Warwick Bruce Chapman

ANC supporters often plead with me that South Africa has come along way since 1994 under the ANC and we should recognise their contribution instead of focusing on the problems. One even reminded me that the ANC could’ve murdered us all if they wanted and suggested we should be thankful for that.

As a true liberal, I should laugh at such a comment, but in Africa, considering the post-colonial track record, I most certainly do appreciate the ANC for having taking reconciliation seriously.

However, as to recognising the contribution of the ANC since 1994, I struggle a little more. South Africa should have progressed further and improved the lives of more people than it has in the last 16 years.

The state of education in particular, is a travesty. Education is such a crucial issue to the empowerment of the poor and one which many young ANC members died fighting for. One cannot fathom why the ANC didn’t handle it in the world class manner it did Finance and SARS.

The poor management of the Department Health means facilities and human resources cannot cope with the burden of healthcare and, again, it is the poor ANC voter who suffers the most.

Then there’s service delivery, crime, land reform, agriculture, water and a hundred other areas which government is responsible for which have been poorly managed and are now not serving the country the way they should be.

The ANC was a most noble and historic organisation but its legacy as a liberator and moral compass of the world is being quickly replaced by that of just another a corrupt, inefficient and power abusing governing party.

The merger of the ID and DA will complete the DA’s consolidation of opposition voters in the Western Cape and, importantly, will bring the much respected Patricia de Lille into the DA. Further consolidation of other smaller parties such as the UDM will happen if they wish it to, however we will not merge for the sake of growth. The ideology must be compatible, hence there is no discussion around unifying opposition in KZN with IFP who are racial nationalist.

Any consolidation which takes place will do more for the perception that the is DA growing rapidly than anything else. The ID is at the end of the road and other smaller parties are much, much smaller than they were before and the road ahead is looking bleak for them. If they are willing to adopt the DA’s vision of an Open, Opportunity Society for All and agree to comply with our regulations for the selection of candidates (we want the best people for the job), then they will be brought into the fold.

The rocking of the ANC boat will involve the DA winning far more municipalities in 2011 and in more provinces than we currently govern (1 Gauteng, Several WC, 1 EC). Helen has made it clear we’re not here to win for the sake of winning, we have to win in order to govern well and demonstrate what the OOS4All means to people on the ground when put into action.

“As most ANC-run cities broadly subside and most DA-run ones broadly prosper, the political effect becomes a little like compound interest. You don’t notice it at first but after a while it really begins to matter. A lot. It’s about doing your job – everyone doing their jobs -properly.” – Peter Bruce of Business Day

We will use that platform of demonstrating good good government to win over more voters and hopefully win more provinces in 2014 and show the ANC they no longer have a monopoly on power in South Africa and that if they don’t shape up, they might be shipped out in 2019.

Basically, like it or not, democracy needs balance and thus a successful DA will bring balance to our democracy. The DA’s success is thus South Africa’s success.

Note:
A comment by Zackie Achmat in his piece “Is the DA the racist old National Party in disguise? Is the ANC inexcusably arrogant?“, lamented “the DA’s rigidly free market pro-capitalist dogma”.

An interesting outcome of the Congress was the voting down of a proposal to restate the DA’s committment to free market principles. The proposal was rejected because we acknowledge that interventions we support such as a wage subsidy are in conflict with the rigid rules of pure free market thinking. We are, instead, liberal in our approach to the economy and thus the strict free market rules do not apply to the exclusion of all others.

Like so many things in life, a balance in inevitably what is needed.

Find below more photos of the abysmal state of toilets in Kwadabeka. These photos are supplied against the backdrop of the Toiletgate saga where the DA has been portrayed negatively despite providing far better toilets and enclosures than those depicted in the photos below.

Could we pull off the Olympics in Durban? Yes we could. Should we, however, is a different and more complex question. We’ve proven time and again that South Africa can play host to any sporting event and give its visitors the experience of their lives. I’d be happy to say that if there’s one thing we’re good at in South Africa its hosting sporting events.

But what about the things we haven’t proven ourselves to be very good at? Inevitably these areas of neglect are far less worthy in the eyes of the newsman than a glamorous sporting event. Quality education, fighting crime and corruption and providing for the basic needs of all South Africans are far more important to our future than hosting another glitzy sporting event.

Am I saying they’re mutually exclusive goals? No they may not be, but hosting the Olympics should not be to the detriment of those more important priorities. We must be shown that an Olympic Games in Durban will be profitable or at very least break even. A Games which soaks funds and resources away from our priority items is a games hosted by a Government keen to focus on the glitz and away from the tough, ugly reality that too many South Africans still call life.

The SWC has put Durban on the map and many picked it as the best host City of the games. South Africa, like Germany before it, was able to take advantage of the event to shed long standing negative perceptions about our country. It may be necessary to use the Olympics to the same end in 10 years time if Government does not focus its resources on the real priorities.

The liberated black majority remain poorly catered for by the Government. The sweet taste of freedom has been gradually bittered by the growing understanding that freedom alone, without the means to realise it, lives only in the heart. To give those people a chance to live a life of dignity and opportunity, Goverment needs to start working on those things its not good at.