Clampdown on Democratic Space – Once Again Democracy Is Undermined By Provincial Government of the Western Cape

Civil Society demands that Premier Helen Zille perform her role as guardian of democracy of the Western Cape Province and ensure accountability, transparency and good governance under her watch.

On the 20th January 2011, coordinated by the South African NGO Coalition, a range of civil society organizations, structures and formations operating across the Western Cape province came together to plan the drafting of a civil society submission to the Western Cape Provincial Legislature around the Draft Repeal Bill 2010 which aims to shut down the Provincial Development Council (PDC) - despite business, organised labour and civil society repeatedly calling for strengthening the PDC over the last two years.

Whilst acknowledging the PDC’s relative under-prioritisation by the state, few would dispute the vital role the PDC has played and continues to play in ensuring the state engages with structured formations across business, labour and civil society as equal partners to ensure an inclusive political system built on dialogue, informed citizen participation and accountability.

This therefore begs the question – Does our Premier understand the need for governance reform? Or is the motivation to shut down the PDC far more sinister? To close down the political democratic spaces in the province and bring back autocratic rule. No doubt considering the highly political nature of such interventions, the tactics used by PGWC to communicate the closure of the PDC (over the festive season) speaks to guerrilla tactics which smack of the apartheid propaganda era.

In her maiden speech as incoming Premier of the Western Cape, Zille said:

“…we will devise ways of letting the sun shine into our administration, and of making accurate information on our activities more easily accessible to citizens, not only so that we are held more accountable, but so that we can jointly address the obstacles that stifle development and retard progress.” (Zille, May 2009)

Premier Zille dismally fails to keep her promise made in her acceptance speech by immediately terminating the Social Transformation Project (STP) and ongoing moves to disestablish the PDC and now rumor has it that the Community Advice Offices will suffer the same fate. The Premier is clearly making use of the political machinery to influence the attitudes, opinions and behaviour of key stakeholders to secure the political will necessary to close democratic spaces such as the PDC, only to be replaced with formations which will not be regulated by an Act – opening the door for parasitic relations between the state and its ‘vehicles’ for social dialogue.

Whilst the Premier in her speeches and Provincial Government in its policy statements talk to the role of communication in supporting democratic development and stimulating economic growth; in practice communication remains a relatively under-prioritised area of their so-called ‘good governance’ agenda to the detriment of the poor and marginalised.

When planning the death of the PDC, through strategic use of media and political communication the powers that be have closed down public debate in the province around the issue and surprise, surprise utilised the mainstream media to oil the wheels of propaganda.

As civil society structures and formations representing a range of constituencies across the province, we demand to better understand the circumstance under which the PGWC reached the conclusion to shut down the PDC.

It appears the PDC was found ‘guilty’ and sentenced to death publicly before any trial was held as can be seen from MEC Winde’s statements in the Media and business’s submission to PGWC which states the following in terms of the outcomes of the review of the PDC: ‘the report received is not a report based on fact, but a report based on assumptions and suggestions.  In some cases, ‘out-dated’ facts were taken and made to fit the present situation in spite of the fact that the report is dated May 2010.

Not only is this a short-sighted way of reporting on or doing a review, it also clearly shows the subjectivity of the review. It ensures the outcome desired by the reviewers’ (Business submission to Government’s presentation at the PDC Council, 1st June 2010) referring to the Provincial Government of the Western Cape.

Clearly the MECs statements in the media have served to mislead the public. The public has the Rigt2Know the truth.
Organizations and individuals wishing to endorse or add their names to the Submission can do so by e- mailing sangocowesterncape@telkomsa.net

Please direct questions and interview requests to:
Tasneem Gamieldien – 082 315 9435 – 021 447 6388 – sangocowesterncape@telkomsa.net

For more about SANGOCO, refer to: www.sangoco.org.za.

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