CAPE TOWN — The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is propagating the improbable scenario that it will dislodge the Democratic Alliance (DA) in next week’s election, but has rejected the possibility of an alliance with "neoliberal" parties such as the African National Congress (ANC) should it end up in the opposition benches of the provincial legislature.
Pollsters project that the party of red berets led by Julius Malema will win about 6%-8% of the vote nationally, but the EFF’s premier candidate for the Western Cape Nazier Paulsen predicts that the thousands who live in informal settlements will make their mark for his party.
Mr Paulsen outlined the EFF’s policies for members of the Cape Town Press Club on Friday.
A born and bred Capetonian, he was involved in the United Democratic Front and was a member of the ANC which he left to join the Congress of the People (Cope) a few years ago.
Central to the EFF’s strategy for upliftment would be the creation of a national and provincial state-owned construction company for the building of houses and schools which Mr Paulsen said would eliminate the costs incurred by the current provincial administration in outsourcing this function.
He claimed that the party would create 100,000 jobs in its first year of operation and wipe out informal settlements in the Cape Town metropole within five years. It would also act as a nexus for training the artisans needed for the building projects and a host of associated secondary industries. This would redress what Mr Paulsen said was the lack of housing development capacity within the provincial administration.
There was a need to deliver 500,000 houses in the 234 informal settlements in the province in the shortest possible time, he stressed.
To help address the serious problem of youth unemployment, 40% of the jobs in the envisaged state construction company would be earmarked for unemployed youth.
Waiting lists for houses would also be made public to prevent corruption, and the distribution of social grants would be decentralised from national to provincial level.
One of the more outlandish proposals of the EFF is to "nationalise the ocean", so that the fish drawn from it could benefit everybody.
High on the list of the party’s policy objectives is the promotion of women.
Mr Paulsen was very critical of the dominance of white males (60%) in the all-male provincial cabinet. He insisted that the EFF was 100% gender balanced and that all administrative posts would be strictly filled the basis of gender equality.
The EFF is also promising free education up until the completion of the first university degree, more feeding schemes for the poor, improved healthcare and the provision of farm land to the landless and farmworkers. Race and gender discrimination would be declared illegal and no major decision would be taken without consultation.
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town has rejected ANC allegations of irregularities in the awarding of a housing tender to Filcon, a company which last week applied to the Cape High Court for business rescue because of cash flow problems.
"They have no evidence of any irregularities in the awarding of contracts by the city and we welcome any investigation into the tender allocation process, as we have nothing to hide. This is nothing more than a last-ditch effort before the election to cast doubts on the DA-led City of Cape Town, and deflect attention away from the whiff of scandal and corruption that stalks so many of the ANC’s leaders in the Western Cape," said the city’s head of human settlements Tandeka Gqada.
She said Filcon had been subcontracted to undertake the upgrade of council’s rental accommodation at the beginning of 2013 in accordance with the city’s procurement guidelines. One of the key requirements was a positive credit rating, which Filcon had when the contract was awarded. Negotiations with other contractors were expected to be concluded this week and for work on the unfinished units to resume next week.
Transport and Public Works MEC Robin Carlisle noted that the Western Cape provincial government had awarded a R116m contract to Filcon for the construction of three schools, of which R35.2m had been paid.
"The tender adjudication processes in this province are fair and free from undue influence and corruption, contrary to the ANC’s claims. When construction projects are adversely affected by poor performance from contractors, we take all actions necessary to ensure that the situation is speedily remedied and work is then delivered; in time, and at the necessary and requisite standards," Mr Carlisle said.
Party leader Julius Malema waves to Economic Freedom Fighters supporters at the launch of its election manifesto in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg, in February. Picture: REUTERS
CAPE TOWN — The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is propagating the improbable scenario that it will dislodge the Democratic Alliance (DA) in next week’s election, but has rejected the possibility of an alliance with "neoliberal" parties such as the African National Congress (ANC) should it end up in the opposition benches of the provincial legislature.
Pollsters project that the party of red berets led by Julius Malema will win about 6%-8% of the vote nationally, but the EFF’s premier candidate for the Western Cape Nazier Paulsen predicts that the thousands who live in informal settlements will make their mark for his party.
Mr Paulsen outlined the EFF’s policies for members of the Cape Town Press Club on Friday.
A born and bred Capetonian, he was involved in the United Democratic Front and was a member of the ANC which he left to join the Congress of the People (Cope) a few years ago.
Central to the EFF’s strategy for upliftment would be the creation of a national and provincial state-owned construction company for the building of houses and schools which Mr Paulsen said would eliminate the costs incurred by the current provincial administration in outsourcing this function.
He claimed that the party would create 100,000 jobs in its first year of operation and wipe out informal settlements in the Cape Town metropole within five years. It would also act as a nexus for training the artisans needed for the building projects and a host of associated secondary industries. This would redress what Mr Paulsen said was the lack of housing development capacity within the provincial administration.
There was a need to deliver 500,000 houses in the 234 informal settlements in the province in the shortest possible time, he stressed.
To help address the serious problem of youth unemployment, 40% of the jobs in the envisaged state construction company would be earmarked for unemployed youth.
Waiting lists for houses would also be made public to prevent corruption, and the distribution of social grants would be decentralised from national to provincial level.
One of the more outlandish proposals of the EFF is to "nationalise the ocean", so that the fish drawn from it could benefit everybody.
High on the list of the party’s policy objectives is the promotion of women.
Mr Paulsen was very critical of the dominance of white males (60%) in the all-male provincial cabinet. He insisted that the EFF was 100% gender balanced and that all administrative posts would be strictly filled the basis of gender equality.
The EFF is also promising free education up until the completion of the first university degree, more feeding schemes for the poor, improved healthcare and the provision of farm land to the landless and farmworkers. Race and gender discrimination would be declared illegal and no major decision would be taken without consultation.
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town has rejected ANC allegations of irregularities in the awarding of a housing tender to Filcon, a company which last week applied to the Cape High Court for business rescue because of cash flow problems.
"They have no evidence of any irregularities in the awarding of contracts by the city and we welcome any investigation into the tender allocation process, as we have nothing to hide. This is nothing more than a last-ditch effort before the election to cast doubts on the DA-led City of Cape Town, and deflect attention away from the whiff of scandal and corruption that stalks so many of the ANC’s leaders in the Western Cape," said the city’s head of human settlements Tandeka Gqada.
She said Filcon had been subcontracted to undertake the upgrade of council’s rental accommodation at the beginning of 2013 in accordance with the city’s procurement guidelines. One of the key requirements was a positive credit rating, which Filcon had when the contract was awarded. Negotiations with other contractors were expected to be concluded this week and for work on the unfinished units to resume next week.
Transport and Public Works MEC Robin Carlisle noted that the Western Cape provincial government had awarded a R116m contract to Filcon for the construction of three schools, of which R35.2m had been paid.
"The tender adjudication processes in this province are fair and free from undue influence and corruption, contrary to the ANC’s claims. When construction projects are adversely affected by poor performance from contractors, we take all actions necessary to ensure that the situation is speedily remedied and work is then delivered; in time, and at the necessary and requisite standards," Mr Carlisle said.
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