I fully I agree with Cde Fundis statement.This appeal by the City and ANC JHB region is an appeal by human beings against human rights and constitutional rights.Further more a condratiction to what ANC manifestos has been promising the poor for the past elections.
I remain Sello M'Afrika Radical Youth Network(RYN) On Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 11:40 AM, Fundi Nzimande <[email protected]> wrote: > > With due respect Comrade, I do not think that an ANC led > Metro should be appealing the court ruling. It goes against > what the ANC and those of us who love that organisation > stand for. I do not think that the Dept of Finance and the > Dept of Water Affairs and Forestry should be supporting the > appeal. What informs the position that poor people must get > prepaid water meters or else bugger off? What informs these > government structures that they should support such a > position if it is not informed by ANC policy? Clearly the > agenda set by the 1996 Class Project has come back to bite > the current ANC. If that is the case this matter has to be > corrected. Policy such as that contained in the indigent > policy was created by human beings. The decision to appeal > was taken by human beings. The decision to withdraw can > still be taken by the same human beings if they are still > guided by ANC policy and if they are still fulfilling the > mandate set for government by the leading party in > government which is the ANC and if they care about all the > people of South Africa. I am annoyed by those people who > seem to think that poor people will be prepared to get > water from the neighbours' taps, get their food through > scavenging in the dustbins of the wealthy, or that their > children will only eat at school if no-one steals their > lunch money (funding for school nutrirtion) as it happened > in the Eastern Cape with impunity. This situation is not > sustainable. Even this indigent policy is being challenged > by the very people who should be championing it. > > The only question we should be asking ourselves is, " How > are we going to ensure that poor people can access basic > services like water, electricity, education, health and > safety?" When we ask that question the answers will come. > If we want to lock them out we will ask the kinds of > questions you are asking which, by their very nature are > designed to obfuscate issues and thus keep other people out > of the service loop. If we invest properly today, to ensure > that we eliminate poverty, ignorance and disease these > questions brought about by poverty and inequality may never > arise in the future. BUT because we keep buying into > neoliberal agendas which have spawned the worst economic > crisis in 80 years, we'll keep having to deal with these > problems over and over again. > On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:04:20 +0200 > "Nndwamato Mutshidza" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I think we need to provide clarity here such that people > > should understand the functioning of the sphere of > > Governance (national, Provincial and Local). You see > > comrades it is within the constitutional provision for > > supply of basic services. However Municipalities are > > required to develop the indigent policies on how this > > basic services should accessed. In this process public > > hearing and held before the Bylaws are passed. It is > > important to provide this background such that we could > > not just send wrong aspersion that we are making empty > > promises relating to basic services. One of the pillar of > > our priority is the rollout of Infrastructure services > > relating to Water, Energy, Transport and Logistics to > > ensure that this services are provided to the correct > > people (Indigent). You see the principle which the ANC > > accept is that among us there are people who are supposed > > to pay for this services and there are those that should > > enjoy the Free Services (Water, Electricity, etc). For > > example at national level the policy talks to provision > > of 50KWh per months as free basic electricity (Minimum > > Standard) but the Local Sphere depending on its capacity > > may elect to increase just like what City of Tshwane did > > and increase to 100KWh per month. This was done through > > their own Indigent policy. > > > > The same analogy, tell me that the City of Jo'burg has an > > Indigent Policy which states the level of intervention it > > ought to provide to its own citizen. The issue here is > > that this are Local government Jurisdiction areas and > > these services could only be provided by the Local > > Government or an Agency through an Executive Decision of > > Council. The Local Government System Act make such a > > requirement (Law) not of the ANC but of the Country and > > in the process to the development of such laws we are all > > encourage to make submissions. I am presenting my point > > to say this are the unintended consequences of our own > > laws. What you see happening is Electricity is that it > > cannot be stored and water can be but unfortunately, > > people in the development of their areas Indigent > > policies are not taking into account the size of a Family > > Household, which differ from Peri-Urban, Urban, Township > > and Rural Areas. Because what the Judgement fails to > > clarify is whether 50 litre is enough for a Household of > > Seven people of for two people? To me the issue is not > > the magnitude of the water to be distributed, it is the > > potential risk of trying to apply a one size fit all > > approach when providing this service.The question is why > > Tshwane on Electricity provided a differentiated > > approach? Why Jo'burg cannot develop its own policy that > > recognise the vast difference in culture across its own > > area of supply? > > > > After painting such a background I think I could also > > present that the road towards a better life for all could > > not be easier one. The infrastructure to ensure that > > those services are provided is not there. We highly > > depend on the Lesotho Highland dam for the Supply and > > only the State facilitate such Transaction in which > > uMgeni Waters, Jo'burg Water and other Bulk Supplier of > > Water could trade and sell this water to our Local > > Sphere. The process which I am presenting is that we( > > ANC) or State does not own any of this Agencies but are > > Shareholders to enable that the price remain as low as > > possible. The other realisation and not based on > > untested propaganda for Cholera is that we proud that in > > this country you could move to a tap and got drinkable > > water which is the opposite in most Developing and other > > Industrialised Countries. My take being that the answer > > to provide such service is not as easier is done. Beside, > > how will you tell if you are providing such services if > > you cannot measure that. There is no way that Jo'burg > > could go public and claim we are providing free basic > > water and when we ask where can we measure such and not > > able to get a an answer. The Judge who declare prepaid > > meters illegal was drunk and Science tell that tomorrow > > another group of Citizen could claim we are not provided > > with services due to the fact that there are no > > measurements. Beside Jo'burg should report on how it uses > > it Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) allocation > > relating to Bulk Services and that accounted in terms of > > quantity delivered and the cost it has costed to deliver > > and what revenue was collected to affording and what was > > used for Indigent and at What Cross-Subsidy level was > > that done? It is this same reasons we are providing that > > the City of Jo'burg has to explore before implementing > > and are these reason that led them to challenge the court > > ruling. > > > > The point relating to Privatisation, is an ideological on > > its own and we could engage until relating to the path > > South Africa took to avoid a total collapse of the State > > and its own Agencies. I think it was correct to partially > > privatise in order to raise Capital from Offshore Markets > > but keep the State intervention on course using the > > Shareholding Compact with these Agencies. I would like > > you to tell us how do you suggest the State to get Water > > from Lesotho, Inga (DRC) without laying Pipelines that > > requires massive capital Injection and at the same time > > fight with other pillars of Poverty? I would further like > > to be clarified as to who should pay for these services? > > The Tax Payers or the users of the Services? What > > Government interventions measures should be employed > > towards Indigent Citizens? I am possing these questions > > to illustrate the complexity of arriving at the simple > > solution which is not open for challenge by others. I am > > not prepared to pay for water to be used by Eskom in its > > own Generation Business but I am prepared to pay for > > Electricity price that recognise the Cost of Primary > > Energy. I am not prepared to pay for water used elsewhere > > but for the water I used and then the price if its high, > > should cross-subsidise the Indigent. The approach you > > raise here assume that all of us should pay for the > > services even if we do not have such services through > > Tax, which in unacceptable. > > Hence this Cholera issue is unfounded and could not be > > used to justify the point here in actual fact is out of > > context. I hardly buy bottled water for drinking and > > drink from the tap like most of my Villagers people does > > and there is no Cholera. What I find very problematic in > > this piece of document is the fact that there is no > > mentioning of what people from Rural area are exposed to > > when they could spend a week without water from the tap > > which is the main cause of Cholera not running water > > which people in cities enjoy. Hence my point is that we > > should give our government space to implement its > > Infrastructure rollout programme and then evaluate. > > > > After my own analogy, I do not think we should want to > > enter into a debate that seeks to assume that our own ANC > > promise for FBE, FBAE and FWater is correct. The ANC in > > the process leading to the development of our Manifesto, > > which what we are promising people was based on what > > people said we should prioritise and as such, Water > > Access, we have reached 88% and Electricity 80% and in > > terms of Access to free portion of this services we are > > 60%. Hence you could not see them being major priority. > > What is our priority is to Guarantee Supply of these > > services. Hence in doing so we should embark on the > > rollout of Infrastructure to enable us to provide > > Qualitative services. Hence this campaign should be > > directed at the respective Local Government Sphere > > (Jo'burg) and not elevated to national Status. Because > > Nationally the Stats could tell you that we are > > progressing well. > > An Agenda that seeks to divert our immediate task of > > ensuring a decisive Victory is mislocated. > > > > I remain, > > > > -- > > This message is subject to the CSIR's copyright terms and > > conditions, e-mail legal notice, and implemented Open > > Document Format (ODF) standard. > > The full disclaimer details can be found at > > http://www.csir.co.za/disclaimer.html. > > > > This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous > > content by MailScanner, > > and is believed to be clean. 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