighted some of the key areas that the social sector cluster of government should focus on to ensure we realise one of the critical goals of that historic document - that there shall be houses, security and comfort.

Government has launched a healthy lifestyle campaign to address some of these areas. The campaign includes promotion of good nutrition, regular physical exercise, safe sexual behaviour and interventions aimed at decreasing smoking and alcohol and substance abuse.

This campaign, according to Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, highlights the need for a paradigm shift in the way we approach the health of our population: "We often spend the first part of our lives undermining our own health through the way we eat, drink, drive and by smoking and engaging in unsafe sex. We thereafter spend the second part of our lives trying to manage the negative health consequences of our behaviour through costly and complex interventions. We cannot continue on this trajectory of destroy and repair, destroy and repair. We need to make the right choices about our lives right from the start, as life does not usually give us second chances."

As we intensify the implementation of the healthy lifestyles campaign, the country will host an international consultative meeting on Nutrition and HIV and AIDS. This meeting, which takes place in Durban on 10-13 April, brings together representatives of at least six United Nations agencies and 20 countries from east and southern Africa.

The meeting is convened because of the general acknowledgement that medical conditions related to AIDS can lower food intake by reducing appetite and interfering with the body's ability to absorb food.

The hosting of this meeting is an important development for South Africa, as this country has been at the forefront in ensuring that issues of food security in general and good nutrition in particular become an integral part of our response to diseases including HIV and AIDS.

The progress South Africa has made in emphasising this developmental approach to health has not been easy. The ANC and government have often been criticised for highlighting poverty as the underlying factor in the spread of HIV infection and in worsening the impact of AIDS in our society. The campaign on nutrition as an important element of our response to HIV and AIDS has been a subject of mockery by almost every local newspaper cartoonist.

Efforts to encourage people living with HIV to include garlic, ginger, olive oil and lemon as part of a balanced diet have been misrepresented as "prescribing a concoction that is harmful to people living with HIV and AIDS".

We had to stand our ground despite a strong lobby against highlighting nutrition as an important element of our response to HIV and AIDS. Compromise on our developmental agenda was not an option as these are issues of life and death for many of our people.

Good nutrition does indeed assist in strengthening the body and ensuring that we are less vulnerable to diseases. Basic science informs us that garlic has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties, lemon provides Vitamin C, and olive oil is a source of Vitamin A and E. All these vitamins are good antioxidants.

Garlic, ginger and lemon are listed among a number of herbal treatments and remedies in the guidelines published jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation in 2003 as dietary suggestions for people living with HIV and AIDS.

In these guidelines, entitled "Living well with HIV [and] AIDS", garlic is said to have antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal functions, particularly in the gut, intestines, lungs and vagina. It helps against indigestion and feeling of weakness. It is good for thrush, throat infections, herpes and diarrhoea.

Ginger is said to also improve digestion, energise, relieve diarrhoea and stimulate appetite. It is also suggested for treating common colds, flu and nausea. Lemon is listed as an antibacterial and it also improves digestion.

The guidelines also state that this list of herbal treatments and remedies was compiled using knowledge gleaned from experiences of people living with HIV and AIDS. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these are experiences of many South Africans living with HIV and AIDS as well.

The Durban meeting on nutrition and HIV and AIDS provides a platform to share these experiences, review and disseminate the latest evidence on nutrition as part of a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS.

This opportunity should also be used to outline South Africa's approach to nutrition and why it is necessary to put much emphasis on this intervention as part of a developmental agenda, health promotion and response to diseases in general.

The role of nutrition in the promotion of good health in general can no longer be disputed. The question that remains is how do we as a country respond to our challenges of poor nutrition? How do we incorporate nutrition as part of our strategy to create a healthy nation? How do we ensure that our people do not succumb to diseases much quicker than other well-nourished individuals?

Government has been attending firstly to the issue of food security in the country. This includes food relief, provision of social support, promotion of community-based income generating activities and food gardens as well as creation of employment opportunities.

The Department of Health is of the view that the challenge of poor nutrition is not only caused by inability to acquire food but also lack of information in terms of choices that people have to make within their limited resources. The approach of the department therefore has been to ensure that the food that can be easily accessed by the majority of the poor is nutritious and people are informed of the health benefits of certain products.

One of the significant steps taken in this regard was to launch a food fortification programme. Through government regulations, all millers are now required to add specified amount of vitamins and minerals to all maize meal and wheat flour that is produced in this country. Bread and maize meal are the most frequently consumed foodstuffs in South Africa and these products are therefore the best vehicle to deliver the required micronutrients to many people who cannot afford a balanced diet.

Good nutrition does not only promote good health but it is also a critical component of a comprehensive response to diseases. Good nutrition is not a substitute for appropriate treatment. It prolongs good health and serves as a solid foundation that often determines the success of other interventions.

Therefore, as people are given medicines to be taken before, with or after meals, it is necessary to ensure that people have a nutritious meal to take with their medication.

Nutrition was included as an important element of the Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Management and Treatment Plan adopted by Cabinet in November 2003. The objectives of nutritional therapy within this programme are to:

• increase macro and micronutrient intake and maintain body weight;
• improve the functioning of the immune system and the body's ability to fight infection and therefore delay progression from HIV infection to the development of AIDS defining conditions;
• improve response to other medical interventions.

There is general consensus on micronutrients that are likely to be depleted in patients with tuberculosis (TB), HIV and AIDS and who do not have adequate food intake. As part of the comprehensive plan, patients are provided with a supplementary meal and a multivitamin syrup or tablet in public health facilities as part of the nutritional care and support package for people with TB or HIV and AIDS. The number of beneficiaries of this programme was estimated to be 153,000 by the end of February 2005.

South Africa should look forward to sharing its experiences on integrating nutrition into the management of HIV and AIDS at this consultative meeting and should discuss with other participants the challenges in this area, including the critical issue of infant feeding in the context of HIV and AIDS. This gathering should assist in developing strategies that are both evidence-based and feasible to help improve the health status of people living with HIV and AIDS in East and Southern Africa.

More Information:

• 'Living well with HIV/AIDS', FAO and WHO

Sudan

Renewed possibilities and hope in long walk to peace

Currently, the first draft of Sudan's new history of political transition is in the making. This is the time of newly re-energised possibilities. A changing climate is unfolding: from military politics of war embraced by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM/A), to the embrace of the politics of dialogue, negotiation and peace.

In Sudan's capital, Khartoum, SPLM leader, James Wani, is leading a delegation to begin the long and painful reconciliatory journey with the government of Sudan towards implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Africans and the world recently witnessed this peace agreement in the city of Nairobi, Kenya. The current peace implementation process starts with the interim constitution of Sudan, which needs to be approved by Sudan's national parliament and the SPLM's National Liberation Council.

In South Africa's capital, Tshwane, the SPLM leadership and its cadres, led by the Movement's First Vice-Chairman and SPLA chief of staff, this week met with South African ministers; representatives of various government departments and the University of South Africa; local government mayors and the ANC leadership. This wide range of meetings were part of a programme to exchange ideas on political transition, constitution making, governance and delivery of basic needs to the people.

President Thabo Mbeki, speaking on 31 December last year at the signing ceremony in Nairobi, said the people of Sudan expect the SPLM/A and the government of Sudan to build schools, clinics, roads, and work for real dialogue among Sudanese.

This cardinal challenge of delivery of the basic needs to all the people of Sudan - in the South, West (including Darfur), Central and East of Sudan -was uppermost in the minds of the cadres of the South Sudanese leadership who visited South Africa. Equally on their minds and in their hearts was the challenge of reconciliation, peace and stability.

The SPLM/A leadership is acutely aware of the difficult political environment for implementation of the peace agreement. They explored, therefore, all possible options during their meetings in Tshwane, Nelspruit, Johannesburg and Cape Town, to avoid potential sources of failure to Sudan's emerging peace and stability. These include the range of militias, factions or leaders, who oppose peace and use violence to undermine peace; difficult neighbours who assist spoilers and oppose peace (Sudan has nine neighbouring countries); and poverty, which make all Sudanese vulnerable to war merchants who peddle commodities like timber and gems.

With Sudan bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Africa's peace initiatives with the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) in the Great Lakes area are inter-connected in the consolidated effort to promote the delicate peace in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes regions.

In this respect, correctly, a number of important international institutions have noted that the AU "has been the most proactive international institution in seeking an end to the conflict". Indeed, this is in large part due to the vision and determination of the AU's Professor Alpha Konare to consolidate the African-led agenda. Konare, during his visit to South Africa, made time on Sunday to meet with the SPLM/A leadership and its cadres, in order to frankly discuss issues of concern and engage the issues for implementing the peace agreement.

African countries have responded well to Professor Alpha Konare's call for African troops for the Sudan. South Africa has mobilised police and army officers to join the AU's Mission in Sudan (AMIS). The European Union and the USA have provided important logistical and financial support to assist AMIS to effectively carry out the bulk of its field tasks in Sudan.

In the context of the progress being made towards peace, the timing of the UN Security Council resolution on Darfur is counter productive. Last week, the UN Security Council passed a resolution referring the human rights situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The list of 51 suspected persons, which was passed on to the ICC, includes senior Sudanese government and army officials, some of whom were instrumental in reaching the peace agreement. The ICC list, included militia and rebel leaders. This is the first time a case has been referred to the court in The Hague by the UN Security Council.

Currently, the atmosphere in Khartoum is tense and the heat is on the government of Sudan and the army. Sudanese President al-Bashir is quoted as saying he swore "thrice in the name of Almighty Allah that I shall never hand any Sudanese national to a foreign court".

The central question is: in what way, at this critical and delicate juncture of Sudan's political transition, have the UN Security Council members contributed to the making of peace and stability in Sudan?

Clearly, SPLM/A leaders are equally under pressure in dealing with this fragile situation as it begins the implementation of this regionally and internationally brokered peace agreement.

On a related front, South Africa currently chairs the AU's Ministerial Committee on Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Sudan. This Committee includes foreign ministers of Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan.

Recently, South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma led the delegation of African foreign ministers on a tour of Sudan to assess first hand Sudan's physical, psychological, political and social reconstruction needs.

In the coming days, on 11-12 April, this AU committee will brief its international partners on Sudan's practical requirements on the occasion, when Norway will be hosting a Sudan Donor Conference in Oslo. Delegates at the Oslo conference will surely be grappling with the challenges of delivery of a better basic life for all Sudanese, seeking to embrace the principle of unity in diversity throughout Sudan.

The South Sudanese leadership may also be considering the question of national unity or the secession of South Sudan. Will peaceful co-existence between South Sudan and North Sudan be possible after the interim 6 years, when a referendum will be held on self determination? Initial economic indicators suggest that if the current economic development commitments to South Sudan are made over the next six years, the South Sudanese will enjoy a yearly income which will be the highest in East Africa. This debate among African leaders and the masses has begun.

In this respect, the AU's refreshing initiative to send a fact-finding mission to look into the issue of Somaliland's case for self-determination in the Horn of Africa, has given hope to many South Sudanese and peace activists who are doubtful of the AU's credentials in upholding the principle of self-determination. Many SPLM/A leaders believe the international community is unable to uphold the international principle of self-determination and justice, and have given rhetorical preference to the international principle of territorial integrity at the expense of the principle of self-determination and justice.

Mercifully, this debate on African continental coherence, unity, secession, the interests of justice, self-determination and the principle of territorial integrity has been examined with reasonable depth by African international law experts and analysts. The interests of world peace and stability require that, where politically possible, the division of existing states should be managed peacefully and by negotiation, like the case of Eritrea.

Reaching back to the threads of our earlier discussion, where we have stood for a new political transition in Sudan, seeking equity for all humanity, good political governance and collective international action and solidarity, we cohere, hope, pray and mobilise for an equalising Sudan, where all parts of Sudan experience peace, stability and prosperity.

Peace activists will be watching closely as all the players in Sudan and the international community, remain committed to the task of implementing the security arrangements; monitoring the peace agreements details and; delivering promptly the promised aid to meet the basic needs of Sudan's people, such as food, houses, schools, clinics and roads.

Recently, the government of Sudan relinquished the opportunity to host the next AU Summit, in July 2005. Libya will now host the AU's next Summit.

When Sudan does host the AU Summit it will be another appropriate occasion for us to write, evaluate, and continue to mobilise, support and learn more about peace in Sudan within the Horn of Renewed Possibilities and Hope.

** Iqbal Jhazbhay teaches at the University of South Africa and recently edited a special edition of the journal, African Security Review, on the Horn of Africa.

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