Ten Free State farmers, out of about 300 expected, turned out to hear Congress of the People (Cope) chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota speak in Trompsburg on Friday.
The meeting was moved on short notice from a venue at the Gariep Dam, about 100km to the south. The poor attendance appeared not to bother Lekota, who told the small group of farmers the fight against crime could only be won if the South African Police Service (SAPS) was ”depoliticised”.
He said the SAPS was divided between those who were members of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, in alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the ANC, and those who did not belong to unions. This had resulted in poor service delivery and crime prevention. ”Police are divided and they cannot work, because a divided organisation cannot function well.”
The former defence minister said he had been criticised for shutting down the commando system, but this was not true. According to the Constitution, crime prevention was the work of the police.
The commandos had been dissolved because SAPS management had told the Department of Defence they were ready to combat crime in rural areas. On South Africa’s energy sector, Lekota said this needed to be opened up to all, including farmers, who should be allowed to produce energy. This could be for their own consumption, and they should be allowed to sell any excess.
”They [energy producers] must be allowed to sell to the national grid.”
Lekota also said the ANC had turned away from the road it had been set on by former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.
”Promises which were made during the struggle, it [the ANC] has moved away from them. The Constitution is not so important [to them] anymore.”
He said South Africa faced a ”very serious situations” in the coming national and provincial elections.
”We have to stop a two-thirds majority, or we can kiss the Constitution goodbye. We must give power back to the people,” he said.
Lekota also addressed a community meeting in Madikgetla. During the event, an ANC motor convoy moved through the streets of the small informal settlement shouting slogans, but it did not disrupt the meeting. — Sapa