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Dlamini-Zuma is already fluent in Zuma Speak Dlamini-Zuma has clearly figured out which ANC faction has the biggest support and would make her president in the ANC’s elective conference, writes Max du Preez . Cape Town Nuclear stall could buy SA ratings reprieve - economist Current political events and governance matters have raised more quizzical narratives about South Africa than they have provided sound appraisals. The recent Cabinet reshuffle and acquired “junk” status decreed by global rating agencies add to the ugly twist of our affairs – thus posing the question: Tell me, Mzansi, why must I still love you? Tell me, Mzansi, why I must still love you when 23 years of democracy have not ushered in quality education and infrastructural resources? Generally, educational provisioning across the education sector remains unequal and hugely differentiated. Relentless court cases by civil entities to compel the basic education department to expedite the minimum norms and standards for school infrastructure – as well as the #FeesMustFall protests – underscore provisioning challenges. A free, compulsory and inclusive education system remains a distant dream, despite a litany of policies churned out since 1994. Tell me, Mzansi, why I must still love you when practitioners of the teaching profession pay lip service to classroom effectiveness? Pupils’ performance over the years remains problematic – school-leavers lack fundamental skills and their literary skills lag behind those of their African counterparts. Performance in international assessments is poor, notwithstanding marginal improvements notched in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. Mzansi’s quality of educational practices does not match the political rhetoric ventilated when education was declared the “apex of governance”. Presidential declarations merely morph into sound bites with irreverent outcomes – teachers and pupils still arrive at school late and classroom efficiency remains questionable. Tell me, Mzansi, why I must still love you when educational provisioning is not as cool as the “Nuke Enterprises” solicitation? The ridiculous nuclear energy budget speculated to go into trillions could easily fix the wretched schooling infrastructure. Pupils’ pride and constitutional rights could be affirmed for generations. The narrative “we are conducting a comprehensive audit of infrastructure” seems to be an effervescent official response to the quizzical. Why do we still have wretched structures called schools? Could this retort be a euphemism for departmental incompetence and its inability to deliver on the most basic educational needs? Could it be symptomatic of the state’s inability or incapacity to prioritise national imperatives? The jury is still out... Schooling in Mzansi is a dangerous enterprise. Pupils travel long distances to school on foot and in “coffins-on-wheels” – taxis. Others cross crocodile-infested rivers. We can make schooling accessible to every pupil and community by investing appropriately. The recent, tragic death of 18 children in a taxi collision in Mpumalanga and daily reports of taxis laden with schoolchildren being involved in road accidents underscore our tolerance for nonsense and lack of will to preserve young lives. Our roads are hubs for death and physical maim. The approach to traffic misdemeanours has not changed – it’s worsening by the day. We have this tendency to rationalise road fatalities – “it’s the devil’s work”, hoping it will ease the pain. Tell that to the wolves – it is us, the people of South Africa, who do not care about young lives. If we really cared, this madness would have stopped decades ago. We continue to drive unroadworthy vehicles to work and school, with traffic officers competing for the best snapshots under bushes. Tell me, Mzansi, why I must still love you when callous murders are tolerated? Recently, a young boy lost his life when he was allegedly mistaken for a warthog – that ugly four-legged animal. Only in Mzansi do hunters randomly shoot and hope it’s a wild pig. Similarly, a young life was terminated for allegedly stealing a sunflower in Coligny, North West. Human life is not expendable, law enforcement must be beefed up. Alleged police complicity in some criminal activities is worrisome. Public disorder cannot be a measure used to force law enforcers into action. Police intelligence efficiency is non-negotiable. In this country, racism stalks our streets and social media with impunity. People tend to romanticise it. Sanctions meted out have no long-term effect. The sanctioned pay off their guilty fines and rekindle their behaviour. Political factionalism and Wild West-style killings gobble up democracy’s gains. Comrades turn against comrades for political patronage and a piece of the public pie. Do law enforcement agencies have the capacity to stamp out acts of lawlessness and murder? Do they have intelligence efficiency? Could leadership tussles undermine their mandates? Police intonations morph into sound bites devoid of torque. Tell me, Mzansi, why I must still love you when 23 years of our affinity are dominated by political rhetoric? Yesterday, “a better life for all” was echoed with piety as a national mantra for our freedom. For Abahlali baseMjondolo [shack dwellers], “a better life for all” remains a euphemism for sectoral economic emancipation – only the few and connected have access to the in-demand public pie. For Shackville residents, death stalks with burning fury. The torrential rains in summer add to a toxic mix. The choreographed political intonations in the aftermath are mere sound bites. Twenty-three years on, Mzansi’s political discourse flip-flops like Cabinet reshuffles. From primordial reconstruction and development, to fuzzy Gear economics and “fashionable” radical economic transformation. Twenty-three years on, we have the same horse, varied jockeys, the same backers, and perhaps a refurbished saddle – radical economic transformation. But what are its functional dichotomies? How would it change lives in Shackville? Would it embolden and institutionalise the Freedom Charters’ ideals? Isn’t it more political rhetoric in glamorous lingo? Tell me, Mzansi, why I must still love you when the invocation of political luminaries has become the conduit of expressions? Could the invocation of erudite narratives by Chief Albert Luthuli, Steve Biko, Robert Sobukwe, Helen Joseph, Nelson Mandela, OR Tambo and Lilian Ngoyi lessen the dexterity of today’s challenges? They are men and women of stature with an indelible legacy that is hard to emulate. Could it be savvy political strategy to camouflage governance dyslexia? Are we merely calming a nervous citizenry? Could it be a mere resuscitation of exuberant erstwhile political nostalgia? Can nostalgia solve and improve our current socioeconomic circumstances? We must move beyond our nostalgia syndrome. When Solomon Mahlangu retorted in the face of a vile death: “My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom. Tell my people that I love them. They must continue the fight,” he planted the seeds for active patriotism and economic freedoms. Monyooe is a director for grants management and systems administration at the National Research Foundation TALK TO US 24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy . Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment. See More We’re currently experiencing serious technical problems on the site, and as a result are unable to update the news – even though our market data is running as per normal. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope to be up and running again this evening. Thank you for your patience in this regard. – David McKay (editor) & team JSE focuses on MTN as Naspers, Richemont rally continues Johannesburg - The JSE focused on MTN [JSE:MTN] on Wednesday morning as the company announced its first quarterly update under the new management headed by the newly-appointed group president and CEO Rob Shuter, who joined MTN in early March from Vodafone. MTN was by far the busiest share on the market, with almost 7 million shares changing hands in early trade for more than R853m. This was almost three times as much any other share. The update suggests a welcome revenue rise, but the share price did not respond and at mid-morning was 1.42% lower at R125.00. READ: MTN revenue rises despite subscriber drop The group said revenue increased by 7.1% year-on-year, supported by a 29.4% improvement in data revenue, but investors seemed to be more concerned by the 1.5% quarter-on-quarter group subscriber drop to 236.8 million. MTN did not provide earnings information. The revenue increase could already have been discounted by the market as MTN’s share price gained 3.67% over the previous seven days. The company also said its post-paid business in South Africa still requires work. Volumes were low on Wednesday, besides MTN, and most of the indices moved only marginally higher. Only six other shares traded more than a million shares in the first 90 minutes. At that stage the All-share index was only 0.15% higher at 53 995 points and the Top 40 index 0.24% up at 47 253 points. The broader indices were supported by the Industrial index, which represents by far the biggest share of the market and gained 0.32%, with the Financial index trading 0.20% higher. The Resources index lost 0.32% on lower commodity prices, despite a slightly weaker rand, but this gave gold shares a boost and the index gained 1.9%. The rand softened against the dollar in early trade on Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s policy statement for hints on the US interest rate outlook. The local unit traded at R13.38 to the dollar, 0.34% weaker from its Tuesday New York close. The Fed concludes its two-day meeting later on Wednesday, with the central bank largely expected to hold interest rates steady. The focus will be on language about future increases. Among the top shares Naspers [JSE:NPN] and Richemont [JSE:CFR] continued their record-breaking runs. Naspers gained 0.49% to a new all-time high of R2 571.31 and Richemont lifted 1.29% to a new 52-week high of R113.22. Anheuser-Busch InBev [JSE:ANH] at mid-morning was 0.35% higher at R1 513.48. The share made steady progress over the past month, gaining 4.67% over the previous seven days and 7.94% over the previous 30 days. Shoprite [JSE:SHP] briefly traded at a 52-week intraday high of R213.38, but after profit-taking started the share dropped 0.11% to R210.78 by mid-morning. Datatec [JSE  TC]has made strong progress over the last month, after the company announced it is in talks to sell a major share of subsidiary Westcon’s operations for more than $800m. The dual-listed company set a 52-week high on Wednesday when it gained 0.50% to R59.90. Before Wednesday the stock gained 8.15% over the previous seven days and is now 26.7% up over the past 90 days. FirstRand [JSE:FSR] was by far the second-busiest share on the JSE, with more than 3 million shares sold in early trade. At mid-morning the stock was 0.75% stronger at R50.75, gaining more than 4% over the previous seven days. 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