Delegates attending a national conference of political start-up Rise Mzansi are set to discuss six themes aimed at addressing some of the socioeconomic crises dogging the country, when they meet in October.
SA is faced with unprecedented revenue and spending pressures as the economy falters amid load-shedding, inflation and stagnant growth. The country is also dogged by a high joblessness rate, entrenched poverty, widening inequality, systemic corruption, violent crime and crumbling infrastructure.
In a media briefing on the party’s state of readiness for its People’s Convention to be held at constitution Hill, Johannesburg, from October 6-8, Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi, a former Business Day editor, said since its launch in April, party leaders had held numerous meetings with people from all walks of life, including the business sector and academia, across the country’s nine provinces.
At these engagements, Zibi said these were the issues keeping citizens awake at night: “They talk about the hunger stalking the land, the drugs epidemic enveloping villages and townships, and taking families to breaking point. They speak viscerally about the mental health struggles they deal with, with no public health support in most communities. They talk about the suicides, the depression and sense of despair.”
Zibi said these conversations had influenced the “structure, nature and flow of the People’s Convention”.
“They are at the heart of why it will be different to anything most people expect to see in SA politics. We have had intense, respectful and considered conversations about immigration and how to fix its brokenness. People understand that we cannot fix our immigration system when we have a political party that is busy breaking the government, and we have a defence force that is bankrupt and ill-equipped to patrol and protect our borders.”
Zibi said conference documents would be released on Friday to “provoke conversations”.
The People’s Convention themes lean on six pillars including family in all its forms; community; governance; economy; nation building; and climate change.
Rise Mzansi wants each family to have access to three full meals per day; rural households to have access to potable water; a decent and affordable housing solution; and access to mental healthcare facilities.
The governance theme deals with electoral reform, candidate selection, immigration reform, fighting corruption and cabinet, civil service and security cluster reforms, green spaces and parks, among other issues.
On the economy, urgent steps needed to be taken to reduce the “worsening fiscal crisis”; reallocate funds to fund food security; basic needs support and early childhood development; and fighting organised financial crimes. Zibi took issue about the continued bailing out of struggling state-owned enterprises by the government, saying Transnet alone paid R1bn interest on its debt: “Most of it is guaranteed by the government.”
Figures released by the Treasury show the budget deficit hit R143.8bn, the largest since 2004 and greater than economists’ forecasts of R115.5bn.
This has spurred the Treasury to propose a raft of measures/budget cuts aimed at reining in public spending over the medium term, which public service unions have rejected.
The Treasury proposals come before the presentation of the medium-term budget policy statement in November, in which finance minister Enoch Godongwana is expected to detail the estimated R22bn revenue shortfall for the 2023/24 financial year, and the Treasury’s plans to rein in public debt.
At the briefing, Zibi said a month after the convention, “We will publish the People’s Manifesto, which will form the basis of the People’s Plan for Change that will be published in February 2024. The People’s Manifesto and the People’s Plan for Change will be the content platforms for our election campaign.”
Rise Mzansi will contest the provincial and national elections in 2024, in which the governing ANC’s electoral support is expected to drop below 50%, according to several surveys, including one by the ANC itself.
Zibi said the People’s Convention will be “full of energy, encapsulate both serious discussions and performance art as a form of political expression”.
“It will be a real festival of solutions, not the yawn fests of long tables, long boring speeches and tired, sleeping delegates at midnight listening to tepid contributions from politicians who think they know much but do not,” he said.
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