ActionSA Disappointed to Learn that National Dialogue is Cover for a Bill Already Written by COGTA
Michael Beaumont
ActionSA National Chairperson
ActionSA shares the disappointment of other political parties following the revelation by the Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs that a draft bill has already been written.
The National Dialogue convened by Deputy President Paul Mashatile was pitched as an engagement across the political spectrum to feed into a legislative process. To learn yesterday that this process is already far along with a draft that nobody has seen raises questions as to whether this engagement is here simply to legimitise an already drafted bill.
ActionSA flagged the issue in our representations to the National Dialogue that the last ANC majority parliament is not the right place for such legislation to be considered. The future of coalitions will not be served if a bill has been written by officials aligned to the ANC, with the intention of using the last ANC majority to protect its interests before losing its majority next year.
The research paper that has formed part of the National Dialogue raises some very important issues, not least of which is the need for a professional public service to insulate South Africans from the impact of political instability in coalitions. A bill drafted by ANC cadres and adopted by an ANC majority will never seek to address this essential element.
ActionSA remains committed to a National Dialogue on Coalition Governments, as we are committed to forming part of stable coalitions where political parties work together in the interests of all South Africans. ActionSA calls upon the ANC to provide the bill that has been drafted and to give political parties and civil society the opportunity to engage what has been kept from us.
ActionSA Disappointed to Learn that National Dialogue is Cover for a Bill Already Written by COGTA
ActionSA shares the disappointment of other political parties following the revelation by the Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs that a draft bill has already been written.
The National Dialogue convened by Deputy President Paul Mashatile was pitched as an engagement across the political spectrum to feed into a legislative process. To learn yesterday that this process is already far along with a draft that nobody has seen raises questions as to whether this engagement is here simply to legimitise an already drafted bill.
ActionSA flagged the issue in our representations to the National Dialogue that the last ANC majority parliament is not the right place for such legislation to be considered. The future of coalitions will not be served if a bill has been written by officials aligned to the ANC, with the intention of using the last ANC majority to protect its interests before losing its majority next year.
The research paper that has formed part of the National Dialogue raises some very important issues, not least of which is the need for a professional public service to insulate South Africans from the impact of political instability in coalitions. A bill drafted by ANC cadres and adopted by an ANC majority will never seek to address this essential element.
ActionSA remains committed to a National Dialogue on Coalition Governments, as we are committed to forming part of stable coalitions where political parties work together in the interests of all South Africans. ActionSA calls upon the ANC to provide the bill that has been drafted and to give political parties and civil society the opportunity to engage what has been kept from us.