Manuel blasts state of nation
Ex-finance minister has harsh words for leaders at memorial for struggle hero
THE poor state of education, corruption at the highest level and a continued struggle for justice and equality were hot topics when former finance minister Trevor Manuel addressed the Kingswood College community in Grahamstown yesterday.
Speaking at the annual Neil Aggett Memorial Lecture hosted at the college, Manuel did not mince his words while honouring the memory of a man he said he considered remarkable.
“A nation bent on forgetting its past runs the risk of repeating its past. Keeping the memory [of Aggett] alive is remarkable,” he said. “Let us remember, he was a threat because he was a good example.”
Taking a swipe at national leaders and the Gupta family, Manuel said spending too much time focusing on accumulating material possessions signified nothing.
“Indeed if the accumulation of material wealth signified certain happiness Atul Gupta would be ecstatically happy, as he is one of the wealthiest people today.
“How he acquired his wealth is of course a subject of so much discussion.
“Even with all his wealth he is on record as a corrupt rogue whose wealth signifies nothing but destruction,” he said.
Manuel encouraged those attending to speak out about corruption and hold public representatives to account.
“Corruption never steals from the rich, but from the poor,” he said. “If you remain silent you might be seen as complicit in these things.
“Public representatives take an oath of office which [has been] ignored.
“When the head of state doesn’t understand what this means then we have a problem.”
Manuel said although the constitution embraced three arms of governance – the executive represented by the cabinet which included the ministries, the judiciary represented by the courts and the legislature represented by parliament – only the courts had shown true integrity.
“The courts hold others to account, but cannot lead,” he said.
“[The executive and legislature] have failed this country, failed to observe the decisions of the court.
“The Constitutional Court [even] found that Jacob Zuma failed to observe his oath of office.”
He said every person was protected by law through the constitution, “but not those who escape it”.
On the National Development Plan, he said it was not possible to raise the living standards of every person through once-off measures.
“If we can’t offer better prospects, what was the struggle for? The milestone of 1994 was not about the past but about the future,” he said. “What has happened since? “If we don’t start to look to the future we will live in memory and not in hope.”
Aggett, a former Kingswood pupil, studied medicine at the University of Cape Town and worked at the Tembisa and Baragwanath hospitals before becoming involved in the black trade union movement through the Food and Canning Workers Union.
In 1981, he was interrogated by security police and was found hanging in his cell at John Vorster Square on February 5 1982.
“He made a very deep commitment to this organisation and to the poor workers without expectations of earning a dime,” Manuel said.
“South Africa’s magnificent constitution embodies these values [shown by Aggett]. It reflects the fruits of our struggle.
“The deep tragedy is that we don’t engage it, understand it or teach it at our schools.”