ARTICLE: MISSION RESCUE: GIGABA-STYLE
2017-07-17
The pomp with which Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba announced his 14-point plan on 13 July 2017 went down like the proverbial damp squib.
The pomp with which Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba announced his 14-point plan on 13 July 2017 went down like the proverbial damp squib.
On Tuesday, 18 July, staff of the FW de Klerk Foundation will be taking part in various activities in commemoration of Mandela Day. The team will spend the morning making stimulation kits at Autism Western Cape, and the afternoon painting garden walls at Iris House Children’s Hospice.
Nelson Mandela International Day was launched by the United Nations in 2009 to commemorate former President Nelson Mandela’s lifetime of service to South Africa and the world. This year, citizens are encouraged to take action against poverty in a way that will bring about sustainable change.
Both Autism Western Cape, as well as Iris House provide essential services to children with disabilities, as well as support to their families – free of charge. In partnering with these worthy organisations, not only to offer 67 minutes of service for Mandela Day – but year-round – the Foundation contributes to restoring dignity, and changing the world for the better.
The chairs and tables have been packed away, the delegates are home and the myriad of reports of the ANC’s 5th Policy Conference are at Luthuli House for editing, publication and, in due course, for sending to regions and branches countrywide for discussion. The final policy decisions will be made in December, at the Elective Conference.
It is important to consider whether, from the verbal feedback and media reports, the Constitution is in jeopardy after the Policy Conference. What must be taken into account is that this Policy Conference was less about policy and more about the fierce leadership struggle between the delegates backing Mrs Zuma (“NDZ”) and Cyril Ramaphosa (“CR17”).
For many in South Africa, Bell Pottinger has become a swearword, much like Gupta. References to both are now synonymous for what ails South Africa – corruption and state capture.
In a week that saw the media quarantined from delegates and delegates turn on factions within the ANC, Zuma’s frail proclamation at the closing of the Party’s 5th National Policy Conference, “there are no losers or winners at the conference, there is only the ANC”, rang hollow.
The Centre for Unity in Diversity (CUD) and the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CFCR) at the FW de Klerk Foundation welcome the ruling by the High Court in Johannesburg to interdict Black First Land First (BLF) and its founder, Andile Mngxitama, from harassing or assaulting journalists, or protesting outside their houses.
The FW de Klerk Foundation, its Centre for Unity in Diversity (CUD) and its Centre for Constitutional Rights (CFCR) congratulate Judge Leona Theron on her appointment to the Constitutional Court.
Section 152 of the Constitution describes the objectives of local government as providing democratic and accountable government, ensuring the provision of services, promoting social and economic development, and promoting a safe and healthy environment. Section 195 offers a set of basic values and principles governing public administration, amongst these a high standard of professional ethics, the effective use of resources, and accountability.
The most recently-released Report by the Auditor-General (AG) on the local government sector paints a bleak, and in many instances, deteriorating picture of the state of financial management and oversight, one that is wholly inconsistent with the laudable and enforceable principles of the Constitution. This comes after 23 years of democratic government and repeated appeals by the AG to local politicians and officials to get their house in order. Local government is the lens through which ordinary South Africans experience constitutional guarantees – and failure of local government erodes public trust in the constitutional state.
The Centre for Unity in Diversity (CUD) has made a written submission to the Office on Institutions Supporting Democracy (OISD) and the Knowledge Information Services Division in Parliament, in response to its call for submissions on the feasibility of a Single Human Rights Body.