African National Congress (ANC) stalwart and former premier of Limpopo, Stanley Mathabatha says while his party has made significant progress in improving lives of South Africans over the past three decades, serious mistakes were also made along the way.
The ANC Limpopo provincial chairperson, who is also Land Reform and Rural Development Deputy Minister was giving his reflections and opinions in an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, as the ANC marked its 113th anniversary milestone on Wednesday.
He said part of the ANC’s good story includes schools and roads which have been built across the country, including in remote areas. He also mentioned hospitals which have been built to improve the welfare of previously marginalised communities.
“But equally, we committed mistakes, very fundamental mistakes. We had good plans that we could not implement because of these mistakes. The main issue that one would want to raise is, as an example, we planned in a proactive and developmental manner but when we came to budgeting, we were more philanthropic than developmental,” he said.
“Our plans did not talk to the budget. You had the RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme), but you did not budget for the RDP. You budgeted for something else. You took the money to build people houses, instead of helping people to build their own houses, using the money to help people to build their own houses. You actually built houses for them, which in my view was a sort of a contradiction in terms of matching the budget and the plans that we had.”
He emphasised that the approach of the ANC-led government became philanthropic instead of being developmental.
The deputy minister said one of the biggest mistakes committed by the ANC government was to “destroy” structures of the state, including the elite crime-busting unit, the Scorpions.
The Scorpions were disbanded in January 2009 after the ANC resolution at its Polokwane conference in 2007.
“The mistake was to destroy the good structures that we had established to exert the authority of the state, for example the Scorpions. I still believe it was a fundamental mistake to do away with the Scorpions. I was there (at the Polokwane conference), hence I am owning up to the mistake,” said Mathabatha.
“In hindsight, I would say we shouldn’t have taken that resolution. At that time, I believed it was a correct decision. Hindsight is more often a very good sight," he said.
"Had we not taken that decision, perhaps the authority of the state would not have been undermined as it is today, where you have construction mafias doing whatever they are doing today and discrediting the authority of this government.”
On Tuesday, IOL reported that the ANC has strongly rejected accusations that its supporters will need to bear the financial burden of attending the party's 113th anniversary celebrations set to take place in Khayelitsha, over the weekend.
The event, set for January 11, will see President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver the January 8 Statement at Mandela Park Stadium.
IOL