Johannesburg - Struggle veteran Mamphela Ramphele has pleaded with South Africans to overcome their fear and speak out against the ills and abuse by the government and the ruling party.
The former medical doctor-turned-party political leader of Agang SA (Let’s Build South Africa) made the plea when she addressed Wits University students and academics at the institution’s Origins Centre in an address entitled “Fear in South African Politics”.
She painted a picture that local residents were suffering inwardly and were afraid to speak out against the government for fear of losing social grants and tenders.
“So why, if millions of citizens want change, and those with influence in our economy and government recognise the need for urgent action, has so little happened up until now? In my experience over the past nine weeks, and even before that, an important part of the answer lies in one word: fear.”
Ramphele told her audience that these were some of the remarks and comments she heard when she visited various parts of the country since she launched her political party on February 18.
She said that everywhere she went, local residents told her they had been waiting for almost 20 years for quality education, effective health care, jobs, dignified homes, and a decent and sustainable living environment.
“People in poor communities say they are afraid of losing their social grants if they stand up against the governing party. Leading professionals and business people are afraid to speak their minds.
“When asked to name what they are afraid of, most look sheepish and say they don’t want to offend those in authority. Some are honest enough to say they wouldn’t want to put their businesses or careers at risk. Some point to examples of their colleagues’ experiences of being shut out of business and career opportunities,” she said.
According to Ramphele, these fears are real. “We’ve seen how some of the leaders of banks have been castigated for critical comments in their annual reports. We have also seen how some business leaders have been forced to retract critical adverts from schoolchildren after being accused of undermining the government,” Ramphele said.
In her address, she pleaded with those affected with fear to take heed the words of PAC founding president Robert Sobukwe and Black Consciousness Movement (BCM founder Steve Biko, who fought fearlessly against white domination. She also pleaded with white people to emulate some of the Afrikaner men and women who fought against apartheid, pupils who led the 1976 Soweto uprising, and the women who marched against passes in 1956.
According to Ramphele:
* Born-frees and young professionals in Gauteng are frustrated at the obstacles to South Africa becoming a 21st century democracy with a prosperous socio-economic platform.
* The people of Alexandra township are frustrated at the failure of politicians coming to ask for their votes, then failing to deliver on their promises.
* Rural people, especially women, are frustrated at finding they do not have significantly more control over their lives than they did in the apartheid era.
* People everywhere are frustrated at having to wait for quality education and training for their children, for effective health care, for jobs, to be helped to build houses, and to live in a decent and sustainable environment.
She told her supporters they should draw inspiration from people like Sobukwe and Biko to speak out against abuse by the government and stop being fearful.
“Central to this fear so many express is the extent to which the governing party has successfully conflated the person of the president, the governing party, the government and the state.
“As a result, poor people accept the notion that social grants are the gift of the ruling party rather than being entitlements to them,” Ramphele said. She urged people to use the country’s constitution and challenge the government if it denied them access to business opportunities.
“A culture of corruption and impunity is seeping through every level of government, corroding our entire society. It is estimated that corruption robs us of more than R30 billion from our government budget every year through abuse of the procurement system,” she said.
“The most outrageous examples are a private palace costing more than R200 million for President Zuma at Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal; irregular leases for police buildings; and civil servants and/or their families doing business with government departments who pay them a salary.
The government itself has acknowledged that 8 000 public servants in the Eastern Cape have been doing business with the health department, making it no surprise that the health-care system in the province has collapsed,” Ramphele rebuked.
She also promised that under her party’s rule, not a single citizen would die in police custody, saying “I lost most of my friends in police hands”. She was referring to BCM stalwart Mapetla Mohapi and Biko - the father of her son Hlumelo Biko.
Biko was killed in police custody at Pretoria Central Prison on September 12, 1977 - robbing Ntsiki Biko and Ramphele a father for their children. Mohapi died at Kei Road police station on August 5, 1976, and his family and children were still looking for answers about his death.
Her message resonated with many of the students who gathered at the hall, with some asking her not to disappoint them.
The Star