This week sees the end of the first session of the fourth democratic Parliament. The Congress of the People (Cope) has placed before Parliament the issues that we believe will generate a new agenda for our society.
Among the issues that cut across all the budget votes at national and provincial level is corruption in the public sector — whether it be the stealing of social grants, the corruption in the police force highlighted recently or the mismanagement of land allocation or agricultural support.
The collapse of procurement systems in the Free State and the constant forging of illicit deals don’t help. We are not winning the war against corruption largely because there is an impression that people can get away with it. Fraud has become a way of doing business in and out of government.
One of the symbols of this continuing tolerance for corruption is the lingering cloud of the arms deal saga. During the president’s budget vote we again raised the need for a thorough commission of inquiry into the arms deal.
We hope that at the end of the 100 days of the new government we will get clarity about the status of this call. In many ways this will be a true test of whether we have a government that is prepared to listen to society.
The establishment of a specialised unit, the Hawks, must be welcomed with caution. Its predecessor was a victim of political interference in its quest to fight corruption. We will watch with interest what will happen to the cases that were under investigation by the Scorpions as well as new ones meant to get to the bottom of allegations of corruption, especially related to procurement irregularities.
The second crucial cross-cutting issue is the poor capacity of large sections of the public service, whether because of incompetence or a misalignment of skills because of the lamentable deployment policy of the ANC. Many departments by their own admission have not filled posts. Many have admitted to unacceptable attrition levels where skills are lost to the private sector because of poor service conditions and poor remuneration.
Rioting masses of people are already on the streets bemoaning the poor levels of service delivery.
The recent doctors’ strikes — which cannot be solved by dismissing those who are protesting — highlights the culture of leaving things until they explode before resolving them. South Africa deserves a better service culture than this. There is a need for better collaboration between government and unions to avert these kinds of catastrophic results that can lead to the loss of life.
The last key theme has to be the poor implementation of otherwise good policies developed in the past 15 years. This is linked to the habit of making commitments that we cannot live up to.
As Parliament, we got off to a promising start with the ANC vowing to take Parliament and the opposition seriously. At the national level we were astounded that the ANC refused to appoint the SABC interim board by consensus, again sending the message that they are interested in a board politically fitting for them.
This also brings to the fore the conflation of party and state matters. It is clear to us that one of the things that will destroy the nation-building project is the lack of outreach necessary to build bridges beyond partisanship. The examples we have seen — where ministers are made to account in public by the party headquarters and where the president keeps mum on crucial national debates that require leadership — are worrisome.
We have raised the issue of turning state platforms into partisan occasions. If these things go unchecked we may be in for a season in which state institutions are weakened and Parliament undermined.
When Parliament resumes it will be faced with the appointment of judges, the SABC board, the public protector, the national police commissioner and the chief justice. If these appointments do not reflect the collective will of Parliament they will serve only to destroy our democracy.
Cope will not stand by without challenging these signs of the undermining of our democratic institutions.
Cope’s stance is to become a patriotic opposition. Many of our supporters expect us to take on the ANC on many issues. We believe that the ANC must be given an opportunity to deliver on its promises.
The fourth democratic Parliament should not be allowed to be a mere rubber stamp for the executive; it must become a true platform for the expression of the divergent views that make up South Africa.
Mvume Dandala is Cope’s parliamentary leader