FF Plus points out to President Ramaphosa that he is in denial about problems such as farm murders and the reasons for economic decline
25 June 2019
The time has come for President Cyril Ramaphosa to stop denying that there are pressing problems in our country, like farm murders, and for him to admit that Affirmative Action (AA) and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) have failed.
These were the matters that the FF Plus emphasised in the party's reply to President Ramaphosa's recent State of the Nation Address (SONA).
he FF Plus has declared many times over that the party and its supporters are committed to help build South Africa. Just before the recent elections, the President said that he wants to tie young white people to a tree to prevent them from leaving the country. The truth, however, is that they are leaving their country due to AA.
The laws that put policies, like AA and BEE, into execution prevent white people and other minorities from getting jobs. In addition to that, crime is the reason why experts, like 110 engineers skilled in the construction industry, are leaving the country.
The President needs to realise that persisting with policies that discriminate against young white people and that keep them out of the job market is like kicking them in the teeth. BEE in particular is succeeding only in enriching a small black elite.
The actions of the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi, are yet another example of where white people are made the scapegoat for the problems in the province's schools, while these problems were actually caused by the ANC and MEC's incompetence. The question posed to the President is whether there is a problem with the Afrikaans language. This too was met with silence from the President's side.
Crime plays a significant role in the decline of our economy. How can the economy grow if there is a construction mafia that brought 74 projects to a standstill by demanding 30% shareholding in the companies? Just recently, 16 trucks were torched in a single weekend and one person was killed in the attacks.
The FF Plus also wants to ask the President why it is so hard for him to acknowledge and condemn farm murders. After several attacks on mosques last year, the President rightly took immediate action, but when it comes to farm murders, which are often accompanied by extreme torture, he is silent.
The FF Plus will invite the President to the funeral of a farm murder victim so that he can witness the devastation it causes first-hand; Dr Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF Plus, will then also consent to attending a funeral to which the President invites him.
Furthermore, the President must acknowledge that trade unions are causing destruction. Their powers must be restricted so as to help the economy to grow. Trade unions can no longer be allowed to tell the government what to do and how to act.
Another matter is that Section 235 of the Constitution, which deals with self-determination, stipulates that national legislation must put it into execution. The FF Plus, the ANC and the government had reached an agreement regarding this in 1994 already.
The time has come to act on the agreement so as to pave the way for the implementation of Section 235 and self-determination. It is the only section in the Constitution that stipulates that national legislation must be drafted, but after 25 years it still has not been done. There exists a constitutional responsibility and duty to draft such legislation and the FF Plus has officially requested a meeting with the President to discuss the matter.
The President can no longer close his eyes and deny the reality of our country's problems just because he has been captured by the ANC. He must break free. Only then will he be able to save the country and its economy.
Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 25 June 2019
