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01 Oct, 2013
Occupied Palestinian Territories hosted by Palestine Solidarity Campaign
A screening of ‘Occupation 101’ and panel discussion about the Occupied Palestinian Territories hosted by Palestine Solidarity Campaign Stellenbosch contribution by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP (UDM President) at the University of Stellenbosch Facilitator, Fellow Member of Parliament, Mr Magama Palestine Solidarity Campaign Stellenbosch Academics and students Ladies and Gentlemen THANK YOU Thank you for the kind invitation to join you tonight, to listen and learn; and to discuss a complex issue that has been on the international agenda for many years i.e. the conflict between Palestine and Israel. MY UNDERSTANDING OF THIS COMPLEX ISSUE During the time of completing my matric at Jongilizwe College in 1975, we used to be given assignments by our teacher Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, who taught ‘current events’. One such assignment was the conflict in the Middle East. At that point in time, it was already clear that this particular conflict was micro-managed by the United States of America (USA) and that the rest of the world was not actively involved. Dr Henry Kissinger, the then USA Secretary of State, headed these so-called peace talks. There is broad consensus that the actions of the nations involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict violate limitations in international law. In studies conducted, psychologists have a number of terms for the tendency of humans to view their adversaries as springing from a lower order of being – these terms being pseudo-speciation or dehumanising. The conflict between these two groups have been compared to apartheid, but not apartheid as practiced in South Africa, but as apartheid as an international crime. We can compare the aforementioned conflict to apartheid, but the crucial issue is that the United Nations’ (UN) Security Council has failed to come to consensus for a resolution to this conflict as a result of the power given to certain countries. Implementation of the resolution could not be viable as a result of the veto by the USA. The International Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) and other conventions may well give valid expressions on human rights.It does not give indications on how solutions can be implemented on a conflict that has been going on for such a long period. One can ask oneself: how strong does international law stand against organised religion? We see how organised religion has Muslims and Jews denying their common humanity. Thus confirming that the conflict is now out of the hands of the people of the Middle East. The conflict will not be resolved until the UN Security Council is transformed. Human rights and all that it comes with it, is vital for any people. It is a sensitive issue. As long as there is no united consensus on the resolution of this conflict, we would be held accountable for contributing to creating a generation that will be called “fundamentalist” and “extremist”. This conflict now, because of America’s interest in the Middle East, has hardened attitudes of the many countries in the Middle East, where they are accusing America of arming and funding Israel against Palestine and being a threat to neighbouring countries. The USA on the other hand has been accusing countries like Iran and Syria of helping Palestine militarily. SOLUTION It is clear that the use of force is not going to help anybody; it has been tried without success. It looks like this conflict can only be solved peacefully The question is how? Who should sponsor the peace? Perhaps this conflict should be a package to the reported warming up of the relationship between President Obama and the President of Iran as well as the flexing of muscle by Russia on the Syrian Debacle. This could be the start of things to come, on finding a lasting solution between Israel and Palestine. I thank you.
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24 Sep, 2013
South Africa on the Slippery Slope
Article by Bantu Holomisa published in the New Agenda During my career I have witnessed many governments come and go. As a former head of the Transkei Military Government, I have had an overview of what the Apartheid Government and the Bantustans had done, in comparison with what the current government is doing. The previous regime’s policies and abuse of human rights is well documented; including some homelands. Although I was heading this discredited institution, I was able to forge close links with all the liberation movements, when we ascended to power, as my government lent a shoulder in fighting for the freedom of all South Africans. One of the reasons why we supported the struggle was that we were hopeful that the new government would address the backlogs and imbalances of the past, especially in the townships and homelands. Indeed when the African National Congress (ANC) ascended to power in 1994 we can say that they started well. They made much progress in areas such as electrification, access to water and providing homes for the poor in the cities. However what shocked South Africans is the poor quality of the infrastructure they were given. Electricity is not reliable; water projects are launched only to break down after a few months and the RDP houses are worse than those built for blacks by the Apartheid government. Many towns have become slums because of the poor maintenance of infrastructure across the country. Where they had failed completely was on the question of employment. We see stark difference between the economic policies of the partners in the ruling alliance and in the past twenty years they have spent much energy vacillating between which routes to follow. Unemployment and poverty is a direct contradiction of freedom. Real freedom – political, social and economic – provides dignity to a nation. On the other hand, unemployment and poverty undermines it. South Africans are suspicious and mistrust government because of perceptions that it is not equitably distributing the resources of the country. A new privileged political elite exclusively enjoys the resources. There is no consensus on a macro-economic policy that can transform the economy in a manner that could create and spread wealth wider and improve the lot of the disadvantaged majority. There are in particular concerns about the inadequacies and contradictions of the fiscal and industrial policies. Our economy suffers from jobless growth due to the confusion created by an ambivalent tripartite alliance. This ruling clique preaches elimination of unemployment in the streets and legislate retrenchments and greater unemployment in Parliament. In the past 16 years, the United Democratic Movement (UDM) has been calling for GOVERNMENT TO DO MORE! Government has a responsibility to intervene and protect the South African economy and South African jobs when necessary. Whilst Free Market Capitalism is the best economic system developed by humanity, it is still fraught with weaknesses and failures that must be actively managed. The situation in South Africa is compounded by high levels of corruption. The UDM has over the years been involved in exposing many of these scandals. We have the resolve and commitment to fight corruption, and take on any party, no matter its history or power, to ensure that South Africans have the ethical governance that they deserve. These are but some examples of the UDM’s active role in national politics and the further consolidation of South Africa’s democracy. As our actions and words have proved, the UDM is a viable, trustworthy and reliable opposition party.
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17 Apr, 2013
Memo to Premier of the Eastern Cape to accept 17 April marchers’ petition
Open memo to Premier of the Eastern Cape to request her office to make a representative available to accept 17 April marchers’ petition from Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP On Wednesday, 17 April 2013, there will be a peaceful march in Mthatha by the people of the OR Tambo Region to express their disappointment and frustration with the poor state of infrastructure and lack of development in their cities and towns. Although the United Democratic Movement is facilitating the event on behalf of the people, this is a march of South Africans from across the OR Tambo Region who wish to express their dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in their area. The necessary permits and permissions have been obtained from the King Sabata Dalindyebo traffic police and the South African Police Services. We kindly request that your office sends a representative to receive the list of complaints at 12:00 at the Botha Sigcau Building in Mthatha. Bantu Holomisa, MP UDM President
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07 Mar, 2013
Management and Administration Class
Contribution by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP at a University of Cape Town State Management and Administration class Programme Director, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to take this opportunity to thank your lecturers, Ms Raenette Taljaard and Mr Jon Cayzer, for giving me the opportunity to talk with you today. It is pleasing to know that I am discussing these challenges besetting our public administration with future political leaders and public administrators. I am therefore looking forward to a stimulating discussion. My contribution today mainly draws from the experience I gained while I was working with various administrations, starting from my involvement in the former Homelands system, the Nelson Mandela administration, the Thabo Mbeki administration to the current Jacob Zuma administration. Before 1994, civil servants took their jobs as a career. Many civil servants took pride in their professions and spent their working lives in public service. Job satisfaction and employee retention in the public sector was made possible by, inter alia, the Public Service Commission’s (PSC’s) investment in employee training and development. After political freedom, the ruling party ascended to power without a coherent skills development and employee retention programme. People with years of experience in public administration were removed from positions in favour of political deployees. This led to an exodus of experienced personnel and a politicisation of the public sector. The other challenge of cadre deployment is that people were put in positions without regard for their skills and suitability for the jobs. Nowhere is this shortage of skills more evident than in the overreliance of state departments on consultants and high levels of maladministration. According to the Auditor General’s report, national government departments spent R33.5 billion on consultants between 2009 and 2011, whilst provincial departments spent another R68.5 billion. In other words, government departments spent a staggering R102 billion on consultants during that period. Of great concern, is that the plans these consultants develop, do not get implemented due to capacity constraints, while consultants continue to hover over State departments like vultures. This is a damning indictment of a modern day public administration. It is also clear that there are serious structural and organisational deficiencies in our public administration, when political heads are allowed to usurp the powers of Accounting Officers (Directors General). In South Africa, Political heads give directives to the accounting officers which often contravene certain sections of the Public Management Finance Act (PMFA). This culture permeates all the different spheres of government, including the local government level. For examples one has to look no further than the Arms Deal and the incident in which the Minister of Communications awarded a tender to her boyfriend, among others. The following are some of the areas the United Democratic Movement (UDM) believes require immediate attention: De politicisation of the public service, Strict adherence to PMFA rules, Intensification of training and development, Development of a merit-based appointment system, Development of a clear promotion and career progression policies, Improvement of employee monitoring and evaluation by the Public Service Commission. It would bode well for public administration if politicians focused on playing their oversight role, rather than interfering in operational issues. As future leaders, I urge you to take part in campaigns that militate against the prevalence of instutionalised corruption in government. We cannot afford to do nothing while the investment arms of the ruling alliance partners are first in line for government tenders. Programme Director, the audience will recall that none of these issues is new. They have been part of public discourse for many years, with South Africans from all walks of life calling on government to address them. However, government failed to heed our call to change course. Arrogance of power has caused it to trivialise our people’s legitimate concerns and grievances. This arrogance of power manifests itself in various forms. However, the most important one is the overreaction of the government during service delivery protests. It sends the police in to brutalise and suppress protests. Ministers and top government officials are only dispatched to listen to grievances after unnecessary loss of life and destruction has occurred. The Andries Tatane incident and the Marikana massacre are a sad reminder of this. In addition, some protests turn violent because of the failure of democracy at local government level. Many people accuse government of failing to consult them when making key decisions that affect them, or of refusing to take their concerns seriously. Whatever the reasons, this political instability coupled with extraordinarily high levels of corruption and maladministration by the ruling party has had a crushing effect on our economy. They reinforce negative investor sentiment about South Africa. As a consequence, investors and rating agencies are jittery about South Africa’s prospects. You will recall that in October last year, international rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s downgraded South Africa’s sovereign rating. They cited, as some of the reasons, a decline in the government’s institutional strength amid increased socio-economic stresses and the resulting diminished capacity to manage the growth and competitiveness risks and the challenges posed by a negative investment climate in light of infrastructure shortfalls, relatively high labour costs despite high unemployment, and increased concerns about South Africa’s future political stability. Ladies and gentlemen, you are aware that rating downgrades have huge implications for government and companies, such as Eskom and Transnet that also suffered downgrades. They increase their external borrowing costs, which are then passed on to us, the taxpayers and consumers. Amid this dispiriting situation, there is hope about the role that each one of us can play to pull the country out of this quagmire. There are a number of proposals on the table. Some believe that there is an urgent need to reform our electoral system in order to improve accountability, while others are of the opinion that Parliament has to improve its oversight role, among others. In addition to these proposals, there is a school of thought that opposition parties should join forces in an effort to build a strong and credible political alternative for South Africans. In this regard, some opposition parties are busy exploring various models and vehicles available at their disposal that they can use to formalise their working relationship for the 2014 elections and beyond. In realising this objective, we will work with all the relevant stakeholders. We therefore call on you to make use of this opportunity when it arises to advise us on the best way forward. Once more, thank very much for inviting us to come and talk with you today. I look forward to your questions and contribution. I thank you.
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12 Jun, 2012
COMRADES IN CORRUPTION 3
The real State of the Nation “A looter continua” 1. Introduction This document, “Comrades in Corruption III” expands on the United Democratic Movement (UDM) previously published discussion documents: “Comrades in Corruption I” (issued in 1997) and “Comrades in Corruption II” (issued in 2001), in which we shed light on the extent of corruption in government in post-apartheid South Africa. Corruption in the African National Congress (ANC) government is rife and widespread despite its assurances to the contrary. This high level of corruption in South Africa handicaps service delivery, which results in many violent service delivery riots around the country. Even prospective investors shun South Africa as an investment destination due to high levels of corruption and our people are paying the price. With Comrades in Corruption III we aim to give a bit of a history lesson in the corruption scandals that have hit our Nation and who the role players were. We all know that history teaches us about the mistakes of the past so that we can avoid making them in future, but the ANC seems to be avoiding such lessons if one looks at their track record. However, the jury is still out whether the level in the ANC government either matches or surpasses that of the apartheid government. Even former President Nelson Mandela admitted to the widespread existence of corruption in the ANC when he said in August 1998 that: “We have learnt now that even those people with whom we fought the struggle against apartheid’s corruption can themselves be corrupted.” 2. Background In 2011 Transparency International ranked South Africa as the 64th most corrupt nation in the word, out of 183 countries, and the blame for this shocking statistic can be laid squarely at the door of the ANC. 2.1 Corruption in South Africa - the big picture A few months ago, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) made a shocking revelation in Parliament about the state of corruption in South Africa. Responding to a Parliamentary question, the SIU said the extent of fraud and corruption in the State procurement process was R25 billion to R30 billion per year, confirming fears that institutionalised corruption has taken root. As Dr Sipho Pityana, chairperson of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, once put it: “It is now beyond doubt that corruption and patronage are so pervasive, rampant and crippling in our society that we are on the verge of being deemed a dysfunctional state.” The existence of corruption in government distresses because it slows GDP growth, causes distortions in the economy and results in inefficiencies that increase the cost of doing business. It also discourages the culture of paying tax. Established democracies make it their mission to root out corruption in all sectors of society but in South Africa government’s soft approach on corruption seem oblivious to the dangers corruption pose to long-term socio-economic and political stability. In fact, this culture of corruption is celebrated and those involved are viewed as heroes to be idolised and emulated and ANC deployees who are found guilty of corruption are rewarded with re-deployments, and rarely pay for the consequences of their actions. 2.2. The role of government in this corruption Corruption is so prevalent in our government, that we have name for it: institutionalised corruption. To make matters worse, our government shows a fondness of engaging in ‘elite projects’ (amongst many others, building soccer stadiums, the Gautrain, Gauteng’s e-Tolling system, etc.). Whilst some of these serve a good cause, we are doubtful of other. The UDM believes that government has its priorities all wrong. How can these elitist projects be a priority whilst millions of South Africans still need access to a basic thing as clean water? The priority must be to use the resources of state to deliver basic services. Instead government seems hell-bent on their elite projects that often seem designed as nothing more but a way for the ruling party and its cohorts to get their hands on lucrative state tenders - as we saw with the Arms Deal. In the past year, we have witnessed wave upon wave of service delivery protests, some very violent, with people complaining about the lack of jobs and services in their communities. Unfortunately the ANC government responds to legitimate grievances by sending in the police, instead of constructively engaging the community. This mentality reminds us of the Apartheid regime. This same “securocrat”-mentality also reared its ugly head with the introduction of the Protection of Information Bill and the ANC’s planned Media Tribunal. Never before has proposed legislation caused so much negative local and international publicity. Contrary to the propaganda of the ruling party, there has never been a single instance where a newspaper or media organisation threatened national security by publishing leaked information. However, there are countless examples of leaked information exposing the scandals and wrongdoing within Government. It is patently clear to any right-minded observer that these proposed laws are a heavy-handed attempt by government to prevent the public from knowing about the scandals in which it and/or its members are involved. It is the media that showed us lies and deception of those in power! There are Tripartite Alliance leaders in cabinet who have portrayed themselves as champions of the poor but who live in imperial opulence. If it had not been for the media we would not know that these so-called pro-poor hypocrites drive million Rand cars and stay in the most expensive hotels in the land. Nor is the problem restricted to individuals – we will cite a number of examples of this phenomenon later in this document which prove that the ANC is engaged in looting state resources for its coffers. 2.3. The role of the ANC in government corruption We have unfortunately not seen decisive leadership from the ruling party during any of the corruption scandals that involved government (therefore taxpayer) money. The ANC remains defiant – it seems hell-bent on silencing the media and vilifying opposition parties by calling them counter-revolutionaries. 3. A new policy for every season and every minister In addition to the confusion and dissatisfaction these ANC shenanigans are causing, they make matters worse with their constant policy changes. 3.1. Economic policies to confuse a nation Surely after nearly twenty years of economic experimentation, it must be clear that the ruling party has run out of ideas. They are merely tinkering with policy in the blind hope that they will somehow stumble upon a solution. With the latest so-called New Growth Path we once again have policy that was written behind closed doors and foisted on the nation. We are again witnessing the posturing and bickering among the Tripartite Alliance members as they did with GEAR. It seems that this latest policy is an attempt by President Zuma to get around his earlier statements that there would be no change in economic policy from the Mbeki government to his. 3.2. Other departments have been affected To see the dangers of personalising policy, we need only look at the disasters that followed in the wake of new education policy adopted by every new minister since 1994. 4. An enormous cabinet designed to repay political favours President Zuma’s big cabinet has one big consequence for South Africans, especially the taxpayer, we are just paying more. Not only are we paying more in salaries and expenses, we also pay for some of their inadequacies, their ineptitude, and in too many cases, their blatant corruption. Our parliament should empower itself to prevent the president from appointing such an excessively big cabinet. There should be a clear-cut policy on an agreed-upon number of cabinet posts. The president should not be able to just willy-nilly appoint more than this number without the approval of Parliament. What we are really witnessing is the creation of countless ministries simply to reward political allies. Given the fact that approximately twenty four ministers and a number of senior government officials come from the same region (i.e. most of the security cluster departments, economic development and finance clusters, judiciary and key social departments) it stands to reason that people perceive it as the most favoured region in the country when it comes to resource allocation. This laager mentality has even affected the relationship between the Tripartite Alliance partners, the ANC and its Youth League. Our cabinet must be representative of the demographics and regions of the country. If the president had chosen to draw the these twenty four ministers from right across the country, we could have maybe understood the concept of having a large cabinet representative of all regions, but as it stands, it looks as if President Zuma had to create posts in order to repay his political debts in KwaZulu-Natal. Under the President Mbeki’s leadership it was common to talk about the “Xhosa nostra”. The Public Service Commission has failed to prevent the appointment of civil servants along ethnic and racial lines. In fact, it has become a tradition for the executive and senior government officials to fill their departments with members of their ethnic groups once they take office. The evil of ethnicity was warmly embraced in the period leading up to the ANC Polokwane Conference in 2007 when those who campaigned for Zuma used slogans such as “100% Zulu Boy” with impunity. The victorious cabal openly declared that it was its turn to eat. The deployment of cadres along tribal lines even surpasses what the Mbeki administration had been accused of. Today, political pundits and fundis agree that the ANC has veered from the values embodied by its former Presidents, Chief Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela. It has degenerated into a regional party with people expressing concerns about a disproportionate share of South Africa’s resources being allocated to one region. One forum user on Facebook summed it up nicely: Nelson Mandela : South African Agenda? Thabo Mbeki : African Agenda? Jacob Zuma : Zulu Agenda? Resource allocations and appointments based on ethnicity and tribalism are the root cause of civil wars in Africa and many parts of the world. Such tendencies are what caused mass killings of the Tutsis and Hutus in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. Necessarily, the ruling party, the mother of non-racialism in South Africa, should not take these concerns lightly. 5. Political infighting spills over to government When trying to find examples of the ANC’s political infighting which spills into government, one does not have to look far. Just recently the former acting national police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged that there is an “ongoing plot to discredit the management of the police”. This is just one case, but there are stories abound of the ANC’s passion for fighting their political battles in the public service. Each move made by government, when it gets to the hiring and firing of senior officials, seems to be an “internal political intervention”. If an appointee is not the flavour of the day ór seems to be doing a good job, he/she is simply removed in favour of sycophant (competent or not) that will dance to the ANC’s tune. 6. Ministers interfere in the administration of departments The rot starts at the top and it will continue as long as we allow ministers, MECs and councillors to appoint senior and junior civil servants. What happens is that these political heads often appoint friends and acquaintances (to pay their political debts and/or hedging bets on their future political ploys). We have seen too many instances where ministers override the decisions of their accounting officers and the budgets of state departments are abused to pursue the elite projects mentioned earlier. This happens at the expense of valid service delivery projects, which is why communities complain that the projects they were promised never happen or were halted out of the blue. There are a number of examples of this phenomenon, but most recently it was reported that the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Ms Lulu Xingwana, interfered with the work of her DG, Ms Nonhlanhla Mkhize. Once again, the media was the nation’s friend; otherwise we would have been blissfully unaware of this unhealthy situation. DGs and senior civil servants, who are committed to service delivery, do not enjoy protection against the hyenas who want to loot the resources of state departments. If these appointments were independently made and they were encouraged to report all “political directives” to Parliament a large portion of the corruption we witness will be stopped. As we can see, this culture of political interference in the daily administration of our government causes bureaucratic chaos. Ministers seem to not know where to draw the line between accountability and interference (or maybe they choose to ignore it). Several ANC Ministers have made this mistake at the expense of our people. 7. Corruption Some examples: • Arms Deal • Oilgate • Food for Oil • Tavelgate • Hitachi/Eskom/ Chancellor House • Karoo Gas/ANC Trust • Gautrain/SACP • e-Tolling/ANC/Cosatu 7.1. 1999 - The Arms Deal Scandal In 1999, the South African government signed contracts of approximately R30 billion to modernise the country’s defence equipment. This modernisation, popularly known as “The Arms Deal”, involved the purchase of corvettes, submarines, light utility helicopters, lead-in fighter trainers and advanced light fighter aircraft. The Arms Deal has been the single largest - and one of the most controversial - public procurement deals in post-apartheid South Africa. Controversy around the Arms Deal spread as allegations of irregularities in the tendering process and the lack of transparency in subsequent investigations became known in the media. Doubts were cast on the intentions of a number of senior ANC members. The national outcry had not resulted in the cancellation of any Arms Deal contracts and the saga continues. The institution of a judicial commission of inquiry, yet another promise made in 2011, has yet to start its work. The nation was promised that a 150 000 jobs would be created with this deal, but we are yet to see them! 7.2. 2003 - Oilgate/PetroSA In 2003, the Oilgate scandal broke after the state-owned oil company PetroSA gave an ANC aligned businessman, Sandi Majali, an advance of R15 million, to be used by his company (Imvume Management) of which R11 million was diverted to ANC coffers ahead of the 2004 elections. We would never have heard of this if not for our media’s effort in exposing corruption. 7.3. 2005 - UN Oil-for-Food Programme (OFF) Once again, in 2005, Imvume Management cropped up with Oilgate’s Sandi Majali using the names of both former President Thabo Mbeki and then ANC Secretary General, Kgalema Motlanthe, when he sought crude oil from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. 7.4. 2005 - Travel Gate In 2005, forty South African Members of Parliament (MPs) were to be charged with fraud in one of the biggest corruption scandal in the country's post-apartheid history. These MPs were charged with illegally using parliamentary travel vouchers worth millions of Rands to pay for lavish trips for themselves and relatives. The majority of the culprits had been from the ANC. In May 2008, the UDM expressed its disgust over the cynical manner in which the Travelgate MPs were let off the hook. The stealthy attempt to cancel their debt to Parliament made a mockery of the concept of accountability. 7.5. 2006 - Hitachi/Eskom/Chancellor House Holdings In 2006, the ANC stood to gain from state contracts by being both player and referee when its investment arm, Chancellor House, bought a 25% stake in Hitachi Power Africa. Hitachi Power Africa and its parent, Hitachi Power Europe, jointly won contracts worth R38,5 billion in 2007 to supply Eskom with power station boilers. In October 2010, the Minister of Finance announced that government would guarantee up to R300 billion in loans for Eskom up to 2017. The implication of this deal is that the taxpayer is helping Eskom to fund the ANC. In other words, the ANC benefits from Eskom’s electricity price hikes through Chancellor House. Reports indicated that Chancellor House will receive R50 million over eight years in profits from Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile Power Stations. 7.6. 2011 – Karoo Gas Exploration An ANC trust established twenty years ago by struggle veterans stands to earn a potential fortune from shale gas exploitation in the Karoo. The Batho Batho Trust has a 51% stake in Thebe Investments, the local empowerment partner of Shell SA. Thebe is well placed to benefit from an industry that could be worth an estimated $200 billion (R1.6 -trillion) should Shell succeed in a bid to tap the reservoir of natural gas beneath the Karoo. 7.7. 2012 - Gautrain/SACP The South African Communist Party (SACP) opposed the construction of the Gautrain. However, recent media reports (which the SACP has yet to publicly deny) show that its investment arm benefited from the train’s construction and operation. According to media reports, in July 2008, the J&J Group (co-owned by former trade unionists Jay Naidoo and Jayendra Naidoo) bought an 8% stake in the Bombela Concession Company, which had been awarded the contract by the Gauteng government to build and operate the Gautrain - and the SACP’s investment vehicle, Masincazelane, has shares in J&J. Are our communist brothers showing a thirst for the benefits of capitalism? 7.8. 2012 – e-Tolling Despite strongly contesting the controversial e-Tolling system, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has apparently benefited from the project to the tune of R24 million. Cosatu's investment arm, Kopano Ke Matla, reportedly holds a 3% stake in road construction company Raubex, and Raubex received R800 million from a project which forms part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project or the toll roads. 7.9. Correctional Services Scandal/Bosasa The SIU has been investigating the correctional services department for a number of years on claims of multimillion Rand tender rigging and is now ready to act against the politically connected Bosasa group of companies. SIU chief Willie Hofmeyr told Parliament that the Unit has uncovered evidence of corruption involving R1.7 billion and implicating the department’s former national commissioner Linda Mti and ex-finance head, Patrick Gillingham. 7.10. Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) On the 3rd of October 2011, the UDM reported suspected irregularities in the IEC lease agreements to the Public Protector. We wrote a letter to Advocate Thuli Madonsela asking her office to investigate the matter - please see Annexure A for the details (page 11). Thus far, her office has given us no progress report on the matter. On the 14th of March 2012, we sent her a follow-up letter asking for a progress report. To date, her office is yet to acknowledge receipt of the correspondence. This proves beyond reasonable doubt that the venerated Public Protector selectively tackles corruption and maladministration in government. It would appear that her office prioritises cases that strengthen the arm of the dominant faction in the ruling party, whilst dragging feet to investigate legitimate requests such as the one contained in our letter. For example, she was quick to confirm that her office would investigate allegations of bribe solicitation against Deputy-President Kgalema Motlanthe’s partner. Regarding the suspected corruption, on the 29th of April 2012, the City Press reported that it had confirmed that one of the Manaka directors was a business partner of IEC Chair Pansy Tlakula. Tlakula played a role in the IEC’s new lease-acquisition. Parliament’s finance portfolio committee chairperson Thaba Mufamadi’s company, Manaka Property Investments, owns a 20% stake in the trust that owns the Riverside Office Park. This once more demonstrates the shocking level of corruption in government when the chairperson of IEC ensures that her business partner is awarded with an IEC tender. In fact there is a clear conflict of interest. Sadly though, it would appear that the Public Protector has turned her office into an animal farm, where some are seem more equal than others. 8. The irony of corruption with the leadership of the police service Our police service is beleaguered with its own set of problems with the ANC’s political interference. How ironic that the very body that should be a shining example of honour and honesty goes laden under suspicion and distrust. We first had Mr Jackie Selebi who was put on extended leave as national police commissioner, and resigned as president of Interpol, after he was charged with corruption. Selebi, testified against the Scorpions before the Khampepe Commission, but he was exposed for having dubious relationships with drug lords and organised criminals. He ended up in jail. Bheki Cele, who did not last long after the President questioned his suitability, replaced Selebi. However, the jury is still out on whether Cele can be accused of not doing his job or that he was corrupt. So far there has not been any evidence that proves that he is guilty of corruption. However, Cele’s strategy to reduce crime seems to be working as is evidenced by the current crime statistics. We cannot rule out the possibility that his being fired can be linked to Richard Mdluli’s report that Cele and Housing Minister Tokyo Sexwale were involved in a plot to replace Zuma as president of the ANC. Yet Mduli is another example of the abuse of state resources. In fact, many South Africans expressed concerns that this officer thought himself justified in illegally tapping the phones of many people who were deemed to be “the enemies of Zuma”. At the moment, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is investigating the serious charges of corruption and murder against Richard Mduli. Another aspect of this mess is that the Minister of Police has not yet adequately responded to allegations that the secret fund administered by Mduli was misused to improve the security in the Minister’s private home. 9. The implications of corruption This shocking level of corruption in the ANC government affects us in the following ways: • Subsidies, which were used to support labour intensive industries, such as textile and agriculture/farming, were removed, leading to the destruction of many industries. This means that our unskilled labour force could not be absorbed into these labour intensive industries. • Corruption diverts resources that government should use for job creation and the fight against poverty, into the coffers of the ruling party or politically connected individuals. • No attention is paid to improving the poor quality of our education system. • Hospitals and clinics regularly run out of medicines and lack proper equipment. • Doctors, nurses, teachers and civil servants (such as soldiers and police officers) are paid paltry salaries, which is the reason why they leave for greener pastures. • South Africa looses billions of Rands because of the capital and skills flight. • Infrastructure, government buildings and roads fall apart due to neglect and inadequate maintenance. • Most importantly, the gap between the rich and poor widens exponentially. 10. Conclusion For seventeen years the ANC has stubbornly continued the use of a system that seems nothing more than an incentive scheme for those in power (including their friends and family) to accrue even more. Not only are the blunders these inappropriate appointees make costly (both in financial and credibility terms), but prosecuting those that make themselves criminally culpable also use resources that surely could have been spent on bettering the lives of all South Africans (not only the cadre elite). This culture of Comrades in Corruption shows that the ANC is either wilfully ignoring the problems cadre deployment creates, or they are just plain naïve. No matter their motivation, if the ANC cannot stop themselves from abusing power, the electorate must make that decision for them. During election time COSATU and the SACP perpetuate the myth a pro-poor ANC notwithstanding all evidence to the contrary. After elections they complain and talk of a ‘predatory state’ and ‘hyenas’ - it is not the state that is predatory, it is the ruling elite. It is COSATU and the SACP who continue to deceive the public to vote for an ANC which has since the Arms Deal of 1999 been characterised by self-enrichment. 11. What to do? This is a wake-up call for our members! We must go out to our communities, our families and friends and tell them what is really going on. The information we have given in this document is not something the UDM is making up – they are facts. In order for us to make a change, we must go out and create awareness and educate our people about the reality: corruption is alive and well and our people are paying the price. We must engage our fellow citizens and civil society organisations to get the nation talking. The question they should answer is: How much longer will we allow this situation to continue? How much longer do we want to suffer? This is not what South Africans fought for! Drastic change is needed!
Admin
01 Jan, 2009
Tribute to Helen Suzman
Statement by Mr Bantu Holomisa On behalf of the UDM, I express my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Helen Suzman, who passed away after a long and eventful life in service to her country. She was a pioneer of opposition politics; for many years she fought a lonely battle in the old Parliament. She spoke truth to power, despite the odds and the ridicule of those who thought their power was unshakable. When the National Party finally accepted in 1990s that a peaceful transition to democracy was the only option left, she was vindicated. She proved that the size of a party isn’t the most important thing, but rather the quality of its leaders and public representatives. It is a pity that after 1994 her party changed guise into the DA and then seemed to move in a more conservative direction away from its liberal roots. Right into her retirement, she was not shy of stating her views; even the then leader of the DA, Mr Tony Leon, was not spared her incisive and principled disagreement when she saw things that she disagreed with. She was a disciplinarian and highly respected across the political spectrum for her work ethic, dedication and consistent principles. She leaves a legacy of the value of constructive criticism for nation building. It is fitting that what she started as a lone voice against one-party domination decades ago is today being repeated. Now it is not just one voice, but many ? including even a large chunk of the ruling party which is splitting away ? who are saying one-party dominance is the road to ruin. May she rest in peace.
Admin
31 Oct, 2008
UDM input at the National Convention South African democracy at a crossroad: turning a new page
INTRODUCTION The debate about political realignment has long been in the minds of many people in this country. It has been discussed publicly and privately by writers, political parties, and other individuals. Also over the years we have seen developments such as the emergence of the DA, the dissolution of the NNP and its absorption into the ANC, as well as the formation of new political parties. All of these are signs of the impetus for political realignment. Those initiatives may not have been as effective as their architects may have hoped, but realignment is a process not an event. The UDM feels it will not be in the best interests of all South Africans if the debate is only about political alliances. Any serious discussion about realigning the political landscape should not be confined only to political parties, but should also embrace stakeholders from civil society. The re-alignment phenomenon, it must be clearly understood, is not an alliance of political parties. It is a re-writing of the political map, a re-alignment of ideas, the regrouping of people around new concepts that have been thrown up by the changes that have taken place. However, we must thank the people behind this current initiative because it is more inclusive than many of the previous efforts. The UDM welcomes the revival of this important discussion about political realignment. The people who have gathered for this convention reflect the demographics of this country, representing the various formations of our society. There are those who couldn’t be present for this gathering due to a lack of resources, but who pin their hopes on the possibility that there may emerge from this convention a statement of intent towards addressing the social ills of this country. Let us remind each other that the impact of the social forces that transformed a totalitarian racist regime to a democratic social order – founded on the most progressive principles to be enshrined in a bill of rights in any country in modern times – shook the social foundations that had hitherto provided the basis and rationale for the alignment of political groupings which characterized our political landscape prior to 1994. Our point of departure in nation building must not be an ideological paradigm predicated on intolerant nationalism. This would be an unfortunate repeat of the discredited and failed social orders such as apartheid and communism in the former eastern block countries. This view has been propounded by Dr Van Zyl Slabbert in his book. THE STATE OF THE NATION Our history demands an awareness and willingness from all South Africans to fight the resurgence of racial hostilities and conflicts. It is in recognition of this historical legacy of our society that the UDM has committed itself to the vision of a new South Africa. Our analysis of the changing socio–economic-political order in South Africa since 1994, indicates that there will be discernible political shifts along interest group divides, distinguished by common concerns and aspirations. This process will move towards the crystallization of two major political streams, which express the ethos of the beneficiaries of the established order, on the one hand, and the aspirations of the emerging major social groupings that are marginalized at present, on the other hand. This will necessitate the emergence of two major political formations representing these interest groups. The group of beneficiaries is composed among others of those in position of power who implement policies skewed towards the interests of a select elite. It is this crowd today which runs the government from outside government structures even to the extent of who should get tenders and contracts and who not. The same style of government in the last 14 years has actually produced multi-millionaires and billionaires who have been cuing for state tenders irrespective of their ability to delivery, but on the other hand the products and services they have delivered have often left much to be desired. It is no wonder that today those successful deployees-turned-businessmen can donate individually R10 million to their party which enriched them with taxpayer money. We can expect as we move forward that it is these people who will resist change and pay in order to discredit this convention. The marginalized groups we are talking about are those sections of the population that have been unable to participate significantly in the economy for decades. Those groups are losing hope because daily their socio-economic suffering increases. It is these people who hoped that after 1994 there would be a clear-cut programme to uplift them. Instead we have seen a new culture being introduced, a culture of dependence and handouts, which has been characterized by the politics of patronage. For example, in order to get a particular service, or RDP house, or employment, you need to belong to party X, and in the case of tenders you need to ‘donate’ a certain percentage back to that political party. It promotes marginalization and discrimination if a ruling party deploys only its own cadres to head Chapter 9 institutions and the top structures of the civil service. The same policy is applied in the parastatals. It is a further marginalization of the people in the country if the ruling party deploys only its own cadres to head businesses. That is precisely why it is so easy currently for state resources to be used to prop up the ruling party, for example the R11 million that was donated to the ANC in the PetroSA/Oilgate scandal. You don’t have to be a rocket science to see that this is a form of institutionalized corruption where there is a deliberate web to siphon off state money to benefit a particular party. This strategy of marginalizing the rest of the country from participating in the economy has been exacerbated by the ruling party’s failure to distinguish between the role of the party and the role of government. As a result of the blurring of the roles of party and government that when there is conflict in the ruling party, it spills over into government and service delivery suffers. All tiers of Government have been paralysed by these divisions in the ruling party. Squabbles have erupted at the SABC, the National Intelligence Agency, provincial administrations and many municipalities. Not to mention the systematic campaign to undermine and devalue institutions of the democratic state we have witnessed, which resulted in the establishment of the Hefer and Khampepe Commissions of Inquiry. There is therefore a compelling need for the nation to periodically meet, as we are doing at this convention, to do a prognosis and reflect on strategies to address our national challenges. One thing is certain, the strategy of giving one political party the mandate to address our national challenges has been a failure. Nor can we fold our arms and do nothing whilst people are engaging in cronyism, nepotism and corruption. We can’t look the other way just because the people committing these crimes against our society are hiding behind the ruling party’s liberation credentials. When we talk of the ANC, we must understand that there are certain emotional attachments for many people, because it led the Struggle that liberated everybody including the erstwhile oppressors. But equally so we have a right to raise questions when we witness unscrupulous people hijacking the democratic project to enrich themselves, break the law and loot the resources of the country. Indeed we can no longer say that the trust that was given to the ruling party as custodian of our Constitution is still deserved, when they embark on campaigns aimed at undermining aspects of the democratic order, such as the judiciary just because they want the judiciary to pronounce a verdict that is acceptable to the palace. In all our discussions in this debate our point of departure should be the recommitment to the principle of improving the quality of lives of the people of South Africa as a national objective agreed to by all parties during the negotiation process prior to 1994. It is particularly important since nearly 15 years into democracy research by credible institutions indicate that the gap between rich and poor is widening. If we follow this as a guideline, we will emerge from this convention as a group of South Africans, to send a strong message that this convention is not only about the needs of the elite, or angry people for that matter, contrary to what the ruling party’s leadership and some analysts have claimed. Focusing on the marginalization of the citizens in this country, as well as resisting anarchist lawless tendencies, are not elitist or exclusive exercises. You can’t continue to use these citizens, including the poorest of the poor, as voting cattle, but when you get a mandate to govern, you forget about them. How does the ruling party reconcile its urban-biased policies, for instance subsidizing urban housing for the poor, but forget to cater on a similar scale for the needs of the rural communities? A responsible government would have been expected to engage the citizens in the rural areas, some of whom were bundled there because of the old apartheid policies, to determine what their needs are. Perhaps it may not be subsidized housing, but rather irrigation schemes. Even those in the urban areas, such as the squatter camps along the N2 in Cape Town who have been there since the 1980s, do not receive the services that they require. That community has been reduced to a political football between the ruling party at national and provincial level and local government under the opposition, but their urgent housing needs remain unaddressed. That is why we have seen in the past few years all over the country how frustrated communities have resorted to barricading roads and acts of public unrest because of poor service delivery. SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPERATIVES It should never be forgotten that our democratic Constitution seeks to guarantee our freedom, but this can only be achieved if the socio-economic environment allows the Bill of Rights to become a reality for all South Africans. Political freedom, without social and economic freedom is a hollow concept. The question that confronts us is: Has the political freedom gained in 1994 translated into social and economic freedom? We must deliberately measure our progress since 1994, because true freedom is not a once-off event but an ongoing process. The UDM understands that the growth of freedom depends on certain basic conditions that affect citizens’ physical ability but are also directly linked to their dignity, including the following: • Jobs. Without productive employment and a decent living wage people will not be able to experience the fruits of freedom. In the long term, food security can only be achieved and hunger beaten if people have jobs. • Education. Without knowledge and skills people cannot make informed decisions and achieve their goals, and so enhance their livelihoods. • Health. People need to be healthy and have adequate health care in order to reach their full potential and share in the benefits of a democratic society. • Security. People who feel under siege from criminals in their homes, neighbourhoods and places of work cannot fully concentrate on pursuing their aspirations. • Property ownership. Without ownership of land and property people are unable to participate actively in the economic and social life of the country. The architects of international institutions such as the World Trade Organisations (WTO) and even many developing countries like Brazil, China and India recognise the responsibility that they have towards their citizens and intervene to protect their domestic jobs and businesses. A Government that proposes anything less does not care about its people, and is not willing to accept responsibility for their welfare and prosperity. Whilst Apartheid undermined the majority’s dignity and freedom, the current levels of unemployment, poverty, crime and HIV/AIDS are taking many South Africans back to that same state of hardship and suffering experienced under Apartheid. The lack of coherent policy priorities to address these imbalances and backlogs, has led to the loss of hope by many South Africans. As a result of these contradictions in the implementation of policies South Africans are suspicious and mistrust Government, because of perceptions that it is not equitably distributing the resources of the country. There is an overwhelming view that there has never been a consensus on a macro-economic policy that can transform the economy in a manner that will create and spread wealth wider and improve the lot of the disadvantaged majority. There are, in particular, concerns about the inadequacies and contradictions of the fiscal and industrial policies. As a nation can we continue to allow the Minister of Finance and the Reserve Bank Governor to determine our economic fate exclusively on the basis of a narrow focus on inflation? This convention would’ve failed in its objective if it cannot resolve that there is a need for South Africans to meet again to discuss economic policy. We must resist the danger that economic policy will be determined by the ruling party’s donors. South Africans were too relaxed after 1994, thinking that there would be “jobs for all” as the ruling party promised. But the moment that it ascended to the Union Buildings it produced strange policies that led to jobless growth. There is a tendency to label people as ‘leftist’ when they call for the Government to do more for the people of this country. But when the Afrikaners were uplifted by their Government, it wasn’t called ‘leftist’. When the developed countries of the world subsidise their local agriculture and industry with trillions of dollars it is not called ‘leftist’. Just recently the governments of the US and Europe have intervened in their economies to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars to rescue private banks, but they have not been labelled ‘leftist’. It is ridiculous to suggest that our government should fold its arms when millions of South Africans are wallowing in poverty, because to uplift them would be so-called ‘leftist’. Above all South Africans want an accountable, ethical and incorruptible government. A NEW POLITICAL PARTY? There is talk that this convention might culminate in the launching of a new political party in December this year. The UDM views this convention as the first phase in a process. Aside from the threat to our constitutional democracy that we are discussing at this convention, there are those that are looking for a political home. We should encourage those who want to launch a new political party in the meanwhile to do so and to publish their platform. The second phase would be a bigger national convention after the elections – which is as inclusive as possible – where likeminded parties could meet as equals to discuss how we can build a strong new movement which would articulate the issues arising from this convention. THREATS TO A NEW PARTY: PLAYING FIELD NOT LEVEL Indications are that the ruling party will not tolerate the launching of a new party; disrupting meetings and declaring no-go areas etc. This hostile environment was once experienced by the UDM when violence was used to deter people from joining the party. Added to this was a deliberate blackout by the public broadcaster of UDM policy positions when it was launched. Perhaps after a new political party has been launched it should delegate a representative to sit on the Multi-Party Forum steering committee, which has been engaging the IEC on a number of issues to level the playing field for the election. To assist the new party, the resolutions – that were adopted by all political parties after the IEC conference last year – are attached to this document. Our engagement with the IEC is informed by the AU and SADC concerns about electoral processes in various countries, where election results have been disputed, sometimes even leading to violence and civil war. Those who form this new party will discover that one of the biggest inhibiting factors is lack of access to the public broadcaster in order to publish their policies and positions. They will discover that they will be lucky to get four minutes on national news to present their manifesto to the nation during the election period, yet the SABC will give the ruling party’s manifesto launch and major rallies hours of live coverage. An abuse of state resources that even the old National Party never committed. Even recently the ANC Secretary General and President both were allowed to abuse the SABC to speak to the nation live in order to address party squabbles. The other major handicap that the new party will find is the hesitance of the IEC to implement changes that the political parties have identified as inhibiting factors to multi-party democracy; the only stakeholder they take seriously is the ruling party. They have so far failed to arrange a meeting between themselves, the SABC, ICASA and the political parties to discuss the levelling of the playing field, as they promised to do earlier this year. Indeed they have failed dismally so far to come clean on what role the National Intelligence Agency is playing in the awarding of tenders to companies involved in the running of the elections. Nor have they convinced us that the IEC is insulated from Government influence through the Department of Home Affairs. This issue of the IEC is one area that political parties should all take seriously. What is the point of endorsing the IEC Commissioners when they do not listen to stakeholder concerns? This convention would be committing a grave mistake if it did not pronounce itself strongly on this matter. The IEC has despite our concerns gone ahead and started appointing people to run the elections that belong to the tripartite alliance. Some of the people who might be forming this new political party, may have an experience of how things were done in the ruling party, such as the hiring of venues and catering, and the printing of propaganda material under the guise of government information, rolling out food parcels that after the election disappear again. This abuse of state resources to promote the ruling party must stop. If we fail to address the IEC being embedded in Government, as well as the behaviour of the SABC, all the issues we raise at this convention will be for naught. Collectively we may need to ask for a High Court/Constitutional Court to review whether the rights of all are being respected. We need guarantees before the next election; we can’t allow South Africans to be kept in the dark about the policies and views of parties other than the ruling party, as if we are in exile in our own country. In everything we are discussing here, we need to realise that time is a major issue. Two major factors can take us out of this dilemma: speed and control of the process. The masses are waiting to here from us on how do we rescue this country from the embarrassing situation we find ourselves in, when the ruling party violates such basic principles such as accountability, consultation, inclusiveness, respect and decency. WAY FORWARD South Africa is at a crossroad; due to the situation explained above. As we have converged here with a view to seek solutions to the challenges facing the nation, it would be important to emerge with a message of hope for the people of South Africa. The bottom-line is that the masses of this country are vulnerable. They have been treated shabbily and used as voting cattle. This should not just have been a meeting where we spoke and then nothing came of it. It is time to turn the page. We need to ask ourselves how our discussions here will affect our actions in five year’s time. Thus we need to develop a plan of action, with specific steps and deadlines. As a way forward we know that the immediate task before us is to prepare for the elections next year. We need to provide answers on how we will cooperate as political parties to ensure that those elections will be free and fair. The levelling of the playing field will necessitate that the IEC need to speedily convene a meeting of political party leaders to answer whether it will be business as usual as far as the SABC, the involvement of NIA, and the capturing of election results are concerned. The other immediate issue confronting some of the people at this convention, is for those who intend launching a political party in December, to be given the time to do so. But in the meantime they must familiarise themselves with the ins and outs regarding the upcoming elections. The issues that have been identified for discussion at this convention are relevant to all political parties. The resolutions taken here reflect the views of the nation and it is incumbent upon every political party to decide how those views will be reflected in their policies. I dare say that even the ruling party should take note of the resolutions of this convention. COOPERATION SCENARIOS Since the Polokwane Conference of the ruling party there has been tremendous pressure from the public asking why we in the opposition do not form a strong alternative to the ruling party. It is a debate that has dominated public and private discussions. The truth is that we can’t just bundle a group of political parties together at short notice because we represent specific voters and mandates. The 2009 election is near; if we had started this convention process in January this year we would’ve been in a better position, but now time is against us. However the following scenarios may be looked at: a. Come up with a cooperation model, without losing the identity of the political parties, but work together under one umbrella in the election. b. Another scenario would be to remain as separate parties, but cooperate on issues raised in the Multi-Party Forum, such as electoral processes. c. Electoral pacts are also a possibility, where political parties agree not to contest against each other, and ask their supporters in certain areas to vote for their partner in the pact. d. Political parties can also contest the election separately but consider coalitions after the election. e. Another scenario would be to disband all the likeminded parties and create one new political entity to contest the upcoming election, but given that parties operate under electoral and conference mandates between elections, that is unlikely. Whatever scenario is chosen, all political parties need to promote certain common campaign messages, such as the need for electoral reform and the need to call a CODESA-type indaba on the economy and education. All of us can state those objectives in our election manifestoes and tell the nation that collectively we will ensure that these reforms will be implemented before the 2012 local government elections. There is no harm for each and every party to have a common thread in our manifestoes to say that never again should this country be dominated by a two-thirds majority, in order to counter the ills we’ve identified and improve service delivery. South Africans need to spread the vote to promote a balance of power, and ensure that the interests of our diverse society are reflected in the legislatures and Executive. CONVENTION BEYOND 2009 ELECTION Now that we have started a serious debate in this country about political realignment and have embarked upon the first phase of achieving that objective, the UDM would propose the following steps to advance this debate: a. Engage in informal discussion with all stakeholders, as we have started this weekend, which will begin to identify the various policy positions that are needed to improve the lot of South Africans. b. If there is an emerging consensus to establish an alternative government, we should establish a Committee of Parties with equal status (it will need to include other stakeholders in society such as Labour, Business, Traditional institutions, Youth, Women, NGOs, etc). c. That Committee of Parties should, in consultation with their leaders, work out the following: i. a vision ii. a possible vehicle to drive the process, including the question of leadership iii. areas of agreement and disagreement on our values. d. If there is consensus, the Committee should call a Summit of Leaders to send a message that we are serious about political realignment in South Africa. It is at this Summit that the leaders may decide on what the next stage in the process will be. e. The UDM view is that an appropriate format for discussions will be a second bigger National Indaba/Convention of Political Parties and sectors of society. f. Such an Indaba/Convention can set up Commissions to deliberate on different policy areas. g. The Commissions would report their findings to the Indaba/Convention, indicating differences and agreements on key areas and principles underlying party platforms. h. It would be the responsibility of the Indaba/Convention to take resolutions, on the most important aspects of this process, which would be a commitment to an accepted common vision of an alternative government. If consensus is reached during the course outlined above, it is conceivable that the situation could result in a new political formation that would pursue the objective of an alternative government. We call upon South Africans in all political formations, civil society, the business sector, academic etc. to take stock and concede that we should leave the baggage of the past behind and embrace the opportunity to carry our society forward and write a new chapter in our history. We should commend the ANC for having been the mother of non-racialism. To demonstrate their bona fides they even welcomed the members of the dissolved National Party of PW Botha into their ranks. However we have noted the double standards in Parliament and public debates where they would vent their anger about the policies of the past by blaming the DA, yet the architects of apartheid have been rewarded inside the ANC and Government with cosy positions. As we meet here the emphasis should be on the Constitution of the country, rather than wasting our energy on who owns the Freedom Charter etc. We have a fresh founding document of democracy that we need to embrace and protect. The UDM remains committed to multi-party democracy, and we feel that this is an opportune time to turn the page on one-party dominance. May God bless us all to read from the same page and take our country forward.
Admin
28 Oct, 2008
Let’s Talk: Service delivery challenges
Perhaps it would be best to start this topic by reminding everyone that service delivery isn’t simply something that Government does – it is a constitutional imperative. The Bill of Rights guarantees certain basic freedoms and services for every South African. The quality of our freedom, and indeed the legitimacy of the entire democratic project, depends upon the fulfilment of the legitimate expectations of South Africans to be delivered certain basic services as promised in the Constitution. It is an interpretation of service delivery that has been endorsed by the Constitutional Court. As leader of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) I have been vocal about service delivery for these reasons. It is convenient for critics of my views – those who will blindly follow the ANC even if it runs off a cliff – to ignore the essential constitutional framework that inspires my comments. It is the UDM’s duty, just like every other stakeholder in this country, to consistently promote and protect the service delivery that underpins our democratic dispensation. This is no small matter. Often the official response to my comments is that the ANC will eventually get around to delivering services to everybody. The sheer arrogance of this type of statement always amazes me. If service delivery is to be piecemeal and ad hoc, why doesn’t the ruling party say so honestly in its election campaigns? No, come election time they promise the world. And exactly who decides which communities are ‘deserving’ of service delivery and which ones are not? Do the loudmouths in the ruling party who refuse to acknowledge well-founded criticism – who respond with insults instead of reasoned argument – really not understand the unjustness of the present service delivery failures, particularly in the townships and rural areas? Our Constitution says that all citizens are equal and free but because of patchy service delivery by the ANC Government some enjoy the fruits of our freedom whilst others do not. I know that a suburban street in Pretoria could rival in services and aesthetics any street in the most developed capital cities of the world; whereas my home community in Mqanduli has no more services than many devastated villages in Afghanistan. For all you’d know Pretoria and Mqanduli might as well be in different universes, never mind the same country. This is how the seeds for second revolutions were sown in many countries. The UDM will not stand by quietly whilst this trend is allowed to develop. It is also fashionable to accuse us of being lone alarmists who exaggerate the extent of service delivery failures in this province. The truth is that every person who reads this will know what the state of our country is. They will also know that independent commentators have come to the same conclusion as the UDM, not because there is some huge conspiracy against the ruling party, but because it is the daily reality of every person residing in this country. And spare us the misplaced references to Apartheid – nobody in this country has suddenly forgotten the devastating evil of the old regime. It is exactly because we expected better from the ANC that we are holding them to account. It’s absolute twaddle for the ANC to expect us to use the old regime as a benchmark to evaluate their performance. It is disrespectful of every person who sacrificed to attain our freedom. The benchmark is not the past, but the Constitution. Yes there have been improvements since 1994, but these are inadequate. They are less than the Constitution guarantees and they are less than the ANC has promised for nearly 15 years in Government. Allow me to highlight some of the service delivery issues, because they bear repeating – a thousand times even, as long as Government eventually listens or gets booted out of office! Service delivery has faltered due to a lack of capacity in government; a study of departmental reports reveals that large numbers of key positions in the provincial and local administrations are vacant. Perhaps the most difficult part to swallow of the situation is that those vacancies co-exist with huge unemployment numbers – for that governance failure alone I believe the ANC no longer deserves to govern this country. I have on numerous occasions highlighted the total lack of strategic planning by Government. There is a haphazard approach to maintenance of existing projects and the implementation of new ones. Thus one will regularly find housing developments erected without environmental assessment or basic water, sanitation and electric infrastructure; afterwards these areas turn into environmental nightmares not fit for human habitation. These are not opposition party fabrications – these are the daily sufferings of vast numbers of people. Again – as with skills shortages – poor planning is especially prevalent in the vital service delivery departments; namely Health, Education, Home Affairs and Social Development. For instance, when we have 37000 vacancies for nurses and doctors in this country we must realize that something has gone horribly wrong in the administration of the Health Department. Performance management and a culture of accountability have evaporated among many of the top politicians and officials at national, provincial and local government level. Service delivery has failed because the ruling politicians are not held accountable, in turn they don’t hold senior management accountable. In the end, it is all about political will. Clearly the political will to really make a difference to the lives of the people is not their first priority. It is time for the people of South Africa to use their vote to show these people the door who have had 15 years chance to fulfill their promises. The voters have an opportunity in less than nine months to usher in fresh new governments in several provinces that will deliver on the constitutional imperative of service delivery, whilst nationally reducing the power and arrogance of the ANC.
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