Below are videos of the speakers at the 11th Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture.
The lecture was hosted by UCT on the 9th September 2010. The guest speaker was Professor Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize winner, poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, anthologist, teacher, publisher and activist.
I’m supplementing the earlier post: COSATU: Strategy for a New Economic Growth Path 2010 with these documents on the Industrial Policy Action Plan.
A few days ago I started following @Pigspotter on Twitter. He sends out tweets informing his followers about where the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) have set up speed camera traps and the like – on his profile he says “Let’s help each other expose where cops are hiding and trapping daily”.
In the space of a few short days @Pigspotter has achieved the impressive sum of + 7,000 followers as well as police hunt. @Pigspotter claims that he gets his information from the public all around Johannesburg and his is providing a community service by tweeting the locations of the JMPD. The “case” the Police want to charge him with appears to be one of defeating the ends of Justice, according to the JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar:
“It’s wrong for him to inform people of the whereabouts of the officers on duty because drunk drivers will use other roads and cause accidents which could lead to innocent lives being lost….he could also warn criminals to evade the police, making it easier for them to escape….this is illegal and we could charge him for obstructing and defeating the ends of justice.”
If things were as clear cut as spokesperson states it, we all should be wagging our fingers at @Pigspotter, but things are never that clear cut.
The City of Johannesburg (COJ) has seen some interesting results from the JMPD and speed cameras, so its almost understandable (almost) to see them react this way, from the COJ IDP 2010:
The effective deployment of electronic and manual speed cameras at high-accident hotspots have resulted in more
than seven million fines being issued for speeding, roadblocks and roadside checks have resulted in 353 000 fines for vehicle defects (unroadworthy vehicles), 15 000 fines for driver duties, and 107 020 fines for driving without a valid driver/learner licence.
The media were very quick to pick up the story , I think @AkiAnastasiou was approached first by @Pigspotter and thereafter the rest of the Media (online and radio in particular) jumped on the story. The story is topical because @Pigspotter has tapped into a public issue that the City of Johannesburg (and government in general) haa not figured out how to approach; corruption in the police force (both SAPS and Metro Police).
@Pigspotter is broadcasting the collective frustrations of the public, who are perceived to be tired of being picked on and abused by a poorly educated and corrupt JMPD.
Maybe @Pigspotter is our Dark Knight? Ok, he’s not and he has not gone about with his crusade in the most elegant of manners, but can you blame him? I’ve had Metro Police “ask” me to buy him chicken (yes chicken) even though I had done nothing wrong and it was a routine stop. I’m not the only one with these kinds of stories.
In their study into Metro Police corruption in 2008 The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) found the following:
- Ekhuruleni and Johannesburg do not have civilian oversight committees
- All MPD anti-corruption bodies are primarily reactive in nature
- Metro cops across the country are supplementing their income by more than R30 000 a week – through corruption and extortion.
Combine the high levels of corruption the average citizen has to put up, the high levels of crime that the Metro Police are supposed to combat and a brash, unsympathetic Metro force who do not inspire trust, is it any surprise that @Pigspotter is so well followed?
Overseas police forces are embracing twitter and the ability to connect with citizens, so instead of this “hunt” mentality should the JMPD not be working with the likes of @Pigspotter to improve both the anti corruption but traffic management and broader crime management efforts? I just wonder if this is not going to be another opportunity lost, because those in public office need to silence a critical (and rude) voice?
** I hasten to add that the ISS also point out that corruption is a two way process, South Africans seem very willing to offer or pay a bribe.
Embedded below is a video of Tuesdays announcement by COSATU, a copy of the COSATU economic growth discussion document.