[ADVERTORIAL] WHAT IS NEEDED TO RESTORE HOPE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Beyond the often bewildering clamour of parties for voter support, only one factor needs to be considered, namely, the key to restoring faith and hope in our future.

That key is the criterion of merit. It must become the only basis upon which jobs, positions, promotions and procurements are allocated, not race, for there can be no substitute for competence.

B-BBEE, affirmative action, demographic representivity, cadre deployment and cronyism have to be abolished. Besides being discriminatory against minority groups and making a mockery of non-racialism, those practices have failed to reduce unemployment and, instead, have created an obscenely affluent elite and entrenched inequality.

Only then can a culture of competence flourish. Only then can governance improve. Only then will looting of state and municipal coffers cease. Only then will service delivery match rates and taxes.

The accompanying effects of merit as the cornerstone policy would result in the amendment and deregulation of labour laws which would facilitate job creation and ease unemployment.

Along with a cabinet reduced to just 16 ministers, smaller, reconfigured municipalities, privatisation of state owned entities, like Eskom, and with competence, accountability and transparency as the determinants of all aspects of government, prospects for a better South Africa are feasible. Only the Freedom Front Plus endorses this policy package.
——————-

OPPOSING THE ANC IS NOT AN EXCLUSIVE CAUSE

In claiming that a vote for a smaller party is a wasted vote, the DA simultaneously displays contempt for multi-party democracy as well as political amnesia.

To date our electoral history shows that through coalitions, opposition parties, irrespective of size, have succeeded in wresting power from the ANC. Famously, Helen Zille became mayor of Cape Town in 2006 with a one seat majority. That single seat was provided by a councillor representing the Freedom Front Plus.

In questioning the worth of a party with only one or two elected representatives, the DA conveniently forgets that in many areas its representation is no greater than a single, solitary councillor – lone rangers, as the DA calls them – who acquit themselves well. The DA’s predecessor, the DP, had only two representatives in the 81 seat KZN legislature until the 1999 election.

Therefore, it is politically irresponsible to rubbish smaller parties by claiming they are spoilers which deny a larger opposition party like the DA a clear run in opposing the ANC. Opposing the ANC is a cause that is not exclusive to one party. Thus, coalition-building among opposition parties with fairly common policies is the sensible and democratic way to challenge the ruling party. Helen Zille proved that in 2006.

DR DUNCAN DU BOIS
FREEDOM FRONT PLUS, KZN premier candidate

duncanldubois@gmail.com
www.duncandubois.co.za