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from 2005

DA chief whip DOUGLAS GIBSON replies to PDU's letter of 5 July 2005

– The Citizen, 7 July 2005


THE more the ANC moves away from the provisions of the Freedom Charter, the more it celebrates the Charter.


IN his circular letter that appeared in several national newspapers, (The Citizen, July 5) Pieter-Dirk Uys claims that “luckily, the party that embraces the Freedom Charter is in the majority”.


I am glad to see that, even in the rustic environs of Darling, Tannie Evita has lost none of her talent for biting irony.


The ANC has been spending taxpayers’ money to punt the Charter as its manifesto in the run-up to the local government elections.


This is not only a waste of state resources, but also blurs the boundaries between party and state. That is why the DA decided not to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations and People’s Assembly in Kliptown recently — along with the IFP and some other opposition parties.


The People’s Assembly cost nearly R10m, excluding accommodation, car hire and airfares for MPs who were expected to be present, and excluding the costs in each of the nine provinces where there were link-ups with the provincial legislatures.


For this huge amount of money there was a single workshop in the centre of Johannesburg on the Sunday, followed by the official opening of the Walter Sisulu Square and a three hour session of Parliament at Kliptown.


None of this money built a single extra house or classroom or created one extra job for the unemployed or put food in the stomach of one undernourished child.


Although my party appreciates the historical importance of the Charter, we cannot condone large amounts of taxpayers’ money being spent on it for the ANC’s own political purposes.


The People’s Assembly was a cynical and wasteful ploy designed to distract people’s attention away from the ANC’s chronic failure to deliver on the Charter promises.


The ANC is very good at spending money on parties and celebrations but quite poor at relieving poverty and hopelessness. And the more the ruling party moves away from the provisions of the Freedom Charter, the more it embraces and celebrates the Charter.


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