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Text Box:  Let go of World Cup before we are bankrupted March 27, 2008 Edition 1 We need to step back and take a look at where we will be post-2010. All indications are that with the events unfolding on financial markets, the world economy will go into a deep recession, or even depression. Normally this would mean that commodity prices would fall, and goods and services would become cheaper. However, because this crisis is also a crisis of the dollar, which has been used as a world reserve currency, and which is now collapsing rapidly, the result will be hyper-inflation, as commodities will be regarded safer than the fiat currencies. However, increased prices of commodities will not benefit South Africa and our economy because many of the major mining houses have their tax base offshore and insufficient tax is collected locally. This would have been different had our mines been nationalised. Because of higher oil prices, the world travel industry will collapse and not many people can be expected to visit South Africa for the 2010 events, hence the tourism windfall will not materialise. The 2010 World Cup agreements signed between Fifa and South Africa were designed to benefit large foreign corporations and a very few local companies, especially not small business, and will not create greater employment, as the entire Fifa project is technology-based, which requires highly skilled and highly technical people, which we don't have. Furthermore, since many of the 2010 projects, such as the construction and renovation of the stadia, and infrastructural improvement projects, are ridden with inflated prices and corruption, monies spent on such projects will never be recouped in a recessionary economy. Collapse of the subprime and prime real estate markets around the world will put an end to the real estate construction-driven economy that we have been enjoying, with foreigners driving up prices, despite denials by local real estate agents. Sooner or later, the Reserve Bank will have to reduce interest rates, which will result in short-term (hot) money being pulled out of South Africa, leading to a weaker rand which, in turn, will push up inflation, because we have lost our manufacturing base as a result of the current high interest policy of the Reserve Bank. Because of the worldwide recession and lower labour costs in countries such as China, India and Indonesia, we will not be able to compete for a long time, even if we revive our manufacturing. Our infrastructure such as power grids, roads, transportation and communications are not world-class any longer and require trillions of rands of upgrading, which in a recessionary and reduced income tax receipts environment will be impossible to fund. We cannot create deficits, as the rest of the world will not be in a position to extend loans to us since the financial crisis will weaken nearly all financial institutions. The government should come clean and open up the agreements signed with Fifa to public scrutiny and investigate all projects undertaken thus far for inflated prices, bid-rigging and favouritism. Fun and games in a recession or a depression era are vulgar and anti-social. Tell Fifa to take the 2010 World Cup to a richer country so that we can use our funds to uplift our people through low-tech and labour-intensive projects that create the needed employment. Gulam Sabdia Chairman Africa Muslim Party Cape Town Chabaan Betrays AMP Chabaan no longer AMP member and has automatically been removed from all positions in the AMP The Africa Muslim Party (AMP) has apologised to its constituency for bringing onboard controversial councillor Baadih Chaaban, who at midnight on Saturday crossed the floor to join the National Peoples Party which he had set up to represent so-called Coloured people. Speaking to VOC on Monday, national chairman of the AMP, Gulam Sabdia confirmed the floor-crossing. He said Chaaban taking one of the three seats the AMP had been given by some 20,000 voters in the last elections was a big blow to the party, but pledged that it would regroup. Sabdia made it clear when Chaaban had been speaking in the media in the last three months he had done so on his own behalf and not on behalf of the party he had been representing at the time. “I think he said as much at the time too. The theatrics of the last three months had more been in preparation of him starting his own party and there was not much we could co about it because of certain cost factors,” he said without providing more details. Asked why the party had been so silent the last three months while Chaaban’s infamous rivalry with Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor led to frank threats to topple Helen Zille, civil action and claims of bribery and corruption, Sabdia said: “We should have responded, but I was not around for the last three months. I was abroad and national leader Dr Wasfie Hassiem was not well enough and had an operation recently. The others were not quite capable of handling the situation.” Sabdia agreed with almost 70% of those polled online who said Chaaban’s loss was good riddance to the party. None of the respondents thought the loss of one third of its strength would be bad for the party after Chaaban’s departure, but a third of the online voters felt the bigger issue was the fact that the floor-crossing rule should go. Sabdia said: “Floor-crossing is definitely not democracy; in fact it amounts to a dictatorship. It also cheats voters who put their trust in one party only to see their votes go with the councillor to another party. This is very bad for democracy and I am hoping that there will be enough pressure from grassroots level to see this ruling change.” With reference to the accusations that Chaaban had bribed councillors to join his party, Sabdia took pains to distance his party from such claims. “Our party is founded on moral, Islamic principles and chequebook politics is not our style. The AMP has had some individual sponsors but they do not dictate to us what we should be doing. In the long run it is only harmful to the party and its constituents.” He said the AMP was sorry it had taken on Chaaban last July. “We apologise for doing so, we can only say that he was an unknown to us. A lot has come out since then. We want to emphasise that when these revelations came out, we sat down with the parties who had made accusations to ask for proof of the allegations and at no point could they provide anything more than hearsay. As Muslims this cannot be enough for us. It must be noted that to date no charges have been laid against Mr Chaaban with the police, so our hands were tied, but we certainly did look into it.” Sabdia also had a word of caution for Chaaban. “He is acting in a way that we do not know here and which will not work either. I don’t know if that is how it is done in Lebanon where there are many political problems, but it would be wise to free himself of these allegations of horse-trading and chequebook politics. I don’t think such an approach will work for the NPP either,” he said. VOC S.A. On the road to a Failed State By Gulam Sabdia December 7th 2006– This Article appeared in The Cape Times December 7th 2006 Young democracy shows symptoms of the 'failed African state' syndrome Are we as a country on the road to becoming another African failed state? The question is not far-fetched, considering the developments that have taken place in South Africa since our first democratic elections in 1994. The general feeling is that we have failed miserably in all fields, including social development, a just economic system, safety and security, education, morality and governance. Social development: Millions of South Africans are still without homes, water and electricity, medical care, communications, and transportation. Millions do not get proper nutrition. Economic system: The policies of the government have materially benefited some whites, a few blacks and most civil servants. We are a society exploited by business, industrial, banking and pharmaceutical cartels, mafia, crime syndicates and incompetent and corrupt civil servants. The corrupt businessmen and corrupt civil servants are no less dangerous than the crime syndicates. Obtaining contracts and favours through bribery and corruption kills people too. Millions of people remain unemployed while South Africa's economy expands using state-of-the-art technology. Parts of South Africa are highly developed and resemble cities of first-world countries, and even larger parts are below third-world standards. Shiny up-scale shopping malls selling every imaginable imported product and consumer goods for a minority, while large numbers of people scrounge in trash bins for food scraps. Our economy is based on consumption by upper income groups and property speculators. Safety and security: There is no safety and security for ordinary people. The police force is corrupt, syndicates control neighbourhoods, we are known as the murder capital of the world. Rape, wife abuse, child abuse, paedophilia, drug use, drug dealing and drug-related crimes abound. Tens of thousands of crimes remain unsolved and policing is almost non-existent. Gated communities are springing up like weeds. We are among the highest taxed society and yet do not get anything in return by way of protection from the government. Education system: Millions of pupils lack the basic school supplies, books and even teachers. Millions of poor children go hungry to schools, and feeding schemes have either failed or do not exist. School buildings and libraries are either non-existent or in a state of decay. Drug dealing and violence in schools have increased dramatically. It is fair to say that schools have become breeding grounds for criminals. Private schools for the elites have sprung up and the best teachers are lured to high-paying jobs in these schools. Morality: Morally, we must be at the lowest end of the scale. Large numbers of people think nothing of disrespecting fellow human beings, do not honour their commitments and think nothing about lying and cheating. Governance: The government and the opposition have failed in their responsibilities. The ANC government, despite being elected with huge majorities in all elections since 1994, has failed to deliver to the broad society and has concentrated only on promoting a few close friends and party loyalists. Corruption and incompetence are widespread. There is no accountability and no consequences for those caught mismanaging. The major opposition parties do not fare any better. While the Democratic Alliance is ready to jump at every opportunity it can get to hurl criticism at ANC, it does not have any new ideas and remains mired in the past as a party for whites only. The Communist Party has sold itself blindly to the ANC in return for high-paying jobs for a few of its top officials. Neither is Cosatu in any better position to protect the rights of the workers because of its inability to stand up to the ruling party. If we are to be saved from becoming a failed state like many other African and Latin American countries then politicians, businessmen, trade unionists, religious leaders and academics will have to come up with new ideas about a right social model, right economic system, an appropriate political system and an educational system that is suitable for our culture, our history and our multi-ethnic, multi-religious society. The current neo-liberal economic model that we have adopted is totally unsuitable for our country. The leaders of this country will have to take bold initiatives against crime and corruption, and implement a just economic order for us to survive as an independent nation. Reprinted from Cape Times Selling Out SA  By Gulam Sabdia December 8th 2006—This Article appeared in The Cape Argus December 8th 2006 Foreigners are paying R20,000 and more per month in rental for holiday apartments on the Cape coast and are also buying up prime coastal and farming lands at top prices. All this is possible only in South Africa where millions of people are landless, homeless and food less. Only in South Africa we welcome foreign golfers to take away precious water from the thirsty and landless to water their multi-million rand golf courses. Why do I have a feeling that South Africa will once again return to the hands of foreign colonialists, this time not only the Dutch and the British but also Germans, French and Russians? It is now twelve years since we got rid of apartheid and twelve years of illusion created by the ANC led government that we were free and no more a crown colony or a little Europe. Twelve years of corrupt government that has allowed our country to become a foreign colony, where foreigners have more rights than local people. Where people like Sepp Blatter can dictate to us the terms of 2010 World Cup, which will actually benefit FIFA hugely and all that tax free and leave us in debt. No doubt Blatter loves South Africa. It's easy meat! The white government imposed Group Areas and took away prime lands from the indigenous people, displaced millions of people and moved them to infertile and barren lands. The ANC government has not only failed to provide any decent housing but more people have been dispossessed of lands. Foreign and local developers working with corrupt and incompetent provincial and municipal officials have, by using devious means and false promises, taken away valuable lands from local people at a fraction of it’s actual value and created gated housing estates for mostly rich foreigners. These are no go areas for local people except to work as labourers (Neo-Apartheid).   Foreign investors are realising greater return on investment in South Africa then in all developed countries and even greater than in China, because we are not only providing them tariff protection but also tax payer funded incentives, not for creating jobs but for the status of having foreigner run automated factories which create minimal jobs per rand invested. The salaries of middle and top management, mostly foreigners and  black front man run into millions while workers battle to survive. Labor laws have been relaxed and yet there has been no boom in jobs, except for the black front men they employ to be seen as BEE.   Globalisation is not about creating jobs, but a race to the bottom in the workers rights and wages. The Media and the government officials worship "foreign investors" but despise local entrepreneurs. However whatever additional jobs that have been created have been through the informal sector, retail trade, which is heavily dependent on imported goods and the property development boom which may fizzle out once interest rates start rising or until foreigners discover another hapless land to exploit. Do these foreigners and the estate agents who sell these prime lands to them know something that we don’t about the future demographics? Are they betting that a large part of the black and colored population will die off as a result of AIDS epidemic, poverty and hunger? Are they betting on, that the handful of black oligarchs will be the puppets of foreign capital and that they will be sipping their Campari-Soda watching the African sunset from their beach front Villas while the dead are buried under some waste land? I am sure they are on to something that we have missed out on in our illusion of freedom and Amandla. September 16th 2006 AMP Condemns Pope Benedict’s Nazi Like Utterances Against Islam The Africa Muslim Party (AMP) became the latest to add its condemnation to the furore surrounding Pope Benedict XVI’s comments against the Prophet Muhammed (p.b.u.h) and Islam, which it regards as a form of hate speech. According to party spokesperson, Gulam Sabdia, the AMP strongly condemns the pontiff’s “recent ignorant and neo-Nazi like remarks against the Prophet . “It would appear that contrary to trying to promote dialogue of civilisations, the Pope is trying to cause the clash of civilisations which the Neo-con Zionists in America are trying to push the Christian world into. It is shocking that a person who is a head of the largest Christian sect and who is supposed promote peace is deliberately stoking the fires of hatred and intolerance and is totally ignorant of Islam,” Sabdia says. He adds that while totally ignoring Christian world’s violence against Asia, Latin America and Africa, the pope accuses Islam of being a violent religion. “The Crusades which killed millions of Muslims were the handiwork of the Christian church. It is also a well known fact that the European Catholic church raped and colonised Latin America and Africa and forced the natives to Christianity. As much as the Pope would like to cover up the facts, the invasion and rape of Iraq, Afghanistan and scores of small countries in the recent past have been perpetrated by the Western world’s Christian fanatics like Bush and Blair.” Sabdia says if the German born Pope is willing to use Nazi terminology and to push the Neo-con agenda of war against Muslims, it can only prove that Europe and especially Germany have not abandoned Nazism. “We call upon all Muslim countries and especially Turkey, where the Pope is expected to visit soon to declare him person non grata, and to break diplomatic relations with the Vatican. We demand from the Pope that he retract his remarks and apologise to the Muslims. “We also demand from the South African Catholic Church that they distance themselves from the Pope’s ignorant and racist remarks and to reject the Neo-Nazi trend in the Vatican,” the party says. Should Cape Town host the World Cup? It is important to to understand the long term implications of such a decision. In General most cities and countries who have hosted such events have been left strapped with huge debts: Montreal 1976 : Budgeted $310 Million, Final $1,5 Billion debt Calgary 1988: Budgeted $461 million, Final debt $1 billion Salt Lake City 2000: Budget $1,5 billion, Final Cost $3 billion Sydney 2000: $2.9 billion Loss Even though the National Government and Fifa bodies are talking about the R1,5 billion figure for the cost of Building the Greenpoint Stadium, experts that AMP has consulted categorically state that these costs will be at least R4 billion, considering that transport, sanitation, electricity and water systems will have to be provided to the new areas. It is understood that Fifa will not pay any taxes on profits here in South Africa, and the costs will have to be covered from local revenues. AMP believes that the ideal solution will be to use the existing stadium at Athlone as that will also help uplift the already established suburb and help in reducing poverty and provide jobs to the local communities, without investing additional in transportation etc.