Fwd: Pambazuka News 836: Confronting imperialist capture
Elisabeth Janaina
From: "Pambazuka Editor" <edi...@pambazuka.org>
Date: 31 Aug 2017 22:25
Subject: Pambazuka News 836: Confronting imperialist capture
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Pambazuka News 836: Confronting imperialist capture
31 August 2017
CONTENTS: 1. Features 2. Announcements
Features
Even if embattled President Zuma were to leave (and replaced by, say,
Cyril Ramaphosa), the country is nowhere near getting out of its
political crisis. Why not? It is because the problem lies, essentially,
in the captured polity of the South African state and economy. This
has deep historical and systemic roots.
Attempts to foster a Black capitalist class in South Africa in
co-operation with white capital have failed spectacularly. The price
that white capital extracted for their co-operation was a neoliberal
state that trapped the Black working class and poor in unemployment,
inequality, poverty and gender based violence inherited from Apartheid
and made worse.
Patrick Bond
The Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa summit in Xiamen from
September 3-5 is already inscribed with high tension thanks to
Sino-Indian border conflicts. But regardless of a welcome new peace
deal, centrifugal forces within the fast-whirling world economy threaten
to divide the BRICS. South Africa, which plays host to the BRICS in
2018, is already a victim of these trends – even as President Jacob Zuma
continues to use the bloc as a primary crutch in his so-called
“anti-imperialist” (talk-left walk-right) political survival kit.
Containers have become a well-integrated and indispensable part of our global capitalist trade system. What we don’t always fully realize, however, is what implications this containerization has for the daily lives of residents living in neighbourhoods nearby ports.
From commemorating Rwanda’s dubious Liberation Day to applauding Paul Kagame’s questionable landslide election victory, Canada’s High Commissioner in Kigali has provided various forms of ideological support to Africa’s most ruthless dictator. That should embarrass everyone who wants Canada to be a force for good in the world.
Tete Province is very rich in coal. An estimated 23 billion tons of mostly untapped coal lies beneath Tete. It is expected to become the region’s energy powerhouse built on coal and hydroelectricity. However, local farmer communities have been on the losing side of the coal boom so far, especially since large scale resettlements forced them out.
Since independence 53 years, Kenya has had four presidents – three of them from one ethnic community. Control of state power has ensured that the Kikuyu and related groups have benefitted from national wealth far more than other communities. Recently, economist Dr. David Ndii sensationally called on those communities that feel excluded to secede.
The Igbo now dictate the terms of their freedom from Nigeria. They
have acquired this pivotal status, in the past 24 months, it should be
stressed, without firing a shot – either in defence or offence. They
insist on a referendum to democratically secure the next crucial phase
of the process.
Nation building is a serious business that requires clarity of vision
and self-sacrifice, preparing the grounds for succeeding generations to
prosper. It is not the prestige and grandeur of office that facilitates
development and progress but the due attendance to the responsibilities
of office.
What I find ironical is that you should visit the University of Cape
Town as a reform evangelist when the spirit of the #RhodesMustFall which
you are celebrating has been quietly and steadily stirring in Makerere
Institute of Social Research since last year (and even long before
that), largely due to your capricious and dishonest leadership.
Over two years into the International Decade for People of African
Descent, very little has been done to achieve the objectives of the UN
General Assembly declaration. It is not enough to make such a
declaration. Serious efforts must be made to implement it for the
benefit of Black people.
How does a man whose close and immediate family are designated by neo-Nazis as filth and the dregs of humanity then fail to condemn, without equivocation or excuses, such racism? Trump is either ignorant of history, or is so enarmoured by the idea of White supremacy, that he fails to comprehend that the ideas enacted under Hitler being regurgitated in the US in 2017 by persons who see him as President and being equivalently praiseworthy as Hitler is an affront and not a compliment.
Tsunami of soil
At least 500 people died and more than 800 were reported missing in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown on August 13-14, when heavy rains swept away everything in their path. Kenyan Poet Shailja Patel reflects on the tragedy.
Kenya’s elections are always full of drama. And the recent one on 8 August was no exception. What looks like a simple process of voters casting their ballot, and these counted to determine the winner, turns out to be a complex matter of raising more questions than answers.
Announcements
Pambazuka Android App is now on Google Play Store
As
a way to reach more people and to make your experience with Pambazuka
News better, we have developed an android app as another tool to create a
better reading experience with mobile devices. The app will have
periodic updates to cater for changing readers' requirements and
experiences.to cater for changing readers' requirements and experiences.App download Link
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Henry Makori and Tidiane Kasse - Editors, Pambazuka News
Yves Niyiragira - Executive Director, Fahamu
Websites: Fahamu.org, Pambazuka.org
