By BAKANG MOKOTO
The Young Communist League of South Africa in North West said it is perturbed by the Republic of South Africa president, Cyril Ramaphosa’s new cabinet, which includes only one ANC Member of Parliament (MP) from North West. This comes after Ramaphosa appointed Kenny Morolong as the Deputy Minister in the Presidency.
The YCL provincial spokesperson, Edward Ditshwele said in fact, if it were not for the Democratic Alliance (DA) submitting another Deputy Minister in the form of Sello Seitlholo, Morolong would be the only National Executive member from the province. Ditshwele said North West remains one of the best-performing ANC provinces in terms of election results.
“It is therefore baffling to see provinces whose electoral performance declined so drastically to the extent that the ANC-led alliance is below 50%, receiving more representation than our province. However, before we are accused of regionalism, we remind everyone that one of the basic principles of democracy is representation.
“This means that people vote not only for their preferred leaders or parties, but also so that leaders from their constituencies can go to parliament and ultimately cabinet to voice out the challenges and lived experiences of voters from the province. North West has given the ANC Members of Parliament (MPs) with the necessary education and experience in government that deserve seats in the cabinet,” he said.
Ditshwele further said the consequence of this tendency of under or no representation in the cabinet is that the national government continues to use a formula for the distribution of revenue that enforces economic disparities between provinces, urbanization and underdevelopment of small provinces.
He added that according to the National Treasury, the distribution of the equitable share between provinces is done based on a redistributive formula that takes into account the
demographic and economic profiles of the provinces.
“This means for example, our province is given a smaller budget compared to Gauteng and this hampers our province’s development. Hence many people from the North West migrate to Gauteng searching for economic opportunities and a better standard of living.
“Instead of investing in moderately developed provinces, the national government should give more funds to the mostly rural provinces such as North West, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga etc. This argument however, does not ignore the fact the North West province is plagued by perpetual divisions in the governing party, horrific maladministration, especially at local government and an economy primarily based on agriculture and mining which does not beneficiate in the province,” said Ditshwele.
He said even with the above considered, where excellence prevails, its impact is hampered by the lack of sufficient funds from the national government. Ditshwele said in conclusion, the ANC needs to accept the reality that according to electoral outcomes, it is a largely rural party and any sensible political party prioritizes its core voter base.
“Ramaphosa and the national leadership of the ANC must know that we are human beings, who deserve representation. The representation should not be for the sake of individual accumulation so that representatives drive in blue lights, wear expensive clothes and drink expensive alcohol, but it should be to advance the lives of the working class and the poor.
“As Amilcar Cabral puts it, always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone’s head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children,” said Ditshwele.
The Guardian 