I am an African, Thabo Mbeki’s speech. Possibly the greatest African speech ever.

Dr Selim Y Gool writes:

"Bollocks of a big bull" - Msholozi, aka Jacob 'The Bull' Zuma has more charisma, more of a colourful background (as chief ANC executioner in exile) and more HIV-positive babes to his name than this little puppy ...

June 23th, 2009 at 11:24 am

khathutshelo hector muswobi writes:

this iss the most wonderfull speech that i have ever read in my life. mr mbeki should just continue to do the good job.

June 24th, 2009 at 17:59 pm

selcool writes:

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My Folders [Add a new folder - Edit folders] * Search Shortcuts o My Photos o My Attachments Go to Previous message | Go to Next message | Back to Messages Mark as Unread | Print Flag this message Anc and Zuma ..., Sunday, June 28, 2009 5:36 AM From: "selimgool@yahoo.com" View contact details To: "Stephanie Nelson" <0837004467@mtnloaded.co.za> ANC holds on to power but its share of vote is reduced The party now faces the most serious challenge to its authority since it took control 15 years ago By Celean Jacobson in Pretoria Sunday, 26 April 2009 o Supporters of Jacob Zuma celebrate on Friday as their party takes the lead in polls afp Supporters of Jacob Zuma celebrate on Friday as their party takes the lead in polls * Photos enlarge South Africa's ruling ANC has won a huge victory in the country's election but fell short of the two-thirds of votes needed to ensure a parliamentary majority big enough to make sweeping constitutional changes unchallenged. Official results from the election – which will see the African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma become President on 9 May – showed yesterday that the ruling party won 65.9 per cent of the vote. The margin that would let the ANC change the constitution is largely symbolic. The party has repeatedly stressed that it has no intention of doing this. However, Steven Friedman, a political analyst, said the result meant the ANC now had to worry more about the opposition than at any time since it took power 15 years ago. "The effect of them not getting the two-thirds, despite the euphoria, really underlines that there has been a drop in the ANC vote," he said. Financial markets, wary of a policy shift to the left under a Zuma presidency, may welcome a limit on the party's power. The Independent Electoral Commission released official results and said that the ANC would be allocated 264 seats in South Africa's 400-seat parliament after it won 11.65 million votes out of 17.68 million valid votes cast in Wednesday's election. Although a newly formed party of ANC dissidents has failed to make a dramatic impact, the ruling party has seen its share of the vote fall for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994. It won nearly 70 per cent in 2004. The ANC also lost control of the Western Cape province, centre of the tourist industry, to the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which is led by Helen Zille, a white woman. But the ANC celebrated what was still an overwhelming victory under the leadership of Mr Zuma, who just three weeks ago succeeded in getting a court to drop corruption charges his supporters say were politically motivated. The party's credentials for ending white minority rule were more important for many voters than its doubtful record on fighting poverty, violent crime and Aids. The ANC's closest rival was the DA, with 16.66 per cent of the vote. The Congress of the People (Cope), formed by politicians who broke from the ruling party, stood at 7.42 per cent. The DA will get 67 seats in parliament and Cope 30. Support for the Inkatha Freedom Party waned to 4.56 per cent, down from 6.97 per cent in 2004, giving it 18 seats. The ANC also made inroads into the IFP's traditional support base in KwaZulu-Natal province, home to South Africa's Zulus, the biggest tribal group, of which Mr Zuma is a member. Electoral officials said that the turnout was 77.3 per cent, a little higher than in 2004. Mr Zuma's supporters have been celebrating since shortly after the voting ended on Wednesday, as his party's victory had not been seriously in doubt. The ANC views Mr Zuma as the first leader who can energise voters since Nelson Mandela. But others say he is too beholden to unions and left-wingers. At the end of the campaign, Mr Zuma was talking not about creating jobs, but staving off job losses. His personal charisma and rise from poverty to political prominence have drawn adoring crowds throughout the election campaign, although critics question whether he can implement his populist agenda amid the global economic meltdown. Editorial South Africa’s Mr. Zuma * Published: April 24, 2009 The official results are expected soon, but Jacob Zuma’s election as the next president of South Africa has long been certain. He now needs to demonstrate that he is worthy of the trust placed in him by the voters. There is a lot of doubt on that score. Skip to next paragraph Related Times Topics: Jacob G. Zuma Mr. Zuma has considerable charm and a story that appeals powerfully to a large majority of South Africans. Rising from the humblest of beginnings in rural parts now known as KwaZulu-Natal, he joined the liberation struggle as a young man, spent 10 years in prison with Nelson Mandela and 15 in exile. He rose through the ranks of the African National Congress until he finally wrested the party leadership away from Thabo Mbeki, the former president. Mr. Mbeki had far less charm and always seemed detached from the daily struggles of ordinary South Africans. In nine years in office, he did far too little to narrow the shocking inequalities bequeathed by apartheid. But Mr. Zuma also carries serious baggage. He was dogged for years by charges of corruption and racketeering until they were dropped earlier this month on procedural grounds. He was acquitted of a rape charge in 2006 in a case in which he demonstrated a skin-crawling misogyny. Such worries are compounded by the fact that the A.N.C.’s nearly unchallenged rule of the past 15 years has turned South Africa into a virtual one-party state, with all the cronyism and corruption that that entails. For many black Africans, however, the party remains synonymous with liberation from the brutal and dehumanizing system of apartheid, and with whatever gains they have made since the end of white rule. These are not negligible: A.N.C. governments have provided millions of poor South Africans with grants, housing, potable water, electricity and sanitation. The A.N.C.’s political dominance carries great potential for abuse and will make it doubly hard for Mr. Zuma to rise above his party and his own failings. But rise he must if he is to confront the many daunting problems before him, including a recession at home after years of steady expansion, and, to the north, a continent rife with crises and eager for South Africa’s leadership. Mr. Zuma will have to navigate a responsible path between the growing impatience of South Africa’s poor and the need to maintain the confidence of international investors. He will also have to come up with a policy for helping ease neighboring Zimbabwe out of the destructive dictatorship of Robert Mugabe. Mr. Mbeki failed on both scores. Mr. Zuma will have to do better. More Articles in Opinion » A version of this article appeared in print on April 25, 2009, on page A18 of the New York edition. Africa’s top economic power torn by social injustice and crime A government for all South Africans? Jacob Zuma promised ‘a government for all South Africans’ on his election in April. But will this charismatic, enigmatic man be able to deliver on his promise, with the ruling ANC torn by tension and the country by Aids and violent crime? by Achille Mbembe On 6 May, South Africa confirmed Jacob Zuma, the country’s wiliest and most enigmatic politician, as its president. The new leader of Africa’s most-powerful sub-Saharan economy is a popular hero, a colourful, larger-than-life figure whose earlier sacking from the post of vice-president in 2005 by the former head of state, Thabo Mbeki, provoked wild emotions. At that point, he was among those accused of corruption in controversial arms deals by the country’s first democratically elected government, which came to power in 1994. Defended aggressively by South Africa’s top lawyers, he successfully used every legal and semi-legal ploy to avoid answering all charges (1). As leader of the so-called “moral regeneration” movement in one of the countries most exposed to HIV-Aids in the world, he was then found not guilty in a sombre case of alleged rape of a young woman. Zuma was born in 1942 to a poor conservative Kwazulu-Natal family and joined the liberation movement very young. Like most African National Congress (ANC) members of his generation, he spent years as a prisoner on Robben Island, off the Cape. Once freed, he took up the struggle again, this time in exile at the heart of undercover operations. A crafty, pragmatic man with few niceties, he worked his way up the party ladder to the point when, just before the apartheid regime fell, he was head of the ANC’s intelligence bureau. Zuma’s rise was one of the most tortuous in the history of contemporary South Africa (2). It came about after major power struggles within the ANC: his decision to stand for election as president in December 2008 caused the party to split. Dissident former Mbeki henchmen founded COPE, the Congress of the People (3). In the ensuing fight between supporters of Zuma and Mbeki, both parties accused the other of using the secret service and government security forces for their own ends. Virtually no public institution emerged unscathed from the confrontation. South Africa effectively said goodbye to the idealism that had marked its first decade of democratic existence. Champion of the masses Apart from Zuma’s personal tenacity, several factors explain why black voters put their doubts to one side and why – despite huge question marks that might elsewhere have proved too heavy a handicap – he was elected by the new parliament as president. In a society that accords privileged status to its war heroes, creating a cult around them, and preaching forgiveness and reconciliation, Zuma was seen as a poor, simple man persecuted by a distant, evil authority, and then crucified by the criminal justice system on the orders of President Mbeki, who was cast as a malignant prince. Turning all his rival’s blunders to his own advantage, Zuma further isolated him by espousing, for the sake of his own cause, the worker-radicalism redolent of the history of mass party struggle in South Africa. In the same breath he put himself forward as the champion of those masses left jobless by the Mbeki growth years. He claimed to be setting the revolution back on track. He was the person who could share out freedom’s dividends to all and sundry. During his final term of office, Mbeki’s unpopularity mounted among the poorest and most marginalised. Government incompetence in dealing with the two deadliest threats to survival amongst the least fortunate – violent crime and Aids – widened the gap between the general population and the ruling clique. But it also attracted harmful accusations about the constitutional state, with the majority believing themselves betrayed by democracy itself. In his bid to seize the party nomination and assume power, Zuma was helped by a disparate coalition of trade unionists and Communists opposed to the neoliberal economic policies pursued by Mbeki since the middle of the 1990s – as well as winning the backing of the “nativists” (4). Zuma brought the ANC and Communist youth organisations together, gradually transforming them into a citizen militia, which among other activities, intimidates ordinary people and challenges the legitimacy of institutions, particularly the judiciary. Rhetoric last heard during the fight against apartheid has been resurrected. Anyone who questions Zuma’s morals is called a counter-revolutionary. They have also reinvented the language of treason and plot, happily stating their intention to “kill” or “liquidate” the enemies of a revolution hard put to hide its drift towards petit-bourgeois nationalism – much the same phenomenon which the late Frantz Fanon noted in most African anti-colonialist movements when they achieved power, replacing yesterday’s white masters. A new middle class A gang of adventurers, wheeler-dealers and politicians looking for perks and ways to launder dirty money have attached themselves to the party machine. Many stand accused of corruption, fraud and all sorts of embezzlement. Most are looking to dip their fingers in a pool of influence and private wealth created by official Black Economic Empowerment policies. Even if the ANC polled slightly fewer votes than in 2004, Zuma’s success in the April-May 2009 general elections (5) reconfirmed the party’s absolute hold on political power. Repeated scandals, continued misappropriation of funds, notorious incompetence and rampant corruption were not enough to break the support of the impoverished black masses in the rural areas, townships and makeshift settlements which surround large urban agglomerations. After all, during the past 15 years, several million housing units have been built. Almost 22 million people benefit directly or indirectly from the many support programmes aimed at the destitute. Access to safe drinking water has become a reality for the majority. The ANC remains the only hope for the poor to somehow escape their lives of misery. Yet mass unemployment remains endemic: it has now officially reached 34%. The South African economy has been so transformed structurally that, because of the skills gap, millions of people are unemployable. Inequality levels between the poor (most of whom are black) and the rich are among the highest in the world; 60% of the population – largely black and with little education – earn less than R42,000 ($5,100) a year, while 2.2% make an annual salary of more than R360,000 ($44,000) and enjoy a western lifestyle. Every year the numbers of those who die in vehicle accidents or as victims of violent crime, Aids and TB increase by more than 100,000. Crime is so omnipresent that anyone can lose his life at any time, in any place and for any reason. Many thousands of women and young girls are subjected to all sorts of sexual assault annually. The incidence of armed robbery, rape and murder is such that some, including the poor, stockpile weapons or, if they can arrange it, live behind barricades in guarded urban enclaves (6). Violence has yet to be politicised, but it is a major factor in focusing and spreading a racketeering, predatory culture. In the 15 years since 1994, the social makeup of black society has become more complex. The emergence of a middle stratum, followed by a modest bourgeoisie, has become a major social factor. This black bourgeoisie, created by positive discrimination policies, is heavily parasitic. Thanks to numerous government programmes and a variety of preferential treatment mechanisms, a layer of black enterprises is being created. The tendering system allows the ANC to fund networks based on patronage, lubricating a corruption machine, which, ironically, spans the racial divides. Today the gap is not just about whites and blacks. Social breakdown has reached the very core of apartheid’s former victims, with class issues superimposed over old racial barriers. In this environment, ANC strategy consists of preserving, at any cost, its long-held moral domination of the majority of South Africans. Unable to eradicate poverty or relieve unemployment in the short term, the party (in power since 1994) endeavours to spread its aid programmes to the most vulnerable in society. At the same time, it looks to widen its appeal to new black middle-class voters. Persistent poverty, growing inequality and continuing racial tensions are, however, a potential threat to that domination because it is increasingly difficult to hide the class factor. In a move to prevent these issues becoming the focus of an effective opposition movement, the ANC’s ruling elite has appropriated them for itself to galvanise base support in the party, neutralise criticism and remove calls for accountability. This strategy allows the party to combine the functions of management (without responsibility) and of control. Power seeks to become its own opposition. The tradition of worker-radicalism, useful during the years of struggle against apartheid, resurfaced in the context of Zuma’s rise to power, then again during the recent election campaign. It is no different from the rhetoric of revolutionary violence that was aimed at traitors and other class enemies. This stance has now been taken up by the main trade union organisation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the ANC’s Youth League and the Communist Party. Their targets are not just the opposition political parties but some arms of constitutional power, including the judiciary. Individuals who question Zuma’s morals are also targeted – people like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Barney Pityana, the vice-chancellor of the University of South Africa, and the cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, along with sundry media personalities. White population moves on The recent elections highlighted three long-running trends that look like making a major impact on the future of South Africa. The ANC has been deserted by progressive white liberal voters who had overcome racial prejudices and voted with the black majority since 1994. Also, the small regional parties are in disarray and the electorate has polarised around two relatively distinct groups with racial connotations: the black majority, whose constituency is the poor, and a coalition of minorities drawn from relatively well-off white, mixed-race and Indian voters. In addition, there is the republic’s creeping partition. Another phase of internal and external migration is under way. The white population is on the move, producing further imbalance between coastal areas (the whites’ “new world”) and the interior (the “black lands”). In retreat from cities engulfed by a tide of poor blacks (some from nearby countries), two-stage white emigration is taking place. A move towards the coast and, in particular, to Western Cape Province, precedes departure for Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or Canada. The arrival of white voters on the coast plus a political compact with black people living there allowed the Democratic Alliance (DA) – comprised of what’s left of former white liberal and racist parties – to win the Western Cape at the general elections, making it the only part of the country where the ANC does not enjoy a majority. But, far from turning the province into an experiment in post-racial democracy, a proving-ground for political change, every indication is that the DA, under its leader Helen Zille, is intent on creating the continent’s last white colony. This isn’t so much a question of stripping blacks of their political rights, but of trying to install, behind ragbag liberalism and a veil of technological expertise, a version of the same colonial reformism that the apartheid regime proved unable to sustain because it was so hardened by prejudice. President Zuma takes over a fragile country. The international context is unlikely to permit thorough implementation of the economic policies needed to confront mass poverty and rank inequality. The greatest challenge is to restore hope to the “unemployable” masses who swell the ranks of the marginalised. In particular, the crime explosion – one could call it the rampant criminalisation of society – on top of endless corruption represents a direct threat to constitutional governance. The fact that the transition to democracy has now come to a halt only makes matters worse. Racial issues have never really been resolved in the political fallout since 1994. There exists, as of now, no prospect for change. The ANC, even torn apart by internal struggles, remains, de facto, all-powerful. Little by little, the interests of the new ruling class and the black bourgeoisie are being separated from those of the underclasses. Populist opportunism is rife, demagoguery under the mirage of the “strong man”. Far from being a source of stability, ANC supremacy over South Africa’s political and institutional life – as seen in the confusion between the roles of party and state – is a potential threat to democracy and the rule of law. A healthier balance between the party in power and the opposition will only become possible if opposition leaders set aside their differences. The way could then be open to regroup around a coalition that, in order to force through change, would need to be multiracial and multi-ethnic. Only a profound cultural revolution will sweep away the racial hatred still impregnating political life throughout the parties. In other words, the political system must be reformed so that the president is directly elected by the people, while parliamentarians are elected to properly defined constituencies where they can be held responsible for their actions. Unless such change takes place, South Africa risks making no progress at all towards becoming a post-racial democracy.

June 28th, 2009 at 4:43 am

justin akobre,ghana,WA writes:

great speech there thabo,keep up the good work nt only for southafrica ,bt the whole of the african continent.

July 22th, 2009 at 1:12 am

LINDELANI BRAMLEY MUNYADZIWA writes:

THE SPEECH MAKES ME PROUD OF BEING AN AFRICAN, MR MBEKI SHOULD BE HONOURED FOR DELIVERING SUCH A WONDERFULL,MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH.IT ME ME SAY " I AM AN AFRICAN"

September 9th, 2009 at 11:33 am

nymeko writes:

this is such a good speech ever, mr mbeki was a great man in power, i think the current president of the republic should learn from th best. i miss your carragious words mr mbeki.

September 15th, 2009 at 12:59 pm

zoe writes:

man this is best speech i have ever read in my entire life,i wonder if zuma have the brains to write something like this

September 25th, 2009 at 12:08 pm

Lawrence Tjale writes:

That was a great speech ever. As for the fellow Africans, lets unite in taking Africa forward. Let us not feel ashamed of being Africans. I am also a proud African. I love my continent.

October 3th, 2009 at 15:12 pm

W L Sihlali writes:

There only are few men who can ever come up with such wisdom, to me mr Mbeki you will always be th BEST. We know your legacy, again, great is the brain from which those words "I'm an African" come.

October 5th, 2009 at 16:17 pm

Kwena Sebopetsa writes:

Only fools like the Malemas in this country wont miss you, but interlectuals and sober minded people will miss. Kwena Sebopetsa, Tzaneen

October 6th, 2009 at 14:42 pm

Mzimasi Ngele writes:

Mbeki's speech will not only be in our heads but will be in our hearts. 20 - 50 years from now, the questions he asked will proove to be the most questions that should have been entertained. Thank you Mbeki

October 20th, 2009 at 23:06 pm

Jack Strange writes:

Though I am not an African I see the great wisdom partrayed in Mr. Mbeki's speech and it is truely the best speech I have ever written. If only all of the rulers of the world were so wise, then we would be one single and united country, not many war torn nations!

January 10th, 2010 at 22:27 pm

Jack Strange writes:

Sorry for the typo I intended to write *read not written

January 10th, 2010 at 22:29 pm

Amuna Mahlatsi writes:

Very few words have liberated me spiritually....since inseption this article of literatue signifies the pride of the author. Amuna Mahlatsi

January 15th, 2010 at 18:43 pm

Sipho writes:

President Thabo Mbeki, you are the Best ever. I'm truly proud to have been led by such a an intelligent leader. Thanks for your exemplery leadership Zizi !!!!!!

January 24th, 2010 at 14:15 pm

Ali Barewa writes:

Ali Barewa Write:

It is very true that motivational speeches are good, but we must combine them with action to give life. People of the world should take stock in what going on in there lives,communities, towns,countries and other Nations. Thank the almighty God for what you have, because it could be worse than it is for you. Look at Haiti for example. Always give thanks and give to those who are worse off than you.

January 26th, 2010 at 15:17 pm

Ibrahima B. Sow writes:

In my personal experience that was amongst the greatest speech's ever, not just by an African leader but any World leader. Inded it makes me even proudr to be an african and encourage any african to take tremendous pride in there nationality. I am a west african fulani, but only by seeing pass tribes and little nation states can we really be one people under god. Mr. Mbeki and other great african leaders before him have and continue to have a vision that our generation must accomplish. All this talk about unity can't go no where when we, the youth, have strength in numbers and are very outspoken continue to just lay back and talk about unity. No great nation was built over night, latest example South Africa, but see how it's people are so more unified and advanced than most of the countries that had Independence way before it. Let us be foot soldiers and not journalist.

January 29th, 2010 at 6:15 am

Mark Donald Kimari writes:

If this is not a great speech, I dont know what is,Mr.mbeki keep on doing the good work of bringing peace and unity as mandated by the African Union.I am optimistic that your efforts will not be in vain and as you rightly said "whatever the difficulties,Africa shall be at peace!"

February 10th, 2010 at 13:19 pm

sadiki mbavhalelo writes:

this is a speech that makes me be proud to be an AFRICAN.

February 24th, 2010 at 18:25 pm

NAKEDI Paul writes:

THIS SPEECH MAKES ME PROUD OF BEING AN AFRICAN YOUNG MAN.IT PROVES THAT IT TAKES ANY BOY TO BE AN AFRICAN MAN ,BUT A REIL AFRICA MAN TO BE A FATHER

March 2th, 2010 at 10:48 am