Human Rights Day speech by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP (UDM President) to Witbank and Nkangala communities of Mpumalanga (21 March 2009)

South Africans do not trust the Ruling Party to fight corruption and nepotism.

Parliament in 1998 endorsed the need to invest in social security as opposed to the purchase of arms for war. Despite this Parliamentary resolution, the Ruling Party went ahead to invest in the Arms Deal.

It was not long after that when the motive of the ANC’s decision to invest in purchasing arms was exposed, namely to benefit its leaders as well as the party.

Today Jacob Zuma, Thabo Mbeki and Tony Yengeni, all could not finish their terms of office due to this common denominator: the Arms Deal Scandal.

They have also flatly refused to endorse the clarion call to have a judiciary inquiry into the matter.

The questions now on South African’s minds, when they go to the polls, are: Can we trust the ANC and its leaders to be good custodians of our Constitution? Can we trust them when they say that they will fight corruption when their leaders are dodging their day in court?

One thing is certain, they have disgraced the Country’s image internationally, especially on our own Continent, given the fact that we are among the champions of NEPAD which is underpinned by the need to promote the ethics of good governance.

The challenge now for South Africa is to make sure that we do not invest in a one party system, because in the last fifteen years, state resources have been looted by the comrades. They have actually put aside the original agenda to improve on the quality of life for all.

Is it not ironic that on this day of Human Rights, these same leaders are standing on public platforms singing a litany of promises, while we as a nation know that they don’t care about those suffering?

Indeed, can we trust them when they say that they will create jobs – whereas they have failed to do so in the past fifteen years?

Can we trust them when they say they will improve on the health system – when we know that our clinics and hospitals are dirty as we speak?

When people expect the Government to improve on their services, they are told that there is no money, but today Government has managed to hire thousands of buses carrying ANC placards to Human Rights Day rallies which will be addressed by ANC people only - giving the impression that Human Rights Day belongs to the Ruling Party alone.

A UDM government will see to it that those involved in corruption have their day in court, and that the guilty or not guilty verdict will be pronounced by judges. There will be no shortcuts; no blackmail tactics of state institutions will be tolerated.