ANC Today --------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 2, No. 44, 1-7 November 2002 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK: * Letter from the President: Bombs and threats will not divide us * Budget framework: Increased spending prioritises help to the poor * Traditional Leadership: Role for traditional leaders in supporting democracy and development --------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Bombs and threats will not divide us Earlier this week, some criminal elements in our society attacked a mosque and the railway infrastructure in Soweto and also placed a bomb in a temple in Bronkhorstspruit that did not explode. We convey our sincere condolences to the family and relatives of Claudina Mokone who was killed by shrapnel originating from one of the railway line explosions in Soweto. We also wish her husband, Simon Mukhathi, speedy recovery from his injuries. At the time of writing this Letter, the perpetrators of these dastardly acts had not yet been identified. However, as soon as the reports about the explosions were received, the Police Service and all other law enforcement agencies began the serious and urgent work of finding those responsible. I am confident that they will succeed in this regard and that the criminals will be brought to book. Our country is a democracy. Both the constitution and the law allow for the exercise of the various freedoms contained in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Our country is also bound by other African and international conventions that protect and promote a wide variety of rights. Further, our Constitution provides for regular elections in all spheres of our system of governance. These elections are organised and supervised by the Independent Electoral Commission, itself established according to the Constitution and the law. All this provides the conditions for the people of South Africa freely to decide who shall govern our country from the local to the national level. Sustained political effort over many years as well as the work of our criminal justice system, have led to the virtual disappearance of the use of political violence to determine the outcome of any election in our country. No credible charge can be laid against a single government, from the smallest municipality to the national government, that such a government is illegitimate by virtue of not being representative of the will of the people. Like others throughout the world, our democratic system allows for any South African citizen to form a political party of his or her choice, naturally within the limits of the law. It further allows for such parties freely to campaign for the acceptance of their ideas and programmes by any South African, exercising his or her rights to freedom of thought, association and so on. For a long time, even before the formal negotiations began in 1990, our movement spoke out in favour of an electoral system based on proportional representation. We took this view because we were convinced then, as we are now, that our country would be best served by an inclusive political process. We sought to ensure that any significant political voice in our country should have the possibility to be represented in the elected legislative organs of our country. To ensure that this happens, not only do our Constitution and law provide for proportional representation, they also set a low threshold in terms of the number of votes required for a party to be represented in our legislatures. For this reason, many of the parties in our country are represented in our legislatures by very small numbers of people. The point, nevertheless, is that however unpopular the opinion advanced by these parties, it has nevertheless been included within the law-making bodies of our country. To create even more space for everybody's voice to be heard, both our executive and legislative organs regularly engage in extensive consultative processes before many important decisions affecting the future of our country are taken. We have also gone so far as to establish a statutory body such as NEDLAC to encourage an inclusive decision-making process. Our courts of law also exist as a protector of the rights of all South Africans and are available to all those who may feel that either the executive or the legislature have sought to deny them the exercise of their rights. Related protections may also be sought through other institutions such as the Public Protector, the Human Rights and the Gender Commissions. Those who are only able to secure minimal electoral support among the people need to understand the simple fact that their views are not representative of the opinions of South Africans. The fact that they may be firmly convinced of the correctness of their views, an opinion we should all respect, does not mean that South African society is obliged to implement their demands, simply because a small minority is convinced that it is right and the overwhelming majority wrong. Representation in democratically elected institutions is based on the number of votes that parties garner in elections and not the passion with which those who contest elections cling to their views. This rule applies to everybody on an equal basis. All this points to the imperative that all of us need to understand and accept the functioning of our democratic system. Among other things, this means that we must accept decisions arrived at in a manner consistent with our Constitution and our laws. One of the tasks of our democratic state is to defend both this Constitution and the laws approved under its provisions. The universal demand for respect for the rule of law applies to our country as well. This includes both the state itself as well as individuals. It is also binding on those who hold minority views, which the majority of our people do not accept. Accordingly, the state will not allow that anybody seeks to impose these minority views by resort to extra-legal and unconstitutional means, such as the bombing incidents that occasioned this Letter. In the period since the 1994 elections, some in our country have occasionally made threats that if their demands are not met, they will resort to force to dictate to the country to carry out their wishes. This has included instances when it is said of those who have failed to convince the country about the justice of their cause that their "patience is running out" and are therefore getting closer to resorting to illegal actions to impose their views. The matter must however be made abundantly clear that the democratic order will not submit to threats of this kind. It must remain ever vigilant and ready to defend itself against those who do not respect our Constitution, democracy and the rule of law. It must be ready to use the law to bring to book all those who because they think their cause places them above the law, believe they have a right to resort to force. With the concurrence of the Cabinet, the Ministers of Agriculture and Land Affairs have published the Communal Land Rights Bill for public comment and discussion, as happens with many new draft laws. This comes after an earlier national and inclusive process of consultation on the issue of communal land. Even after the Bill is submitted to Parliament after the current process of consultation, with the Cabinet having effected such amendments to the Bill as may result from the consultation, Parliament will allow the public to make further representations to improve the legislation. Despite all this, and instead of making constructive proposals as they may see fit, a recent meeting of some traditional leaders once more resorted to the kind of threat that leads to the criminal actions we have just witnessed in Soweto and Bronkhorstspruit. In their resolution, while calling on the Minister to "withdraw and scrap" the Bill, the traditional leaders say: "The Communal Land Rights Bill is likely to be the cause of bloodshed in rural areas as it is likely to promote faction fighting as people will create or be trapped into conflict." In this instance, this open threat against the lives of innocent South Africans is made by people who belong among the constitutional and legal structures of our system of governance. Those who occupy positions in these structures are, like others in other public institutions, maintained through the public purse. They, too, like everybody else serving in our system of governance, have an obligation to protect our constitutional and legal order and to contribute to the safety and security of all our citizens as well as our country's stability. Instead, they have taken it upon themselves to obstruct the process of democratic consultation and to block the prospect of land reform aimed at creating better conditions for development and progress towards a better life for our people in the communal areas, by threatening that people will be killed if such land reform is carried out in a manner provided for by such legislation as will ultimately be approved by our legislatures. If, in future, anybody tries to use force to subvert the implementation of such legislation as will ultimately be enacted, threatening the lives of our people wherever they may be, the law will take its course without fear or favour. It would be expected that the traditional leaders, who are part of our system of governance, would assist our law enforcement agencies fully and without reservation. Our country and people paid a very high price during the struggle to end the system of white minority rule and create the conditions for our transition into a non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous democracy. A central objective of that struggle was to end the systemic violence against the people inherent to and characteristic of white minority domination. Accordingly, peace and stability, safety and security are a central part of what we struggled to achieve. We will not allow that anybody in our society should arrogate the right to themselves to reverse the victory of peace our country and people achieved at a high cost in terms of loss in human lives and injury to very many. Another objective we sought to achieve in our struggle was to end the division of our people into hostile and mutually antagonistic racial and ethnic groups. We worked to ensure that our country organises itself on the basis of the principle of unity in diversity, informed by the perspective that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. However, it is clear that there is still a small minority in our society, which yearns for a return to the days of antagonistic racial and ethnic divisions that once tore our country apart. The overwhelming majority of our people, both black and white, reject this perspective and will not be forced to accept it through bombing campaigns or threats of bloodshed. In the last few days, even as some traditional leaders were trying to block the system of land reform and others were carrying out criminal activities that could spark racial tensions, a white South African sent me a moving letter urging that our country should move faster towards the resolution of the land question, which is a consequence of our colonial and apartheid history. He wrote: "I am one of a large group of farmers and prominent business leaders who want to speed up land reform. There is no way that business and the economy will survive if we go the Zimbabwean route. The route of democracy starts with the land. We sense a climate of urgency among farmers to resolve the land issue in a sensible way. In 1994 this country was democratised, which was a miracle, surely we can also solve the land issue. We feel that everybody in a high position must make it their responsibility to come up with a solution for their country. At grassroots level we will be able to motivate farmers, landless farmers and business leaders in every district in our country." This patriot speaks for the overwhelming majority of our people, who understand that all of us have a responsibility to come up with solutions for the problems that confront our country, overcoming the divisions of our colonial and apartheid past. Bombs, terrorism and threats of violence are not part of these solutions. They constitute an attempt to take away the miraculous achievement of 1994. The people of South Africa will unite to defeat those who want to return our country to a past it has rejected. Thabo Mbeki --------------------------------------------------------------------- BUDGET FRAMEWORK Increased spending prioritises help to the poor Social assistance to the poor will remain at the centre of government spending over the next few years, according to the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement presented to Parliament this week. Presenting government's proposals, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel outlined an almost 5 percent real growth in government expenditure over the next three years. This increased spending will be focused on extending social assistance, health and education programmes. "Poverty reduction remains the over-arching goal of government policy," Manuel said. He said education, health services, welfare, social security and other social services account for almost 60 percent of non-interest spending, and would remain the first priority in the years ahead. Spending on health care would increase most dramatically, enabling provincial health departments to respond more effectively to HIV/AIDS in line with the enhanced response announced by the cabinet in April. The increased expenditure would also include improved investment in municipal infrastructure and basic services in support of the rural development and urban renewal strategies. Other areas of focus include: * expanding the capacity of the police and courts to prevent and combat crime; supporting the restructuring of higher education, including mergers of institutions and investment in infrastructure; * accelerating the land reform and restitution programmes; * re-engineering the services provided by the Department of Home Affairs; * increasing support for research and technology development; * support South Africa's role in the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Manuel stressed that growth in expenditure would not in itself guarantee the desired outcomes. "Government will continue to strengthen administrative capacity and improve coordination between national and provincial departments and municipalities, to ensure that a higher proportion of spending reaches the intended beneficiaries, and that the quality of that spending is improved," he said. There would therefore be increased funding to provide learner and support material in schools and medicine supplies in clinics. Additional resources will go to the police and courts for addressing crimes against children. This increased expenditure has been made possible by the success of the post-1996 period, in which stability was restored to the economy, government was able to reduce the country's debt burden (thereby reducing the cost of servicing debt), and the collection of tax revenue has been dramatically improved. "This period will be recorded as one in which economic transformation proceeded at a blistering pace," Manuel said. In the last year, the economy has recovered strongly despite uncertain international prospects, with broad-based growth in response to local and foreign demand. Government now expects the economy to grow at around 2,6 percent this year, up from earlier estimates of 2,3 percent. Manuel pointed to important signs of investment in the productive capacity of the economy and a healthy balance of payments. "As we recognise our collective achievements we are also mindful of the enormity of the challenges that continue to lie ahead. Growth. Jobs. Education. The livelihoods of the poor and most vulnerable threatened by food shortages and famine in parts of our region," he said. Meeting these challenges has not been helped in the last year by the sudden rise in inflation and the depreciation of the rand. Much of the increased spending will be going to counteract the effects of this increased inflation. It has also meant that government and the Reserve Bank have agreed to keep the inflation target of 3 to 6 percent in place until 2004. It was originally planned to reduce the target to 3 to 5 percent by 2004. Manuel said the discussion of the framework in Parliament was an opportunity to assess the performance of the economy over the last eight-and-a-half years and to plan for the years ahead. It was also an opportunity to deliberate on the challenges of promoting more rapid, sustainable economic growth and development; to prioritise spending to achieve effective delivery of services to our people; and to raise the finances required "without unduly restraining economic activity or unfairly burdening the poor". MORE INFORMATION: Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, 2002 http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/mtbps/2002/default.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP Role for traditional leaders in supporting democracy and development Traditional leadership has a critical supportive role to play within South Africa's new democratic order, according to the draft White Paper on Traditional Leadership and Governance released this week for public comment. "Traditional leadership and South Africa's present democratic order are not mutually exclusive," it says. The institution of traditional leadership can contribute to reconstruction and development and the restoration of the country's moral fibre. "It is the vision of government, therefore, to transform and support the institution of traditional leadership so that it is brought in line with the constitutional principles of democracy and equality and so that it may represent customary interests of communities, play a role in socio-economic development and contribute to nation building, and be accountable," the draft White Paper says. The release of the draft White Paper is the third phase of a process which began with a national audit of traditional leadership. The second phase was the release in April 2000 of the Discussion Document Towards a White Paper on Traditional Leadership and Institutions. This was followed by a process of extensive consultation among stakeholders and the general public. The draft White Paper outlines various policy positions that will pave the way for national framework legislation on traditional leadership, followed by complementary provincial legislation. In his foreword to the draft White Paper, Provincial and Local Government Minister Sidney Mufamadi says the process will go a long way to restoring the dignity of the institution of traditional leadership. "It is important that conditions for democratic governance and stability in rural areas are created so that accelerated service delivery and sustainable development can be achieved. "This will only be possible if measures are taken to ensure that people in rural areas shape the character and form of the institution of traditional leadership at a local level, inform how it operates and hold it accountable," he says. The draft White Paper notes that South Africans had, in two national elections and two local government elections, clearly voted for a democratic form of state - which is reflected in the Constitution. It is clear, the document says, that the institution of traditional leadership cannot be restored to its "pristine precolonial form". However, traditional leadership should participate in governance and development alongside elected government at national, provincial and local level. Through the House of Traditional Leaders, the institution should advise government in developing policy and legislation impacting on rural communities, and should participate in programmes aimed at the development of rural communities. In the local sphere, traditional leadership should, through custom-based structures, facilitate community involvement in the process of developing and implementing Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). It should support municipalities in the identification of community needs, and should enter into service delivery agreements with municipalities for the provision of services to rural communities. It is proposed that Committees of Traditional Leaders be established at district level to advise district municipalities and coordinate the nomination of members to the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders. Traditional leaders should continue to participate in the proceedings of municipal councils. Traditional leaders should continue to act as custodians of culture, tradition and custom and perform ceremonial functions at major occasions within traditional authority areas. The paper proposes that national and provincial government departments, as well as local government, be able to allocate a number of functions to the institution of traditional leadership. These functions, which can be "assigned, delegated or performed on an agency basis", could be in the areas of arts, culture, agriculture, health, welfare, justice, security, internal affairs, economic development, environment, tourism or natural resource management. To achieve a balance between the unifying role that traditional leaders are expected to play within their communities and the right of all citizens, including traditional leaders, to participate in politics, the draft White Paper proposes that should a traditional leader be elected to a legislative structure on a full-time basis, provision be made in law for someone to appointed in their place in an acting capacity until they leave active politics. MORE INFORMATION: Draft White Paper on Traditional Leadership and Governance, October 2002 http://www.dplg.gov.za/WHITE%20PAPERFINALDraft0409.pdf --------------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2002/at44.htm To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html To unsubscribe yourself from the ANC Today mailing list go to: http://mail.anc.org.za/mailman/listinfo/anctoday