SALSA
SALSA, the South African Liberal Students Association, provides online civic education in BLU ERA networks. This civic education is designed to achieve Individual Freedom throughout the world.
SALSA operates Agitate Online as its main publication platform. SALSA operates SALSA Africa and SALSA Global to get out the vote for Liberalism. SALSA Programs operates the SALSA Leadership Initiative, the SALSA Leadership Training Program, the SALSA Governance Technologies and the SALSA Military Services to enable Liberal Governments. SALSA Branches operates Cape Town Liberals, Joburg Liberals and Durban Liberals to raise funding for Liberal political parties in Southern Africa. SALSA Projects operates the SALSA Vernacular Project, the SALSA Better South Africa Project and the SALSA Project Israel to build coalitions of Liberals, Libertarians, Moderates, Democrats and Environmentalists.
SALSA's work is designed to enhance Freedom, Human Rights, Responsibility, the Rule of Law, Opportunity, Conservation, Competition, Free Enterprise and the Market Economy.
Individual Freedom
Individual Freedom is a cause worth fighting for, especially when the alternative is "group think" and "herd mentality". All over the world, Liberals are working to remove illegitimate and corrupt regimes from office and power, in both the public and private sectors. The fight for Individual Freedom is not something that can be explained in platitudes about inequality, unemployment and poverty. Liberalism believes in Equality of Opportunity, in Work and in Dignity. The reason that social injustice exists is because the Social Nationalists need it to exist so that they can benefit from corruption. The reason that idleness exists is because the Conservative Theologicists need it to exist so that their inferiority complexes can be assuaged. The reason that economic deprivation exists is because the Communo-Workerists need it to exist so that they have a constituency to bribe with empty promises at election time. Individual Freedom is your entitlement, just do not impinge upon anyone else's Individual Freedom.
SALSA Website Links
Freedom Now!
The South African Liberal Students Association, SALSA, is determined to bring peace to the world, through Liberalism. Liberalism affords each Individual Person, their Personal Freedom and Personal Dignity. The core principles of Liberalism are Freedom, Human Rights, Responsibility, the Rule of Law, Opportunity, Conservation, Competition, Free Enterprise and the Market Economy. SALSA is consistently concerned with establishing coalitions of Liberals, Libertarians, Moderates, Democrats and Environmentalists to Govern for Freedom throughout the world. SALSA believes that illegitimate and/or corrupt governments must be removed from office and power by the sheer dint of the will of the people. SALSA engages with all relevant decision makers about policy as it affects Africa and the world at large. SALSA is intent on achieving a Crime-Free Global Village led by Liberal Governments throughout the world.
Looking back To 2021
South Africa's Local Government Elections
The biggest news of 2021 was the withdrawal of US and allied troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. This ended a 20-year engagement that cost millions of lives. Some development took place in Afghanistan and Iraq, some democracy was established, but the middle east is worse off now than it was 20 years ago. Trillions of US dollars spent on the international military industrial complex, a plethora of new weapons and armaments brought to market and the battlefield and yet Afghanistan and Iraq are still controlled by anti-US and anti-western theocratic paramilitary forces which openly sponsor terrorism around the world.
This sort of thing, the stabbing of Sir David Amess in the UK for example, is clearly terrorism and for the most part most countries not wanting to get invaded and regime changed bleat the line of anti-terrorism quite loudly. Certainly, in South Africa the new anti-terrorism law, The Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act 33 of 2004, makes South Africa a place where international terrorism is unwelcome.
Having said this and suggesting that you consider what it means to be terrorised, that is to feel insecure, to feel threatened, to feel unsafe and to potentially be exposed to harm leads us to question two things:
Firstly, If Osama bin Laden is a terrorist for having killed people in the name of his cause on 11 September 2001, then is Jacob Zuma not a terrorist for having unleashed the rioting, the looting and the burning of commerce and industry throughout KwaZulu-Natal, upon the people of KwaZulu-Natal in the middle of 2021; in aid of his cause – which was and is to get out of prison and to evade prosecution for the crimes he committed?
And secondly, if Al Qaeda is a terrorist organisation for having killed people in the names of their cause on 11 September 2001, then is China not a terrorist organisation for having exported the malicious coronavirus from Wuhan to the world, in the form of SARS-COVID-2; which has killed millions of innocent people, most recently and notably Gen Colin Powell, of the 1991 “shock and awe” Persian Gulf war fame; whether by act or omission – and whether in response to the US-China trade war started by the President Donald Trump, who thankfully is not in office anymore where at least Twitter is paying attention to some other people at present; or not?
Let us consider that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda are more aligned with OPEC than with the US; and that their actions on 11 September 2001 caused the oil price to go from $1 a barrel, to $8 a barrel up to $120 a barrel for the better part of 20 years, until settling at $80 a barrel and then now at $60 a barrel. A lot of oilmen got very, very rich. Mind you when I say oilmen, it’s not just the Texans and the Norwegians; but the Saudis, the Arabs and Nigerians too. China for its part has built Sinopec up to be one of the biggest corporations in the world; all in the last 20 years and all on the back of the oil boom. But no-one noticed the rise in living costs and the bounding inflation, because there was a war against terror on the go, with theatres all over the world, not just in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Is this not a crime, that terrorism begot the war against terror which begot the oil boom which begot the ridiculous cost of living all over the world? Who do we hold responsible for this 20-year episode in finding out whether democracy works in Afghanistan and Iraq? What was our South African government doing during this time?
Theoretically South Africa should not import oil or petroleum, we should make all of the oil and refine all of the petroleum that we need right here in South Africa, through SASOL and the various refineries. SASOL converts coal to oil, and does so quite economically, or at least it did previously, now SASOL like every parastatal, even though SASOL is a listed public company, teeters on the verge of bankruptcy, having been “transformed” politically over the last 20-years. This looting of the public good, orchestrated by the politicians in power, has raped South Africa’s economy for the benefit of crime syndicates. There are no solvent Public Enterprises and Parastatals anywhere in South Africa. There are no profitable PIC-invested companies anywhere in South Africa. There are no functional public agencies or public organisations anywhere in South Africa. Public sector productivity is at an all-time low.
Who perpetrated this state capture? None other than the Nigerian Chieftain Jacob Zuma, who is an Ochiagha Imo of Owerri in the Imo state of Nigeria. The language in Imo state is Igbo and Imo state is in the South East of Nigeria. Imo state is oil rich and also has a world class Heineken brewery; which would stand Jacob Zuma in good stead were it not for the Biafra problem. The Biafra problem relates to Igbo nationalists who attempted to secede from Nigeria into the Republic of Biafra. Who could blame them, there are more than 150 oil drilling sites in the territory in question? So, Jacob Zuma, not being a nobleman in Zululand, is a Nigerian chieftain in a state of Nigeria where the country is demanding the oil for the national benefit and the state is demanding the oil for its own ethnic benefit.
Jacob Zuma is evidently a very stupid man for having gotten out of the arms deal legal problems in 2009, only to land himself in a Nigerian civil war in 2017. Nigerian civil wars are expensive for both sides and more so for those caught in the middle. To buy a chieftaincy you must pay large amounts of tribute for ten years, that’s 2007 to 2017 – approximately the time of the state capture nonsense. So, money was stolen by Jacob Zuma’s South African crime syndicate and paid to Jacob Zuma’s Nigerian crime syndicate but because of the Nigerian civil war in Imo state – all Jacob Zuma got was a fancy title that costs money to keep. Jacob Zuma is evidently a very stupid man.
There were many actors in the state capture working with Jacob Zuma, particularly the very stupid Gupta family, who now live is Dubai denying that they owe Dawood Ibrahim whatever he wants. Dawood Ibrahim is a Bombay/Mumbai originated businessman of an outfit called D-Company, which traffics anything and everything all over the world. D-Company is one of the Indian crime syndicates that are based from Dubai; having been forced to have its leadership flee India many years ago. They specialise in providing protection to criminals in exile, like the Gupta family. D-Company is listed by the US government as a financier of terrorism.
This Jacob Zuma linked terrorism is nothing compared to the radical economic transformation brigade’s rioting, looting and burning spree of earlier this year. Factually the only solvent Public Enterprise SASRIA (which insures people against damage from rioting) is now also bankrupt thanks to the rioting, looting and burning spree of earlier this year. The people demanded “Free Zuma” because Jacob Zuma had been found guilty of being in contempt of court and had been sentenced to 18 months in prison. Somehow the Nigerian Chieftain, the Indian Trafficker and the Global Terrorist Jacob Zuma was offended that he was not above the law; and so, he is now too sick for prison and probably too sick to stand trial for the arms deal corruption and the state capture corruption.
During the rioting, the looting and the burning in aid of “Free Zuma” did you not feel insecure, feel threatened, feel unsafe and feel that you would potentially be exposed to harm? Most people did and therefore it was terrorism. So, if Osama bin Laden is a terrorist, then Jacob Zuma is a terrorist. Where is Seal Team 6 to hunt down Jacob Zuma, Gedleyihlekisa and Msholozi like they hunted down Osama bin Laden? And if we can call Jacob Zuma a terrorist and call Jacob Zuma’s crime syndicate a terrorist organisation, then we can say that the Arms Deal corruption and the State Capture corruption were acts of terrorism.
Having come to the conclusion that terrorism is wrong and that crime perpetrates acts of terrorism; what about China? Is China not undermining the global economy with SARS-COVID-2? Is China not responsible for the millions of deaths that have occurred? Is it not a racket that the vast majority of healthcare equipment and PPE’s required in the fight against SARS-COVID-2 are made in and supplied from China? Is China not terrorising us with SARS-COVID-2? Where has been China with offers of development loans to countries whose economies have been crippled by lockdown? Globally unemployment has soared, poverty has expanded rapaciously and inequality is at an all-time high.
These are the very things that the Radical Economic Transformation Brigade is complaining about, but alas they are silent about the Arms Deal corruption, the State Capture corruption and the Jacob Zuma years corruption. Additionally, they are silent about China’s liability in the matter of SARS-COVID-2, with no-one even demanding an apology from China for omitting to contain the virus in Wuhan by instituting a proper lockdown. Factually no-one should have been allowed to leave or enter Wuhan from the time that the late doctor, Dr LI Wenliang, raised the concern about the SARS-COVID-2 outbreak in the late months of 2018 and early months of 2019.
Taiwan has long accused China of being a state sponsor of bioweapon-based terrorism, with various outbreaks of infectious diseases in Taiwan over the last 50 years. Wearing a mask in Taiwan and sanitizing your hands at every opportunity is a norm. Will it become a norm for the rest of the world as well? Will the requirements to wear masks out in public and to sanitise your hands at every turn ever be lifted? Yes, the US has scared the world into vaccinating against SARS-COVID-2 and yes for some reason only vaccinating people in developed parts of the world seems to be working against a global pandemic that originated in some queer culinary appetites known only in the undeveloped parts of the world.
For those of you who suffered loss in the rioting, the looting and the burning in aid of “Free Zuma” and the for those of you who suffered loss in the SARS-COVID-2 pandemic in aid of “China Power”; our heartfelt condolences and commiserations. Sometimes it is impossible to resolve loss like that without someone to blame, and hopefully by blaming Jacob Zuma and by blaming China you will come to terms with your loss, however tragic and miserable. One can only hope that the future is better for everyone. Speaking of the future, it looked quite bleak at the start of the year, 2021 started with a muffled welcome as the reality of lockdown and the SARS-COVID-2 pandemic was brought to bear in all our lives.
Somehow however we made it through 2021 and here we are in the final months of 2021 looking forward to a quiet festive season and a pleasant new year. May 2022 and beyond be blessed with security, stability, happiness, prosperity and freedom from terrorism of all kinds. May you and yours enjoy the peace and tranquility that comes with wisdom and respect for liberty, dignity and privacy.
Is there A Future for Liberalism in South Africa?
2007/8 - The Outlook Before Massive Loadshedding
We understand Liberal values to be Peace and Human Rights, Constitutional Democracy, Universal Suffrage, Radical Subsidiarity and Individual Initiative; Indivisible and Individual Human and Environmental Freedoms, Rights and Responsibilities; Tolerance, Mutual Respect, Multicultural Pluralism, Dialogue and Learning; the Rule of Law and Open Democratic Civic Participation; Transparency and Accountability; an Equal Opportunity Open Society; Free Enterprise in an Open, Competitive, Market Economy; and Consultative, Responsive, Localised Government.
We understand the priorities of Local Government to be to ensure that the populace have equal access to Housing, Security, Healthcare, Nutrition, Welfare, Education, Opportunity and Growth; so that each and every individual may be able to develop to their full potential; if they so choose.
We understand Liberalism to be the belief in and practice of these values; and the application of these values to the arenas of public policy making, public governance and the private lives of the individuals.
So, when we ask, “What is the future of Liberalism in South Africa?” we have to begin by looking at where Liberalism in South Africa has come from and where it is now?
Liberalism is inherently a cause of action which seeks to liberate the individual from bondage and servitude; thus, enabling the individual to choose for themselves the paths which they take in their lives.
As such the cause of Liberalism has arisen whenever people have sought to overthrow, among other things, the tyranny of absolute dictatorships; the shackles of slavery and the ignominy of immobile social classes.
Liber means “a free man” as opposed to a slave; and it is clear that from this word came the word “liberty”; it is also clear that the concept of Liberty is closely related to the principles of Liberalism.
As the political, social and economic revolutions of our time have moved from rebellion against serfdom to rebellion against tyrannical governments; Liberalism has always been at the forefront; demanding changes which would increase the extent of personal liberty.
So, it is no wonder that Conservative, Communist, Socialist and Nationalist rhetoricians have all come to “steal” certain principles from Liberalism and to parade them as their own values. Many principles have been stolen; particularly the ones which make tyrants look like democrats.
But none of these instances have seen Conservatism, Communism, Socialism and Nationalism adopt the principles of Radical Subsidiarity, Individual Initiative, the Rule of Law and Open Democratic Civic Participation; and as such they have never been unable to realise the full value of a free enterprise driven market economy.
It is also not surprising that Neo-Conservatism which is the philosophy of greed and exploitation has come to be misunderstood as “Neo Liberalism”. Categorically; there is no such thing as neo-Liberalism, it is a fallacy concocted by pseudo-left fashion activists; who have lapped up the plagiarism of certain Liberal values by the neo-conservatives; and have all been duped into believing the myth of neo-Liberalism.
In response to the malicious accusations of the pseudo left; which have falsely held that Liberalism does not care for the weak and the disadvantaged; Liberals in South Africa, and elsewhere, have tried to illustrate the “Social Dimension of Liberal Policy”. Again, this has led to the creation of another myth; that of social Liberalism. Social Liberalism does not exist; because the values of Liberalism itself satisfy the objectives of a “Socially Equitable” Liberal Democracy. Neo Liberalism, social Liberalism and social justice must be disregarded as the fallacies which they are in order to move forward with any debate on the future of Liberalism itself.
Therefore Liberalism, as it is defined at the beginning of this discussion, provides the means of equal opportunities; and through this provides the basis for people to improve the quality of their lives, if they so choose.
As such it is important at this point to suggest that Liberal policies may be best implemented by Liberals themselves; provided that such Liberals are focused on their Liberal principles. It is most evident that Liberal governments which fail; do so by failing to adhere to their Liberal principles; in the implementation of public policy.
In addition to which it is also clear that there is a Liberal way of doing things which actually realises the goals of Liberalism within the context of the private lives of people and outside of the public space; and that here again it is incumbent upon Liberals to adhere to their Liberal principles in respect of the choices and decisions which they make in their daily lives.
However, it is also important that Liberalism defends itself against having its values and policies hijacked by conservatives, socialists, nationalists and communists; and from being misrepresented as something which it is not. In order to do this, Liberals have to be vigilant that they do not allow people to hold court to denigrate the cause of Liberalism without the Liberals enjoining themselves to such discussions and debate in defence of Liberalism.
In respect of these three obligations, incumbent upon all Liberals; it is obvious that the future of Liberalism in South Africa is very bright; for if it were not, the opponents of Liberty would not be trying to steal Liberal values and policies while denigrating Liberalism. It is also obvious that the future success of Liberalism depends entirely on Liberals having the gumption to stand up and defend, explain and advocate for Liberalism; at every opportunity.
The question is how do you enable and capacitate a cohort of Liberal activists; who are able to defend, explain and advocate the principles of Liberalism? Within Liberal organisations, internal training programs have worked well over the last 20 years; but in the broad mainstream of the public space; the people have taken ownership of Liberalism in part without a full understanding of the interconnectedness of all of the principles of Liberalism; such that some may believe that they are Liberal just because they are open minded, but are not in fact Liberal if they favour state-centric economic development.
The challenge for Liberalism is to co-ordinate the activities of all of the Liberal organisations and to ensure that the broad ensembles of Liberal activists are all “on the same message”. This is no easy task and; short of utilising an Open University for Liberal Democracy, is largely impractical.
Where then will the leadership for this Liberal Revolution arise? I say that it starts with each and every single one of us as an individual. Surely that is the Liberal way of solving this problem? That seems to be the way to actually find the Liberal Revolutionaries needed to effect the change for the better, brighter future of South Africa.
