Helen Zille considered the rather delicate question that has been bogging down her DA of late: How do we use redress as a bridge to a non-racial, much more equal society? “This is a very difficult question to answer but anyone who is committed to non-racialism, as we are in the DA, needs to grapple with it. And that is what we are doing.”
Doing that they surely have: The DA has fired the labour shadow minister and his deputy over wrongly supporting the ”Verwoerdian” affirmative action amending legislation. As national leader, Zille has called on the chief whip in Parliament to resign. Another MP, who was fired by Lindiwe Mazibuko as finance spokesman, said if the chief whip should go, so should the caucus chairman and the parliamentary leader.
So it has been a messy couple of weeks for the DA and for Zille, in particular.
Luckily, former finance minister Trevor Manuel has swooped in to Zille’s rescue, albeit unintended. Zille told the Cape Town Press Club yesterday: “I was very interested to read in the newspaper yesterday that Trevor Manuel is also grappling with it and over exactly the same issue that has dominated headlines over the past few weeks.”
In a formal lecture, he addressed a profound question to his own organisation, the ANC, Zille reported. He asked: “Can we claim to be non-racist and look beyond the norms of the Employment Equity Act that ascribes ‘designated groupings’ to definitions that appear to approximate the pencil test?”
Zille went on: “That is exactly the question with which the DA has been grappling. And it is a very difficult one for all South Africans who are honestly seeking ways to redress our racist past, in a way that will provide a bridge towards a non-racial future.”
The only difference between the ANC and the DA is that the ANC has not been flip-flopping about its parliamentary support for racially entrenched definitions in both the affirmative action and the black economic empowerment legislation.
The ruling party has liberally applied, and voted for, the pencil test, without much embarrassment except for the mumblings of a former finance minister.
Foreign relations
South Africa’s foreign policy including its relationship with the emerging world power China, reflected an element of naivety, AgangSA leader Mamphela Ramphele has told the Cape Town Press Club and the Parliamentary Press Gallery Association.
Ramphele was asked what her view was of President Jacob Zuma’s recent statement that Chinese interests in Africa were not a demonstration of a new form of economic colonialism – ala European colonialism of the 19th century – but that it was merely China “doing business” in Africa.
She did not mention Zuma in response, but Ramphele said that all countries, including China, pursued their national interests in their diplomatic and trade relations with other countries. “It would be surprising if China comes to Africa as a charitable venture. They are here to extract the maximum benefit for China.
“South Africa is the biggest economy on the continent… it ought to protect its own interest… making sure that South Africa is not dominated by China, India or any other country.”
She believed that South Africans were naïve about the relationship with China, which put forward “super-smart” people in its embassies and missions.
In contrast, South African diplomatic missions were often used as dumping grounds for corrupt elements in politics who were dispatched as ambassadors.
The Addis Ababa headquarters of the AU had been built by China “as a gift” to Africa. However, all the building work was done by Chinese people with not a single African in a management position.
The risk was that the project could end up being “a Trojan horse” project as it would forever have to be serviced by Chinese expertise.
This is something that South Africa should have questioned as a leading force on the continent, said Ramphele.
Guess who won’t be appointed an ambassador abroad if she doesn’t get to Parliament next year?
Mobile banking
The practice by cellular operators to issue co-branded prepaid banking cards with a mobile wallet subscription is gaining interest according to Benjamin Binet, the vice-president for telecommunications in sub-Saharan Africa for Gemalto, yesterday.
Gemalto is an international digital security provider of software applications and secure tokens and collaborates with major cellular firms such as Vodacom parent Vodafone, MTN and Orange.
Binet says consumers in Brazil, Europe and Africa are displaying a keen interest in the use of prepaid banking cards with a mobile wallet subscription. Mobile wallets are virtual bank accounts for banked and unbanked people who transact by sending money electronically through a cellphone.
According to Binet, the issuing of prepaid cards may be preparation for the growth of a trend that is already familiar among Americans and Japanese.
That is contactless purchasing, where the cellphone or card has an embedded chip that is brought near a point of sale terminal for payment without actual contact taking place.
South African banks have already begun to issue contactless cards. Only 10 percent of terminals deployed in South Africa accommodate contactless payment, according to Binet. He said next year banks and cellular operators would be conducting small trials, but he did not anticipate commercial implementation by 2016.
The challenge though for providers of mobile money and mobile wallet products is to grow the user base. One remedy according to Nnamdi Oranye of Indian Atlantic is that consumers should not be charged. But Binet said the cost involved prohibited the operators from offering the service for free. “The fee is something they are looking at. I don’t think it will be a barrier in years to come,” he said.
Edited by Peter DeIonno. With contributions from Donwald Pressly and Asha Speckman.