Wouter Wessels, VF Plus-LPW, het vandag tydens die debat oor premier Ace Magashule se openingsrede gesê dat die rede vir die vervalle toestand van die Vrystaat die ANC-regering se beloning vir wanbestuur en oortredings, soos korrupsie is. Munisipale Bestuurders, verantwoordelik vir wanbestuur, word herontplooi na ander munisipaliteite of selfs tot LURe bevorder.
Die volledige toespraak volg:
“Honourable Speaker, United States President Eisenhower said, “the search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions.”
Speaker, real leadership is characterised by taking responsibility, admitting to inadequacies and failures and addressing such head on.
‘n Ware leier en ‘n verantwoordelike premier kan nie sê dat dit vandag goed in die Vrystaat gaan nie. Munisipaliteite in die Vrystaat is letterlik bankrot. Dienslewering stort in duie, infrastruktuur verval met riool wat in die strate loop en dorpe is sonder water. Hospitale en klinieke is steeds sonder basiese mediese voorraad en medisyne. Die belastingbetalersbasis van landelike gebiede krimp. Jeugwerkloosheid in die Vrystaat is steeds die hoogste in Suid-Afrika met 50% van die potensiële arbeidsmag van jonger as 34 wat werkloos is. Die inwoners van die Vrystaat ly.
Speaker, the drop in the unemployment rate is not necessarily a positive. Let us be honest. The unemployment rate portrays the number of those who are jobless, but actively looking for work. The expanded unemployment rate, which includes people who have given up looking for a job, tells a different story. Long term unemployment in the Free State is a crisis. According to Stats SA out of a total working age population of 1,8 million people only 755 000 are employed, down from 834 000 in 2008. The proposed national minimum wage is most certainly going to lead to increased unemployment and poverty. The people of the Free State are suffering.
Whilst the Honourable Premier is vocal that he is not worried about anything, the severe draught in the Free State is going to have a further detrimental effect on our rural economy. Many commercial farmers are financially not going to survive the weak yields. As a result thereof many farm workers will become unemployed and food insecurity might become a reality. The people of the Free State are suffering.
The Honourable Premier is quick to say – and he will most probably say this once again in his reply today – that no government can fix all the problems at once. I agree and nobody expects the ANC-government to address all the challenges in one day. But – whilst you are addressing one problem today, you simultaneously create five new problems. Whilst you build one road, five other roads become incapacitated due to no basic maintenance. Whilst you are building one house today, the tender corruption, financial mismanagement and exploitation involved lead to enormous financial constraints and a bigger backlog regarding service delivery.
Whilst you attempt cleaning projects in local municipalities, the outstanding debt to creditors have reached an irreversible point and municipalities are not paying third party salary deductions to pension funds, SARS and UIF.
Whilst you unsuccessfully attempt to address the crisis facing the Department of Health, the financial crisis in the Department of Education is once again out of control.
Whilst the Honourable Premier blames apartheid and looks for a scapegoat for each and every inefficiency, the politically connected – the cadres – become richer and richer, whilst the poorest of the poor are suffering.
When a municipality appears in front of the Public Accounts Committee to scrutinise their audit outcomes, the municipal manager and CFO generally blames their predecessors. When enquiring where that MM or CFO responsible for the mismanagement is now; the general answer is that that person resigned prior to any investigations, was redeployed to another municipality or has even become an MEC.
That is the problem. Not apartheid! But rather a lack of consequences. A person can mismanage, steal, corrupt and destroy the organs of service delivery without facing any consequences. Such person is usually rewarded, receives a performance bonus, is redeployed, promoted, becomes a MEC, a Minister, a Premier or even the President.
Speaker, die ernstige droogte wat die Vrystaat tans ervaar is nie slegs tot die klimaat beperk nie. Ons ervaar ‘n meer ernstige droogte wanneer dit by leierskap en verantwoordbaarheid in die ANC-regering kom. Die inwoners van die Vrystaat ly.
Ek dank u.”
Sel : 082 674 6670
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