Black Friday in South Africa

Yes, this week will take place in the U.S., the "Black Friday", the classical turning point in the retail business, is made of the profits to. Coincidentally, this week was also the "Black Tuesday" and indeed in South Africa. Only there were no consumer goods on sale, but one of the foundations of democracy. And because she was also the same way, the freedom of the press. If you believe that Berlusconi was therefore the worst thing that could give it to politicians in democracies, then you should look to South Africa once. There just because democracy is transformed into a protected park oligarchs. The Parliament adopted the "Secrecy Act" is another step in this direction.

Especially the history of South Africa makes this an absolute tragedy. Because actually, the "Rainbow Nation" a miracle. After the dissolution of the apartheid regime, there were no massacres of the whites, was simply not taken revenge against the former oppressors. Instead, it was - inspired and led by the moral light figure, Nelson Mandela - forgiven and reconciled, united and at peace.

But even at that time was a bad seed in the ground at the Cape of Good Hope: the dominant party called the ANC. The African National Congress since apartheid ended determine the fate of South Africa and has the undisputed power. But with the resignation of Nelson Mandela from his government and party offices of the ANC apparently lost his conscience.

Only dry functionaries came to power, only to be expelled by the agitators. The State President Jacob Zuma is the so called African counterpart Silvio Berlusconi corruption scandals, from which he is exactly like hinauswieselte Berlusconi again, scandals and rape allegations, which even led to a process with a dubious acquittal. But the memorable quote Zuma (because the alleged rape victim had AIDS and Zuma was then chairman of the National AIDS Council), that "showers diminishes after sex, the risk of contagion," remained in the same way as the ruined reputation of the then aspiring politician who after a prolonged power struggle with his predecessor Thabo Mbeki was elected in 2009 in spite of this process and allegations of money laundering, organized crime, corruption and fraud as president.

One of Zuma's biggest supporters was the leader of the ANC Youth Organization, Julius Malema, who often struck by his unbridled populism, racism and other widely advocated exactly the accused. That he let sing the old fight song, "Shoot the Boer" at meetings, brought him increasingly into the focus of controversy, until he was even sentenced to omit songs that appealed to racial violence.

Officially sponsored by his radical tendencies are also the reason why he left his post and was barred for five years from the party. But unofficially, may have also played against him in the ways led corruption, money laundering and fraud investigations-a role for several years to remove him from the public eye.

The now by Parliament and, soon, from the second chamber, the provincial council (which is also dominated by the ANC), adopted in the public called "Secrecy Act" will in the future of the press in South Africa prohibiting "secret" to publish information from government agencies, each authority to decide arbitrarily what is secret. It is also important whether the public interest is harmed thereby. Mainly seems to be unimportant, that a constitutional right that is fundamental to a democracy is to be tilted.

The law, officially the "Protection of the State Information Bill" is the name will be challenged with security of the opposition and various civil society organizations in the Constitutional Court. But the increasing influence of South African politics, that is the ANC, the judiciary there makes a decision within the meaning of democracy, at least uncertain. Example: The selection of the latest constitutional judge, Mogoeng Mogoeng, by Jacob Zuma

The fact that all the dubious characters are involved in this tragedy of democracy political left - here's a stark contrast to Berlusconi - demonstrates clearly that it is mainly the uncontrolled exercise of power, which destroys democracies and not necessarily the political orientation of the Mighty

South Africa - Youth calls for Nationalisation

Zuma under pressure

In South Africa, claims to be loud, to nationalize the mining
industry. This should improve the situation of youth.

About 25 percent of all South Africans are unemployed. In the young
generation, the proportion is even higher. The government of President
Jacob Zuma knows the problem, it can not have it under control.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said in Parliament that this was a
task of decades.

As in some European countries want young South Africans use the
pressure of the street, to bring about rapid change. Especially the
youth organization of the ANC, which also provides the government, is
active in such actions. They want their own leadership to push hard
this scares you do not shrink from radical demands.

Several thousand young, black South Africans make their displeasure
so before the Johannesburg Stock Exchange air. There they hand over a
petition, which calls attention to their plight. In order to improve
their situation, they demand that the state takes control of the
mining industry. You want all the land mines are nationalized, the
government will keep 60 percent of the shares. They also want to
ensure that the processing of raw materials takes place in the near
future of the mines. This will create new jobs and improve the
situation of young people.

Led the ANC protesters by Julius Malema, who is known for years for
its radical demands. Meanwhile, the ANC is a disciplinary procedure
against him, which may lead to their exclusion from the party.
Observers suspect that Malema wants to distract the protest of the
procedure.

From Johannesburg, the protesters make their way in the near
Pretoria. There, they want during the day President Zuma hand over a
petition. The chances that the protesters will succeed, but are
extremely low. The Chamber of Mines of South Africa has already
rejected the claim. There you will see a nationalization with very
negative feelings. It would jeopardize the country's economy,
according to a spokesman for the chamber. Such action would also
burden the population, the economic situation would not be improved.

Observers believe that the claims are made after the nationalization
of the sector, mainly due to tensions within the ANC. Between
different factions of the party, there are violent disputes, provide
in the coming year, President Zuma must be an internal choice, which
can also decide on his future as president. Here are some position
players early on, to exert pressure. In this context, the demands for
nationalization appear in a different light.

PORTRAIT OF JULIUS Malema ANC Youth League, SOUTH AFRICA:

"Kill the farmer, kill the Boer"

All entreaties were in vain: for a full five years, the African
National Congress (ANC) Julius Malema, the radical leader of the ANC
Youth League, expelled from the ruling party - and the political
career of the 30-year-old demagogue so perhaps put an early end. At
the same time he was deposed as leader of the ANC Youth League.
Malema, who would appeal the verdict, was accused sown with a series
of statements of "discord" in the ANC and brought the party into
disrepute to have. One surprise was the high penalties that reason,
not because the firebrand had been cautioned for his continued
criticism of President Jacob Zuma and the ANC previously was under
observation.

The biggest beneficiary of the decision is without doubt the ANC
president Zuma, who now creates one of his sharpest critics off their
backs. Even from the other side Malema threatens trouble. Thereby
having a police task force examined its dubious business practices and
the apparently arbitrary awarding of state contracts, which deserves
Malema will have € million illegally. Moreover, it threatens an
indictment for tax evasion.

This Malema had in the past few weeks trying everything to save his
image as the voice of the poor: He took off his expensive Breitling
watch and now comes with a Basque cap on instead to look like the
young Che Guevara. Just two weeks ago he had led several thousand
young people in a protest march to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and
the South African Chamber of Mines to protest against the dominance of
whites in the economy - and the alleged exclusion of blacks from the
business world.

The calls, however unpleasant memories of the events in neighboring
Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe's white farmers made the scapegoat for
the failure of his own regime and dispossessed - with disastrous
consequences for the food supply and the economy of the country.
Malema has often been outed as an ardent supporter of Mugabe and his
policies praised as a model for South Africa. As recently as September
Malema was convicted of incitement to racial hatred because he was
performing at the old ANC battle song "Kill the farmer, kill the boer"
intoned.

Powers of Speech: project topics for public speaking with premieres from four countries

Powers of Speech: project topics for public speaking with premieres
from four countries

The project initiated by the Siemens Foundation and the Brussels
Kaaitheater project POWERS OF SPEECH, the public discourse to the
center of new theater works. Texts and productions created in Europe,
South Africa and Colombia and the festival theme "Spoken World" by
25.11. to 10.12.2011 at Kaaitheater shown in Brussels. The subsequent
tour shows the productions in Germany.

When Barack Obama with his world in 2009 transferred "Yes we can"
speeches, the White House by storm, he put the power of speech,
impressively demonstrated in the same year and received the Nobel
Peace Prize. Great speeches change somewhat, since they can be
perceived by society's challenges differently than before. In every
country, every culture, and was in all political systems and the
speech is always a driving force in the political affairs of states
and communities.

The project topics POWERS OF SPEECH examines the formal and
substantial forces that underlie a speech: Forces, a community in war
or peace, may the "good" or "bad" lead. In cooperation with cultural
institutions in four countries, playwrights and directors were invited
to develop new work. This will move you in their own relationship to
public discourse and reflect this in their cultural and political
context. The productions are in Johannesburg, Bogotá, Brussels, Zagreb
and Sheffield.

The idea for this project POWERS OF SPEECH is based on an interview
with Obama's speechwriter Jon Favreau, in which he tells how he had to
design for the presidential elections, two versions of a speech, one
for victory and for defeat. This second version of a speech, which is
rarely known, served as a model for emerging theater works: For the
events that may occur in the near future but may never happen, we must
equip ourselves rhetorically? Or back to the view: how the story would
have been if major speeches would have been held differently? The
project brings the imaginative potential of the theater into view, to
explore the art of speech in the stress field of politics, art and
society anew.

The South African playwright and director Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom,
whose productions about the brutal life of South Africa's most
remarkable and surprising performances from this region are concerned,
in "Rhetorical" detail the recent history of his country. Together
with the author Aubrey Sekhabi he describes the political end of the
intellectual president Thabo Mbeki by the inflammatory speeches a
rebellious young politician: The fictional character of Daniel "Dada"
Mokone based on Julius Malema, the leader of the ANC Youth League, by
some as a ruthless Populist dismissed by many, however, touted as a
future president of South Africa. With the fictitious speeches
Grootboom is a young South African generation the opportunity to
comment on the political history of their country.

The Colombian Pablo Escobar, also known as "El Patron" (the boss), is
next to his declared model Al Capone of the most famous drug lords of
all times and kept his country and the international community over
the years in breathing. From the poor of his native city of Medellín
to a glorified Robin Hood figure, he was for the U.S. in the 1990s,
the "public enemy number one". In 1993 he was shot trying to escape
from prison by a special task force. The performance "un hombre de
Discurso decente" (speech of a decent man) of the Mapa Teatro in
Bogotá is based on a fictional speech, which is found on the day of
his death at Escobar: content on the day of his election as President
of Colombia, describes it in her his vision for a rich and influential
internationally Colombia - by the immediate legalization of all drugs.

In Europe, designed by the British artist and director Tim Etchells
with "Although We Fell Short" a great performative speech, made up of
remnants and fragments of a variety of contemporary and historical
speeches: material from political campaigns, party conventions,
debates, resignation speeches and revolutionary tracts collide
surprising ways to combine or unexpected dialog. Significance and
contexts are thereby subjected to an ordeal - repeatedly made to
dissolve, but the next moment to arise again. Equally funny and
disturbing, subjecting "Although We Fell Short" the well-known
strategies of political speeches a search of their linguistic break
points, if formulaic structures and conventional attitudes must exist
outside of its context. The New Zealander Kate McIntosh, herself a
successful performance artist, is the actress.

"If a man would say openly on a desert island, his mind, he could
still be wrong?" The question is the starting point of the performance
of Giuseppe and Barbara Matijević Chico, a young artist duo from
Zagreb and Paris. Under the working title "SPEECH!" They sought to
challenge our understanding of society, politics and everyday life as
a story. They illuminate the speech as a means of discourse, which
does not claim to truth and therefore less on the content of a speech
than to the addressee is directed. The piece is a speech that invites
us to account, and as its author puts into consciousness.

All productions are shown at the festival "Spoken World" at the
Kaaitheater Brussels, where they are flanked by an extensive program
for the power of language. Speeches by African-American Poetry Slam to
talk without words up that are written by playwrights and Belgian
ministers held ago, the program goes. This shows a young generation of
new-to-find speakers from all parts of the city of Brussels its own
version of "I Have a Dream".

Following are the productions shown its German premiere at PACT
Zollverein in Essen, permits from the Ministry of Family, Children,
Youth, Culture and Sport of North Rhine-Westphalia.

annoucement

Announcements, news from and about the ANC youth league will be placed here soon.