REPLY TO THE PRESIDENT’S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS

African Christian Democratic Party
REPLY TO THE PRESIDENT’S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS
4TH PARLIAMENTARY TERM
Speech by ACDP President, Rev. Kenneth Meshoe MP
4 June 2009
"The ACDP welcomes President Zuma’s state of the nation address which we believe was positive, daring and instilled hope in many of our people. We further welcome his acknowledgment that our country has entered a recession and his intention to have government act speedily to minimize the impact of this economic downturn on those most vulnerable – particularly by protecting jobs.
When highlighting some of the steps that will be taken by government in response to the economic crisis, the President left us with questions that need answers and statements that should be clarified.
As an example, the President said, and I quote, “workers who would ordinarily be facing retrenchment due to economic difficulty would be kept in employment, for a period of time and be re-skilled,” close quote. While acknowledging that the President did say that discussion on the practical detail is continuing, the ACDP wants to know whether all workers in all sectors, including mining, will benefit from such an arrangement and whether the re-skilling he spoke about will also benefit those doing low paying jobs such as cleaners and domestic workers?
We also want to know whether there are sufficient funds to help all companies that are in distress. What will the criteria be for funding a company in distress, and whether small businesses will also benefit from such a programme?
The ACDP also welcomes plans to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses which will reduce the cost of doing business in South Africa. This we believe will help to attract new investment opportunities that are urgently needed during recession.
The President also said, and I quote, “we are mindful of the need to link social grants to jobs or economic activity in order to encourage self-reliance among the able-bodied,” close quote. The ACDP believes this link is important as it will prevent our country from turning into a welfare state that robs people of initiative, dignity and independence. What we want to know is when this need to link social grants to jobs or economic activity will become government policy, by when will it be implemented and whether government has the capacity to make it a success?
We commend the President for admitting that the quality of health care is deteriorating very fast. We were unfortunately not told what this administration is going to do about it. We trust that government will move from the position of just being concerned, to actively reversing the deterioration. Our people who have been promised a better life deserve quality and professional health care and they deserve to be treated with compassion and respect.
Mr President, the treatment given to some patients, particularly the elderly, is appalling and is nothing but abuse. This practice has to stop and the elderly must be given back their dignity and the respect they deserve. There was a shocking story on the front page of the Pretoria News which told of a helpless patient who described the ordeal he allegedly suffered at the hands of Steve Biko Academic hospital nursing staff as “hell on Earth”. How can nursing staff be allowed to get away with letting a patient lie in his own faeces for almost three days? If the President has not heard about this shocking abuse, he must please get a copy of the relevant article and read first-hand the dire extent of the deterioration of service in public hospitals. The ACDP believes that the culture of proper caring, compassion, respect for the rights of patients and love for those suffering must be restored in our hospitals and clinics.
While we understand that our health workers are underpaid, overworked and under a lot of pressure, we find it totally unacceptable that a patient who is crying in pain and in need of help and pain-killers should be told by nurses that they are on their tea break or having lunch. Where is ubuntu in all this? Urgent attention must be given to the bad attitude and work ethic of some of our health workers.
Having said the above, the ACDP believes doctors and nurses should be paid well, to minimize poaching that is taking place and to ensure that we do not lose more doctors. We believe the salary demands made by doctors are not unreasonable and that the occupational specific dispensation should be finalised as soon as possible. Mr President, pay our doctors well. We need them and do not want to lose them to the private sector or to countries that will show them more appreciation.
As far as crime is concerned the ACDP believes that police powers must be revisited and more teeth must be given to law enforcement officers. We have been assured many times before that particular attention will be given to combating the theft of police case dockets, but it is still happening. Is there anything new that this administration intends to introduce to stop the theft of case dockets?
Mr President, the Forensic Procedures Amendment Bill was not finalized by the 3rd Parliament notwithstanding it being referred to an ad hoc parliamentary committee for urgent attention earlier this year.
It is disgraceful that the SA Police do not have access to fingerprints contained on the databases of Home Affairs (containing 31 million prints), and that of the Transport (containing a further 6 million prints). It is no wonder that so many offenders are not apprehended.
The bill also sought to enhance DNA profiling. It is irrefutable that the effective use of fingerprints and DNA evidence helps track down criminals, and once apprehended, ensures that the prosecution’s case succeeds in court.
The Honorable minister of police said that this bill would be finalized within a year. We trust that it will be done as a matter of urgency sooner rather than later
It is not enough to merely say that the most serious attention will be given to combating organized crime as well as crimes against women and children. Has this not all been said before? Reported stories about sexual abuse of boys are worrying. According to reports, Kidz Clinics around the country are struggling to cope with the huge increase in the sexual abuse of boys, some as young as 3 years old. Mr President, government is failing our children. Not a single day passes without one hearing about a child who has been raped, and many of these incidents are not reported to the police.
The ACDP has been saying for years now that pornography is harmful and should be removed from street corners and shops. Those who defend pornography still claim that there is no scientific proof linking pornography to rape. Mr President, I trust that you will agree with me when I say that ‘pornography is the theory and rape is the act’. What other conclusion could there be to explain how a baby of just a few months old could be raped by an adult, or how a 65 year old grandmother was raped by a 16 year old boy, as happened in Mthata this past weekend? I urge you Mr President to ‘bite the bullet’ and declare that pornography is dangerous, harmful and addictive, and its easy availability has contributed immensely to the unacceptably high incidence of rape in this country.
Please could you tell us how your administration intends to protect our children and babies from the scourge of rape? Let us not only talk about loving our children, but let us go, if necessary, even to what some might call extreme measures, to protect our children. Mr President, I’m appealing to you today to do something to protect our children. Please don’t say you have no control over what happens in private homes. It is what has come in from the outside that has put the lives of our children in danger and your government can and must surely do something about it.
The President promised to reduce serious and violent crimes by the set target of 7% to 10% per annum. The ACDP would like to know how this will be achieved and how this will relate to the low conviction rate of serious offences, particularly rape cases?
The President also shared his concerns about reports of teachers who sexually harass and abuse children, particularly girls. Threats of taking very serious and very decisive action against teachers who enter into sexual relationships with children have been made before, but not much has happened to stop it. How does government intend to bring a stop to this unacceptable abuse? The ACDP believes part of the solution is to expel teachers who enter into a sexual relationship with children, and to bar them from teaching in any of our schools for a certain period of time, until they have been properly rehabilitated.
Finally, Mr President, the ACDP welcomes and supports an international campaign initiated by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to celebrate ‘Mandela Day’. We will support the call by the President “to spend at least 67 minutes of our time doing something useful, especially among the less fortunate”. Among other things, old age homes should be visited to give back a smile to many grandparents who have been abandoned by their own families. The ACDP believes that even though it may only be once a year, cultivating the good habit of caring is a positive investment in our society and will help channel the energy of young people towards doing something constructive in schools and communities".
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Rev KRJ Meshoe, ACDP President, MP: 082 962 5884
ACDP Media Liaison: Liziwe Ndalana
Tel: 021 403 3307/ 072 103 8899
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