Mevrou die Adjunkspeaker, die proses van die aanstelling van die raadslede van die SABC-raad het die tekortkominge van die Grondwet as 'n instrument wat 'n komplekse samelewing moet reguleer, onderstreep. [Madam Deputy Speaker, the process of appointing board members to the SABC board has underlined the shortcomings of the Constitution as an instrument that must regulate a complex society.]
Having regard to the process of selecting the SABC board members, the following facts have been confirmed. Once again, the Constitution allows the majority party to control the selection process and thus all appointments to be made in all levels of government. From this flows further consequence, for instance the appointment of whoever the majority party wishes, irrespective of skills, orientation and representation. The further consequence of the absence of a constitutional check on the powers of the majority party is the creation of a dispensation whereby opposition parties can only influence and make appointments by the grace of the ANC.
What we have here is an overshoot of power by one entity, namely the majority party that disallows democratic space for Afrikaners and minorities within the current constitutional system owing to a constitutional vacuum. The pure weight of this power is unsustainable because it cannot be carried by our diverse societal environment.
The current entropy of the societal system, of which the SABC is an important part, is being hastened by the lack of service delivery ironically brought about by systemic discrimination against Afrikaners and other minorities that have the requisite skills and experience to solve the service delivery conundrum in the SABC and, more importantly, in the municipalities across the country as well as in the various provincial and national departments.
Die aanstelling van die SABC-raad is ook gedoen sonder om werklik 'n premie te plaas op die verteenwoordiging van al Suid-Afrika se gemeenskappe. So het die Afrikaanse gemeenskap geen werklike kampioen op die SABC-raad nie. Daar was weliswaar 'n vergunning van die ANC om 'n baie bevoegde Afrikaanse persoon aan te stel, te wete dr Danny Titus, vir wie ek baie respek het, maar van die ander opposisiepartye het die geleentheid tot sy aanstelling verbrou en sodoende is 'n vyfde posisie vir die opposisie op die lys verbeur. Die punt is egter dat die Grondwet ironies toelaat dat die ANC sy kaders kan ontplooi, maar nie noodwendig dat alle gemeenskappe behoorlike verteenwoordiging kry nie. Dit is die ironie van die Suid-Afrikaanse situasie op die oomblik.
Die gevolgtrekking te make vanuit hierdie proses kan soos volg opgesom word: Suid-Afrika se grondwet is wesenlik defektief. Dit kan herlei word na die onderhandelinge van 1994, wat geboorte gegee het aan die huidige Grondwet. Die onderhandelinge self was wesenlik gebrekkig aangesien die onderhandelaars van die Nasionale Party effektief uitoorl is deur die ANC se bewese onderhandelaars. Daarom is daar geboorte gegee aan 'n gebrekkige Grondwet wat al die magsoorheersing toelaat soos dit vandag gebeur.
Daarom is ons nou op soek na 'n waarlik beter bedeling waarin 'n ewewig heers tussen minderhede en die meerderheid, nie op grond van gunste nie, soos wat president Zuma tans doen nie, maar as 'n uitvloeisel van grondwetlike imperatief. Daarom, terwyl ek en my kollegas in die VF Plus gebruik sal maak van die instrumente in die huidige Grondwet, sal ons in voortdurende stryd met die ANC verkeer om die Grondwet te verbeter. Om bloot die huidige Grondwet te beskerm sonder 'n plan vir die toekoms, sonder om die gebreke daarin aan te vul is die domein van 'n uitsiglose opposisieparty waarvan sommige tans in die Parlement sit. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[The SABC board was appointed without really placing a premium on the representation of all the South African communities. Hence the Afrikaans community has no real champion on the SABC board. Indeed, there was a concession from the ANC to appoint a very competent Afrikaans person, Dr Danny Titus, for whom I have a lot of respect, but some of the other opposition parties spoiled the opportunity of his appointment and so a fifth position on the list for the opposition was forfeited.
The point however is that the Constitution ironically allows the ANC to deploy its cadres, but this doesn't necessarily mean that every community has proper representation. This is the irony of the South African situation at present.
The conclusion that we can draw from this process can be summarised as follows: South Africa's Constitution is fundamentally flawed. This can be traced bach to the negotiations of 1994, which gave birth to the current Constitution. The negotiations themselves were essentially flawed, seeing as the negotiators of the National Party were effectively outmanoeuvred by the proven negotiators of the ANC. Therefore, a flawed Constitution was brought to life that allows all the power domination that is happening today.
That is why we are now looking for a truly better dispensation where there will be a balance between minorities and the majority, not on the basis of favours, as President Zuma is doing, but as a result of the constitutional imperative. Therefore, while my colleagues and I in the FF Plus will make use of the instruments in the current Constitution, we will be in constant battle with the ANC to improve the Constitution. The mere protection of the current Constitution without a plan for the future, without supplementing the shortcomings, is the domain of an opposition party without vision, some of which are sitting in this Parliament.]