Saying "totsiens"

Tuesday 27th September

Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

As we set off towards the airport, traffic was very heavy and the reason became apparent as we approached the University of Cape Town.  Students were blocking the road in a protest against higher fees, calling for education to be free as described in the Freedom Charter.

In places, the protests are turning violent, which is extremely concerning to say the least, but at the moment, the ones ere are peaceful and good natured.

There's a general dissatisfaction with the ANC government everywhere we've been.  It seems that loyalty to the party of liberation has not been able to withstand the multiple corruption scandals of late, as the party's heavy losses in the recent local government elections have shown.  In the last few days, President Zuma has paid back a proportion of the Nkandla money, but it feels like rather too little too late.  It is clear he will now go, the only question is when.

"Enjoy the good exchange rate while you can," advised one local resident, "because when Zuma is gone, we will never allow this to happen again."

And that's the real story of South Africa.  It no longer shimmers with Mandela magic, but neither is it the failed state that some residents disgruntled with the fall of apartheid would have you believe.

Democracy is alive and well, there is a strong, independent judiciary and the office of the Public Protector is rooting out government corruption.  Things can only - and will only - continue to improve.

The repeated plea we've heard everywhere is for people to come here - the economy is dependent on foreign visitors.  And so that is my plea, too.  Visit.  This is the most geographically beautiful, ecologically fascinating and culturally diverse country in the world.  South African's are friendly and welcoming, their wildlife enthralling that there really is something for everyone - beaches, cities, wilderness, desert, luxury, basics and a retreat for the soul.

So visit.  And visit.  And visit again.  It will transform the way you see the world and will captivate your heart in a way that will never leave you.

I for one can't wait to get back...

Note: Since this diary entry was written, political events have moved apace in South Africa.  Thuli Madonsela has finished her term as Public Protector and her successor seems less enthusiastic in holding the government's feet to the fire.  Zuma is trying to block Madonsela's report into 'state capture' and her successor is not defending it.  Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is facing trumped up charges of fraud (for offering someone early retirement) in a bid to have him replaced with someone more Zuma-friendly.  South Africa has withdrawn from the International Criminal Court.  The student protests have become increasingly violent, with many deaths now occurring.  Rather than deal with the protests, Zuma took himself off to Kenya to discuss the urgent matter of avocado prices.  Many of these matters come before the highest court in the land in November and I truly hope and believe that South Africa's courts are strong and independent and that justice will take its course.

The world's most remarkable woman?

I'd like to stop and salute one of the world's most remarkable women.  She has championed the cause of justice.  She has stood up to powerful male bullies.  She has faced death threats and intimidation.  She has almost single-handedly fought to defend democracy and good governance and to combat corruption.  And yet, most Brits will never have heard of her.

Advocate Thuli Madonsela

Her name is Thuli Madonsela and at midnight, she ended her seven year term as South Africa's Public Protector, a sort of ombudsman into all areas of government and executive life.

When she was appointed in 2009, the Office of the Public Protector didn't have much of a profile, would not have been seen by those in office as a threat to their power and Madonsela was not regarded as anything special.  But that disregards her history...

In the early 1980s, she was a teacher in Swaziland then Soweto, and went on to work for the trade union movements fighting against apartheid, serving in both the ANC and the United Democratic Movement.  She completed legal studies at the University of Swaziland in 1987 and qualified as an advocate in 1990.  In 1994, she turned down the chance to become an ANC MP, believing politics would not allow her to make her "best contribution as a human being."  She became part of Nelson Mandela's team to draft South Africa's constitution, widely regarded as the most progressive and egalitarian in the world, and went on to serve on the South African Law Reform Society.

From her appointment as Public Protector, she has investigated South Africa's most powerful people, including the Chief of Police, the chair of the ANC Youth League, government ministers and leading businesspeople and has been a constant thorn in the side of an increasingly corrupt President Zuma.  She has ruthlessly investigated government excesses, incompetence and corruption and reported boldly with her own artistic flair. 

In the most publicised case, she found in 2014 that President Jacob Zuma had benefited unduly from R23million of public money spent on his private residence in Nkandla.  These so-called "security upgrades" included a swimming pool, an amphitheatre, a cattle kraal and a chicken coup.  She ordered that Zuma should pay back an appropriate sum to the public purse.  But Zuma, and the ANC in parliament, took every opportunity to dismiss her report and her powers.  She was publicly threatened by leading members of the party and accused of being "partisan" and "overstepping her office".

But Madonsela was unflinching.  She held press conference after press conference exposing the truth of what the President and his bully-boys were up to.  She tweeted with words so brave they bordered on foolish.  She took Zuma, Parliament and the Speaker of Parliament to the highest court in the land... and won.  The Constitutional Court found that the President, Speaker and Parliament had all "failed to uphold the constitution" in not carrying out Madonsela's remedial actions.  Last month, Zuma finally paid back some of the money.  The Goliath of the system was no match for Madonsela's David.

Even on her last day in the job, Madonsela was fighting to speak truth to power.  She announced she would release the report into her investigation into "state capture", prompted when Minister Jonas revealed he had been offered the position of Finance Minister by a wealth businessman.

At the last minute, Zuma and Minister Des van Rooyen launched legal proceedings to try and interdict her from reporting, clearly hoping to kick the issue into the long grass when the new Public Protector takes over.  The interdict hearing will be held on 1st November, but she has preserved her report, lodging a copy with the Speaker of Parliament so that it can be released in full once the proceedings are over even though she is no longer in office.

On Wednesday, she was announced as one of the Tällberg Foundation's Global Leaders - one of the five most important and influential women in the world.

Madonsela insists she just did her job, but without her, South Africa could have become another Zimbabwe with a leadership seeking only to enhance and entrench its own power.  Because of her courage and leadership, democracy and the rule of law remain intact. 

I encourage you to find out more about this remarkable woman.  Google "Thuli Madonsela".  Watch her interview with BBC Hardtalk on iPlayer.  Share her story far and wide as an important female role model.  And watch out... if she is prepared to break her self-imposed ban from politics, we could one day be looking at President Thuli Madonsela.

Est-ce que je suis Charlie?

I'm sure we all shared a sense of gut-wrenching sadness as we watched events in Paris unfold this week as many lives were lost and others shattered in an appalling act of murderous violence, and who could fail to be moved by the way the world has reacted to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the French people.  No such act could ever have any justification, and that the perpetrators claimed to do so in the name of a peace-loving religion is beyond belief.  In the words of a statement issued by the Edinburgh Interfaith Association, "that they were carried out supposedly in the name of God only increases that sense of futility and outrage. Words cannot express the horror of such acts, nor do justice to the sense in which this was an attack upon, and betrayal of, so much that we hold dear."

Following the attack on Charlie Hebdo, many, particularly in the media, have also been quick to jump to the defence of the freedom of the press, and rightly so.  If society is to operate in any kind of just manner, the scrutiny of a free press is essential - and satire plays an important role in this.  With that freedom comes the freedom to offend, and that is something we must all be prepared to accept.

All of that said, two things are playing on my mind.

The first is Charlie Hebdo.  I hope I have made clear that I believe they have the essential right to publish as they see fit, and I join the ranks of all those who stand in solidarity with all affected by this week's attacks.  Even if Charlie Hebdo published that which I disagree with, I defend their right to do so.  However, expressing our solidarity and defending the rights of a free press does not require us to give assent to all that they do.  After all, having the right and freedom to publish something does not mean it will advance the common good to do so.

We live in a world where vastly different ideologies are competing for power.  While satire has a valid role to play in challenging this, we must be careful that inflammatory media does not fan the flames and deepen division.  Far better that those of different worldviews try to find a space to understand one another, for only then will we find ways to peacefully live side-by-side.

American cartoonist Joe Sacco had given this thought provoking response on the limits of satire: http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2015/jan/09/joe-sacco-on-satire-a-response-to-the-attacks

The second thing playing on my mind is Nigeria.  Why Nigeria? I hear you ask. 

As the hostage situation in Paris was drawing to a close, 20 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a packed marketplace in Maiduguri in Nigeria, the attack carried out by... wait for it... a 10 year old girl.  How many front pages did this headline?  None.  How many news bulletins even ran the story? Very few.  Contrast that with the 24-hour rolling coverage of events in France.

Now, let's be clear, I do not intend to belittle what happened in France, but simply to highlight the differing media coverage.  Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for around 2000 deaths in Nigeria in recent months, and yet we hear little of it; no marches have taken place, no hashtag is trending.  Even as I type, the AFP newswire is reporting two suicide attacks killing four people in Nigeria - I wonder if that will make tomorrow's front pages?

Why are atrocities in Paris more newsworthy than atrocities in Nigeria?  Is it because the former involved a direct attack on the media itself?  Is it because of geographic closeness?  Is it because events in Nigeria are so frequent we have learned to tune them out?  Or is it because the attacks in Paris involved people we deem to be like ourselves in a society we deem to be like ours?

We must be careful not to divide the world into "them" and "us", whether that be in media which mocks "them" without considering the role of "us" in reconciliation and peace-building, or in the reporting of only that news which affects "us" and turning a blind eye to that which affects "them". 

If there is hope for a harmonious future for humanity, there can only be "us" and we must all find ways of living with our differences.  Or, to again use the words of the Edinburgh Interfaith Association, "the future for our world, and for religions, will be found in respect for others, dialogue through freedom of expression, and collective action that seeks the wellbeing and flourishing of all."