IFP’s wish list for SONA
Published
Narend Singh is chief whip of the IFP. Narend Singh is chief whip of the IFP.
We continue to muddle through each year without direction, says IFP chief whip Narend Singh.
The State of the Nation address is supposed to be our roadmap for progress delivered by the president of the country. Through it we are supposed to understand how much progress has been made by the government in fulfilling its many promises to the nation, as well as what the next steps are.
However, each successive address has only shown us that we continue to muddle through each year, without any real direction, despite being given the “map” in the form of the National Development Plan.
Since last year’s elections, we have seen the expansion of ministries, with more money being spent on ministers and their deputies instead of the people they are elected to serve.
Looking back even further than last year, one has to wonder if anything has truly changed, except maybe the constant ministerial shuffle, as well as the language used to describe the same thing said in the previous address.
For example, 2011 was the “year of job creation”. Now that has been watered down to “job opportunities” which only adds to the confusion.
We at the IFP do not expect to hear anything new from the president when he delivers his address. We do, however, expect him to deal decisively with the many issues already on his plate.
Key areas we expect him to deal with are:
* Education – How the government will ensure education can truly be a “ladder out of poverty for millions of our people” instead of just mentioning it is an “apex priority”, while letting union-aligned teachers strike at will, without consequences.
He must also clarify how his government will deal with the destructive trend of communities disrupting schools to get the government’s attention on service delivery issues.
We need to know his vision for ensuring parity in education, where all children can receive the same quality education, regardless of their parents’ financial standing.
* Service delivery – Protests in communities continue unabated, as many are frustrated at the lack of services.
Burning down government vehicles, houses and offices seems to be the only way communities can get the government’s attention, despite it being counter-intuitive.
The president needs to outline how cabinet ministers, MECs and counsellors will work with communities to not only end service delivery protests, but also see services delivered on a continuous basis, without people having to resort to crime and violence.
* Crime and corruption – The recent xenophobic attacks are indicative of the tensions that persist within communities and the alleged police involvement in the looting that followed shows the lack of trust communities have in our police force.
The president must look beyond the crime statistics and instead show how communities can work with the SAPS to help reduce crime and state what steps the government will take to ensure the police are effective in dealing not only with crime in communities, but also corruption within the ranks.
* Energy crisis – The president must outline the strategy to embrace alternative energy sources so as to reduce Eskom’s monopoly on the supply of electricity, which it is not providing for the country at the moment. The government must also acknowledge its role in not addressing this matter earlier and apologise to the nation for the crisis.
* Economy – With the energy crisis affecting our economy, the president must state how the government plans to help stabilise the economy and encourage foreign investment in the country.
* Health – The lack of access to much-needed basic public health must be a focus. Instead of looking back at the past 20 years, the president must speak on what has happened in the past three to five years and what we should expect as tangible goals within the next two to three years with regard to our health system.
* Local government – The need to stabilise provincial governments is urgent and the president must outline how leaders will be held accountable for a lack of improvement and leadership in local government.
How accountability will be ensured is a big expectation from the address.
* Narend Singh is chief whip of the IFP.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
Sunday Tribune