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08 Oct, 2013
Mr Bantu Holomisa on Political Realignment
Lecture by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP (UDM President) on political realignment at the University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park Campus on Thursday, 01 August 2013 Programme Director, University Management and Academics, Young Intellectuals, Ladies and Gentlemen Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. INTRODUCTION It has been more than fifty years since freedom and democracy reached the shores of the African continent, although the time at which each country tasted political liberty varies from country to country. BACKGROUND AND EFFECTS OF ONE-PARTY DOMINANCE However, since the attainment of freedom and democracy, the common denominator in many African countries today is one-party dominance. Some examples that come to mind are: • The African National Congress (ANC), which has been in power since 1994 here in South Africa. • The Zanu-PF of Zimbabwe, that has been in power since independence in 1980 and the • The Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) that has been in power since their independence in 1960. The negative effects of one-party dominance are numerous. Chief among them, however, is the conflation of “the party” and “the state”. The Eskom/Hitachi/Chancellor House deal in which the ruling party gets a share of the spoils every time Eskom increase the price of electricity, is a case in point. This corrupt behaviour unfortunately extends to most government departments and institutions in South Africa. The ruling party’s cadre deployment policy in which loyalists are deployed to senior positions in the public sector, without regard for their competence and suitability, is another negative effect of one-party dominance. One-party dominance in South Africa has also resulted in a situation, where the ruling party does not account to the electorate regarding progress on service delivery, the failures and the challenges. As I am speaking to you, the levels of complacency and arrogance among the ruling elite have reached crisis proportions. While this occurs, opposition parties have to operate on shoestring budgets and with inadequate resources. POLITICAL REALIGNMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA It is against background that the United Democratic Movement (UDM) took a decision, as far back as 1999, to engage other political formations in discussions about the need to realign South African political landscape. We took this decision primarily because, as a party, we felt and still feel that, under the present government, the nation is not on track in fulfilling the original agenda – which is to improve the lives of all South Africans. Ladies and Gentlemen, Our version of political realignment does not refer to a ganging up of opposition parties against the ruling alliance, but rather a re-grouping of people around new concepts that were brought up in the wash of momentous political change over the years. We feel this should not be difficult to accomplish given the fact that political parties already have common concerns with regards to matters like: the current economic policies that cause unemployment and poverty; corruption; service delivery, education, health, environment and civil disobedience. Fortunately, sister opposition parties heeded our call. In 2008, the first version of the Multi-Party Forum was established. This forum included both parties both inside and outside of Parliament. Despite the many achievements of the Forum since 2008, there have been many stops and starts along the way. However, the hard work and commitment to place the country back on the path to the original agenda is what has kept us together. We have also drawn courage and lessons from the fact that a precedent has been created in different places in the world where, political parties with different interests, work together without losing their identities. In fact, we have a perfect local example. Look at the ruling party, where communists, capitalists, traditionalists, liberals, unionists and even their old foe, the National Party, sit at the same table and speak with same language. The results of the 2009 elections gave further impetus to the political realignment project. They showed that the South African electorate wants a system where two large parties, of similar strength and size, compete for the mandate to govern. The election results also show that the ANC lost ground in eight out of the nine provinces. Unfortunately, most opposition parties failed to capitalise on this. As a result, the ANC managed to absorb its national setback with a very strong showing in KwaZulu-Natal. This occurred due to our misreading of the state of the nation, where each party believed it had what it took to dislodge the ruling power from power on its own. As we speak, I have invited leaders of political parties to a meeting on the 12th of August 2013 in Cape Town to discuss a wide range of issues that would help us level the political playing field in the period before and beyond the 2014 elections. We are optimistic that these political parties will emerge out of this meeting with a strategy on how best to put an end to this one-party-dominance, which breeds corruption and arrogance of power. “What is the way forward, Mr Holomisa?” You might ask. WAY FORWARD In our presentation, at a the meeting of the leaders of political parties held inn Kempton Park on the 25th of January 2013, we warned our colleagues about the dangers of each party going it alone in the 2014 elections. This is because we believe that not only would going it alone be a missed opportunity, to increase political competition and provide South Africans with a credible alternative, it would also constitute a waste of resources and valuable time. In that meeting, we proposed that opposition parties contest the 2014 National and Provincial Elections under one banner, but that we retain our individual identities. This can be done by forming an alliance, which we describe as a pact or friendship agreement between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests). An alliance agreement, governing cooperation between the different stakeholders, would be drafted as soon as possible with a clear mission, vision and objectives and it should also define the role of each stakeholder. This would enable us to pursue a set of agreed upon goals, whilst each party retains their independence. The success of such an alliance depends on our ability to create a win-win outcome for all stakeholders. Ladies and Gentlemen, This task will be impossible to accomplish without your help. I encourage you to make your voices heard on this matter in order to ensure that we develop a political alternative that caters for all the interests and needs of the people of South Africa, both black and white. Thank you.
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08 Oct, 2013
Women’s Day 2013 Celebration
Address by Mrs Kholofelo Mokgawa, UDEMWO National Chairperson at a UDEMWO Women’s Day 2013 Celebration on 9 August 2013 at the Westlake Community Hall, Cape Town “A centenary of working together towards sustainable women empowerment and gender equality” TOPIC: Women’s Day: is there anything to celebrate? The answers are “yes” and “no”. YES, we should celebrate and salute women who sacrificed their lives and took it upon themselves to lead and march to the Union Building on 9 August 1956. YES, we should celebrate this day to remember the historic and powerful march of 20 000 women of all creed and colour, who stood firm like an iron fist, principled by togetherness, the “we-feeling” and unity. YES, we salute bomama Helen Josephs, Rahima Moosa, Sophia William, Charlotte Maxeke, Lillian Ngoyi and many others. Their march was a significant step towards gender equality in South Africa. YES, we should celebrate Women’s Day to recognise the contribution made by women in the fight against apartheid. Every year on this day as South African women we should remember the sacrifice, the commitment, the dedication and the unity of those women. Those women demonstrated that as women, we are strong, we are special, powerful and invaluable; The slogan used “wathint abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo uzokufa’ – when you strike the women you strike a rock. You will be crushed. These words should give us courage and we should be as hard as a rock. Storms of the struggle should instead harden us and make us stronger. On the other hand, Programme Director; gentle ladies and men the answer is a big NO. What is it that we should celebrate? When we are faced with challenges? Women’s Day might be a step in the right direction, but it is also a token of recognition in a country where the incidents of rape is rated number one in the whole world. Ladies and gentlemen is there anything to celebrate? There is nothing. To name a few, ladies and gentlemen; Women and children are treated as nothing e.g. incidents of brutal killings and abusing women and children especially during August every year. For example, the recent serial killer in Mamelodi and Atteridgeville and many others. What is the Government doing with this perpetrators if found? They arrest them today, two days later you see them walking in the street and even boasting – meaning that they will wrong you and be released tomorrow etc. Ladies and gentlemen, we live in fear – should we really claim to be free if we are confined behind high walls and sophisticated security only because we fear for our safety and are the prey of our own sons and men? Another point that proves that some of us are still abused, in the area where I come from, there is a culture and belief that a woman should be lashed with a sjambok. There is a case in the deep rural area where a husband had lashed his own wife with a sjambok and when realizing that his own child of about 1 ½ year was crying while the mother was beaten. The husband threw the sjambok down, took the child with his one hand and start beating the wife with that child. My dear gentle ladles and men, women in black rural communities are still far from overcoming challenges and obstacles of gender equality and sustainable empowerment and togetherness because they still struggle and fail to overcome the domestic and gender based violence as a result of: Limited, unaffordable or no bus or taxi services; Slow response times by police and ambulance services; Poor and expensive telecommunication services; Large distance to public versus child care if travel is necessary; Few support services for abused women and children; No safe accommodation for women if they need to live their homes; High rate of unemployment and underdevelopment, resulting in women struggling to pay for necessities , travel, accommodation or costs of separation or relocation; Application forms for protection order are only available in two languages i.e. English and Afrikaans; Furthermore, forms are not available in Braille and sign language interpreters are not readily available in courts; There is no provision for traditional courts to issue protection orders; despite the fact that there is currently about 1 500 customary courts operating in South Africa; and Finally, customary law lack specific rules dealing with gender based violence. Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot say we are free when some women are still humiliated by those who are suppose to render social services to them e.g. institutions, like magistrate offices to name a few, which to our knowledge are official custodian of law, are the ones that are ridiculing and humiliating our beloved sisters and daughters. Women are supposed to claim maintenance on behalf of their children from their biological fathers. Good people, instead of them receiving such type of a service, they are made to queue for months and are told that whatever maintenance money received is send to Pretoria first before it can be redistributed after some months. Ladies and gentlemen should we say we are free? As women we are entitled to all human rights as stipulated in the Constitution of South Africa. We should be treated with respect and dignity regardless of colour and creed. Dear women LET’S KNOW OURSELVES. Life needs people who are not afraid to take decisions and remain firm. We cannot live behind masks for the rest of our lives. Ladies let’s take the spirit of 1956 of togetherness. That march of 1956 was initiated by a coalition of women’s political groups under the banner of the Federation of South African Women. My dearest gentle ladies and men allow me to conclude my speech by quoting Tata Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, who refers his life of imprisonment as: “ A LONG WALK TO FREEDOM” Parallel to this, it has been a long expectation for us as South African women to make an impact in our political setting. For us to succeed we need to have a spirit of togetherness, the “we-feeling” and unity. Referring to politics in particular, Women’s Day is supposed to commemorate the women’s march of 1956, but the political activism we see today is but a shadow of 1956 spirit, let alone the existence of the Federation of South African Women coalition. The march was a significant step towards gender equality in South Africa, but, as we continue to face more challenges, the torch has been passed on to the women and men of today to work together towards sustainable women empowerment and gender equality. I thank you.
Admin
08 Oct, 2013
Bestow the Freedom of the City of Johannesburg on the leaders of the 1956 Women’s March
Address by Cllr Thandi Nontenja, UDM Councillor in the City of Johannesburg at Special Council Meeting to Bestow the Freedom of the City of Johannesburg on the leaders of the 1956 Women’s March on 15 August 2013 Council Chambers Madam Speaker Executive Mayor Members of the Mayoral Committee Mama Sophie de Bruyn Families of the recipients Fellow Councillors Ladies and Gentlemen The United Democratic Movement (UDM) joins you in saluting the brave women who marched in 1956 to petition against legislation that required Africans to carry the pass during the apartheid era. We are to this day amazed by what those twenty thousand women did as they marched to the Union Buildings at a point in time when people went to jail for less. Their march was a significant step towards gender equality in South Africa. Under the inspired leadership of people such as Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Lilian Ngoyi and Sophia Williams-de Bruyn, the women of South Africa showed their resilience, political will and female solidarity. As we celebrate Women’s Month, we must however admit that we have not achieved our mission, because gender bias and discrimination remain an unfortunate factor in our country. Today’s women are faced with much more daunting challenges like HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, poverty, rape, etc. Unless as South Africans we take drastic steps to correct the social ills that are glaring in the various sectors of our society, the struggle of these courageous women will be in vain. As women leaders we must take responsibility for the legacy left by these courageous women of 1956 and blaze the trail for those who come after us. We cannot disappoint the women who passed the baton to us; and we cannot fail our girls and their daughters. Tomorrow, as we commemorate the Marikana Massacre; we share the pain and anguish of our sisters and daughters who lost their loved ones. We hope that justice will eventually prevail. The UDM is in support of bestowing the Freedom of the City of Johannesburg on bomama Helen Josephs, Rahima Moosa, Sophia Williams de Bruyn, Lillian Ngoyi. Wathint’ abafazi wathint’ imbokodo Thank you.
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08 Oct, 2013
Marikana Commemoration
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP (UDM President) on Marikana Commemoration on Friday, 16 August 2013 at Marikana Programme Director, Church and union leaders, Leaders of political parties, Mining management, Community leaders, The workers and people of Marikana 16 AUGUST 2012 I stand here and I remember when we heard the terrible news of what happened on this very soil on 16 August 2012. Indeed the South African Council of Churches (SACC), under the leadership of Bishop Jo Seoka, and the leaders of political parties visited this community to pay our respects and to hear what it was that happened. You will recall that we left here with the advice that the SACC should not leave this community to fend for itself and we are thankful that you have stayed your course. We again plead with you to not leave this area without having made sure that this community has access to proper housing, schools, roads, clinics, crèches and above all until the citizens of this country go to an Economic Indaba that will address the skewed distribution of resources which have benefited a selected few and only some regions. If we had strong civil society, after Government’s botched handling of this situation, we would have had a plan of action in place, with specified deadlines, that insured that this community received the care and services they need to have an acceptable standard of living and the disputed funding of legal representatives would not be an issue. WE MUST NEVER HAVE A REPEAT OF THIS TRAGEDY If it had not been for the harsh reality, one would not have believed that we lived in a new South Africa where it was possible for nearly 80 South Africans to be injured, and 44 to die, in one day, in a conflict between a people and their government. A year has passed and this community still has a long way to go to find healing. You still have much heartache, frustration and disappointment to process, because of not only what happened on that fateful day, but also what happened thereafter. This community, and those who find employment on the mines across South Africa, have however proved that we as a Nation have an innate strength and resilience. You have shown that we will not be defeated by that which is wrong; that we can rise from the ash, dust and grime; and that we are willing to work to find mutual trust and a brighter future for all our people. To the families, friends and colleagues of those who were injured and had lost their lives, it is not only important that we find peace in our hearts, but also peace in this community and in the workplace. I hope that all the people who form part of this community, employer and worker alike, will soon find each other. We therefore congratulate the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and the mine management for their continued willingness to engage with one another to talk about a solution that will benefit all. CONCLUSION We will never forget what happened here, but I am sure we can all agree that some good must come from this tragedy. Things must change for the better. On behalf of the United Democratic Movement, I commiserate with those who were left behind and we appeal to all concerned, to work hard to find common ground and above all, let us never-ever have a repeat of what happened on 16 August 2012. I thank you.
Admin
08 Oct, 2013
WSU crisis Stakeholder Meeting
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP ( UDM President) at the WSU crisis Stakeholder Meeting at Mthatha High School Stadium on Monday, 02 September 2013 Programme Director and Ladies and Gentlemen, At the funeral of the late Mr Tsengwa in Willowvale a few years ago, Bishop Mbethe expressed feelings of great sadness about the dreadful state and poor quality of our education in the Eastern Cape. His lamentation was prompted by the continuous poor matric performance of the Eastern Cape Province. He summed up the importance of education in the Eastern Cape as follows and I quote: “The Eastern Cape is not endowed with gold, but its gold has over the always been the good quality of its education.” I guess it is precisely because of this reason that the people of this Province heeded our call to meet here today to discuss and find solutions to the challenges facing Walter Sisulu University (WSU). WSU challenges are as old as our democracy itself. This university has long-standing problems, which have been allowed to recur ceaselessly. I therefore hope that our discussions today will go a long way towards identifying and solving some, if not all, of WSU’s challenges. You will recall that this meeting is an outcome of requests for my intervention from concerned parents, students, members of the public and other stakeholders about the challenges at WSU. After I was inundated with these requests, I wrote a letter to President Zuma, asking him to set up a task team to look into the crisis at WSU. President Zuma is however yet to respond to my letter. The inordinate amount of time he is taking to respond prompted me to propose today’s meeting. I took this decision because it appears that salary negotiations between the Department of Education and WSU management and employees have deadlocked and there seems to be no resolution in sight. Even last week, Mr Qonde, the Director General of the Department of Higher Education refused to alter the Department’s stance. Nor has he even tried to meet the workers halfway on their demands. His primary argument is that WSU management and employees are paid more than workers doing the same jobs at other universities. Needless to say, the crisis at WSU negatively affects the quality and access of students to education. This is more so when one considers Government’s bizarre decision to close the university. Has Government thought about what is going to happen to the students who come from other Provinces? I would therefore like to take this opportunity to urge all of us here today to working together towards finding short, medium and long-term solutions to the crisis at WSU. The role of authorities is particularly important in this regard. However, we should not hesitate to take the legal route should we sense a tinge of intransigence on their part. As we now ready ourselves for our discussions, we should do so mindful of the fact that we are not a labour court, nor are we a bargaining council. Ours is to help restore stability and normality at WSU. You will recall that I when I called for this meeting I proposed that it be presided by the South African Council of Churches (SACC). I am now going to hand over the meeting to them. But before I do so I wish to thank the UDM King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) Municipality Councillors for sponsoring the marquee and the chairs for this event. I now hand the meeting over to the South African Council of Churches and in doing so wish the meeting the greatest success! I thank you.
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08 Oct, 2013
Tribute to the late Mr Krakrayo Simayile
Tribute by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP (UDM President) to the late Mr Krakrayo Simayile, a loyal UDM member, at the Langa Sports Complex, Cape Town on Wednesday, 04 September 2013 Programme Director, The Simayile family; in particular his wife and children, UDM NEC Members, Provincial Executive Members of the UDM in the Western Cape, Distinguished guests, UDM Members, Ladies and gentlemen, On behalf of the United Democratic Movement (UDM), I wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the late Mr Krakrayo Simayile. Our hearts go out to you during this difficult time. Mr Simayile or Noderi – as he was affectionately known – was a long-serving member of the UDM. He worked hard to build and grow the UDM in the Western Cape. He witnessed the murders and killings of many of our members in this Province for political reasons, without any of the perpetrators being brought to book. It is sad that today we have come here to pay our last respects to him under circumstances where there is no indication whether the people responsible for his death have been arrested. In hindsight, it would appear that we erred when we agreed to adopt the current provincial system instead of creating a unitary state. The general feeling is that the provincial system perpetuates the same evils we were trying to avoid in the former homeland system. Apart from being costly and being an administrative nightmare, the provincial system is constructed along the same racial and ethnic lines of the old homeland system. KwaZulu-Natal is for Zulus, while the Eastern Cape is for Xhosas, and so on. Here in the Western Cape you get an impression that National Government is treating this Province as if it is a federal state. For instance, I fail to understand how Ministers with national competence are always reluctant to monitor whether funds allocated to this Province are indeed being used for the betterment of the lives of the poor and previously disadvantaged communities. What stops President Zuma from calling a meeting with the Premier Zille and ask her to account for her government’s dismal service delivery performance in disadvantaged communities? It seems the governing parties are only content to use the poor and disadvantaged communities in this Province as voting cattle. One wonders whether the time has not come to review the current provincial system with a view depoliticise service delivery. I thank you.
Admin
08 Oct, 2013
Minister Nzimande’s failure to address problems at the Walter Sisulu University is jeopardising futures of Eastern Cape youth
Member’s Statement by Mr Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP and UDM Deputy Secretary General, in the National Assembly regarding Minister Nzimande’s failure to address problems at the Walter Sisulu University is jeopardising futures of Eastern Cape youth The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is very concerned about the manner in which Government and the Minister of Higher Education are handling the crises at Walter Sisulu University (WSU). If not for the intervention of civil society, under the leadership of the South African Council of Churches, the current crisis would have escalated beyond the point of no return. It is an indictment of Minister Nzimande that our President had to dispatch Minister Chabane to clean up his colleague’s backyard. However, after an agreement was reached to end the seven-week long strike, we hear that classes are disrupted yet again. The allegations are that Government is negotiating in bad faith and has reneged on its promises. The UDM is of the view that the Minister Nzimande has failed to attend to the WSU challenges, which include, but are not limited to: Not intervening in the labour dispute timeously; Not reporting on his Departments’ turn-around strategy for the university; Whether its budget allocation is adequate; Whether the salaries of academics and workers are competitive; Allegations are that local companies are overlooked for university business; § Whether the merger of various institutions has delivered the desired results. The UDM calls on Government to urgently resolve the crises at WSU, because a day lost in a student’s learning, is a day too many.
Admin
04 Oct, 2013
In response to service delivery complaints in Limpopo
TO: His Excellency, Mr JG Zuma, President of the Republic South Africa Minister OC Chabane, Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring, Evaluation and Administration FROM: Bantu Holomisa, MP Dear Sirs I refer to a letter from the Minister Ohm Collins Chabane, Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring, Evaluation and Administration, regarding the abovementioned subject dated 24 July 2013. We also refer to the List of Complaints attached to our original correspondence, dated 29 April 2013, wherein the complaints of the citizens in the Municipalities of Aganang, Capricorn, Greater Giyani, Mogalakwena, Makhado and Thulamela were listed. It is encouraging to hear that there had been a joint meeting of the three sphere’s of government and that this was followed by onsite visits by Department of Monitoring and Evaluation, the Office of the Premier, departments and municipalities from 3 to 7 June 2013. We are however interested in having the details of those visits, i.e. who visited, which areas and when, so that we may correlate this information with the people on the ground. When comparing Minister Chabane’s response with the original list of complaints, we have serous concerns about the lack of detail in the response. The Presidency’s “summary” of the common issues are: Poor road and school infrastructure Lack of water Poor health facilities, such clinics This seem an oversimplification, or too broad a statement, of these communities’ problems and does not address critical matters such as lack of sanitation, housing as well as poor policing and high crime levels. We find it worrying that the aforementioned municipalities seem either unwilling or incapable to provide even the most basic of services to their citizens and ratepayers. The same could be said of the provincial government which does not compare favourably to others. A number of the complaints had been about the lack of communication and accountability of local government councillors and we ask 1) whether that the various Municipal Councils have been made aware that their Councillors are failing at this task and if they have been informed, 2) whether the Presidency received any undertaking that this will considerably improve. We are encouraged that your team has established that the challenges have been highlighted in the District Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), but we enquire about the details and timelines associated with the solutions, so that the information may be disseminated to the complainants. It would also be useful to know which departments have been tasked to serve on the IDP Forum that has been established to track progress on these issues. Hopefully the already failing community projects, as listed in the original complaint, will be comprehensively addressed at this Forum. We request the timetable of meetings of the community structures, ward committees and the economic development forums in the affected areas so that we may inform complainants to attend their meetings. Although we are happy that the Presidency has intervened in this matter, there is far too little information for the communities to be encouraged that they will see changes to their quality of life in the near future. We ask that the Presidency keep up the pressure and provide regular feedback on progress made. Yours sincerely
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