BACK TO BASICS

What we have seen recently from the side of the opposition in Parliament is the gross deficiency of genuine engagement. NUM shudders to comprehend that the opposition in parliament could be the microcosm of South African constituency. There is little engagement on the SONA itself by the opposition. This in as much as it represents the quality of the opposition we have it leaves much to be desired in advancing the principle of multiparty democracy in South Africa. There should be quality in multiparty politics.

Mainly the opposition has unleashed its venom to promote the cult of personality than democracy. The opposition focus is mainly Jacob Zuma the person and not key elements of the SONA. This is not done to promote robust engagement and accountability but to actively preserve the ill-gotten privileges of white monopoly capital. It is also glaring to realise that other elements of the opposition have nothing at all or little to say on why they differ with the SONA except driven by personal hatred of the President. The same logic applies when it comes to the speaker of the Parliament Baleka Mbete. All this posturing does little to assist in consolidating the democratic representatives towards common agenda and the upliftment of the working class in South Africa.

The NUM has viewed the video discussion led by former President Thabo Mbeki which was alleged to have criticized President Jacob Zuma. We are satisfied that the input by the international journalist was hogwash intended to trigger a new battle within the ANC itself while giving opposition more space to single out the President of the country and Speaker of Parliament. These are the agents  who like seeing Africa burning and characterised by failed states by brewing the demise of popular political parties through misrepresentation. We condemn Mr David Smith of the Guardian newspaper in London for shabby reporting and distortion. All these national and international elements in their sustained attack on some personalities  of the ruling party hope to ultimately present South Africa as a failing democracy which will never happen.

The people of South Africa want to see constructive dialogue happening in Parliament that can take this country forward.