Monday, March 31, 2008
Racism and Xenophobia
Is there really a difference between racism and xenophobia. I was thinking of looking this up in a dictionary, but in a non-academic sense- there is no difference. Its a group of people, not liking another group based on their identity or percieved identity. Is anomosity between `coloured' and black people in Cape Town racism or xenophobia? If xenophobia is a special category of racism reserved for foreigners, where do we draw the line. All of us, bar the indigenous South Africans are settlers in South Africa. For how long is a person still a foreigner? Travelling in Africa has made me realise how other countries revere and respect South Africa. When they come here to become part of our economy, we are racist toward them, but call it xenophobia, so we can some how see this as more exscusable than white on black racism
Is there really a difference between racism and xenophobia. I was thinking of looking this up in a dictionary, but in a non-academic sense- there is no difference. Its a group of people, not liking another group based on their identity or percieved identity. Is anomosity between `coloured' and black people in Cape Town racism or xenophobia? If xenophobia is a special category of racism reserved for foreigners, where do we draw the line. All of us, bar the indigenous South Africans are settlers in South Africa. For how long is a person still a foreigner? Travelling in Africa has made me realise how other countries revere and respect South Africa. When they come here to become part of our economy, we are racist toward them, but call it xenophobia, so we can some how see this as more exscusable than white on black racism
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The complexities of corruption.
I read in the newspaper, that the husband of our National Minister of Education is one of the owners of the consortium awarded a major road renovation tender. This is yet another example of corruption in our country! Since 1996 such practices have destabilised our democracy and shown scant regard for economic transformation.
Having worked in six African countries over the last two years, I realise that to tackle the issue of corruption, we need to recognise that it has many faces and we need to break it down into separate definitions, which overlap, but originate from vastly different human drives. It is only in understanding these drives and understanding the distinction between them that we can begin to grapple with the issue. As humans we are all prone to any one of them and probably have all fallen into their traps at times of our life. Public officials, from municipal to national level, who earn their salaries from the economic activity of the community, need to prove that they are able to rise above even the most subtle form of corruption to prove their worth to the people of South Africa. We can classify corruption into the following categories:-
Patronage
Incompetence
Greed
Opportunism
(These categories are based on the underlying human drives of the behaviour and not the size or form of the act.)
Patronage
My life partner, who is also my business partner, is offered a consulting opportunity. She responds to the contractor saying she is unable to take on the job, but can she recommend a well-qualified, highly competent alternative- ME!!
Is this any different from Minister Pandor’s husband wining a road renovation tender, or our future president ensuring that his business associate is not overlooked in the awarding of tenders? One has to begin by entertaining the argument of competence. My partner recommends me for work convinced that I am qualified and competent for the work and could stand up to any challenge. Yet this factor is so highly subjective, that it must be immediately discounted. The only difference between my domestic self interest and that of ex-Premier Stofile, ensuring that his wife’s company won major tenders is that we operate in the private sector and he is a government official whose salary you and I pay. We can therefore expect his behaviour to rise above family or personal interest. This is not condoning graft in the private sector. I do not believe that there is any level of corruption in my business. Our clients will only contract me if my work experience proves that I am qualified. My partner is not in a position of power that needs to be pandered to. My partner’s recommendation counts highly, but there is no more than that. There are no kick backs or favours involved, unlike when a politician uses their position of power to steer business to their family and friends.
An overwhelmingly admiring characteristic of many African societies is the continued existence of strong family and community responsibility. As the manager of a trade union based health program, I had, with the support of my worker’s representative committee, fought for the annual increase of all employee’s salaries. Even though after two years our assistant nurse’s salary had doubled to a comparable private clinic rate, she could not survive the month without borrowing and battling to pay back her mounting loans. It fell on me, after a petty cash related crisis, to counsel her. After trying to help her unravel the core of her financial woes, it emerged that she was supporting not only her aging parents, which I could understand, but two unemployed younger brothers, who by even the kindest definition were drunken louts. It was a time of growth in the food industry and her influence would have assured their employment, but they showed no proclivity to work. When I suggested she cut them off from their bread (and beer) line, she laughed at the impossibility of this proposal. An admirable characteristic of many African (and Eastern) societies is the responsibility to the extended family. The self centred urbanised westerner, who (like me) would have to find strong extenuating circumstances before giving or asking family for material assistance, is by no stretch of the imagination a better way of existing than the caring family still enjoyed in all of the African societies I have come across. So is there any reason for African politicians and public servants not to use their position of power and influence to help their family? The Afrikaners did it in the 1940’s and 50’s; the American’s have it oiled, and as pack animals we are prone to care for those closest to us.
Public officials, whether in Africa or Sweden have to rise above this practice. This is not a moral issue; it is a hard economic issue. All tax paying South Africans ‘donate’ a percentage of their earnings to a group of individuals who have made public oaths to provide certain services for them. For every three hours I work, one of them is for the government. It is therefore imperative that the pay back be spread across all contributors to the tax fund, and not earmarked for a select group of beneficiaries. If South Africa is choosing a model of centralised taxation and democratic government, then there is no room for political, societal, ethnic or family patronage.
Incompetence
The previous mayor of Cape Town, Nomaindia Mfeketo, was a headline grabber. Unfortunately not for her stalwart record of service delivery, but for her unbelievable bungles and misappropriation of public funds. Her embarrassing antics were far too comical (or incredibly sad) to believe that her actions were based on greed, they served rather to show her incredible lack of management and leadership skills. In the 1980’s, as a UDF activist, I admired her community based leadership and strength. Yet there is a huge leap from a charismatic community leader to managing a multi-billion dollar enterprise-Cape Town. I have tried managing organisations. The largest was an adult literacy project in the Eastern Cape employing a few hundred part-time community based educators. I was not very good at it. Management of an organisation is both a science and an art and like music, it is something that I admire, but that eludes me. In a new democracy, and a country that made it difficult for many to gain hard skills, we are lacking in skills of governance, and corporate, program and project management. This is true of the private sector, but more so of the public sector. It took me fifteen years of my working life to accept that I was not pre-destined to manage, although I have achieved many accolades as a leader With that hind sight, I watch as many local counsellors, city officials and national politicians bungle along and waste opportunity due to believing that leadership and popularity can excuse lack of management ability. The current mayor of Cape Town, and her nemesis the Provincial Minster of Housing & Local Government, both show their inability to manage Cape Town’s housing crisis. The current language policy in schools, poor standards of services in hospitals and the failure of the City of Cape Town to manage its recycling are further examples of the lack of management skills amongst our paid officials.
Is this corruption? Yes. This is corruption because it is based on a public lie. It is based on public leaders misleading their communities. Much as religious leaders promise an array of products to fill the collection basket, political leaders promise services to fill their financial and power baskets. How many houses have been built in Ocean View since the 2007 tyre burning protests? Pretending you know how to manage is as corrupt as slipping the cash in your back pocket - the victim pays, believing in your promises and although you as a public manager may not be lining your pocket, you fail to fulfil your promises.
Opportunism
A friend of mine is a buyer for a major multi-national corporation. He arrives at Cape Town airport and heads off to Avis to hire a car for the weekend, in his private capacity. His professional standing precedes him and he is offered an immediate upgrade and special deal over and above the Citi Golf he has booked. Knowing the slippery ground he and the team he manages works in, he declines and we head off up the hot west coast, without aircon. As we sweat, he explains his fear of opening the door of deals, favours and subtle opportunity.
Another example. I have had a few drinks and a meal at a hotel restaurant while travelling. The service has been deplorable, and the prices ludicrous. When my lethargic waiter brings the bill, he has not charged me for 2 of my 4 beers. I sign and head off to my hotel room feeling morally good and vindicated due to the disdain of the uncaring staff and poor management. Tony Yengeni is lounging around a corrupt bunch of European business men. A meagre crumb tumbles off the banquet table and he cannot resist taking the gap. A last example. Most of my friends are in small business. They suggest I change tax advisors, as mine is `too straight’ not pushing each tax break to the far side of interpretation. These are examples of corruption by opportunity. The system has huge holes in it due to incompetent policy makers and a gaps open. My two beers, Tony’s Merc and my friend’s tax breaks are not something we went looking for (not sure about Tony), but the policy and system were poorly written and designed and as self-interested opportunists we took the gap. When one believes that societal rules and norms are cheating you, how much more the justification of taking what should ‘by all rights’ be yours.
This area of corruption is about shades of grey. The other evening I sat in the corner of the SAA Business Class lounge observing a senior politician flaunting his position and ordering privileges and special treatment from SAA staff. A public official has to be bigger than this. A public official must rise above those deals offered by travel companies. I would love to drive around Cape Town in an Audi TT or offer my daughter free air tickets. These are not offered me as I hold no sway of power. But, if opportunities for personal gain fall in the laps of those whose salaries we pay, we expect them to interpret the law narrowly and if in doubt to play it safe and stay above anything that might smack of personal gain.
Greed
We often think that greed is the only reason or explanation for corruption. This article aims to debunk this idea. However, we cannot discount greed. There are scores of African leaders, European, Asian and American dynasties, who use public office to amass wealth. In the same way that the pompous cannot wish away prostitution, the righteous cannot wish away the power of greed. From Adam’s greedy bite into the mythical apple through to the marauding Christian and Islamic conquerors, greed has proven an uncontrollable human drive. The ANC remain silent on the late Joe Modise’s appetite during the arms deal. Greed is different from the other forms of corruption mentioned, and is often a second stage of corruption, once patronage, incompetence and opportunism have opened the door. Winnie’s dabbling in illicit diamonds, the MP’s frolicking in luxury resorts and the (now defunct) SADF’s mowing down troops of elephants with automatic fire from helicopters, cannot be ascribed to any other factor but the desire for more, the exploitation of opportunity for self gain.
Fighting corruption with its complexities.
It is only once we understand the enemy from all angles, and in all its complexities, that we can fight it. Whether human desire is driven by slightly more noble sentiments of wanting to improve your family’s well being or the piggish desire for more and more, we need to fight it. However, like a competent army general, we need to choose appropriate strategies based on the nature and human drives of the corrupt practice. An obvious solution is to put in place public bodies who aim to expose and take action against corrupt behaviour. One would want a well resourced Auditor-General’s office; a Public Protector; a non-partisan Public Accounts Committee, a range of industry based ombudsman and a free press. South Africa has all of these. However with the exception of the free press, all of the protection agencies are controlled by the ruling party and if the agency oversteps its mandate it is slapped down by the party hierarchy. South Africa enjoys an open and free press and the current ruling party attempts to muzzle the press are concerning. Television programmes and radio journalist, even in the state controlled broadcaster, expose large scale corruption and bring them to the public attention. Working in parliament, I was intrigued that the press were viewed as ‘enemy # 1’. MP’s spent much time in their committees berating the press for the inaccurate and incorrect coverage of the parliamentary processes.
Currently the strongest accountability body is the ANC itself. The divisions in the party work in the public favour. If an individual from a certain clique oversteps his or her patronage or greed arrangements, a member from another clique brings them down. Over the last ten years this power game within the party has been powerful, not in keeping corruption at bay, but in exposing its excesses. It is, however, highly selective and subjective as its aims is to clip the wings of an opponent and is therefore neither thorough, fair nor aimed at curbing the practice.
The opposition parties can and do play a role of bringing corruption into the public domain. However, when the bodies who are constitutionally tasked to investigate are controlled by the ruling party, the public cannot expect consistent exposure and recrimination. The previous Auditor-General altering his report on the Arms Deal; the ruling party’s clamp down on the powers of the Public Accounts Committee over the same issue and the Public Protector’s consistent findings of not guilty to accusations of corruption amongst senior public servants are examples.
The current political and administrative leaders in South Africa are unashamedly driven by family and party patronage. In addition the ANC favour political appointees ahead of those with a proven management track record, thus opening the field for corruption driven by incompetence and opportunism. One should however be careful when officials dress up patronage as incompetence. An example of this is ICASA, pretending to be useless so as to block the issuing of a second land line operator so that the state can assure the continuation of their current monopoly. Rules are in place to monitor this patronage (such as the parliamentary asset register) but these rules do not create enough fear and respect to limit corrupt practices.
The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and their regulations are very clear on financial management processes and go as far as criminalising weak management practices. These Acts have been used to bring errant managers to court, but this has been inconsistent, rare and local government councillors flaunt the MFMA to ensure their business interests.
There have been major successes in South Africa’s fight against corruption in the civil services. Thousands of Department of Social Services officials were charged with defrauding the social grant system. Many senior managers self enrichment schemes have been exposed and they have been sanctioned. There is, however, inconsistency in the level of harshness of the sanction, and the number of high profile politicians and top ranking officials walking away scot free are well known to the public. Corruption is being exposed and (hopefully) capped, but has not been stemmed. To change such powerful patterns of behaviour, the cause of the behaviour needs to be understood and the response needs to be twofold. On the one hand, rules must be tightened and transgression of these rules needs to be systematically and systemically applied. On the other hand, positive reinforcement needs to be applied to those who do not fall into corruption traps. This carrot and stick approach needs to be designed according to the motivation which drives the corrupt behaviour. There cannot be a blanket approach. Strategies need to be designed. With the same vigour that the Ministry of Health stigmatised smoking, the government, civil society and the public need to begin to view corruption as a massive problem for our democracy. We need to stigmatise and shame those who fall into its trap, no matter what their complex drives are in doing so.
I read in the newspaper, that the husband of our National Minister of Education is one of the owners of the consortium awarded a major road renovation tender. This is yet another example of corruption in our country! Since 1996 such practices have destabilised our democracy and shown scant regard for economic transformation.
Having worked in six African countries over the last two years, I realise that to tackle the issue of corruption, we need to recognise that it has many faces and we need to break it down into separate definitions, which overlap, but originate from vastly different human drives. It is only in understanding these drives and understanding the distinction between them that we can begin to grapple with the issue. As humans we are all prone to any one of them and probably have all fallen into their traps at times of our life. Public officials, from municipal to national level, who earn their salaries from the economic activity of the community, need to prove that they are able to rise above even the most subtle form of corruption to prove their worth to the people of South Africa. We can classify corruption into the following categories:-
Patronage
Incompetence
Greed
Opportunism
(These categories are based on the underlying human drives of the behaviour and not the size or form of the act.)
Patronage
My life partner, who is also my business partner, is offered a consulting opportunity. She responds to the contractor saying she is unable to take on the job, but can she recommend a well-qualified, highly competent alternative- ME!!
Is this any different from Minister Pandor’s husband wining a road renovation tender, or our future president ensuring that his business associate is not overlooked in the awarding of tenders? One has to begin by entertaining the argument of competence. My partner recommends me for work convinced that I am qualified and competent for the work and could stand up to any challenge. Yet this factor is so highly subjective, that it must be immediately discounted. The only difference between my domestic self interest and that of ex-Premier Stofile, ensuring that his wife’s company won major tenders is that we operate in the private sector and he is a government official whose salary you and I pay. We can therefore expect his behaviour to rise above family or personal interest. This is not condoning graft in the private sector. I do not believe that there is any level of corruption in my business. Our clients will only contract me if my work experience proves that I am qualified. My partner is not in a position of power that needs to be pandered to. My partner’s recommendation counts highly, but there is no more than that. There are no kick backs or favours involved, unlike when a politician uses their position of power to steer business to their family and friends.
An overwhelmingly admiring characteristic of many African societies is the continued existence of strong family and community responsibility. As the manager of a trade union based health program, I had, with the support of my worker’s representative committee, fought for the annual increase of all employee’s salaries. Even though after two years our assistant nurse’s salary had doubled to a comparable private clinic rate, she could not survive the month without borrowing and battling to pay back her mounting loans. It fell on me, after a petty cash related crisis, to counsel her. After trying to help her unravel the core of her financial woes, it emerged that she was supporting not only her aging parents, which I could understand, but two unemployed younger brothers, who by even the kindest definition were drunken louts. It was a time of growth in the food industry and her influence would have assured their employment, but they showed no proclivity to work. When I suggested she cut them off from their bread (and beer) line, she laughed at the impossibility of this proposal. An admirable characteristic of many African (and Eastern) societies is the responsibility to the extended family. The self centred urbanised westerner, who (like me) would have to find strong extenuating circumstances before giving or asking family for material assistance, is by no stretch of the imagination a better way of existing than the caring family still enjoyed in all of the African societies I have come across. So is there any reason for African politicians and public servants not to use their position of power and influence to help their family? The Afrikaners did it in the 1940’s and 50’s; the American’s have it oiled, and as pack animals we are prone to care for those closest to us.
Public officials, whether in Africa or Sweden have to rise above this practice. This is not a moral issue; it is a hard economic issue. All tax paying South Africans ‘donate’ a percentage of their earnings to a group of individuals who have made public oaths to provide certain services for them. For every three hours I work, one of them is for the government. It is therefore imperative that the pay back be spread across all contributors to the tax fund, and not earmarked for a select group of beneficiaries. If South Africa is choosing a model of centralised taxation and democratic government, then there is no room for political, societal, ethnic or family patronage.
Incompetence
The previous mayor of Cape Town, Nomaindia Mfeketo, was a headline grabber. Unfortunately not for her stalwart record of service delivery, but for her unbelievable bungles and misappropriation of public funds. Her embarrassing antics were far too comical (or incredibly sad) to believe that her actions were based on greed, they served rather to show her incredible lack of management and leadership skills. In the 1980’s, as a UDF activist, I admired her community based leadership and strength. Yet there is a huge leap from a charismatic community leader to managing a multi-billion dollar enterprise-Cape Town. I have tried managing organisations. The largest was an adult literacy project in the Eastern Cape employing a few hundred part-time community based educators. I was not very good at it. Management of an organisation is both a science and an art and like music, it is something that I admire, but that eludes me. In a new democracy, and a country that made it difficult for many to gain hard skills, we are lacking in skills of governance, and corporate, program and project management. This is true of the private sector, but more so of the public sector. It took me fifteen years of my working life to accept that I was not pre-destined to manage, although I have achieved many accolades as a leader With that hind sight, I watch as many local counsellors, city officials and national politicians bungle along and waste opportunity due to believing that leadership and popularity can excuse lack of management ability. The current mayor of Cape Town, and her nemesis the Provincial Minster of Housing & Local Government, both show their inability to manage Cape Town’s housing crisis. The current language policy in schools, poor standards of services in hospitals and the failure of the City of Cape Town to manage its recycling are further examples of the lack of management skills amongst our paid officials.
Is this corruption? Yes. This is corruption because it is based on a public lie. It is based on public leaders misleading their communities. Much as religious leaders promise an array of products to fill the collection basket, political leaders promise services to fill their financial and power baskets. How many houses have been built in Ocean View since the 2007 tyre burning protests? Pretending you know how to manage is as corrupt as slipping the cash in your back pocket - the victim pays, believing in your promises and although you as a public manager may not be lining your pocket, you fail to fulfil your promises.
Opportunism
A friend of mine is a buyer for a major multi-national corporation. He arrives at Cape Town airport and heads off to Avis to hire a car for the weekend, in his private capacity. His professional standing precedes him and he is offered an immediate upgrade and special deal over and above the Citi Golf he has booked. Knowing the slippery ground he and the team he manages works in, he declines and we head off up the hot west coast, without aircon. As we sweat, he explains his fear of opening the door of deals, favours and subtle opportunity.
Another example. I have had a few drinks and a meal at a hotel restaurant while travelling. The service has been deplorable, and the prices ludicrous. When my lethargic waiter brings the bill, he has not charged me for 2 of my 4 beers. I sign and head off to my hotel room feeling morally good and vindicated due to the disdain of the uncaring staff and poor management. Tony Yengeni is lounging around a corrupt bunch of European business men. A meagre crumb tumbles off the banquet table and he cannot resist taking the gap. A last example. Most of my friends are in small business. They suggest I change tax advisors, as mine is `too straight’ not pushing each tax break to the far side of interpretation. These are examples of corruption by opportunity. The system has huge holes in it due to incompetent policy makers and a gaps open. My two beers, Tony’s Merc and my friend’s tax breaks are not something we went looking for (not sure about Tony), but the policy and system were poorly written and designed and as self-interested opportunists we took the gap. When one believes that societal rules and norms are cheating you, how much more the justification of taking what should ‘by all rights’ be yours.
This area of corruption is about shades of grey. The other evening I sat in the corner of the SAA Business Class lounge observing a senior politician flaunting his position and ordering privileges and special treatment from SAA staff. A public official has to be bigger than this. A public official must rise above those deals offered by travel companies. I would love to drive around Cape Town in an Audi TT or offer my daughter free air tickets. These are not offered me as I hold no sway of power. But, if opportunities for personal gain fall in the laps of those whose salaries we pay, we expect them to interpret the law narrowly and if in doubt to play it safe and stay above anything that might smack of personal gain.
Greed
We often think that greed is the only reason or explanation for corruption. This article aims to debunk this idea. However, we cannot discount greed. There are scores of African leaders, European, Asian and American dynasties, who use public office to amass wealth. In the same way that the pompous cannot wish away prostitution, the righteous cannot wish away the power of greed. From Adam’s greedy bite into the mythical apple through to the marauding Christian and Islamic conquerors, greed has proven an uncontrollable human drive. The ANC remain silent on the late Joe Modise’s appetite during the arms deal. Greed is different from the other forms of corruption mentioned, and is often a second stage of corruption, once patronage, incompetence and opportunism have opened the door. Winnie’s dabbling in illicit diamonds, the MP’s frolicking in luxury resorts and the (now defunct) SADF’s mowing down troops of elephants with automatic fire from helicopters, cannot be ascribed to any other factor but the desire for more, the exploitation of opportunity for self gain.
Fighting corruption with its complexities.
It is only once we understand the enemy from all angles, and in all its complexities, that we can fight it. Whether human desire is driven by slightly more noble sentiments of wanting to improve your family’s well being or the piggish desire for more and more, we need to fight it. However, like a competent army general, we need to choose appropriate strategies based on the nature and human drives of the corrupt practice. An obvious solution is to put in place public bodies who aim to expose and take action against corrupt behaviour. One would want a well resourced Auditor-General’s office; a Public Protector; a non-partisan Public Accounts Committee, a range of industry based ombudsman and a free press. South Africa has all of these. However with the exception of the free press, all of the protection agencies are controlled by the ruling party and if the agency oversteps its mandate it is slapped down by the party hierarchy. South Africa enjoys an open and free press and the current ruling party attempts to muzzle the press are concerning. Television programmes and radio journalist, even in the state controlled broadcaster, expose large scale corruption and bring them to the public attention. Working in parliament, I was intrigued that the press were viewed as ‘enemy # 1’. MP’s spent much time in their committees berating the press for the inaccurate and incorrect coverage of the parliamentary processes.
Currently the strongest accountability body is the ANC itself. The divisions in the party work in the public favour. If an individual from a certain clique oversteps his or her patronage or greed arrangements, a member from another clique brings them down. Over the last ten years this power game within the party has been powerful, not in keeping corruption at bay, but in exposing its excesses. It is, however, highly selective and subjective as its aims is to clip the wings of an opponent and is therefore neither thorough, fair nor aimed at curbing the practice.
The opposition parties can and do play a role of bringing corruption into the public domain. However, when the bodies who are constitutionally tasked to investigate are controlled by the ruling party, the public cannot expect consistent exposure and recrimination. The previous Auditor-General altering his report on the Arms Deal; the ruling party’s clamp down on the powers of the Public Accounts Committee over the same issue and the Public Protector’s consistent findings of not guilty to accusations of corruption amongst senior public servants are examples.
The current political and administrative leaders in South Africa are unashamedly driven by family and party patronage. In addition the ANC favour political appointees ahead of those with a proven management track record, thus opening the field for corruption driven by incompetence and opportunism. One should however be careful when officials dress up patronage as incompetence. An example of this is ICASA, pretending to be useless so as to block the issuing of a second land line operator so that the state can assure the continuation of their current monopoly. Rules are in place to monitor this patronage (such as the parliamentary asset register) but these rules do not create enough fear and respect to limit corrupt practices.
The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and their regulations are very clear on financial management processes and go as far as criminalising weak management practices. These Acts have been used to bring errant managers to court, but this has been inconsistent, rare and local government councillors flaunt the MFMA to ensure their business interests.
There have been major successes in South Africa’s fight against corruption in the civil services. Thousands of Department of Social Services officials were charged with defrauding the social grant system. Many senior managers self enrichment schemes have been exposed and they have been sanctioned. There is, however, inconsistency in the level of harshness of the sanction, and the number of high profile politicians and top ranking officials walking away scot free are well known to the public. Corruption is being exposed and (hopefully) capped, but has not been stemmed. To change such powerful patterns of behaviour, the cause of the behaviour needs to be understood and the response needs to be twofold. On the one hand, rules must be tightened and transgression of these rules needs to be systematically and systemically applied. On the other hand, positive reinforcement needs to be applied to those who do not fall into corruption traps. This carrot and stick approach needs to be designed according to the motivation which drives the corrupt behaviour. There cannot be a blanket approach. Strategies need to be designed. With the same vigour that the Ministry of Health stigmatised smoking, the government, civil society and the public need to begin to view corruption as a massive problem for our democracy. We need to stigmatise and shame those who fall into its trap, no matter what their complex drives are in doing so.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
As UDF activists in the 1980’s we protested against the National Party Government’s refusal to allow housing for black people in the Southern Peninsula. Now, over thirty years later, MEC Dyantyi is doing exactly what the National Party did, blocking a community driven housing project in Masiphumele. What has happened to the Freedom Charter’s `housing for all’ slogan. The South African Constitution says. (Section 25.1) `No-one may be deprived of property..’ and Section 26.1 `Everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing.’ Mr Dyantyi, may not like the SA Constitution, but as a paid official he should stop playing point scoring political games to embarrass the DA out of office and fulfill his Constitutional duties.
Yesterday was Independence Day. 51 years ago, Ghana peacefully and smoothly eased out of the British Empire. 51 Years later thousands of young Ghanians were on the narrow strip of beach in Accra , frollicking African style in the grey, warm seas. Throngs of noisy, clothed people throwing themselves en masse into the water. Criss-crossing soccer matches, litter and noise. The pavements here are interesting, they have been ripped up to be redone, but then forgotten about, so they are these trenches with open cess pits and wires emerging. Everywhere men and women are selling...all imported crap-whatever you can imagine, but all cheap copies and repetitive.
