Rise Mzansi: Committed to address rampant corruption and crime head-on

Election debutant Rise Mzansi’s leader Songezo Zibi says his party is determined to bring about transformative change in South Africa.

If it gets to run the country or influence events as they unfurl, the party’s got a solid plan, he said.

One of his party’s top agenda items is to solve the dysfunctional municipality challenge, a hangover from the 2021 local government poll that many say was a foreshadowing of what’s to come once the votes have been tallied this time around.

Rise Mzansi’s priorities

“Rise Mzansi will prioritise placing dysfunctional municipalities in major economic nodes under administration until they meet basic auditor-general standards and are on a sustainable path to recovery,” Zibi said.

“This will work towards advancing service delivery and economic activity.”

Locally, provincially and nationally, corruption has plagued South African politics for decades and Zibi is committed to addressing this head-on when he’s in office.

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“All dockets must be dusted off and dealt with by the criminal justice system systematically,” he said, adding there will be a zero-tolerance approach to corruption under his watch.

That also includes the fiscal drain that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have become over the past 30 years.

“We will reset the mandates and review all SOEs, retaining those with a clear strategic purpose and mandate which is best fulfilled by the public sector, shutting down those no longer needed.”

Appoint SOE boards on merit and expertise

Remaining SOEs will be led by capable and ethical leaders. “We will appoint SOE boards on merit and expertise, not political loyalty.

“Such competent boards will be left alone to appoint CEOs on the same basis. Ministers will no longer have the power to overrule boards because of political considerations,” Zibi added.

As for the balance of public servants who may be opposed to a new paymaster, Zibi acknowledged it might be a challenge getting them to accept change.

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“We’ll end the culture of cadre deployment so people in positions of public responsibility are highly skilled, capable and ethical.

“We will take further reform actions to ensure efficient delivery of government services. South Africa is home to highly capable professionals across various sectors and Rise Mzansi will draw this talent into government, regardless of political views or affiliation he said.

“Only professionalism, skills, experience and willingness to serve the public will be considered,” he said.

Crime is one of the single biggest threats to civil society and business.

‘Freedom from Fear’ plan

“We have a ‘Freedom from Fear’ plan, which, when implemented, will halve crime within five years,” he said.

The plan encompasses nine key features:

• Reducing priority crimes;
• Selecting the right leaders;
• Professionalising the SA Police Service;
• Strengthening the National Prosecuting Authority and the courts;
• Bolstering the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to tackle corruption;
• Prosecuting drug dealers while helping addicts;
• Encouraging active community involvement, addressing socioeconomic conditions leading to criminality; and
• Rehabilitating dangerous offenders while keeping petty offenders out of jail.

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The topic of health care reform is contentious, especially regarding the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill that was signed into law but cannot be enacted until the constitution is changed.

Zibi supports universal health coverage but criticises the Bill. “We support the development of a public health system which offers high-quality healthcare to all citizens,” he said.

“We do not support the current NHI Bill because its funding model, the structure of the fund and implementation plan are flawed.”

Instead, Rise Mzansi envisions the “eventual convergence of the public and private health care sectors to achieve universal health coverage”.

Economic reform vision ‘ambitious and detailed’

Zibi’s vision for economic reform is both ambitious and detailed. “We believe we can and must build a new and just economy. This will radically reorient SA towards the kind of industrial growth that will put three million South Africans in sustainable jobs by 2029,” he said, adding this is towards a target of full employment by 2044.

“We will focus on network infrastructure, logistics and transport, electricity and bulk services,” Zibi said, adding the need for a strategic and targeted approach to revitalising these critical sectors is critical.

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Much of these projects will seek to repair the shattered infrastructure that a Rise Mzansi government said it would fix.

Once the country has a repaired infrastructure a Rise Mzansi government will make it easier to do business across all industries.

“Rise Mzansi will ensure regulations are easy to understand, licensing or regulatory approvals are efficient and such regulations and licence conditions are strictly monitored, with appropriate sanction for transgressions,” Zibi said.