The emailed responses continue to arrive referring to last week’s Open Letter, among them this pithy contribution from John Whall of Somerset West who writes:
That open letter has put into words what a lot of us have been feeling over the past while. This is a major opportunity for a dynamic new leader to emerge and set up something new that gives all South Africans something that they want. At the moment there are just no viable alternatives for voters in SA, it’s the same old…
Gautenger Rob Sowry responded to Clive Bryden’s suggestion last week, which reminded me of young activist Willem Petzer’s recently established Taxpayer’s Union – a legal way to use financial muscle to enable positive change. Rob wants more discussion on that topic. He wrote:
Love your daily Biznews. Also love the open letter to Cyril.
In line with Clive Bryden’s email, I am sure you know about the Taxpayers Union. I recently joined it and gave them a donation to help. Is their time not coming soon? Should people who agree with their aims not join this union in order to act in cohesion? I ask because the one thing our President knows is the use of money to get what he wants. Deny him Taxpayers money and the game changes immediately. Without this union and it’s cohesion we are powerless, I feel. Can you discuss this idea please.
Theunis Dreyer sent this poser from Namibia, suggesting that the real blame for SA’s parlous situation lies with those not exercising their democratic right. It’s a drum Herman Mashaba has also been beating for a while. Hard to fault:
I am from Namibia but as you know our economies are linked – if you have a cold we get the fever. So it was very interesting to see everybody’s expression about your current situation and who is at fault.
Two thing were very obvious to me about your riots and the first thing I want to point out is the very beautiful turning point for people of SA when it comes to standing together.
The aftermath clean up and solidarity shown by communities to stand together against a common threat. So many want a better tomorrow for SA.
It was also mentioned in a lot of media that this coming together of the population was not inspired by politicians or their parties. That was beautiful from the outside.
A lot of fingers had been pointed at who or what was at fault and to why. My humble opinion is that each and every citizen who did not vote after 1994 is at fault. Due to not voting you created a monster with an almost 2/3 majority to run our countries as they see fit. In municipalities and government. The same applies in Namibia.
Economics indicates that there are two broad reasons for government to interfere with the economy: The promotion of efficiency and equality.
Both our governments are hell bent on the idea of equality that they started to neglect efficiency. Due to the neglecting of efficiency at government and municipality level we have this problem of corruption that is eating up the last bit of efficiency.
We as the population who did not vote were inefficient and therefore the blame lies with us.
Another topic that keeps eliciting responses is the suggestion of resuscitating National Service. Lots of inputs – here’s one from Louis Gqoboka that hit the spot for me. He wrote:
Thank you Alec for sharing the rich diverse mix of ideas from all South Africans. National service is a great idea especially in also exposing our youth to the “psychological and indeed economic divides” between rural and urban in our society. Our youth must be made ready and learning to confront in a non-partisan way the realities of living in a diverse society and being part of a nation, but without indoctrination. Some of us who emerged from the middle 80s student political recruitment will attest that ours was to serve all South African including those you always disagree with. Discipline was a non-negotiable if one was to succeed, especially in the project of change and dislodge. I like the idea that we could deploy retirees but it must involve people from various strands of society to avoid “predictable” sectarian influences. SA’s advantage is indeed its history and the build up to the momentous 1994. The essence of that experience is still not exploited for its richness.
Finally today, a sense of humour goes a long way. Dave Scott offered this short note – a “response” to his letter to the Presidency complaining about not being able to access a tipple:
Dear Mr Scott
The President thanks you for your email and is looking at the possibility to move the country to level 4 to alleviate your plight.
Stay tuned on Sunday night.
He is also interested in your Danie Craven bottles and aware you enjoy JW Black.
Here at the ANC we only use Blue normally with cream soda.
We are prepared to swap you a JW Blue for the 2 bottles of DC Pinotage.
Unfortunately keeping to Covid protocols we can only arrange this on Monday morning.
We will be in touch
Mabosa Ritchie
Senior advisor to President.
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Comment from BizNews community member Brian Musto:
I am a retired lawyer and have written to you many years ago on another matter.
Reading your newsletter this Monday morning appalled me.
With the greatest respect a number of our fellow South Africans you quote are totally confused about what to do to change the train-smash trajectory in which SA is headed.
Here’s the only legal way (not tax revolts, which won’t work) to depose the ANC:
A. VOTE DA
- I live in Wilderness near George in the southern Cape.
- It’s one of the cleanest towns you will find anywhere in SA, if not the cleanest.
- Its new DA Mayor, Leon van Wyk, is a chartered accountant who managed to get George a clean audit for the first time a few years ago and is now striving to repeat that performance. Mossel Bay, another DA run Municipality, is the best run Municipality in SA according to the auditor general. Many other Western Cape Municipalities run by the DA as well as the DA run Midrand Municipality are also top thriving Municipalities.
- The DA policy is to not tolerate corruption and to root it out whenever it rears its ugly head. Hence the departure of Patricia de Lille against whom charges were laid by the DA following the Bowman’s report implicating her in wrongdoing while mayor of Cape Town, the resignation of the former DA leader in Gauteng, John Moody, who was also facing serious allegations but chose to resign rather than defend himself before a disciplinary enquiry.
- The DA also does not tolerate prima donnas who cannot operate within party structures. Hence the departures of “not-a-leader Mmusi Maimane”, who never had leadership potential as well as your new hopeful and “Saviour”, Herman Mashaba, the man you keep touting who sings only one song “I did it my way and will continue doing it my way” because he, and he alone, will choose who gets positions in his party and will brook no interference from his party in the way he runs his autocratic set-up. He too failed as a DA team player when he personally defied the party by choosing to do some decidedly smelly private deals with the EFF when he was Joburg mayor.
- The DA fights an amazingly large number of court cases against the ANC’s abuse of the Constitution. Just one well-known example: it took the DA eight and a half years and much gritty perseverance to get the courts to order the release of the so-called “Spy Tapes” conversation between Nguka and McCarthy which revealed that there was nothing untoward in their original decision to allegedly “delay” the prosecution of Zuma for corruption relating to the arms deal.
B. FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
South Africans can join with me and a few other civil society organisations such as the IRR to fight draconian legislation in Parliament without being MPs themselves.
For example: I have personally taken the trouble to make my own written and oral representations opposing the amendment of section 25 of our great Constitution to permit EWC. I attended Parliament in Cape Town as an individual representing around 130 taxpayers who I had personally canvased) in October 2018 and, for my trouble, was vilified by a female EFF MP for my audacity as a white person to oppose EWC.
In 2020, acting in my personal capacity as a member of a Medical Aid, I made my disgust known by tearing up a copy of the NHI Bill at the end of my oral speech at a hearing of the Parliament’s NHI committee in George.
In 2021 I was again in Parliament on a virtual platform tearing to pieces (this time figuratively) the Expropriation Bill which will give politicians the power to take possession of all and any property (not only land but also investments) for Nil compensation before a court has even been approached to rule on the matter.
I am amazed that I have personally come across no other South African individual, still working or retired, who has taken the opportunity during the oral submissions phase of the legislative process, to request an audience in Parliament personally. Thus, instead of our MPs being inundated with the imprecations of concerned citizens expressing their opposition to nonsensical and dangerous legislation based on false premises, only a few well-known NGOs are heard.
In conclusion, I will continue both to support the DA’s commitment to good governance and to make my own voice known before the abusers of Parliamentary power who currently rule over our country.
UNITED WE STAND – DIVIDED AS WE SEEM TO BE AT THE MOMENT – WE WILL ALL FALL TOGETHER.
I appeal to you to please get your publication behind the honest DA as you too can make a difference, unless of course you are afraid of losing premium subscribers? Are you?
Alec, if you continue to make eyes at no-hopers and autocrats like Mashaba, you will simply help the ANC wreck SA.
If I can help you in any way to get this message across, please feel free to contact me.
Saving the future of SA is very dear to all of us and I am available.
