Makhura,+Star,+05-06-06,+Shotgun+politics+wont+build+houses

The Star, Johannesburg, Monday June 6th, 2005
=“Shotgun politics won’t build houses”=


 * by Dr Moraka Nakedi Makhura of the DBSA**

Excerpts:

“The recent spate of community violence at various municipalities is a great cause for concern. What appeared as an isolated misunderstanding between the municipalities of Harrismith and Phomolong in the Free State some time ago has now spread throughout the country.

“It is disheartening to read about or watch scenes of anger, violence, and discontent.”…

“The voices of the people are clear: they need houses, jobs and honest interaction with government representatives. They want an end to unfair allocation of benefits of well-meaning government programmes. This is a case of very little cake for many mouths.

“Apparently, this question has not been dealt with sufficiently: Who must make the cake? Who must cut it? Who must hand it out? There are just two areas of contention.

“Firstly, there has been a huge misunderstanding over what could be a supplier-consumer relationship. Apparently what the government thinks it is delivering is not counted by the consumers as what they have been waiting for.” …

“The second issue of contention pertains to the whole concept of developmental government. This idea has been hailed as very innovative, but in hindsight the government seems to have over-committed itself.”

“As these poor disenfranchised people show their frustration, one commentator has been alluding to withdrawing words such as government “delivery”. Using the association of mail delivery, one knows that once you expect mail to be delivered – you wait and wait – and the next action is to enqure with the postman or the sender.

“So, a developmental government means an omnipotent government, which can be difficult to materialise.”