Towns and cities are the drivers of change
5 February 2018
A quarter of a century ago, our country finally entered the democratic era.
Now in 2019 we must reflect on what has been achieved, and what remains to be done to realise the dream of a united society.
2019 offers us an opportunity to live the dream of South Africa as a society united in our diversity.
Our country needs leaders with the courage to tackle socialised and structural racism and sexism - and those leaders have been lacking.
It is our duty as a government to tackle racism head-on. But doing so is difficult.
It is exceptionally difficult to talk about race in South Africa.
Sometimes, people do not want to talk about these issues for fear of being misunderstood or condemned by those who might disagree with you.
Some also do not wish to address racism because it is so difficult – they avoid talking about issues that are so serious.
As hard as it is, it is the responsibility of leaders to demonstrate courage and to initiate these difficult conversations.
It is the responsibility of leaders to reach out to the vast majority of people who are not racist and make their voices heard.
GOOD will lead South Africans to truly build a future that knows and understands our past but does not have to be trapped by it.
GOOD will fight for Tata Madiba’s vision of a united and reconciled country.
A future where we can all enjoy the fruits of our democracy.
It is time for all GOOD people to step forward and join the leadership of GOOD in committing to act with courage - to call out unearned privilege and to tackle racism, discrimination and poverty.
Race and gender still remain predictors of our prospects in our country.
I have fought for justice my entire life and the GOOD movement will continue to fight for a just and equitable country.
GOOD will fight for a country where we increasingly shed the reality that your race and your gender will determine your future.
Transformation of our socio-economic system requires uprooting the roots of poverty and dismantling the foundations of unearned privilege.
We must tackle land ownership and redesign our segregated cities.
We must raise the quality of education and health care for all to unleash their talents and energies, especially young people who are the majority.
Poverty & inequality are the products of spatial, social, economic and environmental injustice.
We must Fix South Africa.
GOOD is about bringing out the best in all human beings bound together by a common humanity.
GOOD people will not allow racists to speak for them.
If GOOD people do nothing that is when evil prospers.
Our plan to FIX our rapidly urbanising South Africa:
In 2017, 65% of the South African population was urbanised and it is predicted that 80% of South Africans will very soon live in urban areas.
Cities and towns are the drivers of change.
Urban areas are the key to the future of our country. No family will be unaffected by the urbanisation trend.
Our urban areas must provide for people already living there and be empowered to prepare for the future that is coming.
That is why GOOD is proposing to turn government on its head – taking power away from a central system put in place by apartheid and instead devolving functions to towns and cities.
This will bring government and elected representatives closer to the communities they serve and empower towns and cities to build prosperous, safe and socially inclusive communities.
At the heart of this future vision is a South Africa that is spatially, socially, economically and environmentally just.
The GOOD plan is to fix South Africa and help our towns, cities and wider society plan for today and for our future.
GOOD people will fight for Spatial Justice, for towns and cities where:
- Public Land is used for public good so that redress & restitution are accelerated;
- How and Where People Live Matters;
- Formal housing is delivered faster and in better locations;
- Land plus title must be given to residents living in Informal settlements;
- Families who have been longstanding government rental stock tenants, in good standing, should have the opportunity to own their home
- Rail is fixed and e-Tolls are removed.
GOOD people will fight for Economic Justice, where government:
- Attracts investment to create conditions conducive to create jobs;
- Increases state pensions and social grants at least by the annual inflation rate;
- Stops corruption and cadre deployment;
- Cuts government’s operating costs - for example by reducing the size of cabinet.
GOOD people will fight for Social Justice, where:
- We build a non-racist and non-sexist society;
- Violence & crime is socialised out of our society;
- Education is recognised as the key to prosperity;
- The feminisation of poverty is eliminated.
GOOD people will fight for Environmental Justice, where:
- We have more, cheaper renewable energy;
- Cities lead the way in reducing climate change impacts;
- Water security is achieved through equitable sharing & changing our relationship with water.
- We reduce carbon emissions and implement our international commitments.
The land reform debate:
Many of you will ask about our position on the land debate and the proposed amendment to the constitution.
Our position is clear. Land reform has been a complete failure.
Land restitution has been painfully too slow to be meaningful.
Many legitimate claimants have died without ever seeing land justice.
This is a failure of government and not a failure of the constitution, which I was privileged to be part of writing.
The constitution does not need amending.
It provides the constitutional framework for expropriation and it provides the conditions that determine how to arrive at compensation.
Government has failed to enact the legislation to bring our Expropriation Act in line with the spirit and mandate of the constitution – which includes redress for apartheid dispossession.
It is scandalous that expropriations are still being conducted in terms of the apartheid era Expropriation Act of 1975.
On the 21st December 2018 – just about a month ago - the Minister of Public Works published a Draft Expropriation Bill which sets out the circumstances under which expropriation could be conducted without compensation.
The publishing of this Bill, at the eleventh hour, demonstrates how our government has failed to lead on this issue and allowed a legitimate need to address landlessness to languish and fester.
This lack of leadership has entrenched deprivation.
And, the politics of a constitutional amendment has been damaging to our project to unite South Africa and to attract investment.
The full version of our GOOD plan to Fix South Africa will be on our website (www.forgood.org.za).
The policy positions that underpin this plan will also be loaded onto the website as we conclude the drafting for each important issue.
We are only 8 weeks old.
I am proud of what we have achieved in this short space of time.
Our policies and plan to fix South Africa continue to be constructed and we will update these as we make progress.
I urge all South Africans to exercise their democratic right to vote and to use their vote to help us build a united, optimistic and fair South Africa based on simple GOOD values.
Issued by Cameron Arendse on behalf of GOOD, 5 February 2019
