Cut off date for affirmative action
2003-11-27. Pretoria - There should be a cut-off date for affirmative action and black empowerment, said Patricia de Lille, leader of the Independent Democrats at a meeting in Pretoria.
For instance, not one of the matrics
of 2005 could be considered "previously disadvantaged," because the new
government would have educated them.
"You cannot allow rich people like Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa to keep on reaping benefits because they used to be disadvantaged," she said.
Business people who want to be politically correct apparently give money to the ANC to obtain tenders and contracts, said De Lille.
"Everyone is trying to curry favour with the government."
They should realise they cannot prosper if there's not a stable democracy."
A strong opposition was needed to ensure democracy, she said.
Voting procedures should change, because people want to see a face next to the name of the party.
She thought it was not enough to put the face of the party leader on ballot papers. She also preferred more direct representation than provided for within the proportional system.
De Lille praised the Constitution and Constitutional Court. Sixty out of 75 Constitutional Court rulings to date have found against the government.
She said: "This is 60 times that the government didn't respect the constitution."
This means trouble, she said, as "the Constitution seems more democratic than the people who wrote it".
She said she was surprised that no one has ever challenged the Guarantee of Residence Act in the Constitutional Court.
She said farmers as employers were being unfairly targeted to make provision for their employees. "Why doesn't Old Mutual have the same obligations?"
She said this legislation was to the detriment of the very people it was supposed to protect, because farmers were not employing new workers.
"You cannot allow rich people like Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa to keep on reaping benefits because they used to be disadvantaged," she said.
Business people who want to be politically correct apparently give money to the ANC to obtain tenders and contracts, said De Lille.
"Everyone is trying to curry favour with the government."
They should realise they cannot prosper if there's not a stable democracy."
A strong opposition was needed to ensure democracy, she said.
Voting procedures should change, because people want to see a face next to the name of the party.
She thought it was not enough to put the face of the party leader on ballot papers. She also preferred more direct representation than provided for within the proportional system.
De Lille praised the Constitution and Constitutional Court. Sixty out of 75 Constitutional Court rulings to date have found against the government.
She said: "This is 60 times that the government didn't respect the constitution."
This means trouble, she said, as "the Constitution seems more democratic than the people who wrote it".
She said she was surprised that no one has ever challenged the Guarantee of Residence Act in the Constitutional Court.
She said farmers as employers were being unfairly targeted to make provision for their employees. "Why doesn't Old Mutual have the same obligations?"
She said this legislation was to the detriment of the very people it was supposed to protect, because farmers were not employing new workers.
Published by Beeld
by Antoinette Slabbert
