Planning Minister Trevor Manuel called on the government to strengthen its partnership with the public for the good of democracy.
|||Cape town - Plannig Minister Trevor Manuel has called on the government to strengthen its partnership with the public for the good of democracy.
“(Leaders) should always reach out to people,” said Manuel, also head of the National Planning Commission, on Monday during a Leadership of Service debate in Cape Town, organised by the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office and the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
“If we only focus on our responsibilities in office, then we say: “Look, I can be a good minister by doing my day job, and to hell with the people.”
Manuel said a key issue of leadership was the way individuals conducted themselves.
He urged leaders in public office to be accountable. “Behaviour should be something that is not dependent on serving in office, but when you do serve in office it does set the bar pretty high.”
Manuel also stressed the importance of open communication. “There needs to be a lot more public discussion. I think the other side of that is that democracy is actually a partnership. It can’t be waiting on government to do something for us. We need to strengthen the partnership.”
Retired Constitutional Court Judge Albie Sachs said South Africa had come a long way since democracy. “People who say ‘the more things change, the more things stay the same’… certainly weren’t in jail otherwise they wouldn’t be saying that. Look at what we’ve accomplished… People come from all over the world to observe elections in South Africa… to see what lessons they can take to other countries.”
However, Sachs agreed with Manuel that there needed to be more of a link between civil society and the government. “To me the big challenge is to find the way between the two and to manage tensions and contradictions, rather than to try to suppress them.”
matthew.hirsch@inl.co.za
Cadet News Agency
Cape Times