The SA election is done and the results are in. Its momentous with the collapse of the ANC. The ANC is in many ways no different from the NP of old. Like the old NP it is surrounded by far right political vultures - MK, EFF - that want to feed of it. One blessing: EFF under 10%, The DA too has declined, less spectacularly but discernibly. It should have been the great winner in the collapse of the ANC, but it alienated significant sections of the electorate. It has held the Western Cape which is a blessing for municipal governance & delivery.

1. State of Our Nation: The ANC conference at NASREC is a powerful indicator of where our nation is. Its signature feature is that a compromised former Minister of Health had significant support even though he enabled corruption in the middle of a global pandemic. 2. There cannot be a more profound betrayal by a doctor than that of Zweli Mkhize.The fact that he commanded so much support in the ANC demonstrates how far its moral underpinnings have eroded.The KZN ANC’s backing of him suggests that it is now truly corrupt to the core.

The Eskom power crisis and the general collapse in service delivery is a tragedy! SA is systematically being broken by these actions. It will continue as long as we do not address the issues of excellence and the fact that rights must be accompanied by responsibilities. Both cadre deployment & anti-constitutional interpretations of transformation have been justified on the grounds that excellence is racially coded. But even if this were the case, the answer would have been to deracialise excellence, not ignore it as so many in the ANC have done.

1. I notice some individuals deliberately misrepresented a conversation in a student meeting yesterday. The video is deliberately cropped in a way to misrepresent. Unfortunately many others have rushed to judgement without the full facts. So let me explain what really happened: 2. A student did question SOAS’ responsiveness to anti black racism & suggested a staff member used the word without consequences. I did use the word & said: “if someone used the word ‘nigger’ against another staff member, then it would violate our policy & action would be taken.

1/11 SA’s universities are responding with agility to the digital environment, online teaching & learning. But quality assurance agencies like the @che_SouthAfrica cannot keep up, as shirona37 and I argued in the @dailymaverick this week: dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-1… 2/11 The @che_SouthAfrica Chair denies that the Council is moribund, but suggests that there are delays in the system. In his response, he says that he is offended that this issue has been put into the public domain: dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-1…

1. The violence at the Senekal court is inexcusable & the indivs must be identified & appropriate action taken. But I am not in the least bit surprised by the violence. I have written for a while about the consequences of tolerating & not firmly acting against political violence. 2. The outcry against this violence by Bheki Cele and some activists is hypocritical.Many of these activists engage in similar violent action when they protesting.Union leaders are often complicit in violence when they look the other way when their members assault & commit arson.

1. We need to talk abt our new generation of activists.Some have no understanding of history/politics, ironically regurgitate the very theories which inspired racism & colonialism,& think they act in the tradition of Fanon & Biko, but are more akin to Mobutu Sese Seko & Idi Amin. 2. They easily mobilized by nativist & fascist leaders who stoke emotional vulnerabilities & deploy them to violent actions. Every generation has this layer, but the voice of this one is amplified by Twitter & s/media. The deep inequalities of our moment feed this even further.

1. I see that my article & accompanying tweets on political leadership options have really got the DA party base animated.I welcome the discussion even if I am outraged at some of the illiberal, puerile, misogynistic and foul mouthed commentary of some of the party foot soldiers. 2. Here some additional thoughts for the more serious among the DA faithful. I think it would be good for the DA to do well.We can see the dangers of incumbency, & we need a strong, viable opposition. It would be much better to have a liberal than a fascist opposition to the ANC.

1. My article on what to do and my thoughts on our political options on leadership.

https://twitter.com/News24/status/1294197351398211584

2. You got to feel for @CyrilRamaphosa. He has had a torrid week.Analyst after analyst, & most others, have questioned his leadership abilities for good reason.He has not demonstrated decisive leadership. Corruption is rampant, incompetence is widespread & he continues to dither.

1.This is what truly terrifies me; a vaccine is developed but the developing world cannot get it because all supplies are bought up by rich countries. Also, govts in countries were vaccines are produced restrict sales to other countries. What is our plan? 2. Reliance on purchasing vaccines on the open market is not good enough. Supplies will not be available until its too late.Multinational efforts to purchase supplies for resale to the developing world at an affordable price is laudable but unlikely to resolve challenge entirely.

Moderated an interesting conversation with the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Lesetja Kganyago. His take away messages were: 1. South Africa has had its worst decade for economic growth. Our economic performance was even lower than the 1970s and 1980s. (Thank you Zuma & the ANC). 2. We now need the courage to make sustainable choices to get pass the pandemic & grow thereafter. 3 We should not make choices today that leave our children with a financial burden tomorrow.The excesses of this generation must not be placed at the feet of the coming generations.

1. My twitter account is flooded again.I have not read the tweets as I do not want to be distracted from what I have to do now.The responses are either about statues which I concluded on,or from the foot soldiers of the Fascist boss given my cheeky response to his racist comment. 2. While I don’t have time for the fascists now, I do want to provide some understanding of our Transformation agenda at Wits for progressives given the racist and ethno-nationalist sentiments that drove and were inspired by a thrashy piece of journalism in the City Press today.

This is perhaps one of the better replies I have had to articles that I penned on the problems of student leadership and governance at the universities. It is worth a read. Now let me indicate why I would disagree with the argument herein.

https://twitter.com/adhabb/status/1266118962368126980

Sonwabile recognizes the problems of accountability & intolerance that I identify.But he suggests that my solutions undermine democracy & would enable an authoritarian institutional order.He also says that the protests are a reflection of the structural challenges in the society.

I just finished a long day at work & was fasting,so I am tired & don’t have the energy for a long twitter brouhaha with AfriForum’s supporters. I am bemused by the fact that everyone got riled up by an old tweet. I wonder what AfriForum’s leadership is up to by bringing this up. But I will make 3 separate points.1st, to those who made disparaging comments,I don’t get intimidated by it. I am often harangued by racial essentialists in the EFF & I have learnt to live with it.But read your tweets & reflect on how similar they are to those I get from the EFF.

1. Reminder: my comments on NDZ suggested it is perfectly legitimate to disagree with her but not to personalize it.The personalization poisons our public discourse & undermines accountability & democracy. I have often said, you cannot claim rights & not take on responsibilities. 2. I am struck by many of the critical responses to my remarks on NDZ. A few disagreed but were perfectly civil.This is entirely acceptable. But some others were outright racist, foul mouthed & poisonous. It was striking how many were emotional and frankly thoughtless. Shocking!

@JJ_Stellies is absolutely correct to raise this as a concern. Prof. Gray should probably have engaged publicly only after submitting her advisory to the Minister.Mkhize did respond to her publicly & firmly.This was his right & was legitimate. But the subsequent actions are not.

https://twitter.com/JJ_Stellies/status/1263860853750841344

The Acting DG of Health has written to the board of the MRC requesting an investigation into Prof. Gray implicitly demanding her dismissal. This is unacceptable. There is a difference bet. holding someone accountable & conducting a witch-hunt. This is now Trumpian & Putinisque.

1. I am sorry to hear that some students are struggling with the emergency remote online learning format. Pls approach lecturers & schools for support. But don’t despair! If you do not manage, we will have face to face learning when we return in a restructured academic calendar. 2.But there are also student politicians who are trying to stop emergency online remote learning at the behest of political organizations.They don’t care about the majority of students.They intent on misrepresentations & act politically with a misguided notion of social justice.

This is an irresponsible tweet Deputy Minister @ButiManamela. It does not accord with the facts and is based on political gossip and hearsay. Here are the facts and how we view the issue.

https://twitter.com/butimanamela/status/1251821290337398785

1. There are other unis also beginning online teaching on 20 April as agreed at USAF. There is no violation of a national agreement – we agreed to enable multiple pathways of learning & to ensure that all students are given a fair opportunity to complete the year.

@tessie18 @atkinsmike1 @HintsaKa @Nkanyiso_ngqulu I am saddened! All I hear is critique of what others do, never any suggestions. There is criticism of the univ, but not a single suggestion on how it could improve its intervention. This is why inclusive development is so often paralyzed. Anyway, for the others, here is the plan. @tessie18 @atkinsmike1 @HintsaKa @Nkanyiso_ngqulu 1. We are not unaware of inequalities. We have thought, written & actively challenged it for decades. Our institution confronts it every single day. In this moment we are aware of the deep digital and socio-economic divides among our students. How to go online in this context?

Shabir Mahdi, one of our most eminent health scientists did a presentation to the Wits council on Friday afternoon. His presentation slides are available on this link: wits.ac.za/covid19/latest… Here are the central takeaways from his presentation:1. The pandemic will be with us for months & may become part of the annual illness cycles. It will not be contained until about a third of the population get infected & develop an immunity, what has come to be known as herding.

@MaanoThovhakale @lmondi 1. Thank you. I have now read it. Let me provide my thoughts. However before I respond, let me make a correction on the name. ‘Wits’ is not about a white instit. It speaks to the ridge on which the univ is built. The color speaks to the white quartzite which comprises the ridge. @MaanoThovhakale @lmondi 2. Now to the substance of the argument. The author is right to highlight the deep socio-economic inequalities & digital divide in our society. This does undermine the equal provision of education generally, and this is even more the case when teaching is in an online format.