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17 September 2013, 16:51

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With just over a week to go until the Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon veteran paddler Chris Watts has seen and felt everything he is feeling at the moment – 29 times before. He will start the race for the 30th time at the on 27 September and join a prestigious list of four others that have achieved Kingfisher status.

“After my first Fish in 1983 I knew that there was the possibility of carrying and doing more,” Watts said. “I have always lived an active lifestyle and with running and paddling being part of my life the support of my family was the only other thing I needed and they have been incredible!”

Watts will join Andre Rabie, David Gillmer, Rory Anderson and Harold Wattrus in the Kingfisher group of paddlers with Anderson leading the pack with 31 Fishes under his belt compared to the 30 of the other three.

As he prepares for his 30th outing on the 82kilometres down the Fish river from Grassridge dam to Cradock, it seems that there is always something that keeps bringing him back – even from as far afield as China.

“The camaraderie is something that keeps me coming back, the friends that I have made over the years in Cradock – like Ingrid and Ted Collet – as well as the complete change from the Kwa-Zulu Natal rivers and environment.

“It has to been consistently my favourite race on the calendar but a full Umko just pips it!” Watts said.

The race has morphed into one of the biggest races in the country and Watts is proud to be a part of it.

“The race has certainly changed over the years – the most obvious change has to be the amount of paddlers on the water but some new routes on the dam and no wire fences in the river that you have to get out for.

“Keith’s has also gotten easier with more water,” he mentioned.

The plan for 2013 is not elaborate and Watts hopes that it will be a good race for him and his friends son – Gary Clark. The career does not seem to be coming to an end either and as long as he can get down the river Chris Watts is a person you will see at the finish in Cradock for a number of years to come.

“The obvious plan is to finish the race but it is going to be great because I am paddling with my dear friend, Eric Clark’s son, Gary.

“The body still seems to be able to handle what the river brings so I will just have to keep going as long as the body and the mind will allow it!” Watts said jokingly.

One of the more significant achievements that the 2013 Hansa Fish is going to dish up is in the women’s section because Gaye Hosking from Port Elizabeth and Kirsten Oliver from Pietermaritzburg have both entered in 2013 and hope to grab their 20th medal and move into the Fish Eagle category after the race.

Eastern Cape local Gaye Hosking never dreamed that she would be preparing to compete in her 20th Fish this year but once she got into it there was no going back.

“I never thought I would be lining up for my 20th this year to be honest,” Hosking said. “Every year I just kept going back for more and now I have got to 20!”

Hosking is the aunt of one of South Africa’s iconic paddlers Ant Stott and her husband has done 20 in a row so getting into paddling and the race was not too difficult for her.

“I wasn’t a paddler before but my husband did it and said that I would enjoy it so I decided her took me down the following year.

“The whole family has really got involved and my daughters have both done five Fishes so we come back every year for the race,” she added.

Making the trip to the Karoo seems to be a real draw card for a number of the paddlers and Hosking loves the local treatment as well as unspoilt environment.

“Getting together with friends and family in the Karoo for a weekend is a major reason we go every year.

“The unpolluted, guaranteed water levels and great hospitality also keeps bring us back,” mentioned Hosking.

The Hansa Fish River Canoe marathon takes place on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 September.

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18 September 2013, 16:23

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Yet another top-class international crew has been confirmed for the Hansa Fish River Canoe marathon that starts on Friday 27 September, with the arrival of the entry from the familiar face of Jakub Adam and Olympic medallist Lukas Trefil, both from the Czech Republic.

Adam, no stranger to the South African river paddling scene having taken part in the 2012 and 2013 Dusi, 2012 Hansa Fish, 2012 Vaal, and 2013 Drak Challenge among others, had initially lined up this year’s Fish challenge with fellow Czech Michael Odvárko. But it wasn’t to be, as Odvárko was forced to withdraw at the last minute due to personal reasons.

“I was going to paddle with Michael (Odvárko) but unfortunately he then had to change his plans so now I am going to paddle with Lukas Trefil,” explained Adam.

“Lukas is a very good sprint paddler and we’re really looking forward to racing the Fish.

“He is part of the Czech K4 crew who won bronze at the London Olympics last year and this year is European champion as well as a silver medallist at the World Championships in Duisburg in the K4,” he added.

The Adam/Trefil combination is added to an already impressive list of both completely foreign crew as well as a couple of partnerships between local stars and an international ace.

“My sister Anna (Adamová) is coming over and paddling with Abby Adie, Tomáš Slovák is paddling with Tobias Bong of Germany.

“I hear a couple of whitewater paddlers from Czech, Richard Hala and Jan Sramek, are coming over on their own as well so it will be great to have some more international paddlers in the race with us.”

Despite having some familiar faces from home alongside him, as well as the experience of last year’s race to draw on, Adam is uncertain of how the pair will fair and emphasised the value the duo have placed on enjoying their time at the event together, however he did admit that it will be hard for them to ignore their natural competitive side should they have a clean run throughout.

“I don’t know what to except from us because we’ve never sat in a K2 together. Lukas isn’t all that used to paddling on the river and he has been resting for a little while after his sprint season,” summed up Adam.

“However, I will be quite strong from training for the Marathon World Champs and Lukas is still a really strong paddler, as his Olympic bronze medal shows.

“Overall we’re just hoping to enjoy the race and are mainly taking part for fun but if everything goes well for us, then I think we could still manage to get a good result.

Adding to the claim that they’re making the great journey from Europe to Southern Africa primarily to have a good time, Adam credited the great atmosphere of the Hansa Fish and the superb paddling that the event offers as major influences in their decision to embark on this self-funded venture.

“We arrive in South Africa on Tuesday 24 September and will go straight from the airport to Cradock and try spend a little bit of time on the river.

“Even though we didn’t have a sponsor this year we decided to come on our own anyway because the river races in South Africa are so nice so we just had to come take part!” said Adam.

The Hansa Fish River Canoe marathon takes place on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 September.

A flurry of entries from top international paddlers has bolstered an already star-studded field that is assembling for the Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon taking place in Cradock in the Eastern Cape on 27 and 28 September.

Eight elite paddlers from Europe are set to be on the start line in a couple of weeks’ time, with Tobias Bong (Germany), Tomas Slovak, Jakub Adam, Lukas Trefil, Richard Hala, Jony Sramek and Anna Adamova (all Czech Republic) and Valentin Henot (France) all excited by their upcoming Fish adventure.

For Bong, Slovak, Adam and Adamova, it is a welcome return to the Eastern Cape’s paddling major, having competed in the event previously, while this year’s adventure will be a first for Trefil, Hala, Sramek and Henot.

Podium

Germany’s Bong finished eighth in a K1 in 2009 before powering his way onto the bottom step of the podium after an impressive two days with K2 partner Achm Overbeck in 2011. He returns this year once again, hunting a top-three finish, this time with his brand new and untested partner, Slovak.

Slovak, no stranger to the Fish as he too looks to notch up his third finish, previously finished fourth in 2010 with fellow Czech star Robert Knebel before boat admin in 2011 forced them down into sixth place.

Having spent many months in South Africa last year and early this year preparing for last year’s Fish, the 2013 N3TC Drak Challenge and this year’s Dusi Canoe Marathon, Adam will now tackle this year’s challenge with London Olympic K4 bronze medalist Trefil.

Late change

Adam had originally planned to compete with Michael Odvarko, who also has extensive experience of South Africa, but their partnership fell through at the last moment.

In 2012, Adam claimed a decent 15th place finish in a K1 and will be looking to both build on that result, as well as have a good time on the river this time around.

Hala and Sramek make up the third and final all-foreign duo. A talented young pair, they have shown great promise on the European wild water front, while Hala also made a name for himself in the sprint world a little earlier this year.

Women’s race

Adam’s sister, Adamova, who also spent a long period on South African shores towards the end of last year and into 2013, will look to build on her 11th place K1 finish in 2012 when she team’s up with one of South Africa’s most successful female paddlers of recent times, Abby Adie.

The other South African/international pairing sees Frenchman Henot joining the Western Cape’s exciting under-23 talent Ivan Kruger, with the pair looking to worm their way into the top 10 and possibly even stake a claim for a top-five finish.

With all of South Africa’s top river marathoners having already entered, the addition of the elite international stars has sparked even further interest in what many believe will be one of the most exciting and closely-fought K2 editions of the Hansa Fish in many years.

I have lived with Bob Marley for over 35 years. I can’t remember exactly when I fell in love with his beat, his words, his swagger, his patois. But I do remember the day he died in 1981, hearing about it over the radio as a 17-year-old schoolboy at a private school in Northern England.

The following 32 years have not dimmed Marley’s spirit. Indeed, by inexplicable and unforeseeable routes and rivers (and not the media machines by which modern musical “phenomena” such as Justin Bieber are literally manufactured), all that is Bob Marley has spread from his humble first home in Nine Mile, St Ann Parish, Jamaica, into hundreds of millions of minds across all lands and languages.

So, on a recent visit to Jamaica, the possibility of following that road back to its home was unavoidable. The only question really was how it would come about. This account is more story and homage than analysis but (as we approach South Africa’s Heritage Day) visiting Bob Marley at home does offer up the chance for a few reflections on how we could take better advantage of our heritage.

As seems to happen in life, some things that are meant to be fortuitously find ways to make themselves happen. In this case, it was an early morning when I was running along the Seven Mile beach in Negril, Westmorland, when I chanced upon a small group of Rastafarians tending a patch of beach. I passed them with a brief “Ja’mon” (the equivalent of our Howzit or Heyta, but so much deeper and more dignified) but decided to stop and talk on my return. This is how I came to know Dr Love, or Roland Martin if you prefer the mundane.

Dr Love is a 1969-born Rastafarian, who for the past 20 plus years has worked and slept at his “shop” on the beach. The shop is a gallery of not-for-sale carvings and a few tables with lesser objects – ones that are for sale. His famed carvings can be described as variations on the themes of a large penis, but the carvings are not pornographic, sexist or violent. He shares the beach space with his brother Qaby (the carver), Big Dave (who hires boats to tourists further down the beach) and Bob, who seems to float around hustling money from and selling ganja to the same tourists.

I asked Dr Love how I could get to Nine Mile. Predictably (with hindsight) he replied, “I’m your man”. Deciding to put my trust in him and not the official tour operators who worked out of the hotel was something members of my family and the more pompous part of the hotel staff could not understand and felt slightly fearful about. So much so that they transferred some of their distrust to me. (Lesson 1: Heritage and culture is more immediate, authentic and appreciable when it is conveyed by natives of the land, as long as you can trust that you will be safe. More on that in lesson 4.)

The road to Nine Mile is a long one. It involves exiting off the highway between Montego Bay and Kingston and following a beautiful road that winds its way through villages (including Trelawny, the village where Usain Bolt grew up) into the heart of the hills/mountains that form the backbone of Jamaica. Bob Marley inhabits the Jamaican air: he is in the tame neutered piped music of hotels and the airport, sung at you by tour guides, quoted and chanted by Rastas, seen on T-shirts galore. But despite this there are only a few small and indistinct signs that point your way on this 50 km stretch of road. Give thanks to Dr Love for knowing the way!

Unlike the coast, the Jamaican inland is unspoilt by transnational tourist corporations. (Lesson 2: There’s nothing wrong with the tourism industry except when it’s run and owned by foreign corporations with no love for the land.) Alpine-like hills, but with tropical vegetation; a succession of small, poor and dignified villages with quaint parish churches; a green that is almost English but a population that is black (no thanks to the English who shipped African people there as slaves after they wrested control of Jamaica from the Spanish). (Lesson 3: The geography and remnants of missions are not that different from parts of Eastern Cape, where the English also built their churches in their misguided quest to “civilize”.)

Eventually, you know that you are almost at Marley’s home when you pass the Cedella Marley Booker Basic School, named after Marley’s mother, its walls decorated with frescoes of Bob and other Rastafarian prophets.

When we arrived, dizzy with finally being there, we were quickly hustled by a Rasta who told us there were two tours: “the Marley plantation”, then “the Marley house”.

I had expected more time for reflection and choice but within seconds of leaving Dr Love’s car we were in the plantation, surrounded by a forest of different types of marijuana plant (one called an AK-47), as well as a variety of other plants, vegetables and fruits that are grown in what is said to be Bob’s garden. Fleetingly, I worried whether we were being hustled and how to regain control. But there was no cause for concern and I began to resent this intrusive distrusting self. (Lesson 4: I resent this self because it made me understand that distrust of ordinary people has become a default position for many of us, particularly I believe, in South Africa. Distrust should be earned, not assumed.)

(Lesson 5: We weren’t hustled, hence lesson 4.) We found our way out of the plantation a few dollars shorter, but frankly who should care if your surplus money is a way of supporting the local economy.

And then into the Bob Marley mausoleum. The Mausoleum is surprisingly private and reflective. It seems to be run by the local community, not hijacked by multinational record companies or those that fed off Marley. Of course I may be wrong.

Essentially, it’s the remains of Marley’s childhood home, with post-Marley touristic appendages, and the two mausoleum’s where the bodies of Marley, his brother and mother have been placed to sit out the rest of time. This little cluster of buildings sits on the side of “Mount Zion” with a view over neighbouring hills. It has a quiet and a dignity. Marley’s single room, yard, still with his thinking stone (a stone in the yard where we were told he would sit and reflect) and stone fire where the family cooked are the heart of the museum. But when combined with the view, the sense of his mortal remains in the marble vault just a few feel behind the house, the patter of the Rasta guide and the wafts of ganja smoke that pervade the air, it is impossible not to experience a sense of wonder.

The wonder is not only about Marley, but also about human possibility. You wonder how a poorly educated country boy could dream up some of the greatest lyrics and melodies of the twentieth century; you discover that fervour does not have to belong to religions; you consider that in the age of the camera, the video and YouTube life can continue long after life has passed.

But now to bring it back home. Last week I visited Steve Biko’s ill-tended garden of remembrance in Ginsberg. I wondered why one of the leading members of what Eastern Cape tourism calls the “Province of Legends” is not afforded the dignity his life deserved? Why is there no local economy around the life of Steve Biko, or Archibald Campbell Jordan or Tiyo Soga or R L Peteni or the Cradock Four or Lovedale College, all parts of Eastern Cape’s vast and complex heritage. Beyond the Tyumie mountains there are a thousand other such people and places in South Africa that ethical tourists would seek out. We have our own stock of local boys and girls with the vision of universal giants. We also have local people and historians who would happily tend their memory. They are part of our tale.

So why are we are missing an opportunity to create local ownership and an economy around a history that boasts many people as inspired and inspirational, albeit different from, Bob Marley? Why do we not find better means to keep alive the legends and the history that inspired Marley’s vision in prescient songs such as “War”, where he declared:

And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
That hold our brothers in Angola,
In Mozambique,
South Africa
Sub-human bondage
Have been toppled,
Utterly destroyed –
Well, everywhere is war –
Me say war.

DM

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12 September 2013, 10:12

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With the Hansa Fish River Canoe marathon, and its precursor warm-up event the Pre-Fish occupying paddlers’ attention this month, organisers are closely monitoring the water quality in the river and urging paddlers to take precautions to safeguard any open wounds.

Last year a Cape paddler was hospitalised after a gash on his leg became infected, and tests revealed that he had picked up a water borne bacteria during the race.

In response to this incident, the Department of Water Affairs has started regular testing on the river, and the race medics have been briefed to be on hand to assist paddlers to disinfect any scratches or gashes suffered during the race.

Over the past six months tests have been conducted along the Great Fish and Brak Rivers in order to determine the quality of the water. The results highlighted the presence of E.coli in the water but found that generally the quality of the water was still within safe norms for canoeing.

Samples were taken from just above and below Grassridge Dam, at the Brak River weir and below Cradock Weir and tested for a number of different elements including ammonia levels, faecal coliforms, E. coli and the pH levels in the river.

The ammonia levels that were recorded at the four sample sites in August were higher than the levels that were recorded in March. Although this could be of concern the people responsible for the testing suggest that the levels of ammonia are not of any risk to the paddlers and have increased due to agricultural effluents.

The pH of the Fish River is stable and it is well within the suggested bracket of 6-9 and over the last five months the levels have only risen slightly.

The area of concern for paddlers is the E. coli levels in the water. Three of the four sites returned results well within safe levels, while only the results below Cradock Weir showed higher levels of E.coli bacteria. The tests in March at Cradock weir returned a reading of 120 counts per 100ml, well inside the safe limit, but recent tests have been up to 610 counts per 100ml.

“The levels of Escherichia coli (pathogen) and faecal coliforms (indicator organisms) are not excessive compared to other river systems in South Africa,” concluded the latest report from the Department of Water Affairs.

In terms of the faecal coliforms in the river they are not as high as the E. coli but there is still an element of risk at the sampling point below the Cradock Weir. The levels that were captured in March were at 146 counts per 100ml and then in the August study they had increased to 750 counts per 100ml. The chances of gastrointestinal health effects are still relatively high and can be expected at these sorts of levels.

The ultimate outcome of the tests was that the river is in a fairly good state and the quality of the water is of a good enough quality that the paddlers should not feel in danger. With the higher levels of E. coli it is important that paddlers practice precaution when they are on the river and they make sure that they use every opportunity to disinfect any wounds that they might pick up as well as avoid drinking the water.

While the cautious approach from the race organisers and the local DWAF officials have been welcomed, the current readings of the water quality compare favourably with those used by the organisers of the Dusi Canoe Marathon in KwaZulu-Natal.

Driven by the Duzi Umgeni Conservation Trust (DUCT) a set of water quality standards have been put in place specifically for canoeing. The Dusi standards state that any E.coli reading below 2000 counts per 100ml is “excellent canoeing quality”, and up to 25 000 parts per 100 ml is “tolerable for canoeing.”

The race organisers are confident that the water poses no significant threat to the race, but have urged paddlers who suffer cuts and any open wounds to have these treated by the race medical personnel at the finish of each day of the race.

The race organisers have also created a new page on the race website where all the information from the regular water testing by the Department of Water Affairs will be displayed.

The Hansa Fish River Canoe marathon takes place on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 September.

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12 September 2013, 17:20

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A flurry of entries from top international paddlers has created a real stir in the already star-studded field that is assembling for the Hansa Fish River Canoe marathon in Cradock on 27 and 28 September.

Eight elite paddlers from Europe are set to be on the start line in a couple of weeks’ time with Tobias Bong (Germany), Tomáš Slovák, Jakub Adam, Lukáš Trefil, Richard Hala, Jony Sramek and Anna Adamová (all Czech Republic) and Valentin Henot (France) all excited by their upcoming Hansa Fish adventure.

For Bong, Slovák, Adam and Adamová it is a welcome return to the Eastern Cape’s paddling major having competed in the event previously while this year’s adventure will be a first for Trefil, Hala, Sramek and Henot.

Germany’s Bong finished eighth in a K1 in 2009 before powering his way onto the bottom step of the podium after an impressive two days with K2 partner Achm Overbeck in 2011. Bong returns this year once again hunting a top three finish, this time with his brand new and untested partner – Slovák.

Slovák, himself no stranger to the Fish as he too looks to notch up his third finish, has previously finished fourth in 2010 with fellow Czech star Robert Knebel before boat admin in 2011 forced them down into sixth.

Having spent many months in South Africa last year and early this year preparing for last year’s Fish, the 2013 N3TC Drak Challenge and this year’s Dusi Canoe Marathon, Adam will now tackle this year’s challenge with London Olympic K4 bronze medallist Trefil in another combination that will enjoy its debut in Cradock after original plans to paddle with fellow South Africa-experienced countryman Michael Odvarko fell through at the last moment.

Adam claimed a decent 15th place finish in a K1 in 2012 and will be looking to both build on this as well as have a good time on the river this time around.

Hala and Sramek make up the third and final all-foreign duo with the talented young pair who have shown great promise in on the European wild water front while Hala also made a name for himself in the sprint world a little earlier this year.

Adam’s sister, Adamová – who also spent a vast period on South African shores towards the end of last year and early 2013 – will look to build on her 11th place K1 finish in 2012 when she team’s up with one of South Africa’s most successful female paddlers of recent times, Abby Adie.

The other South African/international pairing sees Frenchman Henot joining Western Cape’s exciting under 23 talent Ivan Kruger as the pair look to worm their way into the top ten and possibly even stake a claim for a top five finish.

With all of South Africa’s top river marathoners having already ensured their names are on the entry list, the addition of these elite international stars has sparked even further interest in what many believe will be one of the most exciting and closely fought K2 editions of the Hansa Fish in many years.

The Hansa Fish River Canoe marathon takes place on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 September.

South Africa

Cradock – The race for the women’s title at the Fish River canoe Marathon was spiced up substantially with the entry of Olympic bronze medallist Bridgitte Hartley, who has teamed up with former K2 champ Robyn Kime for the two-day 82km race on 27 and 28 September.

Hartley, who has jetted home from the world sprint championships, where she featured in the A final of her key 500m K1 event, opted to race the Breede marathon last weekend with Kime as an opportunity to get in some important race time together before the Fish weekend.

Hartley took part in the Fish last year, racing in a K3 in support of the Corne Krige charity drive, but this year her she has teamed up with Kime to try and clinch a premier domestic river title to add to her impressive sprint and flatwater credentials.

“With the build-up to the next Olympics, this will be my last real chance to have a go at a major local race, and I would really like to win a big race before I get into the build-up to the Rio Games.

“It is important to me and my career,” said Hartley.

“I had so much fun doing the race in a K3 last year.

“After the Breede I am feeling really excited to do the Fish.

“It is also great to spend time with the other paddlers, as I tend to be away from home a lot during the year.”

Hartley, who is very much a “feel” paddler, said that combining with Kime had been easy, and she was able to adapt to her stroke and the demands of the river racing technique quickly.

“It hasn’t messed with my sprint technique at all,” said Hartley.

“In fact when I got back into my sprint training this year after a summer doing river races in South Africa my coach actually said that my technique was better than it usually was at that stage in the year.”

Kime won the Hansa Fish K2 title with Michéle Eray in 2010, and has been one of the most consistent elite women’s marathoners in domestic river racing.

She won the silver medal at the world marathon championships in her Under 23 age group in 2012.

“I have taken a long break from paddling, and have been trail running, so it felt good to get back into a boat again,” said Kime, who got back into serious training a month ago.

“The Hansa Fish is one of the prime river titles, one of the majors, and it is one that we would love to win if we can,” she said.

The proposal to paddle together came after Kime’s successful defence of her Dusi title, when Hartley mooted the idea of paddling the early part of the summer season together.

“We jumped into a boat together in Pietermaritzburg, just to see if we were comfortable.

“Then last weekend we did the Breede, and I am glad we did because it took us a while to settle down,” said Kime.

“By the end of the second day we were completely settled in the boat.”

“I was also pleased with our fitness levels,” she added.

“The Breede was full so the days were shorter, but we both felt good.

“Day one of the Fish will be over three hours, so I will keep working hard on my training for that.

“Bridgitte is super to paddle with in a K2,” said Kime. “She is stable and super solid, so I am looking forward to doing the Fish with her.”

Hartley will fly straight to Port Elizabeth from her commitments to the world marathon championships in Copenhagen, and should be in Cradock some time on the Tuesday of the race week.

“That will give us enough time to set the boat up and do trip the key sections before the race,” said Kime.

“Travel is not usually a problem for me because I sleep really well on the plane,” added Hartley. “I can never even make it through a movie!”

The pair will be locked in a needle tussle for the women’s laurels, as a number of top quality crews have entered the female division, including Michelle Burn and Danica Bartho, and both defending champions Hilary Pitchford and Abby Adie committed to racing with different partners this year.

Kime will be paddling in the colours of Stellenbosch University, where she is finishing her engineering masters degree.

The club has a reputation of making the most of the Hansa Fish, both on and off the water.

Club protocol is unpredictable, but often requires their members to dye their hair, or complete specific feats during the race.

Last year Kime was required to stand up in her K1 as she crossed the line, mimicking Andy Birkett’s signature move when he crosses the Dusi finish line.

“I haven’t heard what I will have to do this year, but I will just follow instructions when they come,” said Kime, who as a former chairperson of the club might receive some leniency from the current officialdom.

The Fish River canoe marathon takes place on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 September.

Pilani Clinic is often the first point of care for patients from Cradock, Eastern Cape but it is often not their last as systemic shortages fuel a referral system that is costing patient lives and money.

“Phone an ambulance? My dear, phoning an ambulance doesn’t even cross my mind. In my seven years at Pilani Clinic, I have never seen an ambulance at this clinic,” says Sister Sylvia Horner.

Horner and a nursing assistant, Selena Arends, run the rural clinic that sees up to 1 800 patients a month. Yet it has no electricity, only one outside tap and frequent medicine shortages.

Patients who need to be transferred to Canzibe Hospital, the closest district hospital in the Nqileni district, have to find their own way there.

Recently, there was no antiretroviral medicine for three months, while vaccines for children and common medicines for treating conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and pain are often out of stock.

Horner has persuaded the local shop owner to keep temperature-sensitive medicine in his fridge, and walks to the (ARV depot) herself to fetch medicine.

Patients referred to Canzibe Hospital don’t fare that much better. Two Dutch doctors are trying to keep services going. But the hospital serves 11 clinics, and 80-100 patients can be found in the outpatients department alone every day. This is aside from the 80 inpatients. The doctors can thus only manage to see the sickest of these.

Pregnant women who need Caesarean deliveries have to be referred to St Barnabus Hospital, an hour’s drive away. Yet there is seldom transport to take them there.

There is no pharmacist and a serious shortage of nurses. The X-ray machine doesn’t work because management failed to have it serviced, the hospital often runs out of oxygen.

Taken from “Death and Dying in the Eastern Cape: An investigation into the collapse of a health system,” a production by the Treatment Action Campaign and Section27.

Neville Alexander

AT THE recent Neville Alexander Memorial Conference, Pallo Jordan, a prominent member of the African National Congress (ANC), presented the keynote address entitled “Waiting for October.” Jordan’s title, taken from Leon Trotsky’s letter to the Workers’ Party of South Africa (WPSA), implied that South African Trotskyists–as embodied by Alexander–ineffectually waited for a social revolution, while it was the Congress Movement that actually engaged in struggle and overthrew the apartheid regime.

This reasoning epitomizes the ongoing and widespread misrepresentation of the South African left. So, to mark the anniversary of Alexander’s death on August 27, it is perhaps appropriate to set the historical record straight.

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Black Consciousness and Congress Movement

The watershed event in contemporary South African history, i.e. the youth uprising of 1976, was undoubtedly inspired by the Black Consciousness (BC) movement. Nelson Mandela even acknowledged, though euphemistically, that Steve Biko was “the spark that lit a veld fire across South Africa.”

Biko, of course, lit up the inextinguishable fire of liberation for an entire generation to not only shatter the shackles of a slave mentality, but to also rise up in enormous numbers against the apartheid regime. The liberating values of the BC movement of self-pride and self-reliance undeniably played a pivotal role in the creation of many layers of political activists and the blossoming of mass organizations throughout the country.

It was indeed the BC movement that laid the solid groundwork for the countrywide mobilization against the tri-cameral parliament and the total discrediting of the apartheid regime. A respondent to Jordan, Lybon Mabasa, the president of the Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA), reminded the conference that it was the National Forum (NF) that produced and distributed 4 million copies of the legendary pamphlet against the tri-cameral parliament and the Koornhof Bills throughout the length and breadth of the country.

This, of course, was hardly the action of a left waiting vainly for the South Africa October to occur. In fact, the apartheid parliament was never accepted by the oppressed and the mobilization against it represented a tremendous victory. And this laid the basis for the revolutionary situation that existed in the mid-1980s in parts of the country. As much as the Congress Movement would be loath to concede to this, it was this underpinning that the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Congress Movement (CM) benefited from.

So what transpired during the seminal year of 1983? The NF was formed in June 1983 as a united front of 267 organizations of the radical, Black consciousness and socialist political streams. The UDF was initiated three months later, in August 1983, as a popular front of the liberal-democratic, non-racial and non-sectarian political current.

The political differences between the NF and the UDF were initially of a non-antagonistic nature. For a former Robben Island prisoner, Marcus Solomon, for example, it was a principled choice not to split the Woodlands Civic Association of which he was a member. That civic formation took a democratic decision to join the UDF, which was at the outset a non-sectarian front of 700 civic structures.

Solomon’s comrade, Alexander, on the other hand, belonged to the Lotusriver Civic Association, which was affiliated to the Cape Action League. Indeed, the stance taken by political activists like Solomon was an expression of democracy in action. In 1991, Solomon joined up again with Alexander in the Workers’ Organization for Socialist Action (WOSA).

Alas, as the ANC played a negligible part in the 1976 uprising and the mass mobilizations against the tri-cameral parliament and the Koornhof Bills, it eventually commandeered the UDF and, in this political context, it supposedly became a non-racial formation (only) in 1986 when so-called non-Africans (including the descendants of the Khoisan!) could be voted onto the central committee of that multiracial organization.

In practice, with ANC dominance, the UDF swiftly lost its non-sectarian and non-racial character. The initiative for the UDF apparently came from people in the Congress Movement like Pravin Gordhan and Trevor Manuel, who were ultimately among the chief implementers of neoliberalism in post-apartheid South Africa. And, of course, this neoliberalism is the actual legacy of the UDF and the ANC.

Whatever the case may be, the ANC’s Operation Vula [which smuggled anti-apartheid fighters and weapons into South Africa in the late 1980s] suggests that the organization was essentially absent and was unsuccessful in setting up any organized leadership structure inside the country until almost the late 1980s. Does this mean that it was the ANC that played the waiting game? Perhaps this clarifies why the ANC failed to engage in any significant form of armed struggle!

From the outset, the UDF obtained huge funding from the Scandinavian governments and churches and enjoyed substantial backing from the “white” liberal section–including big business and the liberal media. This was unquestionably the key reason for its ability to marginalize the NF.

The mid-1980s were also the most violent period ever in South African history. The death squads of the apartheid regime targeted thousands of the most radical activists, while the political activists of the UDF/CM were determined–often violently–to sideline the NF.

For the historical record, the Unity Movement–an organization that, over many decades, produced outstanding activists and whose political ideas remain influential–also held a preliminary conference in December 1983 (but only formally launched the New Unity Movement in April 1985).

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Alexander and Biko

The president of SOPA was moved to state unequivocally at the conference that Alexander cannot be held accountable for Biko’s death. It appears that a deliberate misinformation campaign is spreading the rumor that Alexander contributed to–or was even responsible–for the death of Biko. Now, it goes without saying that this is extremely serious, and it is, once again, vital to correct the historical picture.

Firstly, Biko did not plan to only meet with Alexander in the Western Cape and–according to Armien Abrahams–Alexander informed Biko in advance to cancel the meeting before he had even left King William’s Town. Referring to Biko, Abrahams confirmed that: “[L]ong before he planned this fateful trip I advised on Neville’s instruction to cancel the arranged meeting.”

Secondly, Alexander’s main concern was that he did not have a political mandate from his political comrades to meet with Biko. This was in keeping with Alexander’s principled politics. It should be highlighted that if Alexander had met with Biko, it would have been easy for the apartheid security police to show that he had broken his banning order and that he would have ended up for another five years in prison–which would not have served much of a purpose.

There is certainly nothing to romanticize about being tortured by security police. Nevertheless, Alexander was certainly needed outside prison and without a doubt played a leading part in the dissemination of leftist ideas during the mass mobilizations. This in due course contributed to the radical upsurge of the 1984-86 juncture, which was, in the final analysis, the primary impetus for the political negotiations [that ended apartheid in the 1990s].

Indeed, despite the propaganda, Alexander had nothing to do with Biko’s death and, on the contrary, regarded him as a comrade. And perhaps the real issue concerns the lack of political will to have Nuremburg-type trials even for those security police who were really responsible for Biko’s death.

If anything, Alexander appeared to have been consistently harassed. At [ANC militant] Matthew Goniwe’s [1985] funeral in Cradock, for example, Alexander was directly threatened that he would be dealt with for writing so critically about the ANC by a well-known leader of that political organization in the Western Cape today. The irony of this happening in Alexander’s hometown is truly remarkable.

Soon after the formation of the Anti-Privatisation Forum in July 2000, as another illustration, the modest Alexander family home in Lotusriver was fire-bombed twice and the family was compelled to put in place prison-like security measures. Who petrol-bombed the house and turned it into another prison? This was a constant pattern as, in the run-up to the 1994 elections, the administrator of WOSA was car-jacked and, on a separate occasion, her car was tampered with in an attempt to cause an accident.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
WLP and WOSA

A long list of people smirks about the Workers’ List Party (WLP) only getting 4,169 votes in the 1994 elections [which brought the ANC to power]. For they assume that a liberal-democratic election is a neutral event that takes place above and outside power relations.

Is this really the case? What emerged during the 1994 elections? The electoral commission acknowledged that the far-right sabotaged their computer system and that the final number of votes made public was negotiated. The most pertinent aspect of this is to reflect on what the role of the ANC leadership was in that charade.

Was there a deliberate attempt to marginalize the left wing? In order to register for the 1994 elections, political parties needed to gather 10,000 votes–with full address and identity number. The WLP managed to collect these votes all over the country within a few days, while a nationwide poll by the monthly magazine, Barometer on Negotiation, showed that nearly 60 percent of ‘black’ people supported the idea of a separate workers’ party to represent them politically.

Could the WLP really only have gotten 4,000 votes? The final results were clearly an estimate. The WLP did not for instance receive votes in areas where it knew it had support. The votes assigned to the organization by the electoral commission seem so obviously to have been an intentional underestimation designed to demoralize the leftists.

At the same time, while the WLP had to borrow 25,000 rand to register with the electoral commission, the ANC had a budget of 168 million rand for the 1994 elections! Could the left compete with such resources? In fact, the ANC consented to a World Bank loan for the country even before the 1994 elections.

And, it is in particular in this context that the criticism of [British socialist] Alex Callinicos, as an example, against WLP/WOSA for not voting for the ANC, or for that matter, the minority WOSA tendency that was influenced by elements in the Fourth International to agitate for a critical vote for the ANC, becomes so astonishing. The ANC had signaled its intent to effect austerity measures even prior to the elections, but yet some in the Left were of the view that an independent and radical organization like WLP/WOSA should vote for the neoliberal, multi-class and predominantly Black nationalist ANC. Callinicos even had the temerity to assert that WLP/WOSA was “justly punished” by the low votes for not casting its ballots for the ANC!

Of course, in particular after the Marikana massacre [of striking platinum miners in August 2012], which is the logical outcome of the ANC’s neoliberalism, it should be apparent that these political streams spectacularly misconstrued the political situation in 1994.

The WLP was formed as an alliance or front toward an independent and non-Stalinist mass workers’ party in South Africa. That political formation announced publicly that it was primarily campaigning for the building of a mass workers’ party and a right to work campaign. This is another way of saying that the organization was far-sighted enough to prepare for the struggles that waited in the post-apartheid social formation.

At the time, Alexander, the deputy chairperson of the WLP, stated: “After the elections, the focus will shift from ‘race’ to class. It is with this in mind that workers will have to have an instrument of their own through which they can wage their battle for socialism.”

With regards to WOSA, it had three political tendencies in the intense (internal) democratic debates during the months leading up to the 1994 elections. The majority embraced participation in the elections with a view to propagate the formation of an (independent) mass workers’ party.

The second WOSA platform proposed a critical vote for the ANC, while an even smaller number of members advocated a boycott. But most WOSA members were in agreement about celebrating with the oppressed that the terrible yoke of apartheid was finally lifted, but that political consciousness should simultaneously be raised around the idea of a mass workers’ party.

Various committees toward a mass workers’ party were established, but by the time the elections happened–due to several reasons–the WLP mainly consisted of WOSA, the Independent Socialist Movement and (individual) trade unionists, grassroots activists, teachers, youth, etc. It was certain that WLP/WOSA would not get a substantial number of votes due to the downturn in the working-class struggle, but the organization was in the forefront of a process around which the entire radical left-wing could have coalesced.

If the organization had participated in the 1994 elections as WOSA–that had a national public profile–and with Alexander’s picture on the ballot paper, would the electoral commission and the ANC leadership have been more circumspect with the number of votes given to it?

Although a moot point, this validates the contention that votes were hardly of significance to WLP/WOSA and, in any case, Alexander vehemently rejected the top position in the WLP as he did not want his photo to appear on a ballot. Besides the situation that the WLP was virtually unknown, the chairperson of the organization was a trade unionist, Proff Ndlovu, who was not even in South Africa in the run-up to the 1994 elections and who did not address a single meeting inside the country.

Simply getting a photo of Ndlovu for the ballot was a challenge as he was away on a speaking tour organized by Socialist Action in the U.S. and doing a trade union course at Rutgers University.

The split in WOSA was an outcome of the critical vote tendency being unwilling to adhere to a democratic ethos, but it was also a manifestation of what the left was experiencing throughout the globe. The demise of the Soviet Union and the hegemony of the neoliberal paradigm in the 1990s placed the left all over the world on the defensive and disorganized it.

In WOSA, as in all organizations, there were also clashes of personalities and the normal ebb and flow of daily life that take activists in and out of formations. Regrettably, the shenanigans from the small boycott faction in WOSA played a role.

With Alexander out of the country at the time, for instance, the boycott faction managed to get a member of the organization to proclaim on public television, with Richard Dudley, the president of the New Unity Movement, and, Itumeleng Mosala, the president of the Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO), that WOSA would not participate in the 1994 elections! The South African Broadcasting Corporation hastily terminated the television program within a few minutes, but the boycott theme definitely impacted on the political message of the organization.

Nevertheless, the left only performs well in liberal-democratic elections during times of intensified social class struggle. Compared to the 1984 period, it was precisely due to the downturn in working-class struggle 10 years later that the 1994 elections were permitted to materialize by the ruling elite.

Although cognizant of this, WOSA consistently reasoned that fundamental change only comes about through mass action and that the building of a mass workers’ party would remain on the political agenda in the struggle toward a situation of dual power. Some leftists criticized WOSA for purportedly building a reformist party, but the organization contended that a small secretive political body could only attain political power in a weak underdeveloped country (and be unable to hold onto it for long), but not in the kind of society that South Africa is.

With WOSA waning in 2010, Alexander persisted with the Truth Movement (TM) and the Public Participation in Education Network (PPEN). The TM was an endeavor to bring together, once more, socialist and (radical) black consciousness activists, while the PPEN aspired to tackle the education crisis. Other WOSA members have continued with leading positions in, for example, the Democratic Left Front (DLF), the Palestinian Solidarity Committee and the Marxist Study Group (Namibia).

Finally, throughout the letter to the WPSA, Trotsky describes the ANC as the “National Congress.” Did he fathom that the word “African” was used in such a confined way by the ANC? Trotsky also explicitly remarked that “[t]he thesis brings out as the main political slogan not a ‘national democratic State,’ but a South African ‘October’.”

In other words, Trotsky alluded to the exact opposite of what the ANC did! Be that as it may, we never stop pondering how those ANC intellectuals that espoused the notion of a colonialism of a special kind, would depict the current political situation in South Africa. Would it be a neocolonialism of a special kind? Or would it be a neoliberal “Black” republic? We eagerly await, in a spirit of democratic dialogue, their riposte.

The historical record confirms that Alexander never considered himself as a Trotskyist and in fact maintained that “there is no single perfectly correct variant of Marxism. Its corollary is that nobody alive today has any blueprint for socialism.” Did the keynote speaker at the conference raise the red herring of Alexander’s alleged Trotskyism at the conference to deftly sidestep critical questions about the ANC?

Almost exactly 20 years ago, in an article “Don’t dismiss a workers’ party,” which was a response to [leading SACP member] Jeremy Cronin’s insinuation that WOSA/WLP was acting on behalf of the apartheid regime’s intelligence service, Alexander noted that those leftists who oppose political opportunism are usually immediately decried as “Trotskyites” or “fascists.”

During the conference, Jordan wondered facetiously what the WLP would have done if it had won the 1994 elections. Well, instead of implementing neoliberal barbarism–as the ANC had done–the WLP would have seized the mines and the factories and would have co-organized the working class to run these along democratic lines.

In other words, that organization would have initiated a political program for the socially just redistribution of resources. Furthermore, the WLP would have immediately taken this radical agenda to the rest of southern Africa and beyond. Our optimism of willpower inspires us to declare that this is what will transpire when–not “if”–the Azanian October arrives. Was the uprising of 1984-86 a dress rehearsal?

This article was first published at Countercurrents.org.

Michiel Heyns on Etienne van Heerden: A Stranger in a Strange Land

By Michiel Heyns for The Sunday Times

In Love’s Place
Etienne van Heerden (Penguin)

Etienne van Heerden’s novels have been translated into twelve languages – no mean achievement for any novelist, but perhaps the more so for a novelist who has remained so faithful to his founding inspiration in his native land. The publication of In Love’s Place, Leon de Kock’s translation of In Stede van die Liefde, marks another milestone in the career of this prolific, versatile and internationally acclaimed novelist.

Having grown up on farms in the Graaff-Reinet and Cradock districts, Van Heerden, at present the Hofmeyr Professor in the School of Language and Literature at the University of Cape Town, has retained his Karoo boyhood as a powerful element in his fiction. As the Dutch critic Herman de Coninck commented, Van Heerden’s novels are as essential to an understanding of South Africa as those of Amos Oz, Salman Rushdie and Gabriel Marquez are to a grasp of their respective native lands.

The themes introduced in Toorberg, his first full-length novel (1986), recur in much of his later work: the individual against the group, the bonds, both sustaining and constricting, of family, race, nation and country; the burden of the past and the challenge of the future; the rootedness of farm life and the dangerous appeal of the city.

His most overtly political novel was Casspirs en Campari’s (1991), subtitled An historical entertainment. Written at the time of transition to democracy, the novel explores, dare I say entertainingly, the absurdities of the apartheid regime and the exigencies of the struggle. It may also be Van Heerden’s most hopeful to date.

Since then, Van Heerden has frequently returned, in novels like Die Stoetmeester (1993, translated as Leap Year), Kikoejoe (1996, translated as Kikuyu) and Die Swye van Mario Salviati (2000, translated as The Long Silence of Mario Salviati) to the theme of the alienated Afrikaner, attached to and yet resentful of a heritage both enriching and constricting. This was most strikingly embodied in Zan de Melker in 30 Nights in Amsterdam, who is at odds with both her domestic and her national context: obsessively promiscuous and epileptic, she scandalises the conservative community of Graaff Reinet; and as a political dissident she falls foul of the South African security establishment.

Zan is representative of any number of Van Heerden’s characters who, feeling themselves estranged from their milieu, look to Europe for more a congenial cultural context. Thus, though his work is strongly marked by his rural background, Van Heerden’s novels differ from the stereotypical ‘farm novel’ in that many of his main characters are sophisticated cosmopolites.

In In Love’s Place, the protagonist, Christian Lemmer, is a dealer in African art, commuting between Johannesburg and Cape Town, but also between Berlin, Antwerp and New York, world cities providing alternative perspectives on his native country. Even his comfortable home in complacent Stellenbosch, with a loving if troubled wife and a no more than normally rebellious son, leaves him unsatisfied. He tries to reconcile his attachment to his cosy nuclear family with his suppressed rebellion by renting a clandestine flat in Sea Point, surrounded by drugs, gangsters and prostitutes.

And yet Lemmer is not at home in this alternative Africa either, adhering to one of Van Heerden’s recurring themes: the estrangement of the enlightened Afrikaner both from an African context inhospitable to ideas of Afrikaans nationhood or identity, and from the repressive conservatism that for a long time characterised Afrikaner thinking and behaviour.

This ambivalence enables Van Heerden to survey, often sardonically, the rituals both of the prosperous suburbanites and of the criminal classes. Characteristically, Van Heerden places these urban strains against the simpler concerns of the countryside – in this instance, the little community of Matjiesfontein, centred on the Lord Milner Hotel, the little hamlet’s link with the greater world speeding past on the N1. In this instance, the obstreperous son of Christian Lemmer abandons his violin in the dirt road in front of the hotel, unintentionally creating a disastrous disruption of the little community, as the young Coloured girl, Snaartjie Windvogel, discovers her own miraculous musical gift.

It has been said that a novelist can achieve the universal only through an intimate knowledge of the particular, and Van Heerden’s distinction lies in his supreme command of the particular, the local, the national, which he can then, with no sense of strain, extend to the larger themes relating his novels to an international context.

The inventiveness of his language presents a daunting challenge to a translator, a challenge that Leon de Kock’s agile translation readily meets. In Love’s Place, through this translation, becomes a valuable addition to South African literature in English.

– @MichielHeyns1 Heyns’ latest novel is Invisible Furies (Jonathan Ball)

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INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

Sheepish small town stories. Pictures: Myrtle Ryan

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Middelburg, Eastern Cape – Centuries ago, a man fled Denmark after throwing his brother out of a window. Afraid of being charged with murder, he made his way to the Cape Colony and settled on a farm where he carved a message on the rocks. “The year 1780 April. This farm was founded by Andries Gottlieb Schoonbeeck from Denmark. Locusts like sand.”

Known as the Schoonbeesklip, this casual etching from the past is located north of Middelburg; and what Schoonbeeck did not know is that his brother did not die in that plunge from the window.

It is snippets of information like this which fascinate modern-day tourists and, thankfully, plagues of locusts no longer descend in black clouds across the land.

Rialize Hayes, of the Middelburg Tourism Office, seemed as busy as a locust, but she took time out to tell me about her home town, mentioning their delight at the increasing number of tourists from KwaZulu-Natal.

It could be said I, too, have some ties with both Middelburg and Cradock, as my grandmother was born on a farm between the two towns. But enough of the family history…

Like many of our country towns, Middelburg came into being in 1852, as a church town. Roads from Colesberg, Steynsburg, Cradock, Graaff-Reinet and Richmond converge here from all directions, like spokes into the hub of a wheel.

A close up of Persie’s grave. Picture supplied.

.

It is the half-way point between Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth, while the R56 begins here and heads eastward as far as Pietermaritzburg. So it is not difficult to see why it was given the name Middelburg.

Approaching from the south from Graaff-Reinet, over the dramatic Lootsberg Pass, makes for a scenic arrival, especially in winter when the pass is often closed due to heavy snowfalls.

Visitors to the town can burnish their history shields… stories and places of interest abound. Completed in 1862, the Gereformeerde Kerk is the oldest church building of this community in the country. Declared a national monument in 1979, it is still in use.

The charming Anglican Church has old ivy creeping over stone, while the separate, wooden bell tower is unusual.

The children at the Karel Theron Primary School attend classes in a magnificent Victorian building which, founded in 1880 by a Mr David Wilcocks, began life on a different site where the magistrate’s offices are today. In 1908, the school moved to its current elegant premises. The school grew from having just two teachers to being the biggest primary school in the Cape Province. It was declared a national monument in 1992.

Not all parents could afford such a fine education, so The Poor School was opened in 1898. In 1982, it became the Cultural History Museum, a small mine of fascinating memorabilia. There’s information pertaining to the Anglo-Boer War, as well as figures who had their roots set in the soil of this town: such as Afrikaans poet GA Watermeyer; author Hilda Postma; war hero Bob Southey, DFC, who flew the first Harvard to South Africa; scientist John Adcocks of Veld types of South Africa fame; and aviation artist Tino Vorster.

The Anglican Church in Middelburg.

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Another famous South African author married in Middelburg, so the town proudly claims its links with Olive Schreiner.

The market square was the outspan where the Dutch Reformed Church, Gereformeerde Kerk, Methodist Church and Town Hall all originated. Today it is known as the Mayor’s Garden, in which can be seen an old water pump, the Burger Monument, a colourful steam roller, and the Wall of Remembrance.

Queen Victoria gave the water pump to the town in 1887 on her Golden Jubilee. The Burger Monument was erected in 1929 to honour the memory of 19 local burghers who fell during the Anglo-Boer War; the Wall of Remembrance honours those who fell during the two World Wars, and the Namibian bush war.

Opposite market square, flags flutter resplendantly around the Hotel Middelburg, which is typical of the kind of overnight stop which once awaited travellers in every major town.

A short drive out on the Richmond Road takes the visitor to the well-preserved Chair Monument, shaded by a Karoo bush, in memory of Kommandants Lötter and Wolfaardt who were executed during the Anglo-Boer War.

As to the Groenfontein Agricultural Institute and College, in 1781 a Hendrik van der Walt made his living on this piece of land, as a loan farmer. During the Anglo-Boer War the British bought Groenfontein, turning it into a military base. Between 1903 and 1910, some 12 000-15 000 British soldiers were stationed here (after the war a large peacekeeping force was based here). They erected a pump station, while the wood and corrugated iron officers’ mess – still standing – was eventually declared a National Monument.

In 1910 the Government of the Union of South Africa bought Groenfontein back, turning it into an agricultural school and experimental farm.

The scenery is typical Karoo, with flat-topped mountains, scrub, endless vistas, heat mirages and biting winds in winter. Travel along the R56, and you cannot fail to notice Koffiebus and Teebus (coffee caddy and tea caddy) mountains. Nearby is Mile Dam, built during the Depression, when such projects helped provide labour for the many without jobs.

The graveyard of the first inhabitants of Driefontein (the farm on which Middelburg was founded) can be seen, as can the house where the first prison warden stayed. A monument in memory of the Middelburg Three freedom fighters is at the entrance to KwaNonzame township.

One of the most fascinating places to visit is an extraordinary grave. In the cemetery, Persie the sheep rests between a Mr and Mrs Joubert. Childless, the elderly couple doted on him, raising him in their home, and he even has his own fine headstone.

The goats had knocked down Mrs Joubert’s headstone, but Rialize phoned her husband, and he and another strong young man arrived to lift it back into place. This is typical of the respect, and going the extra mile, often encountered in a small town.

Contact Middelburg Tourism 049 842 2188. – Sunday Tribune

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Waiting For The South African October?

By Shaun Whittaker

26 August, 2013
Countercurrents.org

At the recent Neville Alexander Memorial Conference, Pallo Jordan, a prominent member of the African National Congress (ANC), presented the keynote address entitled ‘Waiting for October’. Jordan’s title, taken from Leon Trotsky’s letter to the Workers’ Party of South Africa (WPSA), implied that South African Trotskyists – as embodied by Alexander – ineffectually waited for a social revolution, while it was the Congress Movement that actually engaged in struggle and overthrew the apartheid regime. This reasoning epitomizes the on-going and wide-spread misrepresentation of the South African Left. So, to mark the anniversary of Alexander’s death on 27th August, it is perhaps appropriate to set the historical record straight.

Black Consciousness and Congress Movement

The watershed event in contemporary South African history, i.e. the youth uprising of 1976, was undoubtedly inspired by the Black Consciousness (BC) movement. Nelson Mandela even acknowledged, though euphemistically, that Steve Biko was ‘the spark that lit a veld fire across South Africa’. Biko, of course, lit up the inextinguishable fire of liberation for an entire generation to not only shatter the shackles of a slave mentality, but to also rise up in enormous numbers against the apartheid regime. The liberating values of the BC movement of self-pride and self-reliance undeniably played a pivotal role in the creation of many layers of political activists and the blossoming of mass organizations throughout the country. It was indeed the BC movement that laid the solid groundwork for the country-wide mobilization against the tri-cameral parliament and the total discrediting of the apartheid regime. A respondent to Jordan, Lybon Mabasa, the president of the Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA), reminded the Conference that it was the National Forum (NF) that produced and distributed four (4) million copies of the legendary pamphlet against the tri-cameral parliament and the Koornhof Bills throughout the length and breadth of the country. This, of course, was hardly the actions of a Left waiting vainly for the South Africa October to occur. In fact, the apartheid parliament was never accepted by the oppressed and the mobilization against it represented a tremendous victory. And, this laid the basis for the revolutionary situation that existed in the mid-1980s in parts of the country. As much as the Congress Movement would be loath to concede to this, it was this underpinning that the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Congress Movement (CM) benefited from.

So, what transpired during the seminal year of 1983? The NF was formed in June 1983 as a united front of 267 organisations of the radical, black consciousness and socialist political streams. The UDF was initiated three months later, in August 1983, as a popular front of the liberal-democratic, non-racial and non-sectarian political current. The political differences between the NF and the UDF were initially of a non-antagonistic nature. For a former Robben Island prisoner, Marcus Solomon, for example, it was a principled choice not to split the Woodlands Civic Association of which he was a member. That civic formation took a democratic decision to join the UDF, which was at the outset a non-sectarian front of 700 civic structures. Solomon’s comrade, Alexander, on the other hand, belonged to the Lotusriver Civic Association, that was affiliated to the Cape Action League. Indeed, the stance taken by political activists like Solomon was an expression of democracy in action. In 1991, Solomon joined up again with Alexander in the Workers’ Organisation for Socialist Action (WOSA).

Alas, as the ANC played a negligible part in the 1976-uprising and the mass mobilizations against the tri-cameral parliament and the Koornhof Bills, it eventually commandeered the UDF and, in this political context, it supposedly became a non-racial formation (only) in 1986 when so-called non-Africans (including the descendants of the Khoisan!) could be voted onto the central committee of that multi-racial organization. In practice, with ANC dominance, the UDF swiftly lost its non-sectarian and non-racial character. The initiative for the UDF apparently came from people in the Congress Movement like Pravin Gordhan and Trevor Manuel, who were ultimately amongst the chief implementers of neo-liberalism in post-apartheid South Africa. And, of course, this neo-liberalism is the actual legacy of the UDF and the ANC. Whatever the case may be, the ANC’s Operation Vula suggests that the organization was essentially absent and was unsuccessful in setting up any organized leadership structure inside the country until almost the late 1980s. Does this mean that it was the ANC that played the waiting game? Perhaps this clarifies how come the ANC failed to engage in any significant form of armed struggle!

From the outset, the UDF obtained huge funding from the Scandinavian governments and churches, and enjoyed substantial backing from the ‘white’ liberal section – including big business and the liberal media. This was unquestionably the key reason for its ability to marginalise the NF. The mid-1980s were also the most violent period ever in South African history. The death squads of the apartheid regime targeted thousands of the most radical activists, while the political activists of the UDF/CM were determined – often violently – to sideline the NF.

For the historical record, the Unity Movement – an organisation that, over many decades, produced outstanding activists and whose political ideas remain influential – also held a preliminary conference in December 1983 (but only formally launched the New Unity Movement in April 1985).

Alexander and Biko

The president of SOPA was moved to state unequivocally at the Conference that Alexander cannot be held accountable for Biko’s death. It appears that a deliberate misinformation campaign is spreading the rumour that Alexander contributed to – or was even responsible – for the death of Biko. Now, it goes without saying that this is extremely serious and it is, once again, vital to correct the historical picture. Firstly, Biko did not plan to only meet with Alexander in the Western Cape and – according to Armien Abrahams – Alexander informed Biko in advance to cancel the meeting before he had even left King William’s Town. Referring to Biko, Abrahams confirmed that: ‘(L)ong before he planned this fateful trip I advised on Neville’s instruction to cancel the arranged meeting’. Secondly, Alexander’s main concern was that he did not have a political mandate from his political comrades to meet with Biko. This was in keeping with Alexander’s principled politics. It should be highlighted that if Alexander had met with Biko it would have been easy for the apartheid security police to show that he had broken his banning order and that he would have ended up for another five years in prison – which would not have served much of a purpose. There is certainly nothing to romanticise about being tortured by security police. Nevertheless, Alexander was certainly needed outside prison and without a doubt played a leading part in the dissemination of leftist ideas during the mass mobilizations. This in due course contributed to the radical upsurge of the 1984-86 juncture which was, in the final analysis, the primary impetus for the political negotiations. Indeed, despite the propaganda, Alexander had nothing to do with Biko’s death and, on the contrary, regarded him as a comrade. And perhaps the real issue concerns the lack of political will to have Nuremburg-type trials even for those security police who were really responsible for Biko’s death.

If anything, Alexander appeared to have been consistently harassed. At Matthew Goniwe’s funeral in Cradock, for example, Alexander was directly threatened that he would be dealt with for writing so critically about the ANC by a well-known leader of that political organization in the Western Cape today. The irony of this happening in Alexander’s hometown is truly remarkable. Soon after the formation of the Anti-Privatisation Forum in July 2000, as another illustration, the modest Alexander family home in Lotusriver was fire-bombed twice and the family was compelled to put in place prison-like security measures. Who petrol-bombed the house and turned it into another prison? This was a constant pattern as, in the run-up to the ‘94 elections, the administrator of WOSA was car-jacked and, on a separate occasion, her car was tampered with in an attempt to cause an accident.

WLP and WOSA

A long list of people smirks about the Workers’ List Party (WLP) only getting 4 169 votes in the 1994 elections. For, they assume that a liberal-democratic election is a neutral event that takes place above and outside power relations. Is this really the case? What emerged during the ‘94 elections? The electoral commission acknowledged that the far-right sabotaged their computer system and that the final number of votes made public was negotiated. The most pertinent aspect of this is to reflect on what the role of the ANC leadership was in that charade. Was there a deliberate attempt to marginalize the left-wing? In order to register for the ‘94 elections, political parties needed to gather 10 000 votes – with full address and identity number. The WLP managed to collect these votes all over the country within a few days, while a nation-wide poll by the monthly magazine, Barometer on Negotiation, showed that nearly 60 per cent of ‘black’ people supported the idea of a separate workers’ party to represent them politically. Could the WLP really only have gotten 4 000 votes? The final results were clearly an estimate. The WLP did not for instance receive votes in areas where it knew it had support. The votes assigned to the organisation by the electoral commission seem so obviously to have been an intentional under-estimation designed to demoralize the leftists.

At the same time, while the WLP had to borrow R25 000 to register with the electoral commission, the ANC had a budget of R168 million for the 1994 elections! Could the Left compete with such resources? In fact, the ANC consented to a World Bank loan for the country even before the ‘94 elections. And, it is in particular in this context that the criticism of Alex Callinicos, as an example, against WLP/WOSA for not voting for the ANC, or for that matter, the minority WOSA tendency that was influenced by elements in the Fourth International to agitate for a critical vote for the ANC, becomes so astonishing. The ANC had signalled its intent to effect austerity measures even prior to the elections, but yet some in the Left were of the view that an independent and radical organization like WLP/WOSA should vote for the neo-liberal, multi-class and predominantly black nationalist ANC. Callinicos even had the temerity to assert that WLP/WOSA was ‘justly punished’ by the low votes for not casting its ballots for the ANC! Of course, in particular after the Marikana massacre, which is the logical outcome of the ANC’s neo-liberalism, it should be apparent that these political streams spectacularly misconstrued the political situation in ‘94.

The WLP was formed as an alliance or front towards an independent and non-Stalinist mass workers’ party in South Africa. That political formation announced publicly that it was primarily campaigning for the building of a mass workers’ party and a right to work campaign. This is another way of saying that the organisation was far-sighted enough to prepare for the struggles that waited in the post-apartheid social formation. At the time, Alexander, the deputy-chairperson of the WLP, stated: “After the elections, the focus will shift from ‘race’ to class. It is with this in mind that workers will have to have an instrument of their own through which they can wage their battle for socialism”. With regards to WOSA, it had three political tendencies in the intense (internal) democratic debates during the months leading up to the ‘94 elections. The majority embraced participation in the elections with a view to propagate the formation of an (independent) mass workers’ party. The second WOSA platform proposed a critical vote for the ANC, while an even smaller number of members advocated a boycott. But most WOSA members were in agreement about celebrating with the oppressed that the terrible yoke of apartheid was finally lifted, but that political consciousness should simultaneously be raised around the idea of a mass workers’ party. Various committees toward a mass workers’ party were established, but by the time the elections happened – due to several reasons – the WLP mainly consisted of WOSA, the Independent Socialist Movement and (individual) trade unionists, grassroots activists, teachers, youth, etc. It was certain that WLP/WOSA would not get a substantial number of votes due to the downturn in the working class struggle, but the organisation was in the forefront of a process around which the entire radical left-wing could have coalesced.

If the organisation had participated in the ‘94 elections as WOSA – that had a national public profile – and with Alexander’s picture on the ballot paper, would the electoral commission and the ANC leadership have been more circumspect with the number of votes given to it? Although a moot point, this validates the contention that votes were hardly of significance to WLP/WOSA and, in any case, Alexander vehemently rejected the top position in the WLP as he did not want his photo to appear on a ballot. Besides the situation that the WLP was virtually unknown, the chairperson of the organisation was a trade unionist, Proff Ndlovu, who was not even in South Africa in the run-up to the ‘94 elections and who did not address a single meeting inside the country. Simply getting a photo of Ndlovu for the ballot was a challenge as he was away on a speaking tour organised by Socialist Action in the US and doing a trade union course at Rutgers University.

The split in WOSA was an outcome of the critical vote tendency being unwilling to adhere to a democratic ethos, but it was also a manifestation of what the Left was experiencing throughout the globe. The demise of the Soviet Union and the hegemony of the neo-liberal paradigm in the 1990s placed the Left all over the world on the defensive and disorganised it. In WOSA, as in all organizations, there were also clashes of personalities and the normal ebb and flow of daily life that take activists in and out of formations. Regrettably, the shenanigans from the small boycott faction in WOSA played a role. With Alexander out of the country at the time, for instance, the boycott faction managed to get a member of the organisation to proclaim on public television, with Richard Dudley, the president of the New Unity Movement, and, Itumeleng Mosala, the president of the Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO), that WOSA would not participate in the ‘94 elections! The South African Broadcasting Corporation hastily terminated the television program within a few minutes, but the boycott theme definitely impacted on the political message of the organisation.

Nevertheless, the Left only performs well in liberal-democratic elections during times of intensified social class struggle. Compared to the 1984 period, it was precisely due to the downturn in working class struggle ten years later that the ‘94 elections were permitted to materialize by the ruling elite. Although cognisant of this, WOSA consistently reasoned that fundamental change only comes about through mass action and that the building of a mass workers’ party would remain on the political agenda in the struggle towards a situation of dual power. Some leftists criticised WOSA for purportedly building a reformist party, but the organisation contended that a small secretive political body could only attain political power in a weak underdeveloped country (and be unable to hold onto it for long), but not in the kind of society that South Africa is.

With WOSA waning in 2010, Alexander persisted with the Truth Movement (TM) and the Public Participation in Education Network (PPEN). The TM was an endeavour to bring together, once more, socialist and (radical) black consciousness activists, while the PPEN aspired to tackle the education crisis. Other WOSA members have continued with leading positions in, for example, the Democratic Left Front (DLF), the Palestinian Solidarity Committee and the Marxist Study Group (Namibia).

Finally, throughout the letter to the WPSA, Trotsky describes the ANC as the ‘National Congress’. Did he fathom that the word ‘African’ was used in such a confined way by the ANC? Trotsky also explicitly remarked that ‘(t)he thesis brings out as the main political slogan not a “national democratic State,” but a South African “October”’. In other words, Trotsky alluded to the exact opposite of what the ANC did! Be that as it may, we never stop pondering how those ANC intellectuals that espoused the notion of a colonialism of a special kind, would depict the current political situation in South Africa. Would it be a neo-colonialism of a special kind? Or would it be a neo-liberal ‘black’ republic? We eagerly await, in a spirit of democratic dialogue, their riposte.

The historical record confirms that Alexander never considered himself as a Trotskyist and in fact maintained that ‘there is no single perfectly correct variant of Marxism. Its corollary is that nobody alive today has any blueprint for socialism’. Did the keynote speaker at the Conference raise the red herring of Alexander’s alleged Trotskyism at the Conference to deftly sidestep critical questions about the ANC? Almost exactly 20 years ago, in an article ‘Don’t dismiss a workers’ party’, which was a response to Jeremy Cronin’s insinuation that WOSA/WLP was acting on behalf of the apartheid regime’s intelligence service, Alexander noted that those leftists who oppose political opportunism are usually immediately decried as ‘Trotskyites’ or ‘fascists’.

During the Conference, Jordan wondered facetiously what the WLP would have done if it had won the ‘94 elections. Well, instead of implementing neo-liberal barbarism – as the ANC had done – the WLP would have seized the mines and the factories and would have co-organized the working class to run these along democratic lines. In other words, that organisation would have initiated a political program for the socially-just redistribution of resources. Furthermore, the WLP would have immediately taken this radical agenda to the rest of southern Africa and beyond. Our optimism of willpower inspires us to declare that this is what will transpire when – not ‘if’ – the Azanian October arrives. Was the uprising of 1984-86 a dress-rehearsal?

The author was a member of the Workers’ Organisation for Socialist Action (WOSA) and is now with the Marxist Study Group (Namibia). He can be contacted at socialistnamibia@gmail.com

Port Elizabeth – General Motors today announced the imminent arrival of the all-new Opel Astra sedan. Complementing the existing range of Astra hatchbacks, the new sedan marks the return of the four-door Opel Astra to South Africa.

Featuring the same new-age feel, high levels of quality, premium build and stunning design as the rest of the Astra range, the new Astra sedan has been ‘engineered to attract’.

Says Christopher Cradock, Opel Brand Manager at GMSA: “The secret is out and there is a lot of excitement at Opel for the new Astra sedan, which will be launched in South Africa in October. The new Astra sedan follows the high standards forged by the hatchback and we expect a warm reception by South Africans, who tend to favour sedans.”

The four-model strong sedan range comprises the new Astra sedan 1.6 Essentia, 1.4 Turbo Essentia, 1.4 Turbo Essentia Automatic and the range-topping 1.6 Turbo Cosmo. Pricing will be made available at launch.

General Motors SA has announced that the all-new Opel Astra sedan will be heading for South African shores.

The new sedan marks the return of the four-door Opel Astra to South Africa.

“The secret is out and there is a lot of excitement at Opel for the new Astra sedan, which will be launched in South Africa in October,” said Christopher Cradock, Opel Brand Manager at GMSA.

“The new Astra sedan follows the high standards forged by the hatchback and we expect a warm reception by South Africans, who tend to favour sedans.”

The four-model strong sedan range will be made up of the 1.6 Essentia, 1.4 Turbo Essentia, 1.4 Turbo Essentia Automatic and the range-topping 1.6 Turbo Cosmo.

GM says that pricing will be made available at launch.

General Motors SA has announced that the all-new Opel Astra sedan will be heading for South African shores.

The new sedan marks the return of the four-door Opel Astra to South Africa.

“The secret is out and there is a lot of excitement at Opel for the new Astra sedan, which will be launched in South Africa in October,” said Christopher Cradock, Opel Brand Manager at GMSA.

“The new Astra sedan follows the high standards forged by the hatchback and we expect a warm reception by South Africans, who tend to favour sedans.”

The four-model strong sedan range will be made up of the 1.6 Essentia, 1.4 Turbo Essentia, 1.4 Turbo Essentia Automatic and the range-topping 1.6 Turbo Cosmo.

GM says that pricing will be made available at launch.

When you have to defend 16 wards across the country in one day it can get very messy, and messy it did get for the ANC. The party ended up losing two of these wards, one to the DA and one to an independent candidate. One of these wards was in a municipality that will now swing to the DA-COPE alliance.

In the Eastern Cape the ANC retained two wards. Ward 6 of Inxuba Yethmba (Cradock) was uncontested (the party had won the ward with 71% of the vote in 2011). In ward 15 of Engcobo, following the death of its councillor, the party increased its share of the vote from 91% to 92%. The party normally does very well in the rural parts of the province, so this came as no surprise.

In KwaZulu-Natal, in ward 11 of Maphumulo the ANC defended a ward that it had won with 59% of the vote in 2011 (IFP 37%). The by-election was triggered following the death of the councillor. This ward had the potential to give the party a headache but the voters returned the ANC to power in the ward with an increased majority of 69%.

Staying in the province, ward 22 in Abaqulusi (Vryheid) was supposed to be contested on Wednesday also but the election continues to be held up by legal proceedings that may not be resolved in time for next month’s by-elections.

In Mpumalanga, in ward 15 of Albert Luthuli (Carolina) the ANC defended its seat, but lost a chunk of the vote. The party won the ward in 2011 with 88% of the vote and retained it with 75% on Wednesday. The DA doubled its share of the vote, from 10% in 2011 to 20% in the by-election. The opposition party even won one of the smaller voting districts.

There were nine wards contested in the North-West, all of them ANC incumbencies. The party ended up losing one of these wards, and its support dropped significantly in another two. In many wards the opposition parties split the vote, removing some of the pressure from the ANC. The UCDP competed in many of these wards, but its poor showing confirms how much of a spent force the party is now.

In ward 19 in Rustenburg the ANC successfully defended its seat following the resignation of its councillor. The party polled 88% of the vote in 2011 and retained the ward with 86% of the vote on Wednesday. Voter turnout was very low despite the presence of a colourful group of challengers (UCDP, APC and an independent candidate).

The ANC successfully defended ward 14 in Ratlou (Setlagole), dropping slightly from 87% to 84% of the vote (UCDP 11%). However, ward 4 of Mafikeng was taken from the party by an independent candidate. The ANC won this ward with 60% in 2011 but could only muster 26% in the by-election. The seat was won by an independent candidate with 49% of the vote, and the ANC was almost beaten into third place by another independent who polled 24% of the vote (the UCDP won the remaining 1%).

The ANC defended a second ward in Mafikeng, ward 12, and its support rose strongly from 67% to 85% of the vote. The turnout of voters fell sharply from 44% to 13% of all registered voters. The district of Ngaka Modiri Molema (in which Mafikeng is found) has been the site of more tensions within the ANC. The mayor of the district was fired in June and the faultlines that have been exposed in Tlokwe may be present there as well.

The ANC defended ward 20 in Ditsobotla (Lichtenburg) following the resignation of its councillor, but its share of the vote fell sharply. The party had won the ward with 93% of the vote in 2011 but could only manage 70% on Wednesday. An independent candidate won 24%, while COPE and the UCDP shared the scraps.

The ANC defended two wards in Ramotshere Moiloa (Zeerust), losing support in both wards. The party also fired its mayor here in June. In ward 12 the party’s support slipped from 50% to 48% – if the opposition parties hadn’t split the vote here the ANC might have been under more pressure. The DA increased its share of the vote from 3% in 2011 to 22% on Wednesday. In ward 14 the ANC’s support dipped from 79% to 70%. The Working-Together Party won 9%, COPE won 9% and the UCDP won 6%.

In ward 4 of Ganyesa (Pomfret) the ANC retained its seat with an increased majority. The party polled 71% of the vote in 2011, and increased this to 74% on Wednesday. The DA increased its share of the vote from 3% to 22% while the UCDP saw its share fall from 12% to 4%.

In ward 9 of Tlokwe (Potchefstroom) the ANC came within an ace of losing the ward. The party won the ward with 91% of the vote in 2011 but could only manage 51% on Wednesday. The DA and an independent split the vote between them – the party won 13% (up from 5% in 2011) and the independent garnered 35%.

Voter turnout was 41% despite the heavy campaigning in the area and the controversial handing out of food parcels and blankets in the ward by the ANC. If this is any sign of voter apathy then the ANC will be worried – it has to defend up to nine more wards in the municipality in September.

Seven wards were contested in the Western Cape. Three of them were DA incumbencies, four of them ANC. In ward 5 of Bergrivier (Velddrif) the DA successfully defended a very marginal ward. The ward was won with just 51% of the vote in 2011 (ANC 40%, COPE 8%) and retained with a little over 50% of the vote on Wednesday in a two-horse race with the ANC. Only 22 votes separated the two parties.

The DA retained ward 3 of Overstrand (Greater Hermanus) with 84% of the vote. The party’s previous candidate had received 94% in 2011. An independent candidate won the remaining 16% of the vote.

The DA retained ward 1 of George but saw its majority whittled down from 69% to 56% (an independent won 29%, the George Independent Ratepayers’ Forum won 10% and the ANC won 5%). This was the third ward contested in George in as many months. The DA has 25 of the 49 council seats in the municipality and the loss of a ward would have forced the party to form a coalition government in the municipality.

Three wards were contested in Oudtshoorn, all of them ANC-held wards and all of them potential swings – the ANC won all three with less than 50% of the vote in 2011. The ANC and the DA both won 11 of the 25 council seats in 2011, and the ANC formed a coalition government with ICOSA and the NPP (one seat each), enjoying a majority of just one seat over the DA-COPE coalition.

A loss of one of the three wards to the DA would have handed the municipality to the DA-COPE alliance, while a loss of two or three wards to the DA would have handed the party outright control of the municipality.

In ward 5, the ANC’s share of the vote rose from 40% to 56%, and in ward 6 its share rose from 40% to 55%. That was the good news for the ANC: these two marginal wards were made safe for the party. The bad news is that ward 13 was lost to the DA, whose share of the vote rose from 34% in 2011 to 54% on Wednesday. The DA will probably form a coalition government with COPE now, and, with the loss of Oudtshoorn, the ANC has been pushed further back in the Western Cape.

Ward 4 of Bitou (Greater Plettenberg Bay) was defended successfully by the ANC. The party’s share of the vote remained unchanged from 2011, at 48%. The DA polled 43% in 2011 and increased this to 46% on Wednesday. The ANC will be relieved to have retained this seat and the DA will be disappointed not to increase its majority in this hotly-contested municipality.

It was an unambiguously good day for the DA and a pretty poor one for the ANC. The DA now controls another Western Cape municipality, further increasing its dominance in the province. The party came close to winning a second ward and made a strong showing in wards that have previously been ANC strongholds.

The ANC has the successful defence of its Tlokwe ward to comfort it, but not much else. It lost two wards and one municipality on Wednesday, also giving up ground in North-West and Mpumalanga to the DA. Next month it will have to defend up to nine wards in Tlokwe, and it will have to win six of these if it wants to retain the municipality.

There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes during a campaign week and it’s fair to say that defending 16 wards in one week can take its toll on a party. The ANC threw a lot of resources at Tlokwe and it still almost lost the ward. Opposition parties and independent candidates are sure to campaign a lot harder in September for the municipality, and the ANC will still be plugging holes in the hull of the SS North-West. For the DA, it’s looking like good sailing weather. DM

Photo: Voters are seen standing in queue waiting to vote in Boksburg during the local government elections, Wednesday, 18 May 2011. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA

THE Eastern Cape Human Settlements Department will spend R500-million this financial year to fix shoddy work on low-cost houses built earlier for the poor.

The project, according to the department, forms part of a current national Human Settlements Department project in South Africa.

The money will be used to fix major and minor defects, while some homes built before 1994, mostly two-roomed houses, will be extended.

Many of the post-1994 RDP houses in the Eastern Cape have already developed dangerous cracks, while some were built without proper foundations.

Eastern Cape human settlements spokesman, Lwandile Sicwetsha, said the project sought to restore dignity to the people of the Eastern Cape.

“Beside the shoddy work which was done then, which in many cases was not monitored by the National Home Builders’ Registration Council (NHBRC), the department wants to bring back the dignity of the people who live in these houses.

“About R87000 will be spent on each house and we are expecting 5461 homes to be targeted this financial year,” said Sicwetsha.

Last month, the department advertised for construction companies to bid for the job.

Four years ago, the Daily Dispatch’s Broken Homes investigation revealed how RDP houses had been abandoned by builders, with many falling apart.

The investigation led to a government promise to fix the houses. Then human settlements MEC, Nombulelo Mabandla, who has since died, promised many houses would be renovated.

Last week, current human settlements MEC Helen Sauls-August said she was not proud of the condition of the homes.

“The money could have been used for other projects,” she said,

Of the 5461 houses in line to be fixed, more than 2200 have major defects, and more than 1500 have minor defects.

Those with major defects will get a makeover.

Areas mainly affected are Fort Beaufort, Cradock and Middleburg.

Sicwetsha said construction companies hoping to get the work would be screened.

“The NHBRC is assisting to check on quality inspection.”

Housing companies who failed the people in the past, would not get another crack at the job.

“Those blacklisted companies won’t be afforded a chance and we have blacklisted a number of companies.”

Successful bidders would be closely monitored, said Sicwetsha.

This multi-million rand rectification project has been welcomed by residents whose houses have been falling apart.

The Dispatch last week visited Fort Beaufort and met families who complained of shoddy work.

Lucay Wharhh of Fort Beaufort said his father Johannes Hewitt had complained bitterly about defects but no one was willing to help.

“Almost immediately after my father occupied this house, it started to crack. As you can see it’s not habitable,” said Wharhh.

Wharhh’s neighbour, Nandipha Doyi, said their home was cold and had not been built professionally.

“ I doubt if they were experienced builders. This is shoddy work!”

She said thugs did not need not to break doors or windows to gain access:

“They just remove bricks at the back of these houses and gain entry. That’s how badly these houses were built,” said Doyi.

So far the department has rectified 4300 homes in the last financial year.

“In all this, we are asking beneficiaries to be active participants in their own development,” said Sicwetsha. –– bonganif@dispatch.co.za

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OnWednesday South Africans went to the polls in the biggest, bumper-edition blowout of by-elections so far. 19 wards were contested at the polls, across five provinces. Almost all of these were ANC seats, and whether by the law of averages or the law of the market, the ANC ended up losing two of its wards and one of its municipalities. It almost lost a third ward, in Tlokwe. Bad day at the office, and it might get worse over the next couple of months.

When you have to defend 16 wards across the country in one day it can get very messy, and messy it did get for the ANC. The party ended up losing two of these wards, one to the DA and one to an independent candidate. One of these wards was in a municipality that will now swing to the DA-COPE alliance.

In the Eastern Cape the ANC retained two wards. Ward 6 of Inxuba Yethmba (Cradock) was uncontested (the party had won the ward with 71% of the vote in 2011). In ward 15 of Engcobo, following the death of its councillor, the party increased its share of the vote from 91% to…

President Jacob Zuma will tomorrow, 9 August 2013, lead the country in celebrating 100 years of the contribution of women to the struggle for liberation and also in building a better South Africa.

This year’s theme, “A Centenary of Working Together towards Sustainable Women Empowerment and Gender Equality”‘ captures the road travelled by women in 100 years of fighting for freedom and also in the pursuit of equality in a better South Africa. The main event will be held at Thulamahashe stadium in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga.

The 2013 celebration takes on a more special meaning as we celebrate 100 years since the march by women led by Charlotte Maxeke in Bloemfontein in 2013, protesting against pass laws.

The objectives of the 2013 Women’s Month are the following:

to promote women’s socio-economic freedom.

to promote the prevention of violence against women and girls.

to enhance the uptake of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics by girls in tertiary institutions.

to promote the access of land ownership by women.

to create platforms for young women’s movement aimed at building self-confidence and leadership opportunities and,

to promote social cohesion and nation building.

Women have engaged in various struggles for decades since the first march led by Charlotte Maxeke in the Free State in 1913.

The second episode was in 1930 in Potchefstroom against lodgers’ permits. In February 1954 as well, a crowd of 700 marched to the administration building in the New Brighton township of Port Elizabeth, demanding that the manager of Native affairs take back all the residence permits he had issued.

In October 1955, 1 000 women were protesting in front of the Native administration building in Durban.

In Cape Town, hundreds of women marched through the streets in protest of the permit regulations. We also recall the 1957 anti-pass revolt by women in Zeerust and the struggles by women against beerhalls in areas such as Cato Manor in Durban.

The major campaign was masterminded in Johannesburg from 1954-1956, culminating in the march in 1956 of nearly 20 000 women on the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

This historic march, the date of which became National Women’s Day in the calendar of a free South Africa, was coordinated by the Federation of South African Women, and was led by four women; Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn who is with us today.

These leaders delivered petitions to the then Prime Minister JG Strydom’s office in the Union Buildings, indicating the anger of women at having their freedom of movement restricted by the hated official passes.

The August 1956 Pretoria march was supported by smaller ongoing protests, for example, in Cradock, 300 women assembled in front of the magistrate’s office while a deputation presented the magistrate with a memorandum.

Women’s month is thus a tribute not only to the thousands of women who marched on that day in 1956, but also a tribute to the pioneers of the women’s movement in this country, dating back to 1913.

“We are celebrating 100 years of the contribution of women to freedom and to building a better South Africa. The struggles of women yielded results.

South Africa is today a constitutional democracy where gender equality is also a constitutional imperative. Our Constitution recognises women as equal citizens, with equal rights and responsibilities,” said President Zuma ahead of the national celebration tomorrow, 9 August 2013.

– The Presidency

7 August 2013

The Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon is shaping up to be an intriguing showdown
between a number of top crews. They include the proven combination of Hank
McGregor and Grant van der Walt and the new pairing of Andy Birkett and Cam
Schoeman.

For decades the Hansa Fish has hosted more SA River Championship title
deciders than any other race for a few simple reasons: it is a test of stamina and
endurance (the first stage is a tough 48km long), has enough technical challenges in
trees, big rapids, swirlies, wave trains and weirs, and a fair dose of flatwater racing
where traditional marathon racing tactics come to the fore.

The race takes place in Cradock in the Eastern Cape on 27 and 28 September.

McGregor and Van der Walt have won the K2 title three times already and
McGregor will be aiming for a fifth consecutive doubles title. Three-time Dusi Canoe
Marathon champ Birkett and former K2 Marathon world
champion Schoeman have
also shown plenty of promise together.

Marathon World Championships

Birkett and Schoeman committed to paddle together in the second half of the
year after a successful South African Marathon Championships, which earned them
national selection for the Marathon World Championships, which take place in
Copenhagen the week before the Fish.

The Natal Canoe Club pair was in action in Spain over the weekend, finishing fifth
in the iconic 18km Sella Descent on Saturday and then picking third in an equally
competitive K2 race on Sunday.

The result came as little surprise to their supporters, as they had been flying in
training prior to the start of the Spanish campaign.

“We are going really nicely together,” Birkett said in a statement. “Cam is so
strong in the boat and he just doesn’t know the meaning of giving up.”

“We both enjoy the Fish, and we are looking forward to seeing how we go,”

added Schoeman, who finished sixth in the K1 championship race last year.

Looking ahead to the Fish Canoe Marathon challenge, Birkett said: “We race the
K2 race in Denmark on the Sunday, and then we fly out on Monday, get back on the
Tuesday. There’s just time to grab some clean clothes and head down to Cradock for
the start on Friday morning.

“But it will be the same for a couple of other crews as well,” he added.

Defending the title

The title has been won by McGregor and Van der Walt for the last three K2
championship races, with McGregor and Len Jenkins winning the K2 crown in 2006.

McGregor and van der Walt had planned on challenging for the K2 title at the
World Championships, but their chances were dashed after they had a disastrous
South African trial and didn’t make the team. That setback has, however, given them
an opportunity to be better prepared for the Hansa Fish.

“We are going to high-tail it
out of Copenhagen after our K1 races on Saturday
afternoon and head for home,” said McGregor. “It is going to buy us an extra critical
24 hours over the other guys to recover, shake off the jetlag and get down to
Cradock for the Hansa Fish.”

It’s a race where McGregor and Van Der Walt are at their best because they are
relaxed and thrive in the vibe of the unique two-day race in the Klein Karoo.

“It’s got to be the best race in the country,” McGregor said. “You can tell
because it is the one race on the calendar that everyone is willing to drive to.

“It is also the fairest race of the year,” he added.

McGregor first won the Fish K2 title with Len Jenkins in a record-breaking effort
in 2006. In 2008 he was back but with teenager Grant van der Walt in the boat and
they stroked their way to the first of three K2 titles on the trot.

“Hey, if we can win it again this year it will be four consecutive K2 titles for
Grant (van
der Walt) and I, and five in succession for me, which no-one has ever
done before,” said McGregor.

Looking ahead to fierce competition, McGregor said: “The top paddlers are
always there and the racing is guaranteed to be super-competitive. The guaranteed
water release makes a huge difference as well.”

SAinfo reporter