Is South Africa a Country of God?

The following article appeared in News24

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SA a country of God - Zuma

27/11/2008 21:24 - (SA)

Johannesburg - South Africa is a country based on the rules and principles of God, said ANC president Jacob Zuma in Kempton Park on Thursday.

The preamble of the constitution "calls upon God to help us" said Zuma at the National Presidential Religious Leaders conference.

"When all of us take office in government... we raise our right hand and indeed pronounce... so help me God. I believe no-one can argue South Africa is not based on the principles of God," said Zuma.

Zuma addressed hundreds of delegates dressed in a sea of clerical collars, African traditional outfits, Islamic skull caps and even a Jesus baseball cap.

(One delegate had his laptop open to a screen saver photograph showing him shaking hands with Zuma.)

"The Bible says pray for those who are in government. I believe we must go beyond that. You must advise and criticise if there are things we do that are not in keeping with the principles of God."

Zuma said religion needed to find its identity in South Africa.

Moral values

"I believe the time has come for the religious fraternity to identify its role and place in our constitutional democracy.

"I have a feeling that we have not done so from the religious fraternity, therefore there are issues we do not deal with that we ought to deal with.

Zuma detailed the long history of the ANC and its association with the church.

He said often the moral basis of a society or person was that they must fear or respect something beyond their existence, like God, ancestors or other human beings.

"Those who do not believe in God or ancestors can still derive their moral values from respect for the worth and dignity of others.

"Thus moral and ethical values are binding on all and sundry regardless of their beliefs.

Earlier, the ANC's chaplain general Reverend Vukile Mehana told Zuma he must feel "safe".

"You must know that you are safe. As we prayed for your predecessor, we will continue to pray for you. Don't shake. The God, your ancestors, are here."

After Zuma spoke, religious leaders representing each province stood up to give their messages of support.

An Mpumulanga representative told Zuma religious leaders would go to their communities and ensure they "voted correctly because you care and you have compassion and are committed to bettering the lives of god's people".

An Eastern Cape representative said: "Msholozi is a burning bush which will never be consumed."

He said the workings of God were present during the Nicholson judgment.

'Religion protecting the ANC'

"He [Zuma] was being burnt from all sides but the leaves became greener and greener."

Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Chris Nicholson invalidated corruption charges brought against Zuma.

Nicholson held that the State's decision to prosecute Zuma was unlawful because it had failed to take representations from him.

The ruling is being appealed in court on Friday.

On Thursday, the Eastern Cape religious representative also said religion was the "midwife" of the ANC.

"We are here as the religious leaders as the midwives to protect the ANC who is the baby," he said.

- SAPA

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Clearly Jacob Zuma has no idea what the Principles of God are. From the reaction and comments of the "Religious Leaders" that attended, neither do they.

The ANC lead government and its followers have violated and ignored every single principle of God in this Country. South Africa has become a "Country of Religion", not a "Country of God".

Are Courier Pharmacies Harmful?

The following article appeared in Fin24.com today.
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Courier pharmacies 'harmful'
Nov 20 2008 17:00
Fin24.com reporter

Johannesburg - Patient care is suffering and healthcare costs are rising because many medical aids insist that their members use courier pharmacies to receive chronic medication, according to United South African Pharmacies.

"This is because the vital element of personal control and care offered by pharmacists is eliminated when patients use courier pharmacies," it said.

Corporate pharmacy groups are acquiring courier pharmacies in an effort to capitalise on this market, to the ultimate detriment of patients, it said, adding that the New Clicks group has just acquired courier pharmacy Direct Medicines.

Drew Horner, chairperson of United South African Pharmacies, said rising healthcare costs are a matter of concern for everyone.

"Oversupply of chronic medication by courier pharmacies is a contributing factor."

"Research shows that patients who obtain their chronic medication from pharmacies use on average 9.96 scripts per annum, while those using courier pharmacies use on average 14 scripts. This is not good for the patient or the medical aids - they are additional costs that neither can afford."

Horner also said the ostensible benefits of automatic delivery offered by courier pharmacies are often outweighed by the inconvenience patients experience when faced with late deliveries and no one to whom they can address queries about the medication and its effects.

The last thing a worried patient needs is to wait in a courier pharmacy call centre queue to speak to an anonymous person who, more likely than not, is not even a trained pharmacist, said Horner.

"On the other hand, your local pharmacist is only a phone call away to discuss any concerns a patient may have, such as side-effects.

"It's a direct personal call to a trained professional who knows the patient and his complete medical history and profile, and so has a context in which to assess the query."

Horner said that that there are always risks associated with any medication. "It's not only side-effects - something as simple as the incorrect storage and handling of medicine can put patients at risk. Your local pharmacist will talk you through all of this when you collect your medication."

Patients should insist on getting all their medicine directly from their local pharmacy - any alternative is just not worth the risk or the cost, he said.

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The question is: How much of this is true?

As a medical professional. I tend to agree with most of what is said. My experience is that patients receive medicine in excess, having more that enough supply.

Secondly, patients do not attend for regular check-ups and only visit every 6 months to renew the script.

Thirdly, the cost of medicine supplied by Courier Pharmacies are at least 15% more expensive than the same medication supplied by my practice.

So, why do medical aids insist that their members obtain their medication from Courier Pharmacies?

Is Julius Malema the Villiage Idiot?

The infantilisation of politics
FERIAL HAFFAJEE: COMMENT - Oct 21 2008 00:00


If there's one thing driving me into the arms of the ANC --Mark2, it's Youth League president Julius Malema and his ilk. And I'm not alone.

As he announced UDI last week, former ANC chairperson Terror Lekota was applauded only when he verbally klapped Malema, asking why we should be harangued and frightened by children.

He's so right.

In the post-Polokwane universe it is the rantings of Malema, which have scarred the body politic. From his injunction to kill for [ANC president Jacob] Zuma to his loose invocation of the phrase "We are willing to lay down our lives for …" and his lax approach to the independence of the judiciary, the young man with the dead eyes has, for too many months, been allowed to bully this nation. His understanding of power is not that it is a stewardship granted by citizens to leaders, but that it is a force to be unleashed across the land like a disciplining whip.

"Nobody," he has said, "will tell the youth league what to do." At other times he has sounded like a foot soldier of Pol Pot about to usher us counter-revolutionaries into re-education camp. If you think this is an overstatement, remember this is the young man who took students out of school (when the statistics show they need every classroom minute they can get) to march against the Constitutional Court judges. And nobody told him where to get off!

Some may not take him terribly seriously, but his view that former president Thabo Mbeki should be axed carried the day against more sensible calls to leave the lame duck in office where he could do no harm.Look now. Mbeki's probably a strategist behind the ANC split which is no mere splinter, as the occupiers of headquarters at Luthuli House seem to think. And for that the ruling party has got Malema and his masters to blame.

Who are his masters? Zuma is the uber-chief, who uses the young man as a battering ram; in turn, he has resisted serial requests by the national executive committee of the ANC to rein in Malema, who has become an enormous liability for the party.

This is not a treatise against young leadership, but against the infantilisation of our political discourse. Ours is a country, the founding father of which symbolised, in his early days, the value of young thought and strategic radicalism. Nelson Mandela and his generation blew like fresh winds through the ANC of their time, demanding more change more quickly. By contrast, Malema's rhetoric is mere flatulence unleashed across the land.

And like haemorrhagic fever it's extremely infectious and potentially deadly. Over in the red corner is the Young Communist League (YCL), which competes daily with the ANCYL to see who can take our debate down another notch or two. Our revise sub-editor, Jo Tyler, was so incensed by the nonsense in the press release the young communists put out after Lekota announced he was leaving that she's given them a free lesson in proofreading.

And if you thought that press release was an aberration jotted down in a hurry, look at this one. Tutu and Ndungane: kindly leave politics to politicians, the YCL recommended to the former archbishops Desmond Tutu and Njongonkulu, who were in the trenches when these little 'uns were still in nappies.


The cautionary words to these two great men are " … yet another old and tired Anglicanism of a Christian movement theory wanting to tower large in competition with churches like Roman Catholic Church. Both have used their leadership in the clergy; to behave like politicians and to make commentary on any societal issue regardless of its relevance to religion."

So put that in your cassock and smoke it, say the hotheads. The good thing is that we now no longer have to treat this kind of rhetoric with any seriousness and we can take our votes and make the X elsewhere.

Zuma threatens to expose everyone!

Addressing his supporters in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday 5 August 2008, African National Congress president Jacob Zuma vowed he would take down other officials if the state continued to pursue him for alleged corruption in South Africa's multi-billion rand arms deal.

Speaking at the end of a two-day court hearing on the legality of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering charges laid against him last year, Zuma told his supporters that the "whole truth" about the arms deal might be revealed if he were put on trial.

Now I am not a legal expert, but a statement like that indicates to me that Mr Zuma is admitting that he knows more about the arms deal than he was previously prepared to admit. This is exactly the point Mr Zuma and his fanatic supporters were missing from the beginning.

The public of South Africa wants to know it all. we are tired of being deceived by governments. first the National Party govermnent kept us in the dark while we suffered along in ignorance. Now the ANC government is doing exactly the same.

We do not care if President Mbeki or other ministers are implicated, we want the TRUTH!

The president of South Africa and our Ministers were put in power by the people of South Africa who trusted them to clean up this country. We did not give them a mandate to corrupt, bride and ride the gravy train. If they abused their powers, we want them to be held accountable.

We might be Africans, but we do not want to became like the rest of Africa!

We want a clean government. So Mr Zuma, stop your delaying tactics and get on with it. Please do tell South Africa the truth!

Mandela: SA now needs disciplined leaders.

Now as much as ever in its history, South Africa requires disciplined leaders, former president Nelson Mandela said at a birthday celebration in his honour at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

The African National Congress (ANC) now is the inheritor of a great organisation, Mandela said, one that has led for almost a century. "It is now in your hands to uphold the best and the noblest of that history."

He added: "I would be nothing without the ANC. I thank the ANC for having given meaning to my 90 years on this planet."

Thousands of people had gathered at the venue with some wearing white T-shirts bearing the face of Mandela while others held flags. Security in and around the stadium was highly visible with metro police officers blocking several streets leading to the venue.Mandela, wearing a pale yellow, flowery shirt, asked the public not to celebrate him as an individual but to celebrate the achievements and reaffirm the values of a great organisation, one that has led for almost 100 years.

He also urged the public to celebrate and reaffirm the principle of collective leadership and inclusiveness."Let no individual, section, faction or group ever regard itself as greater than the organisation and the common good of all our people. Our nation comes from a history of deep division and strife. Let us never through our deeds or words take our people back down that road," he said.

Mandela said South Africans have fought hard and sacrificed much for democracy. "Protect, defend, consolidate and advance democracy -- within the organisation and in national life." He also said that South Africans should reaffirm their fundamental commitment to creating a better life for all, particularly the poor and marginalised.

"Poverty and deprivation in our midst demean all of us. We came together as a nation to end the scourge of apartheid. Today we are challenged to end poverty and all its attendant suffering," he said.

Earlier, Mandela was seated next to President Thabo Mbeki while birthday messages were read out in his honour. He cut his birthday cake with the help of family members and ANC leaders.

He was received by the crowd with a standing ovation as soon as he appeared on stage alongside ANC president Jacob Zuma and Mbeki.

Other dignitaries present at the celebrations included ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa, the ANC Women's League's newly elected leader, Angie Motshekga, and ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and newly inducted Cabinet Minister Kgalema Motlanthe were also spotted.

Speaking earlier at Saturday's event, ANC president Jacob Zuma said Mandela is the glue that holds the revolutionary movement together, and which continues to hold the nation together.

He said the ANC is honoured and truly blessed to have an icon of Mandela's calibre in its midst, in the organisation and in the country.

"We know that you expect nothing [more] from the masses of our people than to see the fulfilment of the vision of a peaceful, prosperous, non-sexist, non-racial and democratic South Africa. You have always provided leadership and direction during the most decisive moments in our history," he said.

Zuma, wearing a black-and-white golf shirt bearing Mandela's face, made several references to Mandela's life during the struggle and some important historical moments. "In 1944, when the time came to infuse some life into the struggle to face a brutal regime, you played a key role in the formation of the ANC Youth League," he said. "You did the same in 1949, when militancy was required, during the defiance campaign. You led from the front as you wanted an end to racial domination and hatred."

Zuma said Mandela's so-called M-plan was and still is an inspiration for the ANC. The plan saw ANC branches broken down into a nationwide underground network of smaller cells. "The M-plan should serve as an inspiration for ANC branches currently. We are encouraging them to establish street committees to fight crime in our communities," he said.

He also said that Mandela taught South Africans humility and the necessity of collective wisdom and leadership. "As the struggle continued, waged internally and internationally, you represented the undying spirit of a people who would never rest until justice and human dignity were restored. The Mandela name became synonymous with our struggle for freedom," he said.

Reference was also made to PW Botha's offer of conditional freedom in 1985 when Mandela said in a statement that "only free men can negotiate".

Zuma said that Mandela's release from prison in 1990 brought the world to a standstill. He said that when Mandela cast a vote for the first time on April 27 1994, he carried our dreams and aspirations.

"During your term as the first president of a free South Africa, you elevated this country from being a pariah to a respected successful modern democracy. You served a very short but highly effective term before handing over to your deputy, Comrade Mbeki, in a carefully planned succession strategy."

Zuma said the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and the Nelson Mandela Foundation have changed the lives of many, especially children. "You continued to work tirelessly to make South Africa a better country and to put a smile on the faces of many.

Your legacy is a book for all to read. If we do not learn, it cannot be your fault," he said.

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South Africans unhappy about the state of their country!

A report commissioned by the government shows that nearly 40% of adult South Africans are no longer committed to the country and some 29% are actively seeking to emigrate or have thought about doing so.

The Mail & Guardian has seen a copy of the report, which forms part of tracking research done for the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).

The report of key findings is understood to have been compiled on behalf of the International Marketing Council, an arm of GCIS, and investigates levels of commitment to the country, as well as participants' levels of pride in South Africa.

TNS Research Surveys, the company that compiled the report, said it cannot comment on its contents as the research was done on behalf of the GCIS.

The data are drawn from as far back as July 2006 and state that between April 2007 and July 2007 the mood of the nation turned more negative and more pessimistic.

According to the report, participants were drawn from all race groups across the country.

Participants who are uncommitted to the country are categorised by TNS as either "shallow" or "convertible". Convertible South Africans rate other countries above South Africa and are the most likely to emigrate. During January and April this year the proportion of convertible individuals rose to 19%.

However, the report also notes that between January and April this year 29% of South African adults indicated their "availability" to switch to an alternative country.

This, according to the report, is an "indicator of the proportion of people who are actively seeking or passively thinking of leaving the country".

Commitment to the country, decreases with levels of education and age.

Of the 36% of recipients who are uncommitted to SA 41% have a matric or equivalent qualification and some 53% have a post-matric qualification.

The figure also rises with their Living Standards Measure or LSM group.

Forty-six percent of the uncommitted respondents felt that the country is going in the wrong direction and that government was doing badly.

Themba Maseko, CEO for the GCIS, said he could not comment on the report. He confirmed, however, that the GCIS conducts tracking research to understand the mood of the nation better and uses the research as a "scientific basis around which to develop our communications strategies".

The report also assesses communication needs and media behaviour.

Of those uncommitted to South African some 55% are termed "media savvy" and access information from TV and newspapers.

"If this research shows a dip in the mood of the nation, it is very worrying," said Maseko.

He said, however, that it is unsurprising in the light of tragic events like the recent xenophobic attacks that swept the nation.

"But despite these problems government is still on course and committed to addressing these issues," he added.

The document comes to light following the release of research by media-monitoring organisation, Media Tenor, which says South Africa's reputation in foreign media is becoming increasingly negative. This is seen as a result of South Africa's foreign policy, particularly the government's silence on Zimbabwe, as well as the country's high levels of violence and crime.

Hlophe: Backtrack or face crisis.

The Constitutional Court must drop its complaint against him or risk creating a constitutional crisis, Cape Judge President John Hlophe has told the Johannesburg High Court.

Alternatively, all 11 judges of the country's highest court must recuse themselves and make way for a "differently constituted" court to deal with the issues surrounding the complaint, Hlophe suggests. The two potential outcomes are canvassed in Hlophe's application for an interdict preventing the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) from hearing evidence against him in its investigation of whether he sought improperly to influence two constitutional court judges to favour ANC president Jacob Zuma.

The JSC cannot be asked to decide whether to stop the hearings, Hlophe argues in his founding affidavit, because it "is not a judicial institution and cannot make judicial findings of the nature that I am asking for in this application.

"The powers of the JSC are restricted to findings of facts and recommendations to the appropriate authority ... An order or decision issued by a court binds all persons to whom and organs of state to which it applies," the affidavit says.

Hlophe is effectively asking a lower court to make a finding about the conduct of a higher court, something he concedes may be difficult.

"If this honorable court should consider that it would be undesirable of it to inquire into the constitutional conduct of judges of the Constitutional Court acting as a court ... I would ask that a referral be made to the Constitutional Court, differently constituted to consider its conduct in light of the submissions that I make," he says.

"A position in which the judges of the Constitutional Court reconsider their decision to lodge a complaint against me as a court would be unprecedented but would be justifiable in the public interest.

"Such a position would provide the court with an opportunity to review its own decisions in light of the legal submissions that I make without creating a constitutional crisis of the nature that would result if another court would make adverse findings against it."

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UN says SA did its best to assist displaced people.

South Africa has done its best to provide protection and assistance to the victims of the xenophobic attacks and should not be blamed for detaining undocumented people from Glenanda, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Thursday.

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