Zakumi Made in China cartoon

Zakumi Made in China

Zakumi made in China cartoon

Many in the travel and tourism industry swear on the enormous economic value created by hosting events such as the FIFA Soccer World Cup and the Olympics. Of late, there have been many sceptics that question the long term benefit of driving the present economy and tax payers into dire straits by state funding of such events.

The headline of the Business Times in South Africa last weekend read: Proudly (NOT) South African – an appropriate title given the latest scandal involving a senior ANC member of parliament awarding the Zakumi (the FIFA 2010 mascot) contract to a Chinese sweatshop. Shanghai Fashion Plastic Products and Gifts has deals in place to produce over two million Zakumi toy figurines. Cosatu, a South African trade union federation is not happy about this – particularly given the current recession and government’s promise to pay attention to local job creation.

ANC MP Shiaan-Bin Huang owns Ascendo Industrial in Newcastle, South Africa. 100,000 of these Zakumi figurines are reported to be destined there from the Chinese manufacturer. According to the article in the Sunday Times, more than 500 Chinese workers are each paid R23 (about £2 GBP) a day to make the Zakumi toy figures which retail for approximately R360 (about £30 GBP). Shiaan-Bin Huang acted as Ascendo Industrial’s managing director when he signed the contract with the Chinese manufacturer. At those rates, it’s likely the landed cost of products in South Africa would still be much lower than if they were produced locally. If you consider that tax payers are largely footing the bill for this huge event, surely some degree of protectionist behaviour that benefits the host country is warranted as Cosatu suggests?

Given that Mr Shiaan-Bin Huang serves on the South African parliament’s economic development committee, Wonkie wonders what in this equation does not slap South African tax payers across the face with the phrase CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

Will the FIFA 2010 World Cup deliver net long term economic benefit to South Africa?

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Comments

  1. this wil benefit those in power not all of the citizen of this country.and this is a worrying factor.

  2. NevilleLaing says

    It is wrong for you to criticise this seemingly ethnic Chinese ANC MP. Why do you always confuse issues with truth? SA has the very best of Goverments that money can buy. Cosatu has no real teeth to do anything but toyi toyi and trash SA’s cities during protests. Viva chaos, viva, viva!

  3. Ribie Rocks says

    its nothing new. all this MP get theselves contract. last week it was Mr Nyanda with millions & millions of tenders. i’m not suprised that this one goes to the chineese in anyway they are good in toys

  4. This is again proof of the incompetence and the schizophrenic approach by government to job creation. This reflects badly on government, SAFA and the LOC. They should stop rambling on about job creation and economic boosts to the country. Let Danny Jordaan tell South Africa how many countries who hosted the Soccer World Cup since its inception actually made a profit out of it. In South Africas case only a few individuals are lining lheir pockets and they don’t give a damn about the country or its people. When our president states that government will work extra hard to speed up service delivery and eliminate poverty and at the same time it is announced that he ANC will celebrate its anniversay with a Gala Dinner!!! and people applaud, the ruling party knows they have nothing to worry about. Government should stop talking about democracy and use the proper name in the South African context – Cleptocracy!

  5. maybe govt did not believe that south africans were capable of making a high quality product that would sell better to the wolrd,thats why it could have opted for china who has years of experiance in plastic manufacturing.

  6. southafrican government is making a bad move because it will not benefit the sa ecomnomy

  7. “Chinese good at making plastic toys”. How many times have their toxic toys been recalled off the shelves? But who cares whether the toys could have been made here, creating jobs for some of the locals, or not. As long as some ANC MP makes a packet.
    Anyway, only a moron would pay R360-00 for such a piece of Chinese 2010 memorabillia. But then there are many morons in this country. Especially those who do not realise that we are slowly being colonised by China. Slowly slowly catchee monkey. (Old Chinese proverb)

  8. Sammy Ezzat says

    I think that it’s a crying shame that a member of Parliament and in particular one serving on the Economic Committee should pass on such valuable business to Chinese company instead of promoting local companies. Now we as voters know where his loyalt lies.

    What message are we sending to local manufacturers, that we don’t really care for them.

    I think the Government should step in and rectify the situation immediately.

  9. This has little to do with the upbuilding of the country, rather another version
    of the much crowing we all heard before:
    “Deutschland uber alles”
    “Stars and stripes forever.”
    “The sun never sets on the British Empire.”
    “United forever Great Russia.”

    It’s simply a crow feather in the cap of another nation:
    “We can host all the games of the world”
    “We have all the money to do it – Ask the tax-payer.”
    “Look how great we are. We have equal rights.”
    “We have no racism”
    “We are a liberated country.”
    Ho hummmmm, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

  10. thats the benefits of looking east than west.Same as here in Zim

  11. Why do we as South African need some slit eye to be in our Government. We could have them manufactured here and create jobs and possibly a touch more stability. I wonder how many more contracts have been awarded off-shore?

  12. Proof once again that the attraction of rands in the new leadership’s pockets is of greater concern than pride in the country’s capabilities!

  13. Expose the bugger, and get him out of parliment…

  14. These things happen all the time, the public must boycot buying these items.

  15. Tanni, did you really say, “Especially those who do not realise
    that we are slowly being colonised by China.
    Slowly slowly catchee monkey. (Old Chinese proverb)”

    Heck – David Bullard said the same, earned the wrath of
    the country and lost his job.
    The truth, or shall I say, the effects of telling it, sure hurts.
    I would not buy one for all the tea in Chi.. er, India.

  16. Sammy Ezzat, Shumba, Ed and others, next time you vote, vote for someone loyal to this country, even if that person happens to be a white!

    Take note, the chinese are not around here and in zim for no reason! They are here to come proclaim this country!

    In the past, the black “kings” sold every inch of the land to the whites for a herd of cattle! You can’t blame the whites for buying it, as it was a business deal they wanted soil to “boer” on and the black leaders sold it, hoping to retrurn, kill the whites and in that ungodly way get the land back!…Blacks should rather ather blame their ancestors for selling the land and stop blieving that the whites stole it! You can’t steal land and if you can, africans would be the first ones in the world to find a way of doing it as finding new ways of stealing something is the only thing where africans have the “lead’ over the rest of the world ! ( wonkie – you know these statements are just the truth, so please don’t see it as racism! )

    Point I wanted to make is that these chinamen are not here for no reason, these stupid and corrupt ANC leaders can hardly manage to see as far as the points of their flat noses and see the cinamen and cubans as friends! Take note, these backyard nations of the world are not our friends and are note here for no reason…they want AFRICA!

    The Bible, the Word of the living God, never lies! The Bible that was never proved wrong ever, says that everything from the east is evil and no-good! Therfore, like the cartoon so clearly bring across, the chinese don’t how they win this continent, as long as they win it…and in that day the fools will long back to the days of the “colonialists” and their apartheid they introduced in 1912 as it will be like paradise measured to the “love” of the hardened hathen cinamen and cubans!

  17. Erik

    He exposed himself! What more is there to do? The whole of the ANC already exposed themself as criminals….zuma for being corrupt, then for misusing his power sidestepping the court, the big boss of state security’s wife is in jail for smuggling coke, the big cheaf of police jackie selebe is one of the biggest criminals in the world and the ANC is dong all it can to keep the bugger out of jail…I can go on with this list for the rest of the afternoon – fact is, when south africa goes to the poll, thye vote for these shameless criminals to rule!

  18. Ol’ Pliny,

    You hit the nail on it’s head! The chinamen are here to colonialise africa because. like in the past, africa’s leaders are willing to sell them out!

    and Rumba,

    Yes, I refuse to put my feet into any of these chinese shops! Everything they have is “plastic”..even their smiles! Bad part about their “plasrtic” toy/products, they use poisonous paint on it!

    We prefer to buy from the “mammas” in the street and support the poor! (You may not believe me for the hard words I sometimes utter here on Wonkie! )

  19. Alf

    I remember quite well how zuma promised to create 500,000 jobs before the end of 2009…what happened? We’ve lost about 500,000 jobs!

  20. NevilleLaing,

    If you call this corrupt ANC circle of fools “the very best government money can buy” , I want to suggest you get another samgoma as the medcine the last one gave you is surely making you crazy! Maybe he used the brain of somebody who died of braincancer to make your medicine from!

    yabatho25
    Stop making excuses for this ANC bunch of corrupt idiots! Just except they are stupid and useless and go see if you can’t find someone better to vote for next time! They will sell you out like your ancestors sold you out to the “boere” for a herd of cattle in the past! Only this time it’s gonna be worse as this time they sell you out for a couple poisonous plastic toys!

  21. I think all South Africans should be POSITIVE about the world cup. This is the First time in many years for us to hold one, not even in Apartheid Era did they ever think of hosting one, so please think POSITIVE and enjoy 2010 World Cup.

  22. Come on chaps wake up and smell the K_K. What do you expect? Remember when the trade union clowns got their T-shirts made by their new Chinas in the east. The clothing manufacturing folk in Cape Town found it a bitter pill to accept. Once again, somebody up in the ANC has made a good deal at the expense of good people at the bottom. Zuma’s second comming of Christ is to be reschedualed to an earlier date, like 2016. I cant wait!

  23. Dirkie, I may not agree with the way you put things across,
    but you sure are brave to “Tell it like it is – so waar.”
    Racism is not dead here or any other place in Africa.
    Correction – Nowhere in the world. Ask any Iraqi or Palestinian.
    Nor do I think it will it ever be, despite all the optism.
    And people will always turn a blind eye to the caste system in India.
    Oh yes, then there used to be Apartheid.

    During the sixties I saw two movies that have scared the hell out of me ever since.
    One was Adios Africa. (Speaks for itself) A pathetic portrayal of post colonialism.
    The other was a South African made comedy, partly in cartoon.
    An actor, speaking about South Africa’s enemies, says:
    “Who can we fight? A Black man pops up and says, “You can fight me, boss.”
    The producer knocks him out and repeats the question.

    A dark cloaked man with a scythe floats in and says, “We are our own enemies.”
    He then paints a movie depicting people from every tribe in Africa
    having a free for all. Eventually all lay dead on the ground.

    Since then, Idi Amin sent all Indians packing in Uganda.
    Tutsis and Hutus are still at loggerheads in Rwanda.
    Do I hear of any current tribal differences or secessions?
    Or, xenophobic burning alive? (EG: May 2008 Johannesburg)
    Have we all forgotten the necklacing of the 90’s
    Oh dear, now China is busy setting it’s footsteps in concrete.

  24. Ol’ Pliny,
    AFRIKA ADIOS was a real scary docunentary made by a French team in +-1972. The bulk of the film was shot in central and east africa. What we saw then was no worse than what is going on in Zim right now. Some how the ANC condones it.
    NEWS FLASH :- It has been reported that Zuma is showing early signs of Alzeimer’s disease. One of his teenaged children greeted him cordially. Zuma repy was, “what’s your name again”?
    May Afrikca be blessed.

  25. Thanks for the reminder ROBOT.
    In Afrika adios, when the the whites fled, all amenities were cut off.

    In one common scene where the masses took over a home, a family
    was using the bath as the toilet, as the latter was already full.
    A young kid in another home was using a silver statuette as a hammer
    to crack what looked like canned food.
    A fire was made in a kitchen sink.

    They should, but probably never will, bring the movie to S.A.
    In any case, it should still be in the archives.
    To me, and many others, the memory of this is like a tattoo in the brain.
    Incredibly indelible.

    Oh dear, we’ll soon be accused of going off topic.
    Let’s just call this, ‘just an aside’.

  26. Hastheworldgonecrazy... says

    Maybe if they’d given jobs to our local unemployed, e-tv could re-interview those faceless thieves just waiting to steal during 2010. Maybe if they had gainful employment, they would be able to feed their families, and tourists and locals alike attending 2010 functions would be just a teensy bit safer…………
    But then again, maybe if there were only 2 or 3 young Zuma’s out there instead of 20, tax payers money could go towards more job creation. Sigh! W.T.A.

  27. The poor need to learn to understand something. Self enrichment is the first priority of a politician. The second is misleading the electorate so they can stay in power. These mascots are just another tool of these objectives.

  28. Hastheworldgonecrazy…

    I get the impression that you are not from africa! All of us who grew up here in africa know that work has less than nothing to do with the fact that, not just two, but thousands plan to rob the soccer fans..those were the only two intervied by e tv! In africa, crime is considered part of life and nobody gets upset about it except the ones who came short because of crime and some whites…as for the rest, crime is just something natural…”at least they are trying” is what most will commend 😉

  29. madoba

    I don’t think the poor can learn…nevermind “must learn” ; …the main re4ason why I will NEVER be a democrat!

  30. Ol’ Pliny

    So, do I read you right? Are you saying you don’t agree with “Tell it like it is – so waar.” ? Do you prefer the liars just like the masses?
    ??? ::)

  31. Dirk, my statement that you, ‘Tell it like it is, so waar.’
    implies two things; you are not shy to speak your mind,
    and what you say carries an element of truth.
    Some may prefer to put it, “You rush in where Angels fear to tread.”

    When I said “I don’t agree”, it related to the manner in which you put your thoughts across. You are too straight forward, which others may see as bigotry.
    For instance, you assume God agrees with all you say simply because you quote him.
    Those who agree with you, probably feel you should be more tactful.
    Another thing: “Don’t take things personally’ Let others have their say.

    Then again, you are obviously an Afrikaner, with a scant knowledge of English.
    Afrikaners are known for being straight forward – Like Oubaas Terreblanche.
    We used to call them ‘Ropes’ – Course and hairy’
    Even though I wince, I prefer opinions from someone like you, rather than those who beat around the bush, and never reveal their true feelings on a matter.
    You’re OK Dirk.
    Oh dear, there I go and do the same thing….

  32. Crash the word “Proudly South African” and say sink South Africa.

  33. Jay chakrabartti / Joy chakraborty says

    I amJoy Chakraborty( Online ADVS member USA Govt Washinton D.C under Honorable president Mr Barak Hussaein Obama )always havea interest to your emails & I am always with your organization which is truly served the services dat by , month by month and in same interest , I am always eger to wait for your reply every month .
    Thank you ,
    Yours faithfully
    Joy chakraborty

  34. Ol’ Pliny

    Wish we had more people with your insight…yes i am an Afrikaner, and yes, I admit, I may use the wrong words or style most the times.

    Buy how did you get to know what I assume? You can’t read my mind, can you? LOL!

    Well let me put it this way, because I know God and because I know that He can and will not lie, I have no other choice to believe that He agree with Hi9s own Word..therefore, if i quote scipture, logically I quote it because i believe God agree with his own statements!

  35. South Africans like to care much about other people than themselves. 2010 World Cup must benefit the country or the continent not China or other parts of the world. When World cup was in Europe, did we ever get any tender from European countries?. I fail to understand what are trying to achieve with all this.

  36. Jay chakrabartti / Joy chakraborty,

    So you say you work for the obama administration?…..looking at da MXIT lingo you use it’s clear dat da obama administration must have some form of affirmative action dat side too! (wich means he won’t be president for a second term!) 😉

  37. Good Grief!! What a disappointment…It really makes me sick..pppssshhh

  38. Dirkie, My mother was Jonker and my wife’s was Potgieter.
    I spent all my younger days on the SAS & H (Seinwagter en Stasie Voorman)
    When we married we spoke Afrikaans and nothing else.
    Various circumstances caused us to adopt to the English lifestlye.
    But, our roots remain strong. Afrikaners are our brothers.
    Else I would not be here today.

    This is the new South Africa. We can no longer force our opinions onto others.
    Apartheid is dead.
    The ANC now have that prerogative – whether we like it or not – it’s fact.
    Long live apartheid.

    Let their subjects have their say and get away with it.
    Even if its ‘Kill the farmer, kill the Boer.” Well, it is happening.
    You do seem to have a good heart. You can make it even better,
    by saying it better.

  39. One thing is clear, There is no work for our colleges in South Africa and to send this out to Other Countries overboard It tickle my brain.
    I want to appeal that for the Soccer came comming up that we would like to be assist our neighbours to pick them up and drop off at there destinity in South Africa. This is great way of showing them that we could create and have good skills in South Africa. Please dont hesitate to contact me on [contact details removed by moderators for security reasons] in South Africa.
    We want to let you and friends, familly feel save with now threats what-so-ever……. Im looking forward to your mail.

    God Bless

    Elsa Roux (stay in Centurion +/- 25 km vrom OR Thambo airport.

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