[DEBATE] : (Fwd) Culturally-reactionary and anti-welfare Azapo

[Alan Murphy]

What is the difference between Azapo and MF?


On 3/16/09, Patrick Bond <pbond at mail.ngo.za> wrote:
> (Phew!: "He admits that campaigning for the elections won't be easy for
> Azapo as support is thin and scattered around the country.")
>
>
> Azapo seeks law change on gay weddings, abortion and hanging
>
> March 15, 2009 Edition 1
>
> Xolani Mbanjwa
>
> Mosibudi Mangena, the president of Azapo, says the ANC's refusal to hold
> referendums on issues such as same-sex marriages, abortion and the death
> penalty has widened the gap between the ruling party and the public.
>
> Mangena believes that if referendums were held on these issues, the
> public would vote against the ANC government which, he says, failed to
> consult them when passing such laws.
>
> Mangena, who is minister of science and technology in the government,
> warned that South Africa could turn into another Zimbabwe because the
> government was not listening to the people.
>
> "If today we were to vote, Azapo is quite sure the majority would say
> they want the death penalty back. If same-sex marriages and abortion
> were put to the vote, they would not come back because of what the
> majority of people think about (them)," said Mangena.
>
> He warned against voter apathy in the elections next month.
>
> "Once you have a failure of politics where people withdraw from
> elections, like in Zimbabwe, and their participation goes down all the
> time because people say 'we know who is going to win', it's dangerous."
>
> He said South Africa was following in the footsteps of Zimbabwe where
> "the same people remain in power for a long time and the ruling party
> doesn't care about its attitude and takes the masses for granted".
>
> He said: "The problem for Zimbabwe was that they didn't build a strong
> economy while their education was going great. They ended up with a
> well-trained and educated population with nowhere to work."
>
> He said his party had erred by boycotting the 1994 elections and this
> was the reason Azapo's comeback into electoral politics was still a
> difficult task.
>
> He said: "Our position is not to pull down who ever is ruling but to
> tell the ruling party 'you are not doing enough, do more or you are
> wasting money'. That has been our attitude," he said. Azapo, which is
> contesting its third elections with Mangena as its sole MP, has placed
> education at the top of its election manifesto.
>
> Mangena said without a sound education system South Africa would not be
> able to deal with the complexities of crime, unemployment, skills
> shortages and economic growth.
>
> He said public servants should get higher salaries to retain skills and
> that the country could fight poverty and high food prices by investing
> in rural agricultural development to help communities grow their own food.
>
> Mangena said the government should rethink the social grants system in
> the long term because it was unsustainable.
>
> "Grants are instant gratification. You go into a room, they give you
> money and you feel nice but you keep on adding to unemployment numbers.
> That's unsustainable," he said.
>
> He is adamant South Africa's economy needs to be modernised through
> science and technology.
>
> "Our economy relies too much on our natural and mineral resources but
> those will come to an end one day.
>
> "Diamonds and gold are not infinite. So we need to build our economy by
> taking people into different directions."
>
> Azapo believes the housing shortage can be solved if the government
> establishes a state-run housing corporation.
>
> "A corporation would cater for low- to higher-income groups who want to
> rent or buy. For the unemployed and those unable to pay rent, there must
> be a net created to prevent the erection of imikhukhu (shacks) which are
> dehumanising," said Mangena.
>
> Like other opposition parties Azapo wants a review of the electoral
> system, where the president would be directly elected "to promote
> accountability to the electorate".
>
> He admits that campaigning for the elections won't be easy for Azapo as
> support is thin and scattered around the country.
>
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