South Africa

Nice couple of articles in the M&G this week. First off there's John Matshikiza with an excellent piece about the funeral of Brett Kebble :

First off is the muted manner in which his gruesome demise has been treated by both the eminent and the rank and file of our brave new society. Sure, there was a big funeral at the cathedral in Cape Town where superstars and hangers-on of the liberation movement filed in, looking pious but basically putting on a good front for the television cameras. The entire African National Congress Youth League had their heads fashionably shaved so that they could look snappy carrying out the coffin. It was one of those classic moments of “please do not adjust your television set, the problem is actually reality itself”....

Anyway, Kebble’s funeral was yet another of those post-apartheid party events when you were not sure whether it was supposed to feel like a wedding, a funeral, or someone’s 21st birthday party. You were just supposed to be there, or be square. Any suggestion that there was something to mourn (like the violent and unexplained passing of someone you cared about) was rapidly buried behind the need to be out there looking good. The shaven head had nothing to do with the lately deceased in his sarcophagus. It had everything to do with how your shoes matched the tucks in your Italian suit, and the squeak of the leather seats as you sank your body into your high-end 4x4, wrapped the shades around your head, and figured out how to slip out of the funeral cortege once the basics had been taken care of...

 

Definitely checkout the rest of the article, Matshikiza is a solid writer who always produces the goods without overreaching. Article of the week for me though goes to Rapule Tabane and Vicki Robinson with their excellent piece on how the Prez. intends to crush pretender to the throne Jay-Z :  

African National Congress president Thabo Mbeki believes his deputy, Jacob Zuma, will exhaust himself politically before the crucial 2007 ANC congress, and plans to weaken him by constantly beating an anti-corruption drum.

Senior party sources said this was the core of Mbeki’s counter-strategy in the vicious battle over the presidential succession. Almost every speech Mbeki now delivers highlights corruption as a cancer that could destroy the ruling party. His speeches and columns on the ANC website, ANC Today, regularly allude to the principled and moral leadership provided by past ANC leaders who were not interested in material gain.

Mbeki must have taken comfort from last week’s Research Service survey, which found that 60% of South Africans from all walks of life back his handling of the Zuma affair. The litmus test of his leadership, however, will come from within the party, more specifically from the branches, which ultimately elect the party president.

 

Many have been wondering why the Prez. has kept silent for so long and I think this article hits the nail on the head! Mbeki doesn't need to enter a shouting match with Zuma, he knows time is on his side (as well as most of South Africa) all he needs to do is wear Zuma down a little at a time. There's not going to be a big showdown in this match - he's counting on Zuma just fading from the scene. If there's one thing Mbeki does well its playing the political game, Jay-Z is way out of his depth....