Elite Club for the wealthy!

Johannesburg – The ANC was selling “face time” with cabinet ministers and government officials in an effort to raise funds, the Sunday Times reported in its early edition.

The scheme already had 2 000 paid-up members and promised businesses knowledge of “upcoming government decisions”. It was run from ANC headquarters Albert Luthuli House in Johannesburg where a call centre processed applicants.

It offered “silver”, “gold” or “platinum” membership for between R3 000 and R7 000. Big corporates were charged between R12 500 and R60 000.

The Sunday Times quoted an unnamed agent at the call centre as saying that the scheme was “a private ANC business initiative to assist business people to network with ANC policy makers”. It was also intended to help the country achieve its target of six percent economic growth.

The agent said members of the scheme were better placed to succeed in business than those who were not members. They gained insight into what government was doing and why and learnt of “upcoming government decisions”, she told the newspaper.

Renier Schoeman, the ANC’s national co-ordinator of corporate liaison, was in charge of the scheme.

ANC treasurer-general Mendi Msimang confirmed that ministers and government officials, including directors-general, were invited to functions organised exclusively for members of the scheme.

He denied that this amounted to selling access to government officials.

“I do not see anything wrong with it. It is meant to facilitate networking between ordinary business people and those in government. It is all about bringing people together.” He said government officials benefited by being able to identify “bottlenecks that may be there”.

The Sunday Times quoted scheme member and Limpopo businessman Tom Boya as saying that deputy minister of Sport and Recreation, Gert Oosthuizen had briefed members about opportunities linked to the 2010 Fifa World Cup long before the issue had become public.

“It opens doors and you can also get invited to high-profile ANC activities,” he was quoted as saying. He paid R3000 a year for his membership.

Party funding expert from the Institute for Democracy in SA, Richard Calland, was quoted as saying: “Selling access to power merely serves to allow already privileged people to buy influence in a way the great majority of South Africans cannot”.

SAPA

 

The above article was carried by News24 today and apparently was published in the Sunday Times. I think this opens up the door for some lively discussion on the issue of immorality and corruption. Apparently ANC high profilers like ANC treasurer-general Mendi Msimang, fail to see and understand the problem with a scheme like this.

 

• This scheme opens up the door to the privileged few blacks who can afford to paid large sums of money to the ANC, once again excluding the poor and underprivileged masses.

 

• These privileged few get access to information well in advance of the ordinary citizen, putting them in a position of unfair advantage to position themselves to benefit from this information and opportunities. 

 

•  Those with access to ministers and high-profile ANC officials have a better chance of influencing ANC policy on a number of issues, but particularly economic policies. Chances are that they will be inclined to push their own agendas rather than that of the poor less fortunate masses. After all, business people want to make more money and nobody hands out money if some kind of return is not expected. BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) is a classic example of the rich black elite enriching themselves while the poor remains poor or even getting poorer.

In my view, it is immoral of the ANC to once again create a scheme that benefits a minority group, while the masses are ignored. No ordinary citizen has access to the ANC executive or even our MEC’s. Try and get close to the majority of them and experience the enormous difficulties a South African citizen encounters to meet with our MEC’s. In the years of apartheid, we fought against the ideology of minority groups ruling the majority and regarded it as immoral.

What is the difference between apartheid and the new tendency of an elite black group ruling the masses?

In a country that propagate equality for all, even to the extend that criminals enjoy the best human rights, where is the equality in a scheme where the rich can buy into and become members of an elite club with “silver” and “gold” status according to the amounts paid? In return they have access to information long before ordinary citizens.

It is nothing less than corruption in a very well disguised form.

What is the difference in Shaik paying a minister or member of parliament large sums of money to get access to information that puts him at an unfair advantage to his competitors and rich black people paying the ANC to get access of information that will put them at an unfair advantage?

In my books there is no difference. The one is as corrupt as the other.

That the scheme exists is confirmed by mouth of Renier Schoeman, the ANC’s national co-ordinator of corporate liaison, who is in charge of the scheme. That it is immoral and corrupt needs to be pointed out to the President of the ANC and South Africa.

The ANC promised equality for all and calls itself the “People’s Party”. Is it not time that it starts looking after the people of South Africa in all aspects of their life and commits itself to rooting out inequalities, immorality and corruption?

Or has the ANC become in itself an immoral and corrupt party?