GREEN POLICIES

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Crime and Social Justice

Introduction
Crime is presently a major problem in our society, and most politicians emphasize the problem in their speeches. They call for more police, stiffer sentences, capital punishment, 'zero tolerance' and bigger jails in the mistaken belief that these methods will effectively reduce crime. These proposed solutions imply that the general population, in its attempts to maintain its standard of living while our society faces severe economic and social distortions, would actually subscribe to a fascist system of social control.

It has been suggested by Rifkin, J. in "Entropy: A New World View" that as a society begins to exceed its environmental and energy limitations there is a tendency towards fascism, rigorous institutional controls, excessive (and ineffective) legislation, and the centralisation of political and economic power. This tendency does not occur as an intelligent response to the growing problems, but arises in an effort to maintain a security 'comfort zone', an appearance of order. The economic and social costs of these efforts ultimately generate greater disorder in the social system.

Crime is a direct expression at the level of the individual of the dislocations and imbalances in our society as a whole. It is therefore not enough to fight crime while our society retains the very economic and social status quo that is the cause of crime.

The GREEN PARTY suggests that the underlying imbalances in our society must be dealt with so that in the end we can live freely in a society that needs fewer police, allows more tolerance, and has fewer people in its jails. The GREEN PARTY therefore has as its goal an efficient Criminal Justice System , but without criminals!

The Police Service will always be in a reactive mode to criminal activity, and thus cannot be the most effective means to prevent crime. Proactive, "preventive" policing is unacceptable in a free society and will lead to human rights abuses, as in New York, where innocent individuals are gunned down because the police have 'reason to believe' that they might be criminals.

The GREEN PARTY suggests that Americanisation of the South African Police in policing methods, 'zero tolerance' policies etc will ultimately result in a Police State, as in America, with jails overflowing not only with criminals, but with citizens who just didn't fit the 'mould' that society prescibes.

It is no coincidence that just as the increasing brutality of South African Police has recently been exposed on TV, the public of New York is also rising up against the New York Police Department and their mayor for the radical increase in police brutality.

The GREEN PARTY also expresses concern that the growing surveillance and security industry will itself become a criminal force that preys on society with security services that are effectively 'protection rackets'. Individual and community safety should not be abdicated to these 'specialist services', but should remain the responsibilty of the individual and the community itself.

It has been found that communities with fewer internal social connections, and poorly defined neighbourhood boundaries are more open to predatory activities such as crime, harmful business practice, and the exploitation of their resources. Most people, especially the youth, feel they are living in a world that is in control of others and that they have no responsibility and no power to constructively shape their own future.

Localised co-operative communities that combine efforts, and recycle cash flow, services and materials will achieve much more for themselves than by being isolated homeowners who pay premiums to insurance companies and who rely on the overworked police for protection and crime prevention. Communities urgently need to organise themselves to develop organic food production systems and local skills, to reduce the conditions of hunger and poverty that cause crime in their area.

The prevention of crime requires that every person has a fundamental right to food and housing and to occupy their lives in constructive, satisfying ways.

The GREEN PARTY proposes that a radical reordering of society is necessary to reduce the levels of crime by substantially altering the social environment that promotes criminal activities. The GREEN PARTY suggests that the reconstitution of Community Identity and Cooperation is essential in the prevention of crime.

Community Organisation for Crime Prevention

The GREEN PARTY advocates the following Community Actions for the prevention of crime:

that each localised community, which includes all members (including the homeless and criminals) defines its boundaries and gives itself a name. eg" The Green Street Community",
that each community elects small working comittees that are representative of specific group interests and social needs eg a Women's Committee, a Youth Commitee, a Building committee, a Security Comittee ,a Greening committee etc (The criminals may be reluctant to participate in such a community program, but in so doing they will clearly identify themselves).
A Community-based mini-census of all species, human individuals, skills, shortages and problems in the area should be undertaken.
A Community Organisation Program ( COP ) should assist in the develoment of a self sufficient, localised economy, with community working groups, localised exchange of services, and,
The construction of Community-run Safe Houses for women and children who suffer abuse at home.
The establishment of community run creches and a youth care centre.
Community-controlled security access to the community area after dark,
Community- run Neighbourhood Watch programmes that operate in co-operation with the SAPS.
The installation of community-managed interlinked panic button and alarm systems, which bring neighbours to the assistance of neighbours.
the development of community-based economic development programmes, especially in the fields of food production, skills training, and youth development. (see the Bioregional Resource Index for further ideas)


Through ongoing Community Organisation Programmes, the GREEN PARTY will promote a feeling of connection between all living things and foster the notion that the welfare of each person and other species is each person's responsibility and concern. We shall challenge those now involved in crime to use their power for the good. The hearts and minds of people can be changed thorugh diligent work, and caring, and individual choice.

We also suggest that in the longer term, a media-assisted program of change from a consumeristic society, which only values material acquisitions, to a conserver society, will ultimately make greed for material things less of a cause of crime.

Capital Punishment

The GREEN PARTY proposes that Justice should be restorative rather than retributive. Crime should be defined as a violation of one person by another, not as a violation of the State. Wherever possible, there should be opportunities for effective restitution by the perpetrators of a crime towards its victims, in lieu of jail terms. Where this is not possible, jail sentences should also be accompanied by rehabilitative programs for offenders.

While many people are advocating the return of the death penalty as a solution to the problem of violent crime, the GREEN PARTY does not presently advocate capital punishment as a reliable method for ensuring the reduction of crime.

The application of the death penalty should only be reinstituted as a last resort, after the recommended process of Community Organisation Programs has been implemented. It should then only be reserved for extreme cases of violent crime, such as murder, violent rape, and extreme assault, where vindictive intention and lack of remorse is evident. Where this is shown to be the case, the GREEN PARTY acknowledges that capital punishment may be acceptable, especially if the family of the victim believes that capital punishment is warranted, and that any chance of rehabilitation of the criminal is unlikely.

The GREEN PARTY is working towards a society where crime is reduced and a range of choices regarding effective Justice is possible. We therefore accept the option of capital punishment as a last resort in special cases, where all other social options have been exhausted.

As this issue is presently an ongoing debate in our society today, the GREEN PARTY welcomes opinions and creative ideas for the reducing the potential for crime in our communities.

A SAFER COMMUNITY

The best way to prevent crime is to destroy the desperate conditions that breed crime. Criminals don't just happen; criminal behaviour starts at an early age. By educating and supporting parents, there would be fewer abused children and fewer reckless and alienated teenagers. We must devise programs to control addictive behaviour, the major cause of crimes committed against both persons and property. We must develop programs to both educate and job train youthful offenders and identified youths at risk, so that they become productive members of society. By building decent housing that fosters community life, the community itself would police its members.

Of course, there will be some crime even in the best of societies. Criminals will have to be caught, and some will have to be confined where they can do no further damage to society. But instead of a military approach to law enforcement with punishment as its goal, we must nurture rehabilitation wherever possible. Peace officers must be trained in conflict resolution. Development of binding mediation processes, rather than litigation in civil matters, would reduce the burden on the court system.

Greens do not condone drug abuse of any kind, whether illegal drugs or legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco. We do believe that treating illegal drug users as ordinary criminals, wastes police time and taxpayers' money and encourages organised crime. The war on drugs has expanded to such excess that this war is now destroying our communities. We believe that we should emphasise drug education and treatment programs for abusers of legal and illegal drugs, rather than punishing them. Harsh prison sentences contribute to pressures to build new prisons and inflict long term damage to our brothers and sisters far beyond any possible benefit to the general community.

We would:

Allow doctors to prescribe addictive drugs to addicts, in conjunction with drug treatment programs.
Fund AIDS education and needle exchange programs for addicts.
Repeal laws allowing property seizures in drug cases; since such laws will lead to numerous civil rights abuses.

Ban alcohol and tobacco advertising.

Community Safe Houses

The Green Party recognises that the domination of women by men exists in society, a society which is supported by patriarchal values of competition, exploitation and control to ensure that women, as a sex or gender are oppressed.

A feminist analysis of rape, pornography and other violence against women wherein these are recognised as forms of male control over women's lives, means that such assaults on women, both as individuals and as a gender, must be discouraged. This can be achieved through attitudinal charge in education and also through legal and judicial censure to ensure that women have the right to freely exercise their choice of sexuality and lifestyle and are guaranteed the human right to live without fear of violence.

The GREEN PARTY will work vigorously to protect women and children from violence within the family. We advocate Government assistance for the construction of Community Safe Houses for women and children in each neighbourhood, by each and every localised community.

The running of the Safe House shall be managed by a committee of Women in each community with the assistance of Men, as required or requested by the Women's Committee.

The Community Safe House should provide the following community services:

A day care centre providing a safe place for young children of working mothers.
Night sleeping facilities for children and women who do not wish to sleep at home. Every woman and child shall have the right to choose to use the facility.
A Bread and Soup feeding centre for presently disadvantaged members of the community.
A separate teen youth centre, which provides constructive facilities and educational opportunities.
Counselling facilities for those who seek assistance.

Youth Rights

All human beings have the right to a life that will let them achieve their full potential. Young people are one of the least protected classes of human beings, yet they represent our future. We must ensure they have an upbringing that allows them to take their place as functioning, productive and self-actualized members of their community.

The Green Party supports the rights of youth:

Recognize that young people have the inalienable right of independent existence. Youth are not the property of their parents or guardians, but are under their care and guidance.
Recognize that youth have the right to survival through the provision of adequate food, shelter and comprehensive health care, including prenatal care for the mother.
Recognize that youth have the right to be protected from abuse, harmful drugs, violence, environmental hazards, neglect and exploitation.
Recognize that youth have the right to develop in a safe and nurturing early environment provided by affordable child care and pre-school preparation.
Recognize that youth have the right to an education that is stimulating, relevant, engaging and that fosters their natural desire to learn.
Encourage the creative potential of young people to the greatest extent possible.
Allow young people to have input into the direction and pace of their own education, including input into the operation of their educational institutions.
Provide young people, at the earliest time appropriate, with education regarding their own sexuality.
Give young people the opportunity to express themselves in their own media, including television, radio, films and the Internet. Young people should also be given skills in analyzing commercial media.
Keep young people as free as possible from coercive corporate advertising at their educational institutions.
Recognized the importance of parents, teachers and other allies of young people. Ample support must be provided for their work.


Public Education

In order to meet our commitments to the future, we must restructure our educational system.

We need quality education to meet our commitments to children and to the Earth. Our rapidly changing society needs well educated South Africans

Current National budget allocations have slighted education putting our children's future at risk. Educational financing should be the same for every student regardless of the local prosperity or poverty level.

The Green Party calls for a high quality of education:
Continuing and expanding the current Curriculum Program
Reaffirm the value of public education and reject the use of public funds to pay for students' attendance at private or parochial schools.
Work for free education to eventually be available from preschool through college, graduate and profession schools.
Increase spending for pre-primary as well as for College and University systems.
Oppose the current shift from public to corporate funding of schools.
Change the management of our schools to provide for more teacher, parent and student participation at every level of decision making, especially concerning the allocation of funds.
Develop a more holistic and multi-cultural approach to learning.
Increase language training so that every South African understands at least one language besides English.
Restructure the school system to provide a greater diversity of choices and smaller, more personalized schools.
Treat and pay teachers as valued professionals.
Give students classroom instruction on how the world's economic and political systems really work. This should include, among other things, information on how energy and resources are allocated, how the relevant decisions are made, and the results of global inequalities.
Ensure that school based education is informed by non-sexist philosophies and that positive role models of girls and women are promoted at all levels of schooling in both textbooks and classroom methodologies.
Instruct students in the dynamics of interpersonal communication and effective listening skills.
Increase the number of trade school opportunities.
Encourage students to teach other students. We should encourage graduate students to do part-time teaching to pay for loans. Parents and outside organizations could come into classrooms and help teach or lecture.
Far more accent will be placed on the role of teachers as stimulating in the pupil confidence and belief in themselves as being good. We need to develop an " I Can!" mentality in everyone.

Environmental Education

Using television, radio, the press, internet -the GREEN PARTY will provide every citizen, with the understanding of how the life support systems on the planet work, so that they can understand how to live sustainably. A mass education campaign on all media to get to everyone in their own language will be an absolute priority. We must open the eyes of all our people to what we are doing to our life-support systems. Amongst all those learners and thinkers lies the solutions of how to save ourselves and our planet.

From Consumer to Conserver Society: By taxation and legislation and with an intensive media campaign, the GREEN PARTY hopes to replace a life-style based upon ever increasing consumption of limited resources with a conserver mindset where the increase is found in imagination. - The only thing you need is a change is mentality.

Adult Education

In the field of Adult Education, the GREEN PARTY advocates:

Ongoing adult education opportunities for adults who have already passed through schools without being adequately educated or who have had no schooling at all. They should be able to improve their skills and knowledge throughout their life and should receive an intensive course ( in their own language, on television, - on how the planet functions, what Man is doing to harm it, and how to live in harmony with natural ecosystems.
Education 'over the air' by TV and with films, by the best teachers in the country. This would be backed up by self education for those who are already literate in reference libraries.
A wilderness leadership "3000 days to save the planet" course for all citizens in their local natural area which provides experience of the outdoors and involves music activities. This will foster a love of and feeling of connection with our natural heritage and encourage responsibility for its welfare.
The media will provide an ongoing education and assessment of the results of our decisions.

Health Care

All people have the right to adequate and affordable health care--both preventive care and appropriate medical treatment--when they are ill.

The South Africican health care system is in deep crisis. Millions of South Africans still do not have access to health care and are without basic health services. More natural, highly successful treatments that the drug industry can not profit from have been suppressed. As a result, millions have suffered and died needlessly from cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.

We need an equal access health care system with an emphasis on prevention. With such a system, health care could be provided without co-payments or deductibles for less than we now pay for our present inadequate system.

The Green Party calls for:

Publicly funding a universal health care system equally accessible to all.
Broadening acceptance by the health care industry, of holistic and preventive health care systems, rather than reliance on drugs and mere repression of symptoms.
Giving patients complete freedom of choice as to their form of treatment or to refuse treatment.
Correcting economic discrimination present in health care that often excludes poor patients from medically indicated but expensive treatments.
Supporting natural birthing.
Shifting funds for research on breast and prostate cancer-related treatment away from chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.
Adequate funding for HIV, ARC and AIDS education, research and treatment programs with an emphasis on alternative approaches.
Encouraging and educating people on healthy life-styles, and more awareness of our natural ability for self-healing.
Supporting the implementation of the medical use of marijuana.

AIDS/ HIV

AIDS is probably the single disease uppermost in the minds of most South Africans. There are many "doom and gloom" predictions being circulated, but the fact is that the prognosis for both HIV-positive persons and the spread of the disease is unknown.

The Green Party gives its moral support to all good research into both the understanding and the prevention of the disease.

It has been suggested that AIDS is a form of natural biological population control. Whilst this may well be true, and human numbers may well drop significantly, particularly in the developing world, the GREEN PARTY is not insensitive to the suffering and loss of human life that this disease may cause.

The major costs of AIDS are not only the loss of human life but also the loss of productive life through disability and the high costs of treatment and hospitalisation both directly, and indirectly through redirection of funds from conservation to health care.

The Green Party supports the development of AIDS-awareness programmes and free HIV screening for the general public. All people, including those with AIDS/ HIV, have a right to adequate medical care and also protection from discrimination.

Government has a responsibility to protect and advance the health of the public. The AIDS epidemic has been inadequately addressed at both the provincial and national levels. We have offered inadequate education on the subject, and have inadequately funded medical treatment of those stricken.

The Green Party calls for a humane and adequate handling of this sickness:

Every South African should be tested for HIV/AIDS and know their present HIV status.
Increase funding for AIDS education, care and research with emphasis on preventive education.
Provide access to AIDS treatment and medication for all those affected. Accordingly, funding should be increased to keep up with the AIDS case load.
Apply special funding for research into treating afflicted women.
Quicken the approval of AIDS drugs by the medical authorities.
Target the young for timely education about AIDS and ways of preventing it. We should distribute condoms in schools.
Provide housing for people afflicted with AIDS and who are at risk of homelessness.
Organize needle exchange programs.
Protect the confidentiality of all people diagnosed with AIDS or HIV.
Ban all mandatory testing for HIV.
Lift the ban prohibiting HIV positive people from entering South Africa as visitors or as immigrants.

Drugs

Government should exercise restraint when regulating its citizens' private lives. Basically, we should question a government's right to tell citizens what they may consume.

The global "war on drugs" is actually a war on urban ghettos, supplier nations and civil liberties. That war has failed. Outlawing drugs has turned drug users into criminals and crowded our jails with them. Interdiction, foreign and domestic, has been ineffective in stemming the flow of drugs. (The U.S. Government has used the drug war to justify foreign military intervention, while the CIA has been involved in the drug trade to finance its illegal activities.) The ones who profit from the drug war are the sellers, organized crime, chemical corporations and banks that launder money.

The Green Party calls for a basic change in our drug policies:

Shift our focus from interdiction and incarceration to addressing the social causes of drug use. Redirect the funds presently spent on the drug war to education, prevention and treatment.
Recognize that drugs are not just a problem affecting minorities and the poor, but also white, upper class communities.
End the subversion of due process of law under the guise of the "war on drugs."
End all corporate tax deductions for cigarette and alcohol advertising.
Give provinces, and even organised local communities,a greater autonomy in choosing to criminalize, de-criminalize or legalize drugs without having to fear State reprisals.
Open a public dialogue to determine the most feasible plan to de-criminalize drugs.

The Elderly

The Green Party calls for a reliable social safety net for the elderly with benefits sufficient to meet basic necessities:

Recognize Social Security as a human right as stated in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights--everyone has the right to a secure retirement.
Separate Social Security from the State budget. Social Security funds must be handled independently and for the benefit of the people they are meant to help.
Stop cuts in social spending . Benefits should be tied to actual increases in the cost of living, which should be determined by committees of consumers. This would avoid the danger of the consumer price index being manipulated to justify decreasing benefits.
Retain the safety net for senior citizens who rely upon it to cover medical benefits in addition to subsistence benefits. They should not be forced to liquidate their assets for long term health care.

The Disabled

Provide adequate levels of security for those less fortunate who find themselves dependent, temporarily or permanently, upon the social services of the state for their survival. There are some people among the developmentally disabled, physically handicapped, and severely emotionally disturbed who may require support most of their life. It is incumbent upon society to provide for them.
Fully fund rehabilitation to permit the disabled to achieve their maximum potential. Treatment programs for addictive diseases, including narcotics and alcohol, must be available as needed. Until full self-sufficiency is attained, earnings should be supplemented at adequate levels.

Families with Children

Do not be require workfare outside the home for single parents of small children. Running households and caring for children is work, even though women have often performed such work without pay.
Provide paid parental leave for one parent of very young, ill, or special needs children.
Make quality child care available to all parents who are engaged in paid employment, higher education, or job training.

Child Care

Childbearing, parenting and homemaking are essential to a healthy society and deserve to be respected and supported.

These essential social functions are not valued in our present economic measuring systems (the Gross Domestic Product, for example). As a result, these vital domestic responsibilities are devalued in our market-based society.

The Green Party recognizes child care responsibilities:

Give women the right to a year's parental leave from work with a guaranteed right to return.
Provide on-site child care in work places above a certain size.
Make job sharing options available to give people the choice of part-time work.
Give people financial incentives to save money for children.

The Economically Disadvantaged

Provide support, with out time limits, for those who are economically disadvantaged.
Keep benefit levels up with inflation, and keep them sufficient to meet basic needs.
Do not exclude immigrants from the benefits of the safety net. Everyone who lives here contributes to the economy through work, paying taxes (including sales taxes), and purchasing goods and services.
Pay a living wage or the prevailing wage in industry, whichever is greater, for all people in compulsory work-placements (so-called "workfare"), whether the work is performed in the private sector, community service or otherwise.
Provide union recognition and full health and safety protections for workfare workers.
Allow exemptions from work requirements for welfare recipients pursuing higher education, homeless people looking for housing, or for victims of domestic violence who need additional time to find safety and independence.

Housing

Housing is one of the basic necessities of life, yet too many households can no longer afford adequate shelter.

Rents have soared due to real estate speculation. One out of five renters pay more than fifty percent of their income for housing. Fewer than one in ten renters can afford to buy a median-priced house in the area where they live. In an era of deregulation, tenants have had few legal protections and those that exist have begun to be eroded. Rent control and eviction protection or tenants does not exist in most jurisdictions, and where it does, it is usually inadequate and under attack. Landlords who, in violation of housing code requirements, fail to keep their property in habitable condition are tolerated, or at most given slaps on the wrist. Housing discrimination remains rampant against people of color, immigrants, disabled, single people, gays and lesbians, and families with children.

It is conservatively estimated that one million people are homeless. The twenty year decline in real wages for workers is also a major contribution to the current crisis in housing availability and affordability. In addition, certain laws have also contributed to the problems of housing supply and cost, and are in some cases consciously used to exclude households with lower incomes from higher income communities. Areas of local law that should be revisited include: ordinances that prohibit a shift toward co-housing; land use plans that provide excessive amounts of land for industrial and commercial use; and inflexible building codes that prevent alternative (often less expensive) construction approaches that still meet health and safety requirements.

The Green Party recognizes housing as a human right, and will work toward eliminating economic and other forms of discrimination in the construction and use of housing through:

Renter's rights

Protect tenants with rent control laws, including vacancy control.
Prevent evictions without just cause. Restrict owner move-in evictions of long-term tenants, the elderly and disabled persons.
Crack down on landlords who refuse to maintain their properties in habitable condition, or who engage in illegal evictions, with hefty fines and, in extreme cases, jail terms.
Increase affordable housing supply

Enforce the law against illegal hotel conversions.
Use vacant housing--whether at closed military bases, or housing being kept off the market by speculators or landlords delinquent in taxes--to shelter the homeless.
Build human-scale, low income housing (as does Habitat for Humanity). Create a rent subsidy program for the poor.
Pursue more efficient use of our existing housing supply, such as home-sharing and cooperative conversions of existing dwellings.
Promote Earth-Friendly constructuion techniques and building materials to ensure that natural resources used in construction can provide a maximum possible number of houses without damage to the environment, or excessive consumption of energy.
Fair housing laws

Strengthen and enforce fair housing laws against discrimination based on race, sex, familial status (children), marital status, disability, and sexual orientation.
Fully fund the Fair Employment and Housing Commission and provide generous government funding to non-profit organizations engaged in fair housing monitoring and enforcement.
Insist that architectural review boards and planning commissions represent the concerns of citizens, rather than the concerns of economic segments of the community.
Reform of Zoning and Building Codes

Remove restrictions on converting large, single family homes to multi-family use. Families of today are smaller and there are more single-parent households.
Allow industrial and commercial developers to provide housing instead of parking spaces in new developments, and permit housing development in existing industrial and commercial zones.
Reform zoning, occupancy and building ordinances so that residential needs can exist in balance with commercial and industrial needs, and so that alternative approaches are encouraged rather than restricted.
Eliminate requirements for off-street parking and street dedication, which forces the housing sector to subsidize the automobile industry.
Promote tax and regulatory structures favoring city infrastructure. Promote development that encourages urban density--with green spaces--and discourages urban sprawl.
Base building codes on performance requirements rather than specific physical models.

Role of Local Authorities in Energy Efficiency for Social Housing

The Green Party recognises that while global climatic change as a result of the emissions of Greenhouse gases, mainly from inefficient burning of fossil fuels present an uncertain future for the planet, millions of households in this country suffer fuel poverty as a result of poorly insulated houses every winter.

This Green Party believes that:

a) In using the limited resources available to improve the housing stock, local authorities should place a high priority on reducing the amount of energy used in heating houses. This would reduce the number of people suffering from fuel poverty while at the same time reduce the negative environmental impacts of excessive fuel use.

New Build Social Housing

The Green Party believes that in their enabling role with housing associations, local authorities should ensure that all new social housing is built to the highest energy efficient standards in order to reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions and ensure tenants can afford to keep their homes warm during the winter months.

Homelessness

Homeless people have the right to full acknowledgment of their human dignity and a voice in the decisions that affect them. Homelessness reflects an area of total failure in our society.

Today homeless people are hounded, threatened and often can not obtain badly needed services. Though affordable housing could help alleviate the problem of homelessness, the homeless have needs that go beyond housing.

The Green Party calls for measures to help the homeless:

Expand community-based services for the homeless and make them more readily available.
Repeal all laws that criminalize any facet of homelessness or helping the homeless.
Abolish anti-sleeping laws, especially in areas which don't have adequate open space, shelter and sleeping areas for the homeless.
Strictly enforce all the laws that are designed to provide for the homeless--
Allow the homeless to take part in decisions about long- and short-term solutions to their situation.
Strengthen and increase funding of mental health and drug rehabilitation systems.
Provide the means whereby the urban homeless can be voluntarily relocated to rural eco-village communities.

Employment

Every person who wants to work is entitled to employment that pays a liveable wage.

Our country's economic system is too dependent on capitalist theories, which includes built-in unemployment to, partly, keep labor costs down.

The Green Party calls for a revised employment system:

Support small businesses and cooperatives.
Emphasize local job training programs, a shorter work week and job sharing.
Legislate equal pay for equal work.
Raise the minimum wage to a liveable level.
Pass laws prohibiting hiring and firing decisions based on sexual orientation.
Enforce the anti-trust laws.
Redefine the GNP (Gross National Product) to include services which benefit society but are not presently remunerated; such as birthing, child rearing and homemaking.
Convert to a civilian economy while supporting defense workers during the conversion process.

Creative Self-employment

It is impossible to find employment for all of a rapidly growing population by exploiting our fast dwindling natural resource base. Employment does not have to be the only alternative to unemployment. Unemployment erodes confidence. We have to assist the unemployed to believe in themselves and to use their own power to get food, homes and a quality meaningful life.

The Government by the People GREEN PARTY advocates:

Making unemployment into self-employment . Reduced stress, more time with our children, leisure time for outdoor activities, much more sport of all kinds
Enabling people to grow their own food and build their own homes and provide meaningful life-styles and occupations to replace the fruitless job-search that consumes the energy and self-esteem of millions today. In any group some will grow food organically for everyone, some will build.
The government will provide tools, materials and training in basic principles.
Promote Informal jobs, Job-sharing and do-it-yourself projects.
For an idea of some of the functions required in a sustainable local region see Resource Index for Bioregions : A checklist of practical resources (people, skills, machinery, services, biological products) essential to the functioning of a small region, and assisting the conservation of resources, regional cash flow, the survival of settlement, employment and community security. (Security here means a co-operative neighbourhood and ample sustainable resources for people.)
Developing non-toxin producing, aesthetic and culturally-based economic activitiesΧ³Β³Φ²Β³Χ²Β²Φ²Β²Χ³Β²Φ²Β²Χ²Β²Φ²Β²Χ³Β³Φ²Β²Χ²Β²Φ²Β²Χ³Β²Φ²Β²Χ²Β²Φ²Β¦ such as Music, sport, afrotourism, ecotourism, and restoration of the environment (paid for by environmental impact tax.) These are all potentially huge employers which can also be implemented in decentralised areas.
Promoting the concept of a leisure society which still emphasizes the importance of meaningful work as being essential for the well being of the individual. Even employed people should be able to choose to live rather than live only to work. Unemployed people will become a self employed, subsistence communitites with food and shelter that they create for themselves and quality of life things to do.
Industries that are creating toxic waste must be phased out. Many new jobs can created in recycling and recovery of manufactured articles that are not biodegradable. Other employment opportunities would be created in the fields of music, afrotourism, ecotourism, sport, agro-forestry, and restoration of the environment.
We will promote the development of ecological agroforestry, small organic farms, and land restoration projects, in conjunction with the restoration of the homeless and unemployed to the land.
RESULTS - Less stress, less crime, people taking pride in their achievements.

Workplace Safety

All workers have a right to a safe and humane working environment.

A lack of adequate enforcement of Occupational Safety and Health Administration laws and/or insufficient standards put many workers at risk.

The Green Party supports workplace safety:

Protect and enforce Occupational Safety laws. We insist on adequate testing of equipment, and we should adequately fund enforcement procedures.
Inform workers of workplace hazards. Employers have a responsibility to protect workers from those hazards.
Legislate full funding for worker safety programs passed at both the local and national levels.
Insist on agricultural practices that don't endanger farm workers.
Put agricultural practices under the jurisdiction of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration laws.

Unions

Employees in the Republic of South Africa. and around the world have the right to organize and operate a democratic, member-run union to assure their rights in the workplace.

Present practices permit or encourage unorganized labor to undercut organized labor.

Various types of employee involvement programs have been tried with varying degrees of success. Too frequently, these programs are superficial and serve management efforts to deter union organizing. Attempts to achieve sustained and strong participation by the workers without unions have had marginal results. Nor have unions that are not democratically controlled achieved increased productivity, much less faithful representation of workers' interests.

Plant closures and safety issues are also major concerns. As capital becomes more mobile, jobs become easily transferable to states, or other countries, with ineffective labor and safety laws. Tax laws encourage this migration. Simplistic retraining programs have come to be recognized as institutionalizing downward mobility by transitioning workers from the disappearing high-pay jobs to the remaining low-pay jobs.

The Green Party calls for:

Halting the undercutting of organized labor by repealing "right to work" laws that make it legal to permanently replace striking workers, and opposing any similar existing or proposed legislation in South Africa.
Controlling unions directly by their membership. Unions should have access to company financial records for bargaining purposes. Labor should be represented on corporate boards.
Organizing unorganized workers into democratically controlled unions. Establishing international labor networks to coordinate responses to multi-national corporations.
Eliminate tax laws that encourage employers to relocate in other countries. Support plant closure warning laws and establish a comprehensive plan for displaced workers. This plan would be funded by corporate money similar to unemployment insurance, and government funding. This would allow workers to enter college degree programs to fill the need for high-end, white collar jobs.
Passing legislation to facilitate workers and/or communities taking over closed plants and forming employee-owned businesses, or organize consumer and worker cooperatives.

URBAN CONSERVATION

Conservation in towns and cites is becoming very important to ensure the survival of indigenous species. Urban conservation also provides excellent educational, recreational and other facilities within the city.

The Green Party encourages the conservation of urban open spaces, nature reserves and parks as well as indigenous road verges and urban gardens. It encourages the incorporation of natural areas in town planning and the protection of sensitive areas such as riverine banks, slopes, ridges, grasslands, forests and wetlands.

These areas provide a refuge for plants and animals and can also be used for education, relaxation and recreation. They also improve the aesthetic quality of the urban environment and thus contribute to an improved quality of life and mental well-being, particularly in dense housing developments.

The Green Party believes that community involvement in all phases of development and management is vital for the successful maintenance of an open space system. This public involvement should be reinforced with legal protection of designated open space.

Suburban gardens have also been underestimated as potential wildlife sanctuaries that provide their owners with personal nature reserves and opportunities for implementing conservation practices.

The Green Party will actively promote the establishment of indigenous gardens as a means for urban conservation. It also deplores cultivation of alien plant species which readily invade the natural environment, and encourages their eradication as a means of ensuring species diversity.

Suggested National Action:

Promote the establishment and maintenance of Metropolitan Open Space Systems throughout the country.
Set out to establish and understand the views of all sectors of the urban population about conservation and incorporate those views in the GREEN PARTY philosophy.
Help in establishing viable public open spaces and recreation areas in all urban areas.
Collect and distribute appropriate literature.
Co-ordinate with the Department of Traditional and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism in their urban conservation campaign.
Liaise with national and provincial departments whose activities impact on the environment.
Support Branch and Centre activities through publicity, finance and communication with local authorities.
Promote the concept of "Every garden a Nature Reserve".
Suggested Region and Branch Action:

Lobby local authorities to implement "Local AGENDA 21" programmes.
Help to educate decision makers about sustainable development principles.
Respond to calls for objections to development plans harmful to the environment.
Lobby to ensure that all new developments follow the Integrated Environmental Management procedure and ensure that the recommendations of any environmental study are complied with.
Encourage developers not to destroy natural areas. Set up joint committees with local authorities (e.g. a MOSS committee).
Press for the implementation of a TDR (Transferable Development Rights) programme.
Help poorer socio-economic groups to meet their basic needs for food and clean water through appropriate programmes (e.g. self-help schemes) which should also enhance their understanding of the need for urban conservation.
Initiate indigenous plant nursery programmes.
Identify ecologically sensitive areas and campaign for their protection.
Participate in public events such as National Arbor Day, World Environment Day, Earth Day etc.
Increase awareness by publishing information on the local environment in newsletters, pamphlets etc.
Arrange lectures and films relevant to the local environment.

Urban Land Use

Undeveloped lands, wilderness and agricultural lands are necessary for the wellbeing of the Earth as a whole and must be preserved. Thus our economy must be planned to ensure ecological sustainability and to minimise our impact on these precious resources.

Because the Earth is a closed system, it cannot tolerate unrestrained growth without serious environmental consequences. Yet growth and development are often seen as desirable in themselves. But the consequence of this over-development is environmental destruction as areas exceed their natural carrying capacities.

The Green Party supports preservation of agricultural and wilderness lands:

Precede increases in the population density with appropriate infrastructure developments to facilitate public transit travel, shopping, recycling and other functions as much as possible.
Plan these high-density communities so that they are compatible with desirable social goals. Retain open spaces, parklands and greenbelts as components of all development plans to maintain a high quality of life.
Locate schools and places of employment within easy walking or bicycling distances from residences, or along mass transit lines.
Use water treatment and closed-loop sewage treatment systems wherever possible.
Change tax and planning laws to foster urban development that uses solar and other alternative energy sources.
Stabilise the size of the South African population and limit consumption levels.

Arts and Culture

Freedom of artistic expression is a fundamental right, and is a key element in empowering communities and moving us toward sustainability and respect for diversity.

Artists can create in ways that foster healthy, non-alienating relationships between people and their daily environments, communities, and the Earth. This includes artists whose themes advocate compassion, nurturance, or cooperation; artists whose creations unmask the often obscure connections between various forms of violence, domination, and oppression; and artists who effectively criticize or mock aspects of the very community that supports their artistic activity. The arts can only perform their social function if they are completely free from outside control. In the performing arts, the Green Party criticizes the development of a centralized culture industry that encourages the marketing of "culture" and star worship by passive cultural consumers. Rather, we favor alternative, community-based systems which treat neither the artwork nor the artist as a commodity. In the visual arts, we deplore the use of the artwork as an investment tool, which is a result of the general commodification of the artwork.

Appreciation of and activity in the arts is important to all people, not only to "professional artists." The Green Party wish to extend a variety of living arts experiences to every interested citizen:

Oppose all laws which seek to restrict or censor artistic expression, including withholding of government funds for political or moral content. We specifically state our support for the unique visions and voices of artists underrepresented in the intstitutionalized arts mainstream, including but not limited to women, people of color, people with disabilities, people of alternate sexual preferences and life-styles, and children.
Increase funding for the arts at all levels of government. Funding amounts should be appropriate to the arts' essential social roles.
Encourage community-funded programs, employing local artists, to enrich communities through public art programs. These could include, but not limited to, public performances, exhibitions, murals on public buildings, design or re-design of parks and public areas, storytelling and poetry reading, and publication of local writers.
Encourage the establishment of non-profit public forums for local artists to display their talents and creations to interested members of their community. These forums would be offered with equal access to all interested artists.
Help decentralize the art world by promoting development of cultural institutions outside of the large cities where they are now concentrated. We also wish to fund widely traveling exhibitions, concerts, performances and film programs.
Include architecture and landscape in zoning and building permit decisions. We encourage enlivening, appropriately-scaled and designed styles in our communities.
Promote research, public dialogue, and trial experiments to develop alternative systems for the valuation and exchange of artworks, and for the financial support of artists--such as community subscriber support groups, artwork rental trusts, cooperative support systems among artists, legal or financial incentives to donate to the arts or to donate artworks to public museums.
Urge artists to support a sustainable society by making responsible choices of non-toxic, renewable, or recyclable materials, and by choosing funding sources not connected with social injustice or environmental destruction.
Establish educational programs in the community that will energize the creativity of every community member from the youngest to the oldest, including neglected groups such as teenagers, senior citizens, prisoners, immigrants, and drug addicts. These programs would provide materials and access to qualified arts educators to every member of the community who demonstrates an interest.
Incorporate arts education studies and activities into every school curriculum, with appropriate funding and staffing. We also encourage local artists and the community to contribute time, experience, and resources to these efforts.
Encourage diversity in arts education in the schools. This includes age-specific hands-on activities and appreciative/ theoretical approaches; exposure to the arts of various cultures and stylistic traditions; and experience with a variety of media, techniques and contents. We support the integration of the arts and artistic teaching methods into other areas of the curriculum to promote a holistic perspective.



Open Discussion on Green Party policies

The CapeTown Greens are currenty reviewing their policies

CT Greens