Mathews Phosa: Whites should be called back

Say it with a sting.....

Sunday, August 31, 2008
'ANC needs to listen to more voices'

Xolani Mbanjwa
August 31 2008 at 03:10PM

Parliament's decision to put the controversial Expropriation Bill on ice was correct because it would have undermined property values, ANC treasurer Mathews Phosa said in Centurion.

Phosa was addressing a conference on poverty, which was organised by the Freedom Front Plus and where welfare organisations and NGOs met to discuss the increasing levels of poverty, in particular among the Afrikaner community.

His comment flies in the face of that made by Public Works Minister Thoko Didiza on Friday.

The minister's office said on Friday it was taken aback by the National Assembly's committee on public works decision to withdraw the bill on the basis that further consultation still needed to take place.

The bill, which has been called unconstitutional by critics, gave the minister far-reaching powers to expropriate property in the public interest.

It occasioned an outcry from landowners, particularly farmers.

Phosa - who was applauded for his comments - called for skilled white former public servants to return to assist the country's fledgling public service and called for more co-operation between black and white farmers.

"As you know we thought deeply about the Expropriation Bill and we, after serious considerations, felt it would not be the correct instrument to speed up the acquisition of land … it became clear for us that market values and the encouragement of co-operation, help and advice from the state would be a better way of promoting the acquisition of land", said Phosa.

He said the ANC-led government would welcome more input on the matter.

"We (ANC) said in Polokwane we are a caring organisation. We don't want to move forward like a gorilla and say we know it all and our word is final. The ANC is listening to more voices on this matter to find a solution which does not unnecessarily undermine the property values of this country," said Phosa.

The ANC treasurer general repeated previous comments he made about an exodus of skilled white public servants after the ANC government took over in 1994 having crippled the public service, leaving it short of essential expertise.

"During the whole process of entering government there are a lot of skills which left the public sector and mainly white skills. You have to tell the inconvenient truth if you want to lead this country. It's a fact that we need to find a way of attracting those skills back to the administration and the public sector. Those skills are very important to ensure that, as government, we work together and have a non-racial public sector.

"We need an efficient and effective government that delivers. At the moment we have the money but we have a problem with the skills levels in the public sector and we need to inject more skills into the public sector so that we sharpen the end point of delivery and implementation. We need to dramatically increase the capacity of the state to deliver," said Phosa.

On the issue of Afrikaner poverty - which the FF+ said has increased by almost 400% - Phosa said "poverty is colourless".

"There's no such thing as white poverty.

"The problem of poverty and unemployment must be addressed holistically by government working with the private sector and NGOs and other stakeholders.

"Together we must find ways of ensuring that when land moves from white hands to black hands there's proper management so that there's skills transfer to the new owners so that productivity continues, jobs are retained and jobs are increased and not lost," said Phosa.

He commended the "unusual act" of being invited by another party to address it as a "renewing the spirit of political reconciliation".

Leader of the FF+, Pieter Mulder, echoed Phosa's overall comments but called for a re-think on affirmative action policies, which he blamed for most of the poverty.

This article was originally published on page 16 of Cape Argus on August 31, 2008

IOL

Comments by Sonny

Before there is a plea for Whites to return to the public service and other vital institutions, the playing fields must be levelled out, BEE and other racist equity laws should be scrapped and all men should be declared equal under the law and in the eyes of God.
Only then can we all go forward as true South Africans.
The ANC adversely turned all White males (excepting their white comerades), into second class citizens.
Only then should Whites return to the fold to rectify all the wrongs made during the last fourteen years.
The ANC must rid SA of all exclusion legislation before aqny talks can start.
Posted by Sonny Cox at 8:42 PM 0 comments
Labels: BEE, equity bills., Mathews Phosa, raqcist laws