Lulletje Rozewater
02-02-2011, 07:48 AM
South Africa: Detailed Analysis: 2010: Collapsing into a Failed State
41% unemployment - The Super AIDS disaster for Black people...
Date Posted: Sunday 12-Sep-2010 (second part)
Environment in crisis
The environment is one of the factors that determine the quality of life of the population. Of direct relevance are issues such as clean water, the effective disposal of sewage, roads, etc.
• In January 2010 the Democratic Alliance disclosed in a statement that only 32 of the 970 sewage plants in the country are still functioning properly.
• In a report to Parliament in February 2010 it was revealed that “when it comes to fresh water”, only 30
municipalities out of 283 have the capability to supply clean water to the inhabitants.
• Parliament’s water affairs portfolio committee was told in July 2010 that “millions of litres of highly acidic mine water is rising up under Johannesburg and, if left unchecked, could spill out into its streets some 18 months from now. The acid water is currently about 600m below the city's surface, but is rising at a rate of between 0.6 and 0,9m a day.”
"It can have catastrophic consequences for the Johannesburg central business district if not stopped in time. A new pumping station and upgrades to the high-density sludge treatment works are urgently required to stop disaster."
“Speaking at the briefing, activist Mariette Liefferink, from the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, said the rising mine water posed an ‘enormous threat’, which would become worse if remedial actions were further delayed.”
"This environmental problem is second [in South Africa] only to global warming in terms of its impact, and poses a serious risk to the Witwatersrand as a whole. At the rate it is rising, the basin [under Johannesburg] will be fully flooded in about 18 months”.
She said the rising mine water had the same acidity as vinegar or lemon juice and was a legacy of 120 years of gold mining in the region.
Acid water is formed underground when old shafts and tunnels fill up. The water oxidises with the sulphide mineral iron pyrite, better known as fool's gold. The water then fills the mine and starts decanting into the environment, in a process known as acid mine drainage.
(Johannesburg on acidic water time bomb) Mail & Guardian, Jul 21, 2010.
Context of the crisis South Africa has a problem with a variety of issues such as law and order, potholes, sewage, bad education – the list is almost endless. These are all problems, but the crisis lies on a different level. The crisis is embodied in the structures of society which are supposed to carry society at large, but have become dysfunctional. When Government is subjected to functional decay, the population in a process of distortion and the environment is increasingly being contaminated – then the essence of the crisis is really showing.
The country reflects a crisis on three different levels. This makes the country rather unique in the world.
In addition, the crisis has been exacerbated by the fact that the three various levels of functional decay, has now started interacting with one another. Very few South Africans really understand what is happening to their own society.
The real problem is not the pothole or the burglar, but the internal functional collapse of Government and society.
What kind of Future?
In terms of planning and decision making it is easy to fill a pothole, but how do deal with functional decay is a
completely different challenge. The reader has to accept that there is no proven remedy or fixed solutions – the way ahead will be one of trial and error. Existing political perceptions and beliefs will have to be shattered and altered and mindsets will have to change. There is, indeed, not a very easy road ahead.
The ANC’s political victory in 1994 enabled it to introduce a new democracy in South Africa, as embedded in the constitution of 1996. That provided the ideological and political base for the introduction of the process of
transformation.
What emerged was a numbers driven society where race percentages became the norm for appointment and position.
The immediate result was the corruption of society, as the whites with expertise moved out and “cadre deployment” took over. Political control became the dominating factor in society and capabilities were very often excluded.
What followed was a swift and dramatic decline of governing capabilities. Service delivery as envisaged in the
constitution deteriorated rapidly, but it happened out of sight and was not immediately recognised. There was a sewage problem, but it was not linked to a decline of governing capabilities. For the sake of democracy, people looked the other way.
By 2010 the key functions of Government are all under severe pressure.
Then the electricity crisis of 2008 triggered a reaction. Every household was affected and the mismanagement and cover up of dwindling coal stock piles became common knowledge. This was followed by a flood of information about the status of dams and rivers that impacted on the supply of fresh water. Next to this, the sewage problem that had been building up for years suddenly showed its ugly head.
What paralysed the government of President Jacob Zuma was that it all happened at the same time.
What made this different? People were compelled to live with the situation. Being without electricity, using
contaminated drinking water and physically living with sewage changed minds and attitudes. As problems increased, government officials and services became more absent. The constitution promised a better quality of life, but Government left the people out in the sewage. A contradiction emerged in the political profile of Government: a clash between the political capital and the governing capital – a process of internal erosion. For decades people have been told that apartheid was to blame for everything and suddenly they discover the real culprit behind the council building - Government.
The country was still a major democracy, but Government’s inability to deliver was slowly penetrating society. A very large section of the population came to exist outside the confines and guarantees of the constitution. A small town where the sewage flows down Main Street is basically beyond or outside the protection of the constitution.
Similarly, the urban community that provides its own security and pays for it, is also beyond the protection of the constitution.
The result was the creation of alternative functioning structures. This was not motivated by a resistance against Parliament or an effort to push Government aside. The real reason was that a very specific need had to be addressed; otherwise a specific section of society could not survive.
As strange as it may seem, people started moving beyond the constitution for self-protection. Farmers started repairing the national roads in their vicinity; otherwise goods to the market could not be transported. Parents invested in additional teachers in order to secure a future for their kids. In this process, a whole range of new functional structures in society have been created – with or without the consent or cooperation of Government. The eventual effect is that a large section of society is in the process of breaking away from government structures – and eventually from Government control. This is perhaps not so much anti-democratic as a-democratic, i.e. outside the democratic process, as it bypasses the formal structures and creates new ones when the need arises. The driving force at this stage is not the will of the people, but the need of the specific sector of society. In this process, the nature of democracy will eventually change.
Bypassing formal government will not occur if some disillusionment has not emerged in society. It is basically twenty years since formal discussions began to dismantle apartheid. A whole new generation has emerged. Black youths are aware that their education does not prepare them for the 21st century. White youths experience that the market place is largely closed to them, in spite of adequate qualifications. The struggle generation of politicians that took over in 1994 are now in the process of moving out and there is nothing in place that can take the country into the 21st century.
Some form of resistance against the functional decay is inevitable. However, it is not expected in the form of a rebel movement or attempt to unseat Government by force. Within the black community the present demonstrations and burning of council buildings may continue. Within the white community, resistance may take another form.
Amongst whites there is a complaint that they pay twice for everything. They pay tax for “security of person” (chapter 2 constitution), but they also pay for their own security. They pay for education and then directly pay for additional teachers; they pay for road maintenance and do the work themselves. The bottom line is that this government is very expensive to keep around, with no benefits coming from it.
In reaction the next step may be a formal note to the minister of Finance and the Receiver of Revenue,
demanding a tax discount for services promised but not delivered - and then delivered and paid for by the
taxpayer himself. What could emanate from this is ground level emotion and indignation. The reality that 5
million taxpayers are already supporting a nation of close to 50 million, plus an additional 9 million from
neighbouring countries, does not go down well.
The figures do not add up. This is one direction Government does not want to go. By 2010 the population has ended up in a total imbalance which the next election will not be able to rectify.
It is in the nature of governments, when things go badly for them, to start withholding information from the public.
The country must speak with “one voice”, with one government spokesperson and one official broadcaster. All this is supposedly, “good for nation building”. Who would ever forget the statement of a former NP minister in parliament that he would not allow television in the country, because it would be bad for the public morale?
Any information that may threaten the position of Government may be questioned as “anti-democratic”. Very often, this is all lumped together under the nice, formal concept of “national security”. To the common citizen this may sound extremely dangerous and therefore needs his support.
Then the question emerges: what is secret and what not? There is much information that is freely available, not secret at all, that can directly threaten the position of Government, officials and ministers. Government is known to be sensitive to any photos of farm murders, statistics about crime and web pages that explain too much of what happens in the country.
Can Government prevent this flow of “dangerous” information, as the latest proposals of legislation from parliament attempted to do? The answer is short: No! It was possible during the Cold War. The Russians built a wall across central Europe to keep people and a free flow of information out.
In a technologically driven world every person with a cell phone (and camera), and computer on the desk has the immediate capability to send information all over the world. Every person with a cell phone has the capability to photograph potholes, schools without toilets, policemen asleep on the job and text messages about politicians who buy luxury cars and officials who are corrupt.
This implies that every citizen has the potential to send information, “dangerous” to the Government, abroad.
In this process, if this legislation is pushed for reasons that existed in the previous century, every citizen has
the potential to become the enemy of Government. An effective withholding of information can only be done
when all cell phones are confiscated and all computers smashed.
Government may win in parliament, but is going to lose on the sidewalk of society. This is one avenue Government does not wish to pursue.
With its enormous political capital behind it, the ANC commands the voting power in parliament, but it does not have the doing power. The lack of governing capabilities may eventually result in the domino effect. Individual “problems” like sewage, clean water and education start interacting. The one affects the other and begin a self-driven process that leads to accelerated collapse. There is, for example, little doubt that HIV/AIDS has made the major contribution to the internal collapse of manpower in the defence force. With an HIV-infection of 90% among truck drivers – tested on the border with Swaziland - the impact on the freight industry, and the economy, will be devastating. Public education already is in bad shape, but add HIV-infection to the problem and many schools and universities will find it very difficult to continue teaching.
The most unthinkable result of the domino effect will appear when local government becomes so
dysfunctional that citizens are compelled to take over services on a large scale and in this process
government authority is pushed back to a few urban areas. This will signal the start of a new political system.
How will the decision maker finds his way through this complicated situation?
From 2010 and beyond the quality of expertise and skills of any company or organisation will determine its economic and social survival. What should be assessed here is the level of human capital.
Human capital in combination with other assets such as infrastructure provides the all important intellectual capital – the competitive advantage. Without intellectual capital very little value can be added to any business or society. A clear definition of intellectual capital is also imperative.
Without a clear assessment of human and intellectual capital, society will be unable to regenerate itself.
Dr. J.A. Du Plessis at Intersearch, Tel. +27 12 4606 366 +27 12 4606 366
Source Url: http://www.intersearch.co.za/
AfricanCrisis Webmaster
Author of: Government by Deception
“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
http://www.gpsa.co.za/weekly/wviews.html
41% unemployment - The Super AIDS disaster for Black people...
Date Posted: Sunday 12-Sep-2010 (second part)
Environment in crisis
The environment is one of the factors that determine the quality of life of the population. Of direct relevance are issues such as clean water, the effective disposal of sewage, roads, etc.
• In January 2010 the Democratic Alliance disclosed in a statement that only 32 of the 970 sewage plants in the country are still functioning properly.
• In a report to Parliament in February 2010 it was revealed that “when it comes to fresh water”, only 30
municipalities out of 283 have the capability to supply clean water to the inhabitants.
• Parliament’s water affairs portfolio committee was told in July 2010 that “millions of litres of highly acidic mine water is rising up under Johannesburg and, if left unchecked, could spill out into its streets some 18 months from now. The acid water is currently about 600m below the city's surface, but is rising at a rate of between 0.6 and 0,9m a day.”
"It can have catastrophic consequences for the Johannesburg central business district if not stopped in time. A new pumping station and upgrades to the high-density sludge treatment works are urgently required to stop disaster."
“Speaking at the briefing, activist Mariette Liefferink, from the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, said the rising mine water posed an ‘enormous threat’, which would become worse if remedial actions were further delayed.”
"This environmental problem is second [in South Africa] only to global warming in terms of its impact, and poses a serious risk to the Witwatersrand as a whole. At the rate it is rising, the basin [under Johannesburg] will be fully flooded in about 18 months”.
She said the rising mine water had the same acidity as vinegar or lemon juice and was a legacy of 120 years of gold mining in the region.
Acid water is formed underground when old shafts and tunnels fill up. The water oxidises with the sulphide mineral iron pyrite, better known as fool's gold. The water then fills the mine and starts decanting into the environment, in a process known as acid mine drainage.
(Johannesburg on acidic water time bomb) Mail & Guardian, Jul 21, 2010.
Context of the crisis South Africa has a problem with a variety of issues such as law and order, potholes, sewage, bad education – the list is almost endless. These are all problems, but the crisis lies on a different level. The crisis is embodied in the structures of society which are supposed to carry society at large, but have become dysfunctional. When Government is subjected to functional decay, the population in a process of distortion and the environment is increasingly being contaminated – then the essence of the crisis is really showing.
The country reflects a crisis on three different levels. This makes the country rather unique in the world.
In addition, the crisis has been exacerbated by the fact that the three various levels of functional decay, has now started interacting with one another. Very few South Africans really understand what is happening to their own society.
The real problem is not the pothole or the burglar, but the internal functional collapse of Government and society.
What kind of Future?
In terms of planning and decision making it is easy to fill a pothole, but how do deal with functional decay is a
completely different challenge. The reader has to accept that there is no proven remedy or fixed solutions – the way ahead will be one of trial and error. Existing political perceptions and beliefs will have to be shattered and altered and mindsets will have to change. There is, indeed, not a very easy road ahead.
The ANC’s political victory in 1994 enabled it to introduce a new democracy in South Africa, as embedded in the constitution of 1996. That provided the ideological and political base for the introduction of the process of
transformation.
What emerged was a numbers driven society where race percentages became the norm for appointment and position.
The immediate result was the corruption of society, as the whites with expertise moved out and “cadre deployment” took over. Political control became the dominating factor in society and capabilities were very often excluded.
What followed was a swift and dramatic decline of governing capabilities. Service delivery as envisaged in the
constitution deteriorated rapidly, but it happened out of sight and was not immediately recognised. There was a sewage problem, but it was not linked to a decline of governing capabilities. For the sake of democracy, people looked the other way.
By 2010 the key functions of Government are all under severe pressure.
Then the electricity crisis of 2008 triggered a reaction. Every household was affected and the mismanagement and cover up of dwindling coal stock piles became common knowledge. This was followed by a flood of information about the status of dams and rivers that impacted on the supply of fresh water. Next to this, the sewage problem that had been building up for years suddenly showed its ugly head.
What paralysed the government of President Jacob Zuma was that it all happened at the same time.
What made this different? People were compelled to live with the situation. Being without electricity, using
contaminated drinking water and physically living with sewage changed minds and attitudes. As problems increased, government officials and services became more absent. The constitution promised a better quality of life, but Government left the people out in the sewage. A contradiction emerged in the political profile of Government: a clash between the political capital and the governing capital – a process of internal erosion. For decades people have been told that apartheid was to blame for everything and suddenly they discover the real culprit behind the council building - Government.
The country was still a major democracy, but Government’s inability to deliver was slowly penetrating society. A very large section of the population came to exist outside the confines and guarantees of the constitution. A small town where the sewage flows down Main Street is basically beyond or outside the protection of the constitution.
Similarly, the urban community that provides its own security and pays for it, is also beyond the protection of the constitution.
The result was the creation of alternative functioning structures. This was not motivated by a resistance against Parliament or an effort to push Government aside. The real reason was that a very specific need had to be addressed; otherwise a specific section of society could not survive.
As strange as it may seem, people started moving beyond the constitution for self-protection. Farmers started repairing the national roads in their vicinity; otherwise goods to the market could not be transported. Parents invested in additional teachers in order to secure a future for their kids. In this process, a whole range of new functional structures in society have been created – with or without the consent or cooperation of Government. The eventual effect is that a large section of society is in the process of breaking away from government structures – and eventually from Government control. This is perhaps not so much anti-democratic as a-democratic, i.e. outside the democratic process, as it bypasses the formal structures and creates new ones when the need arises. The driving force at this stage is not the will of the people, but the need of the specific sector of society. In this process, the nature of democracy will eventually change.
Bypassing formal government will not occur if some disillusionment has not emerged in society. It is basically twenty years since formal discussions began to dismantle apartheid. A whole new generation has emerged. Black youths are aware that their education does not prepare them for the 21st century. White youths experience that the market place is largely closed to them, in spite of adequate qualifications. The struggle generation of politicians that took over in 1994 are now in the process of moving out and there is nothing in place that can take the country into the 21st century.
Some form of resistance against the functional decay is inevitable. However, it is not expected in the form of a rebel movement or attempt to unseat Government by force. Within the black community the present demonstrations and burning of council buildings may continue. Within the white community, resistance may take another form.
Amongst whites there is a complaint that they pay twice for everything. They pay tax for “security of person” (chapter 2 constitution), but they also pay for their own security. They pay for education and then directly pay for additional teachers; they pay for road maintenance and do the work themselves. The bottom line is that this government is very expensive to keep around, with no benefits coming from it.
In reaction the next step may be a formal note to the minister of Finance and the Receiver of Revenue,
demanding a tax discount for services promised but not delivered - and then delivered and paid for by the
taxpayer himself. What could emanate from this is ground level emotion and indignation. The reality that 5
million taxpayers are already supporting a nation of close to 50 million, plus an additional 9 million from
neighbouring countries, does not go down well.
The figures do not add up. This is one direction Government does not want to go. By 2010 the population has ended up in a total imbalance which the next election will not be able to rectify.
It is in the nature of governments, when things go badly for them, to start withholding information from the public.
The country must speak with “one voice”, with one government spokesperson and one official broadcaster. All this is supposedly, “good for nation building”. Who would ever forget the statement of a former NP minister in parliament that he would not allow television in the country, because it would be bad for the public morale?
Any information that may threaten the position of Government may be questioned as “anti-democratic”. Very often, this is all lumped together under the nice, formal concept of “national security”. To the common citizen this may sound extremely dangerous and therefore needs his support.
Then the question emerges: what is secret and what not? There is much information that is freely available, not secret at all, that can directly threaten the position of Government, officials and ministers. Government is known to be sensitive to any photos of farm murders, statistics about crime and web pages that explain too much of what happens in the country.
Can Government prevent this flow of “dangerous” information, as the latest proposals of legislation from parliament attempted to do? The answer is short: No! It was possible during the Cold War. The Russians built a wall across central Europe to keep people and a free flow of information out.
In a technologically driven world every person with a cell phone (and camera), and computer on the desk has the immediate capability to send information all over the world. Every person with a cell phone has the capability to photograph potholes, schools without toilets, policemen asleep on the job and text messages about politicians who buy luxury cars and officials who are corrupt.
This implies that every citizen has the potential to send information, “dangerous” to the Government, abroad.
In this process, if this legislation is pushed for reasons that existed in the previous century, every citizen has
the potential to become the enemy of Government. An effective withholding of information can only be done
when all cell phones are confiscated and all computers smashed.
Government may win in parliament, but is going to lose on the sidewalk of society. This is one avenue Government does not wish to pursue.
With its enormous political capital behind it, the ANC commands the voting power in parliament, but it does not have the doing power. The lack of governing capabilities may eventually result in the domino effect. Individual “problems” like sewage, clean water and education start interacting. The one affects the other and begin a self-driven process that leads to accelerated collapse. There is, for example, little doubt that HIV/AIDS has made the major contribution to the internal collapse of manpower in the defence force. With an HIV-infection of 90% among truck drivers – tested on the border with Swaziland - the impact on the freight industry, and the economy, will be devastating. Public education already is in bad shape, but add HIV-infection to the problem and many schools and universities will find it very difficult to continue teaching.
The most unthinkable result of the domino effect will appear when local government becomes so
dysfunctional that citizens are compelled to take over services on a large scale and in this process
government authority is pushed back to a few urban areas. This will signal the start of a new political system.
How will the decision maker finds his way through this complicated situation?
From 2010 and beyond the quality of expertise and skills of any company or organisation will determine its economic and social survival. What should be assessed here is the level of human capital.
Human capital in combination with other assets such as infrastructure provides the all important intellectual capital – the competitive advantage. Without intellectual capital very little value can be added to any business or society. A clear definition of intellectual capital is also imperative.
Without a clear assessment of human and intellectual capital, society will be unable to regenerate itself.
Dr. J.A. Du Plessis at Intersearch, Tel. +27 12 4606 366 +27 12 4606 366
Source Url: http://www.intersearch.co.za/
AfricanCrisis Webmaster
Author of: Government by Deception
“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
http://www.gpsa.co.za/weekly/wviews.html