DA Rejects Tshwane Budget, Rates Policy and IDP

During the Special Council Meeting held on Thursday 29 May 2008, the Democratic Alliance Pretoria-Tshwane Caucus voted against the proposed budget.

According to the DA the budget priorities were left a lot to be desired and was not geared towards economic growth for teh city. The budget seems to become more of a social welfare budget in stead of one that provides opportunities and a hand up for communities living in our city.

The Tshwane Council cannot afford to become a welfare city and needs to put as much budget towards creating economic opportunities for communities as it does in providing grants in aid. If this is not done the city will never be able to develop its people to become more economically active and therefore less dependent on handouts.

The DA also rejectd the Property Rates Policy suggested by the Council. Although the DA is of the view that the policy is by and large fair, it is upset that the policy does not make provision for larger rebates for pensioners, invalids, the infirm and independent schools.

Taking into consideration by how much the budget will grow due to the new property rates levels, there was more than enough room to allow for these concessions which were including in the draft policy. Why the ANC changed the policy is beyond comprehension.

Lastly, the DA was also very dissatisfied with the IDP and the lack of proper community consultation that took place when compiling the integrated development plan. The residents and communities within the city are being marginalised increasingly and their voice silenced. Their needs seem to be secondary to those who are influential in stead of counting the same weight.

The administrative bungling that goes hand in hand with so called public participation in the city excludes too mane residents from having their voices heard.

The DA is also concerned that the IDP has no real influence and plays no real role in addressing the needs of the community. The IDP has become a wish list which is generally ignored by the Council when they have to make decisions about planning and development.

Virtue in Hypocrisy

RISING TIDE
A weekly e-mail letter by Jack Bloom, DA Leader in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature
14 April 2008, No: 13/08

There is a charming fairy story of the bitter and vicious king who wished to marry a beautiful young woman. He knew he could not win her over with his cruel-looking face, so he wore a mask that made him look sweet and kindly.

He married her and wore the mask for a full year, but felt that he could not keep up the pretence any longer. He pulled it off and was about to confess his deception, when he saw his face in a mirror. It was the face of a kind man, exactly like the mask that he had worn and which had so changed his behavior that it was a deception no more.

I raise this because one of the arguments against the proposed school pledge and the Bill of Responsibilities that is meant to be recited by children is that it is no use to merely mouth words when teachers behave badly and politicians set a terrible example.

All elected members of parliament and provincial legislatures take an oath or affirmation that they will respect and uphold the constitution. Should we abandon this practice because so many fall short of this ideal?

Many people will say that this is hypocrisy, which is defined as “pretending to be what one is not, or to feel what one does not feel, a pretence of virtue, piety etc”.

It would be wonderful if everyone was sincere in both word and deed, especially people who are meant to be role-models, but the ideal itself should not be under attack because of the personal weakness of those who claim adherence to it. Do we throw out the Ten Commandments because some ministers violate them?

“Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue” is a very wise saying. It means that the hypocrite acknowledges the value that society places on virtue, otherwise he/she would openly flout it.

If the hypocrite is caught out, his contrition again affirms the virtue, as when New York Governor Elliott Spitzer said in his resignation speech following disclosure of his use of high-class prostitutes: “I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me“.

Bigoted remarks by Jacob Zuma on women and homosexuals probably revealed his real feelings, but he felt the need to retract under public pressure.

Outright denial is worse, as when Reverend Allan Boesak refused to apologize for stealing donor funds meant for the poor and was granted a pardon without admitting guilt.

There would be no hypocrisy if no one ever claimed to aspire to the highest standards of ethical conduct. There would be no shame either, which is an important societal constraint on unethical behavior.

No one accused Hugh Hefner of Playboy magazine of hypocrisy when he moved out of the Playboy mansion so as to bring up his two young sons in a more wholesome environment.

In his opening address this year, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said, “All of us as leaders, civil servants, legislators and all of our people, have a moral and ethical obligation to uphold the highest possible standards of honesty and integrity”.

The DA will hold him to this statement, which is better than the response by Finance MEC Paul Mashatile who said, “The people who elected us will tell us if we have indeed departed from what they have elected us to do. So we do not want to continue to hear lectures about accountability, about inefficiency.”

Mashatile’s arrogance derives from a ruling party that believes that its overwhelming election victory justifies all that it does as the will of the people, who will continue to support them regardless of any lapses.

Politics is always a tussle between the ideal and what is possible, both ethically and practically. We must continue to aspire to the highest virtues, and be prepared to affirm them even when we fail.

Hopefully the day comes when the mask of hypocrisy is no longer necessary as leaders genuinely believe and practice what they preach.