New York Times not loving SA
The NY Times carried a none too positive article on SA on the front page of its site this morning. The article notes all of the negativity surrounding the socio-political environment of our homeland, from both a non-white and white perspective. It's sobering reading and does us no favours at a time when we're all looking for positive reinforcement.

I remain optimistic. Politically the Motlanthe appointment over Mbete has taken much heat out of the situation. Motlanthe is the best man for the job right now, (and after April), and should calm the storm. Government is also very aware of 2010 and what a moment it is for South Africa, and behind closed doors, many politicans have been expressing the need to bring immediate calm to the socio-political landscape and start to bring more positivity to South Africa. The poor and marginalised should benefit from this position in the short to medium term, and there should be a much more focussed effort post-Mbeki to keep negativity out of the SA consciousness. Hopefully this should translate in more action, better service delivery and more political maturity.

I'll throw something out there too, there is still much water to flow between now and April, and Zuma, in my view, is still not a dead lock for the Presidency. That may be contrary to everything that one sees and hears in the media, but I'm still not convinced that he has the full support of the entire party. Should a split happen (I remain doubtful), then his chances go significantly up, but should the party remain intact, there may be a compromise - and that would be Motlanthe.