Admin
03 Jun, 2018
UDM National Election Workshop
The United Democratic Movement (UDM), held its National Election Workshop from the 1st to the 2nd of June, at Burgers Park Hotel, in Pretoria. The UDM can now confirm, with confidence, that it is all systems go. 2018. The workshop was attended by the national leadership, the representatives from provinces and regions, the youth, women and young professionals associate structures. President Holomisa said the gathering’s main purpose was to establish a UDM Road Map towards 2019 national and provincial elections, and to retune its Manifesto to effectively address the national current challenges. He said the current state of national affairs require a new thinking. He made it clear that the old thinking of Liberation Movement no longer serves the needs of the majority of South Africans and lamented the loss of vision within the ruling party, which has been captured by the corrupt, and co-opted by the elites. The current change of leadership in the ruling party does not bring anything new, Holomisa said; instead it is a step backward towards the neoliberal narrative that brought us corruption in a large scale. In Orwellian language, it is just a change of characters who stands on the first trough feeding line. The Secretary General of the UDM, Mr Bongani Msomi, presented the state of the party report. He talked with r egards to laws and regulations of IEC, making it clear how the UDM features in the current political landscape. The UDM believes the country is in urgent need of a comprehensive and integrated infrastructure plan, both for social and economic development. The party emphasis is on the maintenance, improvement and sustainability of the existing, whilst new and modern infrastructure is developed. The well-known independent political analyst, Dr Somadoda Fikeni gave a robust and critical evaluation of the balance of political forces in the country. With regard to elections, we took bold resolutions, amongst others, are the following: Reconnect with our communities through a campaign called Community Service – Putting People First. [We are clear that there are still serious service delivery gaps that need to be take up with the government of the say on behalf of the people in particular the vulnerable groups.] Internally, we plan to be ready with the list processes before the end of the current year. All our election machinery shall be in full swing by the end of August. Polish our manifesto and policies on the socio-economic challenges facing our people: rural and the urban infrastructure, implementation weaknesses, job creation, crime, education, health, good governance and anti-corruption.The UDM has been successful in championing current Popular Policy Positions in the country. Amongst those is: The need for a dialogue on Land. A National Convention on economic policy development and redistribution that must benefit the majority of our people. The National Assembly resolution of the 27 February 2018, which is also consistent with the UDM call for explicit constitutional clarity on expropriation without compensation, thus we supported it. The recently adopted Party Funding Bill is one of the campaigns the UDM has been championing since 2003. The party sharpened and consolidated its position on the Land Issue and its prepared contribution in the current national debate on Land Expropriation without Compensation. The workshop is of the view that: Land must be expropriated without compensation, for the common cause, where necessary. The constitution as it stands, must be tested to the maximum to create progressive precedence. The state capacity to deliver on this constitutional mandate has to be enhanced for efficiency and speedy effectiveness. There is an urgent need to attend to the urban / city land hunger for human settlement and entrepreneurship. Rural development must be reprioritised. Land Tax Gender Parity The UDM notes the politically related violence and which finds its expression within the governing party. We call on all political parties, to ensure that their internal party squabbles do not become a threat to free and fair elections in 2019. We also call on IEC to ensure that all its systems are in place on time to enable citizens. Lastly, the UDM welcomes the good work being done by our members in various provinces. We are excited about the growth of the party, especially in provinces like KZN.
Admin
03 Mar, 1999
UDM’s response to election announcement
Statement by Bantu Holomisa UDM President The UDM welcomes the announcement of the election date. It gives certainty, allows for proper planning, and gives parties time to inform the electorate about their policies. We hope the elections will be free and fair and that tolerance will be practiced, in the run up to the elections, on Election Day and after the results have been made public. The UDM calls on the IEC to stick to their timetable to ensure that the elections are run properly. All role players, (i.e.) political parties, IEC, Government, and the media should go into the election realising our democracy is still young and fragile and must be handled with care. The elections and the run up to the elections will contribute to the development of our young democracy.
Admin
13 Jan, 1999
Elections under threat
Statement by the National Deputy Secretary The repeated statement by the IEC chairperson, Judge Kriegler that the IEC does not have enough funding to conduct the elections properly, is a matter of grave concern. In order to be independent and effective in ensuring free and fair elections the IEC needs to be properly funded. The UDM has stated before that by not providing the IEC with the necessary funding the vital independence role of the IEC comes under threat. Government needs to provide the IEC with the necessary funding to ensure that the IEC can without a shadow of a doubt conduct its tasks and with credibility be able to declare the 1999 elections free and fair. The UDM however also believes that the IEC itself needs to ensure that this is possible. Scepticism exists over the spending of the IEC. What is it that the IEC up to date has spent its allocated budget on? Putting forward a budget is one thing, but what that money was actually spent on is another question. The UDM would be interested in the IEC making public an actual income and expenditure statement up to date. Somehow priorities seem not to have been addressed. Here one needs just to recall the lack of awareness programs during the first registration process to see to what extent priorities have been poorly dealt with. The UDM knows that the non-availability of the election date is also an obstacle in proper planning for the elections. This is true not only for the IEC but also for the planning of campaigns, the preparation of civil society for the elections as well as the much needed voter education programmes. While the earlier proclamation of the date needs a constitutional change, nothing is stopping the President to announce the election date. The UDM would urge him in the interest of democracy as a whole to do that as a matter of urgency. The IEC in handling and managing the elections must remember that it is serving the South African voter public and democracy before anything or anybody else. The IEC would therefore do well to communicate with South Africans the full picture regarding the obstacles it is facing in preparing for the elections. In the interest of democracy and in ensuring a free and fair election the IEC is obliged to do exactly that.
