| |
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AKTIONEN UND ANKÜNDIGUNGEN
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================================================
01 [slp-info] Veranstaltung mit Sozialisten aus Pakistan
von: "Sonja Grusch" <sonja (at) slp.at>
================================================
Eine Information der Sozialistischen LinksPartei (SLP)
Einladung zu zwei Veranstaltungen mit Sozialisten aus Pakistan:
mit
Khalid Bhatti, National Organiser, Pakistani Socialist Movement
Zafar Malik, General Secretary, Railway Workers Union (Open Line)
Thema:
Die soziale und politische Situation in Pakistan
Wann und Wo:
Mittwoch 21.7. um 19.00 in Wien, "Amerlinghaus" (Raum
4) Stiftgasse 8, 1070
Wien, erreichbar mit U2, U3, 49
Freitag 23.7. um 18.00 in Linz, "Alte Welt", Hauptplatz
4
Rückfragen unter: 01-524 63 10
************
Sonja Grusch,
Sozialistische LinksPartei - SLP
Österr. Sektion des CWI
************
_______________________________________________
slp-info (at) slp.at - Info-Mailliste der SLP
Für weitere Infos: http://www.slp.at
================================================
02 bis 23.7.: Interventionen gegen Rassismen
von: "Galerie IG BILDENDE KUNST" <galerie (at) igbildendekunst.at>
================================================
INTERVENTIONEN GEGEN RASSISMEN
___ Ausstellung noch bis 23.7.2004
___ Öffnungszeiten: Di- Fr 10-18 Uhr
___ Galerie IG Bildende Kunst
Gumpendorfer Straße 10-12, 1060 Wien
galerie (at) igbildendekunst.at, Tel. 01-5240909
"Interventionen gegen Rassismen" thematisiert unterschiedliche
künstlerische
und aktivistische Positionen, die sich mit Ursachen und Wirkungsweisen
von
Rassismen sowie Widerstandsformen dagegen auseinandersetzen. Das
mehrteilige
(Ausstellungs-)Projekt soll einen Überblick dieser Praxen bieten.
Ziel ist
es, durch verschiedene Interventionsräume (Galerie, Zeitung)
und die
Verschränkung von künstlerischen und aktivistischen Positionen,
gemeinsam
und gegenseitig größere Öffentlichkeiten zu erobern.
In der Ausstellung werden künstlerische Arbeiten präsentiert.
Materialen von
MigrantInnengruppen und antirassistischen Gruppen liegen in einem
Infopoint
auf. Im Rahmen von "Interventionen gegen Rassismen" ist
eine Sondernummer
"Die Bunte (Zeitung)" erschienen, die zur Hälfte
durch Inserts von
KünstlerInnen und AktivistInnen gestaltet ist.
"Interventionen gegen Rassismen" wurde initiiert von Daniela
Koweindl und
Martin Krenn. Das Gesamtprojekt wurde konzipiert von einer offenen
Arbeitsgruppe.
___ TeilnehmerInnen: Aktion Gemeindebau, Die Bunte (Zeitung), Dezentrale
Medien, Petja Dimitrova, Zuzana Hruskova Albertsen, Adla Isanovic,
Klub
Zwei, Anna Kowalska, Martin Krenn / Oliver Ressler, Tanja Ostojic
/ David
Rych, Papiere für Alle / Gesellschaft für Legalisierung,
Lisl Ponger, Post
Border Feminists, schleuser.net, Schwarze Frauen Community, Tim
Sharp, Rosa
Reitsamer, ...
___ Mehr Information zum Gesamtprojekt unter www.igbildendekunst.at/igr
================================================
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MELDUNGEN UND KOMMENTARE
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================================================
03 Kulturrisse 03|04: Gefängnisse
von: IG Kultur Österreich <office (at) igkultur.at>
================================================
|||
|||
||| MITTEILUNG
|||
||| IG Kultur Österreich
||| http://www.igkultur.at/
|||
- ---------------
|||
||| Die neue große Einsperrung als Instrument
||| gesellschaftlicher Herrschaft und Macht ...
|||
||| Kulturrisse 03|04 zum Thema: Gefängnisse
|||
Gefängnisse erleben ein Revival. Als Labor der Kontrollgesellschaft
folgt die neue "große Einsperrung" der Logik des
Neoliberalismus: Die
vom System ausgespuckten Armen werden isoliert, wesentliche Teile
der
Gesellschaft kriminalisiert, gleichzeitig das Bedrohungsszenario
Kriminalität ökonomisiert. Gefängnisse werden aber
auch - wie die USA es
vorexerzieren - zunehmend ins Verborgene verlagert, rechtsstaatliche
Bedenken weggefegt.
Die aktuelle Ausgabe der Kulturrisse widmet sich dem Thema "Gefängnisse"
und zieht eine Traditionslinie vom Gefängnissystem der Frühaufklärung
bis zu heutigen Methoden der "Verfleißigung" und
Moralisierung der
Gesellschaft. Der Schwerpunkt legt sein Augenmerk auch auf
städtebauliche Konsequenzen der strafenden und segmentierten
Kontrollgesellschaft und analysiert aktuelle künstlerische
Projekte in
diesem Zusammenhang.
Überwachung und Einübung von Counter-Kontrolle bildeten
auch den
Hintergrund des 2003 realisierten Projekts re:control des Innsbrucker
Kollektivs k.u.u.g.e.l. Als eines von vier Projekten wurde re:control
im
Rahmen des Förderpreises für politische Kulturarbeit der
IG Kultur
Österreich von der Jury als besonders exemplarisch ausgewählt.
Die
Ausweitung der Interventionszone ist in der aktuellen Kulturrisse
ebenso
nachzulesen wie die neu aufgekeimte Debatte: Was sind zukünftige
Strategien der Netzkultur?
Mit Beiträgen von Gerhard Unterthurner (Gefängnisse als
Laboratorien der
Kontrollgesellschaft), Ramón Reichert (Homo Laborans. Allgemeine
Gefängnisstimmung und das Leitbild der Arbeit), Jens Kastner
("Build and
they will come". Gefängnis und kulturelle Produktion),
Aileen Derieg
(Gefangen in Sicherheit. Darren Almond im Linzer Lentos), Michael
Zinganel (Architektur und (Selbst-)Kontrolle), Tina Leisch (revolution
will not be televised. Ein Interviewpuzzle zu Kinokis Mikrokino),
Gerald
Raunig (re:control. Das Innsbrucker Kollektiv k.u.u.g.e.l. übt
die
Counter-Kontrolle), Marty Huber (MAIZ. Wir lieben dich!), Patricia
Köstring (Das Bild den BilderproduzentInnen! Wieso es schwierig
ist, der
VolxTheaterKarawane ihren Preis zu übergeben), Beat Weber (Schnurstracks
auf das Terrain der Marktwirtschaft. Netzkulturelle Kleinunternehmen
betreiben das ganz normale Geschäft des Kapitalismus), Martin
Wassermair, Gabi Kepplinger, Peter Riegersperger (Hacking the power
oder
Merkantilisierung der Offenheit? Die Netzkultur findet zu ihrem
Diskurs
zurück), Konrad Becker (Terror, Freiheit und Semiotische Politik)
u.v.m.
Bestellungen im Büro der IG Kultur Österreich oder per
e-Mail unter:
mailto:office (at) igkultur.at
Einzelpreis: 6,00 EUR
Jahresabo: 22,00 EUR (erscheint mind. 4x im Jahr) |||
|||
- ---------------
|||
||| IG Kultur Österreich
||| Gumpendorfer Straße 63b
||| A-1060 Wien
|||
||| Tel: +43 (01) 503 71 20
||| Fax: +43 (01) 503 71 20 - 15
|||
||| http://www.igkultur.at/
|||
================================================
04 ORF: Ausländer sind keine "Sozialschmarotzer"
von: "Initiative muslimischer ÖsterreicherInnen"
<"dieini tiative" (at) gmx.at>
================================================
Ausländer sind keine "Sozialschmarotzer"
http://ooe.orf.at/oesterreich.orf?read=detail&channel=4&id=331713
Die in Österreich lebenden Ausländer sind keine "Sozialschmarotzer".
Das ist
durch eine Dissertation an der Linzer Uni wissenschaftlich belegt,
die am
Montag veröffentlicht wurde.
Karin Mayr rechnete in ihrer am Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre
verfassten Doktorarbeit vor, dass die überwiegende Mehrheit
der Ausländer zu
jenen Altersgruppen gehört, die während ihrer gesamten
restlichen Lebenszeit
mehr in den öffentlichen Sektor einbezahlen, als sie daraus
beziehen werden.
Alle Beiträge für die Zukunft hochgerechnet
Ausgehend vom Jahr 1998 wurden alle Beiträge wie Steuerleistungen
sowie
Transferleistungen für Ausländer und für Einheimische
nach Altersgruppen
erhoben und unter Berücksichtigung der Bevölkerungsentwicklung
für die
Zukunft hochgerechnet.
Dabei zeigte sich, dass jeder zehnte Ausländer zwischen 25
und 35 Jahre alt
ist - ein Alter, in dem mehr Steuern gezahlt als Transferleistungen
in
Anspruch genommen werden. Insgesamt gehörten über 80 Prozent
der Ausländer
denjenigen Altersgruppen an, die erwartungsgemäß während
ihrer gesamten
restlichen Lebenszeit mehr in den öffentlichen Sektor bezahlen
werden als
sie daraus beziehen werden, fand die Autorin der Dissertation heraus.
"Finanzierungslücken abgemildert"
"Die Finanzierungslücken im Staatshaushalt könnten
durch Immigranten
zumindest abgemildert werden", errechnete Mayr, "aber
um diese Lücken zu
stopfen, müssten viel mehr Ausländer ins Land geholt werden,
als Österreich
verkraften kann".
*************************************
--
Initiative muslimischer ÖsterreicherInnen
e-mail:dieinitiative (at) gmx.at
für Rückfragen und Korrespondenz kontaktieren sie bitte:
Omar Al Rawi +43-664-3831942 al-rawi (at) gmx.at
Amina & Tarafa Baghajati +43-1-2595449 baghajati (at) aon.at
Mouddar Khouja +43-1-9685096 mouddar (at) gmx.net
Andrea Saleh +43-1-7965652 salehand (at) gmx.at
================================================
05 CKUT Radio: Guantanamo Bay - The Militarization of Law
von: "global (at) no-racism.net" <global (at) no-racism.net>
================================================
----- Weitergeleitete Nachricht von Stefan Christoff <christoff (at) resist.ca>
-----
CKUT Radio: Guantanamo Bay - The Militarization of Law
Listen to an interview with Shane Kadidal, a staff attorney at the
Center
for Constitutional Rights in New York. The interview focuses on
the recent
US Supreme Court ruling, concerning the indefinite detention of
hundreds
of so-called "Enemy Combatants" from throughout the world
at Guantanamo
Bay.
The June 28 2004, ruling outlined that the United States cannot
order the
indefinite detention of Guantanamo detainees without due process
and that
the detainees have the right to challenge the legality of their
detention
in court, according to the US Constitution and International law.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, mounted the legal challenge,
which
brought the plight of those detained at Guantanamo to the Supreme
Court of
the United States. For those currently detained without trial at
Guantanamo, the ruling is an important legal victory. The ruling
is also a
victory for the many international campaigns against the conditions
at
Guantanamo and against the "War on Terror", which the
continued detentions
at Guantanamo are a part.
To listen / download the interview with Shane Kadidal visit:
http://www.radio.indymedia.org/news/2004/07/2066.php
To get more information about the Centre for Consitional Rights
visit:
http://www.ccr-ny.org
================================================
06 Antidiskriminierungsrichtlinien: EU-Vertragsverletzungsverfahren
gegen Österreich wegen mangelhafter Umsetzung
von: Kurt Krickler <kurt.krickler (at) chello.at>
================================================
> Medienaussendung des „Klagsverbands zur Durchsetzung
der Rechte
> von Diskriminierungsopfern‰ vom 19. Juli 2004>>
EU-Kommission kündigt rechtliche Schritte gegen Österreich
wegen
>> mangelhafter Umsetzung der Antidiskriminierungsrichtlinien
an
Heute, 19. 7. 2004, hat die EU-Kommission in einer Pressemitteilung
(IP/04/947) rechtliche Schritte gegen sechs Mitgliedsstaaten wegen
mangelnder bzw. nicht erfolgter Umsetzung der beiden EU-Richtlinien
43 und 78 aus dem Jahre 2000 zur Bekämpfung von Diskriminierungen
aufgrund ethnischer Zugehörigkeit bzw. einer Behinderung, des
Alters, der Religion und der sexuellen Orientierung angekündigt
(siehe:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/news/2004/jul/infringement_de.html.)
„Einer der Mitgliedsstaaten, gegen die die EU-Kommission beim
Europäischen Gerichtshof in Luxemburg Klage einbringen will,
ist Österreich‰, erklärt Dieter Schindlauer, Präsident
von ZARA (Zivilcourage und Anti-Rassismus-Arbeit) sowie des „Klagsverbands
zur Durchsetzung der Rechte von Diskriminierungsopfern‰, der
vor kurzem von einigen österreichischen NGOs, die sich im Kampf
gegen Diskriminierung engagieren, gegründet worden ist. „Seit
Jahren haben NGOs die Bundesregierung und den Nationalrat auf die
im Vorjahr abgelaufenen Fristen aufmerksam gemacht und auf eine
rasche Umsetzung gedrängt. Umso ärgerlicher ist es jetzt,
dass die EU-Kommission ein Vertragsverletzungsverfahren gegen Österreich
einleiten musste.‰
„Erst am 26. Mai 2004 hat der Nationalrat endlich das neue
Gleichbehandlungsgesetz und die Novelle zum Bundesgleichbehandlungsgesetz
beschlossen – sie traten am 1. Juli in Kraft –, aber
offenbar hat die Regierung der EU-Kommission noch keine entsprechende
Meldung darüber übermittelt. Der zweite Kritikpunkt der
EU-Kommission betrifft den Umstand, dass auch die meisten Bundesländer
die Richtlinien für ihren Bereich durch entsprechende Landesgesetze
noch nicht umgesetzt haben‰, erklärt Martin Ladstätter,
Schriftführer des Klagsverbands. „Erst die Landtage von
Wien und der Steiermark haben am 30. Juni bzw. am 6. Juli Landesantidiskriminierungsgesetze
beschlossen.‰
„Wir rufen daher jetzt alle anderen Bundesländer dringend
auf, ihre entsprechenden Landesgesetze schnellstmöglich zu
verabschieden‰, ergänzt Kurt Krickler, Kassier des Klagsverbands
und Generalsekretär der Homosexuellen Initiative (HOSI) Wien.
„Österreich hat jetzt zwei Monate Zeit, der EU-Kommission
eine erklärende Stellungnahme zu übergeben. Die EU-Kommission
wird übrigens in der Folge die beschlossenen Bundes- und Landesgesetze
auch inhaltlich überprüfen, ob damit die Richtlinien vollständig
und korrekt in österreichisches Recht umgesetzt worden sind.
Diese Frage birgt weiteren Konfliktstoff, da unserer Meinung nach
die EU-Richtlinien in einigen Punkten nicht korrekt und vollständig
umgesetzt worden sind. Besonders problematisch ist jedoch, daß
Österreich für den Diskriminierungsgrund Behinderung immer
noch überhaupt keine gesetzlichen Bestimmungen erlassen hat
und auch um keine Fristverlängerung, wie sie in der Richtlinie
vorgesehen ist, angesucht hat.‰
Rückfragehinweise:
Dieter Schindlauer, Tel.: (01) 9610585 18 oder 0676-6337866
Kurt Krickler, Tel.: (01) 545 13 10 oder 0664-57 67 466
www.klagsverband.at
================================================
07 Oppenheimer silent while San struggle
von: "ECOTERRA Intl." <MailHub (at) ecoterra.net>
================================================
>> Oppenheimer silent on plans, while <<
>> Botswana Bushmen Fight Eviction <<
> "We will accept nothing less than human rights.
> We will know them and claim them,
> For all women, men, youth and children,
> From those who speak human rights,
> But deny them to their own people."
-Shulamith Koenig, PDHRE
> THE SAN are the aboriginal people of Southern Africa.
> Their distinct hunter-gatherer culture stretches back over
20 000 years,
> and their genetic origins reach back over one million years.
Recent
> research indicates that the San are the oldest genetic stock
of
> contemporary humanity. TEN thousand years ago their exclusive
> domain stretched from the Zambezi to the Cape of Good Hope,
from
> the Atlantic tothe Indian Oceans.
> THREE hundred years ago European colonists called them "untameable".
> Now southern Africa's 110,000 remaining San face cultural extinction,
> living lives of poverty on the outer edges of society. Today
they struggle
> to win back a foothold, along with their pride, in the lands
they once
> roamed freely.
> (ex www.san.org)
Politics since independence have been dominated by the Botswana
Democratic Party (BDP), which has won every general election with
a large majority.
In the general election of 1994 – won by the BDP – for
the first time
a strong opposition party emerged: the Botswana National Front.
But also this opposition party has not (yet?) come to the rescue
of
their fellow citizen, the san-speaking first people of Botswana,
the
Gana, Khwe in Botswana, where the are called Basarwa. The next
election is just around the corner, if one can believe what was
stated
by the Botswana Government. But if the Tswana-President can
alter the constitution to get his way with the Bushmen then it can
be predicted that he also will "manage" the next election.
> Botswana - internal strife <
The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) currently led by President Festus
Mogae, has been in power since independence in 1966.
The four opposition parties have constantly been plagued by internal
strife and rifts, weakening them and ensuring victory for the ruling
party.
The cracks are already showing in the coalition formed between the
Botswana Congress Party, the Botswana Alliance Movement and the
Botswana People's Party.
The BDP is in with a good chance to sweep the general election,
for which a final date has not been announced as yet.
Most of the jockeying is expected to come from possible presidential
candidates in the ruling party.
Experts believe Mogae will remain in office for a while following
the elections before handing over power to Ian Khama, former commander
of the Botswana defence force and eldest son of Sir Seretse Khama,
Botswana's first president.
Mogae took over in a similar fashion from former president Khetumile
Masire. Thus, it is believed, unnecessary tension and conflict are
avoided during the transition and power is transferred in a stable
environment.
However the upcomig election might see Mogae to go under in a landslide
victory of his
opponents.
--------------
Nicki Oppenheimer, Mogae's strong supporter, - who likes to camouflage
himself with green-smokescreen
environmental ventures, like the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research
Centre or a recently
purchased wildlife sanctuary, the Tswalu Private Desert Reserve,
created by the late Stephen Boler,
remains mum on the actual further plans of his family businesses,
but he was forced to say
that now DeBeers would be at least working on a policy concerning
indigenous peoples rights.
Still he has - like the Botswana Government - to admit that the
San are actually people!
Until the Oppenheimer Family, who is part and parcel to the genocide,
which has been comitted against the
Bushmen in Southern Africa since the year 1652, comes clean, Nickis'
words remain to be mere
lip-service. But the Oppenheimers have a chance to prove their change
in mind indeed:
> How about handing over the 200,000 acres of Southern Kalahari
to a
> band of traditional San people, whose land it was anyway, and
let them
> be what they were since 40,000 years:
> THE NATURAL STEWARDS AND CUSTODIANS OF NATURE !
Thereby a chance to survival would not only be offered to all the
wildlife but also to true
humanity and its living original culture.
--------
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELEASE
15 July 2004
DE BEERS BACKTRACKS ON DENIAL OF TRIBAL PEOPLES' RIGHTS
De Beers has this week been backpedalling fast on its refusal to
recognise indigenous rights in southern Africa.
De Beers told Survival International in October 2002 that it did
not have a policy on indigenous peoples' rights in southern Africa
because such a policy would 'head down the path' to 'apartheid'.
Representatives of De Beers attending a presentation by Survival
this week to the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Botswana denied
the October 2002 statement. Also this week, company Chairman Nicky
Oppenheimer, asked by Canadian radio whether it was true that De
Beers did not support indigenous rights in Africa, said, 'I find
that quite amusing,' and suggested the company was working on a
policy.
Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, 'De Beers is decades
behind international thinking on the rights of tribal peoples. It
is not acceptable to pretend they do not exist. Mining company Rio
Tinto, for example, recently promised not to mine on the land of
the Mirrar Aborigines in Australia without their consent.'
De Beers and its subsidiaries own diamond exploration concessions
and licences on the ancestral land of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen in
Botswana. The Bushmen were evicted from their land in 2002 and forced
to live in bleak resettlement centres where they are reduced to
beggars, alcoholics and prostitutes.
For more information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734
or email mr (at) survival-international.org
------------------
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELEASE
14 July 2004
BOTSWANA: GOVERNMENT WILL 'CHANGE CONSTITUTION TO GET ITS WAY'A
Botswana government spokesman said yesterday that if it loses the
current court case being brought by the Bushmen for the right to
return to their land it would 'change the law, or amend the constitution,
to get its way.'
The 'senior government source' was quoted in the UK's Daily Telegraph
newspaper on 13th July.
248 Bushmen are suing the Botswana government for being forced off
their ancestral land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. They
are asking the court to declare that the government's decision to
evict them, and stop providing services such as a water supply,
was unlawful and unconstitutional.
Survival's Director Stephen Corry said in response, 'This is extremely
disturbing news, with grave overtones for justice throughout all
Botswana. What's the point of an independent judiciary if the government
simply changes the constitution when it doesn't agree with a judgement?
Botswana's image as the 'shining light' of Africa is dimming rapidly.'For
more information contact Miriam Ross on +44 (0)20 7687 8734 or mr (at) survival-international.org
--
Please help the Bushmen in their struggle to return to their ancestral
lands. Click here for more information: http://www.survival-international.org/bushman_home.htm
Survival International
6 Charterhouse Buildings
London EC1M 7ET
UK
Tel: (+44) (0)20 7687 8700
Fax: (+44) (0) 20 7687 8701
General enquiries: info (at) survival-international.org
http://www.survival-international.org
------------------
------------------
>> Botswana Bushmen Fight Eviction <<
BOTSWANA: July 13, 2004
> GABORONE - Botswana's Bushmen went to a special court in
> the Kalahari Desert yesterday to appeal against their eviction
from
> ancestral lands, testing their traditional rights against government
> plans to modernize the country.Lawyers for the Bushmen, also
known as the Basarwa, said the government violated the constitution
when it ordered them out of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in
2001, saying their lands were too vast to be reached by essential
services.
Supporters of the Bushmen, including several international pressure
groups, say Botswana's government wants unimpeded access to any
mineral and diamond reserves which might be beneath the Kalahari.
But the government says the Bushmen must be better integrated into
mainstream society if they are to benefit from education, medical
services and job opportunities.
Diamond reserves have helped transform Botswana into one of Africa's
most sophisticated economies, with one of the continent's highest
per capita incomes and model health and education services.
Authorities set up a special court in the Kalahari to allow more
Bushmen to testify. The desert hearings are expected to last until
July 30 when the case will move to the High Court's regular seat
in Lobatse.
Southern Africa's Bushmen have lived in the region for thousands
of years and many still survive as traditional hunters and gatherers
in an unforgiving desert environment.
A victory for the Bushmen would give them the right to stay in the
Kalahari - an important symbolic advance for Africa's dwindling
populations of traditional hunter-gatherers.
About 2,500 Bushmen have been relocated over the past 18 months
from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, located in the middle of
huge and sparsely populated Botswana.
Botswana's treatment of the Bushmen has become an international
issue with celebrities weighing in and major diamond producer De
Beers, which has massive operations in Botswana, coming under pressure.
President Festus Mogae recently suggested his government would pursue
the case until the Bushmen are legally barred from the Kalahari.
"This is a very disturbing remark indeed for the head of state
of a supposedly democratic government to make about the due process
of law inside his own country," said Stephen Corry of Survival
International, a British-based organization which has championed
the Bushmen's cause.
Story by Barry Baxter
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
-----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
> Are we now selling the family jewels? <
> QUESTION TIME
> PATRICK VANRANSBURG
> 3/19/2004 12:39:17 AM (GMT +2)
> THIS week‚s surprise announcement that the Government
> ordered the sale of half of its shares in Anglo-American,
> Botswana‚s first and biggest sweetheart company, is making
waves.The new South African Daily, THISDAY, yesterday reported speculation
that the Government‚s move might have had something to do
with the Oppenheimer family‚s wish to eliminate the cross
holdings between Anglo and DeBeers ahead of a buyout of Anglo‚s
45% stake in the diamond group.
THISDAY, however, seemed to settle for reports claiming that „the
Botswana Government, which has a reputation for sound fiscal management,
sold the shares because it is running short of cash as its worsening
HIV/AIDS epidemic pushes up state spending‰.
We all thought that diamonds would keep the economy flush until
they ran out. Has the bubble burst so soon? The Government must
surely have been aware that a move of this order would lead to all
sorts of speculation, some of which could be damaging, like the
above reports quoted in THISDAY.
Given that our Foreign Reserves have reportedly fallen from P41
billion two years ago, to P22 billion at the end of last year, is
a reflection of both questionable management of an ailing economy,
and of our reserves and our currency.
The press release of DEBSWANA, which held the shares on behalf of
the Government, released yesterday, is quoted more fully elsewhere,
but in the context of my own observations, I would stress two points:
that the Government accessed P760 million for its 6.87 million shares
in Anglo American; and that it still held the other half, namely
6.87 million shares, reflecting „Government‚s ongoing
confidence in the management of Anglo American and that the shares
represent a sound investment‰.
I would have thought that the Botswana Government itself was more
in need of a vote of confidence from monetary authorities and investment
analysts, in this situation.
There are two main issues, here. The first is: Why is the Government
in need of these funds? The second is: Is this the best way of raising
the funds that Government needs?
In earlier columns, I have made the point that Government overspent
massively on NDP8, by its own acknowledgement in NDP 9. It is now
committed to a 15% increase in civil service salaries starting on
April Fool‚s day, in two week‚s time.
It ís just not on to blame HIV/AIDS and people‚s wilful,
or frightened, denial and irresponsibility, whichever, however expensive
it is, if at the same time Government embarks on vast building projects,
while neglecting dangerous roads, as if that is what the country
most needs now.
Government has reportedly even bought an existing building in the
Government Enclave put up by one of two rival developers, fifteen
or so years ago, in which highly placed people have a stake. Apart
from anything else, that must be acknowledged publicly, if it is
true.
Other massive expenditure, which could have been avoided with unconventional
remedial action, was the closure of President Seretse Khama‚s
dream project, Tirelo Sechaba, resulting in a double flow of students
into the arena of further education. The solution chosen was a massive,
extraordinarily costly emigration of the problem to the World‚s
higher learning centres.
The reportedly little used, but massive and costly Gaborone Technical
College could have housed a stop-gap expansion of UB as the foundation
of a second university or combined arts and engineering campus.
In the face of a cash crisis causing Government to ask parents to
pay part of the costs of their children‚s education, and the
sick to pay more for health care, as well as to sell profitable
shares, Government decided to take over training in Brigades instead
of more inexpensively reviving BRIDEC and strengthening Brigade
management through the NBCC and community based organisations.
At great extra cost, Government is expanding the Daily News, and
though there is increasing advertising from the private sector and
from all its agencies, it fails to seek payment for the paper.
Even Robert Mugabe makes readers pay for The Herald in Zimbabwe!
Can Government afford to let go P65 000, at a Pula an issue, every
day, for that number of issues printed and given away, while it
pleads financial crisis and, on the other hand, verbally promotes
privatisation of Government functions.
Various commentators have suggested different ways in which Government
could raise funds, instead of the alarming Œfunkhole‚
of selling the family jewels. Had it exhausted the possibility of
selling bonds? Why was it going so slowly on the privatisation it
espouses in principle?
The Fiscus appears desperate. It is ready to tax educational and
other charitable trusts and community based organizations, if it
doesn‚t like what they‚re doing. On 1 March, it started
charging all drivers of foreign registered cars R40 for each entry,
without much publicity, at least not in the private press. The taxman
seems to be going back into deep history to find out if taxpayers
might have delayed payment without interest charges in 1977, for
example!
Do we have to spend a lot of money on professional publicists to
deal with Mr Corry of Survival International? What‚s the point
of costly Embassies and High Commissions?
The Norwegians went through all this kind of thing with their Saamis
and came up with a sensible solution in a Saami representative body,
which has solved everyone‚s problems, there. But first they
had to admit the Saamis were also people!
http://www.mmegi.bw/2004/March/Friday19/2682527051376.html
-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
>> SA's Oppenheimer family to launch new business <<
Wednesday, October 29, 2003 - Web posted at 9:35:20 GMT
> JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's Jonathan Oppenheimer said
> his family would replicate its success with diamond giant De
Beers
> by starting a new business next year.
He gave few details at a dinner on Sunday night of African economic
editors, but said the new investments stemmed from a commitment
by the family to improve Africa's economy.
"As a family, we are prepared to put up money to pursue that
...
We've done it once, we put up a lot of money to do De Beers.
We'll do it again.
Watch this space," he told the conference.
De Beers, the world's number one diamond firm, is 45 percent owned
by mining giant Anglo American plc, but is not listed itself.
The rest of De Beers shares are owned by the Oppenheimer family
and the Botswana government.
"My African strategy is a simple one.
It is one of building relationships with like minded individuals
to develop long-term growth strategies.
It's one of investing our family's money alongside other like-minded
people in creating the infrastructure and the capacities necessary
to realise Africa's potential," he said.
Oppenheimer told Reuters later that the new business was "not
necessarily" in the mining field, but declined to say on which
sector it would focus.
The business would probably launch late in 2004 and might include
partners in addition to the Oppenheimers -depending on the opportunities
available, he added.
The business would not confine itself to Africa, but be "global"
in nature, Oppenheimer said.
In August, Oppenheimer and his father Nicky sparked debate about
South Africa's bid to boost black participation in the economy with
their Brenthurst Initiative - named after the family estate.
The initiative aims to provide a framework to enable transformation
and economic growth to go hand in hand by giving tax incentives
to business to boost black involvement in an economy still largely
in the hands of the white minority.
http://www.namibian.com.na/2003/october/marketplace/032A3A1F6.html
-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
>> ... and 25 years earlier: <<
>> Harry Oppenheimer : <<
>> The King of Diamonds <<
> Entry dated :: December 4, 1978
> Johannesburg, South Africa
If one man can be said to control the world's diamonds it is Harry
Frederick Oppenheimer.
Sitting across the desk from Oppenheimer, however, it is hard to
imagine that this small, shy man dominated a multi-billion-dollar
empire. He spoke quietly, but with great precision. He had a distinct
Oxford accent, and as he explained an issue he tended to punctuate
his answers with a self-effacing, smile. He was far more candid
in discussing his business than I would have expected someone in
this position to be, and I assumed that this disarming openness
proceeded from his confidence in his control over his immediate
universe. His interlocking businesses did after all account for
over half of the industrial exports of southern Africa. The heart
of this complex is located at 44 Main Street in the heart of Johannesburg'.
The block-long building, with its imposing neocolonial facade and
marble entranceway, looked much more like a government institution
than the headquarters of the mining company. As it turned out, it
housed in its offices far more power than most government buildings.
Indeed, Oppenheimer even had a private treaty with the Soviet Union,
although the terms have never been publicly revealed.
I had come to South Africa to write a book on the diamond business.
Oppenheimer's father, Ernest Oppenheimer, had developed the monopoly,
De Beers, that runs it. Oppenheimer explained that it was no secret
that De Beers acquired through subsidiaries all the uncut diamonds
that the Soviet Union wanted to sell on the open market. "We
have of course no reason for concealing this arrangement other than
the Russians prefer not to receive any public attention for obvious
reasons," he said almost apologetically. The "obvious
reasons" for obscuring the arrangement with De Beers were that
the Soviet Union had for some fifteen years called for a total boycott
of South Africa and South African businesses, and its dealings with
De Beers, if made public, might prove embarrassing.
But how long could such an unholy alliance last? The Soviet Union
apparently had ambitions of its own in southern Africa, and at some
point geopolitical considerations might take precedence over business
considerations. I asked how he could be sure that the Soviets would
renew the deal.
"We paid the Soviet Union more than half a billion dollars
last year," he answered. "This is not a sum it can easily
replace, and I can see no conceivable reason why it would want to
abandon such a profitable arrangement." His logic was brutally
direct: De Beers provided the Soviet Union with its single largest
source of hard currency (only petroleum was a more important export
for Soviet trade in 1977)If the Soviet Union withdrew its diamonds
from De Beers, it would have to find other outlets to sell its uncut
diamonds. And if it precariously dumped these diamonds on the market,
the price would collapse, and the Soviet Union would lose an important
source of foreign exchange. "What could the Russians possibly
gain by competing with us?" he asked rhetorically.
He further pointed out that De Beers provided the Soviets with certain
types of industrial diamonds that were important for drilling and
producing electronic wiring. Its Siberian mines apparently did not
produce these strategically important diamonds. By selling gem stones
to De Beers, the Soviet Union received the credits for importing
the industrial diamonds it needed.
The Soviet Union also had considerable influence in other diamond
producing areas in Black Africa, such as Angola. I wondered if the
logic of the arrangement between De Beers and the Soviets required
the Soviets to use their power in those countries to help De Beers
retain its control over diamond mines there. "You will have
to address that question to the Africans concerned," he replied
abruptly. The tone in his voice made it clear that there were aspects
to the Soviet arrangement that he decidedly did not want to discuss.
Oppenheimer was concerned with the possibility of the United Nations
imposing economic sanctions against South Africa, since his empire
exported billions of dollars worth of South African commodities.
He did not believe, however, that they could affect the diamond
trade. "I can think of no commodity less susceptible to dangers
from UN sanctions than diamonds," he said. He was stating the
obvious: diamonds were after all one of the most convenient commodities
to transport across borders. For example, an entire month of production
of diamonds from the Namibian mines, worth $40 million, could be
smuggled out of Namibia in an attache case.
Oppenheimer also gave little credence to the fear that De Beers
might be running out of quality diamonds. He pointed out that De
Beers was developing vast new mines in the Botswana desert, which
he planned to visit the next day. These Botswana mines would provide
the world with an ample supply of diamonds well into the 1990s.
Oppenheimer insisted that the black-white confrontation in Africa
would not present a problem for De Beers. He termed the arrangement
between De Beers and Black African nations "Mutually advantageous."
He further suggested that it might be useful for me to inspect at
first hand some of De Beers' mining operations in independent nations
to more fully understand how the "arrangement" works.
He offered to provide me air transportation and access to the mines
in Botswana, Lesotho and other independent nations.
I accepted his offer.
http://edwardjayepstein.com/diary/opp.htm
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================================================
*** ENDE TEXTTEIL ***
================================================
B) TERMINE Dienstag - Donnerstag
================================================
Dienstag:
http://www.no-racism.net/MUND/butt/Termine/Juli/2007.htm
Mittwoch:
http://www.no-racism.net/MUND/butt/Termine/Juli/2107.htm
Donnerstag:
http://www.no-racism.net/MUND/butt/Termine/Juli/2207.htm
(Sollte ein Terminlink nirgendwohin führen: dann sind für
dieses Datum
keine Termine eingetroffen, tut uns leid.)
================================================
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