Councillor's Corner
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Lifetime Bluff resident serving his third term in office as representative
of the area. Member of the Democratic Alliance.
of the area. Member of the Democratic Alliance.
This weeks Councillor comments
| Duncan Du Bois |
25 May 2007
Phone:467-0343 or mobile:083 291-4913
Municipal Manager - Dr Sutcliffe: Tel 311-2130 ;
SutcliffeM@durban.gov.za
SutcliffeM@durban.gov.za
Report dumping or unauthorised use of verges; Phone 311-7448
Metro All-Call / All hours Tel No.: 361-0000
Metro Police: Tel 402-0680
Brighton Beach SAPS: Tel 451 8060 / 8059
Brighton Beach Community Policing Forum Chairman: Carl Knauff : 082 449-6503
Metro All-Call / All hours Tel No.: 361-0000
Metro Police: Tel 402-0680
Brighton Beach SAPS: Tel 451 8060 / 8059
Brighton Beach Community Policing Forum Chairman: Carl Knauff : 082 449-6503
Useful Contacts
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| Educating for Eternity |
The Witness
DANGERS OF DEMOCRATIC CENTRALISM
Developments concerning the restructuring of the public service, street renaming, rugby squad
appointments, Khutsong and the provinces leave no doubt as to the limited ceiling of the
democratic elevator in the ANC.
Whilst in their rhetoric and pronouncements much emphasis is laid on the role of ' the people,'
more often than not mere lip service is paid to that notion. The forced inclusion of Khutsong into
North West province from Gauteng, despite massive, on-going opposition, is a case in point.
Behind the blandishments about democracy lies an inherent and long cultivated practice of
centralised power and control. Such a tendency, of course, is a potential in all parties that enjoy
long tenures in power. In the South African context, however, it is one that needs to be viewed
warily given the ruling party's cosy relations with pariah regimes like Zimbabwe and Cuba.
The latest call by Public Service and Administration minister Geraldine Fraser for the establishment
of a single public service is typical of the way in which the ANC seeks to aggrandise power. Ostensibly
Fraser-Moleketi seeks to improve service delivery. Given the nature of data bases and that
budgets are centrally funded her argument may appeal to some.
But a single public service would decimate what little provincial autonomy remains whilst severely
undermining local government administration. In this respect SALGA ( SA Local Government Association)
has proved that it is an ANC lapdog by supporting Fraser-Moleketi's idea. The value of direct representation
afforded in local government would be eroded as accountability of officials would be relocated to parliament.
Government by remote control would prevail at local level. The practice of political appointment and
deployment of officials would be extended and entrenched. Megabureaucracy would reign and democracy
would be further diluted.
It surely is no coincidence that within the same week of Salga's endorsement of a single public service the
minister of Provincial and Local Government, Sydney Mufamadi, placed the issue of reducing the number of
provinces ' firmly on the table,' as he put it, in the National Council of Provinces. Of course there are serious
grounds to revisit the state of the provincial set-up. Expanded from four to nine provinces in 1994 so as to
accommodate the former homelands and to give expression to diversity, they have fallen foul of economic
realities. These include viability and sustainability.
Moreover, the same malaise which afflicts national government departments, a factor well-documented by
the Auditor-General over the past six years, also troubles provincial administrations.
Central to the dilemma of provinces is the fact that they raise only about 5% of their own revenue; the lion's
share comes from central government. If provincialism is to be meaningful it must be viable. That means
more than simply reducing the number of provinces.
Nonetheless, it is fascinating to see that Western Cape premier Ibrahim Rasool has lost no time in
speaking about a merger between the Eastern and Western Cape. With the ANC's fortunes waning in the
Western Cape, Rasool now embraces the prospect of a merger as a political lifeline. In other words, the
agenda is more about the maintenance of political centralisation and control than about improving
governance.
Adherents of democratic centralism, a euphemism for autocracy, are never comfortable about the diffusion
and delegation of power. This is well-illustrated by the fact that the mayors of the metros controlled by the
ANC are appointed by its national executive. It follows, then, that the municipal managers of those metros
are cut from the same cloth. Although section 195 (1) (e) and (d) of the SA constitution stipulates that public
administration must be managed ' without bias' and that the public must ' encouraged to participate in
policy-making,' Dr Michael Sutcliffe of the Durban Metro has ignored these provisions. In his capacity as
municipal manager he has denounced opposition to the street-naming process whilst seeing nothing
wrong with the fact that the list of new names was drawn up by only three people who he declines to name.
Breaking the line between party interests and those of public service is an insult to professions of good
governance and democratic process. Doing the same thing in the realms of sport, rugby in particular, is a
far worse transgression. By intervening in the selection process of the national squad for the sake of a
player whose father has so-called struggle credentials, rugby national union president, Oregan Hoskins,
has allowed his position to be used to promote the zanufication of sport by the ANC.
Sustained exposure, opposition and resistance is the only way to blunt the eforts of those whose political
agendas read like a roadmap to a one-party state, Zimbabwe-type situation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Duncan Du Bois is a DA Durban Metro ward councillor. He writes in his private capacity.
DANGERS OF DEMOCRATIC CENTRALISM
Developments concerning the restructuring of the public service, street renaming, rugby squad
appointments, Khutsong and the provinces leave no doubt as to the limited ceiling of the
democratic elevator in the ANC.
Whilst in their rhetoric and pronouncements much emphasis is laid on the role of ' the people,'
more often than not mere lip service is paid to that notion. The forced inclusion of Khutsong into
North West province from Gauteng, despite massive, on-going opposition, is a case in point.
Behind the blandishments about democracy lies an inherent and long cultivated practice of
centralised power and control. Such a tendency, of course, is a potential in all parties that enjoy
long tenures in power. In the South African context, however, it is one that needs to be viewed
warily given the ruling party's cosy relations with pariah regimes like Zimbabwe and Cuba.
The latest call by Public Service and Administration minister Geraldine Fraser for the establishment
of a single public service is typical of the way in which the ANC seeks to aggrandise power. Ostensibly
Fraser-Moleketi seeks to improve service delivery. Given the nature of data bases and that
budgets are centrally funded her argument may appeal to some.
But a single public service would decimate what little provincial autonomy remains whilst severely
undermining local government administration. In this respect SALGA ( SA Local Government Association)
has proved that it is an ANC lapdog by supporting Fraser-Moleketi's idea. The value of direct representation
afforded in local government would be eroded as accountability of officials would be relocated to parliament.
Government by remote control would prevail at local level. The practice of political appointment and
deployment of officials would be extended and entrenched. Megabureaucracy would reign and democracy
would be further diluted.
It surely is no coincidence that within the same week of Salga's endorsement of a single public service the
minister of Provincial and Local Government, Sydney Mufamadi, placed the issue of reducing the number of
provinces ' firmly on the table,' as he put it, in the National Council of Provinces. Of course there are serious
grounds to revisit the state of the provincial set-up. Expanded from four to nine provinces in 1994 so as to
accommodate the former homelands and to give expression to diversity, they have fallen foul of economic
realities. These include viability and sustainability.
Moreover, the same malaise which afflicts national government departments, a factor well-documented by
the Auditor-General over the past six years, also troubles provincial administrations.
Central to the dilemma of provinces is the fact that they raise only about 5% of their own revenue; the lion's
share comes from central government. If provincialism is to be meaningful it must be viable. That means
more than simply reducing the number of provinces.
Nonetheless, it is fascinating to see that Western Cape premier Ibrahim Rasool has lost no time in
speaking about a merger between the Eastern and Western Cape. With the ANC's fortunes waning in the
Western Cape, Rasool now embraces the prospect of a merger as a political lifeline. In other words, the
agenda is more about the maintenance of political centralisation and control than about improving
governance.
Adherents of democratic centralism, a euphemism for autocracy, are never comfortable about the diffusion
and delegation of power. This is well-illustrated by the fact that the mayors of the metros controlled by the
ANC are appointed by its national executive. It follows, then, that the municipal managers of those metros
are cut from the same cloth. Although section 195 (1) (e) and (d) of the SA constitution stipulates that public
administration must be managed ' without bias' and that the public must ' encouraged to participate in
policy-making,' Dr Michael Sutcliffe of the Durban Metro has ignored these provisions. In his capacity as
municipal manager he has denounced opposition to the street-naming process whilst seeing nothing
wrong with the fact that the list of new names was drawn up by only three people who he declines to name.
Breaking the line between party interests and those of public service is an insult to professions of good
governance and democratic process. Doing the same thing in the realms of sport, rugby in particular, is a
far worse transgression. By intervening in the selection process of the national squad for the sake of a
player whose father has so-called struggle credentials, rugby national union president, Oregan Hoskins,
has allowed his position to be used to promote the zanufication of sport by the ANC.
Sustained exposure, opposition and resistance is the only way to blunt the eforts of those whose political
agendas read like a roadmap to a one-party state, Zimbabwe-type situation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Duncan Du Bois is a DA Durban Metro ward councillor. He writes in his private capacity.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are not necessarily those of the owners & publishers of this website and the accuracy is not guaranteed.
You can contact Councillor D Du Bois by e-mail @ dubois@axxess.co.za