With national elections coming up in June 2014, we thought it a good idea to draw up a manifesto. We dare candidates in the upcoming election to endorse this manifesto:
Human rights
I hereby declare that all humans are equal and that nobody has the right to be treated differently from any other citizen in South Africa.
I believe that foreign guests are our guests and need to be treated with respect. The conditions of their visit should be efficiently and clearly communicated to them and there must be a path for them to earn a living graciously if they comply with foreign rules to enter the country.
Ground rights
Nobody has the right to property because they arrived their first. However, we are where we are now and landownership is a fact of life. I agree to not undermine the rights of landowners.
Land owners, by virtue of their ownership have a responsibility to non-owners to respect the rights that non owners. These rights include:
Personal conduct
Public officials agree to complete transparency into their financial conduct. That means that by running for office, I agree to answer all questions about my finances.
I agree to disclose all sources of personal income for myself or people who are affiliated to me.
I agree to resign my office if I am found guilty of any of the following matters:
Corruption
I hereby accept the responsibility to not accept any funds or benefit beyond what has been agreed in my salary package. I understand that my job requires me to be impartial and manage the financial interest of my office impartially. Failure to do so, will force me to resign my position.
I agree to abide by the code of conduct set out by the the office of the president and if I am found guilty of corruption by an inquiry by the Corruption Oversight committee, I will immediately resign my post and repay the funds in question to my office.
Auditing
I agree to publish regular (monthly, bi-annually and yearly) data on the financial affairs of my constituency.
Oversight
I agree to the creation of an oversight body specifically designed to monitor my position in regards to the matter above.
I agree to help fund this position indirectly via government funds and withdrawal of my support for this position, will constitute violation of the commitment of this manifesto.
I agree that the Corruption Oversight committee will have the rights to enforce their findings by suspending and dismissing suspect corrupt officials. The only requirement of the Committee is to be transparent and to publish all information and facts to their disposal.
Crime
I agree to making all citizens safe and will do everything in my position to first provide safety for all South Africans. We can only go forward if people are safe and have something to lose.
Any complicity or ignorance of crime will be seen as incompetence on my side.
I will always have a plan in place and will be working towards reducing crime.
I agree to create an impartial police force that have a separate and independent management structure.
I agree to the creation of a specialist support unit (like the Scorpions) whose job is to support and enforce anti corruption laws.
Law enforcement
The police has the responsibility to protect the people of South Africa and must be unscrupulous in this regards. I will support the dismissal of all law enforcement officials who are found guilty of bias or incompetence.
Living conditions
All South Africans have the right to safe lodging.
I will support schemes to legitimize squatters and assist them to gain ownership of their property.
I will support schemes to provide finance to people to buy their own property.
Services
I will provide complete support to provide stable and good quality water, electricity, sewerage and refuse removal services to all people.
I will engage in programs to maintain and upgrade the quality of services for all people. This plan will be publicly available for comment and improvement.
I promise to treat the people as my customers. Me and my office will treat them with respect and the dignity that people who pay my salary deserve.
Mass action
I accept the right of the mass to use the power of collective bargaining to negotiate with. However, this is a last resort and all other options must be explored before mass action is taken.
I also accept the right of employers to make alternative arrangements in order to protect their commercial interests.
The guiding principle is that the impact cost of mass action shall be shared by both the parties involved equally. That typically results in no remuneration to workers during mass action and the cost of alternative arrangements to fall on the employer.
The future
I promise to plan for the future by engaging in sustainable and renewable techniques and technologies. That means that when I make a decision between two alternatives of approximately the same cost, that I will select the technology with the most sustainable and renewable future.
Specific issues
Madibeng
Oukasie
I promise to set up an independent policy force that is elected on an annual basis by the people of Oukasie to operate in Oukasie.
I promise to publish all crime statistics on the Internet for budgeting and accountability purposes.
Services in Oukasie must be fixed:
Electricity safe supply to houses.
Water continuity and safe supply.
Internet access for all residence using wifi or wimax at affordable rates. Internet access is a basic human right and all people should have access to the internet at reasonable rates.
Hartbeespoortdam
I will clean up the Hartbeespoortdam by identifying and publishing sources of pollution. Once identified, legal action will be taken to curb that pollution.
Schoemansville
I support the right of individuals to protect themselves and will support all reasonable measures by the community to make themselves safe.
I also agree to work towards identifying weakness in the service infrastructure, to publish those weaknesses and to develop a plan to improve them. That means better electricity and water supply as well as improved handling of the sewerage.
I will work towards providing blanket internet coverage in Schoemansville for all its citizens at a reasonable cost.
Human rights
I hereby declare that all humans are equal and that nobody has the right to be treated differently from any other citizen in South Africa.
I believe that foreign guests are our guests and need to be treated with respect. The conditions of their visit should be efficiently and clearly communicated to them and there must be a path for them to earn a living graciously if they comply with foreign rules to enter the country.
Ground rights
Nobody has the right to property because they arrived their first. However, we are where we are now and landownership is a fact of life. I agree to not undermine the rights of landowners.
Land owners, by virtue of their ownership have a responsibility to non-owners to respect the rights that non owners. These rights include:
- Access to public ground over private land via servitudes.
- Save passage along or over private ground.
Personal conduct
Public officials agree to complete transparency into their financial conduct. That means that by running for office, I agree to answer all questions about my finances.
I agree to disclose all sources of personal income for myself or people who are affiliated to me.
I agree to resign my office if I am found guilty of any of the following matters:
- Incompetence (not attending my job daily)
- Violating any law of South Africa and being found guilty of that in a court of law.
- Found guilty of conduct not becoming of my position.
Corruption
I hereby accept the responsibility to not accept any funds or benefit beyond what has been agreed in my salary package. I understand that my job requires me to be impartial and manage the financial interest of my office impartially. Failure to do so, will force me to resign my position.
I agree to abide by the code of conduct set out by the the office of the president and if I am found guilty of corruption by an inquiry by the Corruption Oversight committee, I will immediately resign my post and repay the funds in question to my office.
Auditing
I agree to publish regular (monthly, bi-annually and yearly) data on the financial affairs of my constituency.
Oversight
I agree to the creation of an oversight body specifically designed to monitor my position in regards to the matter above.
I agree to help fund this position indirectly via government funds and withdrawal of my support for this position, will constitute violation of the commitment of this manifesto.
I agree that the Corruption Oversight committee will have the rights to enforce their findings by suspending and dismissing suspect corrupt officials. The only requirement of the Committee is to be transparent and to publish all information and facts to their disposal.
Crime
I agree to making all citizens safe and will do everything in my position to first provide safety for all South Africans. We can only go forward if people are safe and have something to lose.
Any complicity or ignorance of crime will be seen as incompetence on my side.
I will always have a plan in place and will be working towards reducing crime.
I agree to create an impartial police force that have a separate and independent management structure.
I agree to the creation of a specialist support unit (like the Scorpions) whose job is to support and enforce anti corruption laws.
Law enforcement
The police has the responsibility to protect the people of South Africa and must be unscrupulous in this regards. I will support the dismissal of all law enforcement officials who are found guilty of bias or incompetence.
Living conditions
All South Africans have the right to safe lodging.
I will support schemes to legitimize squatters and assist them to gain ownership of their property.
I will support schemes to provide finance to people to buy their own property.
Services
I will provide complete support to provide stable and good quality water, electricity, sewerage and refuse removal services to all people.
I will engage in programs to maintain and upgrade the quality of services for all people. This plan will be publicly available for comment and improvement.
I promise to treat the people as my customers. Me and my office will treat them with respect and the dignity that people who pay my salary deserve.
Mass action
I accept the right of the mass to use the power of collective bargaining to negotiate with. However, this is a last resort and all other options must be explored before mass action is taken.
I also accept the right of employers to make alternative arrangements in order to protect their commercial interests.
The guiding principle is that the impact cost of mass action shall be shared by both the parties involved equally. That typically results in no remuneration to workers during mass action and the cost of alternative arrangements to fall on the employer.
The future
I promise to plan for the future by engaging in sustainable and renewable techniques and technologies. That means that when I make a decision between two alternatives of approximately the same cost, that I will select the technology with the most sustainable and renewable future.
Specific issues
Madibeng
Oukasie
I promise to set up an independent policy force that is elected on an annual basis by the people of Oukasie to operate in Oukasie.
I promise to publish all crime statistics on the Internet for budgeting and accountability purposes.
Services in Oukasie must be fixed:
Electricity safe supply to houses.
Water continuity and safe supply.
Internet access for all residence using wifi or wimax at affordable rates. Internet access is a basic human right and all people should have access to the internet at reasonable rates.
Hartbeespoortdam
I will clean up the Hartbeespoortdam by identifying and publishing sources of pollution. Once identified, legal action will be taken to curb that pollution.
Schoemansville
I support the right of individuals to protect themselves and will support all reasonable measures by the community to make themselves safe.
I also agree to work towards identifying weakness in the service infrastructure, to publish those weaknesses and to develop a plan to improve them. That means better electricity and water supply as well as improved handling of the sewerage.
I will work towards providing blanket internet coverage in Schoemansville for all its citizens at a reasonable cost.
