ANC Stalwarts Not Supportive Of Cape Town Council Change 23
Despite often going head to head with the Presidency and the Minister of Health, Zackie Achmat is still a card carrying member of the ANC. Indeed in my one brief conversation I had with him a while ago he seemed upbeat on the ANC, believing the TAC’s issues with government were more the fault of Mbeki/Msimang than the policy of the ANC itself.
So it’s suprising to see that Achmat (along with the TAC) is so far opposed to Local Government MEC Richard Diyanti’s move to restructure the Cape Town Council calling it “undemocratic”. He even went so far as to call it “the ANC’s attempt at a power grab”, so perhaps he’s grown a bit tiresome of the ANC since I last spoke to him.
But it seems to be getting even worse for Diyanti with SACTWU one of the larger COSATU unions asking to have a meeting with Diyanti to ask about the proposed changes, although I’m unsure of whether they’re actually opposed to the changes or just ticked off because they were not consulted beforehand.
The ANC alliance is united in supporting the proposed change. COSATU may not like not being consulted but in the end they have told the provincial ANC that they support inclusive government in Cape Town. In fact if Zille remains intransigent in a manner not unlike that of Ian Smith then I would not be surprised if COSATU shuts down the city in order to bring Zille to her senses. My opinion is that I support Dyantyi as probably the majority of blacks do. It is only the whites that Zille is representing who do not want the change. It’s apartheid and UDI type politics all over again. When do they learn that this is Africa and not the West. Africa belongs to Africans not whites who are only whining and complaining like Neil Watson, who is one of Zille’s fans.
By Phida Essop and Lindsay Dentlinger
The ANC has broken its silence to support and explain the move by Local Government MEC Richard Dyantyi to change the structure of the city’s municipal government.
Provincial party chairperson James Ngculu said the plan had been on the ANC agenda for more than six months.
Explaining the delay in acting on the bid to strip mayor Helen Zille of her executive powers, he said the decision needed to be taken by the MEC, not the ruling party.
In a bid to defend the plan, he told the Cape Argus: “This is not new thinking. The MEC had to take this decision at his own pace.
“We couldn’t interfere with that process because we must respect a separation of powers between government and party.
“It has to do with the separation of power as prescribed in the constitution. If you do not respect it, it means that you do not respect the constitution.
“The MEC said he had monitored the City of Cape Town for the last six months. We support the decision taken by Dyantyi.”
Ngculu criticised Zille’s leadership, saying that she was “not prepared to deliver to the poor”.
“She has done nothing thus far. The question of delivery becomes very central when Zille continues to polarise the people of Cape Town.
“(As for) her position on the 2010 Soccer World Cup, she had not lived up to the requirements of the government. Intervention is very important.”
Ngculu’s comments came as Dyantyi officially signalled the start of 30 days of consultation with the City of Cape Town and the SA Local Government Association (Salga) on his plan to change from the current executive mayoral system to the collective executive system, rendering Zille a powerless figurehead.
Via a letter to the mayor’s office on Tuesday afternoon, Dyantyi said the process would start as from on day and his officials would arrange a meeting with council officials “shortly” to discuss the matter.
Attached to this letter was a draft copy of a fifth establishing amendment notice – the legal document which determines the type of municipality of a city or town.
Such a system would see the powers of the council vested in a 10- member executive committee, with parties apportioned seats in proportion to their share of the local government election vote.
The mayor’s job would become a ceremonial role.
Under the Municipal Structures Act of 1998, the local government MEC has to consult local government in the province and the existing municipalities affected by the amendment before the establishing notice can be amended.
The law does not prescribe a timeframe for these consultations.
Mayoral spokesperson Robert Macdonald said the letter from Dyantyi had been handed over to the city’s lawyers for advice on how to proceed.
Ngculu spoke up after a meeting between the ANC and alliance partner Cosatu on Tuesday. He said it had been “open and constructive”.
Earlier Cosatu had slammed the Dyantyi move, complaining it had not been consulted. Provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich had said the move raised ethical issues which left a “bad taste in the mouth”.
Cosatu is due to announce its official position on the matter on Saturday, after its provincial congress.
Asked why Cosatu had not been consulted on the matter, Ngculu said the ANC and the union federation were two independent organisations. “However, it was in the programme to consult with them.”
Ehrenreich agreed the meeting had been “constructive” and that the ANC had briefed Cosatu on the reasons for taking this step.
“The ANC should have done it right after the election. They should have forced the inclusion of all the major parties, given that there was no outright winner.”
I think that James Ngculu should be the premier of the Western Cape if not the mayor of Cape Town!
Comparing Zille to Ian Smith is a bit disingenious don’t you think? Zille has created a coalition that represents (by a slim margin, but a margin nonetheless) the majority of the voters in Cape Town. She is not holding onto power by miliatary force.
As for COSATU shutting down the city that would be the stupidest thing to do considering the SATAWU strike fiasco. COSATU has also been getting less and less effective with their continued strikes with their industrial action against Shoprite petering out into almost nothing.
I think if Zille and the DA only had the support of the white population of Cape Town they would not have come close to winning, that is unless you consider a large chunk of the coloured population as white.
Zackie Achmat is in the employ of the CIA which explains why he is a troublemaker and an enemy of the state.
I dislike Helen Zille as much as I do George Bush. They are both divisive and both represent minority wealthy interests against the interests of the poor and working class.
Farrell, Those “coloureds” you mentioned (I hate that word coloured) have been duped by the DA and are being used as connon fodder as the DA is and always will be a white party so that anyone of colour who joins it will always be viewed as collaborators just as there were collaborators in the old days. They will jump ship from the DA like the NP once they realized the divide and rule tactics of Tony Leon’s party. Ultimately the so called coloureds you mention are Africans unlike the whites who settled and took their land and in the end these people’s interests are the same as other black people in SA.
One more reminder for those who are reading this. Cape Town is a part of Africa not Europe. Do not forget this.
Uh… WTF?
We’ll the US pays him in order to protect the interests of the big pharmaceutical companies and their lobbyists. Health Minister Manto Tshabala-Msimang is not liked because she is a smart cookie and is willing to take on these interests in SA. What is wrong with challenging a global system that discriminates against poor countries like SA. What do we have to lose if we don’t want to play ball.
If the SA government were to do the same, and you should be asking yourself why they aren’t if Manto is so keen to challenge the US pharamceutical industry, the TAC would probably be dancing in the streets in joyous rapture.
I really don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Kevin Adrian Hughes is either a brilliantly subtle comedian or an incredibly deluded individual. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s the latter. Please tell us you’re having us on, Kevin.
The claims about Zackie Achmat are a case in point. Lest we forget, it was Mr Achmat and his supporters who were the most influential in instigating and supporting the landmark court case a few years which gave South Africa the right to manufacture generic versions of anti-AIDS drugs without compensating any of the big pharmaceuticals, and he has constantly campaigned for the government to make use of this right. It really is quite a stretch to claim he is paid to protect the interests of big pharmaceuticals when his main focus is to deny them money…
And the comments about race are absurd. Let’s be clear here: This controversy is not about race, it’s about the ANC vs the DA. Indeed, the DA and its coalition partners garnered a fair number of black voters in the election, and many of the black revellers in the recent Heritage Day celebrations in Cape Town gave Helen Zille a rousing cheer after her speech. Because you see, this isn’t about Zille’s race, it’s about the hope of many in Cape Town (certainly the majority) who are sick of waiting for the ANC to fulfill its long-promised obligations and are looking elsewhere for new governance and service delivery.
But I find your focus on race above all else to be interesting. Ordinarily, people regard such things as policies and service delivery as being of utmost importance, but your obsession with race (and evident hatred of whites) blinds you to all that and stupidly reduces everything to a white vs black calculation. It’s not important to you whether Zille actually does improve the lives of the poor in Cape Town, because she’s white and is automatically tossed into the “bad” category that exists somewhere in your head. How odd.
Darren There is no service delivery in Cape Town. Sure the previous ANC administration under Nomaindia Mfeketo did have its problems but at least it tried. Same can be said about ANC governance in general. But since Helen Zille and her clowns took office six months ago not a single house was built by the city of Cape Town for the poor. In fact the city pulled out of the Gateway housing project and left it to the provincial government to finish. No tell me why is that, because Helen Zille does not give a damn about blacks. Despite her high profile media appearances in the townships she is reviled all over the Cape Flats. In fact some people have even threatened her. Not saying this is right but the fact is that Helen’s skin color does matter in a country where 92% of the people are black and only 8% are white. That is reality. It is totally unacceptable that after 12 years of democracy that we have a white mayor in the last white citadel in Africa. Sure you can fight to preserve that last white enclave but it makes no sense. In 40 years time I doubt there will be a white soul left in SA. I doubt whether Helen Zille will still be in SA if she is not shot at before she leaves on the last planeload!
Is it my imagination, or is Kevin Adrian Hughes inciting racial hatred?
Kev, where do you get your information? The city never pulled out of the N2 Gateway. The N2 Gateway was basically completed waaaay before the elections (after about 2 years of stop start construction thanks to Wallace Mgoqi) but stood empty whlle the previous administration took their time deciding who got the units. Local government was pulled off after the DA won Cape Town probably to avoid there being a nice photo op of Zille giving away the housing. If the 200-ish units that were built there is the best that Mefeketo could do, while the housing back log ballooned under her watch to over 280 000, then she wasn’t really trying.
As for this quote:I don’t think your understanding on how a democracy works is quite accurate.
Dyantyi’s practising African culture
September 27, 2006
With regard to the City of Cape Town and the current fluid party-political situation, with the possible unseating of the DA and Helen Zille as “executive mayor”, I would like to draw attention to the fact that most of the white voters who support the DA do not apparently yet understand the fundamentals of African politics.
As one who has studied (and written about in my book, Cultural Considerations in South Africa) African culture and values, it might be useful to remind readers that Western democracy (plus political structures and models) was im-ported into South Africa by the early white settlers and is not congruent with African culture and African values.
The traditional African concept of ubuntu takes precedence in the minds and hearts of many if not most African leaders, and I was reminded of this fact the other day by a final-year African student at Stellenbosch University, who told me that “in African culture, there is no democracy as per Western perceptions and culture, but rather a style of leadership whose goal is to promote the best interests of human life and the community at large”.
At a time when we are celebrating heritage and our diversity of cultures, let us remember it is in the African psyche to incline towards a more African style of leadership.
Let’s try to understand that the motivation of Local Government MEC Richard Dyantyi is not a sinister power grab but reflects the basic values of ubuntu that aim to promote the maximum good for all.
Guy Macleod Plumstead
I agree with Guy Macleod. I think that multiparty systems and liberalism in general are Western imports that do not apply well in South Africa or in Africa as a whole. The concept of ubuntu is very important to understanding SA and how it works.
So where was that spirit of Ubuntu when the ANC was running the Cape Town council from 2002-2006?
They didn’t include the DA or any other party on their executive committee during that time. They didn’t even win any election or construct a coalition, they only came to power through floor crossing.
Farrel, It was the DA that wanted floor crossing after it became unbearable for the NNP to remain in the DA. It was the incompetence of DA administration in Cape Town under Peter Marais that led to the floor-crossing and the need for parties to realign as the NNP did when it broke away and joined the ANC. The reconstitution of the Cape Town in 2002 was entirely legitimate and led to a period of stability in the council between 2002-2006 that wasn’t seen before. There was a spirit of ubuntu when the NNP and ANC entered into cooperative governance in the interests of stability and delivery in the Western Cape.
Sure the floor-crossing is controversial but it suited the situation in SA. But unlike floor-crossing MEC Richard Dyantyi’s proposals to reconstitute Cape Town are entirely legal under the Municipal Systems Act. One must not confuse the fact that no single person or party was elected in March 2006 as Helen Zille was never directly elected by the electorate. Rather she was elected at the time by a full council and there is nowhere in the law that specifies necessarily that she has to serve five years. That decision is up to the electors in the full council to decide once the new committee is formed.
“I doubt whether Helen Zille will still be in SA if she is not shot at before she leaves on the last planeload!”
and
“The concept of ubuntu is very important to understanding SA and how it works.”
I am dismayed that the same person can write these two things in the same conversation.
Whites have no future in South Africa. They belong to the West which is where they loyalties lie not in Africa or the Third World which has a totally different set of values. That is why whites are leaving South Africa in increasing numbers, a process that started with Africa’s decolonisation in the 1960’s to the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980 and South Africa in 1994. This is an historical development that results from the transition from colonial type systems to independence and liberation.
If you are in doubt about what I am saying read the following article from Finance.24.com:
Million whites leave SA – study 24/09/2006 16:37 By: Peet van Aardt
Johannesburg – One million white South Africans – almost a fifth – have left the country in the past ten years. This figure was released last week in a report from the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR).
Frans Cronjé, who compiled the report, said it was especially crime and affirmative action which had driven a fifth of South Africa’s white population out of the country.
He did an analysis of Statistics South Africa’s Household Surveys between 1995 and 2005, emigration figures and other reliable estimates on population numbers.
Cronjé said the results left himself and his colleagues dumbfounded.
“When we drew the graphs we saw that almost a whole generation of white South Africans are not here anymore.”
Young people, children leaving
The SAIRR’s population pyramid of white South Africans show a definite loss of young people and children under the age of ten.
The figures for 2005 put the number of white South Africans in the country at 4.3 million, 841 000 fewer than the 5.2 million of 1995.
Cronjé predicts that the white population would continue to shrink, and, he said, the situation would have a far-reaching impact on the economy.
“The white population is getting older, which means the white taxpayers are only going to contribute to the economy for the next twenty years. There would have to be a huge influx of skilled workers to fill this gap. This, unfortunately, is not the case.”
Due to the inequalities of the past, the education of most of the black children is still not on par to fill these gaps.
Last year, for example, only 3 000 black learners passed matric with higher grade mathematics, said Cronjé.
Economically productive
Most of the white emigrants are economically productive people, said Marco Macfarlane, co-author of the report.
However, in the last decade the black economically productive population grew by 81%. Some of these people have slot into the high-income group, where black people make up a third of the top earners.
Whites, however, still account for half of this group, where Indians and coloureds make up 7% and 6% of the high-income group respectively.
The rest of the black entrants to the labour market are busy in the informal sector, which do not necessarily contribute to the tax income.
“Black people are entering the economy at a stiff pace, but of the economically active middle class (the country’s biggest tax contributors), blacks only account for 1%.”
Macfarlane said crime and affirmative action are the top reasons for the exodus of whites.
More whites going to leave
“And because the crime figures are not going to decline rapidly and affirmative action is to continue, more whites are going to leave.
“The young people reckon they are being punished for what happened in the previous dispensation. They are furious, because they feel they had no part in it,” said Macfarlane.
According to the report the emigrants are between 20 and 40 years old.
“This is the group that have children and help grow the population, but now they’re getting their children overseas. And they don’t come back. That means the white population is going to continue to shrink.”
The decline in the white population in the decade to 2005 is estimated at 16.1%.
Whites are emigrating abroad to the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where they have something in common with those countries. And as the article states, they are NEVER coming back to SA.
Politically there is no point in white-based political parties like the DA. In the end they are wiped out aside from the fact that such parties have no place in SA today other than to whine and complain about how bad things are under black majority rule for the whites. That is why the DA is a declining party because many of it’s core white constituents have left SA and will continue to leave SA until there are no more whites left. Take a look at Kenya, Zimbabwe or Mozambique where there are really no more whites left in those countries.