Overview of the ANC Election Manifesto
2004-01-11.
As expected the ANC manifesto is vague, repetitive and full of
rhetoric. The ANC have been in a contract with the people of this
country for the past ten years. A contract the ANC has already breached
by failing to deliver on their last election manifesto: "a better life
for all".
While the economic fundamentals on a macro level have improved, the ANC cannot claim a well-managed economy when 45% of our population survives on less than R600 a month and unemployment stands at over 40%, 70% of whom have never been employed.
We welcome the ANC's belated decision to invest in infra-structural development, but given their track record we question their ability to implement these grand plans. The arbitrary figure of 1 million jobs sound more like a manifesto sales pitch than a well-researched forecast. The Independent Democrats promise to bring the fine print of this contract to the attention of the public.
With the public works program we want to know if the ANC are fulfilling their contract to the people or are they now contracting the people to deliver on the ANC's election promises for them.
The Independent Democrats would like to see in this contract exactly how the ANC plans to close the gap between policy development and implementation. In the past, the ANC has used lack of capacity as an excuse for officials simply not doing their jobs properly. The performance of the public works and social welfare department has been dismal. Too often we have seen government departments unable to spend the money allocated to them, despite the desperate needs of the people. The ANC needs to show their commitment to act against those Ministers and departments who fail the country.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic threatens all levels of our society. As usual, there is very little mention of how the ANC intends dealing with the effects of HIV/AIDS on the economy. This threat has been magnified due to the ANC's mishandling of the issue and the government's delays in rolling out an Anti-Retroviral Programme.
The Independent Democrats has identified a number of further problems in the ANC's election manifesto, both in their logic and ability to translate it into action. The Independent Democrats will be unveiling its own manifesto shortly that will contain a better plan for showing how we can tackle the problems facing our nation.
While the economic fundamentals on a macro level have improved, the ANC cannot claim a well-managed economy when 45% of our population survives on less than R600 a month and unemployment stands at over 40%, 70% of whom have never been employed.
We welcome the ANC's belated decision to invest in infra-structural development, but given their track record we question their ability to implement these grand plans. The arbitrary figure of 1 million jobs sound more like a manifesto sales pitch than a well-researched forecast. The Independent Democrats promise to bring the fine print of this contract to the attention of the public.
With the public works program we want to know if the ANC are fulfilling their contract to the people or are they now contracting the people to deliver on the ANC's election promises for them.
The Independent Democrats would like to see in this contract exactly how the ANC plans to close the gap between policy development and implementation. In the past, the ANC has used lack of capacity as an excuse for officials simply not doing their jobs properly. The performance of the public works and social welfare department has been dismal. Too often we have seen government departments unable to spend the money allocated to them, despite the desperate needs of the people. The ANC needs to show their commitment to act against those Ministers and departments who fail the country.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic threatens all levels of our society. As usual, there is very little mention of how the ANC intends dealing with the effects of HIV/AIDS on the economy. This threat has been magnified due to the ANC's mishandling of the issue and the government's delays in rolling out an Anti-Retroviral Programme.
The Independent Democrats has identified a number of further problems in the ANC's election manifesto, both in their logic and ability to translate it into action. The Independent Democrats will be unveiling its own manifesto shortly that will contain a better plan for showing how we can tackle the problems facing our nation.
