Leader of the Congress of the People (Cope) in the Eastern Cape, Sam Kwelita, says it is important to make the government accountable and that this was a way to safeguard basic human rights.
Leader of the Congress of the People (Cope) in the Eastern Cape, Sam Kwelita, says it is important to make the government accountable and that this was a way to safeguard basic human rights.
Kwelita was speaking at the launch of the party's Community Service Work programme at the Indoor Sports Centre in Grahamstown on Saturday. He said the aim of the programme was to put public representatives in contact with communities.
About 300 people attended the launch, as well as Cope officials from the national and provincial parliaments. Among them were Cope national deputy president Zale Madonsela, from Mpumalanga, party leader in the Western Cape, Mbulelo Ncedana and Archie Ralo, the Eastern Cape party secretary. If government refuses to be accountable, we are not afraid to force it.
We are not going to beg them. We cannot go and beg government for houses, said Kwelita. Our leaders are more concerned about themselves and are forgetting people. Kwelita said Cope wanted to bring back the values of leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Chief Albert Luthuli and Chis Hani. He said Cope knew there were people who would try to suppress the programme.
On Friday, he had gone to the township and visited homes, witnessing first-hand poorly built houses and toilets. "The municipality must account for that," Kwelita said. "Government is not doing charity work. It is responsible."
Ralo said taxes must be used to benefit the people. "We want to help and develop a culture of an active citizenry for a better livelihood. We have a responsibility to go to those who [take]people's taxes and push them to deliver services," Ralo said.
Cope national deputy president, Madonsela, said, By this initiative we are trying to defend the constitution and human rights. We want to ensure that what is on the Bill of Rights Chapter 2 does happen.
The ANC does not have money. It's our money… the taxes we all pay. Kwelita said while in Grahamstown, they had also discovered that their constituency offices in the town did not have government documents that could help people with information. In fact, people didn't even know Cope had constituency offices in Grahamstown. He said they aimed to change this and to make sure their public representatives went out to the communities on a regular basis and listened to the people.
