SACP,+Cosatu+rebel+against+boundary+law,+Business+Day

Business Day, Johannesburg, 09 December 2005
=SACP, Cosatu rebel against boundary law=


 * Chantelle Benjamin and Poppie Mphuthing**

THE South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) called yesterday on all their members who are on African National Congress (ANC) municipal election lists in Gauteng’s West Rand to withdraw in protest against the cross-boundary legislation.

The move by the ANC’s allies is unprecedented and signals a break with the national ANC line.

SACP and Cosatu officials said yesterday they were willing to go all the way to the Constitutional Court, if necessary, to stop Merafong municipality’s incorporation into North West.

Speaking at a press conference in Johannesburg yesterday, Vishwas Satgar, Gauteng secretary for the SACP, criticised the ANC for ignoring the will of the community and instead using a “top-down form of governance ... which panders to external forces who have not voted the government into power”.

He said the National Assembly and President Thabo Mbeki “need to rise above the narrow interest of the ANC as a party” and put the “constitution and the views of the people first”.

Satgar said that they had encouraged residents of Merafong to take legal action and to “examine carefully” whether they would want to vote or not in the forthcoming local government elections.

“There are various legal issues that need to be clarified such as whether changes can still be made to the bill, or whether Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi’s decision to reverse a finding by the Demarcation Board could be considered illegal.

“We are also considering a class action in the Constitutional Court,” he said.

There has been widespread division over the decision to include Merafong municipality into North West.

On Tuesday more than 2000 Khutsong residents gathered at the local stadium to get feedback on the rezoning of the municipality, but dispersed peacefully after the briefing, amid a large police presence. Another meeting is to be held at Khutsong on Sunday.

Gauteng was the only province at the end of last month to reject a central government constitutional amendment to redraw provincial boundaries to eliminate cross-border municipalities, only to have an 11th-hour change of heart, amid allegations of political pressure from the top echelons of the ANC.

It is almost unheard of for a province governed by the ANC to reject legislation from the ANC national government when it gets to the National Council of Provinces.

The SACP and Cosatu have appealed to members at national government level to abstain from voting on the Constitution 12th Amendment Bill, but analysts warn that it is already to late.

They cannot stop the progress of the bill because at this late stage voting will be done on a provincial rather than an individual basis, so the organisations would have to win over a whole province. And then only six of the nine provinces have to agree for it to be passed.

Meanwhile, the Merafong Community said it “fully supports” the plan of action presented by the SACP and Cosatu. Spokesman David Mbele said the SACP had never failed to act in the best interests of the residents.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/national.aspx?ID=BD4A125598**