SMUTS
VS ZUMA
THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF BIRTHDAYS – understand yourself and others
Like the ebb
and flow of the tides, the moon and star shine our lives are determined by
greater planetary forces. The migration
of the wildebeest and zebra across the Serengeti Plains directed and determined
by natures cycle of flight and fight for survival in search of water and
greener pastures. So too, are out
personalities driven by planetary forces and nature. Our behaviour and personalities are determined
by our birth date, our circumstances and the times we live in.
Skeptical about
this theory, then view two South African leader’s profiles in ‘The Secret
Language of Birthdays’. Their behaviour matches identically to what is written
about their birth date profile. The
personality profile is an analysis of researched data collected over time from
thousands of well-known personalities and leaders and their birth dates.
Understand
yourself and understand others – purchase this publication to test this theory
and to gain insight into yourself and those leading our country. We then know what to expect from others and
ourselves and can cushion the blows and avoid disaster. Because like the tide, the seasons and the
annual wildlife migration, people cannot change their core being inclusive of strengths
and weaknesses. We and they can only become more
fully aware of ours and others innate weakness tendencies and maneuver around them
and life to make a more positive impact for everyone.
JACOB ZUMA – PRESIDENT SOUTH AFRICA – BORN 12 APRIL 1942
“April 12 people are never
happier than when they are putting forward their point of view, communicating
with fellow-human beings who, hopefully, are listening. It is indeed tragic to see an April 12 person
speaking to a mostly disinterested audience.
It follows that they must choose as their friends and mates individuals
who are not only good listeners but also share their concerns.”
“A saving grace of April 12
people, however, is a fine sense of humour.
The capacity to laugh at themselves once in a while goes far in
softening their harsher side.”
“Advice: Denial of what
happens slows down the process of self-discovery. Realise your limitations; beware of putting
yourself above the law.”
________________________________________________________________
JAN
SMUTS – INTERNATIONAL STATESMAN AND PRIME
MINISTER OF SOUTH AFRICA – BORN 24 MAY 1870
JAN CHRISTIAAN
SMUTS’ LEGACY (As per Wikipedia)
One of Smuts’ greatest international
accomplishments was the establishment of the League of Nations, the exact
design and implementation of which relied upon Smuts. Smuts later urged the formation of a new
international organisation for peace: the UN. Smuts
wrote the preamble to the United Nations Charter, and was the only person to
sign the charters of both the League of Nations and the United Nations. He sought to
redefine the relationship between the United Kingdom and her colonies, helping
to establish the British Commonwealth, as it was known at the time. This proved to be a two-way street; in 1946
the General Assembly requested the Smuts government to take measures to bring
the treatment of Indians in South Africa into line with the provisions of the
United Nations Charter.
TOP TEN
GREATEST SOUTH AFRICANS
In 2004 Smuts was named by
voters in a poll held by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (S.A.B.C.)
as one of the top ten Greatest South Africans of all time. The final positions
of the top ten were to be decided by a second round of voting but the program was taken off the air owing to
political controversy and Nelson Mandela was given the number one spot based on
the first round of voting. In the first
round, Field Marshal Smuts came ninth.
Jan Christiaan Smuts (Born 24 May 1870 – 11 September 1950) was a prominent South African and British
Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts,
he served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa. At the time of the 1948 elections he supported
a policy of initiating some measures of race integration in South Africa but
this was opposed.
Smuts was one of the members
of the British War Cabinet and he was instrumental in the founding of what
became the Royal Air Force (RAF). He became a field marshal in the British Army
in 1941, and served in the Imperial War Cabinet under Winston Churchill.
Smuts was the only man to sign both of the peace treaties ending the First and Second World Wars. What an incredible achievement and clearly a man of purpose and peace!
EARLY YEARS
AND FINANCIAL INSECURITY
At Stellenbosch, Smuts learned
High Dutch, Germa and Ancient Greek and immersed himself further in literature,
the classics and Bible studies. His
deeply traditional upbringing and serious outlook led to social isolation from
his peers.
Worries over money also
contributed to his unhappiness, as his scholarship was insufficient to cover
his university expenses. He confided these worries to a friend from Victoria
College, Professor J. I. Marais. In reply, Professor Marais enclosed a cheque
for a substantial sum, by way of loan, urging Smuts not to hesitate to approach
him should he ever find himself in need. Thanks to Marais, Smuts' financial
standing was secure. He gradually began to enter more into the social aspects
of the university, although he retained his single-minded dedication to his
studies.
During his time in Cambridge,
he found time to study a diverse number of subjects in addition to law; he wrote a book, Walt Whitman: A Study in the Evolution of Personality, although it was unpublished until 1973. The thoughts behind this book
laid the foundation for Smuts' later wide-ranging philosophy of holism.
Smuts favoured a unitary
state, with power centralised in Pretoria, with English as the only official language, and with a more inclusive electorate. To impress upon his compatriots
his vision, he called a constitutional convention in Durban, in October 1908.
Smuts and Botha took the
constitution to London, where it was passed by Parliament and given Royal
Assent by King Edward VII in December 1909.
THE OLD BOERS
The Union of South Africa was
born, and the Afrikaners held the key to political power, as the majority of
the electorate. Although Botha was appointed Prime Minister of the new country, Smuts was given three key ministries: Interior,
Mines, and Defence. Undeniably, Smuts was the second most powerful man in South Africa. To solidify their dominance of South African
politics, the Afrikaners united to form the South African Party, a new
pan-South African Afrikaner party.
At the 1913 South African
Party conference, the Old Boers (Hertzog, Steyn, De Wet), called for Botha and
Smuts to step down. The two narrowly
survived a confidence vote, and the troublesome triumvirate stormed out,
leaving the party for good.
STATESMAN
Smuts and Botha were key
negotiators at the Paris Peace Conference. Both were in favour of reconciliation with
Germany and limited reparations. Smuts
advocated a powerful League of Nations, which failed to materialise. The Treaty of Versailles gave South Africa a
Class C mandate over German South West Africa (which later became Namibia),
which was occupied from 1919 until withdrawal in 1990. At the same time, Australia was given a
similar mandate over German New Guinea, which it held until 1975. Smuts
returned to South African politics after the conference. When
Botha died in 1919, Smuts was elected prime minister, serving until a shocking
defeat in 1924 at the hands of the National Party. After the
death of the former American President Woodrow Wilson, Smuts was quoted as
saying that: "Not Wilson, but humanity failed at Paris."
While in Britain for an
Imperial Conference in June 1920, Smuts went to Ireland and met Eamon de Valera
to help broker an
armistice and peace deal between the warring British and Irish nationalists. Smuts attempted to sell the concept of Ireland receiving Dominion status
similar to that of Australia and South Africa.
SMUTS AND GANDHI
Although Gandhi and Smuts were
adversaries in many ways, they had a mutual respect and even admiration for each
other. Before Gandhi returned to India
in 1914, he presented General Smuts with a pair of sandals made by himself.
In 1939, Smuts, then prime minister, wrote an
essay for a commemorative work compiled for Gandhi's 70th birthday and returned the sandals with the following message:
"I have worn these sandals for many a summer,
even though I may feel that I am not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great a
man."
In 1948 Smuts went further
away from his previous views on segregation when supporting the recommendations
of the Fagan Commission that Africans should be recognised as permanent
residents of White South Africa and not only temporary workers that really
belonged in the reserves. This
was in direct opposition to the policies of the National Party that wished to
extend segregation and formalise it into apartheid. There is
however no evidence that Smuts ever supported the idea of equal political
rights for blacks and whites. However here is another quote by Smuts:
“The
idea that the Natives must all be removed and confined in their own kraals is
in my opinion the greatest nonsense I have ever heard.”
- Jan Christiaan Smuts
The Fagan Commission did not
advocate the establishment of a non-racial democracy in South Africa, but
rather wanted to liberalise influx controls of Africans into urban areas in
order to facilitate the supply of African labour to the South African industry.
It also envisaged a relaxation of the
pass laws that had restricted the movement of Africans in general.
SECOND WORLD WAR
Smuts'
importance to the Imperial war effort was emphasised by a quite audacious plan,
proposed as early as 1940, to appoint Smuts as Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom, should Churchill die or otherwise become incapacitated during the war.
This idea
was put by Sir John Colville, Churchill's private secretary, to Queen Mary and
then to George VI, both of whom warmed to the idea.
In May 1945, Smuts represented
South Africa in San Francisco at the drafting of the United Nations Charter. Also in 1945, he was mentioned by Halvdan Koht
among seven candidates that were qualified for the Nobel Prize in Peace.
DEATH
On 29 May 1950, a week after
the public celebration of his eightieth birthday in Johannesburg and Pretoria, Smuts
suffered a coronary thrombosis. He died
of a subsequent heart attack on his family farm of Doornkloof, Irene, near
Pretoria, on 11 September 1950.
OTHER OFFICES HELD
In 1931, Smuts became the
first President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (not
from the United Kingdom). In that year,
he was also elected the second non-British Lord Rector of St Andrews University
(after Fridtjof Nansen). In 1948, he was
elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, becoming the first person
from outside the United Kingdom to hold that position. He held the position
until his death.
FAMILY
Smuts married Isabella (Isie)
Margaretha Krige (in later life known as "Ouma") in 1897. Isie was from Stellenbosch, and lived near
Smuts. They had six children.
Wikipedia Primary Sources
Hancock, W.K.; van der Poel, J
(1966–73). Selections from the Smuts' Papers, 1886–1950 (7 vols).
Smuts, J.C. (1934). Freedom.
Alexander Maclehose & Co, London, UK. ASIN B006RIGNWS.
Smuts, J.C. (1940). The Folly of
Neutrality – Speech by the prime Minister, General the Rt. Hon. J.C.Smuts,
P.C., C.H., K.C., D.T.D., in The Senate of the Union Parliament at Cape Town on
January 30, 1940. Union Unity Truth Service.
