Additional Pictures of Democracy on Fire

DEMOCRACY ON FIRE IN SOSHANGUVE

Today Helen Zille visted Gauteng North and more specifically Mabopane and Soshanguve. During the visit the shocking failure to deliver services screamed out for all to see and demands that drastic action must be taken. Poor quality RDP building methods, questionable allocation of housing and failure to settle a dispute with residents regarding houses which they have owned for many years was paramount to the unhappiness of residents.

In Itsoseng residents who have been living in homes which were built on land forming part of the former Bophuthatswana live in constant threat of having perfectly good houses bulldozed to form way for inferior quality RDP houses on small pieces of land. What is worse they have lived there for 18 years and do not even know if once their home is bulldozed whether or not they will be given a RDP house due to the lack of disclosure and communication of the ANC government house. Residents and DA supporters live with constant threats and intimidation. Due to the dispute which the ANC can not rectify services remain undelivered to the majority of households in the area. These people know better than most what life under the ANC is like and they are calling for a change so that these and many other issues may be addressed in an efficient and speedy manner.

After visiting homes and seeing the failure of government in the area we went to Slovo Park where many DA supporters had gathered to hear our Leader speak. The ANC too had gathered and with state of the art sound systems, alcohol and burning branches, a burning motor vehicle tyre and a burning DA T-shirts tried to disrupt the meeting.

These ANC supporters do not believe that the Democratic Alliance or any other political party has a right to meet supporters. This lack of tolerance of certain South Africans is a symptom of the rot which exists in our country and which hampers our development. If we do not stand up for our rights to disagree who will stand up and protect each other when the rights set out in our constitution are infringed.

This behavior must be rooted out from the ranks of the supporters of the ruling party or one day they will wake up and not have any of their own rights. Tolerance is the cornerstone of the constitution which South Africans have fought so hard to obtain. In a country with one of the finest constitutions in the world, it is hard to believe that the more our country has changed the more it has stayed the same. Supporters of the ruling party need to accept the fact that more and more South Africans are choosing to change loyalties. Intimidation and acts of violence will not help their cause. It is precisely this lack of tolerance and belief in an equal opportunity society which is at the root of the serious failure to deliver services in the various wards of our country and the ANC supporters do not like this lack of service to be publicised in the Media as has occurred with the visit of Helen and Media today.

We commend the police and metro police for stepping in when the situation became overly violent and supporters and police were being injured by the drunken protestors. Rubber bullets were shot into the crowd on various occasions and in the end a few of the rabble were arrested. I am however surprised and disappointed that the various Metro and SAP vehicles present did not have a fire extinguisher in order to extinguish the burning branches and Tyre. In the end the SAP and the DA supporters had to put the fire out by other means as no fire extinguishers were present. What would happen if they arrived at a motor car accident and a small fire had started? Do they just sit back and wait for the car to explode even if their are people trapped in the car? Whilst I appreciate that police officers are not fire fighters I hope that this situation is rectified.

Today our Constitution was put on trial. Today it won. If our constitution is to continue to have the respect of the judiciary and police then the people need to respect the constitution. South Africans must bend over backwards to accommodate our differences and give each other the respect to disagree and to be different. In the end these rights are the only thing which can promise a country of equal opportunities for all. A country where democracy is not attacked in a park by drunken rabble. Are you going to just sit back and watch your rights being attacked and continue to just watch Television and go about your life since it does not affect you now? If you do that, who will help you when your rights are directly infringed? I urge you to assist us to fight for our right to be different. If you give just a bit of your time or resources, you can join in the fight to protect yourself and your family.

Brandon Topham

Chairman Democratic Alliance Gauteng North

0824143926