Development Talk

space to debate…

 

September 21, 2007

Justin du Toit, a research intern with DEVELOPMENT WORKS, attended the Fit to Govern seminar and shares his experience:

FIT TO GOVERN: THE NATIVE INTELLIGENCE OF THABO MBEKI

 

Chair: Adekeye Adebajo, Speaker: Ronald Suresh Roberts, Discussant: Sipho Seepe

The dialogue offered a space in which views could be debated and corrected and not merely criticised as the media seems to do. This is especially important with writing that is meant to be factual, the electotrate have the right to question what is written in press or book and correct the so called facts that are put forward. Authors in the media and in books should thus not be taken as authorities but electorates must not take for granted what these writers say. Electorates must be wary of propaganda in the information space. Like all dialogues, this one also showed that there is still room for space to debate (and not just scoring points or settling scores). All can engage intellectually without giving the impression that some are more sophisticated than others, there is no voice banning

The issue which stuck out in the seminar and which led to quite a lengthy disussion, was President Mbeki’s statement which questioned the relationship between the HIV-virus and the AIDS disease. Ronald in his response to the discussion stated that, to debate anything is to create confusion. Hence, he referred to the electorate as a range of confusable subjects. So the question begs, Should we, as South African citizens not debate issues and remain slaves to the hegemonic view? However, what was highlighted as specualtive in the seminar on the whole HIV/AIDS debate is whether Mbeki explicitly denied that HIV causes AIDS. Mr. Seepe posed the question as to Why could the President not be clear on the issue (AIDS) as he was on other issues? He goes on to state that Mbeki is not definitive in his answer with regard to the HIV/AIDS debate. Mbeki does not affirm nor deny, and there is no-one, including the ministers who have a definite yes or no answer.

In addition, Ronald stated that, at the moment, by not refusing or accepting the damage has been done. In addition he stated that, the HIV/AIDS issue will be Mbeki’s Achilles heal. It is extremely important for a figure like Mbeki to be clear on issues, such as, the HIV/AIDS debate because people will on the basis of what he says, as he is seen as an authority figure within South Africa. Hence, people who are less educated will act on the basis of what he says.

Filed under: dialogue,HIV/AIDS — @ 6:22 am

we all deserve equal access to health care

 

September 19, 2007

Dr Lydia Cairncross addressed the issue of health inequality in the private and public sector at the ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN AND THROUGH POLITICS CONFERENCE. Sharon Machanzi attended this session on the 2nd day on behalf of DEVELOPMENT WORKS and captures some of the key points that Dr Lydia raised …

Dr Cairncross presented her topic in such clear, precise and intelligent manner that the audience did not have a single question for her at question time. Sharon attributes this to the fact that Dr Cairncross works in the public health system and her comments where input from her real life experiences each and every day. These experiences were echoed by many in the audience as could be often heard by the “ahas” and” hmms”.

Dr Cairncross reflected on the huge disparity between the private and public health sector in South Africa. If silence was anything to go by, it seemed many in the audiencee agreed with the facts and statistics that were put forward by the Doctor. Access to health care is a basic human right. Dr Cairncross put it across that it should then be affordable to all. From all the statistics and figures she gave, what was interesting was that all training of medical personnel is done in public health institutions and the government pays for this training. At the end of it all most of the medical personnel abandon the public health system to work in the private system. Often patients are even dumped back into the public health system when they can no longer afford to pay at the private institutions. This is in spite of the fact that the private health system serves only 15% of the population as to the 85% in the public health system. Yet the private hospitals are overstaffed while the public hospitals are understaffed.

Health should NOT be looked at as a commodity that can only be bought. What happens to the unemployed? Or those that earn less and cannot afford the fees in public hospitals or cannot afford to be on a medical aid? Private Public partnership apparently do not work as well as most of us would think. The public sector is most often out to make profit at the expensive of giving an essential service to even the most needy of the public.

The solution to these disparities in the health sector according to Dr Cairnsross can be solved by having a unitary health system, a system of health provision that allows equal and free health for all. Can anyone in South Africa can walk through the doors of any health facility and get exactly the same health system despite their income? To her, the answer is that this is possible. The funds for this to happen are available. It is a matter of redistributing these funds to ensure that all can access quality health care anytime, anywhere, despite who they are or how much they earn.

Filed under: access to health care,basic human right,ethical leadership — @ 6:42 am

Leaders who speak the truth are ethical leaders

 

September 12, 2007

Sharon Machanzi, a Peace and Governance Research Intern at DEVELOPMENT WORKS, attended the recent ETHICAL LEADERSHIP – IN AND THROUGH POLITICS CONFERENCE. Sharon shares her reflections on one of the keynote speeches…

Politicians are probably not more dishonest than the rest of us. It is just that they are in the spotlight and as such, their faults are magnified. At the same time it should be expected that if one is a public figure they need to conduct themselves on a higher moral plane than the rest of the masses. After all they are the people’s representatives and it is expected that, as the peoples’ ambassadors, leaders conduct themselves in a befitting manner. This includes being good role models for the youth and for the upcoming leaders.

What is ethical leadership in governance?

Some people tend to define their leaders behaviour according to what they themselves deem ethical. Mr. Tony Ehrenreich of COSATU in his address on the topic Thirteen years after apartheid: The quest for democratic governance said it was important that we define what we mean by ethical leadership. Ethical leadership should be a standard that is universal, a tool that guides as to the appropriate conduct. In democratic governance, ethical leadership is the kind of leadership that ensures there are regular free and fair elections, the marginalized and disadvantaged are included in society, there is separation of powers between the judiciary and government, giving both credibility and transparency. In addition all citizens must be given a chance to participate in building the democracy. These principles according to Mr. Ehrenreich are some of the significant gains that South Africa has made since the apartheid era. South Africa has thus succeeded in being a participatory democracy.

Ethical leadership in South African Governance

It is regrettably however, to that some political leaders have neglected the notion of ethical leadership and the principles of serving the people. They have instead become leaders that serve only themselves. A leader should work for the good of the people. Instead of point scoring against each other in parliamentary debates, political leaders should engage in constructive debate, about the real issues that affect the people. Despite being from opposing parties leaders should work together to ensure that developmental goals for the country are met. Leaders who speak the truth are ethical leaders. Many a times leaders make promises get votes and then they do not honour these promises when they are in leadership.

Leadership is about serving the people instead of amassing wealth for oneself. The tendency with some political leaders is to become career politicians who are more interested in getting wealth and security for themselves instead of doing the same for the people they serve. This is the reason why some leaders want to hold on to power, even when their followers no longer want their leadership. These same leaders tend then to become corrupt because they want to sustain their new lifestyle, or they engage in unscrupulous behaviour so that they can keep on eating’ while the rest of the population starves from lack of resources or poor delivery of services. This kind of unethical leadership pays loyalty to party bosses instead of to the electorate who voted them into leadership in the first place.

According to Mr. Ehrenreich, there comes a time when the citizenry must review the kind of leadership that is in place. Citizens exercise their democratic right by electing their leadership in elections. As such they have power, the power to choose. Power is thus not vested in leaders alone, but also in followers. Citizens of any country should hold their leadership accountable through the process of review and asking whether the kind of leadership they have, and are getting, is what they truly deserve.

Filed under: cosatu,ethical leadership,governance,politics,power,Uncategorized — @ 5:38 pm

Ethical leadership and integrated sustainable human settlements

 

September 10, 2007

Themba Mzondi, a PR and Media Intern at DEVELOPMENT WORKS, attended the Conference on Ethical Leadership in and through Politics which was held recently at the University of Western Cape. He attended the session titled TOWARDS INTEGRATED SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL AND WELL-GOVERNED MUNICIPALITIES WITH EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY – CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES. Themba shares his perspectives and experiences on MEC Richard Dyanti’s contribution to this debate….

It was on a Friday morning 07 September 2007, when the University of the Western Cape’s lecture theatre was filled to capacity for the event that would be shared by the Western Cape MEC for housing and local government, Mr. Richard Dyantyi.

The aim of the conference was for government to get in touch with its citizens and most of all to discuss about politics, leadership and ethics. Dyanti, who was dressed in a black fancy suite, opened with the statement that many visitors never expected to hear from government. The statement was brave and honest, which is a form of great leadership.

Challenges we are faced with, far exceeds the successes we have achieved’, this was the opening statement of Mr. Richard Dyantyi as he elaborated on service delivery in the Western Cape. According to Richard, poor service delivery is influenced by politics, simply because management of the city of Cape Town is changed all the time, as a result leads to plans and strategies being cancelled or changed and therefore affecting service delivery. He further acknowledged that there are house holds in the Western Cape below the poverty line as ordinary people are suffering because of politics and lack of leadership.

While there is a backlog of 400 000 houses in the Western Cape as a result of the rise in demand which is caused by the influx of people from other regions for a variety of reasons such as education and job opportunities amongst others. Another reason for this is that government produces 6000 houses on an annual basis whereas the demand is 30 000. He advised that as a result of migration to the province, ordinary citizens should not feel threatened or be xenophobic towards people from elsewhere as the province benefits most from the migrants because when they are in Cape Town, they spend money but when the return back home, then they start applying for grants which cost their governments a lot of money. Not only is there a housing backlog of 400 000 houses, there is also a demand to build better house as the house build from 1994 have to be repaired because most of them are falling. According to Dyanti, this was caused by government itself as it previously misjudged the situation by concentrating on quantity rather than quality, which is a learned lesson.

Dyanti also disclosed the government’s programme Isidima’ (Western Cape Human Settlement strategy) that would be implemented to make sure that those Batho Pele’ policies are adhered to and therefore accelerating service delivery which will also enforce good governance. The Isidima’ programme would also be launched to make sure that people are participating in governance and not just a one way democratic system and to make sure that people get houses that they can pride themselves with.

On his closing remarks Dyanti said, “Leadership is not a position, but a perspective”.

Filed under: better life for all,development,ethical leadership,housing,N2 Gateway Project,politics — @ 4:40 pm

Love and Courage

 

September 9, 2007

Pregs Govender’s memoir, Love and Courage : a story of Insubordination, is a remarkable and inspirational read. It has kept me captivated and enthralled from opening it 2 days ago. I find myself snatching a moment, wherever possible, to read more. And now I am blogging about it! It is evocative and beautifully written and Pregs shares her life’s experiences with readers in an engaging and honest way.

Loudastress writes a very good review of Love and Courage which is worth referring to.

I had heard often of and been inspired by Pregs Govender and her feminist strivings and activism over the years. What I remembered though most recently was hearing of her quitting Parliament. At the time I pondered on the reasons for her quitting and was saddened at the loss of such a fervent advocator for women’s issues and one of the shining beacons in our newly elected Parliament. During this time she advocated for improving the rights of women and chaired Parliament’s joint Standing Committee on the Quality of Life and Status of Women. She was one of the first ANC MP’s to call for antiretrovirals to be provided to HIV positive pregnant women. She was a stauch advocator for the rights of women and children, especially around issues of HIV/Aids. Prior to joining Parliament she served on the Women’s National Coalition and was very active in the labour movement and in education.

I was reminded of her departure from Parliament in reading in Love and Courage the detail of how over the years she has stood up to authority and the voice of patriachy within all spheres of life, from the party to the factory floors, in the classrooms she taught in to the trade unions she contributed to developing, and within her own Indian culture and community.

I needed to find out more about this courageous women. An internet search yielded some results but not as many as I had anticipated. Perhaps the role now of activist, writer and researcher places her less in the public eye. However I am sure that Love and Courage will do much to remind South Africans of the remarkable courage and conviction of this outstpoken feminist. Perhaps this memoir might also create more opportunities for her to play a more active role in shaping the future for South African women.

In her words….
“We live and speak no longer conscious of our wholeness,
Our connectedness
We have begun to believe we are fragments
That our stories are disconnected from each other’s
So often we have sat silently
With our grief, our pain, our horror, our anger,
Our hopelessness, our despair
At how successfully
We have been disembodied
We no longer hear our own voices
We no longer see our own faces

I know that in our hearts
We cannot have forgotten who we are
In our hearts
We cannot rubbish our collective dream and vision
And the love that inspired courage across our land Against the hate and fear of apartheid’s patriarch
Who aimed to destroy not just our communities
But our very sense of self

Today is another battle we face
Both men and women
With the patriarch within our minds
Who holds captive our hearts, our souls
His power of fear and hate
His hierarchies of exclusion and silence
His memory of forgetting

It is time to reclaim ourselves
So collectively we can reclaim our power of love and courage
It is time for all of us
Women and girls and the men and boys who love us
And whom we love
To subvert the patriarch in our minds
In our homes
In our churches, temples and mosques
In our workplaces
In all our institutions
In our country”

(Pregs Govender, Opening speech in Parliament, Women’s Day, 8 March 2002)

Filed under: better life for all,blogging,feminism,inspire,Love and Courage,Parliament — @ 8:33 am
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