Failed Ideology Retards Municipal Progress
Einstein defined stupidity as the expectation of a different result by repeatedly applying the same formula. The key approaches identified by the recent SALGA conference aimed at charting a new path for municipalities are the same as the ones that have failed in the past (Ezasegagasini Metro, 24 January-3 February).
“Guided by the ideals of the Freedom Charter,” so the report stated, SALGA committed itself to “accelerating radical economic transformation.” It beggars belief that in all seriousness and in the context of the bankruptcy and dysfunctional state of municipalities, SALGA persists with a flawed and failed formula.
The Freedom Charter is a Marxist document dedicated to the destruction of private property and enterprise and the accumulation of ownership and control of all resources by the state – in this case, the ANC. As a blueprint, it failed in the USSR and has ensured that Cuba remains in a permanent state of dystopia.
Radical economic transformation (RET) is the Marxist formula to eliminate the role of racial minorities from the economy by placing the provision of all goods and services under the control of the adherents of the one-party state.
For SALGA to express the need for economic development while insisting on RET, is a no-brainer. The entrepreneurial initiative is never going to materialise as long as it faces the threat of marginalisation, intimidation and opposition by RET.
The laws determining economic development are not governed by racial and political ideology. After 27 years of ANC misrule, the evidence is undeniable.
For local government to extricate itself from the quagmire into which the ANC has led it, requires radical surgery. First, the principle of merit has to be the sole criterion for all posts and procurements. No more cadre deployment and demographic representivity. Second, local government needs to be re-configured. Smaller districts and councils worked in the past. eThekwini metro needs to be broken up and former functioning entities re-established, along with others, as far as possible.
The ideology of apartheid was condemned in the past for a variety of reasons. The ideology of the Marxist Freedom Charter has been exposed for what it is – a discredited failure. SALGA’s commitment to this failed ideology is the biggest obstacle to the alleviation of poverty and unemployment.
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