Government drunk with power sets alarm bells ringing
2 May 2020
The ANC's attempt to exercise complete control over all food aid and the distribution thereof in certain provinces is totally unacceptable. The government wants to claim the right to tell donors who may benefit from their donations and who may not.
Over the last few weeks, there have been numerous reports about corruption and how the ANC is using the provision of aid for its own party-political gain.
Minorities are already being discriminated against with regard to the relief packages offered to small business enterprises. This was officially confirmed by the North Gauteng High Court's ruling that the allocation of emergency relief based on race is indeed constitutional and lawful. The FF Plus does not agree with this.
It seems that the government has become drunk with power and that it has been left up to the law enforcers to interpret and fill in the finer details of the vague regulations.
The Gauteng Department of Social Development has requested a policy guideline stipulating that this Department will from now on receive and distribute all donations in the province. That includes all donations, everything from private donors to NGOs.
In eMalahleni (Witbank) in Mpumalanga, the Municipality has also published a guideline with a request to control all donations on behalf of all organisations. Should the same thing happen elsewhere, the FF Plus is asking the public to please inform the party.
Concerning Gauteng, it is a well-known fact that its acting MEC for Social Development, Panyaza Lesufi, has openly been waging a war against Afrikaans schools. The FF Plus, therefore, has no confidence whatsoever that food aid will be distributed fairly with Lesufi at the steer of things.
Over the years, the ANC has developed a reputation for misusing government resources for its own gain and especially with regard to the distribution of food parcels, it was reported many times that the people who handed out food parcels to the needy were dressed in ANC colours to create the impression that the aid comes from the ANC.
The FF Plus is of the opinion that the ANC government cannot be trusted – not when it comes to the distribution of food either. It is shocking that it is expected of the public and other organisations to help the needy during this time of crisis, but then the ANC wants to exercise control over it.
There are numerous examples, reports and posts on social media of where the police and defence force are abusing members of the public. People are threatened with arrest should they dare to put their feet on the grass in Sea Point during their morning exercise, a number of surfers at the kilometre-long Kommetjie beach are threatened with arrest, people handing out food parcels to the homeless are threatened, a man driving alone in his car without wearing a mask is arrested and many more.
All this while many people in informal settlements and homeless people are apparently allowed to move around freely on the streets without having to wear masks. Greater numbers of people begging in the streets is becoming a regular occurrence.
The current regulations aim to curb the spread of the coronavirus and thus far, the public's cooperation and willingness to help the less privileged has been exceptionally good. The government must take care not to trample this goodwill underfoot.
Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 2 May 2020
