Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma says he is concerned by the scourge of violent protests that have resulted in public property being damaged.
The President said this when he replied to oral questions in the National Assembly, on Tuesday.
Some 26 schools were left damaged in the Vuwani area, in Limpopo, when residents protested against the Municipal Demarcation Board’s decision to incorporate Vuwani into a new municipality. Eleven schools were completely burnt down and the remaining 15 were partially burnt and damaged.
“Our government is concerned about this scourge of widespread incidents of violence and destruction of public property during protests.
“I have spoken about this matter many times in public platforms.
“We have condemned the recent burning of schools and other facilities in Vuwani in Limpopo, the violence on university campuses and also during other protests,” he said.
The President said such actions do not belong in the democratic society where people are able to engage government and also where freedom of expression is guaranteed in the Constitution.
He said with emphasis that government continuously engages communities.
In this regard, Cabinet introduced the Izimbizo programme in 2000 to facilitate direct and interactive communication between government and the public.
“Ministers and Deputy Ministers continuously undertake public meetings with communities to listen to concerns and respond.
“The President and Deputy President also hold several public meetings per year as well, engaging communities on many programmes that government implements, and also to hear their views on how we can improve services.
“The Government Communication and Information System also organises special National Imbizo Focus Weeks where Ministers and Deputy Ministers visit communities in a more intensive manner,” he said.
President Zuma said the last Imbizo Focus Week was held from 7 to 12 April 2016 and 94 public interaction meetings were held.
He said the Imbizo Focus Week of 30 November to 6 December 2015 included 66 activities.
The visits include door-to-door household profiling, walkabouts or project visits, stakeholder dialogues and community engagements.
“The programmes in the Presidency include the Presidential Siyahlola Monitoring Programme that aims to fast-track interventions, the Presidential Imbizo and also the Presidential Infrastructure Programme.
“The Deputy President leads the War on Poverty programmes and visits many communities in addition to visits linked to the fight against HIV and Aids and other diseases.”
The President said a report is presented by the Presidency at each Cabinet Lekgotla detailing the public engagements activities of each Minister and Deputy Minister, every six months.
He said the report for January to July 2015 to the mid-year Cabinet Lekgotla indicated that over 700 events were held by members of the National Executive.
“The report for July to December 2015 recorded over 600 Imbizo events having been undertaken by Ministers and Deputy Ministers.
“In this regard, community engagements do take place and these will be intensified.
“A key feature of our Back to Basics local government plan is municipal leadership as this sphere is the closest to the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the President said in instances where criminal elements take advantage of community concerns and engage in violence, law enforcement agencies have been directed to act swiftly to bring them to justice.
“We cannot allow people to undermine the good progress we are making in building infrastructure that improves the lives of our people.”
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