THE ROAD TO DIVISIONS

 

President Jacob Zuma and Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe. CapitalFM



Only a month left for the road to Mangaung and it seems like it is going to be a very hectic event just like it happened in Limpopo, 4years ago. We have been hearing and reading of the Mangaung Conference since the beginning of this year. Much has been happening with the African National Congress and that on its own makes me wonder how it is going to be come Mangaung Conference in December 2012.

There has been a lot going on in this country and much has happened within the ANC. I mean with President Jacob Zuma’s “SPEAR PAINTING”; the dismissal of Julius Malema and of course the whole Marikana Massacre, surely indeed they have faced a lot of drama including everyone living in South Africa. With Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe going against President Jacob Zuma; this goes to show that the ANC is divided.   

The road to Mangaung has been showing that Limpopo Province is against President Zuma bidding as president of the ANC for the second term; but it doesn’t surprise me because it is the hometown of the outspoken Julius Malema who is anti-Zuma of course. Limpopo Province is looking forward to making Kgalema Motlanthe the new ANC president . Even so it is not clear that Kgalema will ever bring any change within the congress or the party and on the other hand how do we know for sure that Zuma is going to bring along some change?

My question is; how long is the ANC going to be divided amongst themselves? How much longer can the people of South Africa be able to bear the things that are happening within the African National Congress and within the whole country? Let’s hope that something good will happen, when Mangaung arrives but it doesn’t look any good and satisfactory to me. Let the games begin.

It's a long time coming!

 

Expelled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema,
 right, and suspandedyouth league secretary-general Sindiso Magada. B.D

Why is that in politics when things are not going according to your way, you suddenly imply that you are being sabotaged? Are people in politics not cautious enough about what they doing? Are they always going to blame their opponents or rivals? Why not pay for your mistakes and get it over and done with? Hence they say what comes around comes around. Juju face the music-it’s a long time coming.  

Julius Malema is facing charges of corruption and all he can say is that he is being potted by President Jacob Zuma. I heard Thibos from Kaya FM asking Julius Malema if he knows about the fact that THE HAWKS are coming for him on charges of corruption and you know he could say was that he is not scared they can come for him. Now on Monday, it was revealed that Juju and his peers form Limpopo are facing charges of corruption for unlawfully laundering government’s R4.6-million and R16-million tax bills.

Come to think about all the things that Julius has been saying in the news regarding corruption and Jacob Zuma in particular, makes me wonder that oh! That’s rich coming from Julius, because he also played his part in all the corruption schemes within the context of the ANC. All this time he has been playing advocate; hiding under a sheep’s skin just to win over the support of the vulnerable South Africans.

It is enough that South Africa has been through a lot; and we sort of need hope that will make us feel that we are at home and that everything is going to be just fine after a rough time that we had during the apartheid years. However all we are seeing and hearing is fights, fights and fights. What better solution do we need to have place or country that our parents and our freedom fighters have always dreamed of?

All in all what I’m trying to say is that everyone who is practicing corruption should be punished and get the punishment he or she deserves, irrespective whether you are a politician or not. One should lead by example and not do things that will jeopardise the reputation of this country, including Julius Malema and his associates. In the practice of PR we are taught that we all need to honest about any information in an organisation, reserving some information simply means you are guilty. Let us pay and make this country a better and secure place for all.

Finally it has gone to rest!

Striking miners dance and cheer after they were informed of
a 22 percent wage increase offer outside Lonmin's Marikana mines.
The Star.



I must say that I am relieved that the Marikana strike has come to an end. Although it claimed the lives of 46 people, left the South African economy sinking and left some people without jobs.

The strikers really fought tooth and nail until they got what they wanted, even though it is not entirely what they were looking for. I guess this is what you get if you are an organization and you do not listen to the grievances of your employees. To me, the workers of Marikana have been trying so hard to reach out to their management and they were probably overlooked. Indeed, against all odds 22% wage increase is a huge achievement. One of the workers’ representatives said that, “No union has achieved a 22% increase before,” Zolisa Bodlani, a worker representative at Marikana, told Reuters.

It got me thinking that somehow South Africa has a lot of work to do regarding labour equality and justice.  Frankly talking, the Marikana strike showed just how much there is a lot of disconnections within our country and much need to be done as a way of correcting the imbalances.  We must really applaud the South Africa Council of Churches (SACC), for it was playing referee in the talks. Indeed they have been there for the families of those who were killed during the debacle. This is what we need in this country; we need solutions and strong leadership qualities.

Now what is left is for the Lonmin mines to come up with a strategy of re-branding itself and come with solutions of changing the bad perceptions that the strike left millions of South Africans and the whole world in shock. In the practice of PR you need to adapt so that you will not perish. The power is in their hands to make a difference.  

IS JUJU POURING SALT ON THE WOUND?



Julius Malema at the Lonmin mines,
addressing them Aurora liquidated mines. Daily Maverick



If Julius Malema could spare us his thoughts and opinions for a moment please! What happened at the Lonmin mines was one incident that left the whole country in tears and yet, one person is making the matter even worse than it seems. How is the Marikana issue going to be solved if Julius is continuously pouring salt on the wound? I was listening to e-news on Wednesday, 5 August in the afternoon and the Minister of labour, Membathisi Stephard Mdladlana was very adamant to solve the issue and she was hoping that a conclusion could be reached by Monday the 10^th of September 2012. However, we still see in the news that the strike is still going on; in fact some miners from other mining companies have also downed their tools News 24.

It is in the open that that the mining sector needs urgent attention to correct the imbalances within the industry, but Juju is hijacking the whole situation and making it his own. I have to say that Juju has got a few valid points but, he is not following the correct protocol to voice them and even worse no one authorised him to go to the Lonmin mines. It doesn’t surprise me that he is now being compared to the deceased AWB leader Terreblanche.

I think that this problem could have been long solved if some politicians didn’t make a fuse out of an already damaged situation. Yes, this whole situation needs the government but it is imperative that they come with good strategic solutions, without any distraction from those who only want to channel their anger. Nonetheless, I really think that an urgent public relations solutions needs to be employed for the revolution of the whole entire mining industry. However, they should have thoroughly done their environmental scanning to check if they are on the right track and people and if people are happy or not. This is how I was taught that environmental scanning is crucial at all times in the practice of public relations.

 We all know that working in the mines is very hard; it’s even worse if you are not being treated with respect and getting what you deserve. I say let it go to rest Julius and let the Lonmin workers fight their own rights and to the owners, please give people what they deserve for the betterment of this whole situation. Otherwise they wouldn’t be striking if they were happy.

History repeating itself.



A policeman fires at protesting miners outside

 Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine

 in Rustenburg on Thursday, August 16, 2012.

Times News



What could have caused the turmoil at the Marikina mines? Do we always have to fight for our rights through violence? What does freedom mean to us South Africans? Are we there yet? Why cannot we sit down and come up with a way of solving issues instead of using force and violence at the expense of other people?

I was very saddened to see the police and mineworkers of Marikana shooting at each other tirelessly. This reminded me of the Sharpeville Massacre 1960, even though I was not even born at that time. This goes to show that there is still tension with in the South African society and it should not be underestimated. But, how does the South African Police Service project grievance solving to a sense that we the citizens, start respecting our fellow police men and woman? I thought the police service is/was there to solve problems and tensions, but this proves otherwise and it goes back to the apartheid era, when citizens used to fight with the police repeatedly. Think back when an innocent man Andries Tatane was brutally killed by the police last year on 13 April 2011 , my question still stands, how does the police service solve issues of an angry crowed?

Now this comes to crowed control and crisis management. Although, crowd control is not the simplest thing one can do but, once you are jointly working together it becomes a lot easier. Communication is very vital when doing crowed control.  I was once involved and engaged in a huge event, when the University of Johannesburg held a two day open day on 11 and 12 May 2012, and I have to say we worked well together with my fellow student marshals. We did crowed control like we were professionals and this is because we were jointly working together as one and, we communicated well each other.

Now coming to the issue of crisis management, this is where the Marikana mines should have involved their public relations department to resolve the dispute while there was still time. How do companies effectively use PR for a speedy recovery? This for me shows that PR techniques were not effectively used to solve the quarrel that was between the management and workers of Lonmin. Sadly, a blood pool of people was the answer to the dispute between the two parties…WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? WHAT IS DEMOCRACY IF WE ALWAYS HAVE TO REPEAT HISTORY TIME AND AGAIN? 

HAS THE RDP MET THE CRITERIA YET?



RDP houses in the Western Cape. Vrygrond

What was the purpose of coming with the resolution of RDP houses? Was this programme really designed to cater for the less unfortunate? Well, what I have seen and heard about the RDP houses is totally working against the mission and vision of this programme. I further say that; the standard that it was set upon has not the met criteria standard to suit the needs of our people.

Upon reading the RDP framework, I came across following statement stating that: “It seeks to mobilise all our people and our country’s resources toward the final eradication of the results of "apartheid". It’s amazing how this statement is well written but we still find people struggling out there; whereas they were told and promised so many things of which some of them have not yet been fulfilled. We hear of cases of fraud, alleged planning, inadequacies, procurement irregularities including corruption leading to defective house (Sowetan).  Does this mean that our people were deceived and not told the truth? Why is that people in high place are always taking advantage of the vulnerable?

To me this seems as if the government of South Africa is not willing to reach out to the people, and do what it said it will do to change and reform the imbalances of the past. At times one would say that the apartheid was much better than our current government. One of the six basic principles of the RDP says that it is people driven and seeks to bind up with the peace and security of the people, but where is peace in that? Why are people so angry that they are always embarking on strikes? This for me means that a lot needs to be done and people need to be given what they were promised a long time ago.

Although, some have granted the RDP houses but we find the houses are not well constructed or are not in the rightful allocation, so now where is integrity and sustainability in that? What I’m trying to convey to you my readers is that much needs to be done hence I believe that community relations has not been done and maybe a lot of public relations needs to be done as soon as possible. I believe that with the knowledge that public relations have about community relations by the government and the private sector many things can be achieved enormously.

For god sake he is our president!



Expelled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema,

seen here with President Jacob Zuma in May last year.

                            iOl News

Every time when I read the newspaper, it’s Julius Malema throwing insults at President Jacob Zuma…I’m like why? Is it really a necessity that when Julius Malema is given a platform to give a speech of some sort he has to include President Zuma in his speeches?

I know President Jacob Zuma has done his fair share of mistakes and I believe he knows that too, but he also deserves some little respect at least. For god sake he is our president and well he is also human; if we could think about that for a moment, particularly Malema then we could perhaps spare our feelings for a moment.  Sowetan has reported that each and every time the expelled ANCYL president is given a platform to give speeches he makes it a point that he insults President Zuma. (Sowetan). I mean what is that? I think and I say that Julius Malema should GET OVER HIMSELF!

I know that everyone in South Africa is entitled to his or her opinion but, what does this say about freedom of expression? Does freedom of expression mean that other people’s rights should to be side lined and overlooked? Check this out Rights + Responsibility = Rightfully Responsible.  Hopefully you, my readers will be able to understand what I’m trying to bring to your attention, and somehow make me understand these personal vendettas Julius is bring to our public attention continuously.

According to the practice of public relations as a public relations student, I was told and taught that, an organisation has got to work cohesively together to show an open working system. But what does this say about the ANC? For me it says that, issues management was not thoroughly done, to best suit the interest of the people of South Africa. Instead what we are experiencing now is leaders throwing stone each other; most of which are directed to one person who is our president at the moment and I deeply feel that we and, particularly Julius Malema should give him a break. This for me is called human decency to show respect at an elderly person who happens to be your leader; our president and a father to his children. Imagine how they feel.

Not that I am Zuma’s fan but I’m bringing this to your attention the things that I have noticed ever since Julius Malema has been expelled from the party. STOP AND THINK!!!