WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2007-07-31 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
[Mbeki talks nonsense. This is total bull. Its 13 years later… and they need to blame someone so they blame the whites. They should blame their own loud mouths for their unbelievable and unachievable promises. Talk is cheap, and the ANC talked a *LOT* of nonsense. Now its time to actually do something – but now they blame the whites. They will ALWAYS blame the whites. Jan]
By Wendy Jasson da Costa
Despite countrywide outrage about the slow pace of service delivery, President Thabo Mbeki has again urged people to be patient.
He also called on municipal councillors on Sunday to interact with communities to explain the challenges faced by the government.
Speaking to the media after last week’s lekgotla, Mbeki said there was no need to change government policies – only to sharpen them and ensure they were more focused.
| ‘It isn’t possible to solve all these problems in a short time’ |
He blamed service delivery problems on centuries of colonialism and apartheid, saying they had led to poverty and underdevelopment and that 13 years of democracy was too short a time to fix all the problems.
Mbeki said it was important that municipalities explained to communities what their budget was and what they aimed to do with the money.
He added that often when issues were explained at presidential imbizos, the citizens understood the challenges and could themselves identify what should be prioritised.
A recent spate of protests, often violent and destructive, has seen businesses being destroyed and many arrested.
A survey by TNS Research surveys also indicated that more protests could be expected in parts of Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West because of the high levels of dissatisfaction with service delivery.
Another study by the Centre for Development and Enterprise indicated that there was a common factor between all the areas where the violent protests had occurred.
It pointed out that citizens experienced “a sense of having been treated with indifference or even contempt by the political class”.
Whether the issue ranged from leaking taps or being incorporated into another province, people were highly angry about “insensitive, unresponsive and unaccountable political elites”, the study added.
Mbeki said it was expected that those who did not have houses would protest but it was not possible or practical to deliver on everything so soon.
“Communities must know that it isn’t possible to solve all these problems in a short time,” he said.
He admitted that at times there was an imbalance between the amount of money set aside for housing and that for infrastructure, which led to houses being built in areas without the necessary sanitation facilities, but the government was looking into the matter.
The mid-year lekgotla brings together cabinet ministers and their deputies, premiers, directors of national departments and provinces, and representatives of the South African Local Government Association.