Thanks to the ANC’s inability to curb and prosecute crime, KZN is under siege: Land grabs, rock-throwing from bridges, sabotage and looting at the Mooi River toll, mobs that arbitrarily shut down construction sites, a stadium that is trashed, violent murders that occur daily, the most dangerous roads in the country with 111 people killed during the Easter recess. Such circumstances do not promote tourism.

On top of that, the majority of municipalities, on which tourism depends for basic services, are bankrupt, corrupt and embroiled in looting exchanges between different factions of the ANC, some of which we now know are even uneducated.

Tourism can thrive only in an environment that is secure and stable. The fact that Zikalala ignores those issues and instead obsesses about racial and gender quotas shows how out of touch he is with the realities of the tourist and hospitality industry. But then that is hardly surprising given the shambles that prevails in every aspect of governance under the ANC.

Sent into The Mercury and published, May 9, 2018.

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 His latest half page discourse is premised on the fallacy that South Africa is pursuing “accelerated economic growth.” If only that were true. Instead, job losses continue unabated and economic growth for 2017 is a mere 0,5%. Undeterred by such facts, Zikalala then claims that on the back of this economic growth his pet socialist policy of redistribution and radical economic transformation will be implemented.

 At the same time, Zikalala expects this all to be an “investment attraction” which will be facilitated by a new “one-stop-shop” for business which will “fast-track, unblock and reduce red tape in government.”

 Whilst of course there is merit in attracting business investment, that investment is not going to be forthcoming as long as Zikalala and his ilk seek to ring-fence state contracts exclusively for Africans – the policy he announced last month. Investment is not attracted by terms and conditions that prescribe racial quotas in terms of ownership and participation. Besides, the prospect of economic redistribution does not encourage economic growth.

 Then there is the environment into which Zikalala seeks to attract investment. Thanks to Zikalala and his faction, politically KZN is volatile and unstable. Corruption abounds at provincial and local government levels. Dysfunctionalism is the reality of most municipalities where, as in the case of the lower South Coast, water supply was disrupted for weeks.

The only “game-changer” that can herald a new economic dawn for KZN is the removal of the ANC from power and the application of liberal free enterprise policies premised on merit instead of race and failed socialist ideology It’s not going to be.

Sent into The Mercury and published, 17 November 2017.

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Sections 9, 195 and 217 of the constitution refer to persons, that is individuals, and categories of persons, meaning racial groups, as being favoured for preferment in posts and contracts. Yet the constitution does not prescribe racial group quotas such as we see where jobs and the like are allocated in terms of demographic percentages. Yet in all matters, from procurement to contract allocation and staffing, the ANC applies racial group quotas.

Thus, in KZN with a black demographic in excess of 80%, that is how the provincial cake is cut despite the wording of the constitution. Of course, this practice is an utter violation of the principle of non-racialism. But as a good Marxist, Zikalala is simply applying Lenin’s dictum that “principles are like pie crusts: they are made to be broken.”

Having gone unchallenged in applying racial group quotas, the likes of Zikalala are simply tossing constitutional fetters overboard and applying the ideal his ilk has always fostered, namely, the old PAC slogan, “Africa for the Africans.” Zikalala’s proposal also reflects the political desperation of his faction. Faced with the reality that his grip on power is under severe threat, constitutional niceties cannot be allowed to restrict his political ambitions.

Sent into The Mercury and published, 28 October 2017.

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