I'm sorry, I promised ages ago that I would say something about the ANC election manifesto. And I had very good intentions and looked for it online and everything... then somehow life got busy and we now have this prepaid internet at home so I feel less free messing around online...Excuses excuses!
Anyway, so let me add my random thoughts on the ANC election manifesto:
* Jobs
I must say, I am a bit cynical about this one. Their emphasis in the manifesto is on "decent" jobs - Blande Nzimande (I think it was him) who spoke before Zuma at the manifesto launch mentioned that the staff in the hotel they were staying at had been contract workers for something like 15 years. So the ANC wants to create not just work, but decent work. And the manifesto speaks about "laws regulating contract work, subcontracting and out-sourcing." Which maybe has some merit, but makes me a bit nervous too. I definitely think people shouldn't be exploited, but you also just don't want give government too much control... Next thing you will have to apply to government whenever you hire or fire anyone...
They mentioned an expanded public works programme, and that I think is a good idea.
I don't know... I really am cynical about the government saying "job creation!" I really think the government has very limited power to create jobs. And it has been "creating jobs" for 15 years now without dramatic effect. I think the "creating jobs" line is something we would all really like to see happen. But government can't actually promise to deliver on it...
* Rural development
Personally, I think this is a really important issue.
I often drive past these little villages in the Eastern Cape and wonder how things are for them. I really don't have much of an idea, actually. But every now and then I hear stories of horrible crimes in the ruralish areas around East London and I just hope they have some sort of access to police out there...?? I wonder. And every now and then I'll bump into some poor lady in the street who has come into town to buy prepaid electricity and doesn't really know what to do (Its probably a scam, I'm such a sucker).
Anyway, those incidences just made me wonder about it.
So yes, its just something I think is really worth focusing on as a nation. Lots of SA citizens live in rural areas and I hope they are benefiting from our prospering society like we are.
And then of course there is the land reform issue. I know it makes some people hyperventilate, but it really does need to happen. And we are either going to do it carefully and properly now or its just doing to become a disaster further down the line...
* Youth
I am really not a socialist at all. I don't believe that grants are the answer to anything. And I am not a fan of the "free education" ideal. And the idea of "no fee" schools... I can totally understand what motivates that, but it seems to me that is just strangles the schools' ability to run themselves. I really understand the desire to make education available to people, but I think having school fee concession that poor families can apply for is a much better idea than generic no fee schools.
So anyway, the ANC's free education plan doesn't appeal to me. But I do appreciate that they are emphasising youth development, which I think is important.
Interesting that they said that they will "provide incentives for mathematics and science teachers" - I would like to see what comes of that!
* Corruption
Zuma specifically mentioned the issue of local government corruption, of giving tenders to friends and that sort of thing. I thought that was *really* good. Of course, speaking about it is one thing and actually doing something to sort out the problem is another. But I thought it was pretty significant that the ANC prioritised it enough to put in on the election manifesto.
Interesting that the manifesto explicitly says - "Establish and strengthen the new unit to fight organised crime"
Maybe they should just rename the new unit "the scorpions" and use the same logo and pretend they never disbanded the old one ;)
All in all, I though the election manifesto was pretty good. Again, I am anti big-government-control and large-scale government hand outs... so I really don't agree with the ANC's emphasis on grants and free this and that. But I also know that poverty needs to be tackled somehow. I just don't think that's the best way. Which is one of the reasons I myself do not vote ANC.
I also think the manifesto was a bit pie in the sky. But I suppose things like election manifestos always are. *Everyone* wants to fight crime and create jobs and empower the youth... the difficult thing is not saying it, its doing it.
But beyond that, I thought the manifesto hit the right notes. It addressed the things that I would consider pressing issues at the moment. And I really appreciated the emphasis on things like tackling corruption and "putt[ing] every elected official and public servant to work for our people, and ensur[ing] accountability to our people..."
(You can find the manifesto on the ANC website if you want to read it for yourselves.)
9 comments:
Good analysis, I think.
What's depressing me at the moment is that I can't think of a single political party whose manifesto inspires me to vote for them. There are two reasons for that:
1. none of them are emphasising issues that I think are important - gender violence and equality, animal rights (I'm a hippie, hey?), and other, more personal things - media freedom and debates around that.
2. having said that, the issues that I think are important are not necessarily priorities for the majority of South Africans, and issues like policing, education, healthcare, infrastructure, development and so on must be prioritised and properly handled.
What I really hope happens is that the ANC loses one or two provinces, giving other parties the chance to prove their mettle (or not prove it, as the case may be). In that way, we can see manifestoes in action, as living things, and that will develop the country and guide us as South Africans.
Welcome back Laura. I must confess that I pay scant attention to all things manifesto related. I have been mulling over a post that will suggest that no government will be able to do anything meaningful for South Africa. I have a dangerous view that "thanks to the Madiba magic - all subsequent governments are impotent." I need to mull some more lest I get lynched. Keep inspiring debate.
VJ - May it happen! (The ANC taking a bit of a fall in some provinces). I think the ANC views its manifesto more as a "what we would like to do" list than an election document. In the sense that it is written with the understanding that they will win... so they are not promises for if they win, so much as statements of intent :)
(Of course, doing is much more difficult than saying, as we know).
I haven't found a party that fits me 100% either yet. Its a tricky one.
MoA - Why do you think that:
"thanks to the Madiba magic - all subsequent governments are impotent."
(I think that quote deserves a whole blog post to explain :) )
In My view the ANC election Manifesto rehashes old promises that have done nothing but sink the majority of South Africans deeper into poverty.
I will however like to take issue with your view that you are not for things like free education and would maybe support exemption for poor parents to not pay for their kids' education. I would like to believe that this is exactly what the ANC is pushing for but the unfortunate thing is that most of the people in the townships and rural areas cannot afford to pay school fees, hence the exemption of most schools from paying fees.
Maybe we should also define what we mean by free education. I know a lot of white students who received free education through bursaries and scholarships from companies and corporations who got rich as a result of cheap labour in SA. Mind you, rather than paying taxes most of these companies would rather make their contribution through bursaries and scholarships, which is laudable.
A few Black professionals are where they are as a result of being recipients of these bursaries. But there is a lot of bright Black students who were excluded from university as a result of failure to pay for their fees, students whose parents could never afford to pay for their fees even if they wanted to. There are also countless pupils in primary and high school who have been excluded from school because their parents could not afford to pay.
Most of the white kids and a few black ones who went to these exclusive private schools because their parents could afford received multiple bursaries and scholarships to study at university. Whereas if you are poor and black and have been fed inferior education and you manage to escape the trap, chances of you getting those scholarship and bursaries are next to nothing. There are countless number of such students who could not go into tertiary education because they could not afford to pay a registration fee.
Now of we are really serious about doing away with this dependency syndrome and getting a productive nation we have to ensure that our nation gets educated. Not this situation where parents know that if their kids go to public schools in the township they are doomed for failure because education there is free and they ought to be grateful for whatever handouts they get. Free should never be equated to useless.
You just have to look at the situation in Zimbabwe to see what education can do. The economy of that country is in ruin but the Zimbabweans are surviving against all odds. This is because they are an educated lot and they are all over the world selling their skills and keeping their families alive at home. Mugabe ensured that each child receives quality and free education.
Cuba is one of the poorest nations in the world but it can export its skills for free all over the world and it has literacy skills unmatched in the world. This is because they have ensured that their citizens recieves free quality education.
Through quality and accessible education we can get our country to dream. What we are being offered now is nowhere near that....
Moremogolo - thanks for the comment :)
Can I post it as a blog entry (obviously referenced to you) and respond in a blog entry, rather than as a comment, where space is a but short?
Yes, thanks Laura....that would be an honour...
Great, I will do it some time on the weekend :)
on a different note: I realised the same problem myself, it seems to get stuck after a few countries. Typical of bloody Africa!
"Typical of bloody Africa!"
Did you just say that??! o_O
Sheesh, where did you get the plugin from anyway?
I'm betting R2 it wasn't Africa! :)
But yes, it is frustrating. I wanted to know how well I did...
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