The following "media release" concerning the South African energy/power crisis was released:
*ATTENTION NEWS EDITOR*
ACDP MEDIA RELEASE
BY REV KENNETH MESHOE, MP;
PRESIDENT, AFRICAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY 29th January 2008
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ACDP says Irwin and Eskom CEOs must resign * Government must end Eskom’s monopoly and subsidise paraffin and gas.
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Rev Kenneth Meshoe, MP and President of the ACDP says the top officials responsible for the energy crisis must go.
“The Minister of Public Enterprise, Alec Irwin, must take full responsibility for the current electricity crisis and do the honourable thing by resigning for failing in his duties which includes ensuring that Eskom has sufficient reserves to meet the increased demand for power.
The former Eskom CEO and the encumbent must join the Minister and resign for failing to take the public into their confidence when government did not heed their warnings.
While we are told that government and Eskom are doing all they can to alleviate the power crisis; they must find ways to stimulate economic growth and ensure that the gains made since democracy will not be lost.
Government should not make the poor and vulnerable suffer for their shortsightedness; they must be prepared to subsidise paraffin and gas that is used in the blackouts because they refused to act when they were warned about the looming crisis ten years ago. Eskom bonuses at this time would be scandalous, immoral and insensitive as businesses and individuals are losing millions every day.
The ACDP believes now is the time for government to end Eskom’s monopoly and encourage the private sector to help provide alternative sources of power to alleviate the current crisis. We believe that such competition would bring down the cost of power, and give consumers the choice of where to buy electricity.
The claim by the ANC President to the international community that the power cuts are a result of unintended consequences of economic growth is laughable and a feeble attempt to manipulate truth and hide government’s irresponsibility in this matter.”
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For more information please contact:
Rev Kenneth Meshoe, MP and President of the ACDP: 082 962 5884
Released by Ms. Libby Norton, Parliamentary Media Attaché, ACDP Tel 021 40 333 07 or 07 25 70 6361
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Looking forward in 2008!
Unlike the preaching of many preachers, Jesus never promised us as Christians a rose garden. If He did, He certainly meant to include the many thorns on a rose stem on the way to the rose at the end of that stem.
That is exactly how things are in the political arena. Before any party makes it to the point where it demands a strong hearing with many voters to back it, it has to go past all those pesky thorns before the rose itself is reached.
The ACDP is blamed many times that we are dividing the vote against certain parties that are seen as “behemoths!” Yet, even a behemoth is born as a baby behemoth. Nothing starts fully grown, except of course when God spoke creation into existence! Every other political party has started as a thought in the imagination of some person or persons. Membership for those parties, no matter how gargantuan they are now, started small. After that, they started getting others to join in the cause, and after some or many years, grew to be big.
So, when people point fingers at us as “vote-dividers,” take heart, we all start small and need to remember that there is work to do to make the African Christian Democratic Party grow!
2008 is the year that we need to work hard to gain more members and supporters. The next general elections are in 2009 (GE2009), and if we want to make a difference in the political arena, we are going to have to work hard this year to effect that difference.
That difference will not simply come around like a magical Santa Clause dropping votes through our proverbial chimneys. Getting votes, and membership in the party for that matter, are not some magical process. Someone has to make the effort to renew the membership of existing members and also to gain new members.
As Christians in
As Christians in the ACDP, we need to start speaking out against those evils and to bring those evils to light. This should not be left to the leadership in the ACDP. This is something that each ACDP member should be a part of. Each one of us should be involved in exposing the evils that have become law, and exposing those parties that support these laws. We should be actively pointing out these evils and the parties that support these evils in the Christian community.
Each one of us must be involved in learning and spreading a Biblical Christian Worldview in order to gain many more that can do the same. When we can do this successfully, our membership will grow, and as a result the number of votes we gain in the next elections will grow exponentially!
So, see this year as a challenge to make party membership grow. If you are a member already, make sure that you renew your membership and start by gaining new members for the party. If you are not a member, and you think you have the same worldview (philosophy of life) as the ACDP, then join us and help to gain more members. For those living in Tshwane (
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you with a great and wonderful 2008!
