Latest news with #PrinceMashele
TimesLIVE
6 days ago
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Beware the prince of egotistical grandeur and armchair purveyor
One of South Africa's challenges appears to be the casual broadcast of blatant falsehoods for self-serving agendas and purposes. Recent comments about the ANC by itinerant political entrepreneur Prince Mashele, made in an interview with podcaster Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, fit hand in glove with this tiresome and odious pattern. 'I mean, they (ANC) were running drug cartels in exile,' Mashele says. 'We know this stuff; I mean, it's out there.' As if that was not enough, 'Not only were they selling drugs, but they were actually murdering each other. I mean the killings that were happening in the ANC in exile; I mean, this stuff is real. So, the ANC ... its DNA is that of criminality.' The issue is not that Mashele is decidedly anti-ANC. After all, the objective historical reality is that the ANC fought for a South Africa in which everyone, Mashele included, has complete freedom of association. And like every party, the ANC is not beyond reproach either. The trouble is Mashele's lies and the vulgarity with which he shamelessly peddles them, hiding his partialities and entrepreneurial interests behind a pretence of objective analysis. Give us the evidence, please. It is simply untrue that the ANC was a drug den in exile. Or that we killed one another for sport. Of course, Mashele does not present any evidence for these wild claims. Such evidence does not exist because those things simply never occurred. So, he resorts to theatrical pomposity: 'We know this stuff; I mean, it's out there.' His is a cocktail of pavement gossip and anti-ANC propaganda, not the reflections of a respectable public intellectual marshalling facts, logic, and rationality. But it is not too late for Mashele to provide evidence for his claims. In fact, many of us eagerly await it. The struggle is still the subject of much discussion and debate on questions of war and peace globally, with the ANC's policy against targeting civilians in the conduct of armed action and its fidelity to the principle of non-racialism, constitutionalism, and reconciliation and nation-building among the prominent highlights. Throughout its three decades in exile, the ANC led the struggle against apartheid on a moral basis, earning the respect and admiration of friends and foes at home and around the world. The struggle is still the subject of much discussion and debate on questions of war and peace globally, with the ANC's policy against targeting civilians in the conduct of armed action and its fidelity to the principle of nonracialism, constitutionalism, and reconciliation and nation-building among the prominent highlights. The apartheid regime and its international allies worked tirelessly to portray the ANC in the most negative light imaginable, including by exaggerating internal organisational challenges and problems as well as manufacturing blatant lies. The facts were irrelevant as long as the goal of tarnishing the image of the ANC was met. Thirty years after its demise, the apartheid regime's bad habits appear to linger on in Mashele's head, polluting the public discourse. A faithful apartheid apologist Mashele also conjures an imaginary and delusional vision of townships and rural communities, which he claims 'used to be proper' in the apartheid years but were destroyed by the ANC after 1994. This is a shocking example of his faithful devotion to the apartheid project. One wonders which townships and rural areas Mashele is referring to. Could they be the same ones that had no water and sanitation, electricity, paved roads and other basic amenities before 1994? Whatever Mashele means by 'proper' townships and rural areas does not correspond with the lived experience of his contemporaries in apartheid-era Bushbuckridge, where he grew up, nor is it reflective of the experiences of millions of other South Africans across the country. A superficial understanding of South Africa's dynamics Another of Mashele's anti-ANC tirades concerns employment. The apartheid era was supposedly a time of plenty — 'We would find jobs' — but now, the 'ANC destroyed the backbone of the economy,' he says. Nobody disputes that South Africa has an unemployment problem. However, one expects some rigour from a public intellectual. So, let us consider the question of unemployment. In 1994, South Africa had 8.9-million employed people — excluding those in the Bantustans — out of a working-age population of 18.8-million. With an estimated working-age population of 41-million people today — a 40% increase in the population since 1994 — employment stands at 16.79-million, an 88% growth in employed individuals. While it is far from adequate, the economy has nonetheless absorbed a substantial portion of the expanding labour force, reflecting a notable increase in formal employment opportunities over the past three decades. In 1992, GDP was about $146.96bn (R2.6-trillion). Today, GDP is three times higher, at $405.06bn (R7.2-trillion). If the ANC has destroyed the backbone of the economy, as Mashele alleges, how has the economy risen threefold? As the leading political party since 1994, the ANC surely shares the blame for unemployment. But the fact that the private sector controls slightly more than 70% of the South African economy is not an inconsequential fact. No serious analysis about unemployment can exonerate the private sector from the problem. According to a 2024 working paper published by the SA Reserve Bank, local banks generally hold excess liquidity, with their Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) consistently exceeding the 100% minimum even before it became a regulatory requirement in 2018. This reflects a high-risk aversion to lending and investment. While it provides financial stability, it limits the availability of credit, particularly for small businesses, which require higher-risk investments. It also reduces the funding available for expansion, especially in manufacturing and infrastructure, which are critical for economic growth and labour absorption. Understandably, Mashele will not so much as whisper this for fear of causing a drought in his paid speaking opportunities. Like other entrepreneurs, Mashele has searched for and discovered his niche and has done exceptionally well. As a professional anti-ANC entrepreneur, he is carrying on a long tradition, dating back to the colonial era, of people willing to be conveyor belts of ideas that feathered their nests, even if they contradicted the facts or the interests of much of society. Purveyor of egotistical drivel Mashele is dismissive of newly appointed acting minister of safety and security Firoz Cachalia's credentials: 'By the way, this chap was supposed to retire. He is old; he has no energy. There is nothing outstanding that this professor has done. All he has done is that he is an ANC-linked professor. 'By the way, I have been in academia myself, so I can say what I am saying. There are competent and incompetent academics. This professor, by the way, I wouldn't count among the competent academics. What is it that he has done outstandingly that qualifies him to come and manage a crisis like this? Absolutely nothing!' Cachalia is a respected anti-apartheid activist who made a significant contribution to the liberation of South Africa and the post-1994 democratic order. He was tortured by apartheid securocrats while Mashele was still wiping snot from his cheek. An accomplished legal academic who thinks more, speaks less, and does a lot more, Cachalia is also a former MEC of safety and security in Gauteng. Surely, he is worthier of the ear than Mashele, the prince of egotistical grandeur and armchair purveyor of crude opinions of little practical value. To assert that Cachalia's only claim to fame is his membership of the ANC is the zenith of vulgarity. It is the same churlishness and platitudinal mindset that drove Mashele, with characteristic theatrical performance for pleasing his audience, to insult Eric Nkovani, aka Papa Penny, calling him 'an idiot' on the grounds that 'the guy has not been to school'. True to his egoistical character, Mashele could not resist contrasting himself with Nkovani: 'I have a master's degree,' he declared. It must follow that in Mashele's book, millions of other people who did not have the opportunity to go to school are just as idiotic. The absolute necessity of formal education is unquestionable, but when the educated — or is it certificated? — equate a lack of it with idiocy, it underscores the need for an educated discourse about education covering such issues as the history of Black people's access to education in South Africa, the political economy of knowledge production, and the ends to which it can be put, especially in a postcolonial developing country context. If Mashele had a grain of humility or bothered to research his subjects, he would understand that he is neither worthy to validate nor sit in judgment over Cachalia. He would also appreciate that abusing Nkovani, whose lack of formal education is one of the multiple negatives of our history of disenfranchisement, is a grave insult to millions of people. It reveals more about him than his target of derision. Be transparent about your allegiances. Mashele also expresses his support of Helen Zille's bid for mayorship of the City of Johannesburg. He stated, 'I am not a supporter of the DA. I am very clear. If Helen Zille wins the contest to become mayoral candidate of Johannesburg, I am going to do something I have never done in my life. I am going to publicly endorse her.' With his signature bravado, he added, 'Did you hear that? This is big. I am going to do something I have never done in my life, with a heavy heart.' Leaving aside the vainglorious oath, the plain truth is that Mashele has no political stature that would make his support of Zille or any candidate across the party-political divide a matter of any significance. Another important truth he omits or deliberately conceals is that he has been a supporter of the DA or harboured aspirations in that direction for well over a decade. In her 2016 autobiography, Zille disclosed that Mashele was part of an Agang South Africa team that negotiated the ephemeral merger of Mamphela Ramphele's now-defunct party and the DA four years previously. The talks were held 'at a beautiful old-world guest house with high ceilings in Oranjezicht, Cape Town' under an 'atmosphere [that] could not have been more convivial.' To cap it all off, the guest house staff 'kept us well nourished for our task, with lovely home-bakes at tea and delicious plates of home-cooked food at mealtimes.' As it happened, 'Prince Mashele drafted the first position paper. He titled it 'Strategic Perspective for South Africa: Repositioning the DA for greater leadership responsibility'' and 'Ryan [Coetzee] shortened it and gave it the title 'The DA's Path to the Future'.' Evidently, Mashele's stake in Zille's political trajectory is nothing new. In August 2019, the media also published reports about 'an application form that Mashele allegedly completed on June 30 [2018] to be a DA 2019 candidate to the provincial legislature and national parliament.' So, even the most politically naive will regard Mashele's claim to endorse Zille 'with a heavy heart' with a shovel of salt. Doctrinally, the ANC respects and defends Mashele's right to associate as he pleases. So, while his nomadic floor-crossing adventures from the ANC to Agang SA, the DA, Herman Mashaba's ActionSA, and back to the DA might attract entertaining and disparaging adjectives, it is multiparty democracy in action. Doctrinally, the ANC respects and defends Mashele's right to associate as he pleases. So, while his nomadic floor-crossing adventures from the ANC to Agang SA, the DA, Herman Mashaba's ActionSA, and back to the DA might attract entertaining and disparaging adjectives, it is multiparty democracy in action. For this reason, Mashele does not need to toil as an underground operative of the DA in a free and democratic country. He just needs to be honest about his political allegiances and to dispel falsehoods like the prevalent urban legend that Mashele served as former president Thabo Mbeki's speech writer when he worked in the presidency. Mbeki's speech writer was veteran ANC activist and author Magashe Titus Mafolo, who says Mashele did not once contribute a single sentence to the speeches. Beware the intellectual mercenary. At the end of the podcast, Mashele discusses the role of public intellectuals, claiming that they should serve as the 'conscience of society' by speaking their mind to contribute to political discourse and empowering society. Yet his own track record is less than stellar. Take, for instance, the scandal surrounding Mashele's 2023 book about Herman Mashaba. It emerged that not only was Mashaba directly involved in shaping the content of the book, but he also financed it to the tune of R12.5m. The revelation led to Jonathan Ball Publishers withdrawing the book for the author's failure to disclose the glaring conflict of interest. Mashele — who postures as the guardian of intellectual independence — co-authored and benefited from a vanity project masquerading as impartial political analysis. If this is the 'public intellectual' he speaks of, then the category itself is in urgent need of rescue from the commercial exploits of practitioners like Mashele. As already alluded to, Mashele's problem is not that he has political opinions; everyone does. It is that he cloaks his political entrepreneurship in the language of principle, employing the authority of the 'public intellectual' to wage partisan battles and pursue commercial interests while pretending to be above them. In the end, he is less the fearless truth-teller he pretends to be and more a poster boy of intellectual vanity and the profit motive outpacing moral consistency. This betrays his position as an intellectual mercenary who knows where the bread is buttered. It reminds one of a 19th-century observer who observed that Napoleon Bonaparte was 'endowed ... with the most developed antennae for feeling out the weak moments when he might squeeze money from his bourgeois[ie].' Examine Mashele closely, and you realise that he does not illuminate an intelligent appreciation of the country's problems and challenges. Rather, he selects national concerns, oversimplifies them into binary opposites if not vulgarises them altogether, and then drowns out everyone while enchanting his audience in theatre. He has the gift of gab too. Mashele is a performer, and all his public appearances are invariably solo performances. His constant and cherished device is whipping up an emotional frenzy. This approach does not help us to understand the multiple and layered causes of our daily experiences; by its nature, a small aperture forbids a wider picture. It may appeal to our immediate emotions — 'our weak moments' — but it is of little if any strategic value in the search for sustainable answers to national problems and challenges. So, beware the intellectual mercenary.
IOL News
19-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
A stagnant economy: The driving force behind South Africa's unemployment crisis
The writer says that we cannot keep placing our economic hopes in the hands of a state that has repeatedly failed to deliver. Image: File THERE'S no denying that a misalignment between our education system and the demands of the economy is a driver of our unemployment crisis; it's been said often, and it holds up. We produce far too many graduates with qualifications that don't match what the market is looking for. Humanities graduates, in particular, tend to be cited as an example – and there's truth to this. However, to suggest that merely closing the skills gap will resolve unemployment is to oversimplify a much deeper crisis. This line of thinking implies that jobs are readily available, and that the only thing standing in the way is a lack of relevant skills. As appealing – and partly valid – as it may be, it doesn't capture the full picture. To be clear, aligning the education system more closely with the economy is undoubtedly important. It will improve the prospects of many graduates and create pockets of new employment. Nevertheless, the positive outcomes of such reform (in the broader picture) will likely be modest, and they won't come close to addressing the massive scale of unemployment that we're facing. Reframing the underlying issue The bigger problem – which we skirt around sometimes – is that our country just doesn't have enough jobs. Regardless of the skills they bring to the table, we have an economy that isn't creating nearly enough employment to absorb millions of people. As it stands, the most affected are those with little or no education, and those with qualifications that are oversupplied and out of sync with demand. But we would be making a mistake to assume that this crisis is limited to them. We're beginning to see signs that even those with in-demand skills are not as secure as many might think. The growing number of unemployed medical doctors, for instance, is not just an anomaly, but a warning. While this trend hasn't reached crisis proportions, it clearly indicates that no one is fully insulated from an economy that isn't growing at the level it should. All this points us to key questions that we should keep are: why is our economy failing to produce the jobs we so desperately need? What are the structural issues holding us back? And more importantly, how do we build an economy that can create employment for millions of South Africans and not just those with the 'right' skills? The answer to the first question is widely understood and requires no overstating. The ANC-led Government of National Unity (GNU) remains committed to an archaic and globally discredited economic orthodoxy that simply does not confront the structural roots of our unemployment crisis. To begin addressing this, we need to look at a few key areas that aren't silver bullets, but necessary foundations for any serious structural reform. Educational policy Political analyst Prince Mashele has consistently and correctly argued that fixing our education system must be a top priority. The dysfunction in basic education is well documented, but the deeper issue is that our entire system, from primary school through to college or university, is still poorly aligned with the practical and technical demands of our modern economy. We need to move away from an overly abstract approach to learning and focus more on what equips people to participate meaningfully in the economy. This shift needs to begin at the foundational level and not when learners are preparing to exit the system. Rethinking our growth formula The idea that the state must be central to any meaningful development or job creation strategy is taken as gospel in many circles. But ironically, it is this very gospel that has failed and lies at the heart of many of our economic problems. As Senior Associate of the Free Market Foundation (FMF) Nicholas Woode-Smith has often argued, it is the market, and not the state, that has the capacity to drive growth, innovation, and employment, provided the environment allows it. This environment must obviously be created by the state, but it must understand that its role is to facilitate growth and not dominate the economy. A bloated and inefficient public sector cannot absorb labour at scale through unsustainable programs or endless grants. It also cannot micromanage growth into existence. What we need is a more open market that isn't shackled by red tape and labour laws that protect incumbency at the cost of flexibility. The notion of "exploitation" that is often used to undermine this credible argument isn't only a subjective judgment, but also a distraction from the fact that real job creation demands dynamism. Even the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is often misrepresented as a successful model of state-led growth, actually built its economic miracle on the back of aggressive liberalisation and global market integration. We would do well to take note of this. Attracting foreign investment If investment is the oxygen of a growing economy, then ours has been gasping for breath for years. As political economist Phumlani Majozi has long warned, our country is not an attractive destination for substantial investment. Some of the reasons for this are not obscure. They include rampant crime, a financially repressive policy framework in Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE), infrastructure deficits, and ongoing energy insecurity. Taken together, these factors largely explain why foreign investment has not been flowing in. Naturally, the aforementioned challenges are only part of a much larger picture. There are other vital pillars of structural reform that receive far less attention than they should. Through its Liberty First policy initiative, the FMF, in line with core research findings of the annual Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) report, has identified five of them. Three of them – sound money, free trade, and secure private property rights – are especially worth highlighting here. Liberty first A stable currency is crucial for long-term investment and planning. Without it, both individuals and businesses struggle to make meaningful decisions about saving and investing. Free trade creates access to new markets, lowers costs, and increases consumer choice. Yet unfortunately, our country continues to lean more towards projectionist measures that do more harm than good. The third pillar, and arguably the most urgent, is the protection of private property rights. The recent signing of the Expropriation Act into law is deeply concerning and constitutes a direct attack on the very property rights of all South Africans. As FMF Head of Policy Martin Van Staden has recently posited, "nil compensation" is nothing but a formal and euphemistic way of saying zero. Worse still, the Act opens the door to abuse by allowing expropriation under the vague and sweeping label of "public interest". This creates legal ambiguity and deters much-needed investment. Without secure private property rights, our economy will remain stagnant and start to regress as productive activity slows and whatever little capital we have left flees. Ayanda Sakhile Zulu holds a BSocSci in Political Studies from the University of Pretoria and is an intern at the Free Market Foundation. Image: Free Market Foundation
IOL News
22-04-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
EFF to march 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 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 ✕ 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.
