Johannesburg - All states should be honest with their citizens, Cope first
deputy president and member of parliament Mbhazima Shilowa said on
Thursday.
He was addressing the annual conference of the Black Management
Forum (BMF) in Midrand on the topic of the maintenance of economic
fundamentals against the backdrop of the present global economic
meltdown.
Shilowa urged the government to engage with communities on
service delivery.
"They must tell the people that they thought they could provide
sanitation and water.
"They must say: 'here are the plans, we thought we could do it
now. We can't do it now but we will do it," he said.
He suggested that government keep a check on unnecessary
spending.
"The government could say that it is facing difficult times and
it will therefore cut down on perks and salaries.
"It would then be in a position to approach CEOs of big business
and suggest that they tighten their belts too," he said.
Shilowa said it was hard for any government to face its workers
and ask them to tighten their belts when members of government were
flaunting their wealth.
All South Africans should aim to have a shared perspective
during the present difficult economic conditions.
"At the moment we don't have a shared perspective and a shared
idea of where we want to go," he said.
Shilowa said he had been reproached for attacking government
"all the time".
"But when things go wrong in Cope at any time, they put the boot
in," he said.
Shilowa was of the opinion that the National Planning Commission
served its purpose.
"Leave aside Trevor [Manuel, Minister in the Presidency], the
National Planning Commission is important - it shouldn't have been
given only six months to report back to the president.
"The government should have said to Trevor that he had 12 to 18
months to sit down and engage with society and only then produce
the first draft," Shilowa said.
Turning to the recession, he advised government to identify key
sections of the economy that could be a catalyst for recovery.
"By that I mean industries that will move out of the recession
faster than others," he said.
- Sapa