Wednesday 12 June 2013

Book review
By: Pelane Mabula

Title : Bite of the Banshee
Author : Muff Andersson
Place of publication :Yeoville,Johannesburg, South Africa
Publisher :STE Publishers
Date of Publication : May, 2002
Number of pages : 227

About the author

A South African author, who is now a former umkhondo wesizwe commander and a journalist, Muff Andersson, was granted amnesty in 18th September 1997 for distributing weapons to the ANC and its followers during the apartheid era.

The first book that she wrote was published in 1981 named Music in the mix, even so, “Bite of the Banshee” marks Muff andersson’s debut as a novelist. She is had read for her PhD on political memory and popular culture.
 
She had received an award for her first book named Music in the mix. She had also done the political memory and violence in Yizo-Yizo drama in 2001.
Bite of the Banshee (banshee is defines as Holy Ghost).
 
Bite of the Banshee has 41 chapters, was written after the apartheid era though its contents speak of how other families went to exile and their children had to be raised where they would not be familiar with their mother tongue and how their culture operated.

The book looks at crime in the new South Africa, during democracy.
This is a really fascinating book that intrigues one to want to know more about what is going to happen next, who killed Dodie Katz? Was it her lesbian friends? Psycho kid
perhaps?
Or someone else that you are yet to come across the book? What in sighted me most during the process of acquiring this book is that the South African president who is referred to in this book is a she, her name, Thandeka Rulashe. This made me ask myself many questions.

I felt like the book was narrating reality of what may have happened or a dramatization of what may have happened just after lending our democracy.
But we never had a female president, even our former deputy president who is a woman was part of the presidency just a few years ago and this book was wrote in 2002.
I then wanted to know how she came about to become president, thus motivated me to read even further.
It makes one comment on the life style that the characters in this book live, and how they relate to the way that the reader lives.

This book is about friends, family and the police trying to find out who killed Dodie Katz, A thirty-nine year old human rights lawyer who was at that time at Cape town to defend her client, and soon been friend, Ms Abigail Moeketsi(charged with crimen injuria against Zodwa Nxumalo), one of the many characters in this book, namely , Amilcar Moeketsi, Thandi Moeketsi, Dimitri Gallo, Philiswa, Philemon, MK Makatini, Psycho kid (Cornelius van der merwe), Brady, Max, Abby, Sue and Ceril Katz( Dodie’s parents), Regina, phindi khumalo, Pat Fernandez, Melanie Chambers, Mamma and others.

In this book, you will learn how Dodie Katz was killed and how her loved ones where affected by her death, especially her parents, though her Mother took it very badly.
You will also learn that one does not always have to suspect a well-known criminal in the community for any crime that takes place, it can be anyone, even the person you have never thought of or can be related to the crime in itself.

My first questions after reading the book was, “ what happened to uncle Max? Why was he not prosecuted?” He for years, used Cornelius to do his dirty work of carrying his drugs to different venues in the country, and he does not seem like he was even considered to be wrong.
 
I believe that the purpose of this book is to let the audience know that even though an individuals may think that nobody saw them practicing a particular crime, investigations will be conducted and all shall be revealed.

Though we live at times where everything and anything is possible, I still find this novel shocking as to how a person can rape, strangle and then kill a helpless person who is made to be unable to defend themselves by being tied.

Dodie Katz was found gagged and tied to her bed, raped and then strangled to death in her hotel room, a gruesome deed this is. All her friends, family and colleagues could not believe what had happened to Dodie.
Since there was no sign of a forced entry or anything missing in her room, some people thought / opined that Dodie had picked up a man on her way back to her hotel room while Philiswa raised a thought that she may have been a lesbian . But how? How can she be raped by another women, we know things do happen, but a woman would not rape another woman.

Stefan suggested that there was not only one killer, he raised that there could have been two or more accomplices in the room together with Dodie at the time of her death, but his thought was ruled out by kojak (philemon) when he told him that all the evidence in the room suggests that there was only one person together with Dodie in the room at the time of her death.

Abby and Amilcar are brother and sister, both of them were born in exile, Zambia to be specific and neither of them can speak a single South African language, except for English that is. This siblings were single handedly raised by their mother Mamma, who was then appointed, after exile, as an ambassador to Mexico for South Africa where she was based in Mexico city.
Amilcar ( works as an African correspondent) thought that white South Africans were a disgusting lot, that’s just because he just does not like the way they live, the perfumes they use and the expensive food they buy.

Amilcar, who found out that he was gay, had a relationship with Nico stephanou, the owner of a restaurant named Harlequin, of which did not last long. He then decided to leave the country. But before did so, he had introduced Dodie Katz to Patricio Fernandez, a sexual healer the Christmas prior to Dodies death. Dodie then booked an appointment with him when she went to Cape Town.

On the day of the murder, psycho kid was delivering a small package of bath salts to a particular room at a hotel in Cape Town where he says that Pat Fernandez had answered the door for him when he knocked. This was the room where Dodie was gruesomely murdered in. he clearly stated that he heard Dodie’s voice before he was chased away by the man he saw and say that it was Pat Fernandez.

Psycho kid was delivering the bath salts to the right room, but the wrong hotel. It was supposed to have been another hotel where the American recipient for the salts was waiting, not two blocks away from the initial hotel.
 
Psycho kid was known for drug possession, but in this case, he was not in possession of any illegal substance, only bath salts that he was carrying.

MK Makatini both questioned uncle Max and what is it that he had given psycho kid to carry. After this confrontation, they learned that psycho kid was only carrying anti-retro-viral in a bath salt form.

Psycho kid was arrested for charges of murder, after stating that he had saw Pat Fernandez at the hotel ,Pat was also arrested and charged with murder.
Relevant tests were run and during the trial period, tests proved that Pat was guilty of the rape and murder of Dodie Katz. Psycho kid’s testimony confused Dawie de Lange, Pat Fernandez’s lawyer on how the boy’s story had was the same to what he can remember.

Pat Fernandez was convicted of rape and murder. During his limited residence in jail as a jailbird, he committed suicide.
I believe that the book has achieved its goal by being able to teach people that, though you may be surrounded by a bad environment and made wrong choices, you can still make up to it by being true to yourself and focus on the things that can better your future, in this case, psycho kid.

The book has highlighted possibilities of coincidences that may occur when you least think they may happen. In the book, the coincidence that happened was that psycho kid went into a wrong hotel and was able to see fernandez’s face before the incident and could now identify him to the police as the person he had seen on that day in the room of Dodie Katz.

I can link this book to another African book that I have read named “Lenong la Gauta”, though they do not share the same setting, “Lenong la Gauta” talks about a woman who have murdered her own mother-in-law for a Golden necklace. Before knowing the truth, the police had suspected that the murdered woman’s house maid was the killer.
For months and months had her husband devoted himself to finding the truth about who really killed his step-Mother and came to closed dead-ends on several occasions until he had had a breakthrough. Having evidence that links his wife to the murder.

I think that the books link because in both cases, the truth about who killed the subjects eventually came out and the law had took its course, in “Lenong la Gauta” the murderer killed herself when she
was being chased by the police while in Bite of the Banshee the murderer killed himself after his trial and conviction.
 
I would also like to know how RSA came about to have a female president in this book, what where the reasons that led the writer to frame it as such. Unfortunately, this matter was never entertained anyhow in the book though I think that it would have also made it an intriguing factor that she have mentioned it.

I feel that I could have added prosecution of uncle Max, the drug lord in attempt of informing my audience that taking young children for granted and making them your scapegoat for your personal vendetta especially when you have them to transport illegal material is a ruthless deed one shall be prosecuted.

My overall evaluation about this book is that it has the ability to rise feelings. I felt disgusted by the way Dodie was killed, I felt sorry for her family for no knowing who killed their daughter and it angered me to see the that an adult can plead not guilty to a case that he had committed and expected a teenager to take the fall for him.

For that, this is an award winning material. I, as the audience, have received it well, therefore recommend it to the public at large.

Introspecting public participation
Public participation may be regarded as a political principle or practice, and may also be recognised as a right where the public/the society at large have the right to partake in the decision making process of the country.
Public participation also seeks and facilitates the involvement of those potentially affected by or interested in a decision. The principle of public participation holds that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process.
There are different types of public participation which are applicable amongst society in our country that either affects the participation process to be effective or passive. The different types of PP will be named on page 3.


Public participation in the context of South African politics
The involvement of citizens in matters of service delivery is important in a democratic society. Public participation is a mechanism for entrenching democracy and it promotes social cohesion between government and the citizens, particularly in the provision of quality and sustainable services.
In South Africa, prior to 1994, the government suppressed all forms of public participation especially among the black communities.
The practice of critical engagement was frowned upon by an insular and self perpetuating state. The apartheid-led government stifled public participation and excluded the vast majority of people in governance and service delivery matters.
With the democratic transition in 1994, there was a clear commitment to consultation and participation by citizens as service users of the Public Service.
This stems from a rich history of consultation during the liberation struggle and at the advent of democracy, the Constitution made public participation a fundamental priority and the policy environment was characterised by White Papers that clearly articulated government’s intent and invited extensive consultation and public participation.
In this regard, members of the public were invited to make inputs thus making the process of drafting the Constitution and the various White Papers inclusive and open to the public.
The Constitution states that all spheres of government (national, provincial and local) should create mechanisms which would make it easy for people either as individuals or groups to participate in government-led initiatives.

However, post 1994, the newly elected government committed itself to and embraced a people centred development approach. With this approach, public participation became a Constitutional imperative where it is stated that “people’s needs must be responded to, and the public must be encouraged to participate in policy making”.
The public participate in policy making through various types of public participation which are presently applicable in South Africa. The public:
·         Votes in elections
·         Participate in party politics
·         Hold public demonstrations
·         Petition on local or national leaders
·         Lobby decision-makers
·         Make written or verbal submissions to committees
·         Use ward committees at local government level
It is through the above mentioned types of public participation that the public engage itself with the government to make decisions, but usually on the times when they are approached do I believe that the forms are effective.
Again In the new South Africa (since 1994), the government has applied several initiatives to effect public participation. These include methodologies such as izimbizo, Exco-meets the people, public hearings, ward committees, community development workers, Citizen Satisfaction Surveys and Citizens Forums.

In addition, various structures such as the National Economic Development and Labour  
Council (NEDLAC) and the National Anti-Corruption Forum were established to create a    
platform for public participation.

Looking at the core values and principles of public participation

• Public participation is based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to beinvolved in the decision-making process.
• Public participation includes the promise that the public’s contribution will influence the decision.
• Public participation promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and communicating the needs and interests of all participants, including decision makers.
• Public participation seeks input from participants in designing how they participate.
• Public participation provides participants with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way.
• Public participation communicates to participants how their inputs affect decisions.
Many forms of public participations are being utilised as they create a platform where citizens ‘views find their way in development planning and policy making processes.

However, when citizens participate in information giving, they are often not informed of how the information will be used and they rarely receive the end products of such participatory process, of which I may add that it becomes more and more of a norm to the South African political officials which is giving the public the wrong end of the stick to hold.

Stephen D. Tensey and Nigel A. Jackson (2008-173) says that democracy is often thought of primarily in terms of the opportunity for citizens to freely choose their rulers on periotic intervals, rather than to make governmental decisions for themselves. I thereof see the need for transparency of the officials to the society on provincial level and let the people partake/participate in policy making agreeing to the notion that states that provincial institutions are required to make provision to receive public input on all legislative and policy matters.

Public influence on policy making at Provincial level

The participation of the public in policy making and other decisions is there, though not at a distinction, but statistics shows that it is evident in just over 50% active in most provinces of South Africa.
The publics’ power is the capacity and capability of people (individually and collectively) to positively shape and influence the direction, content and structure of their lives and communities. Since ‘94, it has become a mainstream practice for public services to involve citizens in their decision-making.
Provincial departments should develop guidelines/policies on public participation to inform and manage critical engagement with citizens. The guidelines/policies on public participation should clearly articulate the objectives of public participation and the process to be followed during engagement with citizens. During the development of such guidelines/policies, departments should ensure that the views and inputs of stakeholders are solicited of which breathes in the South African society, but not to its fullest capacity.
Departments at both national and provincial governments, rarely institutionalise public participation as a service delivery and good governance mechanism. In order to institutionalise public participation, departments should ensure that public participation units are established and have the necessary financial and human resources to support critical citizen engagement.
During discussions on new policies, individuals are allowed to submit petitions to the municipal manager. A petition is usually used to inform the council and the administration that a large number of people want something to be done. Petitions are used to draw the attention of the administration to something that should be done. They can be used to point out that one of the laws or policies of the province is not being applied properly or to call for a change. Either the community or a councillor can draw up a petition.
These are handed to the council secretary at a council meeting. The person who delivers a petition may explain its subject but is not allowed to make a speech about it. The petition is usually referred to the provincial management committee that will then report to council.
The officials circulate the petition to the relevant departments who will make recommendations to the relevant portfolio or standing committees. These committees then make recommendations to council. The councillor or group who submits the petition should keep track of the progress of the petition.
Again, after a decision to seek a new policy or law, it is the sole duty of the provincial (or national if the case) administrator to seek public input which is rare in RSA at the moment.
There are other means where the public interacts with the provincial/national council besides petitions that are Requests, public meetings and forums, and questions to council.
I conclude that there is interaction between the provincial administration and the public at large and add that there is a lot room for improvement.

Factors contributing to non-participation by organisations and individuals in public participation exercise.
Most factors that contribute to the lack of participation of the society at large revolves around being uneducated about their rights, responsibilities and options that are available for them to use. However, too frequently the emphasis is put on the “one way channel” or flow of information that goes from the officials to the citizens with no channel provided for feedback or clarity.
Again, attitude from certain neighbourhoods/citizens is a contributing factor as to the lack of participation in public participation exercises. Residents are usually unhappy about the number of times per week or month they are surveyed about their challenges, problems and hopes of the immediate future which lead to them not partaking resulting in a skewed statistic.
In addition, officials also play a major role in the lack of public partaking in surveys as they only release limited information about a particular topic in hand that leads to people not being able to understand what is really expected of them and how to come about reaching a conclusion on that matter, they thus end up awaiting the outcome of the situation of which only the officials may have participated in coming about that decision.
In essence, the society may not see the need to partake is other surveys because of not being given the status of the previous surveys made, but given new ones. In short, I am saying that the officials should first give feedback to the society about topics in hand before moving on to do the next topic. The negative of that will does result to the public not trusting the officials and seeing no need to partake in the surveys.
Residents, I add, should be trained to understand the democratic leadership style that is used in the Republic and how to tackle issues when they arise because clearly, only a few people do understand what is expected of them.
Manipulation, as one of the factors, contributes to non-participation on public participation exercises as citizens are placed on rubberstamp advisory commitees for the express purpose of educating them. Instead of genuine citizen participation, the bottom rung of the ladder signifies the distortion of participation into a public relations vehicle by powerholders
 Factors in point form
·         Citizens do not know their right, responsibilities and options
·         Negative attitude towards participating by citizens
·         State releases limited information about the topics in hand
·         State rarely gives feedback to the citizens after topic is surveyed and discussed
·         Manipulation/agenda setting by the state/officials

Conclusion
In conclusion, there is only a small margin of the republic’s population that takes part in public participation exercises of which do not complement the number. The state needs to do more to catch the interest of the people to participate in those excersies.
Bibliography
·         Issues in Political Theory,2008 Catriona McKinnon
·         Political Science An Introduction, 1974 Michael Roskin en al
·         Aristotle Politics,2000 John Berseth
·         Politics The Basics,2008 Stephed D. Tansey and Nigel Jackson