Firstly, two people live in one country:- one is the black African South African, including a diverse people from the AmaZulu, to AmaPondo, AmaXhosa, BaPedi, North-Sotho, South- Sotho, BaTswana, Xoi-San and many newcomers from the African continent are at their original home in South Africa.
Secondly and on the other hand, the “former” colonial settler-Caucasians consisting of a mix of Europeans, including the Boers, or Afrikaaners, live in the same land.
Thirdly, in addition to the above, there are Indians and the people of mixed races, the Coloureds. Both (minority) groups remain to act as a buffer between the aforementioned two peoples, living in the south of the African continent.
South Africa has not defined the ‘national interest’. Its alien economic structures reflect just that.
To date, particularly under the centralization of the economies under the umbrella of ‘globalisation’, South Africa’s economy is hostile, exclusively oligopolistic (the historical neo-colonial deadly mix of oligopoly and monopoly), cartelized (to protect the oligopoly and everything outside these structures against possible newcomers) and warehoused (minerals and gem stones mined in Africa, including South Africa, to be manufactured by the G-8 manufacturing industries only and then bought back at huge cost through the said cartels).
The term “free market economy” is misleading and thus bears false witness. In fact, the ‘Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)’ would reflect a more realistic picture of South Africa’s economy. About forty three million Black African South Africans out of a total population of up to 53 million hardly own one percent of the listed shares.
The economically empowered former colonial-apartheid Caucasian side of South Africa feels secure by aligning itself with its original home, the international West. In fact, this group sees itself first and foremost as an ally, as a part of the international West.
Meanwhile, the Caucasian Boers, or Afrikaaners, failed to transform themselves. At the same time, there is no actual link between them and other “global homes”. Some NGO/movement with the name of ‘Afriforum’ now tries to create such a home together with its agricultural partner, ‘AgriForum’, their trade union called “Solidariteit” (Solidarity), its political home, the ‘Freedom Front Plus (FF+)’ and possibly their own secret society, the ‘Afrikaaner Bond’ (AB), formerly known as the ‘Afrikaaner Broederbond’, (‘Boer Brotherhood’).
This secret organisation seems to be an arm of sorts of the ‘Free Masonry’. In addition, the Caucasian Boer has his own church, the ‘Dutch Reformed Church (NGK)’, during colonial-apartheid rule it was internationally described as the ‘Boer Apartheid Church’, or the then ruling “colonial-apartheid Nationalist Party at prayer”.
Meanwhile, it is reported that the aforementioned group has approached the Dutch government to be allowed to receive Dutch passports in order to possibly return to the Netherlands.
It is also observed that the representatives of the white owned economy seem to have no qualms and no scruples to mess up new investments and economic development in other African countries.
This is strange indeed, as the Caucasian economy based in South Africa with its larger investments being in London, would like to be viewed as driving foreign investment particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Such attitude is also out of tune with its own government in Pretoria.
It however seems, the international West has not much in common with its kith-and-kin in southern Africa. It would rather seem that the former colonial-apartheid Caucasian ownership of the economic, religious and judicial status quo is viewed as being in competition with the international Western interests in this region. Canada; the US/UK/EU; Israel; Australia and New Zealand (international West) would like their economic and industrial interests strengthened.
The biggest challenge for all South Africans since 1994 – from government, to business and labour – is the dismal failure to work out common national interests and develop them.
The alien Caucasian economic owners’ attitude is, “Talk to me. I have the capital.” In other words, capital is the ultimate to an extent that the ‘new investors’ from South Africa go as far as badmouthing their own country to achieve great admiration in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.
In fact, the Caucasian owned cartel-cluster of economy, banks and industry and its media do not align themselves with the national South African interest. Hence, it suits the “captains and owners of industry” to further the continuous exclusive interests of “their” economy.
In addition, the foreign owned and controlled media retains its narrow, conformist neo-liberalist petty cash mentality, based on a negative mindset.
In fact, South Africa’s business environment is suffocating, with no space for new and fresh news, analysis and interpretation. For example, whether one picks up the ‘Cape Times’ and/or the ‘Cape Argus’ in Cape Town; the national ‘Sunday Times’ and the other Sunday paper, ‘City Press’; the ‘Star’ and/or the ‘Business Day’ in Johannesburg; or listens to the electronic media of PrimeMedia, or the public-statal broadcaster, SABC – comment and reportage are almost identical.
There is simply no pluralism. A large number of new and fresh ideas, news and views are just shut out of the local public eye. Those, who try to bring new and fresh ideas to the media market, seem to be blacklisted.
Media moguls and captains of industry serve on the various media and editorial boards, as well as on the advertising industry’s boards.
This actually means, democratic South Africa has no space for any form of media freedom, nor freedom of expression. Media and economic ownership are one and the same and could therefore be accused of being an undemocratic syndicate, something the local members of this industry and their network of NGOs and media monitoring structures would not like to hear at all.
Black-African South African leadership on the other hand, promotes the Caucasian owned capital and economy in Africa as South African and as “new investors”. In addition, the new leadership demonstrates its goodwill, hoping to stimulate foreign investment to the benefit of local growth too. An attitude often found is, “Let’s show the international West, we can govern professionally.”
The above development has actually established an unacceptable face of South Africa in the rest of Africa – an ugly face of international Western exploitative capitalism. The country finds itself therefore in a credibility crisis and out of sync with itself.
It is small wonder that dark Third Force elements; xenophobia; taxi strives; organised crime syndicates and their evil acts; violent national “service non-delivery” protests; the unionization of the national security cluster, as well as a host of social wrongs always found in poverty-stricken societies, find a fertile ground in this country, at the same time holding the ANC led government hostage in their own land.
In the meantime, the greater majority of local youth is educated into unemployment. If not urgently addressed, it will become a powderkeg and have a serious influence on South Africa’s future economic and political stablity.
But, an exclusive, oligopolistic, cartelized, warehouse economy and its leaders have an established, historically characteristic of being masters in the game of dangerous sleaze – exclusive boardroom deals, researching and lobbying in order to corrupt and entrap leading politicians. This makes it almost impossible to address aforementioned mass-unemployment.
Their structured poverty for the majority of the people, by keeping them out of the ‘mainstream economy’, is the worst form of human rights abuse in the history of man.
Would it not be fair to ask now, where are all those churches, their religions, the law, the judiciary and the International Crime Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, Europe, in times of these man-inflicted trials and tribulations for the majority of the population of the SADC region? Would it therefore not be fair to observe that the aforementioned structures operate in a value vacuum?
It certainly also affects the Southern African Development Community (SADC) members and beyond.
In the above context one could rightfully ask, is there actually room to live in such an environment and, who is really benefiting?
End.
Afrika: The Other Side of The Coin 