African capitalists: Parasites not creators

"Why have top earners' salaries growing so much faster than everyone's else's?
In this case, "A director general in government earns about R100 000 a month; a mineworker gets R3 000 a month. "

Studies suggest that gains at the top have have occured primarily because "exeutive" decisions have become much more important to the bottom line.

Although, there are other factors involved, one that also stands out--the rapid acceleration of technological changes that increase the leverage of the most able individuals.

"China, for instance, produces 600 000 engineers a year. Look at the number of African chartered accountants. In the past 15 years we have trained 1 000 CAs,"

A bit misleading here. You guest fails to mention that China:South Africa have a population ratio of 21:1, so the comparison shouldn't be on math terms.

http://www.jiangsu.net/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=267:unemployed-graduates-in-china-to-reach-3-million-in-2009&catid=47:business&Itemid=41

Lastly, your guest doesn't mention that he vehemently supports a political party which is pro-Free Market, the Adam Smith style, meaning almost all natural resources (in Africa) according to his his party should always be left in the hands of conglomerates.

Nonetheless he does make interesting points here 'n there.

After I have gone through this book by Moeletsi and also read this interview I must say that I am greatly disappointed but not surprised at the venom that he is spreading. Disappointed because people like him who have greatly benefited from the legacy of the ANC at the expense of the majority of ordinary ANC members should know better and be the ones who assist in shaping the future of this country instead of grandstanding. At this critical moment of our history sceptic like Moeletsi who have for many decades been scavenging on the ANC legacy and thus internalised entitlement mentality, are now crawling all over masquarading as paragons of virtue. How sad indeed that loss of power and influence can turn men and women of virtue to such pathetic sight.

Brilliant. It's a chore trawling through the mountain of stupidity, deception & non sensical assessments on Africa in the global media. It feeds a false perception that africans are stupid for failing to challenge it & that quality african thinkers have been snuffed out by the intellectually challenged proxy establishments left by the evil imperialists to neo-exploit africa. We must never forget that africa has more than it's fair share of the most intelligent people in this world & the best ideas.
I disagree with Mbeki - empowerment IS the only realistic solution - because you can't balance a seesaw without an equal & opposite force. But that's small beer - africa needs these indpendent minds (not the unintelligent unthinking accoutancy exam passing parrots) to meet debate & publicise their real solutions to each of africas problems. I have an idea. Please pass my email to Mbeki

This is the African brothers we respect and hold him on the highest degree.But brother Moeletsi frankly speaking lets compare an apple with an apple. South African can't or will never compete with China or India for that matter. Bric group of nations are more resilint and highly labour internsive markets. This markets are economically sophisticated and diverse. Hence, SA don't have that formidable skill pool.

Remember the South-South trade baliteral which never materialised. Remember the DOHA round talks which amount to nothing.

Moeletsi is not fair to himself and Africa as a whole,let alone South Africa.

For starters Zimbabwe has not been a total failure. Zimbabwe has 90% literacy rate and tops all of Africa. So not having build new hospitals doesn't mean there was no progress. I don't condemn by the way what is happening in Zim.

Moeletsi must read Ngugi wa Thiong'o-Petals of Blood,to get to grips with how post-colonial Africa was manipulated by the West. As long as there is war in Africa the West benefits. Moreover,the geopolitics of the world are such that Africa must always be in need so as to plunder it's resources.

In 1985 South Africa was not participating in the world economy and now we are. The current labor market in South Africa is not subjected to the same conditions as in China.Even Europe is getting most of it's products done in China or Far East Asia,need I say how many human rights abuses go in to oil that same machine.

I don't agree with BEE on certain levels. the solution is we inherited a system never designed for us and we sacrificed a lot to accomplish National Reconciliation.

There are many reasons for University drop outs,amongst others HIV/AIDS where some students have to drop out in order to be bread-bringers. So Moeletsi can not only highlight the teacher and student discipline as if that is the main reason of drop-outs.

As for DRC I still refer Moeletsi to research before commenting. i think he is like that Chika Onyaeni,who highlights what Blacks are bad in doing and doesn't offer solutions. Moeletsi when removing a bug from a tree,beware not to harm the bark as well.

Well done Mr Mbeki. For once we have a brother who is not ashamed to call a spade a spade. I'm from Zim and there is no better example of that destructive capitalistic elite than here. Our capitalism is not founded on any known ethical principles which suggests its the "state of nature" type of approach to commercial enterprise. These neo bourgeoisie see something they want and they fast track methods to take it. deception and greed are the only values that they exhibit. If an argument is made for the Land, it is not because Land is an econmic resources to be exploited for the benfit of the country but because it is popular issue at the time and it may provide some more years at the feeding trough for a discredited class of neo-capitalists. Their motto is "immediacy and expediency" whereas a true entrepreneur thinks "opportunity and investment". SA should guard against the politics of name calling. It is the stuff that fuels genocide, racism and intolerance. We do not all have to agree but there should be no need to label anyone we disagree with an enemy. In Zim its allowed to target opposition members for extermination; but they have been conveniently labelled "Puppets of the west and trators" . Do not fall into the same trap down SA because if you do, what happened in Zim will be something of a ladies tea party compared to the depths you will fall.Maybe we deserve the rulers we get after all.

Someone who hit the nail right on the head!!

For BEE to work, people have to be classified by race - apartheid continued!

It is very rare that you will hear Moeletsi Mbeki say something positive about South Africa. I don't want to repeat what Siphiwo said. I fully concur with him. Moeletsi is selectively quoting what is bad. No country is perfect. We need intellectuals to contribute to the creation of a better continent in general and a better S.A. in particular. When we suffered in the country most of today's pseudo-intellectuals were enjoying life overseas and studying full time. When they comment you can sense some intellectual arrogance. Interestingly when they prescribe their often imported solutions they do not consider that conditions are different from country to country. Nevertheless we need to welcome constructive criticism. I am not sure whether this is constructive.

For the first time I fully agree with "Siphiwo Siphiwo".....

Moeletsi has been consistent in his critique but also a direct beneficiary. Pity that influence and power cannot be harnessed. Its a travesty when critique is used to shape and control the response to the failures of BEE (an important element for democracy). What this shows is that the Manuel/Mbeki/Erwin cabal that gave us a homegrown structural adjustment programme made the assumption that times will always be good. They could not even manage the reciprocal elements of the arms deal and they wanted to run the country... what a shame...

The headline is a bit misleading, this is scarcely about 'capitalists'. It is more about control and consumption. Control of a country's resources placed in the hands of a small often corrupt minority. Consumption, using up what we have without building for the future.

The headline would more appropriately have been:
"Africa: Consumption, corruption and keeping control trumps our future"

Siphiwo et al.
The fact that the population ratio of China to South Africa is 21:1 is a mute point. If you want to use ratios, work out the number of engineers per thousand or a million for example, for each of the two countries and see how pathetic we compare. You can even add the entire black (African) sub-Saharan population which comes to about a billion and work out those ratios and compare them to those of China the results will be very disappointing and the lazy will have numerious reasons why they are comparing badly non of those reasons will be due to themselves and their leaders. Moeletsi is spot-on in most of his points, unfortunately the solutions to the problems he raises need Black Africans of South Africa to look within themselves and solve their problems which is extremely difficult route to take which can only be managed by 5% of this population. So even the response to this articles by the brothers and sisters "zendl'emnyama" is entire predictable.

In reading the comments, I am struck by how the responses to Moeletsi's book mirrors race. The only insight I get from reading all the comments is that of the race of the author - stereotyped and stale

Siphiwo: "population ratio of 21:1"
So what? Do you think China has only 21 times more CA's than we do?

This is the time of resting on laurels. Of adding taxes and making life more comfortable. But it's like the oil-rich countries - you need to skill-up to replace the riches that are running out. In relative terms we're falling behind very quickly, and you insisting we're okay is exactly the wrong thing to do.

Mr. Moeletsi is one of the brightest thinker in Africa and should be respected by all of the intellectuals thinkers of Africa. I had a chance to hear Mr. Moeletsi speak in the US and was very impressed with him. Africa can't go on living off its natural resources by shipping them to other countries, the Africans countries have to develop their resources for themselves. However, Mr. Moeletsi is not saying anything new, in "postcolony Africa" Mr. Mbembe talks about the same problems in Africa and comes to the same conclusion about African's development.

I have not read Moeletsi's book but ,based on his answers to the questions posed to him in the above article,am going to caution fellow Africans not to be misled by this clearly 'limping analysis' of Africa's problems. His analysis reflect little awareness of development problems and little appreciation of the capacities of developing countries like South Africa to meet the challenges brought about by our colonial past.

Its interesting to see that black south Africans attack Moletsi for speaking an honest truth i think this is because the people attacking have benefited from BEE or the likes however i am starting to wonder how sustainable it all is? Zimbabwe also had a great first ten to fifteen years and then it went seriously wrong! What is glaringly obvious is that if we do not become a nation of providers and not just consumers we are doomed to failure. The key is support of emerging industry and the education of people to fuel these industries and i am afraid that at the moment we are a dismal failure on both accounts. Then we have a militant work force that strikes at the drop of a hat that further encourages companies not to invest here and here i blame the unions fair and square as they are little more than parasites living of the hopes and dreams of the poor masses whilst actually driving unemployment higher! So yes Moletsi well spoken and i salute you for speaking your truth

Dear Stefan

In what sense are the comments reflecting on Moeletsi's race?

Moeletsi does indeed posits a telling commentary on the state of South Africa today. He is spot on on the realities of the consumption laden BEE class which in the main relies on patronage and ingratiating itself with the political elite for its sustanance. Indeed the spoils system whwrein one has to be ANC to acess resources is becoming rooted at the expense of real capital and industrial growth in South Africa. I cannot wait to purchase this book

What Mr Mbeki is telling us, is something we all know. Pity his comparative study is not with related countries, who have moved from colonialism to excellence. The fact that such countries dont exist, it means coming back from colonialism is much bigger than we may think. We cant be investing on creating our own brand of cars or going to the moon, if we have issues like accomodation and education that we have to deal with. Maybe if it wasnt for the arms deal we may have been half-way to reaching utopia? There is hope, we hope people like Mr Mbeki will try to be relevant.

Simphiwo's interpretation of the numbers speaks volumes. He is obviously a product of our current public school system where twelve year old children need to count on their fingers to give you the product of 10 x 3 (Actual anecdotal evidence produced on request). But it "shouldn't be on math terms" when one can blame the "conglomerates".

Citizens of South Africa need to start waking up to the reality of responsibility, accountability, skills and entrepreneurship.

Not littering, will be a good start.

The key message in Moeletsi's commentary is that we as a country have our priorities wrong; and he is right. However, he does not seem to proffer any solutions. We do however; tend to be unnecessarily defensive in the face of criticism, often to our own detriment. The title aptly captures theme of the article and the challenges facing the country. An honest self-critique is always necessary; Well done Moeletsi!!

It is suprising that a man like Moeletsi who has benefitted from the same BEE is saying South Africa is heading for the drain. The current administration is emphasising the need for rural development in order to ensure that SA communities are able to cater for themselves-why does he not point that out as a step in the right direction. He should remember that educationally there were those who were disavantaged in South Africa.He must not compare us with countries where the students never experienced any financial or racial segregation due to the political administration. The problem with Mr. Mbeki is that he views Africa as a Black continent, whereas Africa is a continent for everyone who lives in it. There are many entrepreuners who are working privately and not through the government, does that mean that South African entrepreuners are failing in their cause. Is your view on SA based on the 15 years you were part of or since the 18 century when segregation in each and every sphere played a huge role. Mr. Mbeki have you not been a parasite at one point or another?

an african is nature's ultimate consumer.

I suggest we engage the issues rather attack each other or the man who wrote the article. For me what he is doing is to probe the issues of RSA and African economies and raises his concerns. Although I agree that the tone of his message may not be helpful, I do not agree with his patriots focusing on that alone. Engage on the arguments and raise counter-arguments. I agree with him that there is a flaw in BEE as modelled today. It has created disparities among blacks. How does it feel to leave a suburb and visit your granny seeing the proverty that still exists? I found it disappointing that Zimbabweans oversees would boo at Tshvangirai. Why not engage him in a constructive argument? Gautrian - I travel between JHB and PTA to work and therefrom. You pass people crammed and travelling in rusty old taxis. Who deserves better transport? People in flashy car to "reduce trafffic". In other words make it easier than using cars? Etc....

Dear Terry Shilubane.
If I someone has benefited from crime & they realize crime is not the way to go, shouln'd they critisize it. Moeletsi is spot-on! A lot of potential intepreneurs are abandoning/have abandoned their business ventures for lucrative government posts. Remember Tokyo Sexwale for e.g!!!!!!!!!!!! The fact is ANC government has wrong priorities e.g turning SA into a welfare state. I suggest we prioritize education (especially science, engineering & technology) to produce & sell our own goods in addition to those that we have to the world.

Moeletsi, you couldn't have put it any better. Your article in the M $ G is superb and amazing.Those who are complaining about the article seems like they are the ones who are earning fat cat salaries in government doing almost nothing but shifting papers to keep busy.As you rightly compare their salaries against the worker who earns R3000 they earn 33 times more. Where is the justification for these people to earn such a huge salary for no productive work. We the taxpayers are paying their salaries.If you look at the governments salary bill it is shocking as the priviliged are living like kings due to the colour of their skins now.(not being racist)

The taxpayer is not the governments cash cow which it can milk any how it feels like. Once the milk runs out what happens then. Affirmation action and BEE is not practised for the purpose it was intended for. The system is manipulated in implementing these measures in addressing past inequalities. Now these policies seem to be racist compared to the job reservation during the apartheid days.Now its black racism which i thought never existed.Some of you might not agree but i could give you and example, Black lawyers association and black chamber of commerce. It seems like a racial connatation is emerging excluding non blacks from these forums. Dont complain and blame apartheid for the current shortfalls as this is the excuse for anything that goes wrong. It is time that we take responsibility for our actions and shortfalls otherwise we will fail as a nation .Listen and see what Moeletsi has to say as i think he is one of the most enlightened commentators we have who still has his feet on the ground.
We are not productive to pay these high salaries and until we change our mindset and start creating new industries we should be paying realistic salaries in order to eradicate the imbalances.

The questions we should all be asking are:

* Who are the author's sources?
* Who's funding his one-sided research?
* Who are his publishers?

And I promise, if you manage to get answers for those questions, you'll know where he comes from...

Let me concur with you Raymond. Siphiwo go to china or India now and ask them to show you any Interpreneur who left Business for Politics. Only in Africa that madness happen.

Look Siphiwo Moeletsi work for the Institute of International Relation why bother with sources. Don't you know that since Robert Mugabe can into power no any other Hospital or Clinic was build. Siphiwo don't you know that almost all SOE can't generate revenue because Khaya Ngcula's of these world have milk them dry. Common sense dictator that Gautrain is for the 'elite'. Your right they come from Zuma Camp..!

Moeletsi has a point. Peter Drucker spoke of marginal propensity to consume and my experiences amongs my peers is that the majority rather buy fancy cars,fridges etc ect all made overseas!! ever heard how dudes about town boast about Italian shoes, German cars and don't even have savings. How many industrial parks or towns have been created since 1994? who has benefited from privatisation? only ANC elites!!Our GDP growth is purely artificial on the back of commodities!!! Gautrain isn't for ordinary workers, they are still stuck with Metrorail & its 40 year old coaches or 20 year old taxis..why is the N3 full of cargo trucks instead of cargo rail network being used. Go to townships schools and observe the level of discipline among school kids & teachers..shocking...SADTU disrups schooling. Look at where China was 20 years ago and compare to where Zim was?? SA is becoming a welfare state.....Its time we put our self under the critical microscope and stop sugaring faults. The confed cup was a marketing disaster and yet we don't wanna learn..

Kufara Gwenzi

The problem with all those who are disagreeing with Moeletsi Mbeki's views are thinking with their hearts not heads. Why am i saying so? Because the responses are full of emotions instead of tackling point by point.

May those attacking Moeletsi tell me which new company was created by Africans in any of the key pillars of the economy.

Please read a similar earlier thesis on the subject here:

http://kufaragwenzi.blogspot.com/2009/04/argument-for-bourgeoisie-nationalism.html

Pogiso writes "Pity his comparative study is not with related countries, who have moved from colonialism to excellence. The fact that such countries dont exist,..." and I give the standard answer, USA, Canada, Australia, India etc

*Mbeki is a benefactor of BEE himself.
*Zimbabwe or any country in Africa will never move itself out of the yoke of consumption because when Africans are about to move out, because there will be a civil unrest that financial supported multinational (companies who bennefits from African resources) to oust a sitting government. Zimbabwe is a result of such an imperialist order (che how MDC was formed). The land question in Zimbabwe was a quest to empower Africans, the question whether it was done correctly or not is another thing which to me is non starter.
*On education and Engineering as part of a Nations development look no further than Libya, it is a shining example.
*He is correct in pointing out that unionist are largely abusing the workforce, after all they are an appendage of imperialist order and not forgetting that unions are highly benefitting out of that exploitation. Unionist are also betrayilist in nature and when a government is largely supported by uniost it is bound to fail. Frederich Chiluba is a former unionist and look how he ruined Zambia.
*After all your (Mbeki) analysis are spot-on, but it does not mean you are correct on your solutions. I believe a Socialist solution that is based on scientific analysis is a must than your open market system that is exploitive to the masses.
*After all do not be Chika Onyeani who is an ardent fan of USA imperialism.

Moeltsi suffers from some form of not so rare political disease which I choose to call "complex and multi-dimensional identity crisis". Here are the practical symptoms of this disease, as exhibited in the life of Moeltsi:
1. Moeletsi is an African who is failing to be a proper Western type capitalist – he lives at a time, and inhabits a human form, and in a Continent in which he cannot re-enact /play out the fully adventure of the story of capitalism: there are no slaves to lord it over, no colonial subjects to supper exploit, no official racism to turn other humans into sub-humans in order to build colonial asserts!
2. Thoroughly confused by his circumstances, he becomes bitter at his and his fellow human types failure to relive the story of capitalism!
3. His picture becomes very complicated when he notices all around him the obvious fact that in fact in the current circumstances, for Africans, the state and politics are the only greatest sources of accumulation!
4. Left out of both history and current opportunities for accumulation, he vents out his anger, nay, lashes at any African who simply does the most obvious most enjoyable thing – become a parasite and consume what life offers!!
Pity, really, that in the end, Moeletsi actually accuses others of exactly what he himself fails so miserably to become – a true savage, a real carnivorous capitalist!!

I think the aforementioned criticism failed to objectively comprehend the essence of the analysis that has been adaged in response to nationalism ideology and Afrocentrism. For me, Moeletsi is correct to on his first accessions that you can not use the system that has failed the nation as the locomotive strategies to redress the conditions that has been created by the regime instead it is critical for African countries to device relevant authentic strategies for the development of sustainable continents economy hence to ensures that as the country or the continent we create a culture of entrepreneurship that will ensure sustainability in every aspects of our economies. We really have to discover our strength as Africans and capitalize on those because our prosperity lies there.


We really need to check if the way South African’s embrace neo-liberalism and technocrats is what we should be focusing on. I suppose one fundamental failure for African countries and the continent in general is that we embrace materialism and ego more that strategic elements that defines the wellbeing of our society. It is possible for South Africa to nurture people who will be real entrepreneurs whilst embracing wealth that they will be generating through their endeavors. I also envisage the different between Bric group and Developing African countries is based on what informs the development of the countries economy, it is hence guided by a certain level of national pride and productiveness.


South Africa is labour intensive but the question is what can we do to strike a balance between labour intensity and capital intensity in businesses, economic spending and so forth? The only answer through real enterprise propeller as opposed to transfer of owner and stakes; however it is the responsibility of government and individuals to ensures that as government legislation advocate for the seven BBBEE pillars there are strong monitoring system, people are well educated to take entrepreneurial risks and people can capitalize on impossible opportunities. Government has to applaud and reward South African inventions and enterprise so that those who are innovative and creative can be encouraged.

http://kufaragwenzi.blogspot.com/2009/04/argument-for-bourgeoisie-nationalism.html

Although I agree with Kufara Gwenzi I want to answer his question: "May those attacking Moeletsi tell me which new company was created by Africans in any of the key pillars of the economy."

I can name a few. Volkskas, now called ABSA, Sanlam, Saambou, Yskor now Iscor, Rembrandt. Yes, they were created by Afrikaners. Studying how this was done would go some way to show how this can be done again.

Not a valid comparison I hear you say? Just remember that circa the 1930's Afrikaners were largely excluded from the commanding hights of the economy. The strategy to address this was two fold and called volkskapitalisme and volks-sosialisme.

Instead of forcing large companies to accept Afrikaner directors Afrikaners set up companies in competition, while asking Afrikaners in general to support them.

@Siphiwo - I thought you would be the first to jump on the bandwagon that capitalism is failing Africa given your socialist allegiances???

Sometimes rational analysis is very uncomfortable - especially if people exist more in hope than reason.

What is lacking in South Africa as a nation is a clear economic goal for 10-20 years time.

We hear a lot about creating jobs and social upliftment, but as a country what does South Africa want to achieve? The entire nation needs to buy into this, stop waiting for the government to achieve it for them, and then things will start to improve.

May we see the relaity that relying on government grants will not help us at all, until our government become vocal and discourages people from being dependent we will not be an economical power house .Government can only do so much, people must stand up and do something to improve their lives.

@Nhlaka!!

You are spot-on brother, I sometimes wonder how can we manage "materialism and ego" in our people.

MBEKI is spot on,he knows what he is talking about,he has done his research. If Siphiwo Siphiwo and his ilk would know what that means.
They are just criticising without giving a well research with different views.They job is to just defend the ANC at whatever cost.
Mbeki is right,look at the credit card debt of South Africans,consume and consume and steal and steal.

I agree wholeheartedly with the previous writers that we need to break the culture of dependency first, and rather encourage, foster and support entrepreneurialism. At the same time, we need to break the culture of entitlement and rabid corruption, which is not being discouraged or punished,and which is destroying service delivery and economic development. Unfortunately politicians are good at talk, but not always so good at action in the public good. Personal gain still rules, but lets see whether the new structure will make a difference and achieve what it has set out to do.

Whether he has benefitted from BEE et al, is irrelevany here - Is he correct? that's relevant. Too many want to attack the man rather than hear the message. If your enemy tells you your house is burning down, do you ignore him?

At least Moeletsi is questioning the BEE, AA status quo - If we are all ANC sheepies, then how can anything change for the better? If nobody asks questions then nothing can happen. He is also spot on about theft by government officials - that is the single biggest challenge in attempting to invest for our future. These people care not for tomorrow - better to alleviate the budget of a few spare mill, for a new merc or 6, than to build an extra clinic or two.

I am warming to this man - he seems to have had the wool fall from his eyes in recent times, and is brave enough to be a voice of reason amongst the sheep. Well done Moeletsi! I'll buy your book.

Moeletsi Mbeki is being crucified here for doing something very rare in our national discourse:

honest, realistic, objective critique of our status as a nation.

I disapprove of Moeletsi Mbeki's views on BEE as BBBEE is a very workable, fair and realistic mechanism with which to achieve economic and social redress.
His views as articulated in this interview are cogent, accurate and a good assessment of what is holding this continent back. Similar to Chika Onyeni (Capitalist Nigger), these views won't be popular initially, but once the veracity of them become apparent after careful assessment, the path to recovery becomes clear.

To the commentor here who said that Chika Onyeni didn't provide workable solutions to the crisis facing African communities globally, I don;'t think you read the book Capitalist Nigger as the author repeats ad nauseum, that the way for Africans to extricate themselves from the pit of poverty and dependence is to be producers and supporters of their own productions as opposed to consumers and importers.

We definitely do need a common vision for the next 10-20 years as we're falling terribly by the wayside internationally. Colonialism and apartheid cannot be perpetual excuses. Colonialism is not just a European phenomenon though as all ancient nations practised some form of colonialism, from Alexander the Great to the Greeks, the Ottomans, the Persians, the Chinese and just about everybody else. These nations and subjugated people have since dusted themselves off and got on with the task of helping more of their countryment reach the top of Maslow's hierarchy...why should Africa be any different?

In as much as we may think that brother Moeletsi is bitter and all that, there could an element of truth in some of these statements. People simply extracted the statement “Parasites not creators” and then blew it out of proportion. We need to look at this objectively and not simply assume that everyone who criticises the status quo or the collective is actually an enemy. We need to consider the facts and assess the situation. If we do not do that, then we are heading for disaster, where any form of criticism no matter how constructive is seen as being against the state or similar organisations. We need to agree that the “Batho pele concept” does not and has not really worked to the extent it was expected or designed to work. Most governments in the world are corrupt and South Africa would be no exception as there is no such things as a perfect government. I am not condoning corruption nor promoting it. An economic policy and politics are very subjective and each person need to make their own judgement. No one has all the answers nor the solutions to the world's problems, however the country still had its successes which we need to celebrate and not pour water on everything.

The ostritch politics favoured by many South Africans can be attributed to ignorance of history.

Compounded by our lack of interest in reading and knowledge acquisition about affairs that lie outside of our own small world - which at times goes no futher than instant personal gain -our reasoning reveals a nation that has been starved of information for quite a while.

That we can ignore the continuous rise in the Gini-coefficient amongst African households, can only be explained by our eagerness to confound the abuses of "freedom" with its benefits, and our failure to separate the idea of evil from that of novelty.

The South African elite has abolished all laws of moral analogy, and will continue to enrich itself grossly at the expense of the poor, as long as defining lines between politics and economy are blurred.