Paul Jacobson

Tag: anc

  • Could the old Apartheid government have saved us from Zuma's ANC?

    Someone I was chatting to after the 2014 elections, last week, made an interesting comment. He said that if the old Apartheid-era National Party had educated all South Africans better (and not just white South Africans), the ANC under Jacob Zuma would have had a more challenging time selling themselves with all the corruption in…

  • The ANC Abuses Its Power To Protect Its Control

    I just read an article in Mail & Guardian titled ANC at pains to silence booing and noticed this stark reminder that the ANC sees itself as synonymous with the State and has no difficulty using national intelligence agencies to retain power: At the time, ANC insiders said that a team of state intelligence operatives…

  • Writing about the ANC's perspective on power

    More equal than others The ANC’s response to the Public Protector’s report on the Nkandla controversy highlights its twisted perspective on its position as ruling party. I had to express my outrage and did it on Medium in an article titled “More equal than others“. Here is how it begins: If you have paid much…

  • South Africa, a land of hopelessness and despair

    ​The ANC has squandered the opportunities the 1994 elections brought and South Africa is increasingly a place of unfulfilled promises and hopelessness. The New York Times has published an article which highlights the self-centered government we are currently afflicted with: Nowadays, the party is increasingly seen as interested mainly in self-enrichment, an impression underscored by…

  • Daily Maverick reveals evidence of the Marikana Murders

    Many of us remember the old days when the police vans were yellow and were manned by white men engaged in a racially-motivated campaign to dominate, control and oppress the majority racial group in this country. It was a dark time in this country’s history and one which we hoped was firmly in the past…

  • Small minds crippled South African democracy

    I’ve been reading a couple more stories both anticipating and discussing yesterday’s shameful vote to pass the Protection of State Information Bill in Parliament. There are some terrific quotes in these articles, all of which are worth reading: Times Live’s article titled “The bitter triumph of small minds”: If our parliament votes this bill into…