the unbearable blkness of nonbeing and being

melanated
segregated
blackspotted
sold bought and branded
burdened with negritude
all memories of preethiopic epic power hidden
being forbidden
at the white wolfs bidding

race of seekers with no findings
mere
pockets of joy
seeds broken on arid ground
deserted by water gods, storm-gods and sky gods
burnt by the Sun
high hopers singed by the crack of dawn and pipe and coke, dope, moonshine

blacklisted race of nobles
erased from civilization
forced to submission
to strange deities
whose bodies we imbibe enmasse
yet we are impeached and hated for the hell of it
bedevilled benighted
melanated
soil of the word
Soul of the world
Earths firstborn
whose blood nourishes the bitter-sweet fruit
of existence

who and what made you black?
how long is it necessary for you to stay black
stay black ....

Notes and Insinuations - Characters and Song Lives

Izolo Loku ...
Just Lastnight ...
I was ceased with an impulse or was it the compulsion? - To write something, anything and anyhow, about the Musical contribution and collaborations of Moses Taiwa Molelekwa. The title I had in mind was and still might be - Lets Talk About Barungwa
So when I arrived back home after taking a friend home to Kwa-Mashu, we had been listening to some Reggae by a sensational young artist named Chronixx, a little bit of Hip Hop by way of Mick Jenkins ( Trees and Truths ) among others; I embarked on a little search. . .
What I should have searched for was more about the meaning behind the world Barungwa or just some biographical stories about each of the artists involved in making some of those projects come together. The music was so rich and futuristic,the players/artists all sounded like intrepid mavericks really keen to turn the world of sound around to their own tunes. There was still some of that post-94, post-democratic RSA excitement and exhuberance yet tempered with a clear eye/ear/sense on what was curretly happening in the post-millenium world. The year 2000 set in ...
The digital-analogous Electronica -Reggae/Ragga,broken beats, drum and bass and Hip Hop and traditional indigenous music throwback references landed on fertile soil among the young world music lovers and more than a few seasoned conoissuoirs alike.

We all dug the music, but how well did we know the protagonists and instigators. The streets and the speakers were bleeding with fresh blood and new ideas and Capitalismo was ready to suck up all the spoils ...As usual, nothing new came out of the politicians and economists speeches. The poorer were getting more impoverished and the hustling and bustling were kept in the middle while the filthy were getting more nourished. Nothing feeds on discontent like great stories and great music. Great art has emerged out of the most tempestous of times.
"Can Anything Good Come Out Of Trenchtown, that's what they say ..." Wailed Bob Marley in his triumphantly defiant lamnetations and judgements agains Mystery Babbylon the Great harlot ....It was the sound of a human being born and thrust into a world of slim possibilities andd doomed to precarious pauperization at the bottom of the lowest rung of society - Black and wretched, Coloured and dejected.
Beautyful music arrising out of PAIN and utter disdain. "Up a clean river to wash my dread/upon a rock I rest my head / that's where I visioned through the seas of oppression/ Oh yeah, dont make my Life a Prison ...We come from Trenchtown ..." Wailed the Wailer singing the memory and the experience of millions of souls stranded in limbo in a world that slaves them and rejects them. Talk about utter oppression, what the Rastafari term DOWNPRESSION/downpressor clearly elucidates. Yet out of all that Misery, a JOYFULL NOISE.
Who can escaped untouched? "Only the Birds have their wings ..." Chants the Rasta minstrel ...
"This is not time to be deceived/ I tell you you show KNOW and NOt Believe/ They say this jusgement will never be with water/ No water can cool out this fire, this fire ...."*

Music like everything else comes from Somewhere and is usually Headed Somewhere to. There is usually an Aim, Objective and Structure even to the most freest of expressions. Like all cultural production, music is from a People to a people, from Soul to Soul, from Ear to ear and everything else inbetween.

Whereever we may find our Inspiration to do what we do, it isall just a matter of Communications. Intelligent life pivots around pillars and posts of information. If the delivery is clear, the sounding will be clear and the message will be Felt, that is sensed. The mission is only completely accomplished once a Spiritual or Transformative experience is reached. If the message does not transform or act upon the active part of the receiver and also the giver/sender, then that message would be incomplete.
Music ...
Music ....
Music ...

All narratives that are based on the transmission, transmitability and even the transcient elements of life require Deeper perception. One must not just listen to John Coltrane, Abdullah Ibrahim, Zim Ngqawana, Bheki Mseleku, Ali Farka Toure, Billy Holiday, Bob Marley, Sun Ra, Sa Ra, A Tribe Called Quest... music, the vibe has to transport you to as many dimensions as imaginatively posssible.
This need not sound like some kind of one diemsional view of the significance or even insignificance of music, for the world is made beautiful through our very diversity. What is important is that we try to channel our faculties towards progressive, innovative and Note-Worthy endevours. ..

The world is made up of animated and inanimate objects, yet beyond the material world there is always those factors that are unexplained. The various explainations and scientific investigations that have uncovered so much in terms of data-able, recorded evidence/material have not yet been acknowledged as ALL KNOWING.
While it is is important to ACKNOWLWEDGE fatcs, it is also just as vital to Life to acknowledge the Unknown without succumbing to complacancy and superstition.
There are Elements of Life that can only be Felt and Known by Way of Intuition, the Inner Knowing that is apparently supposed to characterise this AGE. But what we are ableto know seems to often not be equal to the quest to KNOW more.

It is like the child's question, lastnight " If Adam and Even were the only ones in the garden at that time, doesn't that make us all Brothers and Sisters?"
To many adults that may just appear as a simple if not just a rhetorical question, but if one seeks to Tell The Children The Truth, one has to be ARTFUL with the Adult audience as Well ...
But the Truth can be articulated in so many ways without musch alteration. Even beyond questions of levels of perception, the Method of Transmission as the Vessel also Bears truths about the Level Capacity of the Transmitter.

If it be true that All Nature hears and bears music, even the stillest entity is Vibrating with the Sound of Music. But Music can also come from darkest places; places of Unspeakable Pain and immeasurable cruelty.
Some of the most beautiful pieces of art have come from tragic and unpardonable sins - Humanity against humanity, Humanity against Nature and so on and so forth. Kodwa Ingoma evela emanzini acwebileyo kayifani nengoma ezwakala emaxhaphozini adungekile.

In The Spirit Of Kwanzaa

Proverbs for Kwanzaa

Umoja (Unity)

December 26: Day One of Kwanzaa
 United family eats from the same plate. —South Africa (Zulu)
 Unity is strength. —Zanzibar
 Unity among the cattle makes the lion lie down hungry. —Africa
 Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. —Tanzania, Kenya
 A person is a person because of other persons. —Lesotho
 “The heavens will fall" is not the concern of only one individual. —Africa
 The wisdom of the white man depends on togetherness. —Ghana
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)

December 27: Day Two of Kwanzaa
 To ride a horse is good; to walk on your own feet is better. —Mali
 No one can scratch your itch or convey your message like yourself. —Ethiopia
 If you rely on someone else's soup pot, you go to bed hungry. —Ghana (Akan)
 If you borrow a man’s legs, you will go where he directs you. —Africa
 If your hand is in someone's mouth, you do not hit him on the top of the head. —Ghana
 Each firefly lights its own way. —Haiti
 If you want your eggs hatched, sit on them yourself. —Liberia (Jabo)
 Blessed are those who can please themselves. —South Africa (Zulu)
Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility)

December 28: Day Three of Kwanzaa
 Ants are tiny, but they lift things that are many times their size and weight. —Africa
 What is looked for by many will have a finder. —Uganda (Ganda)
 When minds are the same, that which is far off will come. —East Africa
 If one kindles the fire, others take live coals out of it. —Ghana (Twi)
 If birds travel without coordination, they beat each other’s wings. —Kiswahili
 When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion. —Ethiopia
 Thin and lean strings when braided together can tie up the mighty lion. —Ethiopia
 The failure of snakes to travel in groups makes it easy for humans to kill them with machetes. —Africa
 Two skinny and weak dogs can overcome a fierce animal. —Burundi (Rundi)
 Make a bed for the children of other people in the place where your own children sleep. —Morocco
Proverbs for Kwanzaa | 2
Prepared by the authors of Lifelines: The Black Book of Proverbs (available- online and in stores- wherever
books are sold). For more proverbs, or to receive a free daily proverb, please visit: LifelinesProverbs.com.
Download this document from: lifelinesproverbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Kwanzaa-Proverbs.pdf.
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Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)

December 29: Day Four of Kwanzaa
 If you sell a drum in your own village, you get the money and keep the sound. —Madagascar
 Money does not stay in one place. —Ghana (Akan)
 No one in the presence of a large sum of money goes hungry to bed. —Ghana (Akan)
 If ten cents does not go out, it does not bring in one thousand dollars. —Ghana (Twi)
 You gain interest only on what you invest. —Lesotho
 You cannot get rich if you look after your relatives properly. —Native American (Navajo)
 Little and often fills the purse. —Tanzania (Zanzibar)
 Generosity is wealth. —Africa
 One person does not build a town. —Ghana (Akan)
 Eat alone, hungry alone. —Virgin Islands
Nia (Purpose)

December 30: Day Five of Kwanzaa
 Accomplishment of purpose is better than making a profit. —Niger, Nigeria (Hausa)
 A good purpose is like a doctor and evil purpose corrupts. —Tanzania (Zanzibar)
 If you do not build your house firmly, you are afraid to sleep in it. — Ghana (Twi)
 If the dance is pleasing, even the lame crawl to it. —Ghana (Twi)
 The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people. —Ghana (Ashanti)
Kuumba (Creativity)

December 31: Day Six of Kwanzaa
 The wind and the imagination can travel far and wide at no cost. —Ethiopia
 Although the snake does not fly, it has caught the bird whose home is in the sky. —Ghana (Akan)
 A stumble is not a fall. —Haiti
 Do not stop children having fun; otherwise, they will also stop your serious work. —Gambia (Mandinka)
 The creator of a dance should not be excluded from it. —Ghana (Akan)
 A creature is not completely created until death. —Kiswahili
 If you don't desire a thing, you will never get it. —Africa
Imani (Faith)

January 1: Day Seven of Kwanzaa
 It is the body of the wind that people do not see. —Uganda
 The trees that are growing are tomorrow’s forest. —Zambia
 The following day begins with a lot of hope. —Uganda, Congo
 The darkness of night cannot stop the light of morning. —Burundi
 You don't give up to despair before God. —Burundi
 Anticipate the good so that you may enjoy it. —Ethiopia
 Only a fool believes that the clouds obscure the splendor of the moon. It has shined behind them for eternity. —Africa

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (Festival de Jazz de Antibes, 1965)

John Coltrane playing A Love Supreme Live

Robert Glasper - Letter to Hermione (Live) ft. Bilal

David Bowie - Letter to Hermione

Izazi ZaseNingizimu - On Indigenous Knowledge and Power

Sanibonani! lemibono ngangiyibhalele imbizo eyayibanjelwe eNyuvesi YaKwaZulu-Natal esikhungweni saseWestville ngonyaka 2014.
Lana ngixoxa ngolwazi nolwimi lweSintu noma LwaBantu olunzulu nolubalulekile ekusikhululeni ngokwengqondo nangokomnotho.
Ngibhale ngolwimi lwesiNgisi ngoba kuyacaca ukuthi sisamelwe yindlela ende eya ekuzimeleni geqe, sithelelane, sihwebelane siphinde sizwane sisodwa singaBaNtu Abamnyama emmhlabeni.


Communication, Indigenous Languages and Power Relations
Abstract:

Communicating ideas across the old boundaries of race, nations, regions and states has become increasingly well-organized since the dawn of the information era. While information systems have become more homogenous, there remain multitudes of populace virtually untouched by the utilitarianism of information technology.
A language is a carrier of culture and power relations. It is no secret that the languages of the imperialists spared nothing in their mission to reconstruct the world, which meant ridding whole societies of essential cultural institutions and worst of all, the dignity of land sovereignty.

The work of Frantz Fanon makes it clear that a liberated consciousness must be the logical follow-up to the liberated state. The extensive work of Ngugi Wa Thiongo; Kwesi Prah and Eskia Mphahlele on decolonization and post-colonialism bears evidence that language is a key factor in global miscommunication. According to the above anti-colonial writer-activists, the solution to further erasure of identity and powerlessness for a colonised people is to assert the agency of their language and cultural institutions. According to Fanon, a people whose economy is dominated by colonisers must choose between “pseudo-independence” and “true liberation”, even in this time of neo-colonialism and the rise of an largely apathetic Afrikan middle-class.

Introduction:
In the beginning of the 20th century, Marcus Garvey said “A people without proper knowledge of their past are like a tree without roots.” As an industrious reformist leader and captivating messenger for the emancipation of the African masses, he emphasized the significance of knowledge of self and appreciation of the African heritage. Such knowledge had the power to liberate one from various complexes of inferiority and apathy.
Current African education is in a state of crisis, as curriculum developers struggle to find sufficient synergies between indigenous knowledge systems and the Western models we have inherited from Europeans.

To empower themselves Africans have to first reject the value systems of their conquerors and reinvent themselves. The urban griots tradition called Hip Hop has also spawned many teachers, one of them being a group called Reflection Eternal, in their song, aptly titled KNOWLEDGE OF SELF DETEMINATION they emphasise the level of perseverance required to wage a cultural and ideological battle against salient Eurocentricity and culture-loss especially in the urban areas.

With precious little knowledge of their pre-colonial past, many Africans find themselves assimilating to Western cultural values. Because there is very little useful information and well-structured knowledge about themselves even in cyberspace.
The average African native oscillated between distorted traditional rites, indifference or dogmatism learned from the West. The dilemma stems from the fact that contemporary academia offers very little knowledge on authentic African history and sciences. This paper aims to offer some illumination in this dismal situation, where the education system of independent African countries is still dependent on Western pedagogics and episteme.
By illustrating how Africans have always had sophisticated models of self-governance, diplomacy and environmental conservation, we shall endeavour to shed some light on what has been hidden about Africans and what many Africanist scholars and activist have always maintained.
Many Africans do not know that the first university in the world was founded by an African woman, it was called the Al Karaouine University in Fez, Morocco in 859 AD. The second university in the world was also African, the Al Azhar in Egypt, created in 969 AD and still exists till this day.
The first university in Europe came almost 300 years later in Bologna in 1088 AD. Yet many African still believe that they are intellectually inferior to Europeans and even the Chinese. Ignorance is not bliss, it is a state of poverty and disillusion.
“There are doctors, missionaries and scientists who have spent years among Africans – many of them can even speak the local language better than the indigenous people – but what they know about them as human beings amounts to nothing. Many have studied the African only to compare him with the White man – intellectually for instance.” – Credo Vusamazulu Mutwa (Introduction to Indaba My Children – African Tribal History, Legends, Customs and Religious Beliefs)

The study of human communication may be over three thousand years old, yet the challenges that people faced then may still be relatively similar today. Advances in technology and civilization may have been made, but it still remains as complex a process as it ever was then. Communication is characterised by perpetual evolution and transformation. Pivotal to how humans understand each other and the environment we coexist with, is Nature Consciousness.
Beyond simply understanding each other as humans with various languages, customs and cultures, it is imperative that we rediscover or develop a better relationship with the natural environment. The communication tools and techniques that are required in order to regain our rapport with Nature are as complex as the ones we have developed with modern technology. It all takes practice and a willingness to learn the manual.

Theorists in various disciplines (Psychology, Marketing, Public Relations, Human Resources Management) have established that needs are the most important force behind human behaviour. One of the primary human needs is the need to communicate. Communication develops and maintains relationships with others, even beyond the human species. There are various theories of communication, but for this purpose, we shall deal with “Systems Theory”, which states that all parts of a system are interdependent. A vital part of this theory is the maintenance of equilibrium or balance. This is a system that thrives on awareness and proactive action towards a changing environment.

In the ancient Egyptian Wisdom temples (Karnak, Luxor, Memphis and Alexandria) neophytes were reminded daily of the importance of knowing themselves. This was not only emphasised for the purpose of knowledge acquisition, but also to maintain Ma’at (the principle of Truth, Order and Righteousness). The Kemetans (Ancient Egyptians and Nubians) were being trained to maintain a Rightness between what is spoken (mdw ntr or divine speech/script); what is thought (ma’at kheru – truthfulness) and how all of it was cosmically connected.

Humans often desire the active co-operation of others to achieve a particular purpose, for example a public relations team may seek to assist a large corporation to establish a brick factory on a piece of land which the local people deem sacred or an environmental hazard. The local people may resist even when they are assured that the company will create much needed employment opportunities, it all depends on the choice of language employed by the public relations team.
The communication process may involve a lot of time spent in conflict resolution in order to iron out any disputes and find an agreeable solution, but depending on the model of communication, the conflict may be sustained. Models of communication can serve as a control mechanism helping us to diagnose challenges that may impede effective communication.
Proposed Solutions:
• Since African knowledge is value based, participatory and involves holistic and customary practices, there is nothing of significance that is done without proper acknowledgement of Ancestors and the Supreme Being.

• Performances of rites of passage that involve families, communities are vital sources of communal strength and help to edify the people. Rites of cleansing are performed privately by individuals in order to ensure rightness with the cosmos and to clear ones path and dealings with the entire community.

• The institutionalisation of mother-tongue instruction from the lowest to the highest levels of education would significantly elevate African languages to modern levels of developmental excellence. The transformation of Eurocentric universities into proper African learning centres is vital.

• As early as pre-school, African children taught Afrikology, everything from the games to the stories they are read and what they learn to write and recite should be based on Africa centred approaches.

• African centred education is not a top-down affair but it is based on participation and the whole community must be involved in the raising of a citizen who carries themselves with the principles off Ubuntu.

• All investments in Indigenous Knowledge Systems should focus on creating tools for the industrial development of the continent. Each sector in the economy should be permeated with the Afrikological perspective towards innovation.

• IKS innovations have to be supported by seamless interconnectedness between government institutions, businesses, academia, researchers and also the financial institutions that are governed by Africans.
• All official communication between and within the African states should be conducted as a radical transition from Eurocentric ontology to Africa centred, solutions driven perspective.

• Conscientisation (making people aware of the injustices in society) – this has been offered as a solution to problems of oppression in society. This will illustrate to everyone how we are all inter-connected and contribute to either peaceful or conflicted coexistence in our world of finite resources.
Former Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah dedicated an entire book to this topic, entitled “Consciencism”, which dealt with the process of political, cultural and psychological decolonisation in Africa. Today it is simply a matter of creating enabling policies and implementation strategies to make languages such as KiSwahili a lingua-franca in Pan African dialogues and interpersonal communications. Dr Ali Mazrui in his magnum opus The Power of Babel*, also offered this alternative to the imperially imposed English and French that permeates African commerce.
In Ethiopic: An African Writing System*, Ayele Bekerie, the Ethiopian socio-linguist offered an even more radical alternative to the hegemony of Eurocentric systems of writing and knowledge acquisition.
Bekerie’s book explored the efficacy and utility of the ancient Afrocentric writing system called the syllograph, as opposed to the phonograph. This symbolic and totally indigenous writing system communicates much more than just what is being said but has many spinoffs in the growth of literature, poetry, cosmology and even the commercial enterprises of Africans.

Conclusions
Know Your Self!
Use cyberspace and community gatherings to promote IKS
Use design and arts and cultural events to propagate the African aesthetics.
Promote Reading and Writing and Conversation spaces where young people unplug from their cell-phones and focus on self-realization.
Subsidize all popular media to promote IKS ventures and entrepreneurial works.

REFERENCES:
- Ayele Bekerie, Ethiopic, An African Writing System
Trenton, NJ: The Red Sea Press, 1997.

- Ali A. Mazrui and Alamin M. Mazrui, The Power of Babel: Language and Governance in the African Experience by, Oxford, Nairobi, James Currey, 1998.

- Kwame Nkrumah, Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for Decolonization, Monthly Press Review, January 1, 1964

- Frantz Fanon, Towards The African Revolution, Grove Press, NY, 1964

Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, Indaba My Child



A Brief Biography of Menzi Maseko

Born in Kwa-Mashu in 1978 and grew up between Newlands-East and also in Morningside, Durban; Menzi Maseko has been involved in the Arts community for most of his life. Soon after matriculating at Overport Secondary School, he and a friend started their own Tourism business Syavaya Travel and Tours; later on he partnered with a Congolese-South African designer to create a retail brand called Urban Zulu/ Zwakala Bookstore.
Since the year 2000, he has been involved within the arts, culture and heritage movements in Durban/KZN. Has worked with The BAT Centre (Bartel Arts Trust) a premier Community Arts Centre in Durban where multi-disciplinary arts/ artists are developed, through various training programmes and entrepreneurial skills. He has been a founding member and General Secretary of Slam Poetry Operation Team and Nowadays Poets.
He has been a Programmes Supervisor at the British Council project called Global Xchange, working towards Best-Practices in local and global Arts communities in Northern Ireland and in the United Kingdom. Ever since then Menzi Maseko has been a Poet/Essayist and Social Commentator with a very keen eye on the Ecological, Socio-Political and Spiritual development of Youth and the underprivileged of Azania/Southern Africa. He is also a freelance translator/transcriber and Director at the Institute of Afrikology.
He is currently employed as Resource Centre and Events Manager at the BAT Centre working extensively with Poets/Writers/Storytellers/Musicians and other creative artists.
He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Broken Seeds Productions cc / Also known as The Creators Hands Incorporated. BSP cc is an Events , Educational and Arts projects management company which also promotes Artists that emphasise professionalism and social awareness in their music and art.
Contact: Menzi.maseko@gmail.com/ greenankh777@gmail.com

The Musical Footprint - Music Without Boundaries

Retrospect for a Talk-shop

Thursday, August 16, 2012
Wasted Seed
Zeroing In On Waste: The Uses and Abuses of Climate Change
When sunny Durban hosted the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol (CMP7), there were many expectations and the excitement was palpable. Before D-Day, which was the Monday of 28 November 2011, the eThekwini Municipal Manager Dr Michael Sutcliffe offered R600- million as a guestimate based on an average daily estimate of 25 000 visitors spending R60-million per day for three whole weeks.
To those who followed this crucial spectacle, it’s clear that the final sessions were stretched for about 2 to 3 days; one therefore wonders if the City of Durban ended up paying much more than the R200-million it initially budgeted for. The point of this essay is to ascertain whether all this was worth it or is it another wasted expense costing the already ailing global economy billions and also further depleting our meagre energy potential.
The parties to the convention have met annually since 1995 as COP to assess progress in dealing with Climate Change. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol established legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their Greenhouse emissions. So COP17 seeks to secure global climate agreements as the Kyoto Protocols first commitment period (2008-2012) is ending. Many opinion makers emphasised that success at COP17 negotiations ultimately rested on China’s diplomatic skills. Industrializing countries with constrained resources such as China and India were set no binding targets at COP3, in Kyoto, in 1997.

During COP15, which was held in 2009 in Copenhagen, No binding agreement for long term climate change action was reached, although a ‘political accord’ was adopted by 25 parties including the USA and China; which included the first time a collective commitment by developed countries to provide additional resources totalling nearly US$30 billion by 2012 to mitigate against Climate Change. Now it is also instructive to note that there have been scores of suspicious conspiracy theories in the form of You-Tube video’s and blatant pseudo political propaganda documentaries issued by United States citizens who see themselves as defenders of democracy. Many of these ‘film-makers’ are vehemently opposed to the notion of Global Warming or Climate Change, they see all such conferences, UN and state backed initiatives as part of the global agenda to create more profits at the expense of poor citizens.
Now most ordinary African people had no clear idea what Climate Change was until the media blitz preceding COP17. A lot of younger people including myself have hardly even heard of the preceding conferences of the parties, yet we were always aware of what wanton pollution and exploitation is. What COP17 literally brought home was that it was mostly industrial emissions which contributed massively to polluting the atmosphere, provoking Climate Change and that the purported solution had to be “green energy” development.

Yet we are hardly ever informed about the merits and demerits of wind power, hydro-power and the other ‘cleaner’ alternatives to fossil fuels. South Africa’s task in COP17 was to elicit contributions from developed economies to support the Green Climate Fund. The GCF is a UN mechanism to support programmes in developing countries to mitigate and eventually reverse the damage of Climate Change.

To someone like myself and the many other observers, COP17 and the developed countries are just wasting time and throwing money at a problem which requires more creativity, sacrifice and a willingness to change or transform old patterns of thought and civilisation. Surely the billions of figures mentioned in the first paragraph could be better spent on education, developing Indigenous Knowledge Systems & climate friendly technologies.
But there is no great and one sided profit in such things for the multinational health, energy, fuel and mining industries, there are no corrupt politicians and local chiefs to bribe in a system that empowers people to get off their dependency on inefficient and expensive energy grids.
Our world suffers from the actions of a handful of greedy people, people whose lives and livelihoods are never affected by the nuclear fall-outs and adverse weather conditions that affect subsistence farmers and shack dwellers.

If politicians were really the public servants that they are supposed to be, they would pass laws that not only restrict the subjugation of other people and the planet; they would also be obliged to use public health systems. A law that says public servants should utilize public utilities, housing, schools and transportation would place them in a position where they would empathise with the plight ordinary people.

Instead of waiting for global polluters to amend their ways and invest in a fund that impedes their overzealous greed for profit at all costs, local governments of developing countries should zero in on Zero Waste principles focussing on redesigning products and methods of production to eliminate waste by mimicking natural processes and developing closed loops.
South Africa should be converting waste to resources for the benefits of local production and creation of healthy and sustainable living conditions, an awakened society.
Inextricably connected to global corporate greed is a deeply embedded culture of institutionalised racism, a matter which is conveniently shunned in such expensive talk-shops. The perpetrators cannot afford to be introspective and change their ways, there’s no money to be made in common sense.

K-Smash And Soulfull Fam in this Musical Footprint

https://plus.google.com/111011857004863078886/posts/1xgf6Nxmw6f

EzikaMAZISI KAMDABULI WEKUNENE

I have been obsessively reading and re-reading the works of one of Azania's foremost poets/biographers and authors. The celebrated and significantly undaunted late great Mazisi Kunene. The book I have been obsessed with lately is titled Isibusiso SikaMhawu published in 1994 at the dawn of the South African democratic transition.

338.

Yena lowo osesihlabele inkabi emhlophe
Usesibungaza usesibonisa ububanzi bakhe
Ngokuba sithe nalapho sibusa
Sabesizibona izihlupheki zamukeliswa amathambo
Sabesiwezwa amazwi enhamba ezimemeza

Zizek’s Counterintuitive Suggestion for What to Do Now About Climate Change

Zizek’s Counterintuitive Suggestion for What to Do Now About Climate Change

Reading And Writing Book Club Invitation to the BAT Centre

Tulile Siguca - Abangoni

Nelisa Lukope & Anelisa annalyzer Stuurman- collab

Thoba Ndlovu- Angisafuni/Thatha

Afrikologically Speaking

The Purpose of Afrikology ( 24 /11 / 2015)

There is a rationale and then there is purpose. Everything has its purpose, yet not everything can be explained, defined or theorized. Afrikology is both theory and practice/praxis; it is a realistic, phenomenal and also intellectual pursuit. We do not just study Afrikology, we live it. The knowledge that is gained from knowing the true Essential Nature of Afrikanity compels the knower and the seeker to embody the wisdom. To say that you are practicing something enables one to have a Living Knowledge, a Lived Experience is a deeper Level of Knowing. This is what makes Afrikology the definitive Knowledge System among the many ways of knowing that are out there. We are engaged in a Lifetime Commitment whose Purpose is to Liberate the Mind and Affirm the Genius of Afrika.

A Rationale is a definitive statement, but purpose is reflective of the Act of Living, Purpose focuses the Vision and assures one of the primary goals. Purpose engages all your faculties. You cannot stop thinking about what you are, who you are, why you are and what is required to attain and sustain certain levels of Self Realization.

One may have an intellectual appreciation for things and for others but until one finds ones purpose he or she is no good for no one. Even a rock standing firm on the ground un-movingly still, it has a purpose. Some Readers have heard of the book A Purpose Driven Life, while some may have skimmed over its contents and followed its religious and spiritual meaning- yet it is only those who understood the core message who have managed to repurpose their lives according to its essential postulates.

In many ways Afrikology is just like that and many other good books of Inspirational reflections on the Meaning of Life, yet this is a subject that has been explored by many generations of thinkers, scholars, scientists and ordinary people. Some of the scholars have managed to open up many doors of perceptive possibilities for the human race and the entire cosmos. The work of awakening human consciousness is not an easy path to choose, but as it has been said before: When The Student is Ready, the Teacher Will Come.

One of the flaws of the Western and Mainstream models of education is that there is hardly ever any real connection between the learner, the subject and the teacher. In Afrikology, the learner, the teacher and the subject are joined at the hip. There is no separation between the available knowledge, the logic of its significance and its purpose. If Afrikology is about fashioning a new and wizened Afrikan, then the truthfulness and the agency of our message is to create the environmental, elemental possibility for that state of being.

The Teacher, the Student and the Subjects/Programs are interconnected. There is a break from the old hierarchical routines. Afrikology does away with the doubt about whether Afrikans can attain total liberation from corrupt and corrosive systems, while imbuing the Afrikologist with a calibre of knowledge requisite for creative confidence. While Afrikology involves creativity, ritual and purpose driven confidence, it is also a responsibility. When seekers the righteousness of the Ancient Paths find a way to channel the varied forms of knowing about Afrika and the universe and Self, they become endowed with a bold confidence to become all that they can be in life.

This undefeated and intrepid attitude is what is required of Afrikan people whose whole experience with the Western world has been both cruel and illogical. The purpose is to Liberate the Mind.

Masihambisane Kwakheke Izwekazi

Dear Supporters of Afrikology

The Institute Of Afrikology is pleased to announce the Year End OVERVIEW of 2015. On behalf of the Director and the Board of the Institute we would like to thank you for the support whether in Kind or in Spirit to our work over this passed year.

We have great plans for the new season of 2016 and we hope you will be there to see us make a success of it.

DATES TO KEEP IN MIND:

Event: Afrikology Lecture 2015
Theme: Overview and Reflections N.B We will be having a Recognition Awards
Time: 17:00 pm
Date: 24 November 2015
Contribution: R 50
Venue: BAT Centre
Guest: Dr. M.J Bhengu

Event: Afrikology Lecture 2015
Theme: Honoring Afrikan Festivals
Time: 17:00 pm
Date: 08 December 2015
Venue: BAT Centre
Contribution: R 50
Guest:Dr. Mathole Motshega

Event:Kwanzaa Celebration
Theme: Celebration of Afrika's Children and Customs
Time: 09:00 am
Date: 26 December 2015
Venue: Albert Park, Durban


Yours in
Menzi Maseko
Librarian/Resource Centre
BAT Centre Trust
+27(0)31 332 0451
083 246 1604

Poem For My Father

Baba

Inkondlo ka Gudu T. Maseko

Ubuyisipho esingavelele
Luthando olunohlonze
Kawusincishangana kepha usiphe
kwaze kwanqaba isikhathi

Baba uyizolo nekuthangi lethu
kepha kithi ingunaphakade lakho
linjengenkanyezi koduke nendlela
Eyakho ilokoza kuze kudabule ukusa
Ngikwetha isithakazelo esisha
Ngithi Ndonsa

Ngisho noma sewakhothama
Ngcamane, Khubonye ka Ndlovu ka Ntu
Bewaziwa ngobuntu bakho
Ubuhleka kuvele lesiyasikhala
Sasebunsizweni, ebuqhaweni bakho
Ngoba wayibeka induku ebandla
Nabathi bayakwazi
Bazi izigemegeme zakho

Mshokobezi ongqakala imhhloshana
Seko elimnyama elindlela zimhlophe
Sikhwili esimabokoboko ngokugadl'amadoda
Sidwabasiluthuli izintombi zikulandela
Gudu lemphepho emakha kaqondakali
Ngoba engawasemaphakadeni...

The Supreme Yoga revisited 16 November 2015

ahamityeva sankalpo bandhaya 'tivinasine
na 'hamityeva sankalpo moksaya vimalatme ...

Sikhadhvaya said:

My delusion is gone. Wisdom has been gained by your grace.
I remain free from all doubts. I know what there is to be known.
The ocean of illusion has been crossed. I am at peace, without the notion of 'I',
but as pure knowledge.

Words and Works

Finding Words that Will Work towards Establishing a New Earth ...
Testing, Testing ...
Siyahlola Nemihlola
Ama-Hora ngamahora

Mbuso Khoza Eshowe

「Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan」 -Battle System Overview-

Between A Rock and A Hardened Place

Deviant Thoughts and Defiant Lifestyles in the land of the Unfree



I am currently challenging my own position or thoughts regarding the place of homosexuals in Afrika. I am searching my own soul even before I even delve into any research or analysis of homosexuality and what is called LGBT/Queer issues.
"Without our past the future cannot be reflected; the past is our mirror." So wrote Derek Jarman in 1997.
This is not an intellectual exercise, but it is just a self-introspective act between me, myself and I and I. This introspection is partly inspired by the current buzz within Black Radical formations in Azania/RSA as the we engage with emerging discourses surrounding the visiting Dr Umar Johnson during his Azania Speaking Tour. The Afrikan American educator/psychologist and proclaimed 'Prince of pan-Africanism' has been accused of being defiantly homophobic. Known for not mincing his words in his talks and declaring without equivocation that homosexuality is a disease.
An infuriated member of the Black House Kollective,one of the many activist based Black Consciousness/Pan-Afrikanist think-tanks wrote this morning:
"This has been my question all along. If I am queer and I have queer friends and we go to a Black House Kollective event where Umar says we are sick which BHK in words of Rithuli (a member of BHK) does not see this as violence.Are we safe in BHK events? Can we argue as the mentally ill ones? I've been asking; I am getting answers that say its complicated. I don't see what the complication is. I just want to know if BHK is for heterosexuals only? Furthermore what does it mean to be queer in BHK spaces when it seems like hate speech directed at queers cannot be questioned or contested because we will be attacking Umar?
That's what Zandi said. I just need clarification so that i can make up my mind about BHK and its events."
I contributed some of my thoughts to this topic but realised quickly that I need to take a principled stand and basically choose which side I am on. Am i a progressive Black Consciousness activist who is pro-All-Black peoples right to life or am I a nationalist or pan-Afrikanist who has narrower views regarding the rights of others?

I subsequently shared the BHK members post from my whatsapp to my KwaZulu based group at the Institute for Afrikology, as we will be hosting the controversial Dr Umar Johnson very soon in Durban, in partnership with EThekwini Municipality.
There was not much response from the members of the Institute of Afrikology, but the Director with whom we have had robust discussions on the subject of sexual freedoms/rights and responsibilities answered by writing:
"Afrikology Lectures are open to All." and then she added our motto,"Liberate the Mind and Affirm Afrikan Genius and Greatness"
And significantly, she also added "We have not had any anti-Dr Umar persons at our events..." stating that this was the message from the organizers from other parts of the country where the Dr has done his presentations.

Perhaps all this is just a distraction from the other really important issues that Dr Umar deals with, and we should perhaps just focus on the regenerative work he offers to the global Afrikan/Black family. Perhaps we have to deal with all this in a manner of priorities. Should we as Black Consciousness activists support someone who is partial regarding sexual rights or should we ignore that and reduce it to a matter of personal prejudices?

Let us take a wider view, South Afrika is regarded as the only Afrikan country that has adopted a progressive legal position towards LGBT people. In many Afrikan countries from Zimbabwe to Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania, homosexuality is still considered illegal.

What really then informs the South Afrikan constitutional position, and have South Afrikans been thoroughly consulted in its promulgation?
Dspite the pervasiveness of homophobic discourse, ethnographic accounts suggest that in Afrika generally, and in South Afrika specifically, traditional forms of same sex-sexual expression occur alongside the fulfillment of the social imperative to marry and procreate.
These bisexual behaviors can be analysed with respect for their cultural specificity, but also as they are illuminated by global theorizing about LGBT issues and queer theory.
In South Afrika, no established notion of a bisexual identity exists, and bisexual behavior falls outside of the familiar heterosexual/homosexual binarist divide. For this reason it represents mutability and the unknown, particularly associated with the current time; however, it also represents for some an area of scandal and disgust, which is linked with deep-seated social anxieties about borders, excesses and the regulation of appetites. ( Eadie 1997).

Even as I write this, I feel as if I am somehow eluding the point, I am not stating where I stand. My poetic/philosopher/Black Conscious radical friend Mphutlane Wa Bofelo wrote an email to me today, still dealing with the subject of whether it is right to stand on the fence regarding this subject. He did not beat around the bush in stating that there is no space for neutrality in Black consciousness, you either reject something or you allow it to take its natural course,in other words, he said that one cannot be a true Black Consciousness advocate and still deprive other people of their sexual freedoms.
This is when I found myself re-thinking my position as a Rastafarian person, whose lifestyle is based on the celebration of what we call "Balance of Creation" which signifies the sacred and even divine union of Man and Woman (Hueman and Wombman). In this conceptual scheme of references there seems to be no place for same sex intimacy or eroticism. While I may denounce any acts of violence against any person due to his or her personal sexual preference/tendency or apparently natural disposition, I still find it difficult to accept all homosexual behavior as natural.
But then again, who can tame the impulses of love?
Who am I to say to another person, your choice of partnership is un-Godly when I also believe that God is in everything. That God is the All.
I must also add that being raised in a Pentecostal christian household and growing up in a patriarchal society has also contributed to my disposition. Although I have deviated a lot from the Christian worldview when I became a Rasta and subsequently a pro-Bantu/Kemetic naturalist, the hetero-narrative remains ingrained.
However, I have tended to reject all the attempts by Rasta's and pro-Afrikanists who use the Bible or religion as their basis for discriminating gay people. I have not done enough research into the histories of Afrikan sexuality to fully confirm that alternative sexual practices existed or flourished unchallenged and thus constituted an legitimate social norm.

We are now living in a somewhat democratic society, one which sociologist/philosopher Homi Bhabha termed a 'hybrid moment of political change.' With all the changes that are occurring in our environment and society, shouldn't we also follow-suit by changing our biased views of others?
We should be freer by now to accept each others differences and free to'negotiate and translate their cultural identities in a discontinuous intertextual temporality of cultural difference.'

In simpler terms, I am learning to accept others differences, but do I have the right or the audacity to also dictate to others whether they should accept what I accept or to reject what I reject? This to me seems quite reactionary and anti-progressive, even regressive.
I can just recall how I reacted when I found out that one of my favorite writers, James Baldwin was Gay. Of course I had not yet read Giovanni's Room, but when I read his biography i had to sympathize with this very Black Conscious and queer brother who opened my mind to so many progressive thoughts.How then could I judge him for his sexuality?
There are many examples. I am learning ...

Let us close with a poem by Durbanite poet and lover of the arts Jillian Hamilton:
Its called Coming Out

with time
has come a deviation
from the straight

and the narrow

that which was once
black or white
is now richly rainbowed
almost magical
in its diversity
and limitlessness

as the rainbow
curves
i swerve to round
upon myself

some might say err
and find my need is other
inclined now toward the distaff
the more unusual case
of like attracting like. ( 2001: 188 -9, English Academy Review)

Poetry somehow just manages to say it all.
Yet I still find myself asking, how liberal should I allow myself to become just so I can be a true and unbiased lover of all humanity without prejudice?
Is it even liberalism to accept that which one cannot and should not even attempt to change?
Even His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I said "Every one has a right to decide his own destiny." He also wrote that "We must become larger than our baser selves and overcome petty prejudices."
Perhaps all this so called homophobia is just one of those petty prejudices, albeit with dire consequences for all involved. Yes indeed, the Eternal Reflection rappers were right when they offered that "Even our condition has been conditioned."
So if you live in a glass house, don't throw rocks.

Shutting Down the Rainbow Nation: #FeesMustFall

We Don't Need Another Hero?

"The pages of history are full of heroes who created for themselves roles of glorious valor which they played at decisive moments. Likewise the pages of history are also full of heroic roles which never found heroes to perform them. For some reason it seems to me that within the Arab circle there is a role, wandering aimlessly in search of a hero."- Egyptian President Nasser, 1970's

A few years ago a friend and I started working on a clothing brand we called Wholegan aka Who Will Lead the People Again.
My man Zee-Lion had been strongly inspired by the music of Bob Marley and the sounds we would listen to included Burning Spear among others. Marley's chant in his song "Exodus": - HERE COMES ANOTHER BROTHER MOSES ACROSS THE SEA ...had a strong effect on black young men who were born in apartheid era townships where there had been few opportunities for well-being, for progress, for redemption from the traps of colonialism and capitalism.
And Burning Spear's "Follow Marcus Garvey" was just one of those songs that caused us to reflect on what we could possible do for ourselves without succumbing to materialistic over consumption. How could we work as black business men without being 'corrupted'by lures of greed and consumerism which we could see was ravaging some of the consciences of our former leaders.
Essentially we felt leaderless, socially and politically. It appeared as if all our leaders with any backbone were either dead or operating as managers of anti-black institutions which were not transforming our lives in any significant way ...

This morning I was listening to a radio dj interviewing some independent political analyst, the topic was the aftermath of the #FeesMustFall student protests currently gripping occupied Azania aka RSA. Their shocking conclusion was that these protests are being rendered irrelevant due to the "fact"that most of the students being produced by these untransformed universities come from Middle Class backgrounds and they will not change the world anyway because they don't even vote. The point was that these students do not have a strong ideological foundation where upon to base and sustain their struggles ...

TBC

An Ideal World: On Social Movements and the Efficacy of Protests Without Ideology

Recently intrigued by a paper written by a fellow black comrade, China Ngubane in a journal called Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies www.tandfonline.com/loi/cpsa20, titled Occupying Umlazi; Hesitant Steps Towards Political Ideology in a Durban Township; I have been moved to thinking how some Black Radical comrades have already debunked the efficacy of social movement, especially those ideologically 'led' and misled by white liberals.

Here is the link to the article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2014.975930 ...

A recent article written by fellow activist Bandile Mdlalose, also a colleague of comrade China did a lot to deal with this perpetual problem of white do gooders who do their utmost to either police the black voice or to steer our common struggles towards certain ideological or policy directions. Usually it is towards a policy of non-racialism as opposed to anti-racism; towards a cosmetic transformation of social conditions rather than total destruction of the very system that they thrive on. The do gooders tend to steer the landless and oppressed ones towards whatever dominant ideology that they find lucrative, especially in lieu with their academic interests.

I don't remember who said the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, the class that is the ruling material force of society ( read White society in the context of RSA), is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.
So Comrade China's paper made me really anxious to find out exactly which Ideology he was referring to. But even though his paper is a good or accurate portrayal of what transpired when a community rose up against authority, I was still left wondering just what kind of political ideology the author had in mind.

But my focus is not really the matter of white liberals determining the trajectory of black struggles per se, what concerns me most is the shortcomings of black activists and leaders of movements to convince the masses of oppressed and landless people to make that final push to really effective revolution, by any means necessary.
Yes, I am part of those movements too, I have been part of the September National Imbizo since the year 2011, and i have agitated within Economic Freedom Fighters and now I have committed myself to the Black First Land First movement.
Yet each time I am confronted with the "lived experiences" of the my people, the 'wretched of the Earth', it becomes increasingly difficult to keep asking them to THINK. Think and break the mental chains so that we can all take that great leap towards liberation and achieve Biko's vision of a True Humanity.

To convince the hungry and unemployed and vulnerable to think beyond their service delivery concerns, their joblessness and the state of crime, and work collectively to banish the forces that perpetuate their desperate conditions is no easy task. It may be easy for one to sit at the computer typing up 'social commentary', writing to the newspapers, and urging thousands of listeners on radio to revive Steve Biko's Black Consciousness, to think and act on Robert Sobukwe's pan-Afrikan ideals and to bravely rage against imperialism in the indomitable spirit of Thomas Sankara.
But striving to do these things in a society which is constructed on apartheid divisions, class hierarchies and white monopoly capitalism makes it ever more difficult. But as I said to the people of Illovu this weekend, "Change may be very difficult, but it is not impossible, especially once you have had enough of abuse."

Let us now turn to ideology before we take a closer look at comrade China's well researched paper which still somehow fails to display the authors ideological standpoint. Perhaps he did this on purpose, as am activist who refuses to pick a side in the name of intellectual objectivity, I may not know his motivation, but I will soon find out.
In his monumental work of selected essays,African Sociology,Towards A Critical African Sociology: Selected Works, Bernard Makhosezwe Magubane has a chapter titled Ideological And Theoretical Problems In The Study Of Modernization In Africa. In this chapter Magubane intricately gives an proper perspective of how various political and economic theories and ideologies have altered the destinies of African people through-out the 20th and 21st century.
It is not difficult to tell that Magubane writes from a Socialist and Marxist ideological foundation, even though he does not shy away from sharp yet well apportioned criticism of the limits of cut-and paste socialism in Africa and the rest of the "third world". He quotes C/L.R. James in the beginning of this chapter: "The cruelties of property and privilege are always more ferocious than the revenges of poverty and oppression." ( From the Black Jacobins)
Such are the pearls of Black intellectual wisdom I often wish to drop (in my Mother tongue) whenever I am called to speak on Community and National radio stations, but, we are often subjected to mundane questions and time constraints.
Magubane adds this:

"To break the neo-colonial noose, Nkrumah was forced to adopt a socialist strategy, "capitalism had already had its turn in Africa, for 50 years, 100 years or more, and Africa [ was still ] underdeveloped. In other words, capitalism, as far as development [was] concerned, [was] seen as having failed." (p.205). It goes without saying that for leaders like Nkrumah, Nyerere, Sekou Toure and others, the choice of a socialist road of economics is dictated by historical necessity. Their policies confirm Fanon's (1967:78) observation that:

The concrete problem we find ourselves up against is not that of a choice, cost what it may, between socialism and capitalism as they have been defined by men of other continents and other ages. Of course we know that the capitalist regime ... cannot leave us free to perform our work at home, nor our duty in the world. Capitalist exploitation and cartels and monopolies are the enemies of underdeveloped countries. On the other hand the choice of a socialist regime, a regime which is completely oriented towards the people as a whole and based on the principle that man is the most precious of all possessions, will allow us to go forward more quickly and more harmoniously, and thus make impossible that caricature of society where all economic and political power is held in the hands of a few who regard the nation as a whole with scorn and contempt."

Reading this makes me think that Comrade China Ngubane and many other activists was mainly highlighting a specific node of hopeful community solidarity. The matter of whether the occupation of a Councillors office was effective or whether their demands were met is neither here nor there, especially when one considers the fact that the whole country is under the control of a government that is both gullible and contemptuous.
I say gullible because it is really difficult to ascertain exactly what ideological foundation the African National Congress acts from. Even though its Freedom Charter is said to have been penned by Communists who had 'consulted with the oppressed people". The truth remains that this vainglorious organisation has thrived on the 'willful ignorance' of the masses.

Comrade China notes that "Ward 88's Community Crisis Committee included members from the ruling ANC, as well as from the main opposition political parties such as the DA, IFP and NFP. Those not politically affiliated included activists from faith-based organisations. ...they agreed to actively participate in this process to resist authority, even to the extent of using civil disobedience, in the face of the states willingness to use violence. Ideological development occurred during this period, as some ANC members threatened to withdraw their membership and the majority withdrew their allegiance to authority."

This is very interesting and it makes so much sense why the populist commander of the Economic Freedom Charter strove so hard to garner a following in this large township of Umlazi, surely he was aware of this gap or opportunity to win over disgruntled voters. Due to the EFF's own lack of ideological clarity and genuine concern for the fate of the black oppressed, the problems plaguing all townships still continue and there is no political education programs currently in place to equip the people with the right tools to build themselves out of the mire of liberalism and exploitation by black askaris or petit bourgeoisie.

One shining example of sound ideological clarity in this article comes via Black Conscious and socialist activist Bheki Buthelezi, who is quoted as saying: "We are doing this as residents, not political parties. There are four political parties in the ward - the ANC, Black Consciousness Party, National Freedom Party and Inkatha Freedom Party - and we have all come together to raise issues of unemployment, housing, the landless and informal settlements.

Let me close with a quotation that appears at the beginning of this paper: " The ideological deficiency, not to say the total lack of ideology, within the national liberation movements - which is basically due to ignorance of the historical reality which these movements claim to transform - constitutes one of the greatest weaknesses of our struggle against imperialism, of not the greatest weakness of all."

Yet somehow I am still compelled to re-investigate Fanon's statement that as Africans we find ourselves warming up theories and ideologies that emanate from another era and from another continent, yet he also adds in a sort of admission that as black people we are in a Catch 22 situation where we ought to choose the best of two evils. The other evil seems like a wolf in sheep's clothing, but what choice do we have? Choose we must.
But the wisened professor Magubane cautions: "The socialist solution is a historic necessity; necessitated as much by the historic facts that underdevelopment in the former colonies begins with the intervention of the colonial factor as by the advances made by socialist countries and those former colonies that chose a socialist path. The transformation of countries along socialist lines has been prompted not by subjective decisions of isolated personalities, but by historical necessity." (p.143, Ideological and Theoretical Problems In the Study of Modernization I Africa.

The Afrikan Music Experience Night taking place today 5pm

A Radical Profeminist: Three Waves--Each One White-capped: A Racist Histo...

A Radical Profeminist: Three Waves--Each One White-capped: A Racist Histo...: [image is from here ] Let's face it: in the U.S., the white woman on the left is better known than the Black woman on the right. This r...

By Spiritual Means Necessary

The Kemetic Tree of Life represents a pattern of spiritual cultivation which enables one to envision and manifest the different faculties of the indwelling divinity and become a vehicle to allow God’s manifestation on earth.

0- Amen- This is not a faculty it is THE undifferentiated peace that is our true self. This is why it is not on the tree of life but far above it. Every religion in the world after their prayer incantates in some form the name of Amen. Who is the God of gods. We must eventually reconnect with Amen by using the Tree of Life to cultivate our spirit, through existence and lifetimes of unrelenting pursuit.

1- The 1st faculty on the Tree of Life represents Ausar, or the omnipresent faculty. This faculty represents the oneness of the universe. The basic particle from which everything is existence originates. It enables us not to separate anything from ourselves and to experience the true self. The one self. Ausar is the first tool that amen uses to govern existence. Represented by Imhotep, Christ, Buddha and other scribes.

2- The 2nd faculty on the Tree of life represents Tehuti, or the omniscient faculty. This faculty is the all-knowing faculty that has a series of 9 axioms. The Tehuti faculty enables us to manifest the indwelling divinity and to be able to resolve any problem. It is knowledge without thought tapping into the intuition or indwelling divinity. Unlike Sebek that is based on belief Tehuti is based on truth It is the second tool that Amen uses to govern existence.

3- The 3rd faculty on the Tree of Life represents Seker, or the omnipotent faculty of the spirit. Seker is above Het-Heru because Seker enables one to be the divine by understanding that beauty lies within and being in synch with our destiny. This omnipotence is the 3rd tool that Amen uses to govern existence.

4- The 4th faculty on the Tree of Life represents Ma’at, or the divine law. This law is represented by 42 principles [of Ma’at]. Ma’at is a female faculty that represents the stage in which we no longer require guilt and conscience because we observe the law of heaven out of love and therefore the Ab(heart) is lighter than the feather and the Khu (spirit) is eternal.

5- The 5th Faculty on the Tree of Life represents HeruKhuti, or divine justice. This faculty establishes justice in the world, not by revenge or destruction, but instead by re-establishing the laws governing existence (MA’AT). Divine justice within our being consists of making peace, balance and harmony get achieved and restoring all to god’s order.

6- The 6th faculty on the Tree of Life represents Heru, or the will. This faculty is birthed by Auset and is beyond any animal desire. The will is successful only when the true self or indwelling divinity is victorious over desires, emotions or lusts which are contrary to the self. Heru is the Pa-heru (pharaoh) or in other words it means that your moral code is in concord with the divine essence and you are god on earth pa-heru.

7- The 7th faculty on the Tree of Life represents Het-Heru, or the imagination faculty. This faculty operates to create certain behavioral patterns. It must also be programmed because it is in this faculty that we could possibly perceive our happiness as being contrary to the will of the indwelling divinity and therefore get stuck on a low level of the Tree.

8- The 8th faculty on the Tree of Life represents Sebek or the intellect faculty. Most people in Western society can only achieve Sebek. Intellect for the mere sake of intellect does not serve the purpose of the indwelling divinity but of Set. Sebek is an idea or belief based on programming. Sebek is only a correctly applied faculty in commune with Tehuti the omniscient inuitive faculty. sebek is based on beliefs and can open or close the way to truth.

9- The 9th faculty on the Tree of Life represents Auset (Isis), The Goddess. This faculty is necessary to go into trance and reprogram your being. Auset is the vital part of reconstructing Ausar but first she must go through sorrows and give birth to Heru (the will). her determinants are devotion, receptivity and sacrifise. she is the source of trance and passion.

10- The 10th faculty on the Tree of Life is Geb or the Father Earth. This faculty contains the electromagnetic body the khaibit and the molecular body the khab. the life force is governed by proper breath. It also includes the 5 organ systems notably the heart/small intestine, the lungs/large intestine, the liver/gall bladder, the spleen/stomach and the liver/bladder.

(c) Ra Un Nefer Amen

It Was Not Easy But It Was Worth It

WHY WE LEFT THE ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

“Sometimes - history needs a push.” Vladimir Ilich Lenin
By joining the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) we saw it as a medium to maximize radical politics and to bring the message of revolution to the people. To this end we hoped to raise radical consciousness so as to make revolution. We saw the EFF as a hopeful coalition of left forces with the potential for unity in action without abandoning the freedom to criticize any force(s) within the movement especially those represented in its leadership.
When EFF leadership subsequently began to corrupt the movements foundational principles, we urged them to stop! We demanded that they account to our people who voted for the EFF! The movements deviation from its foundational principles were clear in the following respects:
1. Constitution
.
At the National People's Assembly (NPA) in December 2014, we witnessed in horror as the EFF constitution was violated. We saw how EFF leaders blatantly went against the provisions of the EFF Constitution so as to elect the leaders that Julius Malema wanted in all leadership positions, so that the EFF can be made to serve their selfish individual interests and that of white capital. We witnessed how Malema's wishes became the wishes of the people. We watched too how the voting choices of Malema served as an instruction to delegates on who they were compelled to vote for! This is how Malema ensured that only his loyalists were elected to the CCT.
2. Political Thought
The political line of the EFF, Marxism-Leninsm-Fanonism, which effectively locates the black liberation project at the core of EFF's liberation efforts has been completely liquidated by the EFF leadership. Leadership has since coming to parliament abandoned the EFF's political line and ideological perspectives. We have seen open attempts to appropriate radical Black Consciousness and Pan Africanism into bourgeois state power and to this end relegate the black liberation project to the periphery. This effectively indicates the containment of the liberation project within the anti black colonial project. Also there was a clear understanding that EFF will use parliament to fight for the people and not to enrich politicians! We understood that EFF will engage in elections and mass action at the same time and to this end EFF will lead a land repossession movement in the country. The point in this form of engagement was that people must not be made to wait for parliament and laws for people to get back, inter alia, their land! Our people have waited for 21 years already! However EFF is not using parliament for the reasons it had initially declared. With the core issue of agitation for EFF MP's being the limited demand that President Zuma must "PayBackTheMoney" spent on upgrades at Nkandla failing which he must step down, participation in parliament is a far cry from what EFF had intended it for. Besides, this demand suggests that the problem is President Zuma and not the ANC and hence feeds into the neo liberal agenda of reproducing the same anti black system under a new president.
3. Purges
We have witnessed how Fighters have been purged from the movement without any charges or proper procedures being followed. All Leaders and Fighters that question procedure in the EFF have been silenced. The movements intellectual capacity has been deliberately stunted by EFF leadership. Intellectuals who challenge leadership's compradoreial tendencies are isolated and purged. It is now a crime to challenge backward ideas in the EFF. EFF is no longer a politically dynamic movement.
4. Land
When we joined the EFF we did so with a clear appreciation and understanding that there shall be, amongst other non negotiable cardinal pillars, land expropriation without compensation and equitable distribution of this resource amongst our people.
When EFF first came to Parliament it condemned the apartheid land thieves. It also offered its 6 percent proportion of the national vote to the ANC to amend the constitution so as to realize "land expropriation without compensation”.
At the December 2014 EFF National Peoples Assembly we witnessed the beginning of EFF leader Julius Malema's deviation from cardinal pillar 1 when he diluted the land demand by calling for the occupation of “unoccupied land" only.
In April 2015 Malema met with the white leaders of the agricultural capitalist class in Stellenbosch and completely sold out the land principle of EFF, being the demand for land expropriation without compensation, and settled for expropriation of “non-productive land” only. He told these white agricultural leaders that as long as "it’s a productive farm, we don’t have to interfere with the production on that piece of land” and that when there is a part of the land“ which is not used for agriculture purposes, we would be having a problem. All we are saying is the land must be used. It must not lie idle.” In so selling out Malema destroyed the urgency of resolving the land question radically. This was not in line with what the EFF founding manifesto requires, that is, that all land shall be expropriated without compensation. It was also contrary to the EFF land policy which suggests that land is based on the anticolonial logic that all land in South Africa is stolen property.
5. Corruption
We have also seen how Cardinal pillar number 7 which speaks of an "open, accountable, corrupt free government and society without fear of victimisation by the state agencies" has been violated by those who consider EFF funds as being their personal funds. To this end when EFF members tried to hold EFF leaders accountable, they were victimized, called names and threatened. We have witnessed EFF leaders using all sorts of threats to instill fear in those who dare to challenge them!
6. Militia Gang
EFF has been turned into a militia gang and now operates as such. The movement has seen fighters being commanded and thugs being hired to deal with members who challenge leadership. There is a compradoreial leadership in place with all the bourgeois mechanisms in tact to keep them in power. They call upon members to use violence against those who dare to question them.
7. ANC Culture
The period starting from the NPA of December 2014 is marked by the rise of ANC aligned leadership within the EFF. In this period we witnessed and in fact experienced the full reactionary burden of the ANC culture, sponsored by the Malema leadership, that was taking root in the movement. This culture was evident in the way, for example, that: "ghost" branches were established throughout the movement; delegates were chosen to attend the NPA; candidates were chosen and published on preferred slates, and; draft positions on the important questions of "expropriation of land" and "nationalization of mines" were stripped of race theory for obvious settlement within the neo liberal agenda of the ANC. This culture of practice inspired by EFF leadership is not ideologically innocent and must be viewed in the context of leadership openly embracing the ideals of the Freedom Charter (FC). Also it is a means used by leadership to derail the movement permanently from the revolutionary path!
8. Freedom Charter
While the ANC has declared 2015 the year of the FC, EFF leadership has at the same time indicated its support of the document and has since the last EFF NPA given more weight to it than its own Founding Manifesto. In fact EFF held a huge celebration on 27 June 2015 to mark 60 years of the FC. To this end EFF's support of the FC has come to mean one thing only: supporting the ANC's neo liberal agenda! The FC is an anti black documented program of action that ultimately serves to maintain white monopoly capital via the agency of black comprador elements who serve as front office managers of that system! Land was stolen from blacks and the FC fails to make this point and consequently fails to frame the fundamental question as that of white racism which in turn needs black solidarity to create the revolutionary encounter capable of producing an anti racist socialist society. Without this revolutionary encounter we cannot arrive at an anti racist socialist society even if we all "work" the country.
9. Move On
The crisis in the EFF is very grave. Politically, the organization is dead! We now know that the EFF cannot realistically challenge the ANC's neo-colonialism and that there is every indication that it is the continuation of the ANC. Due to the above factors coupled with the fact that there is no platform within the EFF to engage in any meaningful ideological struggle against the backward and sell out tendencies of leadership we were constrained to conclude that if the movement cannot be used to realize the black liberation project, via the resolution of the land question and putting blacks first, then it is of no use to our people's cause.

Black First Land First

Return the stolen land - That’s the only real solution!

Sankara Policy and Political School
Submission to the portfolio committee of public works on public hearing on the Expropriation Bill [2015]
We shall concentrate only on this bill to the extent that it is the key section in the constitution that defines state policy of land.
What is section 25 and what does it serve?
This Bill claims to amend sections 25 of the constitution (which is correctly known as the property clause). Section 25 of the constitution is in fact the clause that turns the 1994 political compromise into a constitutional imperative.
What were the terms of the compromise? It was basically that in exchange for political power being handed to black people, land and the economy shall remain in the hands of the white minority settler population. Section 25 legalises land theft and legitimises colonialism. Those who negotiated this compromise at the time said it was a “tactical” move to gain power without too much blood shed. The logic was that after power was secured then land would be returned. The section therefore was never about redistributing land but rather securing a political compromise.
21 years after Democracy we know that the compromise has been very bad for black people. This section has rendered our people landless in their own land.

Section 25 in its entirety is a yoke in the necks of our people and shackles in the feet and hands of our people. It makes us slaves in our own land.

The argument of how bad section 25 has been for our people is made better by evidence.
What is the evidence in the past 21 years to show the negative impact of section 25?
1. In 21 years, only 8% of the land has been bought back at shocking R50 billion +
2. Between 1994-2004 already a million farm workers were evicted from land (this trend continues)
3. It will take 100 years to reach only 30% land redistribution of the land.
4. Government has abandoned all targets for land redistributon (the 30% target has been abandoned). Government dumped this modest target because it was impossible to reach it because of the property clause primarily.
5. 50% of the population(black people) live under the poverty line.
6. Anti black racism is rife (colonial power relations not changed)
How do we turn this situation around?
1. There is need to have the courage to admit the first truth, that SA, all of it belongs to Black people. That the land question arises out of the arrival in 1652 of white settler colonial population.

2. To have the courage to admit that all land in SA is stolen property.



SA land Policy perpetuates illegality
Does this committee have the courage to admit that, the land reform policy of South Africa since 1994 has been the perpetration of illegality? If you buy stolen property you are as guilty as the thief that sells you stolen goods. In other words each time government pays white farmers for land, it is involved in a criminal activity.
We are here to demand that you repel/remove/delete the whole section 25 and replace it with something more agreeable to the needs of our people to the address historical justice of land theft.
Section 25 of the Constitution gives with one hand and takes with the other. It says two things at the same time- it protects colonial property relations and at the same time it approves land redistribution. This section plays finder finder with our people.
We have shown what the section was crafted for (political compromise), we cannot try to make it do what it was never intended to do. The section blocks land redistribution and distorts history. Trying to make land redistribution with this section is like trying to turn a cow into a lion, it simple won’t roar!
No we won’t pay for our land!
The real stumbling block of land redistribution to black people in SA is the idea of paying for stolen property. The Bill unfortunately in its current form, does not address this fundamental question, in fact it perpetrates the evil idea of paying for land.
If we remove the technical language and legalistic jargon of the Bill we see that it does nothing new. The Bill does not address why must we buy our land back. The Bill does not even assist in giving guidance on how “just and equitable compensation” should be paid(of course we reject paying for our land).
Committee, the drafters of the Bill have lied to you if they say this Bill sets mechanism to end the “willing buyer willing seller” evil policy- it doesn’t nothing of the sort! This Bill is the extension of the failed market policy. This Bill is an insult to black people in fact.
What is Just and equitable compensation?
The whole argument on paying for stolen property turns on the phrase “just and equitable compensation”. The compensation section in Bill does not offer a new solution or an alternative reading, it says, there can be expropriation, subject to this iron law of the market(of course it list the other non-market considerations to be taken into account). But we know in the final analysis just and equitable comes to the market value and our courts have strongly indicated this direction.
The bill fails to provide a criteria that settles the meaning of “just and equitable” in monetary terms. This committee shall take this Bill to the National Assembly without being able to answer a simple question: in rands and cents what is “just and equitable compensation”? This matter shall in all likelihood be settled by the courts.
The courts have been disappointing in reading compensation.
let’s take three examples to illustrate the point:
First judge Geldenhys in the land claims court tried to give interpretation to the clause and came to some complicated calculations that claim to take into consideration the same long list of consideration repeated by the Bill, but didn’t solve the problem.
Recently, deputy judge president of the Constitutional Court, has decided to relay on “inflation” to calculate compensation for those who have lost property and are beneficiaries of the Restitution process. Mosenke’s determination is open to accusation of racism, because white land owners are never confronted with valuation of their property based on CPI index. Its an established principle that property is not valuated on the CPI, so what was the thinking behind this weirds logic only gods knows.
The third firm indication that “just and equitable” within the current frame work would mean, “market value”, was expressed in the Zimbabwe land expropriation matter which was first decided by the SADC Tribunal and then went all the way into the South African Constitutional Court. on that case the Judge president led the bench in concluding that compensation must be paid whenever there is expropriation and this led to the a judgement which foreclosed the property of the Zimbabwean state to be sold to pay compensation to the white farmer who lost property in Zimbabwe.
This Bill unfortunately leaves the landless at the mercy of courts.
This Bill fails four important tests:
1. Does the Bill End the willing buyer willing seller policy and practice? The answer is a No!
2. Does the Bill ensure land will be in hands of the landless black majority? again NO!
3. Does the bill resolve the meaning and criteria of “just and equitable compensation” NO!
4. Does the bill set targets as constitutional imperative for land redistribution? Yet another NO!
The Bill is timid, vague and repeat what we know. Already the conditions for expropriation repeated in the bill are covered in the existing section 25 of the Constitution(whats new or different?). The Bill does not take forward the process defined by the section and as we know already is highly compromised.
The Bill doesn’t even seek to put emphasis on the one reading of section to ensure historical redress must trump any other consideration. Worse, the Bill does not locate the land question in history and in the logic of land theft so that land expropriation is undertaken within a frame work that would ensure decolonisation and redress.
This Bill is a piece of paper to avoid doing what is right. It’s a retreat from the truth. It’s another mechanism to appear to be doing something when in actual fact doing nothing!
This Bill is a bill of cowardice in essence. This committee has to turn into an instrument of courage to achieve land redress.

What is do we proposed?
1. The whole existing section 25 be expunged/removed from the constitution. And be replaced by a section that explicitly recognise that, land in SA is stolen property and that the primary purpose of redistribution of land to the black majority is for historical redress.
2. That ALL black people have a right to land in SA.
3. That a new subsection be inserted that legalises the occupation of land by the landless.
4. That evictions of farm workers and poor people from land be declared illegal.(all evictions and to end the strange distinction between legal and illegal evictions also ended).
5. That a constitutionally determined targets be sets and responsible minister be held accountable, we propose that in the next five year, 80% of the total land be redistributed to black people.
6. That the section give effect to a new department, which shall be called the Department of Land Redistribution and its sole mandate be the redistribution of land and nothing else, right now South Africa doesn’t have a department that solely focuses on land.
6. That the section furthermore, outline a process where land ceilings shall be effected in accordance with soil capacity of each of the regions and provinces.
.
7. That the values of mortgages (bonds) be adjusted to a value that excludes land in housing price because land must be offered to all for free.
Can these proposals be realised and are they within the prism of the law? The answer in both instances is yes! Amending the constitution is a legal exercise. All you need is 2/3rds majority which the National Assembly already has given the fact that EFF has offered the ruling party its 6% to amend the constitution to effect land return without compensation.
We appeal to the committee to be brave and to give this nation the long awaited justice. Committee the decision is in your hands, to continue with colonialism and landless or to be bold and end the suffering of our people. Our people are ready for a new dispensation on land. a dispensation that put Black First! For Land First!
If you lack the courage, the people have lots of courage. If you can’t decide let the people decide. Call a referendum, ask the people of this country a simple but profound question: Do you want to buy back your stolen land? vote yes or no?
Let’s assure you, if you fail to address the land question, then the people shall address it themselves. Failure to amend section 25 to bring it in line with the needs of the people would be only to delay an inevitability. We going to take this land. its ours! Land First!
Thank you!

Free The Land and Free The Land

Black First! – Land First! A revolutionary Call

“For a colonized people the most essential value, because the most concrete, is first and foremost the land: the land which will bring them bread and, above all, dignity.”- Frantz Fanon

Twenty years after democracy black people are still at the bottom of society. We, the black majority, are last instead of being the first. Now we have decided to put black people first! Its only when black people are seen and treated as the rightful owners of this country shall we be really liberated. The first step to black liberation - to achieve dignity and an end to white arrogance and racism - is LAND FIRST! It is land that shall put BLACKS FIRST! Without LAND we are nothing! With LAND we are everything we want to be and more!

Black people are last in all areas of life because we are, in the first place, last when it comes to owning land. Out of 54 million people in South Africa only 35000 white families and white businesses own more than 80% of the land. Since 1994, the ANC government has bought 8% of the land at the cost of about R50 billion! The ANC is using our money to buy stolen property. Since 1994 more than 1 million black people have been forcibly removed on farms! Farm workers are slaves. The restitution claiming communities who are victims of apartheid land removals remain landless after 20 years of ANC rule! In urban areas black people have no housing because they are landless. The housing prices are out of reach for blacks, and to this end even to most black professionals, because of the landlessness.

It will take more than 100 years to buy back only 30% of the land with current land policies. Black people are last when it comes to employment! About 45% of black people are unemployed compared to only 5% of white people!

Black people are last when it comes to income! White families earn six times more than what black familes earn! (give amount)

Only 5% of blacks complete their university or tertiary education within the designated periods. Most black university students face exclusions due to financial constraints.

Black people are also at the bottom of the ownership of the economy. To this end, inter alia, blacks only own about 3% of the listed JSE companies.

Enough is enough! We have decided to fight for Black First through ensuring Land First!
All the political parties and social movements in South Africa are currently not for Black First and Land First! The ruling party and the opposition parties do not put black people first. The politicians are apologetic when it comes to the demands of blacks and in particular the resolution of the land question.

We invite you to hold hands with us to build a revolutionary movement based on three non-negotiable principles:

1. BLACK FIRST!

Black people are the first people on earth! We blacks gave the white world life and civilisation. But slavery, colonialism and apartheid have put blacks last. We are now correcting this injustice by calling for Black First. By black we mean all those who are oppressed and dispossessed by colonialism and apartheid. The system of divide and rule has been sustained by creating misunderstanding amongst the oppressed. In this context the elites from within the black community have further fuelled tribal animosities. Black First seeks to end all divisions and contradictions amongst the people so as to consolidate them into a united strong block against white racism and dispossession. Black First follows the liberating truth that “the last shall be first”. We have been overlooked for far too long! Putting Black First means ending suffering, poverty, landlessness and all the other ills of white supremacy that characterize the black condition. Black First is a call for blacks to love themselves, to care for each other and to fight for their liberation and dignity.

2. Land First!

Without land there is no freedom or dignity. We want land first because it is the basis of our freedom, our identity, our spiritual wellbeing, our economic development and culture. The land of Africans was stolen and thereby rendered us landless in our own land. We want all the land with all of its endowments on its surface together with all the fortunes underground as well as the sky. All of it belongs to us! We are a people crying for our stolen land! Now we have decided to get it back by any means necessary!

3. Black Consciousness and Pan Africanism

Our guiding philosophical outlook is both the Black Consciousness of Steve Bantu Biko and the Pan Africanism of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe. Our leadership style and practice is Sankarist following and honoring the revolutionary legacy of Thomas Sankara. For the movement to succeed, it needs a servant leadership that shall put the people first!

We invite you to come and build a revolutionary movement with us so as to fight for the following ideals:

1.​ Land first! We won’t buy back our stolen land!
2. ​Black First! The black majority must be prioritised!
3.​ Mineral rights belong to the people! Let the people own and benefit directly!
4.​ Quality Jobs Now! R12 500 minimum wage is non negotiable!
5.​ Basic income for all Now! No one should go to bed on an empty stomach!
6.​ Housing is a right! End all squatter camps in five years!
7.​ Healthcare is a right! Build hospitals and train doctors!
8.​ Anti Racism. Declare anti black racism a crime!
9.​ Anti sexism. Declare Oppression of women a crime!
10.​ Socialism! Only fair distribution of wealth can bring about real economic freedom!
11.​ Pro-people Industrialization. Develop ecologically friendly industrialization!
12.​ African dignity and unity! Africa is one and her liberation paramount!
13.​ Mental liberation! The biggest disease killing Africa is ignorance and colonial mind-sets.
14.​ All MPs and public servants must use public services!
15.​ The Thomas Sankara Oath and the People’s Manifesto are our eyes to guide us to total liberation for real.
16.​ Youth Advancement, because the future belongs to the youth!

Politicians and political parties have shown their hands. They do not believe in what they say. They are too quick to sell black people out. No political party currently believes in Land First. But we must not lose hope! We must build a new revolutionary movement that aims to overthrow this anti-black racist, capitalist rule that started in 1652 and did not end in 1994. Unorganized, we cannot win the battle for a Free Azania. The time for Black First, Land First is now! Let’s turn this dream into reality.

Issued by: Andile Mngxitama and the interim committee of #BlackFirst! LandFirst!
For more information contact BlackFirst! LandFirst! via the following email address: admin.bflf@gmail.com

31 August 2015

We Need A Break From The Old Routine

“This year, 2015, the Millennium Development Goals will expire and be replaced with a new set of priorities. It is crucial that the discontents of globalisation are included in this vital conversation about what replaces them.” – Onyekachi Wambu ( New African magazine, January 2015)

INSPIRED BY THOMAS SANKARA - this is a draft Manifesto from the September National Imbizo leadership

SANKARIST PEOPLE'S LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANIFESTO

A proposal to the people!

This Manifesto is drafted and offered for discussion and adoption by all progressive and servant leadership of the local government for 2016. This manifesto does not belong to any political party, or any specific organisation or movement. It is a manifesto inspired by the commitment to serve the people displayed by Thomas Sankara. It is proposed in memory of Andries Tatane who died fighting for water and for a local government that puts the people first!

This manifesto contains the values of a Sankarist Local Government that puts people first and forces councillors to be accountable to the people and serve with dedication, sacrifice and commitment. Also the manifesto has proposals for securing the democratic choices of the people to elect their own local councillors. The people not the political party must choose their own representatives. The local government councillor is first and foremost the servant of the people who elected them. They must listen to the people not the political party bosses.

Disappointment

For the last 20 years we have experienced promises and lies. We have been disappointed! Our townships remain places of poverty, lack of housing, no jobs, bad healthcare and terrible schooling. We watch our children being destroyed by boredom. We watch hopelessly as their dreams are squashed and as they consequently surrender to drugs, alcohol and violence.
20 years after democracy the political dispensation has delivered neither freedom, services
nor an accountable system of governance. It is these structural failures which have lead to the brutal murder of comrade Andries Tatane and many after him during service delivery protests.

We stand with Andries Tatane!

In memory of Andries Tatane, brave committed son of the soil we need
to fight for a new and different country and local government. No
more shall those we elect enrich themselves at our expense and no more
shall they be accountable to their political parties and not their
people. Enough is enough! Now those we elect must serve us!

All Councillors must be servants

Irrespective of political affiliation, all candidates must commit and subject themselves to this manifesto. To this end candidates must undertake to:

1. Take their mandate to govern from the people who elect them not from
political parties.

2. Make all municipality land accessible for free to the people for housing and other development projects including agricultural purposes.

3. Decriminalize land occupations by the landless. Anyone who has waited for more than a year for housing or land has a legitimate right to occupy land to erect a home for her/himself.

4. End all evictions from land.

5. Make public the asset register of the municipality (no more theft of municipality assets).

6. Publicly publish the housing waiting list for all to see and clearly mark or indicate those who have received their houses.

7. Ensure that the total budget for salaries does not exceed 30% of the entire budget. To this end there must be parity of earnings between executives, councillors and general staff.

8. Open all council meetings to the public and have Monthly People’s Assemblies where the majority of people live (townships, informal settlements), so as to consult on all major decisions of council.

9. End the tender system with the exception that it should only apply in cases relating to highly specialized projects with the provision that the relevant specialized outsourced skill must commit to being in partnership with Local Government so as to build the local state capacity to deliver these services.

10. End privatization of services and reclaim/ reverse privatized state assets, including land sold to private companies.

11. Criminalize the use of police to supressed service delivery protests. Demanding basic services is not a crime.

12. Respond to all memoranda from the people within 24 hours.

13. Ensure that the local government is the largest employer providing secure employment and paying all a living minimum wage.

14. Place young unemployed people on a massive programme of socially relevant public works and on minimum wage, for further education including in skills development and for the purpose of rebuilding society (in terms of housing, schools, roads, transport, hospitals). End all cheap labour apprenticeships and unpaid internships. A guarantee of at least the minimum wage and a job at the completion of the internship / apprenticeship.

15. Institute an independent commission of inquiry on corruption. Those who steal from the people shall be encouraged to confess and repent, those who don’t cooperate shall meet the full might of the law. The principle is that those who steal from the people shall be made to account to them and take full responsibility for their actions.

16. Commit to a new vision of human settlement informed by principles of a secure, happy community.

17. Commit to being recalled through a popular vote on the basis that a petition reveals a thirty percent desire by the constituency for such a recall.

18. Commit to a democratic and transparent annual planning and review system in terms of which each area shall have a clear development plan reflecting the priorities. To this end the targets are to be determined by the Community and each ward's plan shall be made public.

19. Live in the constituency that elected them.

20. Adopt and sign the Sankara Oath before being elected as representatives and senior public servants (from mayor to councillor). This will ensure that they use public services and the consequent quality access of such services by all.

21.End the current executive system driven by perks. In this regard, end expensive luxuries such as expensive cars, high housing allowance etcetera.

22. Not live too far away from the life realities of those who elect them.

23. Ensure 50% women representation in all local government related processes and leadership.

These are the ideals of a new local government that puts people first!

Issued by the Sankara Politics and Policy School