*Friday 26 February 2014*
*DA-Agang SA: the case of dirty money* *Statement by Progressive Formations* *In defence of democracy in South Africa;* *And solidarity with the Palestinian and Swazi people* The DA and Agang SA leaders have admitted in different ways that the failed one week merger between their parties was influenced by funders of these political parties. The DA leader Helen Zille referred to "all funders" while Agang SA leader, Mamphela Ramphele, mentioned the name of Nathan Kirsh as one of those funders. As per media reports based on her own admission, Ramphele also received accommodation from Nathan Kirsh in a recent campaign trip to London, United Kingdom. The DA-Agang SA merger was unprincipled. It was premised from entrenched racism and contempt on the part of the DA, which sought a black puppet as the face of its political agenda. On the part of Agang SA, the transaction was premised on a move from black consciousness to liberal opportunism, as reflected in a black face that is readily available for renting and fronting in pursuit of what is essentially an agenda of continued white domination that still informs the DA's essential content. The DA-Agang SA's aborted marriage was also dangerous, in that whilst at the face value it appeared as an agreement between two political party leaders, it was a project by a foreign-based funder, if not funders, who not only seek to meddle in the affairs of South Africa, but is involved in activities designed and used to oppress people in other parts of the world. The dangerous aspect of this is that it clearly appears to be part of a process to sell South Africa to the highest bidders. Kirsh is also on record for funding DA parliamentary candidate Glynnis Breytenbach's legal woes through the right wing and reactionary FW de Klerk Foundation. We are calling on the people of South Africa to be on the look-out for so-called prominent leaders who have no track record of leading society and who are co-opted and remote controlled from elsewhere to pioneer the interests of masked private funders in the name of the interests of the people. We are also calling on the people of South Africa to remain firm in their solidarity with the oppressed people of the world in the same way as the struggle against apartheid in South Africa received solidarity support in many countries from the people of the world. Looking at our own history, while our people were engaged in the struggle against apartheid, the struggle which included a call for sanctions against the apartheid regime, people like Nathan Kirsh worked in the opposite direction. During this period, Kirsh expanded his business interests in the country, in wholesale distribution, supermarkets, commercial property development, and other activities. This was inconsiderate, opportunistic and undermined the people's struggle and the call for sanctions against apartheid. It is important to note with deep concern that while apartheid was defeated in South Africa, the system however continues and prevails in other parts of the world. Israel is presently presiding over an apartheid system enslaving the people of Palestine, whose land Israel continuously expropriates and annexes. With a major stake in Magal Security Systems, a company that developed and supplied control and intrusion detection systems for the Israeli Apartheid wall in the West Bank, Palestine, Nathan Kirsh is again involved in an environment characterised by oppression against the people. Again, he stands on the side of the oppressors and, in addition, works with and for them in return for payment. Kirsh's company was awarded 80% of the tenders contracted out by the Israeli Ministry of Defence, for the installation of intrusion detection systems along and is the main supplier of electronic infrastructure for the Apartheid Wall. The Apartheid Wall which was constructed by the Israeli apartheid regime to subjugate and oppress the people of Palestine brutally suppresses human rights and denies Palestinians the right to have their own state. The Apartheid Wall was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in July 2004. In Swaziland, Nathan Kirsh is one of the most poisonous people with a major stake in the economy of the country. Swaziland is suffering from a dictatorship of an absolute monarchy with freedom of association brutally suppressed as typified by the banning of political parties, arrests and state violence against peaceful protests for democracy. Kirsh's private accumulation of capital, which is estimated to be worth approximately $US3.1 billion, has been facilitated in if not aiding particular oppressive conditions against the people. This is illustrated by the examples of the apartheid South Africa, Israeli apartheid oppression of the Palestinian people, and Swaziland's dictatorship by an absolute monarchy. In Swaziland, once very close to dictator Mswati himself, Kirsh built his business empire through, among other operations, a 30 year license he received from the colonisers - the British Empire - to be the sole miller in that country's staple food, maize. He made the most of this 30 year monopoly, diversifying his business interest extensively under the SWAKI name, which led to him investing in companies which during the early 1980s participated in the false economic boom that created the impression that Swaziland was an economically viable entity. Many of Nathan Kirsh's companies in Swaziland, particularly in the textile industry, were heavily involved in undermining the efforts of the United Nations imposed sanctions against Apartheid South Africa. This was the period when South African made goods would be transported to Swaziland, re-labelled "Made in Swaziland" and then shipped to overseas markets, thereby undermining the economic sanctions imposed on apartheid South Africa. The DA-Agang SA funder is notorious for partnering with dictators therefore. The late despot, King Sobhuza, fresh from conning the Swazi population into contributing towards a royal trust fund called Tibiyo, established 1974 formed a business partnership with Nathan Kirsch and the British imperialists who had given him his break into the business world. This was called the Swaziland Industrial Development Company, a business partnership which exists to this very day. The DA-Agang SA funder was not only involved in accumulations under apartheid conditions as typified by his businesses in apartheid South Africa and apartheid Israel; he was active in exporting the practices of apartheid. Nathan Kirsh saw nothing wrong with practising apartheid policies in his business empire. Despite investing in Swaziland, a country where racial discrimination was not legalised like in South Africa, and where the demographics are such that over 95% of the population are Africans, the hierarchy in all companies owned by the SWAKI group were exactly like those in the apartheid workplace of South Africa. Africans, particularly black, never rose to leadership positions in Kirsh's companies. In a country where people of European descent are numerically a small proportion of the population, this meant having to parachute white South Africans into management positions. This disgracefully racist policy, consistent with the DA's essential content, which could be one of the possible reasons behind his funding of the failed DA-Agang SA acquisition, would later be questioned by the Swazis who correctly found it unfair that in a country with such a high rate of unemployment quality jobs were reserved for white foreign nationals. Interviewed on this controversial policy, the SWAKI CEO, Paul Friedlander, unashamedly justified the company's position by claiming that all people are inclined to favour people of their race. What utter nonsense? The DA-Agang SA funder had a good relationship with Mswati, driven by their mutual greed of accumulation on a private basis. The much publicised Swazi Plaza split exposed this greediness from the two private capital accumulators. The relationship between organisations such as the DA and Agang SA, which serve as vehicles for the interests of imperialist, dirty and blood money, must be condemned with the contempt it deserves by all justice loving people in South Africa and the world. We are taking the lead in condemning this treachery in the strongest terms. In addition, Nathan Kirsh is a sexist who refers to grown women whom he either funds or controls as "gutsy little ladies" (e.g. his comments on Zille and Ramphele). He is also known to have some of his companies registered in tax havens which are 'Grey listed' by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Liberia, one of the countries where his businesses are reportedly registered, has for a long time suffered from wars and the scourge of blood diamonds. Furthermore we note and commend Sunday Independent journalist Shanti Aboobaker and the ANC Youth league in the Western Cape for having brought some of these issues to the public's attention. We denounce the attacks on Aboobaker by Helen Zille and the attacks by Primedia on the ANC Youth League Western Cape for their principled stance. We, the undersigned organizations of conscience, pledge our unwavering solidarity with the people of Palestine and Swaziland, and all other oppressed people of the world. We are calling on all the people of South Africa, the historically oppressed, previously disadvantaged and the exploited, black and white together, to guard against groupings such as the DA and Agang SA that would spare nothing to sell the country to the highest bidder. We challenge the DA and Agang SA to come out openly and denounce Israeli apartheid and the oppression of the people of Palestine. *Issued by:* · Boycott Divestment and Sanctions South Africa (BDS SA) · Coalition for a Free Palestine (CfP) · Palestine Solidarity Alliance (PSA) · Runners for a Free Palestine · Rustenburg Palestine Solidarity Forum · South African Artists against Apartheid · South African Communist Party (SACP) · Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) · South African Students Congress (SASCO) · Union of Muslim Students Association (MSA Union) · University of Johannesburg Palestine Solidarity Forum (UJ PSF) · University of the Witwatersrand Palestine Solidarity Committee (Wits PSC) · Young Communist League South Africa (YCL SA) *Contact * *Alex Mashilo - SACP Spokesperson * *Mobile: 082 9200 308* *Muhammed Desai - Co-ordinator of BDS* *Mobile: 084 211 9988* *Lucky Luckhele - SNN Spokesperson * *072 502 4141* *Lucky Lukhele- * *Tell:011 339 3621* *Fax: 0866135762* *Mobile: 072 502 4141* *Email: lucky.lukh...@gmail.com <lucky.lukh...@gmail.com> * Skype: LuckyLukhele1 Twitter: lukhelelucky -- -- NEW!!!! 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