Cape Town - The ANC in the Western Cape has condemned the virtual hearing of a public meeting on the Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill, scheduled to take place today.
It said the meeting was first supposed to be held on February 2 in the legislature, however, it was postponed due to venue capacity issues.
Akhona Jonginamba, the party’s Dullah Omar regional spokesperson, said: “We firmly believe that this decision unjustly disadvantages our people on multiple fronts. The ad hoc committee failed to consider various factors that will impede Capetonians from exercising their constitutional rights, opening the door to potential abuse.”
The ANC said a majority of people did not have access to virtual platforms and struggled with the costs of data.
“Senior citizens, who are not technologically inclined, will be unjustly denied the opportunity to participate.
“The frequent power outages, known as load shedding, will severely hinder participation.
“Virtual platforms have limited capacity to accommodate a larger number of users.
“The unstable network coverage often poses numerous issues with virtual platforms,” the ANC said.
Jonginamba added: “It is abundantly clear to us that the ad-hoc committee is intentionally attempting to exclude our people from actively participating in this hearing, with the sinister motive of manipulating the process to suit their predetermined agenda. We urgently call upon all political parties and civil society to vehemently reject this flagrant abuse of power by the ad hoc committee. We implore them to write to the chairperson of the committee, demanding a return to the original resolution of finding a suitable venue that ensures the inclusion of all interested parties in the process.”
Ad-hoc committee chairperson, Isaac Sileku, said while they noted the politically motivated comments made by the ANC, they remained confident that today's hearing represented the best possible approach to ensuring that all residents of Cape Town were afforded their right to have their voices heard.
“In-person hearings for the bill have thus far taken place in contentious circumstances, with the ANC and other opposition parties making good on their threat of making the hearings ‘ungovernable’ and employing violence and intimidation to stifle the right of the public to democratic expression.
“With safety and cost concerns, the multi-party committee resolved to host the hearing on a virtual platform to ensure that no member of the public will be intimidated or otherwise scared away by certain parties, as has been the case in the past,’’ said Sileku.
He said stakeholders nominated by members of the committee would be invited to attend, while the Western Cape Legislature’s Public and Outreach Unit would work to ensure that information regarding attendance was disseminated ahead of time.ANC in the Western Cape has condemned the virtual hearing of a public meeting on the Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill, scheduled to take place today.
It said the meeting was first supposed to be held on February 2 in the legislature, however, it was postponed due to venue capacity issues.
Akhona Jonginamba, the party’s Dullah Omar regional spokesperson, said: “We firmly believe that this decision unjustly disadvantages our people on multiple fronts. The ad hoc committee failed to consider various factors that will impede Capetonians from exercising their constitutional rights, opening the door to potential abuse.”
The ANC said a majority of people did not have access to virtual platforms and struggled with the costs of data.
“Senior citizens, who are not technologically inclined, will be unjustly denied the opportunity to participate.
“The frequent power outages, known as load shedding, will severely hinder participation. Virtual platforms have limited capacity to accommodate a larger number of users.
“The unstable network coverage often poses numerous issues with virtual platforms,” the ANC said.
Jonginamba added: “It is abundantly clear to us that the ad-hoc committee is intentionally attempting to exclude our people from actively participating in this hearing, with the sinister motive of manipulating the process to suit their predetermined agenda. We urgently call upon all political parties and civil society to vehemently reject this flagrant abuse of power by the ad hoc committee.”
Ad-hoc committee chairperson Isaac Sileku said that while they noted the politically motivated comments made by the ANC, they remained confident that today’s hearing represented the best possible approach to ensuring that all residents of Cape Town were afforded their right to have their voices heard.
“In-person hearings for the bill have thus far taken place in contentious circumstances, with the ANC and other opposition parties making good on their threat of making the hearings ‘ungovernable’ and employing violence and intimidation to stifle the right of the public to democratic expression.
“With safety and cost concerns, the multi-party committee resolved to host the hearing on a virtual platform to ensure that no member of the public will be intimidated or otherwise scared away by certain parties, as has been the case in the past,” said Sileku.
He said stakeholders nominated by members of the committee would be invited to attend.