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Fotografin Simone Nieweg: Der Acker, schön wie ein Seerosenteich – Seite 3 | Lebensart | ZEIT ONLINE.

Interesting summary by our previous president F.W. de Klerk. It’s still worthwhile listening to him – and I am especially grateful if he gives us his ideas in writing.

Read here for more detail: PRESIDENT F W DE KLERK TO THE RIVER CLUB

Johannesburg 30 March 2012

POLTICIANS AND STATESMEN WHOM I HAVE KNOWN

Steven Mulholland suggested two topics that I might address – one that might entertain you – and the other that would probably depress you.

I have decided to choose the former. It relates to my memories of the many leaders that I have met during my political career – and subsequently.

Politics is a strange business.

It takes a particular type of personality to thrust himself before the electorate and try to persuade his fellow citizens that he has the extraordinary qualities required for leadership.

On the whole, politics is not a career that pays very well. In its traditional form it offered few financial inducements. This is of course no longer necessarily the case. Some of the far more astute politicians of the present age have elevated politics to one of the most profitable of businesses.

In my day most practitioners would probably have made much more money by remaining in a respectable profession or by climbing the corporate ladder. In my case, when I went into politics in 1972 I had to exchange a flourishing law practice in Vereniging for the modest income of a back-bencher. We had to move out of our beautiful home in on the banks of the Vaal and take up residence in a converted army barracks in Acacia Park.

Life as a back-bencher is, at best, undistinguished.

As junior members of the caucus, young MPs generally speak when they are spoken to. They must quickly adapt to the Byzantine manoeverings and jockeying for position that characterise all political organisations. They must wait desperately for a chance to catch the attention of the leadership on the rare occasions when they are asked to speak in parliament. It is difficult to do so if the topic they must address is the Railways Second Appropriation Bill. This is not the stuff of which Gettysburg Addresses and Pericles Funeral Orations are made.

It is for this reason that the attention of back benchers of all parties in all dispensations is focused so firmly on the possibility of being appointed to higher office. As soon as one becomes a deputy minister – or succeeds in attaining the Olympian heights of cabinet membership – the world changes. Suddenly, one has one’s own office and one’s own department. The new minister is surrounded by public servants who quickly confirm his own view that he is a pretty smart chap and a natural leader. The media are suddenly interested in his pronouncements. There are press conferences and overseas trips, official cars and private secretaries.

I was lucky. I was appointed to the cabinet in 1978 – only six years after entering parliament.

However, once one has become a cabinet minister other drawbacks become apparent. Everything the minister does is open to scrutiny. Every peccadillo becomes a glaring headline on the back page of the Sunday Times. Cartoonists and comedians have free rein to ridicule one. The minister’s policies, his character and his family are exposed fairly – or unfairly –  to merciless attack in public forums.

Managing democratic societies is often a thankless task. Leaders are confronted with crises created by others – some of which are, frankly, unsolvable in the period they have at their disposal. Whatever the politician says, whatever he does, he is subjected to bitter criticism. As one American President remarked: “Hell, every time I open my mouth I alienate 25% of the population.”

And all the time there is relentless competition with one’s closest colleagues.

As one disillusioned politician was heard to remark: “My opponents? They were the people in the parties that opposed me in parliament. My enemies? Those are the ones who were sitting beside and behind me”. It is more often the politician’s colleagues rather than his opponents who finally bring his career to an end.

It is perhaps for such reasons that commentators have observed that “All political careers end in tears.”

These are also the reasons why so relatively few really competent people stand for the Presidency of the United States. It is impossible to believe that there are not thousands of people in America who would be far better candidates than the crop that is currently contending for office. However, they are far too prudent to do so. They do not need the money. They do not want to have their private lives subjected to relentless, intrusive and often unfair scrutiny. They do not want their families to be hopelessly disrupted. They do not want to demean themselves by having to tailor their views according to the latest opinion surveys – or to mouth the platitudes that pass for political discourse.

Now, as you all know, much of this is true to a greater or lesser extent in the careers of all successful men. Everyone who has become a CEO or company chairman has also had to play hard-ball in board-room politics.

They say that the vindictiveness is worst between academics. When he was asked why this was so Henry Kissinger replied “the competition between academics is so bitter – because the stakes are so low.”

And yet – and yet the allure of politics and of power remains. Henry Kissinger also observed that power is the greatest aphrodisiac.

Nero is famously supposed to have exclaimed just before he died that a great artist perished in him!  He certainly was not a good exponent of the art of statesmanship – but statesmanship is an art. It is practised on the largest canvas that one can imagine: one’s country – and in some cases the world.

The fact remains that despite all its shortcomings as a career, politics offers its exponents the opportunity to perform on the greatest stage of all: the stage of history. The decisions that statesmen take can make the difference between war and peace; between freedom and tyranny; between prosperity and poverty. The stakes are immensely high: they are the happiness of and security of tens of millions of ordinary people. They are the ability of ordinary people to pursue what Yeats called the ceremonies of innocence: growing up; getting an education; falling in love and raising a family; making a living and pursuing one’s special dreams.

In my own career I have had the privilege of interacting with some great leaders – who in their own ways have changed the histories of their countries or even of the world.

Mikhail Gorbachev is one of the people whom I count as a friend.

The simple reality is that the history of the world, or Europe and of Russia would have been fundamentally different if a hard-line communist had seized the reins of power in the early 1980s. Even though the Soviet Union was doomed to economic failure, an orthodox communist dictator might well have held the empire together for decades. The cold war would not have come to an end.  The countries of Eastern Europe would not have been liberated. The Soviet Union would not have disintegrated – and Germany would still be divided between east and west.

Often it is the individual leader who puts his weight on one side or the other of the political balance who changes the course of history.

Ironically, this is not necessarily what Gorbachev intended. In his book Perestroika he still declared that communism was the best system – but merely needed to be implemented in a more democratic and open manner. It was never his intention that the Soviet Union should fall to pieces or that the Warsaw Pact should be disbanded. Ultimately, he found it impossible to control the momentum or the direction of the historic changes that he had unleashed.

Nevertheless, the world today would have been a substantially different – and in my opinion worse – place had he not made the decisions that he made.

The leader who, perhaps, impressed me most was Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. Once again, he was an individual who changed the course of history. In many respects he was the creator of modern Singapore. Without his leadership it might still be just another city in Malaysia. As it is, and despite its tiny size, it has become one of the most successful countries, with one of the freest economies, in the world. Lee Kuan Yew took the right decisions for his country; he chose the right values and the right economic policies to ensure the development of a successful society. In this, he was an artist painting on the largest canvas that society can provide. He was also a very astute judge of the world and provided a very canny and realistic assessment of our situation in South Africa when I met him during the early ‘nineties.

Another great leader whom I count among my friends is Margaret Thatcher. Few British Prime Ministers have had such a profound influence on the course of their country’s history as she did.  She understood, when she became Prime Minister, what the fundamental challenges were that she would have to address. The most serious of these was a trade union movement and residual socialist policies that were inexorably dragging Britain toward stagnation and national failure. Soon after she became Prime Minister she prophesied that within three years she would be one of the most unpopular leaders that the country had ever seen. “But two years after that” she said “ I shall be re-elected Prime Minister with an increased majority.” And she was quite right. She took on the unions and won – and subsequently she took on the Argentinians and beat them as well. In all this she showed far greater determination and courage than any prime minister since Winston Churchill.

Her free market middle-class conservatism set the paradigm not only for British politics for decades to come, but changed democratic politics everywhere. I remember an exasperated John Major telling me after the Conservatives had lost the 1997 election that he wondered what Tony Blair would do once he had run out of the Conservative Party’s policies. The reality is that after Thatcher, British politics became a battlefield for the centre with the new left jettisoning traditional socialist policies as fast as it could.
Margaret Thatcher also had a keen understanding of the unfolding situation in South Africa. Although she was a consistent critic of apartheid, she had no illusions about the nature of the challenges that we faced. She doggedly resisted for as long as she could persistent demands for more sanctions against South Africa in the Commonwealth and in the international community. She always gave me – and our partners in the negotiations – strong and committed support for the achievement of our goals.

Although I never met Deng Xiaoping, I believe that he will probably be regarded by future generations as the greatest leader of the latter part of the twentieth century. He himself was a victim of the Cultural Revolution but nevertheless rebounded in 1978 to initiate the reforms that have fundamentally changed his country. The process that he began has led to the most far-reaching improvement in the lives of the largest number of people in the shortest period in the whole sweep of human history. In so doing he has visibly improved the daily lives of hundreds of millions of ordinary people and has established China as a leading strategic and economic power.

Such is the great canvas of statesmanship. Deng succeeded in turning China from a drab and paranoid ideologically obsessed backwater to a confident, prosperous and successful society. I have no doubt that the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people have been made far happier because of the decisions that he took.

And in our own country I would like to mention two notable statesmen.

The first is P W Botha – a difficult and irascible man – who nevertheless played an indispensible role in the transformation of our country. When he became Prime Minister in the difficult circumstances that confronted the country in 1978, he realised that we would have to ‘adapt or die’. He built up one of the most effective armed forces not only in Africa but in the world. He overhauled and rationalised the whole system of government. Under his predecessor, John Vorster, the most junior minister wrote the cabinet minutes by hand in a note book. P W Botha introduced an efficient system of cabinet committees and properly compiled cabinet papers.

He understood the need for change and initiated the process that led to the Tricameral Parliament. Obviously, it was never going to be the total answer to the total problem because it still made no provision for black South Africans. However, in the incremental world of reform politics it was a step in the right direction. By 1986 the government had already repealed more than 100 apartheid laws. Nevertheless, the crux of the matter was no longer reform – but transformation.

However, PW ruled more by fear than by consensus. He did not encourage open debate within the cabinet and dealt harshly with anyone who failed to toe the line. When asked what the difference was between serving in my cabinet and PW’s cabinet Pik Botha said that when I was president he did not wake every morning with a shudder.

Shortly before he left office, P W Botha said that he had made two mistakes as president: he had not moved forward rapidly enough with his reform policies; and he had communicated badly. He was right on both counts. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that he prepared the way for the negotiation process that I had the privilege of initiating on 2 February 1990.

The other great South African leader of my generation was, of course, Nelson Mandela. I do not subscribe to the general hagiography surrounding Mandela. He was by no means the avuncular and saint-like figure so widely depicted today. As a political opponent he could be brutal and quite unfair. During the negotiations and while I served as Deputy President in the Government of National Unity we often had bruising clashes.

Such is the nature of politics.

However, whenever the situation required it, he was able to rise above the political passions of the moment and join me in hammering out reasonable compromises that enabled the process to continue. He also had the stature and the strength to hold his fractious alliance together – even at the most difficult junctures. The source of his authority, consciously or unconsciously, was the fact  that he was a Xhosa aristocrat – with all the bearing and natural authority that came with his royal connections.

However, he is a principled man and a great communicator. Through his natural charm and consideration he played an indispensible role in promoting reconciliation and in laying the foundations of our new non-racial nation.

I believed him when he said on 8 May 1996, after the adoption of our new constitution, that the “founding principles of our constitution are immutable.” He described the constitution as “our national soul, our compact with one another as citizens, underpinned by our highest aspirations and our deepest apprehensions”. He said our pledge is that: “Never and never again shall the laws of our land rend our people apart or legalise their oppression and repression. Together, we shall march, hand-in-hand, to a brighter future.”

Now, 16 years later there are those in the ANC who are saying that “our national soul, our compact with one another as citizens” was merely a temporary compromise and that it must give way to a second transition based on less immutable principles.
All of us should reject such thinking with all the resources that we and our constitution provide. But then, that is the other topic that Steven wanted me to address – and which you may explore in the question and answer session.

In the meantime one thing is clear. The great South African socio-political work of art remains unfinished. We sorely need a new generation of principled statesmen to complete it.

There are still lot’s of unhappy people out there. Many have nothing to loose. Many of them are just very angry, frustrated and disillusioned. It would be a grave mistake for politics to ignore them – and just don’t worry about them. The grievances of non-delivery should be high on the agenda of the municipalities – and also provincial and national government. Just look at these pictures – looks as if 20 years did not happen!

foto24 – Ratanda Betogings.

This 5th Sunday during Lent (Judica) does carry the message of Christ’s passion very prominently. The Old Testament lesson is the one from Genesis 22,1-13 (Abraham ordered to sacrifice the son of promise Isaac on Mt.Horeb). The Epistle is from Hebrews 5,7-9: “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered  and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him”. The gospel is from St.Mark 10,35-45 and is about drinking the cup of Jesus and being baptised with the baptism he is to be baptised with.  A fitting hymn would be the anthem: “Lift high the cross… ” by George R.Kitchin: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/i/lifthigh.htm

Just as throughout Lent the Gloria in exelsis is not sung, but rather the Agnus Dei – and sometimes Luther’s explanation to the 2nd Article of the Apostles Creed is confessed. The sermon for this day is based on the reading of Numbers 21,4-9: “Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the desert”. The Zulu sermon was written by Rev. E.Sithole and translated by Rev. E.A.W.Weber DD into Tswana. You can read them here: Zulu Sermon for Judica by Rev. E.Sithole and Tswana Sermon on Nm 22,4-9 for Judica by Rev. E.Sithole

This week a commission consisting of delegates from the three members of the “Mission of Lutheran Churches” (MLC) constituted themselves as a working group to help to address the common heritage and history of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa and the Lutheran Church Mission (LKM/SELK).

These members are in church fellowship since their very beginnings even though both the altar and pulpit fellowship have been questioned over the decades – however never officially, but only in practice and mostly under cover of “Apartheid”.

Twenty years after democracy in this country such “Dealing with our past” is long overdue. Some people have forgotten that there are still outstanding issues in the area of cooperation, partnership and fellowship amongst Churches, who are one in confession and practice. Too often it seems as if even today those, who are pleading for the active demonstration and practice of this faithful unity – like the joint-pastors conference of pastors of the FELSiSA and missionaries of the MELF (Bleckmar) did in Shelly Beach 1973 – are the ones who need to prove, why this unity should be realized – instead of those, who still try to maintain the status quo of separate development even in our time.

Instead of continuous progress towards a unified Church, long standing models of cooperation have fallen by the wayside and those partners, who were so close together that they even used the same church buildings and cemeteries are now drifting further and further apart from each other, that some even claim not to know any confessional brethren across the racial lines any more. It is high time that this regression in faithful practice amongst confessional Lutherans in Southern Africa is addressed and hopefully reversed by God’s grace and mercy.

It is with this clear mandate that this commission is to facilitate a process of dealing with our common past, heritage and history. It remains the hope of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa that this will ultimately allow the confessional Lutherans to unite in one Church. That is the meaning of the invitation of the LCSA to the FELSiSA expressed in writing: “We therefore invite you join with us in one united Lutheran Church in Southern Africa.”  (Pretoria, the 23rd September 2011)

Read here, what one of the partners in this process – SELK – has published about this meeting on Monday the 19th March (just two days before the commemoration of Sharpeville) and in a time, when reformed churches are debating the inclusion of the Belhar confession as their common confession.

Südafrikanisch-deutsche Arbeitsgruppe “Vergangenheitsbewältigung“
SELK an zwischenkirchlichem Projekt beteiligt

Tshwane/Pretoria (Südafrika), 22.3.2012 – selk – Am vergangenen Montag fand in den Räumen des Lutheran Theological Seminary im südafrikanischen Tshwane/Pretoria die konstituierende Sitzung der zwischenkirchlichen Arbeitsgruppe „Vergangenheitsbewältigung“ statt. Vertreter der Lutherischen Kirche im Südlichen Afrika (LCSA), die Freien Evangelisch-Lutherischen Synode in Südafrika (FELSiSA), der Selbständigen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche (SELK) und der Lutherischen Kirchenmission (LKM) berieten die Anlage und Durchführung eines Studienprogramms, das die Geschichte der genannten Kirchen und Einrichtungen in der Zeit der „Apartheid“ in Südafrika untersuchen soll.

Die Einsetzung der Arbeitsgruppe geht auf Anregungen zurück, die der Bischof der LCSA, Dr. Wilhelm Weber (Pretoria), zusammen mit Prof. Dr. Werner Klän von der Lutherischen Theologischen Hochschule Oberursel der SELK (LThH) bei Beratungen des Pfarrkonvents der LCSA im September 2010 gegeben hatte. Der Pfarrkonvent der FELSiSA hatte schon im August 2010 beschlossen, Gespräch über Verletzungen der Vergangenheit zu führen. Als Auftaktveranstaltung für diese Arbeit kann das Symposium über „Mission und Apartheid“ gelten, das unter internationaler Beteiligung im November 2011 an der LThH stattfand.

Für die LCSA wurden in die Arbeitsgruppe delegiert der frühere Bischof David Tswaedi, D.D. (Soweto) und Peter Ntshoe (Johannesburg), für die FELSiSA die Pastoren Dieter Schnackenberg (Lüneburg) und Matthias Albers (Pretoria), für die LKM Pastor und Missionar Christoph Weber (Durban), für die SELK Prof. Klän. Die Arbeitsgruppe erörterte die Aufgabenstellung, den Zeitplan und die Hinzuziehung von Fachleuten. Es wurde vereinbart, dass Klän den Vorsitz der Arbeitsgruppe übernimmt und Tswaedi als Sekretär fungiert.

Die Arbeitsgruppe kam außerdem überein, eine Sichtung und Sicherung der Quellen vorzunehmen. Allen Beteiligten stand deutlich vor Augen, dass die Frage der getrennten Entwicklung der beiden konfessionell-lutherischen Kirchen in Südafrika lange vor der Errichtung des Apartheid-Regimes als theologisches Problem zu bearbeiten ist. Geplant ist, eine gemeinsame Bibliothek/Mediothek der einschlägigen Quellen aufzubauen, damit die „offiziellen“ Dokumente der Forschung zugänglich sind. Zudem wurde beschlossen, für bestimmte Arbeitsbereiche Fachleute von außerhalb der Kommission um Mitarbeit zu bitten. Außerdem wurde verabredet, die Arbeit der Kommission in die gegenwärtige Forschungslage zu Vorgeschichte und Geschichte der Apartheid in Südafrika einzubetten. Am Ende, so die gemeinsame Überzeugung aller Kommissionsmitglieder, sollten die nötigen wissenschaftlichen Vorarbeiten getan sein, damit die beteiligten Kirchen und Institutionen in einen geistlichen Versöhnungsprozess eintreten können.
——————–
Ein Bericht von selk_news /
Redaktion: SELK – Gesamtkirche /

Human Rights Report Card – 2012
Introduction
The Centre for Constitutional Rights takes pleasure in presenting its fourth annual Human Rights Report Card indicating where, in our opinion, South Africa has been making progress with regard to human rights and where it has been regressing.  
We have once again awarded the following grades for human rights in this year’s report card: A = Excellent; B = Good; C = Average; D = Poor; and E = Very Poor.   At the same time, the +, = and – signs are used to indicate whether things are getting better, staying the same or deteriorating.   We have also included last year’s grade for comparison. 

South Africa’s performance during 2011
 

South Africa is a constitutional democracy with an excellent Bill of Rights and independent courts.  However, our constitution, our courts and our democratic institutions are under threat.

South Africa is a constitutional democracy in which citizens enjoy access to the full spectrum of human rights.  There are regular national, provincial and municipal elections that are overseen by an independent electoral commission.  The courts function independently and overturn laws and government conduct that is unconstitutional or illegal. South Africans enjoy freedom of expression and free political activity.  The media are free and the country has an active, effective and vociferous civil society.

South Africa has an exemplary bill of rights – but the degree to which people enjoy those rights varies considerably in practice.

Human Rights are supported by effective independent institutions – such as the Public Protector and the Human Rights Commission.  However, other institutions that are intended to support constitutional government are ineffective or have fallen under the influence of the ruling ANC.  The latter include the Judicial Service Commission which is failing to carry out its primary mandate of nominating fit, proper and impartial candidates for judicial office.  The abolition of an effective and independent investigation agency and political control of, and interference in, the National Prosecuting Authority are seriously undermining the integrity of the judicial system and efforts to combat pervasive corruption.

South Africa cannot be termed a non-racial democracy.  Race continues to be a major dividing factor and continues to determine, de facto and de jure, access to employment and social, educational and economic benefits.  Government policies are increasingly race-based and discriminatory.  The tone of the national discourse has become disturbingly – and sometimes aggressively – racist with government condoning – or even supporting such tendencies.

Future trends

Prospects for the future enjoyment of rights have deteriorated.  There is now deep concern over the future role of the judiciary in the wake of aggressive criticism of the courts by government; increased pressure for the appointment of pro-government judges; and calls for a review of the powers of the Constitutional Court, accompanied by the government’s recent announcement of its intention to review the court’s judgments.

Prospects for freedom of expression have deteriorated as a result of the government’s intention to press ahead with the adoption of Protection of State Information Bill and the establishment of a ‘Media Appeals Tribunal’.

Even more seriously, there are doubts regarding the ruling ANC’s commitment to important elements of the Constitution following the release of policy proposals on the “second transition” –  which would apparently jettison some constitutional guarantees negotiated by non-ANC parties.

There are indications that the elements in the ANC are guided primarily by the precepts of its National Democratic Revolution ideology, rather than by the values in the Constitution.  Two of the parties in the ruling tripartite alliance are committed to the establishment of a socialist (communist) state through a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ that would be fundamentally irreconcilable with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Pointers

Some of the factors that can be expected to affect constitutional rights during the coming year include

•    Developments at the ANC’s Policy Conference in June 2012 and National Conference in December 2012;
•    The further development of the ANC’s “second transition” approach – particularly with regard to moves to dispense with 1994 constitutional compromises;
•    Further developments relating to the government’s proposed review of the judgments of the constitutional court, as well as further statements elucidating its attitude toward the independence of the courts;
•    The outcome of the appeal of the Judicial Service Commission against the Cape High Court’s Judgment relating to the manner in which the JSC appoints judges;
•    The future behaviour of the JSC and its ability to attract and propose fit, proper and impartial candidates for the judiciary;
•    Further developments and discussion relating to the Green Paper on Land Reform;
•    Further developments relating to President Zuma’s Commission on the arms deal;
•    Developments relating to the independence – or lack of independence – of the National Prosecuting Authority;
•    The willingness of the government to adopt measures to ensure that “the Hawks” will be truly independent of political control;
•    The degree to which the SA Languages Act will be brought into line with the requirements in section 6 of the Constitution;
•    The progress of the raft of labours bills that were introduced into parliament in 2011;
•    The implications of the adoption of the Protection of State Information Bill – and possible constitutional challenges;
•    Further developments and proposals relating to the proposed Media Appeals Tribunal.

Constitutional Rights during 2011 
1.    Equality                            2012 Grade:E; Tendency: =;  2011 Grade: E =
Equality before the law and the right to equal protection and benefit of the law

•    The decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal on 1 December 2011 to set aside the appointment of Adv Menzi Simelane, as the National Director of Public Prosecutions, because he was not a fit and proper person, was an important step in restoring confidence in the independence of the National Prosecuting Authority.  There are, however, still indications of political interference in the NPA, particularly with regard to the manner in which fraud and murder charges against suspended SAPS general Richard Mdluli were dropped or side-lined toward the end of last year.   Accordingly, there are still serious doubts regarding the independence of the National Prosecuting Authority and its ability to exercise its functions “without fear, favour or prejudice.”

Full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms

•    South Africa’s GINI coefficient, which measures inequality, was .68 in 2009 on a scale where 0 equals absolute equality and 100 equals absolute inequality. This means that South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world – with little indication of any improvement.
•    At the same time, absolute poverty has been significantly alleviated by the payment of social transfers (children’s allowances, pensions and disability allowances) to an increasing number of people.  According to Adcorp, 10,2 million South Africans – one in five – receive grants of one form or another, amounting to 14,9 million grants or 1,5 grants per recipient, yielding average annual transfers of R9 539 per beneficiary.

Freedom from unfair discrimination.  

•    The imposition of unconstitutional demographic representivity continues to lead to unfair racial discrimination.   Employees of the Department of Correctional Services are taking the Department to the Labour Court because of its policy of prohibiting the employment or appointment of coloureds in the service in the Western Cape – because they are ‘over-represented’.  According the Department’s employment targets the percentage of coloured employees should be reduced to 8.8% – in line with their share of national demographics.
•    The imposition of demographic quotas is widespread throughout the public service – and is a major cause of government dysfunctionality.
•    The government has introduced amendments to the Employment Equity Act that would remove provincial demographics in the implementation of employment equity.
•    Racial admission quotas applied by most universities have resulted in a situation where the race of applicants has become a major factor in gaining admission to tertiary education.

White Prosperity

Despite increasing anti-white government discrimination – white South Africans have continued to prosper.   Quite often this has been the unintended consequence of government policies that have led to large numbers of white workers leaving the public service and large companies to start their own businesses or to pursue professions.  According to the SAIRR

•    “the matric pass rate was 79% for whites compared with 63% for African pupils in 2010;
•    59% of 20-24 year-old whites are enrolled in higher education compared with just 14% of Africans in the same age group;
•    the unemployment rate among whites is 6% compared with 29% among Africans;
•    white per capita income is seven times higher than that of Africans;
•    71% of whites are covered by medical aid compared with only 10% of Africans; and
•    65% of the highest living standards group (LSM 10) are white compared with 19% African.

These gaps are slowly narrowing, but the data paints a picture of a white population with still many more opportunities and advantages than the vast majority of their black compatriots.”

Gender Equality

•    According to the United Nations Development Programme assessment of 2011, South Africa had a gender inequality index of .490 – which put it in 94th position in the world.
•    However, 42,7% of Members of parliament are women – one of the highest percentages in the world.

2.    Human Dignity                           Grade: C;  Tendency =    2011 Grade: C=

•    The human dignity of many South Africans continues to be impaired by failure to make progress with the realisation of other rights and specifically the right to equality.
•    Human dignity is seriously impaired by degrading levels of poverty and persistent unemployment.   Real unemployment levels among black South Africans exceed 40%.
•    The dignity of Afrikaans-speaking South Africans – and the speakers of seven black  indigenous languages – will be affected if their languages are de facto deprived of their official status by the South African Languages Bill that is currently before Parliament.
•    Human dignity continues to be impaired by crime, inadequate education and poor service delivery.

3.    Life                                            Grade: E; Tendency +     2011 Grade E=

•    Prospects for enjoyment of the right of life are improving because of the successful impact of antiretroviral drugs on HIV/AIDS deaths.  Progress is also being made in reducing the murder rate.  Nevertheless, overall deaths from AIDS and murder are still unacceptably high.
•    The number of murders declined from 16 834 in 2009/10 to 15 940 in 2010/11.  This gives South Africa a murder rate of 31.9 per 100 000 – one of the highest in the world.   This is, however, a considerable improvement on the 66.9/100 000 rate in 1995 and the 37/100 000 rate in 2008/2009.
•    More than 145 000 people were murdered in South Africa between 2003/04 and 2010/11.  This is twelve times the number of South Africans who died in the six years of World War II and six times the number of South Africans who were killed in political violence between 1960 and 1994.
•    5.7 million South Africans have HIV/AIDS – the highest number in the world – with approximately 1 000 new infections per day.
•    South Africa has the largest antiretroviral programmes in the world.  The number of people receiving antiretroviral treatment increased significantly from 923,000 in February 2010 to 1.4 million in May 2011.  The programme has helped reduce AIDS deaths from 257 000 in 2004 to 190 000 in 2010.  Nevertheless, new infection rates remain high.
•    The number of deaths in police custody declined by 7%  between 2010 and 2011 from 860 to 797.

4.    Freedom and Security of the Person  Grade: D  Tendency =           2011 Grade D=

•    The very high continuing incidence of assault, sexual offences and child abuse seriously undermine the right to freedom and security of the person.
•    South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world.  The official statistic of 138.5 sexual offences per 100 000 people seriously underestimates the actual rate, since in surveys, one in three men admit to having raped a woman.

5.    Slavery, servitude and forced labour        Grade: A Tendency =  2011 Grade A=

•    There are few instances of slavery, servitude or forced labour, apart from instances of the so-called “white slave trade”.

6.    Privacy                                                        Grade: B Tendency =    2011 Grade:  B=

•    The privacy of citizens is generally respected.  Sufficient legislative safeguards exist with regard to state interception of written, telephonic and electronic communication.

7.    Freedom of religion, belief and opinion    Grade: A; Tendency =    2011 Grade: A=

•    Freedom of religion, belief and opinion is widely enjoyed by citizens and organisations.


8.    Freedom of expression                             Grade: C; Tendency –     2011 Grade: C-

•    There is general freedom of expression within the limits set by the Constitution.
•    The government’s effective control over the public broadcaster has inhibited the right to freedom of expression.
•    Support for the “shoot the farmer” song by the ruling ANC and its failure to condemn statements by Mr Julius Malema for calling white South Africans criminals and urging that their land should be seized without compensation is irreconcilable with accepted interpretations of the freedom of expression.
•    Although the proposed Protection of State Information Bill has been significantly improved, the continuing absence of a public interest defence and the draconian sentences provided for in the legislation, will inhibit investigative journalism and undermine public access to information on government activities
•    Proposals for a Media Appeals Tribunal will also have to be carefully scrutinised to determine the degree to which they might undermine freedom of the media.

9.    Freedom of assembly, demonstration, picket and petition  
                                                                       Grade: B; Tendency =        2011 Grade: B=

•    This right is generally enjoyed, although certain strikes and demonstrations have turned violent, infringing the rights of others.

10.    Freedom of association                         Grade: A; Tendency =    2011 Grade: A=

•    This right is universally and freely enjoyed.

11.    Political Rights                                       Grade: C; Tendency –     2011 Grade: C-

•    South Africa is a fully-fledged constitutional democracy enjoying universal adult franchise, a national common voters’ roll, regular elections and a multiparty system of democratic government.
•    However, effective control of both the legislature and the executive lies in the hands of those who control the majority party. The ruling party applies a policy of cadre deployment which gives it control over all government leaders, including the country’s President.
•    There is little accountability of members of parliament to the voters who theoretically elected them.  MPs are instead accountable to the ruling party because in terms of section 47 (c) 3 of the Constitution, they stand to lose their seats in parliament if they lose their membership of the party that included them in their election lists.
•    The South African Communist Party, a registered political party, continues to hold more than 70 seats in the National Assembly under the aegis of the ANC  without having contested any election in its own name.
•    Free political activity is threatened by the fact that two of the partners in the ruling tripartite alliance, the South African Communist Party and COSATU are committed to the establishment of a communist state under the rule of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
•     The SACP is also committed to securing power through non-electoral means – primarily by infiltrating and increasing its control of the ruling ANC.
•     Any such developments would destroy free political activity as well as South Africa’s human rights-based constitutional democracy.

12.    Citizenship                                          Grade: A;  Tendency =  2011 Grade: B=

•    Citizenship rights are generally acknowledged and enjoyed.

13.    Freedom of movement and residence  Grade: A; Tendency =  2011 Grade: A=

•    This right is freely enjoyed.

14.    Freedom of trade, occupation and profession       Grade: D; Tendency –    2011 Grade: D-

•    Although the freedom is formally available, high unemployment of 35.9% effectively deprives millions of South Africans of this right.
•    Unbalanced affirmative action increasingly prevents some South Africans from practising the trade, occupation or profession of their choice.
•    The proposed raft of labour Bills – The Basic Conditions of Employment Act Amendment Bill, Labour Relations Amendment Bill, Employment Equity Amendment Bill and the Employment Services Bill, will seriously impact on the right of people to choose to work for labour brokers or pursue other forms of atypical or temporary employment.
•    The ban on labour broking under these bills will also infringe the right of labour brokers to pursue occupations of their choice and would lead to the loss of an estimated 500 000 workers.

15.    Labour relations                                 Grade: B; Tendency-    2011 Grade: A-

•    This right is generally enjoyed. However, there is a growing perception that the balance in labour relations has swung so strongly against employers and that their rights are being increasingly compromised.
•    The four draft Labour Bills still before parliament propose far more rigid labour laws.
•    Relations between employers and trade unions are often very negative.   In 2011 South African lost 12 million days to strikes compared with 2.9 million work days in 2009.
•    According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report for 2011 pay and productivity of workers was 130th out of 142 countries surveyed.  Co-operation in labour- employer relations and  the flexibility of labour wage determination were in 138th position and hiring and firing practices were in the 139th position.

16.    Environment                                 Grade: C; Tendency =     2011 Grade: C-

•    According to the UNDP South Africa’s environmental performance index of 50.8 is just a little worse than the world average index of 54.4.
•    South Africa is dependent of fossil fuels for 87.2% of its energy requirements compared with a world average of 72.3%.
•    Carbon dioxide emissions of 8.8 tons per capita were twice the world average.

17.    Property                                           Grade: C; Tendency –    2011 Grade: C-

•    Property rights are increasingly under threat.
•    The effective expropriation of some mineral rights has seriously undermined property rights.
•    The Green Paper on Land Reform that was released in 2011 proposes that freehold property rights of South Africans should be limited and that foreign ownership of property should be seriously restricted.
•    The ANC’s policy discussion paper on “the second transition” raises the possibility that the ANC might be contemplating further moves to redistribute property in line with its National Democratic Revolution ideology.
•    According to the ANC’s Strategy and Tactics documents “a critical element of the programme for national emancipation should be the elimination of apartheid property relations“ including “the de-racialisation of ownership and control of wealth, including land.”
•    These concerns are exacerbated by increasingly vociferous calls for the nationalisation of mines and the expropriation of land.
•    The fact that government pays only 60% of market value in land restitution claims also constitutes de facto deprivation of property.

18.    Housing                                           Grade: B; Tendency +    2011 Grade: B+

•    By 2010/2011 the government had built more than 3 million houses and another 930 000 were in the planning stage. 76.2% of South African households lived in formal dwellings, 13.5% were still in informal dwellings and 10.4% were in traditional dwellings. Nevertheless, there remains an unacceptably large backlog of 2 million homes. Problems continue to exist with housing lists.
•    The poor quality of workmanship in many of the RDP houses undermines the right to access to adequate housing.
 

19.    Health care                                        Grade: D; Tendency +    2010 Grade: D-

•    The government has announced that it intends to introduce a National Health Insurance system in terms of which all South Africans will eventually enjoy free medical cover.   It is still not clear how the scheme will be funded and how it will work.
•    South Africa spends approximately 8.5% of GDP on health services.  Public health expenditure accounts for 4.6% of GDP and private health expenditure the remainder.
•    Private health care, which is enjoyed by 16% of the population, is generally of high world standard, but public health care is relatively poor, despite increases in expenditure. Service in many clinics and state hospitals remains unsatisfactory and there is a dire shortage of nurses.
•    The most serious health threat remains HIV/AIDS which also has a negative impact on tuberculosis rates and infant mortality. Between 2009 and 2010 the number of people with HIV/AIDS increased from 5.7 million to 5.8 million people.

20.    Food, welfare and social security        Grade: B; Tendency =    2011 Grade: B-

•    The Government has succeeded in providing access to electricity water and sanitary services to more than 73% of the population.
•    The number of social grants paid by the government increased 14.1 million in 2009/2010 to 14.9 million in 2010/2011.  However, because each grant recipient receives on average 1.5 grants the total number of recipients is 10.2 million – or approximately 20% of the population.  According to Adcorp, average grant is R 9 535 per recipient.
•    There are serious concerns that precipitate land reform could negatively affect South Africa’s ability to produce sufficient food for the population. There is currently little movement on the 13 000 farms that have been gazetted for the land claims.  Because of uncertainty, banks are hesitant to provide financing for production purposes.
•    The fact that more than 90% of the 5.9 million hectares of land that the state has bought for emerging farmers is no longer productive poses a threat to our food security.

21.    Children                                             Grade: D; Tendency =  2010 Grade: D=

•    The ample children’s rights guaranteed by the Constitution are largely unavailable in practice to millions of children.
•    Child abuse is widespread.  24 405 assaults were reported to the SAPS in 2010/11.
•    Only 28% of black children had both parents in their homes.  50% of coloured children, 80% of white children and 83% of Indian children had both parents at home.
•    During 2010/2011 906 children were murdered – 6.1 % fewer than the preceding year.
•    There was a 2.6% increase in sexual offences against children during 2010/11 involving 28 128 cases.
•    An estimated 63,000 children were infected with HIV in 2011 primarily as a result of mother to child transmission.  The infant mortality rate has decreased from 56.9 deaths per 1000 infants  in 2001 to 37.9 per 1000 infants in 2011.
•    There are 1.9 million AIDS orphans – that is children who have lost one or both parents as a result of AIDS.
•    More than 66% of children drop out of school without a matriculation certificate.
•    74% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are unemployed.

22.    Education                                  Grade: E; Tendency +     2011 Grade: E+

•    Poor education continues to be one of the greatest challenges confronting society.
•    Of the 1 055 397 who entered the public school system in 2000 only 496 593 (47%) wrote the matric exam in 2011.  Of the original intake only 348 117 (33%) passed the matric examination.
•    However, most matrics had little value, since the exam can be passed by attaining 40% in three subjects and 30% in three others.
•    According to figures quoted in the National Planning Commission’s Diagnostic Report  20% of teachers in black schools are absent on Mondays and Fridays.  On average teachers in black schools spend only 3.5 hours per day teaching, compared with 6.5 hours per day in the former model C schools.
•    South African children fare very badly in international literacy and numeracy tests, even when compared with results in the poorest African states.
•    The Global Competitiveness Report revealed that South Africa is ranked 133rd out of 142 countries in so far as the quality of our education system is concerned. The quality of our maths and science education places us 138th.
•    However, government – particularly in the National Development Plan – has shown new determination to take practical steps to address the problems in education.

23. The right to education in the language of one’s choice     Grade C; Tendency –

•    The right to education in the language of one’s choice is under severe pressure as a result of recent court judgments that have limited the right of school governing bodies to determine language policy and to decide when schools are full.
•    Failure to provide black children with education in their mother-tongue during the first 6 – 7 years of schooling is one of the main causes of subsequent education failure.
•    Afrikaans is under great pressure at three of the four remaining universities that still provide Afrikaans-language tuition.
•    It is feared that this right might be one of the rights that the ANC plans to dispense with during its proposed “second transition.”

24.    Language and Culture                      Grade: D; Tendency –    2011 Grade: D+

•    In 2010, in Lourens vs the President, regarding the failure of the government to adopt legislation to give effect to the language provisions in s.6 of the Constitution, the Pretoria High Court found that the government had failed to monitor the use of official languages through the adoption of legislative and other measures.  The Court ordered the responsible minister to adopt the necessary legislation within two years of the judgment.
•    The government recently produced the South African Languages Bill in response to the court’s order – but it fails completely to meet the requirements in section 6 of the Constitution.
•    The outlook for language rights has deteriorated since the introduction of the South African Languages Bill.   The Bill would require government departments to use two black languages and one previously advantaged language, either English or Afrikaans. Since English is the lingua franca this means, in practice, that Afrikaans and seven black languages would no longer be used by government.
•    English remains the de facto single official language.
•    Little has been done to comply with the requirement in section 6 (2) of the Constitution that “the State must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of black indigenous languages.
•    Afrikaans education, both at schools and at universities, is under pressure.

25.    Cultural, religious and linguistic communities   Grade: B; Tendency –    2011 Grade: B=

•    According to the Green Paper on Land Reform “all anti-colonial struggles are, at the core, about two things: repossession of land lost through force or deceit; and, restoring the centrality of indigenous culture.”  The statement, which has been repeated several times by the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development, implies that indigenous cultures are “central” and therefore superior to other cultures.
•    The government shows little interest in wanting to help preserve the cultural assets of minorities.
•    There are fears that cultural rights might also be negatively affected by the ANC’s proposed “second transition”.

26.    Access to information                           Grade: D; Tendency –   2011 Grade: D-

•    Although the right is granted by the Constitution, it is often difficult or impossible to obtain relevant information from the state.
•    The proposed Protection of State Information Bill will seriously limit access to information from organs of the State, including government departments and parastatals.

27.    Just administrative action                  Grade: C; Tendency =      2011 Grade: C-

•    The decline in service delivery and standards, particularly in some of the poorer provinces, has made it difficult for some people to claim their right to just administrative action.  Fortunately, the courts generally uphold this right when they are approached.

28.    Access to the courts                            Grade: B; Tendency =     2011 Grade: C=

•    The courts are theoretically accessible.  However, many citizens who do not have the resources to appoint lawyers find it difficult to press their claims unless they are assisted by legal resource centres or legal aid.
•    The unacceptably high backlog at the Courts and delays further deprives people of this right, as does the dysfunctional criminal justice system, which often results in cases being thrown out.
•    Individuals and civil society organisations have been able to apply to the courts for redress in a number of high-profile cases:
o    In Glenister vs the President, in March 2011, the Constitutional Court found that the legislation in terms of which the government had established the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (the ‘Hawks’) was unconstitutional because it had failed to secure an adequate degree of independence for the unit. The Court gave Parliament 18 months to remedy the defect.
o    On 29 July 2011, the Constitutional Court, in a case brought by a number of civil society organisations against the President, thwarted President Zuma’s wish to extend the term of Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo.
o    On 30 September 2011, the Cape High Court found in favour of the Cape Bar Council in its case against the Judicial Service Commission regarding its failure to appoint suitable judges to the Cape Bench earlier in the year.  The Court declared the JSC’s proceedings unlawful and invalid and directed the JSC to consider afresh the applications of candidates who were not selected earlier in the year.

29.    Arrested, detained and accused persons  Grade: D; Tendency =    2011 Grade: D-

•    South Africa’s prisons continue to be seriously overcrowded.
•    Overcrowding continues to result in gangsterism and contributes towards the high level of recidivism.
•    Awaiting trial prisoners are subjected to unacceptable delays due to the collapsed criminal justice system.

What our friends say. Read more here from the SELK Info pages on the LCSA pastors convention this week from the perspective of participant Prof. Dr. Werner Klän:

“Pastoraltheologie, Apartheid und Ordinationen
SELK: Werner Klän auf Pfarrkonvent in Südafrika

Hartbeespoortdam (Südafrika), 22.3.2012 – selk – Vom 19. bis zum 22. März fand im „Good Shepherd“-Rüstzeitzentrum der römisch-katholischen Kirche im südafrikanischen Hartbeespoortdam der diesjährige Pfarrkonvent der Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (LCSA), einer Schwesterkirche der Selbständigen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche (SELK), statt. Etwa 60 Pfarrer und Vikare, einschließlich der Missionare der Lutherischen Kirchenmission (LKM) der SELK waren versammelt, um unter Leitung von Bischof Dr. Wilhelm Weber jun. über den Weg der Kirche und theologische Fragen zu beraten.

Als Gäste waren die Pfarrer Dr. Brian Saunders, Präses des Bezirks Iowa-West, und Timothy Scharr, Präses des Bezirks Süd-Illinois, von der Lutherischen Kirche–Missouri-Synode (LCMS) sowie Prof. Dr. Werner Klän von der Lutherischen Theologischen Hochschule Oberursel der SELK anwesend. Die Arbeit des Konvents war gerahmt von Morgen- und Abendandachten und geprägt durch einleitende Bibelarbeiten.

Der erste Schwerpunkt war Fragestellungen der Pastoraltheologie gewidmet. Präses Scharr schilderte die Verfahren bei Berufung und Neubesetzung von Pfarrstellen in der LCMS. Präses Saunders referierte über Visitation als geistliche Hilfestellung. Bischof Weber erläuterte eindringlich den Zusammenhang zwischen der Ordnung der Ordination und dem geistlichen Leben des Pfarrers. In der Aussprache kamen auch die Nöte der Pastorenhaushalte der jungen Schwesterkirche der SELK deutlich zum Ausdruck.

Einen weiteren Schwerpunkt bildeten Fragen, die mit der Hinterlassenschaft der Zeit der Apartheid in Südafrika in Zusammenhang stehen. Pfarrer Dr. E. A. Wilhelm Weber D.D. sen., langjähriger Dozent am Lutherischen Theologischen Seminar in Enhlanhleni, berichtete ausführlich aus der Geschichte der LCSA, Prof. Klän erläuterte die Stellung des früheren Direktors der LKM (Bleckmarer Mission), Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf, zum Kirchenkampf im „Dritten Reich“, zum Bekenntniskampf nach 1945 und in seiner Auseinandersetzung mit der Apartheid in Südafrika. Der frühere LCSA-Bischof David Tswaedi D.D. stellte die bis heute spürbaren Auswirkungen der Apartheid auf das Leben und den Bestand der LCSA dar. In der Aussprache wurden nicht zuletzt die immer noch bestehenden Ungleichgewichte in den Lebensverhältnissen der verschiedenen Bevölkerungsteile in Südafrika benannt.

Den Höhepunkt des Pfarrkonvents der LCSA bildete die Ordination von drei Vikaren zum kirchlichen Dienstamt. Der Bischof ermutigte die jungen Geistlichen, in ihrem Amt und Dienst Gott zu Gefallen zu arbeiten. Neben den beiden Bezirkspräsides aus der LCMS überbrachten Pfarrer Christoph Weber im Namen von Missionsdirektor Roger Zieger die Grüße der LKM und Prof. Klän im Namen von SELK-Bischof Hans-Jörg Voigt die Segenswünsche der nördlichen Schwesterkirche. Es sei für ihn besonders bewegend, so Klän, dass er Zeuge sein könne, wie drei junge Männer, an deren theologischer Zurüstung er in den vergangenen vier Jahren zeitweise habe mitwirken dürfen, nun in den Dienst des Herrn der Kirche eingewiesen worden seien.
——————–
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Carnival time at the University of Pretoria!

Come one, come all! It is carnival time at the University of Pretoria. In their first concert season for 2012, the University of Pretoria Symphony Orchestra will be dazzling audiences with a production narrated by none other than Tobie Cronjé on 22 and 25 March 2012 in the Musaion.

The mighty lion roars as the magnificent elephants waltz by and tortoises will perform the Can Can, as a lone wolf howls at the moon in an outrageous production of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals and Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.

The University of Pretoria Symphony Orchestra will be expertly portraying these tales through music, with each instrument having its own story to tell and its own character to portray.

In this comical production of side-splitting proportions, Tobie Cronje will be kicking off the performance with an original narrative of Peter and the Wolfincluding beautiful solos from the orchestra.

Carnival of the Animals follows with a bombastic, triumphant, marching opening, accompanied by piano genius Wessel van Wyk and rising star pianist Jannie le Roux as the two soloists, as well as a text performed by Cronje.  The UP Symphony Orchestra promises to put a smile on all faces, young and old.

The University of Pretoria Symphony Orchestra is proud to announce that this programme will feature in Absa’s Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in April 2012. This will be the orchestra’s sixth invitation to the KKNK festival.

As part of their community service the Department of European languages at the University of Pretoria teaches German at local schools and also at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane (LTS). Angelika Weber teaches basic German Grammar to those students at LTS, who want to learn this. It is fascinating how those, who already do a number of new languages (English, Greek and Hebrew) still volunteer for this extra-class. Obviously its good fun and not quite such a drudge as some would like to make out. Here are some postings, they created in the last week.

Katlego Monyepao; Benjamin Kaumba; Henry Walker; Robert T.K. Sulniely; Paul Baibai Kurakpio; Mduduzi Nkosi; Jefferson F. McGill; Emmanuel S. Tengbeh; Emmanuel Enosa; Chifunilo Benson Tembo;

Prof. Dr. habil. Werner Klaen is presenting a paper on Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf and his engagement for a clear Lutheran witness during the time of apartheid. He was the Director of missions in Bleckmar and took a very strong interest in these confessional matters. Here is the paper: Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf_Apartheid_2