Amerika

Unauthorized translation of Sydney Gregan’s article in Praag on October 21, 2016.

Professor Sampie Terreblanche, a Professor in philosophy and confidant of the political elite during the democratization of South Africa, published the book Lost in Transformation: South Africa’s search for a new future since 1986 in 2012.

Terreblanche is a liberal who promoted the liberalization of South Africa, the experience of which now after twenty-five years would probably still not remedy his debilitating political condition. However, as an unintended consequence of the wealth of information about the “bloodless coup” in 1992, readers can see how clearly the Afrikaner population was swindled.

The writer identified the remarkable intensification of poverty, joblessness and inequality in the eighteen-year period directly from when Mandela became president in 1994 until the book was written in 2012. To this must be added the increase in violence, crime, instability and chaos concomitant with fear and insecurity. He directly attributes this outcome to the fact that the country’s new black elite was co-opted as a satellite of the neo-liberal American Empire.

This meant that in South Africa the black and white elite “integrated” into a single after-dinner club, to the exclusion of the rest of the country. Terreblanche instead scapegoats what he calls the “Corporatocracy” which caused “exclusion,” instead of the professor’s preferred dream, inclusion.

The writer asserts that the pre-South Africa Government was pressurized by the “mineral-energy complex” and coordinated by the US and UK Governments to establish a new dispensation that would accommodate American Empire requirements. This is grounded by 40,000 American (Western) multi-national corporations pushing the neo-liberal objective.

Apparently the “Corporatocracy” viewed Mandela as a risk due to his affiliation with a “socialist” freedom charter.  To mitigate this risk, secret negotiations were undertaken by Harry Oppenheimer with selected black elites at his home as well as at the local Development Bank. This was the actual negotiations, while the public was distracted with media transmissions of a”light-weight” CODESA negotiation process that stalled the intended “bloodless coup” until the real economic solution was finalized.

At the time many people wondered how the principles of minority veto and power sharing suddenly vanished into the Mandela hubris.

The economic solution was intended to “corrupt” Mandela and his chosen ones, into accepting prescriptions of the Corporatocracy. And indeed, this meant that they were bribed. The writer states flatly that unholy participation would have taken place in order to ensure the change from black socialism to a neo-liberal dogma.

Based on acceptance of the neo-liberal dogma, the Interim Transitional Council that ruled the country from 1993 to 1994 was therefore “allowed” to approach the IMF for a loan of $850 million.  This is not something the people voted for. What the people heard were promises of investment, higher growth rates and more jobs as opposed to silent threats that if these neo-liberal wishes are not adhered to, South Africa’s economy will be disrupted.

Of course none of these promises materialized. The black elite completely capitulated by 1996 which the writer puts as follows:

…the ANC was deceived on such a massive scale by false prophets who led South Africa, not to the promised land, but into a desert in which the poorest part of the population was doomed to live permanently in a systemic condition of abject poverty.

Gob-smacking opportunities were developed for the Black elite to join them with white elite. This included affirmative action regulations that benefited the elite, unbeknownst to the poor. The outcomes of the secret negotiations (resulting in an elite cabal), were as follows:

• Social grants to 14 million blacks (roughly 33% of blacks)
• Joblessness increased to 33% (unrelated to above)
• Poverty affects 50% of population
• Top 20% population receive 75% of total income
• Admittedly, black middle-class increased substantially (with caveat though)

Part of the economic agreement was that it would allow continuous foreign “consultation” to maintain this agreement. This allow the foreign ability to prevent the local President from taking actions that is viewed as unfriendly or incompatible with the neo-liberal desires (whatever that would be at the time). Should the President (for example) want to appoint the “wrong” Minster of Finances, economic pressure will be brought to bear on the country resulting in a substantially weaker currency.

The current situation in 2016 reflects the power struggle where the President wants to engage with BRICS, while his (own) Vice-President remains faithful to the Corporatocracy.

As far as the implementation of this Corporatocracy “democracy” is concerned, many books over the last twenty-two years have identified destructive outcomes of the American Empire, already starting under Reagan. The influence of the Corporacracy is undeniable and described in detail by John Perkins in his books Confessions of an Economic Hitman and Hoodwinked. He states:

Almost no politician gets elected without money that flows through them and their stockholders. They control the mainstream media, either through direct ownership or advertising budgets.

There are about 3000 lobbyists in America being paid to influence public opinion to the benefit of the Corporatocracy. Their ability to effectively promote a mentally ill and physically drugged presidential candidate demonstrates their absolute untouchable power, but also the associated tragedy of that same power.

One wonders why the Afrikaner elite, with full knowledge of this situation from the start, in fact complicit, now keep quiet about its failure. This situation creates a lamentable destruction of the middle class, especially the vulnerable black middle class. If our nation is to survive, it requires that we take action against the Corporatocracy instead of internal enemies.

Tags: apartheid, CODESA, corporatocracy, diversity, south africa