Admin
16 May, 1988
Resignation of councillors from Benoni and the South East
Statement by National Deputy-Secretary To leave the political party that you have been part of for many years is never an easy decision. We gave serious thought to this and in the end realised that if we truly want to contribute in building the future of South Africa, we cannot do it in the National Party. We as councillors have decided to leave the National Party and join our forces with the UDM in order to contribute in developing true multi-party democracy and one nation in South Africa. We have come to realise that the National Party served its purpose and is no longer the vehicle to take South Africa into the next millennium. We believe it is necessary to pay tribute to the National Party for the role that it played in bringing South Africa to the negotiation table which resulted in our first real democratic elections. However, it is also quite clear that the National Party can not contribute towards establishing real multi-party democracy because of its inability to be an effective opposition party. The National Party is failing dismally in its attempts to make inroads into ANC support and is therefore not in a position to prevent South Africa from slipping into a one party state. The UDM, on the other hand, is the only party in South Africa that has the ability to prevent a landslide victory for the ANC in the next election. We, councillors from Benoni and the Johannesburg South East MSS, bring to the UDM experience which in total amounts to 92 years in local government as well as provincial and national government. We are mindful of the tremendous responsibility we as South Africans carry in helping to shape the future destiny of our country. What it now means is that each of us will have to throw in our full weight behind the UDM to achieve success at the polls in 1999. Looking at the total political spectrum the UDM is the movement that came into being in the post apartheid period. We believe the UDM was born out of a genuine need by all shades of South Africans to come together, to put the past behind us and to dynamically work towards the future. The UDM is the only party that is looking at the challenges facing our country. A party that says we must get crime under control, house the homeless, create an environment which will create an opportunity for the development of the unemployed and wants to see South Africa developing to its full potential through the rich diversity of its people. The UDM provides hope to the people of South Africa as the only workable alternative. It is realistic and pragmatic in its approach and puts national interests before personal political gain. The Democratic Party also has its roots in the apartheid era. Recent successes of the DP in traditional NP strongholds create the impression that the DP is moving into the laager with the NP. This can only lead to further polarisation with disastrous consequences. We believe that within the near future the DP with its newfound sectoral support will find itself in exactly the same political cul-de-sac where the National Party is today. All South Africans who are concerned about the future of the country must therefore unite under the banner of the UDM and march proudly into the next millennium.
Admin
13 May, 1988
National Party shocked into last place defeat by the UDM
statement by National Deputy-Secretary The UDM’s performance in the by-election in the Western Cape is a confirmation of the fact that there is growing support for the efforts of the UDM to unite the people of South Africa. A month after the launch of the UDM the party drew 15% of the support in a by-election. This in itself was quite significant. Seven months later the UDM defeats the National Party in the heart of its traditional stronghold. Contrary to the misinformation spread by other political parties this result clearly indicates that the UDM’s support is more wide spread than the Eastern Cape and some support in Gauteng. This result confirms the UDM’s own assessment of growing support and makes a mockery of statements by other political leaders and some political commentators about our support. The UDM with this significant result sends out a clear message that it is a serious contender for the 1999 elections and that it is represents all the people of South Africa. This result will further contribute to the establishment of a viable and credible opposition to the ANC. The UDM is the only party that can draw support from the ANC and break the hold of the ANC.
Admin
21 Jan, 1988
Collapse of the civil service
Statement by UDM Deputy-National Secretary It is with growing alarm that the UDM, and the country, is watching the implosion in the Public Service. There are daily reports about corrupt police officers, jailbreaks, chaos in our schools, disillusionment in the health services, collapse in the welfare services and justice grinding to a halt. In the mean time, the Public Service itself is losing expertise at an alarming rate, mostly as a result of ill-considered affirmative measures. The transformation of the Civil Service, all reasonable South Africans realise, is a necessary and important process. The Civil Service needs to represent all South Africans and serve all South Africans. However, it seems to be nowhere achieving this. Most importantly, it seems to have run out of morale, hope, determination and expertise to a level where self-aggrandisement, rather than service, has become a norm amongst many public servants. We realise that transformation takes time. We realise that the state has serious financial constraints. But we also realise that a total collapse will lead to total chaos, from which rebuilding will be extremely difficult. The UDM urges Government to devise an overarching strategy to achieve the following: Reconsider, reprioritise and scrutinise the overall and specific budgets of all state departments in order to make finances available for those pressing needs without which delivery and service become impossible. Devise a program for appointments and retrenchments aimed, apart from affirmative action and down-sizing the Service, -at gaining, not losing, expertise, -cutting the huge retrenchment bill, and empowering all existent civil servants with the skills necessary by means of training programmes, which can also serve as a means of ridding the Service of those not willing, or capable, of performing. Devise a program for boosting the morale of the Civil Service, of instilling a spirit of efficient service, of esprit-de-corps. This, however, will only be effective once the above-mentioned measures are being implemented. South Africa desperately needs a well-oiled and effective Civil Service. Government, we believe, feels the same. It is now the time to be more pragmatic and creative, and less ideological, in order to save the floundering Public Service, and those loyal and capable individuals still willing to serve the public.
