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Polity
Published: 07 Mar 2009
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| ID: De Lille: Speech by the leader of the ID at the launch of the Western Cape ID Premier campaign (07/03/2009) | |
| Date: 07/03/2009 Source: Independent Democrats Title: ID: De Lille: Speech by the leader of the ID at the launch of the Western Cape ID Premier campaign ID leaders, structures, members and supporters, people of the Western Cape, I stand before you today as the Independent Democrats' Premier candidate for the Western Cape. It is with great humility that I accepted the request of our Western Cape structures that I stand at the forefront of the ID's campaign for governance of our province. For 30 years I have been fighting for the rights of all South Africans. During this time I have taken on anyone that has tried to deny the rights of the marginalized in our country - the poor, women and children and the disabled. It is a role that I will continue to play because I believe all of our people deserve to taste the fruits of our democracy, and not just a privileged few. It is this philosophy that I will bring into the office of the Premier. Since the launch of the Independent Democrats 5 years ago, we have given a voice to the voiceless and hope to the hopeless. We are now a part of Government in over 20 municipalities across our province, where our councilors are fighting for the rights of our people and offering Solutions to the challenges they face. In the past year we have won many by-elections, while where we have not won, we have increased our support enormously. As more people learn about what we stand for and about our vision, our support will continue to grow. The ID was born in the new South Africa and we recognize the urgent need to bridge the divides of the past, which continue to disadvantage so many of our people. We have enormous inequality in the Western Cape. We cannot have a situation where hundreds of thousands are living in poverty, are hungry, suffering from disease, have poor education and no services - while others live lives of luxury, wealth and comfort. Massive inequality and poverty cannot be the norm. It is morally problematic and socially and economically unsustainable. For too long the rich diversity of our province has not been seen as an asset, but rather something to be used by politicians to divide us, in order to further their own selfish interests. The time for division is over, it is now time for us to unite around a common vision that can deliver to all the people of our province. The ID has a positive vision for the Western Cape; one in which the division, social decay and the despair in our communities is replaced by hope, pride and a belief that we can build a prosperous future together. We have a vision of a Western Cape where you can live your life fully and freely. A province free from poverty, drugs, crime and unemployment, where you are given excellent healthcare, the dignity that comes with having a home and the opportunities that come with education. I have traveled all over our province. I have worked in Mitchells Plein and the Karoo, in Mossel Bay and in Saldhana Bay. I have seen our communities being ravaged by drugs, violence and sexual abuse in Cape Town and beyond, and I have heard the cries of mothers who feel that the government has forgotten about them. I have heard the cries of Ellen Pakkies, who strangled her tik-addicted son because he had become an evil imposter of the child she gave birth to and loved. I have also heard the cries of Anathi Xalisa, a promising 12-year-old soccer player who was hit by a car when it lost control and left the N2 highway next to Khayelitsha. And I have given these problems much thought and the ID is working on Solutions to them. The Western Cape needs leaders who consult with them to find Solutions. Leaders who go to Ellen Pakkies and ask her what we can do to ensure that no mother ever again finds herself in the situation she was in. Leaders who go to the mother and coach of Anathi Xalisa and say - let us build soccer fields. Who listen to Anathi's coach when he says to the Daily Voice - how can it be that we are spending billions of rand on the Soccer World Cup but we do not have enough money to build enough soccer fields for our youngsters? The ID is a party that is interested in Solutions. ACHIEVEMENTS But before I share some of those Solutions with you I want to list some of our achievements in the province over the past 5 years. Because we need to explain to the people of the Western Cape why it is that the Independent Democrats is growing so fast! The ID launched an Access to Education Campaign, which ensured that hundreds of children were not financially excluded from enjoying their Constitutional right to an education. We launched a Wheelchair Fund, which has provided wheelchairs to people who are living with disabilities. We have consistently fought for the rights of fishing communities that have been excluded from earning a livelihood due to the unjust quota policy of the Government. The ID met with fishing communities up and down the West and East coasts and relayed all of their problems to the Environment Minister. We then went back to all the communities with a response to their problems. The ID has been on patrol with Community Policing Forums in the province and has fought for more police to be provided to crime-ridden areas. The ID met with the Minister of Health and received permission to inspect ARV roll-out sites across the province. The ID joined hands with the communities of GrootBrak and Toekoms in their fight against a factory that was polluting the air and affecting their health. The ID has taken on mining companies who were mining the sand dunes in Macassar. We have also been fighting for the rights of children who are living on the streets of Cape Town and convened a meeting in Parliament for them to tell their stories of abuse on the street. We have taken five Ministers to Court and won the constitutional right for children not to be held in Pollsmoor Prison. The Independent Democrats has worked with the police in the Province to ensure that those fathers who don't pay maintenance are put in jail and forced to live up to their responsibilities. The ID has now also rented a house where parents will be given counseling on how to deal with children who are addicted to drugs. This is just a small sample of what the Independent Democrats in the Western Cape has done to fight for the rights of our people. SOLUTIONS Fighting for your rights is important, but it is not enough. We also need to offer solutions. We have developed Solutions that are particularly designed to deal with some of the unique problems of the Western Cape. REVERSE SOCIAL DECAY The first priority for the ID in the Western Cape is to use real Solutions to reverse the social decay in our communities. Drugs and alcohol are tearing our families and communities apart. The ID will address the underlying social problems that push so many of our children into choosing a life of crime, alcohol and drugs. We will invest in the youth and deploy thousands of social workers to impoverished communities, where the breakdown of our social fabric is the worst. We need social workers in our schools to identify and deal with problems before they escalate out of control. The ID would also train youth care workers, so that those in our communities who have a passion for helping children can be given the opportunity and the resources to do so. We will ensure that NGO's and community initiatives are given far more financial support by Government, as in many cases they are doing the work which government is supposed to be doing. We will also build many more alcohol and drug rehabilitation centres. CRIME "Collective Action for Collective Security" Vision The ID's vision for dealing with crime is to promote the idea of Collective Action for Collective Security. The Government must take the lead role in the fight against crime by coordinating and mobilizing different segments of society and working in partnership with the private sector, communities and concerned citizens. While crime is a national phenomenon, ID recognizes that the Western Cape in particular, continues to see unacceptably high levels of crime related to drugs and gangsterism. This is having a huge impact on our children and their chances for a bright future. We do not feel safe in our own homes, our streets and in our communities. My own sister was raped and murdered so I know what it is like to be traumatized because of crime. The ID will take on the criminal minority that is holding this province hostage. ID Solutions The ID will re-instate the former Specialized Drug and Narcotics Unit to fight the TIK pandemic. An ID Ministry of Safety and Security is to have a visible SPECIALIZED TIK UNIT that is easy to recognize by regularly patrolling TIK Shebeens and empty houses. The ID will reward communities on anonymous reporting of drug dealers and drug dens. An ID government will build more PUBLIC DRUG REHABILITATION Hospitals to deal with the long admittance waiting list. The ID will identify vacant Buildings that belong to Province to be used as advice centres for addicts, affected families and communities. The ID will also properly resource community policing forums, so that they are truly empowered to work with the police. And we will build the morale of the police by increasing their salaries and offering them benefits such as housing subsidies. EDUCATION Vision The ID advocates a back to basics approach to education. It is the ID's vision to establish an educational system that provides access to high-quality education to all and which will capacitate and unlock the talents and potential of South Africa's citizens. Key ID Solutions Rural and Poor Urban Areas A key priority for the ID is to address the legacy of the past by addressing the inequalities in our education system. We will bring in line the level of education and the performance of teachers and learners alike in the poorer urban areas and the less-developed rural areas in the Western Cape. Safety of Schools The ID does not feel that the current solutions are contributing to a proper learning environment and refuses to believe that the only way to keep our children safe is behind bars and razor wire. The ID will work with the communities and families, especially through Community Policing Forums, parent-teacher forums to lower the walls and burglar bars and achieve sustainable security. Schools must become hubs of community activity. Through after-school care, adult evening classes, school-community projects and activities like sports tournaments, fundraisers for school facilities or simply planting trees together, the ID will seek to extend the learning environment beyond the school premises and build support and hence safety in and around the schools. Educational facilities The ID will ensure that our primary and secondary education system focuses on critical areas like improving math, science and IT skills to ensure that learners have the right skills set to successfully enter and conclude further studies on the next level. Establishing more and better quality Further Education and Training Institutes (FETs) is vital for a structural and long-term approach to boosting the technical skills needed in our economy. School Funding The ID will also look at increasing funding to schools that have a large number of poor learners, but do not qualify for the no-fee school subsidy because they are in the quintile four range. There are simply too many schools in our Province that are struggling to provide quality education because government is not providing the necessary resources. HOUSING Vision The ID also recognizes that in the Western Cape housing is a contentious issue that requires leadership, proper governance and a good working relationship between different parties and institutions. The ID will ensure that the end-users of the houses, the citizens of the Western Cape, are included in all stages of the process. Over the past 4 years, the Western Cape Province completed and handed over 61.000 new houses, but this does not come close to building and allocating the actual demand in housing units. The Western Cape currently has a backlog of approximately 400.000 units. ID Solutions We will conduct a comprehensive audit of houses already allocated and all the people that are still on waiting lists. Then we will make housing waiting lists simple and transparent so that communities can monitor the process. We will provide security of tenure and basic services to informal communities so they can plan for their future and invest in their community. We will ensure that the needs of backyard dwellers and those living in shacks are equitably dealt with. We will expand the People's Housing Process (PHP). Materials, knowledge and resources will be made available to land owners to assist them in building their own houses. This in turn will have the positive effect of spurring entrepreneurship, skills development and employment. The ID will also expand low-cost rental schemes through employing creative schemes. Another neglected area that the ID will focus on is rural housing and the continued evictions of farm workers with no right to tenure. HEALTH The ID wants to ensure that all our people are given access to quality health care. The ID will tackle under-spending, corruption and mismanagement by establishing dedicated monitoring and evaluation units in the province. These units will monitor budget allocation, spending and the impact of health policies. It is a tragic reality that there are not enough doctors to service the public health system and it is the poor that are suffering as a result. Between 1998 and 2007 for instance, staff numbers in provincial health facilities dropped an estimated 8 to 10%. The ID will review current management practice and human resource policies in health facilities to ensure that good strategies are in place to attract and retain experienced healthcare professionals. We will also support managers at our hospitals and clinics to come up with creative approaches, such as the training of semi-medical staff or community-based workers. The ID will also ensure that all processes are computerized at hospitals so that patients do not have to wait in long queues to receive help. The ID will engage key stakeholders to devise strategies to promote better rural distribution of quality health professionals to ensure that rural posts get filled. Celebrating our Talent through Arts, Culture and Sports The Western Cape is one of the most culturally diverse provinces in the country and the ID believes that this must be celebrated and drawn upon as a source of strength. A House of Traditional Leaders has already been established at a national level and in some of the other provinces to carry out an advisory role in government. The ID believes that it is now time for the Western Cape to also establish a House of Traditional Leaders, which will have the mandate to promote unity and diversity and strengthen our democracy at a provincial level. The Independent Democrats will also regulate Annual Historical Cultural Events by making it part of the Events Calendar of the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Recreation. It is the ID's vision that every Historical Cultural Event that is affiliated to a legitimate structure or body must enjoy the benefits provided by the Provincial Government. In consultation with leaders of legitimate structures, an ID Ministry will plan and organize The Annual Kaapse Klopse Carnival, The Annual "Nag Troepe Competition", The Annual Cape Malay Choir Competition and The Annual Christmas Choir Competitions amongst many other cultural events. The ID will remove all the administrative burdens from our Cultural performing groups, thereby allowing them to concentrate fully on sorting out their outfits, practicing for their competitions and parading to win on competition day. To consolidate the ID's proposal for all cultural events in The Western Cape, we will also convene an Arts & Culture Heritage Summit, which will include all cultural groups our province. The ID will also work with communities to provide facilities like sports fields and recreational centres so that our youth can be attracted to positive activities, rather than gangsterism and drugs. It is completely unacceptable to the ID that our children are forced to play soccer next to the highway and we will ensure that the World Cup becomes a lived reality for all people of the Western Cape. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT In order to accomplish all these plans we will need to increase economic growth in the Western Cape. There are enormous opportunities to position the Western Cape as a world leader in a number of areas. The ID believes that we must attract all the Head Offices of our major companies back to the Western Cape by providing a conducive business environment. Firstly, the ID will support and nurture the enormous talent in this province that resides in our creative industries. We need to make this the creative and artistic hub of Africa, by supporting our artists, the film industry and advertising agencies. Secondly, the ID wants to build up our maritime industry by developing our ports and series of mini harbours along our coastline. This will also bolster our tourism sector, which has the potential to create far more jobs. The ID will also ensure that more of our people benefit from this sector by developing unique tourism projects in underdeveloped areas. Finally, the ID will position the Western Cape as a world leader in renewable energy. We will create tens of thousands of green jobs in the province by building up industries in solar power, wind power and even wave power. CONCLUSION People of the Western Cape, the ID is ready to take up the challenge of bridging the divides of the past by uniting our province behind a common vision of shared prosperity. And we have the political will and the Solutions to live up to this task. Together with the Independent Democrats, you too can be part of the Solution. Let us show the rest of our country that the Western Cape can lead the way in accountable and transparent governance. From tomorrow I will be travelling the country in response to the many invitations I have received to explain the over 100 Solutions contained in our Manifesto. But I will be back soon I promise you! I thank you. |
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