Democracy offices just waste of money: ANC
The ANC caucus has again called for parliament's democracy offices to be shut down, labelling them a waste of money.
Following a meeting of senior ANC public representatives in North West last week, caucus spokesman Moloto Mothapo said yesterday that as far the party was concerned, the offices were a duplication.
It has been reported that parliament spent R9-million to establish the offices in Limpopo and North West.
An additional R2.5-million a year had been set aside to cover operational costs.
The purpose of the offices - of which there are three in Limpopo, the North West and the Northern Cape - is to support and improve the interaction between parliament and the community.
However, parliament has since instituted a review into their efficiency and has frozen the establishment of new offices.
The ANC caucus has argued that only elected political party officials, MPs, should deal directly with constituents and not parliamentary officials unaligned to any party.
"The resources they are channelling should be used to boost or enhance the work of the parliamentary constituency offices.
"MPs are the elected representatives of the people; they are supposed to be the link between parliament and the community," said Mothapo.
Parliament is allocating money to fund the offices and to each political party for the purposes of running their provincial offices.
Last night, parliamentary sources said that a review of the offices was under way.
Despite the claims of duplication, the ANC caucus has admitted to failings in the effectiveness of their own constituency offices.
"Communication is one aspect in which we are saying we might be failing," said Mothapo.
Last week, after an inter-parliamentary caucus in North West, party representatives said the Marikana disaster highlighted the need for constituency officials at all levels of government to have a finger "firmly on the pulse" of developments in the community.
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Democracy offices just waste of money: ANC
For Commenters Consideration | Please stick to the subject matterCOMMENTS [13]
SuiGeneris
Posted 222 days agoEverything revolves around communication. When one fail in that department, lots of other things will go wrong as we can see every single day.
I will be generous and rate you 1/10
MicaParis
Posted 222 days agoThe government should stop wasting money on useless none service delivery propelling nonsense ‘’manufactured’’ to give their friends useless job opportunities.
As long as people (Juju / Mathale) assume positions of leadership as an opportunity for self-enrichment we will never go anywhere!
RSA.MommaCyndi
Posted 222 days agoWhat exactly does the Local Government sphere do? For that matter, what does the local councils do? For a country with so many people in charge of sorting ish out, there seems to be rather little being done and not a lot of people being held accountable
ZwelakheSithole
Posted 222 days agoMsLee
Frankly, I see this as yet another attempt to sideline parliament and to undermine its authority and reach - and another symptom of the majority party's attempt to eliminate the necessary and just division between party and state.
UDFSupporter
Posted 222 days agom1si2zi3nzo4
It is a no-brainer that a aspiring military organisation would have no business teaching its members democracy. And would naturally pursue secrecy, to cover up leadership incompetence. But, after 1994, the first leadership task was to 'teach' people what democracy is about. Instead, we put the least knowledgeable in the most powerful position, to wreak havoc on whatever chance we had in establishing a democracy.
Mike123
Posted 222 days agoolibo
Posted 222 days agoThere is nothing wrong with reviewing and amending the Constitution to live with the times, but what is hypocritical is the selective approach by the minorities and protectors of the Constitution. Parliament, sitting as a constitutional assembly, must review the entire constitution, including bringing back parliamentary democracy, if that is what the people want. What about property rights in a country where the land is still in the hands of the minority. The Constitution has made SA more democratic than most of the old democracies. Did anyone read that Australia just voted against homosexuality? The world did not come to an end, but imagine if SA were to do the same.
Prof SampIE Terreblanche has eloquently articulated what went wrong with negoatiations at CODESA - the secret talks between the ANC, big business, IMF, World Bank, and British and US lobbyists. Mandela and the ANC may not admit it - but they sold the country to the capitalists. The only hope for true economic freedom is a revolution led by civil society organisations, of which workers in the mines have started.
MicaParis
I agree with your notion political system change!
We need a democracy that will constitute 100% of South African citizens who qualify in terms of the constitutionally enshrined right on section 19 (2) (3) (a) and (b) on general choice to exercise political opinion and believe through secrete ballot.
''False democracy'' of the elite few *ANC Branches* will never take our country anywhere but in the ''extravagant world'' careterised by tenders, greed and mafia antics to sustain self enrichment by the elite few.
UDFSupporter
Remote
To achieve what in the end , and how?
And no , true economic freedom is not an answer. It is a soundbyte with zero meaning.
And who will be in control?
Francis
Read Camp Quatro. You will find the top echelons of the anc walking between burning blacks on stakes like Roman emperor Calingula did more than 2000 years ago.
I do not see how Civil Society Organisations can fight for economic freedom in a revolution where each and every protester will be murdered.
This criminal anc must first be removed peacefully what only is possible by VOTING.