Life in South AfricaOn Corruption in the Port Elizabeth City CouncilY'know, there is affirmative action and there is affirmative action. Proponents of affirmative action never tire of telling us how it is necessary to "redress imbalances" and how it will only be used for as long as is necessary , blah blah blah ... it's all bullshit. Affirmative action is racism, pure and simple. And because it is so morally corrupt to start with, those supposedly in need of "assistance" have no qualms about abusing the process whenever they can. The Port Elizabeth City Council, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to sell a piece of prime Port Elizabeth real estate to City Councillor Sicelo Kani at a price well below its market value in the name of affirmative action. How much below value? According to the Algoa Sun (November 19, 1998), Port Elizabeth could lose as much as R 2 million on the deal -- Kani made an initial offer of R 15,25 per square metre, whereas a nearby plot owned by the city is to be auctioned at a reserve price of R 51,32 per square metre. Other prices mentioned in the Algoa Sun article include R 30,17 per square metre for a site near the beachfront, R 51,30 per square metre for a residential plot in the same area and R 43,48 per square metre for a business site in a rapidly - developing business area. So what does the Mayor Nceba Faku say? It's acceptable because it has been done on an affirmative action basis. Which doesn't explain why other "affirmative action" candidates were not given a chance to put in an offer, does it? And Town Clerk Graham Richards? The fact that Councillor Kani was given six months to submit his development proposal does not mean that there was a sale ... it is a preliminary step in the process. (I didn't inhale! There was no actual contact! It's the economy,stupid!) According to Richards, ratepayers "do not lose money", because the money which would have been received from the sale does not go into the rates fund, but go into the Consolidated Capital Loans and Development Fund which is used as a source of borrowing for Capital spending. Very clever. But ... if there is less money in this fund, doesn't it mean that the city will have to borrow from other sources, paying interest on those borrowings? In other words, while there may not be less money actually coming in, there is more going out. At the end of the day, there is only one beneficiary -- Kani and his company.A whole city loses out. The only way to stamp out this nonsense is to make sure that the conditions for its existence are absent. Wherever there is a system which favours one person over another, there will be those who abuse it. Affirmative action is an Orwellian nightmare and must be stopped now. Mailto: |