Latest news with #Mashele
IOL News
3 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
How apartheid nostalgia betrays South Africa's unfinished liberation
To compare the pothole-free roads of white Pretoria in the 1980s to ANC-run municipalities in Limpopo today, without examining these spatial legacies, is disingenuous. Image: Karen Singh/Screengrab THE narrative that dominates discussions of South Africa's post-apartheid journey often converges on a single, critical point: the perceived failure of the ANC to deliver on its grand promises. This critique, amplified by commentators like Prince Mashele, frequently contrasts the present with a romanticised past, suggesting an era of pristine infrastructure and efficient governance under apartheid. But this flawed comparison does more than obscure the truth—it actively distorts it. In a widely circulated interview on the SMWX podcast, Mashele claimed that under apartheid, 'there were no potholes on tar roads,' and that traffic lights always 'worked.' He continued, asserting that infrastructural decay, non-functional robots and crumbling roads, is uniquely 'an ANC thing.' This dangerously reductive view demonstrates selective amnesia. It is not merely a critique of governance, but a subtle sanitisation of apartheid's spatial and racial architecture. Undeniably, Mahmood Mamdani's analysis in Neither Settler nor Native illuminates why apartheid's geography persists under ANC rule. Mashele's statements reflect what Frantz Fanon called the 'Manichaean world' of the colonial order, where two towns existed: one of order and excess, and the other of filth and want. The black township continued to be 'a place of ill fame, peopled by men of ill repute.' The apartheid state maintained clean roads and working traffic lights in white areas not as a national standard, but as a function of racial privilege and spatial control. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ What Mashele conveniently ignores is that infrastructure under apartheid was race-coded. Paved roads, water services, and electricity were concentrated in white suburbs, while black townships and rural areas were systematically underdeveloped. In my own experience, growing up and living in places like Ntabamhlophe (western KwaZulu-Natal) or Ngobi (North West), traffic lights were non-existent—and still are, three decades into democratic rule under the ANC. These areas were not marginalised by accident but were designed to be so. Their underdevelopment was deliberate and institutionalised. To recall apartheid's so-called efficiency without context is to ignore its structural violence. Mashele's nostalgia constructs a binary: ANC equals decay; apartheid equals order. This formulation is historically inaccurate and morally indefensible. It is akin to praising the punctuality of trains under fascist regimes while ignoring the concentration camps they served. As Walter Rodney warned, colonial systems did not merely 'fail' to develop Africa, they underdeveloped it by design. Apartheid was no different. Mashele's technological nostalgia exemplifies what Jacob Dlamini identifies as 'restorative nostalgia', a desire to recover a mythical past cleansed of its oppressive foundations. This mode of nostalgia sanitises apartheid's brutality by fixating on its superficial order. In contrast, Dlamini's notion of 'reflective nostalgia' offers a more honest reckoning: a mourning of apartheid-era community networks or certainties that were fractured not by freedom itself, but by democracy's failure to fulfil its emancipatory promise. Therefore, true memory must confront, not conceal, the violence that underwrote apartheid's oppressive order. Mamdani's concept of 'decentralised despotism' in colonial governance is particularly instructive here. The apartheid state was a textbook case of bifurcated rule, where civil rights and services were afforded to whites. Meanwhile, black South Africans were governed through tribal authorities and customary law in the Bantustans. Infrastructure was not neutral but was weaponised to entrench spatial exclusion. This remains evident today, where apartheid's geography persists under a different political dispensation. To compare the pothole-free roads of white Pretoria in the 1980s to ANC-run municipalities in Limpopo today, without examining these spatial legacies, is disingenuous. The real question Mashele should be asking is why the ANC has failed to transform places like Ngobi, not why Sandton looks better maintained. What Mashele should be saying is that the ANC has not changed much in these places, because it inherited and perpetuated apartheid's geography. Indeed, the ANC has betrayed many of its foundational promises. Its 1994 Ready to Govern manifesto envisioned one million homes, 2.5 million electrified households, and a comprehensive public works programme to redress historical inequality. Instead, the neoliberal turn, engineered in part with the guidance of apartheid-era finance figures like Derek Keys and 'new' South Africa economic policy czars (Trevor Manuel, Thabo Mbeki, and Tito Mboweni), saw the abandonment of redistributive infrastructure plans in favour of market-led growth. This ideological surrender created the vacuum now filled by elite corruption and administrative collapse. Auditor-General reports confirm the rot: only three of 35 national departments received clean audits in recent years. Provinces like Limpopo have required constitutional interventions due to a total failure in service delivery. In this context, Mashele's outrage is justified. But to project this dysfunction onto a narrative that vindicates apartheid's design is intellectually dishonest. Fanon, in Black Skin, White Masks, explains this internalisation of colonial values as part of a broader inferiority complex. The formerly oppressed, he warns, may begin to admire the coloniser's systems, not because they were just, but because they were stable. Mashele's obsession with working traffic lights is a symptom of this pathology, a longing for colonial order dressed as political critique. This is not speaking truth to power, but speaking comfort to whiteness. The rise of self-proclaimed political analysts who gain traction through unchecked criticism of the ANC is not unexpected. It is part of South Africa's vibrant democratic culture. Such voices are indispensable. But they must be rooted in historical truth. As Edward Said argued in Representations of the Intellectual, the true public intellectual must interrogate power without becoming its tool. In contrast, Mashele's commentary risks becoming a performance of analysis, divorced from the very people it purports to represent. The danger lies not in criticism of the ANC, that is both necessary and overdue, but in what is lost when such critique adopts the language and assumptions of apartheid's defenders. Mashele's claim that the ANC 'broke the robots' implies that apartheid had a universal standard of governance. It did not. It had a racially exclusive logic. If the robots worked in town, it is because they were not meant to work in Seshego or Ntabankulu. Who, then, does Mashele speak for? Not the residents of Ntabamhlophe or Mogwase, who still wait for paved roads and functioning clinics. Not the youth of Nkowankowa, who must walk kilometres for access to water or schooling. He speaks not from the margins, but from a middle-class, or 'Grand Estate', vantage point that measures progress in suburban conveniences, rather than in structural transformation. Mashele's comments also obscure the ANC's complicity in failing to reverse apartheid's spatial logic. Post-1994 housing developments were often built on peripheral land, perpetuating apartheid's spatial exclusions. As urban scholar Neil Klug notes, these areas were poorly serviced and isolated, replicating the 40-40-40 rule: 40 km from the city, 40-square-metre homes, requiring 40% of income for commuting. This is not liberation but stagnation under new management. Patrick Bond's analyses of post-apartheid neoliberalism highlight how state-led, investor-friendly policies replaced development. The result: infrastructure for the elite, neglect for the majority. While 4.7 million 'housing opportunities' were created, 2.4 million families remain without homes. The state has effectively become a site of accumulation for a political class, rather than a vehicle for redistribution. Fanon warned that a national bourgeoisie that mimics colonial forms without dismantling them will eventually become 'the transmission belt between the nation and international capital.' This prophecy now defines the ANC's trajectory. However, even as we confront this reality, we must not let nostalgia obscure the past. 'There were no potholes' is not an argument but a mirage. Infrastructure that excludes cannot be glorified simply because it functioned for some. South Africa's future demands a radical reorientation. Mamdani speaks of the need to 'unmake permanent minorities' — to reverse spatial, economic, and legal segregation through systemic reform. That means reparative urban planning, land reform, and dignified service delivery — not superficial comparisons between the towns that excluded us and the municipalities that now ignore us. It means remembering that functioning infrastructure for the few is not a standard, but a sign of inequality. Again, the freedom the black majority wants is not material excess or socioeconomic rights alone, but more. Liberation is not measured by traffic lights alone, but by dignity, equity, and memory. The robots in white suburbs worked because the state ensured they would, at the expense of the black majority's humanity. To forget that is to betray those still waiting for the freedom promised at dusty crossroads where robots never gleamed. Potholes are real, but so is the history that built them—and the future we owe to those still left behind. Siyayibanga le economy! * Siyabonga Hadebe is an independent commentator based in Geneva on socio-economic, political and global matters. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL. Get the real story on the go: Follow the Sunday Independent on WhatsApp.
IOL News
5 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
'Ramaphosa will die in jail if he lives to 80,' says Political Analyst Prince Mashele
Political analyst Prince Mashele says President Ramaphosa's corruption and failure to act show he leads a criminal network and will ultimately die in jail if he lives long enough. Political analyst Prince Mashele says President Cyril Ramaphosa will be remembered as one of the most ineffectual presidents in post-apartheid South Africa. He predicts that if the president lives long enough, 'say he touches 80,' he will die in jail. In an interview on the Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh podcast, Mashele expressed criticism of Ramaphosa, calling him the "criminal in chief" at the head of a 'criminal organisation,' namely the African National Congress (ANC). 'Cyril Ramaphosa will go down in history as one of the most useless presidents we have had after 1994. And I don't mince my words, useless. Zuma will go down in history as the most criminal. But let's park that, we've dealt with Zuma many times. There is a criminal organisation, the criminal in chief, it's president Ramaphosa himself,' Mashele said. Referring to Ramaphosa's handling of the revelations and allegations made by KZN police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in a press briefing on July 6, 2025, Mashele accused the president of deliberately failing to act in the face of damning intelligence. 'You see, there is a moment for a leader of a country to show leadership, to lead his nation. Cyril Ramaphosa missed the moment. He did not act like a leader. He has completely forgotten his responsibilities.' Mashele argued that Ramaphosa, as president, receives daily intelligence briefings and cannot plead ignorance. 'A president is client number one of our intelligence services. They report to the president. There is absolutely nothing that Mkhwanazi knows that Cyril Ramaphosa does not know. So this idea that there must be a commission of enquiry is absolute nonsense. In fact, it's insulting our intelligence as a society. He knows,'' said Mashele. Central to Mashele's argument is what he sees as a mutually compromising relationship between Ramaphosa and Police Minister Senzo Mchunu. 'He [Ramaphosa] cannot act sternly against Mchunu. Why? Because he and Mchunu are partners in crime,' said Mashele. He accused Ramaphosa of being unable to act against Mchunu due to their shared involvement in the CR17 campaign, where, according to Mashele, 'all the dirty money' flowed.
The South African
5 days ago
- Politics
- The South African
Prince Mashele endorses Helen Zille for mayor of Johannesburg
Political analyst and author Prince Mashele has publicly declared his support for Helen Zille, should the former Western Cape Premier decide to run as mayor of Johannesburg in the 2026 local government elections. This comes after reports last month that Zille, who currently serves as the Democratic Alliance's (DA) federal council chairperson, was considering running for the mayoral post, following multiple requests to enter the race. In an interview with Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh on the SMWX podcast, Mashele surprised many by stating that he would endorse Zille – despite not being a DA supporter – because of Johannesburg's current state under ANC leadership. 'If Helen Zille wins the contest to become the mayoral candidate of Johannesburg, I am going to do something I have never done in my life. I am going to publicly endorse her,' said Mashele. 'With a heavy heart. The way the ANC has destroyed Johannesburg… Johannesburg used to be the pride of Africa.' Mashele was critical of former ANC mayor Parks Tau, now Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, saying Tau contributed to the city's urban decay. 'Helen Zille has a proven track record. She ran Cape Town as mayor, she did not destroy it. She ran the Western Cape as premier, she did not destroy it,' he said, pointing to Cape Town's thriving tourism and well-maintained infrastructure. Mashele's scathing remarks extended to current Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero, describing his tenure as marked by basic service delivery failures, including water outages in Sandton, a crumbling inner city, and growing urban neglect. 'How can you go without water in Sandton? The richest square mile in Africa without water. It can only happen under an incompetent called Dada Morero,' he said. Despite mounting criticism, Morero has defended his administration, citing ongoing interventions since 2016 and the recent establishment of crisis response teams. 'We have now been given an opportunity to address those challenges, and we need time to do so,' Morero said in March at the opening of the Naledi Clinic in Presidency has also stepped in, with President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing the deployment of the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group (PJWG) to help the metro recover from what many are calling a crisis of governance. While Zille has not confirmed her candidacy, she said in June that she was consulting with her family after being approached to run. 'I have been approached to put my hat in the ring for mayor. I am still considering it,' she said. Her potential return to executive office has ignited debate across political circles, especially in light of Johannesburg's severe decline under ANC leadership and the DA's ongoing internal contestation for 2026 candidates. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
Water issues continue to anger communities of Bronkhorstspruit and Ekangala
Although the City of Tshwane (CoT) has started repairs on the raw water plant and the water treatment plant in Bronkhorstspruit, frustration over ongoing water outages is increasing. Things reached a boiling point in Ekangala this week. Concerned residents from wards 103 and 104 informed their councillors of their intent to protest on May 21 until their issues about the poor water supply are heard. A letter sent to the two ward councillors notified them that the wards' communities had had enough of the ongoing water shortages and that residents were left with no alternative but to protest. The residents indicated that an organised protest would begin early on Wednesday and continue daily until the city's mayoral committee gave the community a 'clear and actionable plan for its immediate and long-term resolution'. In their letter, the residents said public transport and local businesses might be affected by protest activities. 'We reiterate that this protest will be peaceful, but firm in its objective to draw attention to our desperate situation. The well-being of wards 103 and 104 hinges on a swift and effective resolution to this water crisis.' A local bedridden individual on life support, Nomvuyo Mashele, also expressed frustration and concern about the prolonged water supply issues. 'We had intermittent water supply for two weeks, and the recent outage left us without running water for days.' As a bedridden person on life support, struggling with multiple chronic illnesses, this situation is not just inconvenient; it is a serious health risk. 'The lack of water makes it impossible for me to maintain basic hygiene, which is crucial for my well-being. I urge you to take immediate action to restore a consistent water supply to our area. This isn't just a matter of comfort; it is a matter of urgent necessity,' said Mashele. ALSO CHECK: Plant refurbishment will alleviate water shortages in Standerton Things would worsen very soon, is the consensus among residents. 'We are being deprived of a basic right to access to water,' declared an angry resident from Rethabiseng. Two faulty pumps at the water treatment plant are said to have caused the latest water outage. A delegation from the CoT, including the MMC for Region 7, the regional head and the ward councillors, visited the plant on Tuesday and offered an explanation and apology via video to the wards 103 and 104 residents. Jabu Mabona, the regional head, asked the residents to use the supplied water tankers until the water was restored. The delegation believed this would happen before Friday. ALSO CHECK: Sewage threatens health of cancer-stricken twins from eMzinoni At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
22-04-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
EFF to march to the Premier's office challenging Orania's existence
EFF in the Northern Cape is set to stage a protest march to the office of Premier Zamani Saul on Tuesday, voicing strong opposition to the continued existence of the town of Orania. The EFF contended that Orania represented a deliberate effort to preserve the remnants of apartheid-era ideologies, warning that its continued operation signals a broader aspiration to normalise segregationist principles in a democratic South Africa. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ EFF's public representative in the Sol Platjiee municipality, Prince Mashele, confirmed in a video posted on socials that they will continue with the march. 'We can never be party to a government that is allowing segregation within our province. We are going to advocate for the total eradication of Orania in our province,' he said. IOL reported last week that the EFF called for a review of Orania's status, urging that it be evaluated in line with the South African Constitution and applicable national legislation. The party argued that Orania — a predominantly Afrikaans enclave with an estimated population of 3,000 — undermines national unity and perpetuates ideologies reminiscent of the apartheid era. The EFF asserted that this kind of socio-political model directly contradicts South Africa's constitutional principles of equality, inclusivity, and non-racialism — core values of the country's democracy. EFF provincial chairperson Shadrack Tlhaole reportedly stated that the party is prepared to confront the situation in Orania. He emphasised that the issue being raised by the EFF is a serious national concern that requires the attention and involvement of both black and white South Africans. 'We are taking our march and continuing with our march to the premier's office, demanding what we have said, and that will continue. 'Orania should be abolished, and Orania is not what we should appreciate and accept as the EFF,' Tlhaole said. This comes after an unsuccessful engagement with the leadership of Orania and representatives of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) last week. Meanwhile, MK Party visited another whites-only settlement, Kleinfontein, in Pretoria on Monday, complaining about the same situation as the EFF.
