... to the notion of the government seeking to direct or shape the morality and personal convictions of private citizens. We have voiced this objection on a number of occasions and from a number of platforms, the substance of the objection being that it contradicts the letter and the spirit of our Constitution, which guarantees our rights to hold views that are different from those of others and to express those views. The Constitution spells out the limitations on this freedom. They include such things as the advocacy of hatred and the incitement of imminent violence.
But to say that South Africans don't have a right to use their own culture to judge others, as President Zuma said in his speech to the House of Traditional Leaders - that it is unconstitutional to do so - is clearly wrong. The Constitution actually champions the rights of individuals to hold contrary views, and rightly so. Because where would we be today if we weren't able to hold contrary views, and debate those views? The President uses the word "debate" in framing this forthcoming dialogue, and that word "debate" casts an innocuous shadow over the dialogue, making it seem like it's democratic and interactive. But if the ultimate goal is, as the President has previously stated, for us to reach "common understanding as South Africans", then the attempt is, in fact, to shape the consciousness of private citizens.
There is more than enough space in South Africa's democracy - amongst private citizenry, in churches, in schools, in taverns and in places of education - to allow our people endless opportunities to discuss questions of who we are as a nation. That space should be jealously guarded in a free and democratic society.
If the President were truly concerned about morality and nation-building, then he would apply his efforts to the moral and ethical decay within the government ranks that he leads, where Ministers live high on the hog using public money and those with political connections abuse them shamelessly for the sake of personal enrichment.
Take, for example, the scandal which erupted recently over the so-called investment arm of the ANC, Chancellor House, and its R5,8 -billion stake in an Eskom deal to build boilers for a new power station in Limpopo, a deal from which the ANC stands to make hundreds and hundreds of millions of rand, funnelled straight from the public purse into the coffers of the governing party. Or, take the ANC Youth League president, Julius Malema, who has managed to secure R140 - million worth of contracts in his home province, using his political connections there. There are countless other examples, both high profile and not so high profile, which demonstrate the hon President's failure to address the moral and ethical rot of corruption in government.
Earlier the hon Pandor tried to suggest that we in the opposition lack concrete plans to differentiate ourselves from the ANC. Hon Pandor, I can tell you that in the Western Cape the DA has just gazetted draft legislation to prevent public servants, members of the executive and their immediate families, from doing business with the provincial government. And, just last month, Premier Helen Zille passed amendments to the Ministerial Handbook, lowering the cap on the allocation for the purchase of new ministerial vehicles by over half.
We don't just criticise the ANC on these matters anymore; we are a party of government now. [Interjections.] We take steps, actively, to ensure that the vices of the governing party are not replicated in our own provincial government. [Applause.] We also want to demonstrate to the people of this country how easy it is, with good, decisive and principled leadership, to prevent graft and avarice from taking root and strangling the public purse.
The ANC would like South Africans to believe that it is very difficult and time-consuming to implement measures to curb things like waste and endemic corruption in the state. The DA is rolling back this perception and showing that the only thing the ANC lacks is the political will to do so. I thank you. [Applause.]