GOOD Speech by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
16 March 2024
Note to editor: This speech was delivered today by GOOD Secretary-General and Member of Parliament, Brett Herron, at the launch of GOOD’s 2024 Election Manifesto in Johannesburg.
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1. INVEST FOR JOBS: Invest in public infrastructure: electricity, transport, water, housing, digital communications. These are the basics for real economic growth and will create jobs. Provide financial support for small businesses and reduce unemployment. Invest more in public employment programmes.
2. IMPLEMENT BIG: A R999 per month basic income grant to those without jobs. Increase other social grants in line with inflation. Reform and review the entire social security system e.g. to increase the Old Age Pension.
3. MAKE BASIC SERVICES AFFORDABLE: Basic services like electricity, water and sewerage must be affordable. What use is an electrical connection if you can’t afford any units?
4. FIX APARTHEID SPATIAL PLANNING: Accelerate land reform, redistribute well located land for more housing and socio-economic opportunities.
5. PUBLIC LAND FOR PUBLIC GOOD: public land belongs to the people of South Africa and should be used for the public good. Public good includessocio-economic objectives, land reform, black economic empowerment, alleviation of poverty, job creation and the redistribution of wealth
6. RENEW ELECTRICITY: Accelerate development of renewable energy generation and end loadshedding in partnership with private sector.
7. TRANSPORT: Prioritise and build quality public transport systems to affordably connect people to the economy.
8. CORRUPTION: Put systems in place to prevent and detect corruption and put crooked state officials in jail and not in government.
9. CRIME: Empower communities to assist the police to fight crime and GBVF; and redress the socio-economic conditions. It is obvious that we need better policing, but we also need to address the conditions that make crime prevalent in South Africa: poverty and inequality.
10. REFORM EDUCATION: Early childhood development learning lays the foundation for education and skills later in life. Invest more in the formative stage of our children.
Today, GOOD presents our plan for a fairer and more prosperous society, free from human suffering.
Our Leader has reminded us of the terrible suffering that still persists in our country.
And most of us already know, all too well, what South Africa’s problems are.
But few have taken the time to think carefully about the issues, and construct solutions that are properly researched, properly thought out and realistically capable of solving the problems that we face.
GOOD has done that.
Economy
We all know that South Africa’s economy is stalling, leaving millions unemployed and in poverty.
As our Leader has explained, that requires us to provide temporary relief, in the form of social grants, to ensure that nobody starves in a country with plenty of riches.
The dignity and basic human rights of everyone, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, must always be upheld.
That is our primary duty.
Economic Growth
But social security is just temporary relief. It is not a cure.
A holistic solution requires us to address the structural conditions in South Africa’s economy.
We need to plot a sustainable path away from poverty for the millions of people who are still suffering in this the most unequal and unfair country on earth.
While we must continue to provide social security for people who cannot find employment, the best path away from poverty is through the creation of jobs.
We all know that for more jobs to be created, we need more economic growth.
We need to aim for at least 5% economic growth if we are to meaningfully reduce unemployment.
The question is how to make the economy grow, and how we grow the economy in a way that is inclusive – so that it uplifts everyone, and works for the many, not the few.
Some answers are obvious.
The economy will not grow while we have rolling blackouts. It will also not grow while the logistical enablers of our economy, such as our ports and transport systems, are in a state of disrepair.
To get the economy moving again, we need to end our over-reliance on Eskom’s aging fleet of coal power stations.
We will provide a favourable environment for independent power producers to come on board and partner with government to rapidly introduce much more renewable energy and faster.
Ending loadshedding through the rapid introduction of renewable energy.
We need to get our trains back on track, and implement a drive to upgrade critical infrastructure urgently.
It’s not just our logistics infrastructure that needs upgrading.
All critical infrastructure – roads, transport, ports plus community-based amenities – must be brought up to the standard that we need to enable economic growth.
People living in shacks, with rain pouring through their roofs, sewage on their floors, its not OK.
Its not normal.
Its not fair.
And its not necessary.
Investing in infrastructure is the basics for economic growth:
GOOD will grow the economy in a way that uplifts everyone, by:
• Ending loadshedding through the rapid introduction of renewable energy.
• Urgently upgrading the critical infrastructure that makes the economy work, like energy, roads, transport, ports – and bring township infrastructure up to the same standard as wealthy suburbs.
• Removing the red tape and providing access to funding, especially for SMMEs, that are the barriers to growth of entrepreneurship.
• Strategic investment, by government, into key job-creating industries like green energy, tourism, manufacturing, ICT and infrastructure.
• Implementing a labour intensive comprehensive urban management programme which aims to provide massive employment opportunities and at the same time develop a skills base in critical arears of maintenance and urban management.
For example:
– Cleaning of parks, river banks, beaches and recreational areas;
– Cleaning of roads, pavements and stormwater drains and culverts, and;
– Upgrading and maintenance of sidewalks.
Green Economy And Environmental Justice
Our planet is heating to a level which threatens the survival of human life on earth.
This is no joke, no hoax and no small thing.
It is the greatest existential threat that humankind has ever faced.
Like everything else, it will be the poor who feel the brunt of climate change.
Competition for natural resources and habitable land will become fiercer.
The rich will buy their way out of discomfort, leaving the poor to face the effects of a problem that they didn’t create.
So, as we give South Africa a facelift, we also need to build the infrastructure to transition to a green economy, most notably energy and transport infrastructure.
We have a moral duty to act on the science of climate change to ensure that our planet and natural resources are available freely and sustainably for future generations.
But the transition also supports our objective of ending loadshedding.
Renewable energy is the future.
It is the cheapest and most efficient form of energy going forward.
Some coal-fired power may be inevitable in the short-to-medium term, but a GOOD government will not extend the life of our existing coal plants beyond their scheduled retirement age.
But as the world come to terms with the reality of global warming, countries who fail to make the transition to a green economy will be left behind.
They will be unattractive destinations for investment, and have a competitive disadvantage in global trade.
The transition to renewable energy must be just: Workers in the coal industry must have their livelihoods protected by re-skilling them for the renewable sector.
And, the extended communities that rely on the coal industry must be included in the just transition too.
The environmental conditions in our townships and informal settlements are diabolical.
Dirt piles up in the streets, pedestrians hop across rivulets of raw sewerage – it’s ideal for flies and cockroaches but not for people.
The quality of the environments in which we live arguably paints the starkest picture of inequality in our land.
We will clean it.
And as we embark upon this project of infrastructure investment and the green transition, we will create millions of jobs.
We will do it whatever the cost.
The rewards will change our society, and the cost of non-action is greater.
Some of the money will come from the public purse, some from the private sector, and some from international climate finance.
The wealthy countries which created the problem of climate change must pay for the solution in the developing world.
The twin crises of climate change and loadshedding must be answered with the same solution: the rapid transition to renewable energy, in partnership with the private sector.
Jobs
It is indeed a fallacy that the government cannot create jobs.
It is true that the private sector absorbs the majority of employment. But the government has a key role to play, both as an enabler for jobs, but also as an employer.
It is also true that the public sector wage bill is bloated, and has become a drain on the fiscus.
But that it not the fault of workers and honest civil-servants.
The bloated public wage bill is due to structural inefficiencies in our administration – which we must fix.
GOOD will embark upon a review and reform of the public administration, government and national and provincial legislatures.
GOOD will review the administrative structures of government, including the ministries and departments, to ensure that the structure can implement our proposed plans.
We will work to eliminate any inefficiency and incompetence in government by professionalising the administration and ensuring that we have the right skills and capacity.
This means that political leaders should not be involved in the recruitment of a professional public service.
We need to hire the workers that we need to do real work, on the ground, fixing our country and fulfilling its enormous potential.
Government can also play an active role in directing the economy so that it is beneficial to all of society.
This includes strategic investment in sectors that have high growth and employment potential – like green energy, infrastructure, tourism, ICT, entrepreneurs and more.
That is what a GOOD government will do.
And Government must also step up to plate to make conditions more favourable for business to flourish, and investment to flow in.
That means removing unnecessary administrative burdens on business, allowing business to work efficiently with as much freedom as possible.
We will encourage more entrepreneurship by removing the greatest barrier which is access to finance.
We have demonstrated, with our own small trader project, that with access to finance South Africans are resourceful.
Education
GOOD will also invest heavily in improving the standard of education in South Africa.
As more jobs are created, we must ensure that more people have the skills needed to benefit from an expanded job market.
It is unacceptable that there is such an inconsistent standard – not only between public and private schools, but more so between public schools in different areas.
A person’s fate should never be sealed from birth.
Everyone should have a reasonable chance to alter their trajectory and forge a better life.
Early childhood development learning lays the foundation for education and skills later in life.
GOOD will invest more in the formative stage of our children.
We support funding to create more early childhood development centres.
We need to upgrade our schools, our teachers, and teaching resources – including through the use of technology.
We will invest heavily in teacher and teaching resources especially in critical subjects, like maths, science and languages.
We will also increase the availability, and standard, of vocational and artisan skills training.
Housing
It is also unacceptable that almost 10 million South Africans are homeless or living in informal shelters.
The Constitution provides the right to housing, and housing is what we will deliver.
Housing that is adequate, affordable and connected to proper infrastructure.
There is no dignity without a safe space to call home, and no hope of overcoming the stain of our past.
GOOD will ensure that the budget and the partnerships are in place for rapidly advancing social housing and reducing homelessness.
We will use public land for public good, and make more well-located land available for affordable housing.
We will alter the financial thresholds for housing assistance, to make it more in keeping with the modern cost of living.
We will ensure that people get security of tenure and title deeds.
Spatial Justice
And housing must be built in tandem with the need for spatial justice.
South African societies still mirror the dispossession and exclusion of apartheid.
Poorer people, typically people of colour, are forced to the outskirts of urban areas, far away from economic opportunity.
They incur immense financial and physical cost to come to work each day, and access economic opportunity.
Apartheid may have ended in law, but in reality, it still exists.
No more.
The apartheid legacy will be overcome by releasing well-located land for affordable housing, implementing proper land reform and requiring developers to contribute to housing delivery with incentives for including affordable and accessible housing in their developments.
As we achieve spatial justice, the people that need access the most will be able to access the economy.
That’s inclusive growth.
Ethical Leadership
Economic growth and job creation also means eradicating corruption and maladministration that deters investment and prevents economic growth sufficient to create jobs at the rate we need.
Our manifesto contains a range of measures aimed at eliminating the stain of corruption, a sin committed on the poor, by the rich.
But it starts with leadership.
We will never eliminate corruption unless we elect leaders who are ethical and have hearts for people and public service.
Otherwise, it will just be business as usual, More of the same.
Every party has a manifesto full of promises, but will they ever implement it?
Implementation requires real leadership, experience, passion, intelligence and ethics.
We are proud that our Leader still stands tall as the ethical voice in South African politics.
Untainted after more than four decades of public service, Patricia De Lille’s credentials and credibility still stand beyond reapproach.
Can any other living South African, in public life, still make such a claim?
You may not know this, but the Presidency analyses the performance of all Ministers against prescribed objectives.
During her time as Minister of Public Works, the President gave Patricia de Lille a rating of “exceptional”, with a score of 91%.
And so, an objective analysis confirmed what we already knew: Patricia de Lille is a top performing Minister in Cabinet.
She gets on with her job and sticks to her principles.
Whether it was getting the infrastructure plan into action, providing for the development of green hydrogen, achieving real and meaningful land reform or building shelters for victims of GBVF – she answered the call and served her country.
Some people say they get things done. Others just do.
And we are proud to still say that we are the only political party in Parliament that is led by a woman.
We are proud of that, but we are also ashamed that in this country, there are still so many people who think women are inferior to men.
So, while GOOD is the only party with a woman leader, it really shouldn’t be that way.
And we say the same in the boardrooms, households and many other sectors of our society where women are still treated with disrespect and violence.
Patricia de Lille still stands proud today not because of what she is, but because of who she is.
A fearless and powerful woman who has dedicated her life to taking the fight up against evil.
From her first steps in the democratic Parliament, she led the charge to expose the corrupt Arms Deal and hold the wrongdoers to account.
Thirty years later and she has not flinched in the fight for justice and good governance.
The point is to not only look at the manifesto and plans being presented – but to look at who will be charged with implementing them.
South Africans know that Patricia De Lille gets things done.
Conclusion
GOOD is the vehicle she and we created to carry her values and legacy into the next generation.
A legacy of ethics and hard work.
A legacy of justice and fairness for all.
A legacy of looking out for one another, and lifting each other up, from the hallowed halls of the Union Buildings, to the person on the street.
She treats them all equally. And so do we.
GOOD is the only party that has a plan to Stop the Suffering that has carried on for too long in our beautiful country.
It is the only party that has engaged seriously with the problems, and forged real solutions.
It is the only party that has found a way to offer a rational brand of social democracy in an evolving modern economy.
It is a party of love and compassion.
It is a party of justice.
It is the only party for those who still care and believe in the dream of democratic South Africa.
To conclude, GOOD remains committed to social, spatial, economic and environmental justice.
Our manifesto seeks to address the suffering of the majority of the people of this country.
It is a call to all South Africans not to accept the suffering as okay or normal – whether we live with overwhelming, and unfair, suffering, or drive by it everyday without blinking an eye.
The suffering being experienced in our country is not normal and it is not ok.
Switch to GOOD and together we can end the suffering.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 082 518 3264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 073 367 1223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za