The right to know what?
It's devastatingly clear to me why the R2K (Right2Know) campaign is essential to help protect the freedoms of South Africans and why the Protection of Information Bill (PIB) must not stain the South African landscape.
I read a lot. In English, because that is the language I best understand.
I'm pretty certain that most people who read this newsletter also understand the dangers of any government being able to legalise cover ups at will; it gives ruling politicians (to whichever party they belong) licence to behave as they like.
Even though most of us receive much of our knowledge second hand via the media, we understand the connotations behind much of what we read. We can follow the logic of a debate or discussion and lights begin to flash when the arguments used seem not to be valid.
We are also probably pretty good at realising that few people can be completely objective; that their own writing is often coloured somewhat by their beliefs...which may not be ours.
We have luck and good educations on our side. We don't let the writing cloud our own vision.
Four mornings a week, an ordinary woman leaves her small home in Umlazi to work in other people's homes. Only one of those times it's for my home, although I often wish I could afford her a second day.
She's been a determined DA supporter since long before I met her and a while ago I read her a newspaper article that reported on some corrupt dealings in government, as adjudicated by court proceedings.
On realising that someone who takes home less than R2 000p/m cannot be expected to relate easily to the billions of rand discussed, I wrote the sums quoted out in numbers and broke down the context into relatively simple arithmetic problems. She was astounded by the connotations and told me that Zulu papers don't publish the same sort of information that appears in the English newspapers.
Since she cannot afford to buy a newspaper, she only reads what she can get her hands on in Umlazi, sometimes long after publication.
I guess the press hardly considers her target-market material and you can't blame it.
But she is a voter and the more she and millions like her understand, the more sophisticated our voting population will become; the more likely she would be to join an organisation like R2K and lobby for its principles.
No one who has never booked a hotel room can be expected to know the difference between the daily rate at a mid-range B&B and the same at the Mount Nelson or The One & Only. If you've never quoted for security at your own home, how can you possibly be expected to understand why the amounts reported for security upgrades at 'official residences' were far higher than necessary?
I've started printing out the odd article for her to take home to read.
This way, she has time to absorb it, discuss the content with her family (all the adults, she says, already vote DA) and consider the consequences on the poor of some government misbehaviour.
She relates very personally to the poor, for obvious reasons.
I make sure the articles report rulings, judgements and facts. She claims her family and friends are learning things they never believed possible. Shocking things about just how much taxpayer money is being wasted while lesser beings suffer.
It occurs to me that the R2K campaign, which is doubtless supported by many capable thinking people, should balance itself with two more things: the need to trust and the right to understanding.
Personally, I don't particularly trust any information that my namesake, Mo/Moe, releases. But I guess that has more to do with the surname he shares with Shabir, than any untruth he has uttered. Or could it be because so many government henchmen, who should be beyond reproach, are not and splutter utter tripe when put on the spot?
But I must concur that in his line of business, some discretion, for some amount of time, is a valid requirement.
But why he should need to deploy security and intelligence forces into organisations that want more transparency from government is a mystery to me. All he needs to do is work alongside SARS to know your and my business (and pleasure) inside out.
So that more or less settles the (lack of) trust issue.
I would suggest that R2K also makes it its business to start informing the lesser-read via their communities, about some of the nasty details which, through no fault of their own, presently appear to be reserved mainly for the middle classes to read.
It's too easy, in effect, to disparage the choices the majority of the electorate makes and do nothing pro-active to change that. I continually read blog posts that are preaching to me, the converted and slating others who are unlikely to change their vote. If I haven't learnt to toyi-toyi by now, it's pretty certain I'm not about to.
Why not make those who do, your next target market?
It is extremely unwise to underestimate the intelligence of people to whom English is a second language. The issue is not lack of intelligence; it is a lack of communication skills. If you must do the sums for them, go for it!
Let the media also take the battle into local languages. There are, after all, too many black journalists complaining that they lack brilliant futures in white-owned publishing houses. I've yet to understand why they don't start their own. No money? Supply a few journalists with electronic reading devices and let them spread and debate the word(s) door-to door or among family and friends.
The media have, in effect, only one possible secret: their sources. Of course, if the state decides to go ahead with the PIB, bylines could become a thing of the past and journalists would definitely strike for higher wages (it's quite amazing how many will lower their rate for a decent-sized credit).
On the other hand, I don't much care that my name does not appear on much of the writing I do for clients.
I like to see the money in my bank more.
In the same way, I like to see what's happening to public money and know who is making it dishonestly (because, in many cases, that dishonesty is destroying quality of life for others).
Some secrets that ought to be exposed: those relating to the arms deal, FIFA 2010 World Cup contracts and expenditure, Eskom's BHP power contracts (all of which cost you, the consumer, an arm, leg and your sanity). I'd also like to know more about the use and investment of private-sector pension funds; mining-licence awarding procedures; the costs-to-company of many senior executives and see proper, finite records of expenditure for several organisations...
...which is what R2K wants too.
So this week's print-out for my domestic helper is about the Lotto payouts which funded sing songs and ping pong instead of charities that benefit the poor and disabled. I know that will get her back up!
Needless to say, the chairman of the National Lottery Board does not see any need to personally lobby to change the law under which disbursements are made, despite believing that change is advisable. He claims members of the public and charities must do that.
Which is, in fact, why giving us the detail is so necessary.
Why do we pay someone to do a job when we, the people, are expected to do it for him? Why on earth does a lottery board exist if not to adjudicate and improve what goes on? So that its members can orchestrate proposals from organisations where they duplicate their income?
The National Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) has three agencies disbursing Lotto funds (one for charities; another for the arts, culture and national heritage, and the last for sports and recreation).
I'd like to suggest a few immediate changes to you, Chairman Nevhutanda:
Why don't we cut out the second and third of those agencies forthwith? We already have state departments responsible for arts, culture and national heritage, and sports and recreation. Both receive Treasury funding.
We don't have a Department of Charities.
So why not make them the sole beneficiaries of the Lotto?
Arts, culture, et al and sports and recreation can carry on lobbying big business and the banks. Judging by the amounts both are charging the public, it seems you are already all in each other's pockets and could save even more paper on proposals than you do e-mailing your customers their statements.
Studio M’s bottom line: If you believe that the people who work for you would benefit from detailed explanation about their salary expectations, government corruption, the need for the public to monitor more than sewerage (or whatever else), consider making the effort to help them understand some things. It could get across the need for us all to continue educating ourselves throughout our lives, and that alone wouldn't be a bad thing. Keep it simple and occasional: no information overload; no mental acrobats, a handout that can be digested slowly and shared is great, and finally, don't punt opinion, but facts. Oh, and if any ladies felt disappointed that they didn't snare Prince William, remember that it's better to get the ring before there's a big, round bald patch on his head!
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