Nkosazana Zuma admits she likes un-democracy

At the recent Home Affairs budget debate I spoke about the difficulties that people continue to experience when dealing with the Home Affairs department. Acknowledgement was also made for some of the success the Minister has achieved. Included in these was the training of officers at the OR Tambo International Airport. One of the Members of Parliament queried why training was received by Cubans as linguistically, culturally and circumstantially we are such different countries.

When Minister Nkosazana Zuma replied to the debate she chose not to reply to any of the pressing matters tabled confronting her department. Instead, she spent her whole reply time to praise Cuba. To quote the Minister, “Cuba, I love it”. I couldn’t’ believe my ears.

It’s now on record that the Minister loves a country that Human Rights watch, in their 2009 report concluded that, “Raul Castrol has kept Cuba’s repressive machinery firmly in place … since being handed power by his brother Fidel Castro.”  The report expanded that “scores of political prisoners arrested under Fidel continue to languish in prison, and Raul has used draconian laws and sham trails to incarcerate scores more who have dared to exercise their fundamental rights.”

Freedom House which classified Cuba as being “not free” and states that Cuba is the only country in the Americas that consistently makes freedom Houses’ list of the worst of the worst:  the world’s most repressive societies for widespread abuses of political rights and civil liberties.

There are no free and fair elections in Cuba and that country’s constitution recognises only the Communist Party (CP). All candidates are required to be pre-approved by the CP candidacy commission. Presently there are at least 194 provisional prisoners who have been denied a fair trial.  As many as 5000 persons have been convicted of potential “dangerousness” without being charged with any specific crime.

So this is the country that Nkosazana Zuma “loves” so much. I wonder if this is the vision she has for South Africa? One with an all-powerful party; where freedom to speak and relay information is the order of the day (the secrecy bill?). Where an all-powerful (and power hungry) party will use its power to “deal” with anyone it doesn’t like. A terrible thought! I can’t help seeing these trends day by day right here in South Africa. Zuma must then be smiling.