Durban - The public protector is under siege from many quarters and has had little vocal support from citizens whose interests she is tasked to protect. We need to play our role in defending the space for her to work without fear or favour.
Our political environment reminds me of Machiavelli’s words that: “There is nothing more difficult, nothing more doubtful of success than to initiate new ways of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit from the old ways, and only lukewarm support from those who would profit from the new way. This lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries, and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not actually believe in anything until they have had experience of it.”
Change agents like our public protector are up against a political culture that has still to grow into the promise of freedom embedded in our constitution. Holding those in public office accountable is only possible if citizens demand it and support organs of state responsible for protecting the public interest.
The biggest challenge facing chapter nine institutions such as the public protector is the tolerance by citizens of the confusion deliberately created by the ANC between the state, the government, the governing party and the president. When ministers in the security cluster invoke the risks to “state security”, that the release of the public protector’s report on the upgrades of President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence would entail, are they focusing on the “state” or the person of the “president”?
The state represents the “commonwealth” that belongs to all citizens. How can this commonwealth’s security be put at risk by the exposure of improprieties in the procurement processes regarding the expenditure of a significant amount of taxpayers’ money in excess of R200 million? How does exposure of the suggested presence of a cattle kraal worth an estimated R1.2m jeopardise the security of our commonwealth as citizens?
It is the concealment of wrongdoing in public procurement processes that is putting our commonwealth at risk. In my travels across the country in villages, townships, universities, workplaces and corporate offices, my fellow citizens point to corruption as the biggest threat to our future as a society.
They identify corruption as the reason we have not come far enough and fast enough in living out our aspirations as a society in the past 20 years. Disclosure is like sunshine that disinfects hidden wrongdoing and eradicates corruption.
Young people who comprise the largest segment of our population can shape the country’s future in next year’s elections. Yet many are not sure that registering and voting will have any impact on their future. A big part of their misgiving comes from their perception that the state, government, ANC and president are an unmovable corrupt monolith that is destroying the country. This misgiving represents the biggest risk to our democracy.
The fearless work of the public protector’s office is essential to restoring the hope in young people that no one is above the law and that citizens’ rights matter and will be protected.
Moreover, there was a worrying phenomenon among poor communities this past weekend. In some areas, people refused to register or to allow registration to take place in their areas until their demands are met. They, too, do not distinguish between the IEC, a chapter nine institution, and the government.
We must stand up and defend the space for the key institutions of our democracy to operate without fear or favour. It is a question of “for whom the bell tolls” – it tolls for all of us. Today it is the public protector, tomorrow it is the judiciary, then it will be citizens without the protection of those key institutions. By then, it will be too late to stand up.
We have been through similar moments in our history and must not return there. When I was banned and banished to Tzaneen, my lawyer was told it was not in the state’s interests to disclose why I had been banished to that area.
Are we again ready to tolerate threats to our democracy in the name of “state security” as defined by those determined to secure their positions in power? Are we willing to protect abuse of power and resources in order to protect those in public office?
We can stop abuse of power by those who should be serving us who instead focus on serving themselves. We must not shy away from raising our voices in protection of the public protector so she can do her work to secure the public interest. We have seen how her report on the IEC chairwoman’s impropriety in procuring the lease of property for IEC offices has been attacked on procedural grounds. Are we to condone wrongdoing in this and many other matters through political procedural stonewalling? Where will these stonewalling tactics end?
We have seen enough signs of the president’s lack of capacity to take responsibility for executive action at too many levels: the Schabir Shaik case, his rape trial, Guptagate etc.
His performance in Parliament where he trivialised accountability for Guptagate into a joke about it not being realistic for him to know who is landing at our airports was an embarrassment. Waterkloof is an airforce base that we have afforded him and authorised other officials to use – to serve us. It is not to be used to curry favour with his friends.
We need a strong public protector to keep the executive branch of the state accountable to citizens. We have to protect the public protector so she can continue to protect the “commonwealth” from those invoking “state security” to put our democracy at risk. We dare not fail.
Mamphela Ramphele
Source: The Mercury
Showing posts with label Mamphela Ramphele. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mamphela Ramphele. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Agang launch: Nkandla, Guptas, Arms Deal - Ramphele criticises government
"The leaders of this current government set an appalling example that others follow ... They seem to think they are beyond the reach of the law," Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele said on Saturday at the Tshwane Events Centre.
"One by one they have systematically attacked the very foundations of our constitutional democracy, the judicial system, the freedom of the press, accountability of government and the human rights of all citizens."
She said the arrogance of the current government was "breathtaking". It was acting with impunity and abusing "the resources of the state for the enrichment of a party, themselves and their friends".
"The arms deal, Nkandla, the Guptas, the list of these abuses goes on and on," she said to a cheering crowd.
The former activist and businessperson was welcomed by cheers from the crowd who arrived to support her new party.
More than a thousand people, mostly dressed in white T-shirts with Agang SA printed on them, listened intently and cheered as Ramphele spoke about problems facing South Africa.
For the past five months Ramphele visited communities around the country listening to people's concerns.
"We are here to begin the restoration of the promise of our great nation and to offer the hope of a better future for South Africa," she told the crowd.
"There is a desperate need for change."
Leaders failed to deliver
After nearly 20 years, the country's leaders failed to deliver on the promise of freedom, she said. Adding that it was too long to wait for jobs, education and healthcare.
Ramphele said the country had reached a crossroads.
"I for one do not want to think about where we will be in five years time unless we change course. Imagine five more years of corruption," she said as the crowd shouted "no".
"Imagine five more years of young people being lost from the education system and the economy. Five more years of millions of people entering the workforce but not having jobs. Five more years of non-functioning hospitals and clinics."
However, the country had potential and it was this, according to Ramphele, which inspired her at the age of 65 to enter South African politics and start Agang SA.
During Ramphele's speech the mostly youthful crowd, started shouting "enough is enough".
She introduced her campaign team calling them world-class.
Nkosinathi Solomon, who joined Agang from Absa, was the campaign director.
Also on the team were Dr Mills Soko, director of policy, from the University of Cape Town's graduate school of business, Thabo Leshilo, a former Sowetan editor as director of communications, Zohra Dawood as director of fundraising and Rorisang Tshabalala as deputy director of field management.
Elective conference
Ramphele also announced that Vanessa Hani, former South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani's daughter, would join her team to focus on mobilising women as part of the field management team.
Moeketsi Mosola joined as political director and would lead the creation of the party's political leadership.
Ramphele said Agang would hold an elective conference towards the end of the year.
"There are many experienced parliamentarians and battle hardened activists who will join our national and provincial leadership in the coming months," she said.
"We will strike a balance between old hands and many new faces." – Sapa
Source: Mail & Guardian
"One by one they have systematically attacked the very foundations of our constitutional democracy, the judicial system, the freedom of the press, accountability of government and the human rights of all citizens."
She said the arrogance of the current government was "breathtaking". It was acting with impunity and abusing "the resources of the state for the enrichment of a party, themselves and their friends".
"The arms deal, Nkandla, the Guptas, the list of these abuses goes on and on," she said to a cheering crowd.
The former activist and businessperson was welcomed by cheers from the crowd who arrived to support her new party.
More than a thousand people, mostly dressed in white T-shirts with Agang SA printed on them, listened intently and cheered as Ramphele spoke about problems facing South Africa.
For the past five months Ramphele visited communities around the country listening to people's concerns.
"We are here to begin the restoration of the promise of our great nation and to offer the hope of a better future for South Africa," she told the crowd.
"There is a desperate need for change."
Leaders failed to deliver
After nearly 20 years, the country's leaders failed to deliver on the promise of freedom, she said. Adding that it was too long to wait for jobs, education and healthcare.
Ramphele said the country had reached a crossroads.
"I for one do not want to think about where we will be in five years time unless we change course. Imagine five more years of corruption," she said as the crowd shouted "no".
"Imagine five more years of young people being lost from the education system and the economy. Five more years of millions of people entering the workforce but not having jobs. Five more years of non-functioning hospitals and clinics."
However, the country had potential and it was this, according to Ramphele, which inspired her at the age of 65 to enter South African politics and start Agang SA.
During Ramphele's speech the mostly youthful crowd, started shouting "enough is enough".
She introduced her campaign team calling them world-class.
Nkosinathi Solomon, who joined Agang from Absa, was the campaign director.
Also on the team were Dr Mills Soko, director of policy, from the University of Cape Town's graduate school of business, Thabo Leshilo, a former Sowetan editor as director of communications, Zohra Dawood as director of fundraising and Rorisang Tshabalala as deputy director of field management.
Elective conference
Ramphele also announced that Vanessa Hani, former South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani's daughter, would join her team to focus on mobilising women as part of the field management team.
Moeketsi Mosola joined as political director and would lead the creation of the party's political leadership.
Ramphele said Agang would hold an elective conference towards the end of the year.
"There are many experienced parliamentarians and battle hardened activists who will join our national and provincial leadership in the coming months," she said.
"We will strike a balance between old hands and many new faces." – Sapa
Source: Mail & Guardian
Monday, February 18, 2013
Mamphela Ramphele launches new party political platform
DR MAMPHELA Ramphele on Monday announced the formation of a “party political platform” whose first order of business would be to call for reform of South Africa’s electoral system and with the aim of contesting the 2014 national elections.
Speculation had been rife for weeks that the activist and doctor — a former MD of the World Bank — would enter the country’s political space through forming her own political party.
She will challenge the 2014 election, although she admits to having a staff of just five people, and expects funding, always an elephant in the room for political parties, to come largely from “supportive” South Africans.
On Monday, she delivered a hard-hitting speech on how the dream of a democratic South Africa had been derailed by poor governance, corruption, nepotism, poverty and powerlessness.
“Our country is at risk because self-interest has become the driver of many of those in positions of authority who should be focused on serving the public,” she said.
The platform — to be called “Agang” in Sesotho, meaning “Build SA” — will embark on a 1-million-signature campaign to ensure that electoral reform is the “first order of business” for Parliament after the 2014 election.
“I am here today to invite you, young and old, to reimagine the country of our dreams and to commit to building it into a reality in the lives of every South African,” Dr Ramphele said at the historic Women’s Gaol at Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg.
“I have said that I am no messiah. No single individual acting on their own can build our nation into the country of our dreams. But I am willing to be a bridge between my generation — those of us who fought for freedom who remember not only with their minds but also with their hearts — and that of my children. For us the dream remains alive as a link between those who sacrificed their lives for freedom to be born and those who live in the hope of seeing the reality of the dream come alive in their own lifetime.”
She said South Africans were being denied the right to govern by the current electoral system, and bemoaned the deployment of people to government by parties and the impact of being beholden to party leaders on their performance.
“We should be able to vote for the person in our own area we want to represent us in Parliament, so we can hold them accountable for the electoral promises they make,” she said. “We want an MP for Marikana, an MP for De Doorns and an MP for Sasolburg, so if the people are unhappy and the MP is not responsive enough, they will be voted out at the next election.”
The new party political platform would give citizens who stood on the sidelines an opportunity to become actively involved in building a South Africa to be proud of, Ms Ramphele said.
She blamed a passive citizenry for the direction South Africa had taken, saying she wanted to ignite South Africans to help pull the country back on track. This would be accomplished through “consultation” with those in villages, townships and suburbs, which would feed into her party’s policies.
An active citizenry would also aid in the party’s “war” against corruption. “If we operate as vigilant, active citizens, we can tackle corruption. We too are part of the problem,” Dr Ramphele said.
She added that the decision to enter party politics had not come easily. “I have never been a member of a political party nor aspired to political office. I however feel called to lead the efforts of many South Africans who increasingly fear that we are missing too many opportunities to become that which we have the potential to become — a great society.
“I have no illusions about the difficult road ahead. Bridges get trampled on. But I trust my fellow South Africans’ capacity to come together at critical times to do what others believe is impossible. I believe in our potential for greatness. I believe that greatness is within our grasp if only we can reach out across divisions and self-interests and put the country first.”
Dr Ramphele also said Marikana and De Doorns underscored the urgent need for South Africa to restructure its economic system — but such a restructuring should also focus on job satisfaction and a sense of fulfilment for workers.
Since last year, South Africa has seen a surge in violent and sometimes deadly industrial protests, often with demands for higher wages.
“What we want is an economy that works for all South Africans,” Dr Ramphele said.
She said Agang did not have a preferred economic policy at this stage as it was a work in progress and would be developed as consultation continued. She added, however, that the current economic structure undermined the country’s growth prospects.
News of Dr Ramphele’s political plans have created a buzz in opposition circles, though she made it clear on Monday that she was not joining any other political party, but consulting them widely with. “I am not a joiner,” she said.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday that it took note of Dr Ramphele’s intention “to engage South Africans about the formation of a new political party”.
“Dr Ramphele shares the DA’s core values of nonracialism and constitutionalism, and her move is another step in the long process of realigning South African politics around these values,” said DA spokesman Mmusi Maimane, adding: “We will continue to engage Dr Ramphele in the coming months.”
Smaller parties such as the Congress of the People (COPE) can be expected to seize the opportunity of jumping on the bandwagon.
COPE leaders have said they are mulling ways to work with Dr Ramphele. While this could give her initiative a boost, it could also raise credibility questions, as COPE has battled with internal squabbles that have all but eroded its credibility.
Political analyst Susan Booysens said Ms Ramphele’s announcement on Monday was “odd and bizarre”.
Ms Booysens said she did not see Agang taking off as an imagination-grabbing political party. “I cannot even say refreshing because I cannot see how it fits into party politics,” said Ms Booysens.
Aubrey Matshiqi, political analyst and research fellow at the Helen Suzman Foundation, said Ms Ramphele’s first handicap was that she started with a party political platform. However, Mr Matshiqi said he was not surprised with the move as it appeared that Ms Ramphele and her team were “not able to settle for a very clear way of defining themselves”.
“But when you are consulting a broad range of people, defining yourself can be a problem,” Mr Matshiqi said.
Related files
PDF: Dr Mamphela Ramphele's full speech delivered at the launch of her new party political platform
Source:
Speculation had been rife for weeks that the activist and doctor — a former MD of the World Bank — would enter the country’s political space through forming her own political party.
She will challenge the 2014 election, although she admits to having a staff of just five people, and expects funding, always an elephant in the room for political parties, to come largely from “supportive” South Africans.
On Monday, she delivered a hard-hitting speech on how the dream of a democratic South Africa had been derailed by poor governance, corruption, nepotism, poverty and powerlessness.
“Our country is at risk because self-interest has become the driver of many of those in positions of authority who should be focused on serving the public,” she said.
The platform — to be called “Agang” in Sesotho, meaning “Build SA” — will embark on a 1-million-signature campaign to ensure that electoral reform is the “first order of business” for Parliament after the 2014 election.
“I am here today to invite you, young and old, to reimagine the country of our dreams and to commit to building it into a reality in the lives of every South African,” Dr Ramphele said at the historic Women’s Gaol at Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg.
“I have said that I am no messiah. No single individual acting on their own can build our nation into the country of our dreams. But I am willing to be a bridge between my generation — those of us who fought for freedom who remember not only with their minds but also with their hearts — and that of my children. For us the dream remains alive as a link between those who sacrificed their lives for freedom to be born and those who live in the hope of seeing the reality of the dream come alive in their own lifetime.”
She said South Africans were being denied the right to govern by the current electoral system, and bemoaned the deployment of people to government by parties and the impact of being beholden to party leaders on their performance.
“We should be able to vote for the person in our own area we want to represent us in Parliament, so we can hold them accountable for the electoral promises they make,” she said. “We want an MP for Marikana, an MP for De Doorns and an MP for Sasolburg, so if the people are unhappy and the MP is not responsive enough, they will be voted out at the next election.”
The new party political platform would give citizens who stood on the sidelines an opportunity to become actively involved in building a South Africa to be proud of, Ms Ramphele said.
She blamed a passive citizenry for the direction South Africa had taken, saying she wanted to ignite South Africans to help pull the country back on track. This would be accomplished through “consultation” with those in villages, townships and suburbs, which would feed into her party’s policies.
An active citizenry would also aid in the party’s “war” against corruption. “If we operate as vigilant, active citizens, we can tackle corruption. We too are part of the problem,” Dr Ramphele said.
She added that the decision to enter party politics had not come easily. “I have never been a member of a political party nor aspired to political office. I however feel called to lead the efforts of many South Africans who increasingly fear that we are missing too many opportunities to become that which we have the potential to become — a great society.
“I have no illusions about the difficult road ahead. Bridges get trampled on. But I trust my fellow South Africans’ capacity to come together at critical times to do what others believe is impossible. I believe in our potential for greatness. I believe that greatness is within our grasp if only we can reach out across divisions and self-interests and put the country first.”
Dr Ramphele also said Marikana and De Doorns underscored the urgent need for South Africa to restructure its economic system — but such a restructuring should also focus on job satisfaction and a sense of fulfilment for workers.
Since last year, South Africa has seen a surge in violent and sometimes deadly industrial protests, often with demands for higher wages.
“What we want is an economy that works for all South Africans,” Dr Ramphele said.
She said Agang did not have a preferred economic policy at this stage as it was a work in progress and would be developed as consultation continued. She added, however, that the current economic structure undermined the country’s growth prospects.
News of Dr Ramphele’s political plans have created a buzz in opposition circles, though she made it clear on Monday that she was not joining any other political party, but consulting them widely with. “I am not a joiner,” she said.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday that it took note of Dr Ramphele’s intention “to engage South Africans about the formation of a new political party”.
“Dr Ramphele shares the DA’s core values of nonracialism and constitutionalism, and her move is another step in the long process of realigning South African politics around these values,” said DA spokesman Mmusi Maimane, adding: “We will continue to engage Dr Ramphele in the coming months.”
Smaller parties such as the Congress of the People (COPE) can be expected to seize the opportunity of jumping on the bandwagon.
COPE leaders have said they are mulling ways to work with Dr Ramphele. While this could give her initiative a boost, it could also raise credibility questions, as COPE has battled with internal squabbles that have all but eroded its credibility.
Political analyst Susan Booysens said Ms Ramphele’s announcement on Monday was “odd and bizarre”.
Ms Booysens said she did not see Agang taking off as an imagination-grabbing political party. “I cannot even say refreshing because I cannot see how it fits into party politics,” said Ms Booysens.
Aubrey Matshiqi, political analyst and research fellow at the Helen Suzman Foundation, said Ms Ramphele’s first handicap was that she started with a party political platform. However, Mr Matshiqi said he was not surprised with the move as it appeared that Ms Ramphele and her team were “not able to settle for a very clear way of defining themselves”.
“But when you are consulting a broad range of people, defining yourself can be a problem,” Mr Matshiqi said.
Related files
PDF: Dr Mamphela Ramphele's full speech delivered at the launch of her new party political platform
Source:
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Passivity over corruption imperils our constitution
Mamhela Ramphele: The level of corruption and mismanagement in public life reflect a dangerous tendency towards a culture of impunity.
The recent launch by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), of a campaign for an independent anti-corruption agency, is an invitation to SA citizens to commit to halting this dangerous tendency. Appropriately, the campaign began the week before the celebration of Human Rights Day. A culture of impunity for those abusing power and profiting from corruption is the antithesis of conditions that promote human rights. Various commentators suggest that South Africa is only following the usual post-colonial trajectory of former liberators abusing their power to enrich themselves and those close to them.
There are unfortunately enough examples of corruption, nepotism and mismanagement of public resources to support this view. The auditor-general, the Independent Complaints Directorate of the SA Police and the launch of a civil service anti-corruption unit by the Department of Public Service and Administration, all point to ineffective mechanisms for the enforcement of accountability. But there is nothing inevitable about this slide into impunity. The independent mechanisms to promote integrity and strengthen our democracy are alive and well.
The public protector's recent fearless report about wrongdoing in the procurement of premises for police headquarters by the commissioner of police is a case in point. The Constitutional Court ruling that the Hawks were not independent enough - in terms of constitution requirements - to investigate wrongdoing without fear or favour to promote integrity in public service, is another.
The case for an independent anti-corruption agency is a strong one. The proposed agency would have a triple mandate: public education; enforcement and prevention. The success of this agency would depend on the level of accountability to both parliament and civil society; the independence of the directorate and board appointed through a transparent public participation process; and adequate resources to discharge its mandate.
The culture of impunity is made possible by passive, uninformed citizens who tend to regard corrupt practices as normal to the business of governance. This tolerance is based on their experiences under non-democratic rule, and a sense of loyalty to those in power. This loyalty is fuelled by disinformation by some of those in power, that reporting wrongdoing is a betrayal of those who sacrificed for our freedom. Citizens are also made to believe that wrongdoing is necessary to right the wrongs of the apartheid past.
Enforcement is also severely constrained by public officials placing loyalty to their comrades above defending the constitution. Take the case of Bosasa, the service provider of the Department of Correctional Services, which was investigated by the Special Investigating Unit. Taxpayers have every right to demand that the recommendations of the 2009 comprehensive report into the procurement of these services, be followed.
Our disengaged attitude as citizens and taxpayers promotes this culture of a lack of accountability, which fuels impunity. Prevention requires the promotion of a culture aligned to the values of our constitution, which insists on equality before the law, respect for human dignity and the progressive realisation of socioeconomic rights. These values are violated every day by public servants who abuse national resources which are supposed to address the basic needs of the poor. Even more disconcerting is the failure of political leaders and those in authority to establish cultures in every tier of government to promote our founding values.
Seen from all perspectives then, I come to the unfortunate conclusion that the culture of impunity is fuelled by the sense of entitlement of those in power, who seem to believe society owes them a debt of gratitude for the freedom we enjoy. This conclusion is supported by the series of public scandals for which no one has been held accountable.
First, the arms deal continues to fester, despite evidence that, at the very least, a judicial commission of inquiry needs to investigate this matter. Second, the Travelgate scandal saw those involved in defrauding the taxpayer simply being slapped on the wrist. The abuse of travel allowances occurred in a parliament in which MPs are well looked after in terms of salaries and benefits. Third, the open fronting by the ANC of black economic empowerment under the aegis of Chancellor House violates a central pillar of the constitution: equality under the law.
The ANC, at its landmark 2007 Polokwane conference, resolved to promote greater transparency in the funding of political parties. But the voices within the ANC supporting the unwinding of the deals involved, including the lucrative Hitachi deal to build a boiler at Eskom's Medupi Power Plant, have been silenced. No progress has been made - as was admitted by the chairman of the ANC Ethics Committee, Professor Ben Turok.
Fronting in businesses involving state-owned enterprises such as Eskom, gives the ruling party an unfair advantage over opposition parties. This is a serious threat to democracy. Opposition parties have little chance of competing with an incumbent party that has deep pockets courtesy of the South African taxpayer. Undermining political competition erodes the very foundations of our multiparty democracy. In addition, the participation of the governing party in fronting BEE deals undermines its capacity to regulate and hold other fronting entities and persons accountable.
Good governance is seriously undermined by the failure to demonstrate intolerance for corruption. It lays the foundations for impunity - and corruption in the private sector cannot be addressed adequately by a government which is compromised by being seen to be involved in questionable deals. Nor can the work of transforming the inherently corrupt apartheid culture be accomplished by a government which has been compromised.
South African citizens have a responsibility to acknowledge this elephant in the room and deal with it before it harms our democracy irreparably. Let us campaign for the independent anti-corruption agency - as proposed by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution. It will give South Africans the platform from which to educate themselves, enforce the law and prevent corruption in their midst. We dare not fail future generations.
Source: Times Live
The recent launch by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), of a campaign for an independent anti-corruption agency, is an invitation to SA citizens to commit to halting this dangerous tendency. Appropriately, the campaign began the week before the celebration of Human Rights Day. A culture of impunity for those abusing power and profiting from corruption is the antithesis of conditions that promote human rights. Various commentators suggest that South Africa is only following the usual post-colonial trajectory of former liberators abusing their power to enrich themselves and those close to them.
There are unfortunately enough examples of corruption, nepotism and mismanagement of public resources to support this view. The auditor-general, the Independent Complaints Directorate of the SA Police and the launch of a civil service anti-corruption unit by the Department of Public Service and Administration, all point to ineffective mechanisms for the enforcement of accountability. But there is nothing inevitable about this slide into impunity. The independent mechanisms to promote integrity and strengthen our democracy are alive and well.
The public protector's recent fearless report about wrongdoing in the procurement of premises for police headquarters by the commissioner of police is a case in point. The Constitutional Court ruling that the Hawks were not independent enough - in terms of constitution requirements - to investigate wrongdoing without fear or favour to promote integrity in public service, is another.
The case for an independent anti-corruption agency is a strong one. The proposed agency would have a triple mandate: public education; enforcement and prevention. The success of this agency would depend on the level of accountability to both parliament and civil society; the independence of the directorate and board appointed through a transparent public participation process; and adequate resources to discharge its mandate.
The culture of impunity is made possible by passive, uninformed citizens who tend to regard corrupt practices as normal to the business of governance. This tolerance is based on their experiences under non-democratic rule, and a sense of loyalty to those in power. This loyalty is fuelled by disinformation by some of those in power, that reporting wrongdoing is a betrayal of those who sacrificed for our freedom. Citizens are also made to believe that wrongdoing is necessary to right the wrongs of the apartheid past.
Enforcement is also severely constrained by public officials placing loyalty to their comrades above defending the constitution. Take the case of Bosasa, the service provider of the Department of Correctional Services, which was investigated by the Special Investigating Unit. Taxpayers have every right to demand that the recommendations of the 2009 comprehensive report into the procurement of these services, be followed.
Our disengaged attitude as citizens and taxpayers promotes this culture of a lack of accountability, which fuels impunity. Prevention requires the promotion of a culture aligned to the values of our constitution, which insists on equality before the law, respect for human dignity and the progressive realisation of socioeconomic rights. These values are violated every day by public servants who abuse national resources which are supposed to address the basic needs of the poor. Even more disconcerting is the failure of political leaders and those in authority to establish cultures in every tier of government to promote our founding values.
Seen from all perspectives then, I come to the unfortunate conclusion that the culture of impunity is fuelled by the sense of entitlement of those in power, who seem to believe society owes them a debt of gratitude for the freedom we enjoy. This conclusion is supported by the series of public scandals for which no one has been held accountable.
First, the arms deal continues to fester, despite evidence that, at the very least, a judicial commission of inquiry needs to investigate this matter. Second, the Travelgate scandal saw those involved in defrauding the taxpayer simply being slapped on the wrist. The abuse of travel allowances occurred in a parliament in which MPs are well looked after in terms of salaries and benefits. Third, the open fronting by the ANC of black economic empowerment under the aegis of Chancellor House violates a central pillar of the constitution: equality under the law.
The ANC, at its landmark 2007 Polokwane conference, resolved to promote greater transparency in the funding of political parties. But the voices within the ANC supporting the unwinding of the deals involved, including the lucrative Hitachi deal to build a boiler at Eskom's Medupi Power Plant, have been silenced. No progress has been made - as was admitted by the chairman of the ANC Ethics Committee, Professor Ben Turok.
Fronting in businesses involving state-owned enterprises such as Eskom, gives the ruling party an unfair advantage over opposition parties. This is a serious threat to democracy. Opposition parties have little chance of competing with an incumbent party that has deep pockets courtesy of the South African taxpayer. Undermining political competition erodes the very foundations of our multiparty democracy. In addition, the participation of the governing party in fronting BEE deals undermines its capacity to regulate and hold other fronting entities and persons accountable.
Good governance is seriously undermined by the failure to demonstrate intolerance for corruption. It lays the foundations for impunity - and corruption in the private sector cannot be addressed adequately by a government which is compromised by being seen to be involved in questionable deals. Nor can the work of transforming the inherently corrupt apartheid culture be accomplished by a government which has been compromised.
South African citizens have a responsibility to acknowledge this elephant in the room and deal with it before it harms our democracy irreparably. Let us campaign for the independent anti-corruption agency - as proposed by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution. It will give South Africans the platform from which to educate themselves, enforce the law and prevent corruption in their midst. We dare not fail future generations.
Source: Times Live
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Our house is on fire
Dr Mamphela Ramphele is a former vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town and managing director of the World Bank. She is now chairperson of Circle Capital as well as of the government's new Technology and Innovation Agency. This is an edited version of her address on August 31 at the University of the Western Cape, which was the second of the Education Conversations series. This is a comment written by her.
We as South Africans recognise that when our house is on fire, we all have to pull together to put out the flames. No one should imagine we are going to have a comfortable conversation, certainly not with me.
I am going to talk about excellence and equity in education. I had thought I was done with it because when I was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town in 1995, I had to bring the message that excellence and equity are interrelated and complementary: you cannot have one without the other.
UCT had a great track record of excellence in many areas, but it had yet to embrace equity -- an essential part of sustaining and enhancing excellence. So I never thought I was going to have to talk about excellence and equity to progressives -- but we've lost it, we've just lost it.
You cannot have excellence and equity in education without a national vision of excellence and equity. Such a vision would very clearly and unambiguously articulate our values, which would then find expression in our practices and our social relationships.
Let me give you an example of a country that you may not think too highly of -- Rwanda. When we were voting and being very smug about our freedom, they were bleeding, literally and figuratively. But Rwanda has pulled itself from that genocide and has a "Vision 2020". It's a tiny little country, landlocked, and called "the land of a 1000 hills". But it's a feisty country.
Its Vision 2020 is not just articulated in a document, it's lived by President Paul Kagame. Its vision is to be a country that wins, because it is a centre of excellence and knowledge. It's saying: we have the people, we have the commitment to become a knowledge-based society.
They have set up a school for girls because one of the horrors of that genocide was rape of women and deliberate spreading of HIV/Aids. You go into any of the classrooms in that school and ask any of those girls where they want to be. They say: I want to be an astronaut, I want to be a civil engineer. Their dreams are not small. How does a small country like Rwanda do it? They've literally made ploughshares out of swords, turning a military base -- which they don't need -- into an educational centre, the Kigali Institute of Technology, where East African countries send their best students.
We don't have a vision as a nation, and a people without a vision perish. We have developed an education roadmap -- a milestone in what should be an education recovery process. But where should that road lead and how do we get there?
We need a vision so we can paint for ourselves what greatness can look like, and to use the gaps between that vision and our present reality to measure the depth of our crisis. Any other country would realise they had a crisis if only 7% of the 20% of students who get university exemptions have proficiency in maths. But not us.
We have failed our children. The cumulative impact of what we have done to our education system post-1994 is just shocking. Since then, on average only 29% of pupils who start school end up with a matric certificate. Think about the 71% who go through school without getting a piece of paper that attests to their achievement.
We have had university exemption numbers hovering around the mid-teens -- until of course we did some miracle and it became 20% in 2008. I don't know of any country in the world spending as much as we are spending that has 50% of its 20- to 24-year-olds -- the crème de la crème of the population -- not in school, not in training, not employed.
I think that what's happened since 1994 is that most of us said: well, now it's me, myself and I. We wouldn't have done the arms deal if it wasn't for me, myself, I. We wouldn't be continuing the legacy of underperformance in the school system: "I don't care what happens here because my children go to private school and they speak English." Me, myself, I. "I can buy private security, I can buy private healthcare." Me, myself, I.
There's failure of leadership at every level. We have all been to a lesser or greater extent in denial about the impact of the legacy of the past on us -- the unresolved issues of superiority complexes in the white community, inferiority complexes in the black community. How do you explain politicians going to Soweto and speaking English -- who are they trying to impress? Unless we want to prove we can quote Shakespeare?
And we are also in denial about the culture of mediocrity we have inherited from the past. Add to that the fact that the struggle for freedom had with it the terrible approach of "freedom now, education tomorrow". We had teachers paid for five years, seven years without doing a stitch of work. And now we expect them to teach? They got away with it for all those years, so why would they teach now?
We don't take that into account when we talk about what is happening in our education system. We also mismanaged the downsizing of our teaching corps. And that was on our very own icon Madiba's watch.
We have the highest level of teacher unionisation in the world -- but their focus is on rights, not responsibilities. It's on employment, not professionalism. And the rights only pertain to the teachers, not the pupils. A member of the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), a former teacher, confessed that when her daughter came home and said: "Mom, I'm not going back to that school, the teacher doesn't know the difference between history and geography", she protected the teacher instead of standing up for her daughter's right to be taught properly.
I was in the Eastern Cape last weekend, where I was told about countless principals who have been promoted who are Sadtu members and who are known to have misrepresented their qualifications and their experience. When the inspectors say no, Sadtu simply goes to the education department in the Eastern Cape and says: "We have deployed you to this position, you shall promote this person." That's me, myself, I.
We have the unresolved issue of how do you teach, what medium of instruction do you use in a multilingual society? We even fight with Afrikaners who are trying to hold on to their Afrikaans language. People don't even know there is a language called Sepedi -- that's my mother tongue. If you do not teach children from grade one to at least grade four in their mother tongues, you are separating them from their parents -- there is no storytelling that can happen.
You should not be surprised that parents cannot participate in the school system -- you are alienating them from it. And the teachers who are meant to be teaching these children in English don't read, don't write, don't comprehend the very language. So are you surprised by the scorecards?
Think of the curriculum in two ways -- the hidden curriculum and the articulated curriculum. We have neglected the hidden curriculum in the same way that we messed up the articulated curriculum.
The hidden curriculum is really about the home, the nation, the classroom environment and what lets children come out and ask: "Who am I?" Children who really are proud about who they are -- who are comfortable with their gender, with their relationships -- are such a joy to watch.
But our children are being given signals that everything they value is not valued. That starts with the language, but it's also going everywhere else.
The inferiority complex instilled by living in marginalised communities prompts children to ask: "When am I ever going to get out of this community?"
We are still speaking about "minorities" and "majorities" in 2009! We need a conversation about what it means to be a citizen of a free, democratic, non-racist, non-sexist South Africa. We have written it in the Constitution, but we don't know what it means, we don't know how to live it.
Can we please have that conversation? Because then the classroom conversation will reflect the conversation of citizens.
I really believe that we have an opportunity to go back to basics. We've made a mistake with outcomes-based education (OBE) -- and we're stuck with this OBE like a dog that's become rabid and can't let go of its bone. Tinkering with it and renaming it the National Curriculum Statement does not deal with fundamental gaps between what teachers know and what they are to teach.
We need to let go of OBE and focus on the basics in education. Because I promise you, when Zimbabwe gets its act together, they are going to go back to basics. It doesn't take much to let go of this bone -- it's got an odour around it.
So let's commit to working together and walking together, to make our education excellent. There's no other way: we have to articulate that vision of excellence. We must have leaders who commit to promoting excellence in everything they do. And all of us have to walk together because, as the African saying says: if you want to walk fast, walk alone; but if you want to walk far, walk together.
Source: Mail & Guardian
We as South Africans recognise that when our house is on fire, we all have to pull together to put out the flames. No one should imagine we are going to have a comfortable conversation, certainly not with me.
I am going to talk about excellence and equity in education. I had thought I was done with it because when I was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town in 1995, I had to bring the message that excellence and equity are interrelated and complementary: you cannot have one without the other.
UCT had a great track record of excellence in many areas, but it had yet to embrace equity -- an essential part of sustaining and enhancing excellence. So I never thought I was going to have to talk about excellence and equity to progressives -- but we've lost it, we've just lost it.
You cannot have excellence and equity in education without a national vision of excellence and equity. Such a vision would very clearly and unambiguously articulate our values, which would then find expression in our practices and our social relationships.
Let me give you an example of a country that you may not think too highly of -- Rwanda. When we were voting and being very smug about our freedom, they were bleeding, literally and figuratively. But Rwanda has pulled itself from that genocide and has a "Vision 2020". It's a tiny little country, landlocked, and called "the land of a 1000 hills". But it's a feisty country.
Its Vision 2020 is not just articulated in a document, it's lived by President Paul Kagame. Its vision is to be a country that wins, because it is a centre of excellence and knowledge. It's saying: we have the people, we have the commitment to become a knowledge-based society.
They have set up a school for girls because one of the horrors of that genocide was rape of women and deliberate spreading of HIV/Aids. You go into any of the classrooms in that school and ask any of those girls where they want to be. They say: I want to be an astronaut, I want to be a civil engineer. Their dreams are not small. How does a small country like Rwanda do it? They've literally made ploughshares out of swords, turning a military base -- which they don't need -- into an educational centre, the Kigali Institute of Technology, where East African countries send their best students.
We don't have a vision as a nation, and a people without a vision perish. We have developed an education roadmap -- a milestone in what should be an education recovery process. But where should that road lead and how do we get there?
We need a vision so we can paint for ourselves what greatness can look like, and to use the gaps between that vision and our present reality to measure the depth of our crisis. Any other country would realise they had a crisis if only 7% of the 20% of students who get university exemptions have proficiency in maths. But not us.
We have failed our children. The cumulative impact of what we have done to our education system post-1994 is just shocking. Since then, on average only 29% of pupils who start school end up with a matric certificate. Think about the 71% who go through school without getting a piece of paper that attests to their achievement.
We have had university exemption numbers hovering around the mid-teens -- until of course we did some miracle and it became 20% in 2008. I don't know of any country in the world spending as much as we are spending that has 50% of its 20- to 24-year-olds -- the crème de la crème of the population -- not in school, not in training, not employed.
I think that what's happened since 1994 is that most of us said: well, now it's me, myself and I. We wouldn't have done the arms deal if it wasn't for me, myself, I. We wouldn't be continuing the legacy of underperformance in the school system: "I don't care what happens here because my children go to private school and they speak English." Me, myself, I. "I can buy private security, I can buy private healthcare." Me, myself, I.
There's failure of leadership at every level. We have all been to a lesser or greater extent in denial about the impact of the legacy of the past on us -- the unresolved issues of superiority complexes in the white community, inferiority complexes in the black community. How do you explain politicians going to Soweto and speaking English -- who are they trying to impress? Unless we want to prove we can quote Shakespeare?
And we are also in denial about the culture of mediocrity we have inherited from the past. Add to that the fact that the struggle for freedom had with it the terrible approach of "freedom now, education tomorrow". We had teachers paid for five years, seven years without doing a stitch of work. And now we expect them to teach? They got away with it for all those years, so why would they teach now?
We don't take that into account when we talk about what is happening in our education system. We also mismanaged the downsizing of our teaching corps. And that was on our very own icon Madiba's watch.
We have the highest level of teacher unionisation in the world -- but their focus is on rights, not responsibilities. It's on employment, not professionalism. And the rights only pertain to the teachers, not the pupils. A member of the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), a former teacher, confessed that when her daughter came home and said: "Mom, I'm not going back to that school, the teacher doesn't know the difference between history and geography", she protected the teacher instead of standing up for her daughter's right to be taught properly.
I was in the Eastern Cape last weekend, where I was told about countless principals who have been promoted who are Sadtu members and who are known to have misrepresented their qualifications and their experience. When the inspectors say no, Sadtu simply goes to the education department in the Eastern Cape and says: "We have deployed you to this position, you shall promote this person." That's me, myself, I.
We have the unresolved issue of how do you teach, what medium of instruction do you use in a multilingual society? We even fight with Afrikaners who are trying to hold on to their Afrikaans language. People don't even know there is a language called Sepedi -- that's my mother tongue. If you do not teach children from grade one to at least grade four in their mother tongues, you are separating them from their parents -- there is no storytelling that can happen.
You should not be surprised that parents cannot participate in the school system -- you are alienating them from it. And the teachers who are meant to be teaching these children in English don't read, don't write, don't comprehend the very language. So are you surprised by the scorecards?
Think of the curriculum in two ways -- the hidden curriculum and the articulated curriculum. We have neglected the hidden curriculum in the same way that we messed up the articulated curriculum.
The hidden curriculum is really about the home, the nation, the classroom environment and what lets children come out and ask: "Who am I?" Children who really are proud about who they are -- who are comfortable with their gender, with their relationships -- are such a joy to watch.
But our children are being given signals that everything they value is not valued. That starts with the language, but it's also going everywhere else.
The inferiority complex instilled by living in marginalised communities prompts children to ask: "When am I ever going to get out of this community?"
We are still speaking about "minorities" and "majorities" in 2009! We need a conversation about what it means to be a citizen of a free, democratic, non-racist, non-sexist South Africa. We have written it in the Constitution, but we don't know what it means, we don't know how to live it.
Can we please have that conversation? Because then the classroom conversation will reflect the conversation of citizens.
I really believe that we have an opportunity to go back to basics. We've made a mistake with outcomes-based education (OBE) -- and we're stuck with this OBE like a dog that's become rabid and can't let go of its bone. Tinkering with it and renaming it the National Curriculum Statement does not deal with fundamental gaps between what teachers know and what they are to teach.
We need to let go of OBE and focus on the basics in education. Because I promise you, when Zimbabwe gets its act together, they are going to go back to basics. It doesn't take much to let go of this bone -- it's got an odour around it.
So let's commit to working together and walking together, to make our education excellent. There's no other way: we have to articulate that vision of excellence. We must have leaders who commit to promoting excellence in everything they do. And all of us have to walk together because, as the African saying says: if you want to walk fast, walk alone; but if you want to walk far, walk together.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Ramphele warns of chaos
Director of the World Bank and convenor of the so-called Dinokeng group, Mamphela Ramphele, has said the first of various ticking time bombs in South Africa have begun to explode. She was a guest speaker in Pretoria at a future conference of the Solidarity union on Tuesday.
Dinokeng is a diverse group of 35 esteemed South Africans who met last year with the aim of trying to determine how the country could look by 2020. The group says South Africa finds itself at a crossroads of three scenarios: walk apart, walk behind or walk together.
Ramphele said the government was responsible for the various time bombs, because it failed on education, health, crime, poverty and unemployment. "We are seeing increasing agitation because people are tired of hearing the empty promises municipalities make. This is one of the time bombs which is set to explode." She said South Africans should start reclaiming their ownership, "since the country does, after all, belong to us. It will require a mind shift in perspective and a step out of our comfort zones. The striking doctors are doing this now and this is another time bomb starting to explode. The strike is causing utter chaos, but it is necessary in order for government to get the message.
According to Ramphele, the strike will force the government to contemplate the health sector, "which has become a gravy train going nowhere". She said it was of utmost importance that citizens and leaders from all sectors become involved and start demanding better service delivery. Ramphele said the onus was on South Africans to choose the walk-together scenario.
The Dinokeng group sketches South Africa in a walking alone scenario by 2018 up to 2020, as a country where the separation between the government and citizens increases, budgeted deficits increase, service delivery deteriorates day by day, and "gangs, self-appointed mayors and taxi organisations reign in local areas".
Source: News 24
Dinokeng is a diverse group of 35 esteemed South Africans who met last year with the aim of trying to determine how the country could look by 2020. The group says South Africa finds itself at a crossroads of three scenarios: walk apart, walk behind or walk together.
Ramphele said the government was responsible for the various time bombs, because it failed on education, health, crime, poverty and unemployment. "We are seeing increasing agitation because people are tired of hearing the empty promises municipalities make. This is one of the time bombs which is set to explode." She said South Africans should start reclaiming their ownership, "since the country does, after all, belong to us. It will require a mind shift in perspective and a step out of our comfort zones. The striking doctors are doing this now and this is another time bomb starting to explode. The strike is causing utter chaos, but it is necessary in order for government to get the message.
According to Ramphele, the strike will force the government to contemplate the health sector, "which has become a gravy train going nowhere". She said it was of utmost importance that citizens and leaders from all sectors become involved and start demanding better service delivery. Ramphele said the onus was on South Africans to choose the walk-together scenario.
The Dinokeng group sketches South Africa in a walking alone scenario by 2018 up to 2020, as a country where the separation between the government and citizens increases, budgeted deficits increase, service delivery deteriorates day by day, and "gangs, self-appointed mayors and taxi organisations reign in local areas".
Source: News 24
Monday, October 20, 2003
'I keep Mamphela's vision'
Titus Makgela does not have legs, only two short stumps that protrude through his shorts. This has not stopped the 59-year-old Limpopo man from running his own vegetable garden on the grounds of a disused clinic and selling the produce in Lenyenye near Tzaneen. His inspiration was none other than managing director responsible for human development at the World Bank, Dr Mamphela Ramphele.
When Ramphele was banished to Lenyenye in 1977 by the apartheid government because of her involvement with the Black Consciousness movement, she built the first clinic in the area.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu officially opened it in 1981 and Titus was one of Ramphele's first employees. "She was a wonderful woman," he says. "Even though I was a disabled man, she had faith in me and gave me a job. She taught me about self-reliance and to believe in myself and my ability to change my living conditions."
Today "Mamphela's clinic", as it is known in the township, has been closed because of a lack of donor funds but Titus refuses to abandon it. He is determined to carry on the vision Ramphele had. Every day he crawls to the disused clinic to tend to his vegetable garden and to keep the yard clean. "I'll never abandon the clinic. Dr. Ramphele's dream will never die," says Makgela.
Source: News 24
When Ramphele was banished to Lenyenye in 1977 by the apartheid government because of her involvement with the Black Consciousness movement, she built the first clinic in the area.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu officially opened it in 1981 and Titus was one of Ramphele's first employees. "She was a wonderful woman," he says. "Even though I was a disabled man, she had faith in me and gave me a job. She taught me about self-reliance and to believe in myself and my ability to change my living conditions."
Today "Mamphela's clinic", as it is known in the township, has been closed because of a lack of donor funds but Titus refuses to abandon it. He is determined to carry on the vision Ramphele had. Every day he crawls to the disused clinic to tend to his vegetable garden and to keep the yard clean. "I'll never abandon the clinic. Dr. Ramphele's dream will never die," says Makgela.
Source: News 24
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