Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s Online Letter
Dear friends and fellow South Africans,
Every other week the pronouncements of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu make headlines. They stir debate and attract often heated criticism.
But, at times, the criticism itself warrants criticism.
I find myself at odds with the Archbishop over his recent call for a "wealth tax" on whites in South Africa. Not only is this unconstitutional, but racist too. Why target whites exclusively? These same sentiments were expressed by the de Klerk Foundation which reacted strongly to the Archbishop’s statements.
The Foundation pointed out that implementing the proposed "wealth tax" would require the reintroduction of race classification. It also questioned whether whites who opposed apartheid would pay less, and whether tax scales would differ for whites who supported the ANC, DP or old National Party.
But in the midst of a reasoned response, the de Klerk Foundation made a sweeping statement; that blacks in the former homeland governments held "well-paid positions". This is simply not the case.
When I first took up the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Zulu Territorial Authority, in Nongoma, I earned R50 a month. That was in 1970, the year that the Nationalist Government passed the Homelands Act which saw the formation of nine self-governing territories.
This laid the foundation of the grand scheme of apartheid to declare black territories independent, thereby depriving millions of black people of their South African citizenship. But while the other self-governing territories accepted nominal independence, I refused Pretoria’s honey trap. As a result, KwaZulu received a shoestring budget from the national fiscus.
We received proportionally less than any other province and KwaZulu remained the poorest part of our country. Our people struggled in poverty. When I became the Chief Minister of KwaZulu in 1976, my administration instituted the Rand-for-Rand system of fundraising whereby we matched every Rand raised by the community with a Rand from government coffers.
It was the only way to build schools, clinics and houses, and the only way to start community development projects and cooperatives. We simply did not receive enough from Pretoria to meet the desperate needs of our people.
Under these circumstances, it would have been unconscionable for us as leaders to draw big salaries. As it was, our salaries in the KwaZulu Government were very modest compared to what Ministers were earning in other provinces. The Ministers in my Cabinet often confronted me, complaining that leaders in the self-governing territories earned more. They wanted at least to earn the same.
Whenever this complaint was voiced, I would remind us that our people were very poor and we could not expect to receive those kinds of salaries. On principle we could not enjoy big salaries when the people we served languished in poverty.
Not all of my Ministers accepted this. When Dr Oscar Dhlomo resigned as Minister of Education, he told some of his colleagues that they could stay if they wished, but that no one could live on principles.
Whether praised or maligned, I have always lived by my principles. My Ministers knew that I would never condone a bribe and they dared not deviate from strict financial integrity. Never once was an allegation of corruption ever levelled against my administration. We also never spent a cent on self-promotion.
Knowing all this, when I read the de Klerk Foundation’s allegation that I and my colleagues enjoyed "well-paid positions", I took umbrage at being bundled together with other homelands’ leaders. In KwaZulu, we struggled along with our people. There was none of the fat-cat nonsense so prevalent today.
Widening the economic divide between public servants and citizens has become our national pastime.
I cannot help but recall the public outrage in April this year when the Minister of Local Government, Mr Sicelo Shiceka, began building a mansion in the poorest district of the Eastern Cape. It was reported that while thousands of residents did not even have dirt roads to their villages, a R32 million tarred road was being routed past the Minister’s new house; and past the house of his mother.
In 1970, as the Chief Executive Officer of the Zulu Territorial Authority, I travelled every day from my home in Mahlabathini to our offices in Nongoma.
The road was terrible, but we had money for neither upgrades nor a new house closer to Nongoma. We could not "find the money" in our budget the way even municipalities do today, by taking it away from key projects.
So I disagree with the de Klerk Foundation that we were all well-paid, and I disagree with Archbishop Tutu that whites exclusively should pay a tax. But more than that, I disagree with a government that considers it acceptable to wallow in luxury while their people wallow in despair.
Yours in the service of the nation,
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP
Contact:
Liezl van der Merwe
Press Officer to Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP
on 082 729 2510.
