Spring Break SA Style

It is hard not to notice that the mercury is creeping upward here in South Africa.

The days are longer and the sweet smell of blossoms is something more than just my imagination, I think.

It is spring here on my side of the desert dry and the time for a break from academia has arrived.

The picture above captures Namaqualand daisies in full bloom on South Africa's beautiful West Coast.

I am not going there. Not even close.

Instead, I am on my way to Kimberley by the big capitalist hole in the ground where I will visit with moms and attend the opening of a heritage research program at a local museum.

September is "Heritage Month" in South Africa. The museum opening is about heritage and its contested meanings, I think.

Right now, being a Gemini, I have contested realities running through my being so I will bid farewell to posting (and answering email) for 12 days.

I can hear Mooi breathe a sigh of contemptuous relief ... well hell being that he is a lawyer I expect his relief is tainted by envy.

Work on jwaks ;)

Peace to the rest of youse!

Picture Credit

Eid Mubarak

This picture from News24 captures two boys from Bangalore (India) greeting each other after Eid-al-Fitr prayers.

Eid Mubarak to my Muslim sistas and brothers.

Onward!

Egypt Allows Women to Wear Pants!

A news report on News24 states:

Egypt's top Islamic authority defended women's rights to wear trousers in public following a high profile court case in neighbouring Sudan were women were flogged for dressing in pants, the local press reported on Wednesday.

Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa said in response to a question during a public lecture that trousers covering women's bodies are permitted, though they should be loose and not see-through. He specified that "stretch" pants were, in particular, unacceptable.

Wow that is a relief hey?

I mean here we in 2009 and there is still need to have a religious authority pronounce on whether a woman can wear pants (trousers).

Does this also mean that men can wear dresses as long as they are loose fitting and not "see-through"?

Perhaps there is need to summon a council of religious leaders from all around to look into the issue of Muslim men in flowing robes that appear to be nothing more than a dress!

Mmmmmmmmm ... what a drag to reduce Islam to this kind of bullsh*t.

Onward!

Muntazer al-Zaidi: "I Am Not A Hero"

Iraqi journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi, is seen here throwing his shoes at the devil. (Image Credit)



You may remember that Al-Zaidi was sentenced to three years in prison for throwing his shoes at George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad on December 14, 2008.



The sentence was later reduced to one year after thousands of Iraqis vented their anger in support of Al-Zaidi.



(Image Credit)



Today, Al-Zaidi was released on a conditional discharge which in Iraqi law means he has served the majority of his sentence with good behavior.



Al-Zaidi says he was tortured in prison according to a news report.



Nonetheless, he remains defiant that he did the right despite the fact that the occupation of Iraq continues.



He lamented saying that "Here I am free and the country is still a prisoner."



Al-Zaidi may not see himself as a "hero" but to me and millions of people all around the world he is exactly that and more.



The following statement by Al-Zaidi, quoted at Commondreams.org, is extremely powerful and inspirational even:

"If (people) knew how many destroyed houses I walked over with those shoes that I threw, and how many times those shoes mixed with the blood of the innocent, and how many times those shoes went into homes where the honor of those who lived there was disgraced, then it was the proper response."

We should all have been so moved, and still so, to show our contempt for Bush and American imperialism.



Al-Zaidi is free and the struggle continues.



Onward!

The Politics Of Post-Colonial Trinkets And Quackery

There is a 'huge' debate over ministerial vehicles in South Africa. Well the debate is not really a debate but folks have been pointing fingers at top politicians who are spending enormous amounts of public money on flashy cars.

The finger pointing is especially fierce given that we are in a recession and you would think that high profile public servants would not spend millions of rands on luxury automobiles.

Not so and South Africa is hardly unique.

I remember being in Belize in 2002 and coming across a notice for an urgent town-hall meeting to discuss the purchase of expensive vehicles by elected officials.

The notice claimed that local politicians were spending tax money on 4x4s instead of building houses. The notice went further to say that one 4x4 was the equivalent of three houses for low income families.

That argument can be cut and pasted into the context here in South Africa.

Blade Nzimande, the minister in charge of higher education, just bought a 1.2 million rand BMW seven series.

The car comes straight off the showroom floor and seems more fitting for a capitalist tycoon bent on making millions and spending millions.

But Nzimande is the Secretary General of the South African Communist Party (SACP), should he not know better?

Or, is this the 'new' materialism that expects followers to understand that a SACP leader behind the wheel of a million rand car does not represent an interruption of the dialectic toward revolutionary communism?

I like Zapiros' take on the issue:
Marx warned us of false consciousness though probably not in these mundane circumstances and context.

I think that Frantz Fanon may have sounded a more germane critique when he spoke of trinkets and deluded post-colonial leaders who front revolutionary stances and politics.

Robert Sobukwe was even closer to the South African context when he questioned the existence of an authentic communist leadership or politics in South Africa. Three or more decades ago he said that all that was left was quackery.

He seems to be right, still.

Of course Nzimande is not alone among those in power who have a penchant for trinkets. In fact, almost the entire presidential cabinet, communist or not, is so deluded.

I guess we should not make too much about the car preferences of these bloated post-apartheid leaders. Well no more than to look closer at their priorities.

I just can't resist one more Zapiro cartoon pointed at Nzimande:Onward!

Nzimande Picture Credit

"S Africa Backs Action in US on Firms Linked to Apartheid"

by Bill Corcoran in Cape Town
Republished in Common Dreams.org

South African victims of apartheid seeking compensation from foreign multinationals which supported the racist regime have been boosted by their newly elected government's decision to support their class action in the US courts.

The position being taken by President Jacob Zuma's African National Congress (ANC) administration is the polar opposite of the one taken by his elected predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, whose government refused to support its citizens' case.

Mr Mbeki was against South Africans suing the multinationals, which include, IBM, Daimler, Ford and General Motors, because the action could ultimately harm the country, which still has strong economic ties with many of the companies and wants them to increase investment.

The presiding judge of the US District Court where the case will be heard has received written confirmation regarding Mr Zuma's decision to take a different stance to that of his predecessor.

The South African government has also said it believes an out-of-court settlement would be the best way forward for all concerned.

The plaintiffs in the legal action, which is being taken in the US using the Alien Tort Claims Act, say the firms directly supported the apartheid system by selling vehicles, computers, weapons and other items to the regime that were used against the people.

In recent years the Alien Torts Claims Act has been used by non-US citizens against US-based companies which they say have been complicit in crimes overseas.

Khulumani, an apartheid victim's support group representing thousands of South Africans in the case, welcomed the government's about-turn. "This represents a very significant shift from the government's 2003 position that is not and will not be party to litigation against companies that did business with and in South Africa during the apartheid period," Khulumani said.

The apartheid victims' action was originally taken in 2002 against a large group of companies, but the US courts initially dismissed it.

However, the case was revived on appeal, though the number of companies being sued was greatly reduced.

International banks operating in South Africa during apartheid which were on the original target list were let off the hook because no direct link could be made between their business dealings and the regime's oppression.

However, the case against car manufacturers and computer companies has been allowed to proceed because their products could have been used to directly oppress the population.

Original Source

Health Care Woes

An article that appeared in USA TODAY got me to thinking about health care and the virtual crisis faced by millions of people in the US and South Africa.

Many of those folk suffer on as the respective governments seem to dither on about restructuring their health care systems.

The USA Today article describes the fate of retired Americans who live in Mexico to have access to affordable health care. The article starts:

MEXICO CITY — It sounds almost too good to be true: a health care plan with no limits, no deductibles, free medicines, tests, X-rays, eyeglasses, even dental work — all for a flat fee of $250 or less a year.

To get it, you just have to move to Mexico.

As the United States debates an overhaul of its health care system, thousands of American retirees in Mexico have quietly found a solution of their own, signing up for the health care plan run by the Mexican Social Security Institute.

The system has flaws, the facilities aren't cutting-edge, and the deal may not last long because the Mexican government said in a recent report that it is "notorious" for losing money. But for now, retirees say they're getting a bargain.

"It was one of the primary reasons I moved here," said Judy Harvey of Prescott Valley, who now lives in Alamos, Sonora. "I couldn't afford health care in the United States. … To me, this is the best system that there is."

Read the rest of the article here.

The article says that it is "unclear" how many Americans use the IMSS even as it sounds a warning from Mexican authorities that if the number grows significantly it will be a huge problem.

Americans are no doubt fed up with the way things are. The Obama administration is seen by some to be dragging its feet on the issue of universal health care and the debates over there can be described as fierce.

My good friend and fellow blogger, Dade, has written an excellent post on the matter that you can read here.

In South Africa the contours of the debate is not much different in essence. Like the US, we do not have universal health care coverage.

That is about to change, it seems.

President Zuma's government intends to create a National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme to achieve the principle of affordable universal health care.

The proposal is not without its detractors, most of them can be found in the private health care sector.

Nontheless, the government is determined to move ahead and the noise from the private sector is likely to subside as the terrain is redefined.

The NHI proposal comes at a time when there are serious questions about South Africa's health care system. See for example an exhaustive collection of related articles that currently appears in the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet.

I remain hopeful at this stage. What other option is there?

I have no health care insurance even though I am employed full-time in a permanent position. My employer rather deducts a significant amount of money for a life insurance scheme that I cannot decline.

Maybe there is sense in this option. Maybe. Just recently I read an investigative report that says many private health insurance schemes are hardly even covering routine care.

We are in trouble hey.

Sadly I know it is just a matter of time until my ass will be burned (again) and I will have to fork out big bucks just to get a measure of decent health care.

As it stands now I pay out of pocket each month for costly insulin and other medication related to the blood clots that almost sent me to that playground in the sky a few months ago.

What the hell is going on hey? Universal health care should be a primary political right ... or is that just more pie in the sky thinking?

Onward!

Picture Credit