Where were Afriforum, Solidariteit, Radio Pretoria during Red October?

red_october_projby PB Prinsloo

Red October Pretoria was a huge success, as hoped for. The primary objective was to draw international attention to the situation in South Africa and the international media exposure was more than ever experienced at any other event ever before.

This truly is history in the making. The presidency accepted the memorandum, which is another success, because in terms of this Constitution it means they are now bound to honour it and respond.

This had nothing to do with rugby, so obviously we did not draw the crowds we would have liked to. This had nothing to do with retaining the name of a city with streets named after terrorists where drug lords rule and no one dares venture after dark, so the emotional aspect did not provide a drawing card of any sorts.

No one was making money from this, so the marketing was by word-of-mouth without marketing budgets.

Now that it is over and done with, the beans would be spilled as to why Afriforum, Solidariteit, Radio Pretoria and others boycotted this huge event aimed at making the world aware about the murders rapes, torturing, crime, discrimination against whites and the deteriorating services in this country. As for OASE, they destroyed themselves in the process by showing who and what they really are all about.

As for the groups mentioned above, they are out of my life and I never want to hear from them again or have anything to do with them, ever. They are all about working for themselves, promoting their organisations and scoring points. Their boycotting of Red October and particularly the manner in which they went about it, was enough evidence to convince me that they do not give a damn about you and I, they are in it all for themselves and for their little organisations and movements, but wait for the beans to be spilled on that issue.

What Red October has also showed us, is that there is a HUGE world-wide awakening regarding the genocide against whites, not only in South Africa, but globally.

The international support was beyond our wildest expectations. This was by far the most successful international awareness project ever launched in South Africa and I am humbled by the efforts of Sunette Bridges, who proved her worth to the ultimate level of success. This cost her not only financially, but in terms of time, effort, emotionally and physical exertion all at the same time.

Is this the end of Red October? No this is only just the beginning. It will grow from strength to strength from here onwards. Sunette Bridges did this in three weeks, now we have a year to prepare for the next one. Hopefully by that time most whites would have woken up to the realities of this country.

As for unity Red October proved for the first time that unity among whites was possible Never before had we seen so many different organisations, people, activists, artists, movements and businesses coming together for the same cause, the survival of the whites in South Africa.

Those who are serious about our survival and our future all took part, did their part, played their role and got involved.

This morning’s march was more than just memorable, Sunatte’s speech was something everyone should have heard, it was from the heart, honest, sincere and to the point.

Steve was his own passionate self as always, and telling as it is, even challenging government at times.

Henk van de Graaf handled the international media on farm murders in his usual highly professional manner spilling the facts and the detail.

Red October is here to stay. There are still a few events in other countries, but the USA, Europe, New Zealand and South Africa have had their turn and it was amazing!

Those who decided to boycott it, well forever hold your peace. You had your chance and you showed us how selfish you really are.

Thank you Sunette Bridges (and your husband, Chris) for having put this together and for everyone who played a role, who did not just sit around moaning and complaining, but actually got involved.

See you here same time, next year.

Mandela discharged

madiba4Former President Nelson Mandela has been discharged from his three-month admission at Pretoria’s Mediclinic hospital.

The 95-year-old returned to his Houghton home on Sunday morning, where he continues to receive intensive care.

In a statement by the Presidency, they confirmed that his condition remains “critical, and at times unstable.”

He was escourted to his home by medical staff after his long stay which began on June 8, to treat a recurring lung infection.

The international icon celebrated his 95th birthday in hospital on July 18, while the worlds’ media camped outside the medical complex.

Tributes for his recovery came in from around the world.

Well-wishers left poems, paintings, flags and floral bouquets outside the Pretoria hospital and his Houghton home.

In a statement this morning, the Presidency said: “We would like to wish him all the best as he continues his recovery at his Johannesburg home.”

“If there are other health conditions that will warrant another hospital admission, we would do so,” added Presidency spokesperson Mac Maharaj.

Maharaj added that his resident has been “reconfigured to all him to receive intensive care there.”

South Africans have been urged to keep praying for him, and to respect Madiba and his family’s private space.

Madiba’s grandson, Mandla, said his discharge was “particularly heartening because it flies in the face of those who have been busy spreading lies that he was in a ‘vegetative state’ and just waiting for his support machines to be switched off”.

He added these kind of people had been “in effect declaring him dead while he was fully alive”.

Mandela’s condition improves: South African presidency

Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela

Former president Nelson Mandela’s condition has improved, the presidency said on Thursday.

“President Jacob Zuma visited former president Nelson Mandela in hospital in Pretoria today, 27 June, and was informed by the medical team that Madiba’s condition has improved during the course of the night.

“He remains critical, but is now stable.”

Zuma added: “I cancelled my visit to Mozambique today so that I can see him and confer with the doctors. He is much better today than he was when I saw him last night.

“The medical team continues to do a sterling job. We must pray for Tata’s health and wish him well. We must also continue with our work and daily activities while Madiba remains hospitalised.”

The presidency’s update contrasted with remarks by Mandela’s eldest daughter that her father did not look well and that the family was living in uncertainty.

“Yes. Tata’s [father] situation is critical. I’m not going to lie. He does not look good,” Makaziwe Mandela said.

She told SABC television she last visited Mandela on Wednesday.

“I can reiterate that Tata is very critical, that anything is imminent, but I want to emphasise again that it is only God who knows when the time to go is.” – Sapa

SA’s OK, says Presidency

President Jacob Zuma

The Presidency moved to counter the negative publicity SA has been attracting abroad, with President Jacob Zuma’s spokesman,, insisting it was “grossly incorrect” to suggest SA was “on a downhill slide”.

Maharaj was responding to last week’s cover story by the influential business journal The Economist, headlined “Cry the beloved country – South Africa’s sad decline”.

The assertions in the article “cannot go unchallenged as they are so misleading”, Maharaj said in a statement issued on Sunday.

“It is grossly incorrect to suggest that South Africa is on a downhill slide.”

He said while two ratings agencies may have downgraded SA’s creditworthiness, many other countries had experienced the same fate.

“It is a sign of the times. The world is going through a period of serious economic upheaval,” Maharaj said.

“Despite the challenges, South Africa is getting many things right,” he insisted.

The article notes: “According to the World Economic Forum, South Africa ranks 132nd out of 144 countries for its primary education, and 143rd in science and maths.”

It also notes that since Nelson Mandela retired in 1999, the country had been “woefully led”.

Maharaj said SA was privileged to have had Mandela as its first democratically elected president. However, this did not make the country immune from economic, social or political challenges, more so given the legacy arising from colonial oppression and apartheid, he said.

“Despite the challenges, South Africa is getting many things right.

“The economy possesses the necessary dynamism to position the country as a competitive player in a difficult global economic environment. In direct contrast to the Economist article, a strong vote of confidence on South Africa was given in the last week by the international business community with the country’s recent inclusion in Citigroup’s World Government Bond Index.”

Maharaj said SA’s success was visible when benchmarking the country against other emerging market economies such as the Brics and Next 11 countries.

“With regards to financial market development, South Africa ranks first among the Brics nations and third overall in the world.”

His statement came as Zuma continued to come under attack at home, particularly over the spending of hundreds of millions of rand of public funds on his private homestead at Nkandla, KZN.

United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa accused Zuma of underestimating South Africans’ intelligence and misleading the country by claiming last week that a large part of the work at the estate had been done by his family.

City Press on Sunday said it had documents revealing that multimillion-rand payments to at least nine contractors had been authorised last Friday, just days before Zuma emerged from a summit of government, business and labour to address the crisis in the mining sector, where it was agreed that private sector executives would commit to a salaries and bonus freeze.

But while “Nkandlagate” has provided the opposition a stick with which to beat the ANC, it is the wildcat strikes, violence and intimidation disrupting production in the mining sector that are causing jitters among investors and that prompted the critical assessments published last week.

The government also came under fire in articles in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Financial Times following the decision by ratings agencies to downgrade SA’s sovereign debt rating.

Cosatu has called on Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to spur the police to get to the bottom of “the wave of violence, intimidation and killings of National Union of Mineworkers shop stewards and activists. Cosatu said it believed there was a concerted campaign to “wipe out” NUM in the beleaguered platinum sector. – Cape Argus

Zulu power for Zuma

Jacob Zuma in Zulu dress

Shifts in ANC membership within South Africa’s provinces have given President Jacob Zuma a fighting chance of holding on to the party leadership and the presidency.

The number of ANC members in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal might seem like a detail only of interest to South African political scientists.

In fact, the number may well be decisive in helping Zuma remain in charge of Africa’s most powerful nation and her largest economy.

This December 4,500 ANC delegates will gather to elect a party leader for the next five years.

He or she will almost certainly become the next president of the country, thanks to the party’s electoral predominance.

Five years after ousting president Thabo Mbeki in an act of political regicide at the last ANC electoral conference, Zuma could face the same fate in December.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is widely tipped as one possible challenger. He could announce his candidacy as soon as this week.

According to a recent TNS poll Motlanthe has a 51 percent approval rating to Zuma’s 48 percent.

But as the race gets underway, the ANC announced Wednesday that a surprising 36-percent rise in membership in KwaZulu-Natal means at least 974 of the 4,500 conference delegates will come from Zuma’s home province.

It is by far the biggest representation of any province.

For an incumbent whose administration has been marred by rolling strikes, high unemployment and social unrest, that is nothing short of a godsend.

In the race for 2,250-plus ANC delegates, every vote will count, according to Mari Harris, managing executive at local pollsters Ipsos Markinor.

A complex mix of loyalty, personal advancement and ideology, as well as regional and tribal politics, will all play a role in corralling delegates.

Harris predicts that the largely rural Eastern Cape, home to Nelson Mandela and long the heartland of the ANC, will back Motlanthe.

Although the dominant tribe in the Eastern Cape is Xhosa, members are more likely to go for Tswana-speaking Motlanthe, than Zuma, who is a Zulu.

“The Xhosa don’t have a candidate,” said Harris.

She also predicts that Gauteng — which includes Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria — will favour Motlanthe.

Indeed, ANC rising star, Gauteng province chairman and culture minister Paul Mashatile has already said the “ANC must change this year,” while calling for a “renewal of leadership.”

Together, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape account for 1,176 delegates. By striking the right pacts Motlanthe could significantly increase that total.

His recent courting of ousted party firebrand Julius Malema appeared to have paid off Wednesday when the ANC’s Youth League, which still backs Malema, called for a “radical and urgent change” within the party and backed Motlanthe as leader.

With only 45 delegates, the Youth League is unlikely to tip the balance of the leadership contest — but it could prove a thorn in Zuma’s side.

Malema could help deliver some or all of the 574 delegates in his home province of Limpopo.

It is against this backdrop then that KwaZulu-Natal’s increase from 608 votes in 2007 to 974 today may prove crucial for Zuma.

“At this stage I think he will still carry the vote, with a small majority,” said Harris. “But everything can change.” – Sapa