Time to rethink the powers invested in our president
OUR government has progressed in so many ways and has failed in so many dismal ways. We now have a president safeguarded through the appointment of his friends.
I say this in support of the honest truth spoken by the Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke: that it is time to rethink the powers invested in the president.
This is one of the most profound statements about the poor behaviour of President Jacob Zuma, who is unable to think about or take care of every challenge the country faces.
The ANC, SACP and Cosatu are a shame these days. They want to be in control and continue to force nonsense down our throats. They win only due to connections, weak implementation of the law and general abuse of power in our new democracy.
Since JZ is the leader of these failures, it is indeed timely to bring attention to the possibility of clipping the presidential powers.
We need to appoint educated individuals of moral calibre. How can an uneducated person change the lives of the poor?
“Don’t blame it on me,” is all Zuma has to offer. This style of government was created by those in the alliance who only got there by having connections of some sort. The result is mismanagement and conflict everywhere. These seem to be endless under his watch.
This is now even happening in parliament which is supposed to represent the people and where parliamentarians are obliged to ask questions. But apparently not in the parliament of today, the one in which the ANC seeks to shield the president and gag the opposition. Our coun- try’s Constitution needs to be adhered to by all. Come to your senses people before worse happens and then who can be blamed? Speak people, speak for change. — Mawanda Sihele, via e-mail
ANC move ‘stupid’
THE dissolution of the ANC Youth League interim committee speaks of the crisis facing the ruling party. Everything bad or evil that starts with the letter “c” describes the current ANC: cartel, contradiction, conmen/women, criminals, cancer, chameleons, com-tsotsis and crocodiles.
Others refer to it as the Anarchists’ National Congress for engaging in anarchy to install Jacob Zuma and continuing to defend him no matter how morally and politically wrong that may be.
Not long ago the ANC was an intelligent organisation and the moral vanguard of our nation with moral, spiritual and political leaders like Walter and Albertina Sisulu, who disliked corruption in theory and practice.
It was Zuma and Gwede Mantashe and their former allies Kgalema Motlanthe, Matthews Phosa and Baleka Mbete who legitimised the fraudulent election of Julius Malema, who replaced Fikile Mbalula as ANCYL president. Shame on you Zuma and cronies, that dissolution vindicates Malema who said: “I bet you the ANCYL will never be the same after our purging by a kangaroo court of [Cyril] Ramaphosa, Jeff Radebe, Susan Shabangu and Derek Hanekom”.
You are delivering young voters to the EFF in the same way you delivered voters due to e-tolls. The masses will punish the ANC. The dissolution means “for Zuma, the ANC is ready to take stupid decisions”. — Nomava Dlikilili, via e-mail
Pedestrian controversy
MONDE Tabata (“End carnage on our roads by respecting pedestrians” DD, November 21) makes a good point about the driving behaviour of motorists, citing several of the multitude of bad examples displayed in East London.
Yet he tells only half the story, because the road courtesy of motorists and pedestrians is a two-way street.
Yes, motorists often demonstrate bullying behaviour, presumably because they believe that might is right. However, the behaviour of many pedestrians also leaves much to be desired.
We witness daily those who, for example, walk against red robots, who do not use marked pedestrian crossings, who, jaywalk, who walk on the road instead of a footpath, who wander onto the roads in a drunken stupor and who do not look before stepping out onto a road.
And there seem to be no sanctions for such life-imperilling behaviour.
Where are the traffic police mandated to control traffic?
Nevertheless, road safety is surely a life survival skill which everyone can adopt and master for themselves.
If Singapore’s pedestrians were able to discipline themselves to change and behave like first-world citizens, why can’t our local population? — Bill Gould, Southernwood q I SHARE the concern about the hazards pedestrians face in crossing streets in East London. It’s an old problem going back decades. We can only speculate about why the city never addressed a hazard affecting thousands in the CBD and at major shopping areas.
Part of the problem is our own complacency as citizens. We do not demand the services we deserve from our local government structures. Democracy only works if the citizenry is active in holding government to account at all times. A wide range of solutions exist to solve the pedestrian problem – these have been used by different cities worldwide.
Structural solutions such as tunnels and over-passes, for example, that separate the pedestrians from the cars and can carry large volumes of people over busy intersections such as those along lower Oxford Street.
We could increase the number of traffic lights to slow down traffic and allow time for pedestrians to cross.
We could deploy some of our traffic police to man the zebra crossings in high volume areas at regular intervals and hand out heavy fines to drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians or who cut off pedestrians at robot intersections.
We all know it takes time to change driver behaviour but heavy fines, revoking licences and driver education classes before you can get your licence back will usually get most drivers’ attention
But the start would be for the citizens to take the problem to city hall. — Wongaletu Vanda, via e-mail Write to the Editor at 35 Caxton Street, East London 5201. Fax: (043) 743 5155. Email: letters@dispatch.co.za. Please include your name, telephone number and address. Letters should not exceed 200 words. The Editor reserves the right to edit or reject letters. Preference will go to readers writing under their own full name.