tame TIMES
29 July 2014
Is Malema afraid of debate? Opinion piece by Linda Yates
Just as you cannot play a serious soccer match without using the rule-book and a proper referee, so you cannot do democracy without observing the rule of law, obeying the Speaker of Parliament and respecting voters and taxpayers. When EFF members stormed the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on Tuesday, they trampled underfoot one of the main symbols of this nation’s hard-won freedoms. Parliament is not just a place where fatcats have fashion parades and stuff their faces, as the Honourable Malema would have us believe. It is an institution where the representatives of the people make the laws that determine the character of South Africans and shape our collective future. The Commander-in-Chief should be encouraging his MPs and MPLs to debate the burning issues of poverty, unemployment and service delivery vigorously in their various Houses. His party’s researchers should be fully engaged in diligent analysis of the lengthy reports tabled by government departments so that the EFF Honourable Members can guide as many portfolio committees as possible with solutions to our country’s complex social and economic problems. When EFF members burned a mobile satellite police station in Johannesburg on Tuesday, they showed contempt for the rule of law. What kind of governing system does the EFF support? A thugogracy in which only the strongest and most ruthless eat and the
rest go hungry? When Malema’s followers ate the food reserved for MPLs after the sitting, were they really protesting against excessive government spending or were they demonstrating what they plan to do with any funds liberated by nationalisation? The most troubling part of Tuesday’s rampage, however, was not the defiance of police orders or the sight of red overalled protesters sitting on the red carpet outside the Gauteng debating chamber, but the looting of hawkers’ stalls in the streets of Johannesburg. This was not only a criminal offence cruelly committed against some of the most vulnerable in our society, but also a mockery of everything the Economic Freedom Fighters claim to stand for. In order to rescue his credibility, the Commander-in-Chief needs to apologise to taxpayers in general and his voters in particular, and make restitution to the street vendors in question. Unless and until this is done, he and his party will appear afraid of debate. According to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, the EFF has already boycotted two of the most important debates of the year: the provincial budget debate and the State of the Province debate. References: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/ Politics/Malema-hurt-in-fracas-atGauteng-Legislature-20140722 http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/ view/politicsweb/en/page71654?oid=6533 70&sn=Detail&pid=71654
Food security is possible
RE-USING TYRES: Miss Earth South Africa semi-finalist Odirile Sepeng plants vegetables with a child from Solwazi Primary. Nelson Mandela believed in the power of women and in the crucial role they play in creating change and developing communities. The Miss Earth South Africa (MESA) strives to honour his legacy by empowering, growing and encouraging young women from all corners of South Africa through environmental education about sustainable lifestyles and by harnessing their passion for this country’s future. “It starts by turning the talk into action. Young women are the movers and shakers of our community and the mothers of our future leaders, it is our responsibility to nurture them,” said the Executive Director of the Miss Earth Africa leadership programme Catherine Constantinides. The MESA team spent their Mandela Day working in Orange Farm at the fouryear-old school Solwazi Primary School. Constantinides had initiated this project with one goal in mind: Make Food Security Possible. So, on Mandela Day on Friday 18 July, joining hands to plant a food garden and
paint classrooms was the objective. The vegetable garden was set up using old tyres donated by Imperial Toyota, Lombard tyres and Redisa. Redisa has to date saved 26 388 tons of waste tyres from landfill sites and burning, saying; “We’re all happy to use tyres, but don’t give any thought to what happens to them when they reach the end of their useful life.” The MESA team and the Mandela Day volunteers found a use for these tyres with contributions from the Fourways Farmers Market, GroMor and Earth Outdoor Living Nursery. The vegetables will be used in the school’s feeding scheme. Classrooms were upgraded and painted to create a conducive learning environment with non-toxic, non-flammable paint sponsored by Green Coat Eco Paint. Meals on Wheels provided a hot lunch for community members; and food hampers and fruit packs were collected by each of this year’s MESA National Finalists. For more information please contact Earth House at admin@missearthsa.co.za or call Georgina Cost on 082 505 0664.
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