Date: 03/04/2004
Source: Democratic Alliance
Title: T Leon: Gandhi would beg to differ
The people of KwaZulu-Natal face a clear choice in this election. KwaZulu-Natal can be a prisoner of the ANC party machine-or it can be strong, free, and well-governed.
It is a choice where the stakes are high.
Here in eThekwini Metropole, which is controlled by the ANC, there are severe housing problems.
The municipal council set aside money to upgrade the Woodhurst flats, where 5 000 people are crammed into 450 units-an average of 11 people per flat. But it has made little progress.
Instead of helping local residents first, the council brought people here from informal settlements in other areas. Meanwhile, the provincial housing department, which is run by the DA, is making great progress.
The DAs MEC Wilson Ngcobo approved 21 809 housing subsidies in the last year, boosting delivery by 350 percent. The housing department also recovered R29-million, of a total of R72-million, that had been wasted on unauthorised expenditure by the previous housing minister.
We helped eight different institutions provide shelter for Aids orphans, and allocated R5,1-million to build homes to house 353 homeless children. We also spent R57-million to upgrade hostels last year.
And last month, in the rural community of St Faiths, Reverend Ngcobo announced the first 1 000 houses to be built under KwaZulu-Natals new provincial housing policy for rural areas.
Our past successes in government send a clear message: KwaZulu-Natal must stay out of the hands of the ANC. There are only two forces in this election. There is the DA and the Coalition for Change on the one hand, and the ANC and its allies, the Minority Front and the NNP, on the other.
The Coalition for Change stands for new policies on the economy, on crime and HIV/Aids. We stand for federalism and constitutional democracy. We stand for innovative and accountable government. And we are committed to keeping KwaZulu-Natal out of the hands of the ANC.
One thing is clear: a vote for any other party is a vote for the ANC. The Minority Front claims that it represents the interests of the people of Chatsworth. Yet it votes with the ANC. Amichand Rajbansi is a one-man show who cannot deliver anything to the people of this community without the ANCs approval.
Even when the ANC proposed a procurement policy for eThekwini municipality that discriminated against minorities, and which is very likely unconstitutional, the Minority Front supported it. The NNPs policy of "constructive opposition" is a complete failure. The party has achieved absolutely nothing through its cooperation with the ANC. On every issue of importance, it has given in to the ruling party. And it does not care at all for the people of this community.
The Democratic Alliance, in contrast, has been making a real difference in Chatsworth. DA councillors have been active in setting up a Call Centre at the Chatsworth police station, and the DA persuaded the South African Police Service to fund an upgrade of the Bayview police station.
The DA has also been active in setting up a task team to deal with the shooting of taxi and bus drivers-a team whose work helped bring about the arrest of the culprits.
On top of that, the DA also helped initiate an investigation into a case of corruption in which R10-15 million was supposedly spent on renovating flats in Shallcross but where the work had not been done.
And the DA has been active in local charity work, donating R10 000 worth of wheelchairs and physiotherapy equipment to Cheshire childrens homes.
Last August, I opened a new DA office in Chatsworth that has helped us continue to contribute to the community and to give the community a real voice.
Only the DA stands up against all forms of unfair racial discrimination.
The ANC is going around Indian communities claiming that Gandhi would have voted for them.
Well, I have news for the ANC. Gandhi would beg to differ. He would have had profound differences with the ANC. And to use the image of Gandhi, as if he were running for public office, is ghoulish, partisan and reprehensible.
This campaign shows just how politically desperate and bankrupt the ANC is. They have to reach back to 1948 to find leaders that appeal to the people. They offer the people a better yesterday instead of a better tomorrow.
Would Gandhi have approved of the ANC withholding Aids drugs from people until the eve of an election? Would Gandhi have approved of spending R50 billion on an arms deal instead of giving the poor a basic income grant? Would Gandhi have approved of a President who threatens to beat his sister? Would the Mahatma have spent R600 million on a jet airplane when more than 20 million South Africans live in poverty?
Would Gandhi have approved of the ANC doing deals with Amichand Rajbansi-a man who was once described by a judicial commission of inquiry as "ruthless, unscrupulous.and unfit for any public office that required integrity"?
Would Gandhi have approved of the ANCs approach to affirmative action-one which is focused obsessively on race instead of what is good for the people of South Africa?
Gandhis campaign for the rights of Indians in South Africa, and his work for the abolition of the caste system in India, was based on an uncompromising opposition to racial discrimination in all of its forms.
The DA has always said that black economic empowerment is important. But we have said that South Africa needs empowerment for the many, not just for the few. And we cannot allow new forms of racial discrimination sneak in through the back door.
We know, for example, that few members of the Indian community have benefited from affirmative action and empowerment.
Under apartheid, Indian South Africans were discriminated against. Today, they are still discriminated against. Sometimes Indians are considered "previously disadvantaged", and sometimes Indians are not, and are treated with disdain and resentment.
The problem with the ANCs version of black economic empowerment is that so much of it happens secretly, behind closed doors.
No one can tell you exactly how many black empowerment deals are going through, and who is benefiting. There were sixty-two deals that were conducted publicly last year, and which were worth a total of R21 billion.
But no one knows how many other deals took place, or what they were worth. One estimate says that there were 58 other deals. Another says there were as many as 127.
The estimates of how much these deals were worth in total ranges from R26,5 billion to R42,2 billion.
And who benefited?
Were they established entrepreneurs?
Were they people with skills and the will to make their businesses succeed?
Or were they just ANC cronies, cashing in on their political connections?
We may never know.
South Africa needs black economic empowerment to become transparent and open. Every new empowerment deal must be done in public, without any secrets being hidden from the people.
Otherwise, the South African people, as well as foreign investors, will lose confidence in the empowerment process and in our economy as a whole.
It is a privilege to visit the Hare Krishna temple, which operates one of the biggest feeding schemes in the world. It is making a real difference in peoples lives.
The DA wants the government to work with community organisations, to take the R1,5 billion that is wasted or lost every year in the Department of Social Development and to support community organisations, including religious organisations, that are delivering to the people better than government can.
Our election manifesto includes proposals for improving living conditions by introducing a basic income grant of R110 per person per month to every South African living in poverty who does not have access to another grant. We will also provide free anti-retroviral drugs to every person who needs them, and treat 500 000 Aids patients with anti-retrovirals in the next five years. There will be no more of the ANCs delays! We will fight crime by putting 150 000 police on the streets by 2007. We will give tough sentences to dangerous offenders. There will be no more easy paroles, and no more mass presidential pardons. We will help victims by providing a fund for victims of crime. And we will also deal swiftly and decisively with corruption, in both the private sector and the public sector.
Across the nation, we can win between 27 and 30 percent of the vote, together with our partners in the Coalition for Change. We will roll back the power of the ANC in Parliament.
And so the choice is clear. Voters who truly care about the future of KwaZulu-Natal will support the DA and the Coalition for Change.
Together, we can build a better South Africa.
Source: Democratic Alliance
Title: T Leon: Gandhi would beg to differ
The people of KwaZulu-Natal face a clear choice in this election. KwaZulu-Natal can be a prisoner of the ANC party machine-or it can be strong, free, and well-governed.
It is a choice where the stakes are high.
Here in eThekwini Metropole, which is controlled by the ANC, there are severe housing problems.
The municipal council set aside money to upgrade the Woodhurst flats, where 5 000 people are crammed into 450 units-an average of 11 people per flat. But it has made little progress.
Instead of helping local residents first, the council brought people here from informal settlements in other areas. Meanwhile, the provincial housing department, which is run by the DA, is making great progress.
The DAs MEC Wilson Ngcobo approved 21 809 housing subsidies in the last year, boosting delivery by 350 percent. The housing department also recovered R29-million, of a total of R72-million, that had been wasted on unauthorised expenditure by the previous housing minister.
We helped eight different institutions provide shelter for Aids orphans, and allocated R5,1-million to build homes to house 353 homeless children. We also spent R57-million to upgrade hostels last year.
And last month, in the rural community of St Faiths, Reverend Ngcobo announced the first 1 000 houses to be built under KwaZulu-Natals new provincial housing policy for rural areas.
Our past successes in government send a clear message: KwaZulu-Natal must stay out of the hands of the ANC. There are only two forces in this election. There is the DA and the Coalition for Change on the one hand, and the ANC and its allies, the Minority Front and the NNP, on the other.
The Coalition for Change stands for new policies on the economy, on crime and HIV/Aids. We stand for federalism and constitutional democracy. We stand for innovative and accountable government. And we are committed to keeping KwaZulu-Natal out of the hands of the ANC.
One thing is clear: a vote for any other party is a vote for the ANC. The Minority Front claims that it represents the interests of the people of Chatsworth. Yet it votes with the ANC. Amichand Rajbansi is a one-man show who cannot deliver anything to the people of this community without the ANCs approval.
Even when the ANC proposed a procurement policy for eThekwini municipality that discriminated against minorities, and which is very likely unconstitutional, the Minority Front supported it. The NNPs policy of "constructive opposition" is a complete failure. The party has achieved absolutely nothing through its cooperation with the ANC. On every issue of importance, it has given in to the ruling party. And it does not care at all for the people of this community.
The Democratic Alliance, in contrast, has been making a real difference in Chatsworth. DA councillors have been active in setting up a Call Centre at the Chatsworth police station, and the DA persuaded the South African Police Service to fund an upgrade of the Bayview police station.
The DA has also been active in setting up a task team to deal with the shooting of taxi and bus drivers-a team whose work helped bring about the arrest of the culprits.
On top of that, the DA also helped initiate an investigation into a case of corruption in which R10-15 million was supposedly spent on renovating flats in Shallcross but where the work had not been done.
And the DA has been active in local charity work, donating R10 000 worth of wheelchairs and physiotherapy equipment to Cheshire childrens homes.
Last August, I opened a new DA office in Chatsworth that has helped us continue to contribute to the community and to give the community a real voice.
Only the DA stands up against all forms of unfair racial discrimination.
The ANC is going around Indian communities claiming that Gandhi would have voted for them.
Well, I have news for the ANC. Gandhi would beg to differ. He would have had profound differences with the ANC. And to use the image of Gandhi, as if he were running for public office, is ghoulish, partisan and reprehensible.
This campaign shows just how politically desperate and bankrupt the ANC is. They have to reach back to 1948 to find leaders that appeal to the people. They offer the people a better yesterday instead of a better tomorrow.
Would Gandhi have approved of the ANC withholding Aids drugs from people until the eve of an election? Would Gandhi have approved of spending R50 billion on an arms deal instead of giving the poor a basic income grant? Would Gandhi have approved of a President who threatens to beat his sister? Would the Mahatma have spent R600 million on a jet airplane when more than 20 million South Africans live in poverty?
Would Gandhi have approved of the ANC doing deals with Amichand Rajbansi-a man who was once described by a judicial commission of inquiry as "ruthless, unscrupulous.and unfit for any public office that required integrity"?
Would Gandhi have approved of the ANCs approach to affirmative action-one which is focused obsessively on race instead of what is good for the people of South Africa?
Gandhis campaign for the rights of Indians in South Africa, and his work for the abolition of the caste system in India, was based on an uncompromising opposition to racial discrimination in all of its forms.
The DA has always said that black economic empowerment is important. But we have said that South Africa needs empowerment for the many, not just for the few. And we cannot allow new forms of racial discrimination sneak in through the back door.
We know, for example, that few members of the Indian community have benefited from affirmative action and empowerment.
Under apartheid, Indian South Africans were discriminated against. Today, they are still discriminated against. Sometimes Indians are considered "previously disadvantaged", and sometimes Indians are not, and are treated with disdain and resentment.
The problem with the ANCs version of black economic empowerment is that so much of it happens secretly, behind closed doors.
No one can tell you exactly how many black empowerment deals are going through, and who is benefiting. There were sixty-two deals that were conducted publicly last year, and which were worth a total of R21 billion.
But no one knows how many other deals took place, or what they were worth. One estimate says that there were 58 other deals. Another says there were as many as 127.
The estimates of how much these deals were worth in total ranges from R26,5 billion to R42,2 billion.
And who benefited?
Were they established entrepreneurs?
Were they people with skills and the will to make their businesses succeed?
Or were they just ANC cronies, cashing in on their political connections?
We may never know.
South Africa needs black economic empowerment to become transparent and open. Every new empowerment deal must be done in public, without any secrets being hidden from the people.
Otherwise, the South African people, as well as foreign investors, will lose confidence in the empowerment process and in our economy as a whole.
It is a privilege to visit the Hare Krishna temple, which operates one of the biggest feeding schemes in the world. It is making a real difference in peoples lives.
The DA wants the government to work with community organisations, to take the R1,5 billion that is wasted or lost every year in the Department of Social Development and to support community organisations, including religious organisations, that are delivering to the people better than government can.
Our election manifesto includes proposals for improving living conditions by introducing a basic income grant of R110 per person per month to every South African living in poverty who does not have access to another grant. We will also provide free anti-retroviral drugs to every person who needs them, and treat 500 000 Aids patients with anti-retrovirals in the next five years. There will be no more of the ANCs delays! We will fight crime by putting 150 000 police on the streets by 2007. We will give tough sentences to dangerous offenders. There will be no more easy paroles, and no more mass presidential pardons. We will help victims by providing a fund for victims of crime. And we will also deal swiftly and decisively with corruption, in both the private sector and the public sector.
Across the nation, we can win between 27 and 30 percent of the vote, together with our partners in the Coalition for Change. We will roll back the power of the ANC in Parliament.
And so the choice is clear. Voters who truly care about the future of KwaZulu-Natal will support the DA and the Coalition for Change.
Together, we can build a better South Africa.
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