CIA provided information to South African police that led to arrest of Mandela in 1962

While the US now celebrates and praises Nelson Mandela as the father of South Africa, in the past Mandela was regarded as a dangerous revolutionary associated with violence and communists. The CIA apparently helped ensure his arrest in August of 1962.

In an article published in January of 2005, William Blum sets out the background of the CIA involvement in the arrest of Nelson Mandela. Ultimately Mandela was convicted and was jailed for a total of 28 years.

By the time Mandela was released in February of 1990, his stature had changed dramatically and then President George Bush Sr. telephoned Mandela to say that Americans rejoiced at his release. Blum points out that this was the same George Bush who once was head of the CIA and who was second in power during an administration that worked closely with South African Intelligence service to provide information about Mandela's African National Congress. The African National Congress was seen by the US as part of the "International Communist Conspiracy".

In the early forties, Mandela had already contact with communists and went to meetings although he did not join the party because Mandela, as a Christian, opposed their atheism, and he also saw the South African struggle as based primarily on race rather than class:"Staying with a cousin in George Goch Township, Mandela was introduced to the realtor and ANC activist Walter Sisulu, who secured him a job as an articled clerk at law firm Witkin, Sidelsky and Edelman. The company was run by a liberal Jew, Lazar Sidelsky, who was sympathetic to the ANC's cause.[38] At the firm, Mandela befriended Gaur Redebe, a Xhosa member of the ANC and Communist Party, as well as Nat Bregman, a Jewish communist who became his first white friend.[39] Attending communist talks and parties, Mandela was impressed that Europeans, Africans, Indians and Coloureds were mixing as equals. However, he stated later that he did not join the Party because its atheism conflicted with his Christian faith, and because he saw the South African struggle as being racially based rather than class warfare."

On August 5 of 1962 Mandela had been hiding from police for 17 months when his car was flagged down outside the town of Howick in Natal at a roadblock. Only later did stories appear explaining why the police set up the roadblock in that place. Three South African newspapers, and the London Press, ran stories that claim a CIA officer Donald Rickard who worked undercover as a consular official in Durban had tipped off the South African Special Branch that Mandela would be disguised as a chauffeur in a car headed for Durban. Rickard obtained this information through an informant in the ANC.

Apparently, a year later, at a party, he is reported to have said that he had been due to meet Mandela on that night. However, Rickard later refused to discuss the issue when he was approached by CBS. While Mandela went on to serve 28 years in prison where he suffered tuberculosis from the damp cell he was in for years and other health problems, Rickard retired comfortably in Pagosa Springs Colorado. Still, Mandela has managed to survive into his nineties as a revered figure while Rickard is forgotten by most people.

The New York TImes also had an article on the issue citing a report from Cox News:"The report, scheduled for publication on Sunday, quoted an unidentified retired official who said that a senior C.I.A. officer told him shortly after Mr. Mandela's arrest: ''We have turned Mandela over to the South African Security branch. We gave them every detail, what he would be wearing, the time of day, just where he would be.'' "

A good summary of Mandela's political activity is given in Wikipedia.

Background to South African Marikina mine violence

This article reports on some of the background to the confrontation between workers and police at the Marikina platinum mine owned by Lonmin company that killed over thirty workers and injured almost eighty.

This article is based upon material sent by Patrick Bond to an economics discussion list. The material can be accessed here. Patrick Bond is a professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he has directed the Centre for Civil Society since 2004.

Bond places responsibility for what he terms a massacre of the miners on a number of different players including the African National Congress government. Bond worked for the South African government earlier in his career but is now quite critical of many of its policies. He also places responsibility on Lonmin for underpaying workers for extremely dangerous work. among other failings.

Rock drillers are paid 500 dollars U.S. a month. Many drillers leave because the pay is not competitive for such dangerous work and those who stay are angry especially at the National Union of Mineworkers(NUM). According to Bond this union has been co-opted by the company. Union officials receive perks and are increasingly seen by workers as part of the power structure.

Ms. Polgreen, The Times’s Johannesburg bureau chief, reports that “the strike has pitted the country’s largest mine workers union, which is closely allied with the governing A.N.C., against a radical upstart union demanding sharp increases in pay and faster action to improve the grim living and working standards for miners.” The conflict between the traditional union, the National Union of Mineworkers, and the newer and more radical union, the Association of Mine Workers and Construction Union, contributed to violence around the strike earlier this week. Ten people died, including two police officers and three security officers

Another factor contributing to the massacre was that the police were not well trained. Rubber bullets and water cannon could have been used. The police opened fire for a full three minutes before the order was given to cease fire. Of course by then dozens were killed. Claims that the miners shot first are at odds with the fact that there are no reports of officers wounded. However there is a video that purports to show a policeman taking a gun from a person on the ground.

Bond points out that Washington is indirectly involved in that the World Bank's International Finance Corporation has reportedly loaned 100 million dollars U.S. to Lonmin to develop the mine. Lonmin itself is not about to let the killing of a few dozen miners interrupt operations. Lonmin has ordered striking workers back to work or be fired. The National Union of Mineworkers tells the workers that they cannot get higher wages and must return at the negotiated rates.

Bond points out that in spite of its sorry record that Lonmin has received a Green Mining award! The IFC of the World Bank justifies its investments as a "key source of jobs, economic opportunities, investments, revenues to government, energy and other benefits for local economies." Documents on the Lonmin load claim:

"This investment is expected to have beneficial results for the workforce and surrounding communities." Indeed, IFC documents state that Lonmin "supports the protection of human life and dignity within their sphere of influence by subscribing to the principles laid down in the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights."

Yet conditions in surrounding communities are deplorable. Even though Lonmin chairman Roger Phillimore admits to a close relationship with the South African police he said of the violence that it was ""clearly a public order rather than a labor relations associated matter". So the real problem is just keeping order among those restive workers. For much more see the wealth of material here.

South Africa suffers from very high unemployment

An article in Bloomberg news paints a gloomy picture of South African development since 1994 when Nelson Mandela came into power. Mandela promised jobs and a good business climate. However now in 2012 the unemployment rate is 24 per cent.

The article claims that the threat of raising mining taxes or even nationalizing the mines is deterring investment. Nationalizing the mines would ensure that the benefits of development would go to South Africa and not foreign companies but that fact does not dawn upon Bloomberg writers.

Eighteen years later, his country has a 24 percent unemployment rate and a debate over nationalizing mines is deterring investment. Although a growth rate of 7 per cent is required to cut the jobless rate the actual growth rate is less than half that. Still that is far better than many European countries including the UK are achieving.

Of course Bloomberg is irritated by the fact that stock market is not thriving. They are not doing as well as Brazil. Brazil has an ex-Marxist guerrilla woman as president. Maybe that is what South Africa needs!

President Jacob Zuma wants to push through a secrecy law that could block reporting on corruption. The article argues that South Africa needs to be more attractive for investment. But as the article points out the Youth Wing of the ANC is pushing for more radical policies including the takeover of mines, land, and banks as a means of increasing opportunities through state development.

The Zuma government is not likely to adopt any of these more radical policies. Poor blacks comprise about 90 per cent of the South African population and without jobs their situation is dire leading to high crime rates and unrest.

The state has insisted on protecting some labor rights or as the article puts it South Africa has a labor system as rigid as France or Sweden. But those two countries have not had a bad record of economic development and both countries have or had a good social safety net..France is rated as having the best health care system in the world. Sweden has rates best in equality. If investors are considering Australia as an alternative for mining investment they should know that Australia just imposed a 30 per cent tax on mining profits. For much more see the full article here..

The types of reforms the Bloomberg article would like are unlikely to be politically palatable although certainly less corruption is desirable and attempts to block reporting of corruption does not bode well for the future. However, South Africa will hardly be unique in passing laws that protect a government from revealing what it is up to!

New ANC leader Zuma ends speech with trademark song.

This is from Reuters. This election shows the degree to which democracy still flourishes in South Africa although it also shows that the government has been quite unable to do much to alleviate the grinding poverty of many blacks. The crime rate is also soaring. Many of Mbeki's policies have been neo-liberal which is why the business community is a bit nervous at Zuma's win. Zuma represents a mass base of the ANC and other parties that have not been raised from poverty. However, given that Zuma is already facing rape and corruption charges he will probably be willing to trade some principle in exchange for some respite from further attacks on his integrity. 9/10ths of reputed integrity is backing the powers that count. Just look at Bhutto and Sharif in Pakistan. Bhutto has talks with Musharraf and agrees to participate in elections but Sharif refused to until in effect his hand was forced by Bhutto. But Sharif cannot run for president because corruption charges against him were not dropped but those against Bhutto were. Sharif has no reputed integrity but Bhutto has--of course in the western media she has lots of integrity too!

New ANC leader Zuma ends speech with trademark song
Thu 20 Dec 2007, 16:08 GMT

[-] Text [+] POLOKWANE, South Africa (Reuters) - Jacob Zuma, new leader of South Africa's ruling ANC, ended his first speech as party chief on Thursday by singing a trademark anti-apartheid guerrilla song "Bring me my machine gun" as supporters sang along and danced.

In stark contrast to the austere and intellectual style of President Thabo Mbeki, whom he defeated for the party leadership this week, Zuma sang the African National Congress guerrilla song called "Umshini Wam".

Hundreds of delegates to the ANC national conference in the northern town of Polokwane sang along, clapping hands and swaying, some holding signs that read "Dictatorship R.I.P".

Mbeki watched impassively as Zuma sang. In his speech, Zuma called for unity in the party and said he would work with Mbeki to heal the ANC after the worst rifts in its history.