Why Hlaudi Motsoeneng wants you to vote for his new party

14th December 2018 By: News24Wire

Why Hlaudi Motsoeneng wants you to vote for his new party

Former SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng

He may not have a degree, but Hlaudi Motsoeneng says he has "something more dangerous".

What exactly that is still isn't quite clear, as it's all locked up in his mind. But what Motsoeneng and some of his nearest and dearest do have is a new political party – the African Content Movement (ACM).

Speaking on Thursday in Milpark, Johannesburg, the self-confessed "wonderful person" made bold statements about bringing change to South Africa while announcing he was going to launch the ACM.

Motsoeneng, the president of the movement, also revealed the names of the ACM's leadership team.

Ally Mosina is the chairperson, Lindiwe Mthembu will handle the finances as the treasurer general, Romeo Ramuada will steer the ship on a daily basis as secretary general and Esther Padi will assist as deputy secretary-general.

Motsoeneng, in his unique manner, rattled off his party's policies and why all South Africans should vote for the ACM.

Here are some of the reasons the former South African Broadcasting Corporation chief operating officer listed for why all citizens should vote him and his party:

A unified African currency

If Motsoeneng ascends to the Union Buildings, he says he will work with other African leaders to create a continental currency to mirror the euro and the US dollar.

"I want to go in the continent and talk to the leaders of the continent, in Africa, to say, 'Look we are Africans, let us [create] our own currency.' Because now we are controlled by the dollars and the euro. By the West. Because we don't have our own independent currency. That is our movement. We stand for it."

Service delivery

Motsoeneng has also promised to bring his proven track record in service delivery to public office if he becomes South Africa's next president in 2019.

"In South Africa, the only person who is tested on delivery is Hlaudi... I did implement what I was supposed to implement, and I was not looking for favours. Today, people are saying Hlaudi is corrupt because they realise this Hlaudi is very dangerous, he's going to take over the country. 'What can we do? Let's say he is corrupt.'"

Non-racialism

The would-be president realises he will need all the support he can get and it's only apt that he opens the AMC's doors to all South Africans – black, white, coloured and Indian.

"In my party, there are white people. You can see them there (pointing at people). And they are many. All South Africans are included in my party because they are South Africans. But they must understand that blacks will always be in the majority when it comes to empowerment, when it comes to positions in government and private sector. We don't compromise on those. We don't have a problem with white people."

Motsoeneng says the sins of apartheid won't be repeated.

The land question

Motsoeneng's answer to the land question seems to centre on engaging people and, like many of his proposed solutions, throwing money at the problem.

He says property rights need to be respected where land was purchased legally.

"The land issue, what we need do, we must give people who want land, those who are interested in land, free of charge. Government must fund those people."

He says government must buy land and then give it to those who want to farm.

Subsidised taxi industry

Motsoeneng has taken a swipe at the current government's transport policies, criticising the current regime for ignoring taxis at the expense of the Gautrain and "people who live in Sandton".

Not so under the ACM.

"In my government, I'm going to make sure that we fund taxi people, those owners, we fund the people using that transport. In my government!"

The end of cadre deployment

In what some may find an ironic twist, Motsoeneng, who was once close to the African National Congress (ANC) under Jacob Zuma, says the ACM will do away with the deployment of party officials to public jobs.

"If you are appointed you are appointed because you have expertise and skills, not because you are a comrade. You are appointed because you can perform a job and you can deliver. In any case, in my history, I have never appointed ANC people. And, actually, when they sent individuals, they recommend them, I refused to appoint them."

These are just six of the "policy" expectations Motsoeneng shared at the announcement of the ACM on Thursday.

It's going to be a colourful election race, and Motsoeneng, naturally, is backing himself to pip Cyril Ramaphosa (the only man he believes is real competition) to the post.