Friday, May 10, 2013

Swiftboating - SA style

The underbelly of SA media is once again revealed in all its shameful glory this weekend as our mainstream media went into overdrive "swiftboating" the Guptas. This time, on a mission to intimidate the Gupta family and send a message to other Indian businesses to stay out of South Africa, or else! The despicable tactic of swiftboating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiftboating  was expertly employed during the 2004 US presidential elections by Republican neocons against John Kerry to get George Bush re-elected. 

It all began with a wedding of the niece of billionaire Indian South African businessman, Gupta,  who wanted to host the the most lavish wedding in SA history, in one of South Africa's entertainment centers known as Sun City. Ironically, Sun City originally developed by one of apartheid's sons, a Jewish hotel magnate Sol Kerzner in 1979, located in what was a "Bantustan" called Bophuthatswana  conveniently located outside SA national borders, it was apartheid regime's scheme to workaround the international sanctions during the height of the apartheid era. This diabolical plot was the only way to bring world class entertainment to the doorstep of the decadent white minority isolated from the world community for supporting apartheid - one of the greatest crimes against humanity.  

Anyway, the Guptas followed standard government protocol, used all over the world, and requested appropriate  permission to use the Waterkloof military airbase for the security of Indian dignitaries and its proximity to Sun City was more convenient. The use of a military airbase for private aircraft is not unusual, so it all seemed to make sense. Now granted, this may not be the most appropriate use of military facilities given the circumstances, but the sheer volume of the hysteria whipped up by the usual suspects in mainstream media suggests more sinister motives. The front page articles in the image below, a small sample of the hype, reveals an underhanded agenda reminiscent of the Rupert Murdoch style fabrications and character assassination combined with apartheid style race-baiting and fear-mongering, all designed to embarrass and intimidate.

So who are these Guptas and why is our media so fixated on them?  
Cursory research show that they probably come from the linage of the ancient Gupta Dynasty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_Gupta_dynasty on the Indian subcontinent circa 300 CE. Their business interests in SA straddles aviation, mining, technology, media and much more. The rapid rise of the Guptas are seen as a threat to the status quo - the current economy is still dominated by the old guard - white minority together with ex-colonial multinationals, almost twenty years after SA's liberation! So Indian business ventures closely aligned with the new BRICS economic bloc are now seen a direct threat to the continued dominance of the old guard on the African continent. Bringing down the Guptas is thus pivotal since this strategy enables the old guard to continue to cling to political and economic power assimilated over centuries of white supremacy. You see, the old guard hates competing on a level playing field.

Its ironic this plane landing, for a lavish wedding which brings in significant foreign revenue to a South African economy battered by high unemployment among the black majority, should suddenly become a dire "security threat" by mainstream media.  The hysteria deliberately generated by mainstream media initially:
1. Pointed to corruption - ie. President Jacob Zuma granting presidential favors to his friends.
Pure speculation, since this has been officially denied by the President himself!
2. Viewed it as a dire "security threat" 
Quite a stretch for a country with no terrorist threat, not at war with anyone and no threatening neighbors! Anyway, permission was explicitly requested and granted by the South African National Defense Force almost a month beforehand to land at Waterkloof!
3. Portrayed a private use of a military airbase as taboo.
In reality however, private use of military airbases is not unusual in most countries around the world. A few examples are US (Moffett Federal Airfield, Burlington Airport), China (Beijing Nanyuan Airport), Japan (Ibaraki Airport), UK (RAF Brize Norton) etc.
4. Passengers not subject to customs duty. 
How feeble! Not only is is unproven that passengers did not go through customs, its laughable considering the the wealth of the families involved.

However, things start to get really bizarre with these outlandish headlines:



































"Big fat Gupta hangover"
Portrays the traditional wedding guests as a bunch of drunks, when in reality liquor is not a customary part of the Indian wedding as in other cultures.
"Gupta guest accused of sex assault" 
Shows the depravity of Indians, like that old English classic "Passage to India"
"Race relations at risk" / "Wash first, blacks"
The old apartheid mindset of black and hygiene that still seem to fester in the twisted minds of our apartheid beneficiaries. Race-baiting at its worst. 
"Air Gupta"
A fabrication photo-shopped by Daily Maverick to make it look like its Gupta's personal jet when in reality its a charted Airbus from Jet Airlines.
"DA intensifies Gupta probe"
The white tribal DA party with their media cohorts, see Indian business as a threat to their hegemony of the SA economy and will resort to any means score cheap political points and slow down transformation of our economy. 
"Down with the Guptas, shout staff"
More false reporting in a pitiful attempt to paint the staff as being abused by the wedding guests. A subtle implication that the wedding guests are brainwashed by the "caste system"  to look down upon African staff. Makes no sense whatsoever. This old divide-and-conquer" strategy is regularly used as a last resort by white supremacists when they people of color getting along.
"treason charges"
When all else fails, they dust off and trot out their old bogeyman, Julias Malema, to come up with even more outlandish claims of treason!

The scale of the media hype shows the desperation of the corporate media serfs to take out the Guptas by any means necessary, so basic ethics in journalism fly out the window! Their fear is palpable since Indian business are rapidly gaining momentum in making strategic investments throughout the African continent, using SA as a launchpad to reach into the other African countries lacking in infrastructure. This YouTube interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Vmg1cR3O8 shows the dramatic pace of Indian FDI into Africa. No doubt, this greatly unnerves the old guard, the beneficiaries of apartheid who currently dominate our economy through privileges assimilated through centuries of black domination.

This wedding , and auspicious event, that was supposed to be mutually beneficial to the family and South Africa, has now been tarnishedfurther degraded race relations, negatively impacted SA's image  and once again exposes our media mafia for what it is - a purveyor of gutter politics. These slash and burn tactics is déjà vu, of the 2010 World Cup ( http://southafricana.blogspot.com/2010/03/our-looming-100-day-window-of.html ), when FIFA had to take the unprecedented step to bar certain local journalists from covering the event. This incident however, is another clarion call for media reform and a more importantly, greater diversity in media ownership in SA.

14 comments:

  1. it's nice when the true believers take a stand - that kind of faith makes defending the indefensible easier. i hope you'll be singing the same song when nkandla is the only peice of infrastructure still standing, and the rest of the country has gone to ruin. well done.

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  2. the basic premise of your opposition to the media reports as propaganda is the lack of proof on the part of the media (which you seem to miss when reading the cited articles).

    buffling and certainly contradictory in your senseless rant about apartheid and corporate agenda carries no proof of any of the allegations you spuke but mere theories and conspiracies about conspiracies.

    short response, shut up.

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    1. Yeah, that's right. When the reporting doesn't suit your beliefs, shut them up!
      Or, for a change, you could try to see the logic behind the reporting...Or is that too much to expect from all those who are brainwashed?

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  3. Who do you work for?

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  4. This article is such silly, ignorant drivel - of the kind you'd hear in a small town bar late on a Friday night from a dull mind further dulled by alcohol and resentment - that it stands out even among internet blogs. If you can't see a problem in the owners of a pro-government, government-supported newspaper, who employ members of the president's family, enjoying use of an airbase and speeding blue-light convoys, then you're the reason so much of our government feels unaccountable for corruption.
    PS - Even medevac flights very seldom allowed to use Waterkloof. And there were no customs people present. That's official.

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  5. This FRONT FEEDER at the corrupt, thieving trough is afraid he loses his position when his master gets thrown out. Publish your twisted lies in The New Age. Hopefully more will be exposed of this corrupt Zuma and his thieving in general.

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  6. You have given yourself away-it's obvious you're a glove-puppet with the controlling hand of Spear-thruster way up your arse. He seems to have a good grip on both your balls and your brain. Perhaps you're right - an apartheid education has apparently left you unable to think for yourself. I'm so sorry.

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  7. Dear Dave
    Huh? If all was fine with the landing, why have 3 (I think) government departments ordered inquiries into the granted permissions?
    Why has a senior department official been suspended?

    SARS has confirmed that they were not notified about the landing. Rethink your " Not only is is unproven that passengers did not go through customs" line...

    But sure, its all the media's fault...

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  8. So what if you're right? You make as if our government are so innocent......This is a game of have's and have not's and if you think that there isn't more behind the scenes that we cannot see OR aren't allowed to see then you're more wet behind the ears then what you're allowing yourself to believe. When these things come to light rather the media make a big hype then another case of mismanagement, corrupt practices, raiding of state resources being swept under the carpet into the Basement of Nkandla! If there are Old Guards still pulling strings then they are to thank for you being able to buy your supper tonight! Investors (BHP, Checkers etc...) stick around when they know someone rational is actually in charge so don't kid yourself thinking the Gupta's and the like will warm your bed at night because the will plunder and leave the Africans to rot.....at least these old guards let you play ringmaster sometimes!

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  9. Absolute horseshit Dave.

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  10. So this is all perfectly above board? Its quite hard not to simply argue in the same vein when such phrases as
    "one of apartheid's sons"
    "corporate media serfs"
    "white tribal DA party" are trotted out. Clearly there is some middle ground but this writing will not advance the rainbow nation that I believe in. I am one of the so called old guard, but I seem to see that the old guard companies are doing very well in Africa and the rest of the world. My old guard is worried that the Guptas seem to be visited at their Saxonwold property after NEC meetings by the president which is a little bit abnormal. He clearly likes the curry as much as Helen Zille. Also
    slightly contradicting some of this article is some of the governments own shock at what happened. Anyway, I would like to hear what you really think Dave, because this is PR writing which is not helping anything. PS you're probably quite pleased that the Iqbal Surve consortium is now the owner of the colonial racist old guard media. I wonder how long all those media serfs will still have jobs scribbling away.

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  11. It is the feduciary duty of business to take advantage of privilege to advance their objectives. It is the moral and civil responsibility of government to enforce checks and balances on government-business relations such that its response is public sector friendly while at the same time being civil society protective. The Guptas did what any business operation which enjoys leverage over government should do, in fact such behaviour is welfare maximizing to its shareholders. How did the South African government respond, with the enforcement of regulation to stiffle such attempts or its blatant disregard for such motivated by personal gain and the desire to socisl climb. The Guptas did their part that our government didn`nt do theirs is an uncomfortable reality we have to accept.

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  12. Dave Harris is a spindoctor who presents favouritism for the worst kind of science. Searching long and hard for information to support the result that has been pre-determined in his mind before even writing the article. So even though there are valid arguments hidden in his throughtleader and blog posts, they are overpowered by his own racism and total disrespect/condemnation for anyone who holds an opinion that differs to what spins out of Luthuli House. So whatever blog he posts you will see the same threads of belittling the DA, denialism of any ANC wroing doing and using the race card as the foundation of his argument. Fail every time Dave.

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  13. Delusional Dave but if it floats your boat keep on sailing

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