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Lawyer’s name dead giveaway ahead of vanishing act

I LAUGHED my heart out yesterday when I read the article about the lawyer who vanished (High profile “lawyer” vanishes, DD, July 26).

The reason I was amused was that, if all of us were serious about language issues in our country, the whole saga could have been prevented. If Mr Manyamalala had gone into any village, say in the Transkei, to introduce himself to, say, the village elders or the chief, a number of questions would have been asked about his name.

“He mfana, njengokuba igama lakho ingu Manyamalala nje, kha usixelele, akuzukunyamalala?” (Young man, seeing that your name means “vanish”, are you not going to vanish?) That would have been the first question. And his response would have told the whole story. You see, African people place a lot of significance in people’s names. On the one hand, parents who were negative or had concerns of one sort or another regarding the birth of a child, would express their concerns in the name that they gave to a child.

I know a fellow called Thwani. His full name is Kuzakuthwani, meaning “what are we going to do”. He was born into a family so poor they felt they were not ready for another addition to their poverty-stricken situation. On the other hand, my name, Mzwandile, expresses the hope my family had that I was going to help “build” the family. (Whether or not that happened is another matter.)

And there are many other such examples. This brings me back to Mr Manyamalala. “Nyamalala” in isiXhosa means “vanish” or “disappear”, and “manyamalala” means “he who vanishes”.

And hasn’t the good lawyer done just that? In my own mind I am convinced this is not his real name, but rather the workings of his conman’s brains! — Mzwandile C Mangcu, via e-mail

Ministers’ contempt for poor

I WAS really moved by your columnist Laura Miti, (Do ministers have moral conscience, DD, July 27). I always read Miti’s articles with keen interest and generally agree with her take on many issues, but this time around she has outdone herself.

This is the kind of article one wishes one could keep and every now and then just publish it or paste on every door of the public representatives. I just think they keep missing the point. Perhaps it talks to the fast-rotting moral authority of this movement.

Joe Slovo, Govan Mbeki, Oliver Tambo and many other towering figures in our liberation history must be turning in their graves when they hear such rubbish. The contempt our politicians have for the poor is unbelievable. Wait until next year when they will be canvassing for municipal elections. You will see them in the dusty streets of our poor townships bragging in their German cars and flirting in their Italian designer suits.

What baffles me even more is that they honestly think these media exposés are a pretext to advance the argument for media regulation or control. God be with us. — Dumisani Mpafa, via e-mail

Service excellence is Marcelle

I WOULD like to applaud and commend Marcelle Bhana, who works at Absa Bank in Oxford Street, for customer service beyond excellence. I believe Marcelle embodies the meaning of customer service, and many who have come across her will attest to that.

She went beyond what I expected of her in terms of her duty to help me, and I was reminded why I chose to bank with Absa in the first place.

My problem is with their division that handles provident funds for the private security industry. As a former chairperson of the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) Amatola Security Sector, I was one of those who campaigned for the fund to be administered by Absa because we associate Absa with excellence, but the egg has been on my face.

Marcelle, however, has restored my faith. She phoned and faxed on my behalf on more than four occasions, even though she was under no obligation to do so. As a valued customer she went out of her way to make me feel special. I marvelled at this “great servant” as she went about making customers feel special.

I thank you, Marcelle. — Xola Toba, Mdantsane

DA, ID coalition old hat

THE DA and ID coalition is not a new thing. The constituency of both parties had been represented in the tri-cameral government and they had been the minority from time immemorial.

Therefore what they say about “taking on the ANC” is the normal yapping. Coalition or no coalition, life goes on. — Mongezi, via e-mail

Give Mbeki due credit

NO MATTER what the ANC says or how hard it tries to rubbish Reverend Frank Chikane’s writings about the shabby manner in which former president Thabo Mbeki was removed as the president of South Africa, the truth has to be told.

It just needed someone bold enough, like Chikane, to say it. In fact, as citizens of this land, we saw what happened and many of us cried but there was nothing we could have done to stop the ANC’s “Ngoku Brigade” from recalling or removing him.

We saw how some in the ANC NEC, including Gwede Mantashe, tried their best to ensure Mbeki was not given a chance to wind up his work or deliver his State of the Nation address last year.

The same “Ngoku Brigade” continues to make sure Mbeki’s legacy is obliterated. This includes depriving Mbeki of any form of publicity or airtime on SABC TV and radio, making sure his peace efforts in places like Sudan are not known by South Africans and that the successes of Mbeki’s governance are not highlighted.

Yet Zuma has not done anything but continue with Mbeki’s agenda. Sometimes he even claims Mbeki’s successes as his.

Chikane should be commended for his writings because we know the important role Mbeki played in bringing the World Cup to South Africa, yet this truth was avoided by the ANC and the SABC. They made it look like it was only Madiba’s magic. Madiba only went to Switzerland to influence the Fifa decision on announcement day but the man who sweated behind the scenes for months was Mbeki.

Besides the bad publicity Mbeki received over HIV/Aids and Zimbabwe, there is strong evidence his delivery was better than even that of Nelson Mandela in terms of services to the people.

If Mbeki’s so-called “silent diplomacy” approach towards Zimbabwe was bad, why does Zuma continue with it? We expected Zuma to send soldiers or implement sanctions against Robert Mugabe in contrast to Mbeki’s approach, but nothing. Why are those alliance partners and analysts who criticised Mbeki’s policy on Zimbabwe quiet when Zuma has adopted the same approach?

How long is the ANC going to continue living this lie about Mbeki? — Edgar M Madikwa, Cala