Architects of Poverty Feature: Moeletsi Mbeki at the Dispatch Dialogues (Video)

September 7th, 2009 by Rene

Moeletsi Mbeki toured to East London last week to participate in the Daily Dispatch’s popular “Dispatch Dialogues” series. His new book, Architects of Poverty, has been making waves and topping the bestseller lists, and was placed under scrutiny as he spoke to Dialogue guest speaker Peter Vale, the chair of politics at Rhodes University.

Here’s a wrap of a fruitful week in the Eastern Cape for Mbeki and his book, starting with a video conversation with the Dispatch’s Msimelelo Njwabane:

Video: Moeletsi Mbeki on his Merc, Thabo and what’s wrong with the ANC

Not playing? Watch at Dispatch Dialogues

One of the themes of Mbeki’s talk at the Dialogues was how the ANC’s “big spenders” were pitting themselves against their own electorate. Njwabane was there to write it up:

Political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki yesterday took the ANC to task over some of its policies – and the extravagant lifestyle of some of its leaders.
Mbeki, brother of former President Thabo Mbeki, said the ANC had failed to address service delivery during the past 15 years.
He was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Daily Dispatch while in East London to launch his new book, Architects of Poverty – Why African Capitalism Needs Changing.
“These service delivery protests by black masses are a result of them growing impatient because they still live in the black ghettos that were created by the National Party regime,” said Mbeki.
“The black elite is perpetuating the same ghettos that were built during apartheid. The RDP houses are nothing more than the matchboxes that were built during apartheid,” he added.

Complete article at Dispatch Dialogues

This Dispatch’s Msindisi Fengu, meanwhile, covered the same talk from a slightly different angle, and captured one of Mbeki’s most contentious opinions – that SA is headed the way of Zimbabwe:

He said during his presentation to the audience that there had been an emergence of “highly pampered elites”, after the democratisation of the country, and that State-owned enterprises lacked competent management.
“Only 20 percent of (monetary) spending goes to investment in South Africa, while other countries like China and India have their highest (percentage of) Gross Domestic Product going to investment.
“Because we are not investing, the country is de-industrialising, and (as a result) we are losing job opportunities.”
He said there were inequalities between the elite and ordinary citizens.
“A lot of people think we are not going the way of Zimbabwe, but we are going that way.”

Complete article at the Daily Dispatch

Finally, the event was prefaced by a “thesis statement” from Mbeki that maps the sources of some of South Africa’s current ills, which are to be found at the confluence of nationalism and industrialisation, he says. You can read his complete opening gambit:

An important question about South Africa that is rarely discussed, is when did South Africa become independent. This question is often dismissed as too pedantic for words and only worthy of primary school history textbook writers. The reality is that it is an emotive issue linked to the complex race issues that define South Africa. And without deciding when South Africa regained its ability to decide its own affairs, it is not possible to understand the political, economic and social processes happening in South Africa today.
To me South Africa became independent 100 years ago this month. This was in September 1909 when the British king signed the South Africa Act into law thus passing political authority over South Africa from the British Parliament to the Parliament of the Union of South Africa.