Home Affairs continues to ignore Public Protector

The Department of Home Affairs continues to ignore the recommendations and suggested remedial action outlined by the Public Protector in her report on maladministration and abuse of power in the Department. This will lead to yet another costly court battle for the Department which has already seen its legal costs double over the last two financial years.

The Public Protector’s investigation stemmed from a complaint from a Dutch family which has been living in South Africa since 1996 and has had continuous problems with Home Affairs’ immigration service.

The family has been waiting for residence and work permits since March 2003. The lack of permits has resulted in court action against Mr van Hillegondsberg and a hefty fine for his son.

The Public Protector’s investigation found undue delays on the application for permits by the family which was deemed to be both an abuse of power and maladministration.

The Public Protector instructed remedial action to be taken on this matter by 24 May 2012. A parliamentary reply has revealed that this was only responded to in June 2012.

The instruction from the Public Protector was that a remedy be provided to the complainant; charges laid as well as the fines imposed against the complainant and his family should be withdrawn. Instead, the Department has failed to provide permits to the family and charges have not been withdrawn but suspended.

The family intends to take this matter to court.

It is cases like these that are costing the Department ridiculous amounts of money on legal fees. The Department spent R46.3 million on legal costs in 2011/2012. These costs are largely attributable to the fact that the Department’s immigration services are poorly managed and that they continuously fail to comply with court orders.

The new Home Affairs Minister, Naledi Pandor, must do what her predecessor Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma failed to do. Instead of wasting more of the public’s money, she should simply follow legislation and process this straight-forward application.

Fact: Ward 58 has turned its back on the ANC again

So the dust has settled after the by-election held in ward 58 which covers Fordsburg, Mayfair and surrounds.  It was a tough but also exhilarating and even educational campaign.

The fact is that a “traditionally” held ANC community has again, for the second consecutive time expressed its disgust at the ANC’s continued mismanagement, maladministration and corruption.  The ANC has shown it simply can’t deliver.  No need to take my word for it; simply look at the constant and continuous degradation of the ward under the ANC’s watch!

Facts are facts; previous DA Cllr Waya did more in 1 year despite the ANC’s intimidation, than the 10 years under the watch of the ANC Cllr Pahad.  Fact.

During the by-election campaign I was given a moment of light relief by the local Johannesburg joker Keith Peacock.  I thank Mr Peacock for his letter to the media.  In it he praised the DA and myself in particular by explaining our important media targets. We take communication to the people of Joburg very seriously and thus set targets to ensure that Joburgers are informed and kept abreast of issues.  Unlike the ANC, who have no such targets, we are not interested in gagging or ignoring the important media.

Peacock made me smile as he demonstrated that he and his Party, the ANC, will gladly outright lie at every turn.  The reality is that Zaytoon Waya did indeed live in the ward.  The newly elected councillor, Osman Cassiem is so committed to the ward that he is presently preparing to physically move into the ward.  No ANC councillor has ever done that. Fact.

Peacock then quite correctly talks about business plans, capital projects and the City’s integrated Development Plan.  Indeed these plans were prepared under the tenure of the ANC councillor.  What he doesn’t talk about is the fact that previous Cllr Pahad did nothing to ensure that these plans become reality.  Previous Cllr Waya put these plans into action.  Cllr Cassiem will continue with this action.  Fact.

Peacock makes the statement that I am the DA deployed Member of Parliament for this Constituency.  This is true.  So who is the ANC MP for the constituency?  My guess is that Peacock and most local ANC members don’t know.  The reality is that I’m in the constituency every week with the communities. The ANC is not.  Fact.

Put all these facts together and I’m surprised that the ANC is surprised that they lost this ward!

My prediction is that the ANC will lose it next time too.  I say this because over the next four years the community will see the results of our relentless councillor in changing the face of this ward for the better.

The additional reason that I predict that we’ll win this ward is because the ANC does not understand democracy.   Sore looser ANC candidate Cajee tweeted that the local ANC branch will hold Osman Cassiem accountable “every step of the way”. 

Cajee and his cronies simply don’t understand that Cassiem and all public representatives, irrespective of what tier of government they may serve on, are accountable to people on the ground. To them is who Cassiem will be accountable to and not ANC structures.  This is the way it constitutionally is and that is the way it will be.  Fact.

Now if only we could get the Mayor and his ANC colleagues to understand this Joburg would be a much better place.

The ANC does not and will not understand this and so more and more communicates and more and more wards will turn their backs on the ANC as they seek DA councillors who energetically make concrete positive changes.

Home Affairs wastes R46 million on court cases

In a reply to a DA parliamentary question, the Department of Home Affairs revealed that it has spent R46.3 million on legal costs in 2011/2012. This is more than double the R21.3 million spent in the previous financial year.

These soaring costs are likely attributable to the fact that the Department’s immigration services are a complete disaster and they continuously fail to comply with court orders. The reply indicates that the legal costs were compounded by missing documents, lack of capacity and administrative errors.

An efficient and effective department should not be spending this amount of money on legal costs resulting from their own administrative failures.

Significant savings on legal fees could be had if the Department actually spent more money on staff to deal with applications. It currently employs only nine permanent residence adjudicators who had to deal with 73 499 applications last year.

It is the responsibility of Director-General (DG) Mkuseli Apleni to ensure that the immigration service runs smoothly. Massive backlogs in applications remain, however, and there are currently three contempt of court lawsuits against the department.

As the DA has pointed out previously, the current DG has presided over R800 million in irregular expenditure in three years and now we can add the doubling of legal costs to his list of failures. He has continuously violated the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) over the last three years and is wasting public funds on his department’s inefficiency.

Surely Mister Apleni is not performing the core functions of his office.

I have written to the new Minister of Home Affairs, Naledi Pandor, to ask that she institutes disciplinary proceedings against Director General Apleni for his failure to comply with the PFMA. The Minister should, however, also consider Mr Apleni’s role in immigration applications and the bloating legal costs of the Department.

This Department is failing in a core service area. Minister Pandor must take steps to ensure that she gets the appropriate administrative leadership in place to deliver on her Department’s mandate.

ANC desperate for ward 58 and break the law if they have to

If replies to questions asked of ANC Joburg ward 58 by-election candidate, Muhammed Cajee is anything to go by, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think that he was a Democratic Alliance plant to sabotage the ANC’s election campaign to ensure that the ANC loses this election.

Allow me to explain what I mean: I am basing everything I say on what Mr Cajee has said to a local community paper where, by Cajee’s own unambiguous admission, the ward is in serious decay thanks to ANC complacency. In typical ANC–style, Mr Cajee displays his prejudiced and racist stance when he says that he believes “that it is strategically wrong for the Indian and Coloured communities to marginalise” themselves. This is shocking and shows clearly that he is a person interested in only certain people in the ward whilst ignoring others. The DA candidate Osman Cassiem, on the other hand, works with all people and is not prejudiced.

Cajee says that we “should rather be speaking out against corruption and the lack of service deliver from within the ANC”. How amazing that Cajee in the same breathe admits that the ANC is corrupt and that their service delivery is lacking and then also invites voters to join those very people causing this! The facts are that where the DA governs no corruption and lack of delivery exists.  

In response as to whether belonging to the ANC would make a difference in governing the ward; Muhammed Cajee responds “absolutely” but fails to explain how it would be different now after 10 years of ANC mismanagement and non-service delivery. He brags at how he has met certain Joburg ANC political leaders “to discuss the issues that we need to deal with in the ward” should he be elected. Why haven’t they been around before and why are they waiting only until the election takes place? Is he saying that when the DA wins the ward those same members of the Mayor Committee won’t be resolving issues? Not only would this be a slap in the face to the good residents of the ward, it would be illegal and unconstitutional. Naturally, we would fight this and we would win.

Cajee admits that residents in Mayfair for example “are struggling with congestion, illegal businesses, and the flouting of by-laws and residents in Fordsburg are dealing with grime, dumping, littering and congestion”. All this is thanks to the ANC who has historically controlled these areas and have sat on their hands. Now “suddenly” Cajee believes things will change. What a joke! Exactly what has he been doing in the meantime? Previous ward Cllr Zaytoon Waja was able to make a great difference in the ward by what she did under her guardianship. DA candidate Osman Cassiem has himself been resolving issues in the area and he isn’t even a councillor yet! He was involved in operations against illegal businesses in the area whilst the ANC was present objecting to us insisting on by-laws being respected. 

Throughout his replies Cajee keeps on talking about “lobbying” and “building relationships” with politicians and officials to resolve matters in the ward. Cajee shows his lack of understanding on how legislation pertaining to local government operates. He implies that it is only in having “connections” with certain people within the Municipality that things will get done. This confirms the ANC’s shocking mentality that only through “connections” will things get done. The fact that the City has no choice legally but to do their job to resolve the issues in the ward escapes Cajee.

I had to read it twice over when I read that Cajee would “bring diverse interest groups together to put solutions on the table for upgrading parks; dealing with vagrancy; illegal trading and congestion; crime and grime; dumping; homelessness and unemployment, and so on”. What rubbish! This is the usual ANC style of not actually tackling these issues. No one needs to get together! Meetings are not needed. Stakeholders and interest groups do not need to meet. The City needs to do its job. Finished and klaar! This is what the community wants! A committed councillor that will ensure that officials come into the ward to resolve issues is what’s needed. The community doesn’t need a councillor who doesn’t actually deal with issues but instead brings “diverse interest groups together” achieving nothing.

Cajee tells us that “the ward doesn’t have a single safe and accessible park with decent facilities” and then refers to similar facilities in other wards in excellent conditions namely, Zoo Lake and Delta Park. What he doesn’t tell voters is that the reason why those two parks are top-notch is because of committed, dedicated and hardworking DA councillors who make sure these parks and the rest of their wards remain in these conditions!

Cajee then insults the residents of ward 58 by naming one of his targets to “upgrade at least one park in this ward to be safe and accessible”. The DA plans to deal with all parks!

The people of ward 58 will simply not vote for the ANC candidate as he provides no solutions and is doing nothing presently. Instead of talking about dealing with local schools and education, which falls under provincial powers and have nothing to do with local government, he should have started actually dealing with the many issues in the ward. He simply hasn’t.

However, what the ANC has done in the meantime is destroy, steal and take down our posters erected on street poles. The ANC have placed their posters over DA posters and even taken our own poster string to erect ANC posters. Of course all this is illegal as it goes against the Electoral Act. Just as importantly is that this is also a clear demonstration of the modus operandi of the ANC. They disregard the law and simply do as they like, like erecting posters on trees. Why then would anyone want to logically vote ANC? No me!        

Yours Sincerely,

Manny de Freitas MP

Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South

Facts and actions are what counts, not ANC propaganda

In the last few weeks I have been intimately involved in the ward 58 by-election in Joburg that is to be held on the 7^th of November 2012.  This ward falls within my constituency.  I nearly fell off my chair when I read that the ANC by-election candidate Muhammad Cajee said he is standing as a candidate because his party is in government and therefore he can get more done as the ANC has access to the City purse strings.

The fact is that DA wards are better run, maintained and serviced than ANC wards seem to escape Cajee.  His criticism of the state of the ward leaves me even more open-mouthed!  Cajee bases his criticism on the fact that the previous ward councillor was a DA councillor.  Here are the facts; the ANC has held the area for over 10 years.  During that period, the ward saw consistent gradual degeneration.

In the 2011 local government elections the people of the area demonstrated their disgust in not being served, the ANC’s empty promises simply weren’t believed again and voters gave their valuable vote to the Democratic Alliance.  The facts are that in the just over 1 year that the elected DA councillor Zaytoon Waja did more for her people than the entire time that the ANC held the ward.

In those few months Cllr Waja was able to resolve ablution facilities at the Transnet Hostels despite Transnet being a national competence, something the ANC could never do.  Road markings that hadn’t been painted once under ANC control were done, parks were refurbished and there were town planning and by-law enforcement clampdowns, to mention just a few issues.

The ANC and other parties can try to dispute this but facts are facts.  People have seen for themselves the difference that this courageous woman did, often in the face of ANC adversity and disruption.  The reality is that Cajee clearly misunderstands democracy and the functioning thereof.  The City budget is not owned by the ANC.  It is owned by the ratepayers irrespective of what party is in power.

It is the energy and commitment of the councillor representing the people of the ward that matters, not the connections, cadre deployees that it has in the City.  The facts are that despite the DA not being in the power, it is DA wards that are better served: Fact.

The reality is that, thanks to ANC corruption, mal-administration and cadre deployment, the City is bankrupt.  The billing system continues to be a disaster going back to previous Mayor Amos Masando’s time.  Corruption is rife in various City departments.  Recently the DA uncovered allegations of massive corruption within the City of Joburg’s Regiments Capital Fund involving billions.

Joburg’s corruption practices go all the way to the top.  At the beginning of October the respected Mail and Guardian newspaper reported the Mayor’s wife’s’ conflict of interest in City contracts.

The bottom-line is that the DA’s candidate Osman Cassiem is a humble man who has already demonstrated not only commitment but service in the ward.  Already he is dealing with service delivery issues and is achieving results.  His courage amazes me; Cassiem, in conjunction with DA councillors, was active in getting a number of City departments together in raiding numbers of illegal businesses, operating in the area.  Generally these businesses do not meet by-law standards.

Facts and history do not lie.  Action and not wards is what counts.  All these have been shown and Osman Cassiem is showing everyone that he has the commitment and dedication that Zaytoon Waja had.  That’s a fact.

Yours Sincerely,

Manny de Freitas MP

Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South

Our economy can grow if Home Affairs changes it’s attitude

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Our economy can grow if Home Affairs changes it’s attitude

No one needs me to say that South Africa’s biggest issue presently is the need for job creation.  Our economy is suffering because of the wanting situation in the creating of jobs.  Government lacks a clear unambiguous strategy in this regard.  Certain government departments are even openly hostile and actively working against the creation of jobs. The Home Affairs department is a prime example.

My experience is that skilled foreigners, for example, are treated with suspicion and mistrust.  The benefit that such skilled persons can bring to the country is overlooked or ignored by this department.  International experience shows that successful economics that have grown have done so because they have welcomed and taken advantage of foreign skills, not the other way round.  Even China understands this principle and is taking advantage of international skills to grow their economy.

It is time that the Department of Home Affairs start changing their attitude.  Our rule for visa requirements for skilled immigrants needs to be reformed.  Some “out of the box” thinking is required; this includes introducing an 8 year work permit for foreign students graduating from South African higher education institutions.  In doing this it would alleviate the export of skills by foreign students who have actually benefited from state-subsidised tertiary educations in South Africa.

A window period should be introduced where immigrants with refugee visas who can provide proof of tertiary qualifications or formal technical skills can easily convert their refugee visas to a work visa.  The reality is that educated immigrants face complex and time consuming visa application processes, these needs to change.

Processes should be introduced to attract qualified South African expatriates to return to South Africa by easing conditions for non-South African partners and spouses to receive work visas.  Automatic qualification criteria for highly educated individuals should be created.  A person who has graduated from the top 20 business schools in the world would be an example of such criteria.  Immigrants who indicate strong independence and performance indicators should enjoy lower entry barriers.

This is very possible but only if the Department of Home Affairs and its officials undergo a mind, attitude and paradigm shift.   Only once this shift has happened will we start seeing these benefits to our economy.

Sincerely,

Manny de Freitas MP

Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South

FPB CEO defends original classification of The Spear

Democratic Alliance press statement by
Manny de Freitas MP
DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

FPB CEO defends original classification of The Spear

11 October 2012
Release: immediate

Today the Film and Publications Board (FPB) presented their Annual Report to the Portfolio Committee of Home Affairs. The FPB is a government entity falling under the Department of Home Affairs.

In deliberations and interrogation of the Report, I asked the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FPB, Ms Yoliswa Makhasi about the ruling made yesterday by the FPB Appeal Tribunal on the painting titled “The Spear” by artist Brett Murray. The artwork formed part of an exhibition at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg earlier this year. The Goodman Gallery last month appealed the FPB classification. The FPB Appeal Tribunal overturned the classification yesterday.

The FPB Appeal Tribunal found that the FPB should not have considered a complaint against the City Press newspaper as the FPB has no jurisdiction over the newspaper or its website. To make it worse the FPB overstepped its authority by extending its decision to classify the painting to all websites that published it.

In response to my questions in this regard, Ms Makhasi defending the original classification made by the FPB stated that the Board was following legislation. She stated this despite the Appeal Tribunal’s confirmation that in effect the FPB had not followed legislation.

The FPB originally claimed that “the painting would be harmful to children on the grounds that it seriously undermines and is insensitive to African culture”. Using the FPB argument, this reasoning was not used in the case of other paintings. Such an example is a painting by Ayanda Mabulu entitled “Umshini Wam” where President Zuma’s genitals are also exposed.

I concluded in the committee that it is thus clear that the FPB entered the political debate which was not their place to do. In so doing they tarnished their image dramatically and acted more like the old Apartheid-era Censorship Board and not as a Classification Board. The Appeal Tribunal thus had no choice but to make this welcome conclusion. I took the opportunity of suggesting to the FPB that this should be a lesson to them in the future so that such erroneous classifications do not recur.

What Pandor’s priorities should be

Letter to the Editor/ Opinion Piece

Dear Editor,

What Pandor’s priorities should be

I welcome the appointment of former Science and Technology Minister, Naledi Pandor, to the Home Affairs portfolio. As she settles into her new responsibilities I believe that Minister Pandor should prioritise the following as she starts her new Portfolio: 

• Continue the efforts initiated by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in transforming the Department of Home Affairs. This includes the completion of the applications turnaround effort to ensure that the process becomes effective and efficient, as well as improving the overall professionalism of its operations.

• Address human rights abuses taking place at centres where refugees and asylum seekers are attempting to legally enter the country. Reports from human rights organisations such as the June 2012 “All Roads lead to Rejection: Persistent Bias and Incapacity in South African Refugee Status Determination” by the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand indicate that gross human rights violations take place at these centres to the extent that the department is failing to fulfil its core mandate of administering the asylum system. 

• Appoint personnel based on skills and abilities – not on political affiliation. Many of the problems within the department stem from the fact that officials have been appointed because of their political affiliation and not because they possess the necessary expertise to excel in their positions. This practice deprives the department of the very skills it so desperately requires in order to function more effectively.

• Ensure that officials are accountable, follow legislation and implement decisions made by the courts. At present, Home Affairs demonstrates a general disregard for orders made by the courts and institutions such as the Public Protector. The problem originates because legislation is not always followed, resulting in applicants turning to the courts to have matters resolved. Disregard for the judicial process is so great that even when applicants have obtained court orders, the department is loath to rectify its actions, as illustrated by its recent failure to reopen the Cape Town Refugee Centre to newly arrived asylum seekers.

• Improve the ease with which applications for official documents are made. The department should generally work towards making it as easy and simple as possible for the public to apply for documents and use appropriate technologies to do so. Processes should be automated wherever possible so that members of the public are able to print standard forms for completion and track applications online without having to visit Home Affairs offices. The implementation of processes like these would go a long way towards improving the public’s overall experience during the application process.

As clients of the Department of Home Affairs, South Africans deserve an institution that is run efficiently. The implementation of these basic steps would go a long way towards achieving this.

Yours Sincerely,

Manny de Freitas MP

Member of Parliament

Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South

Democratic Alliance

Naledi Pandor appointment: Five priorities to get Home Affairs in order

Democratic Alliance press statement by
Manny de Freitas MP
DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs
Naledi Pandor appointment: Five priorities to get Home Affairs in order

04 October 2012
Release: immediate

The DA welcomes the appointment of former Science and Technology Minister, Naledi Pandor, to the Home Affairs portfolio.

As she settles into her new responsibilities we believe that Minister Pandor should prioritise the following: 

• Continue the efforts initiated by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in transforming the Department of Home Affairs. This includes the completion of the applications turnaround effort to ensure that the process becomes effective and efficient, as well as improving the overall professionalism of its operations.

• Address human rights abuses taking place at centres where refugees and asylum seekers are attempting to legally enter the country. Reports from human rights organisations such as the June 2012 “All Roads lead to Rejection: Persistent Bias and Incapacity in South African Refugee Status Determination” by the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand indicate that gross human rights violations take place at these centres to the extent that the department is failing to fulfil its core mandate of administering the asylum system. 

• Appoint personnel based on skills and abilities – not on political affiliation. Many of the problems within the department stem from the fact that officials have been appointed because of their political affiliation and not because they possess the necessary expertise to excel in their positions. This practice deprives the department of the very skills it so desperately requires in order to function more effectively.

• Ensure that officials are accountable, follow legislation and implement decisions made by the courts. At present, Home Affairs demonstrates a general disregard for orders made by the courts and institutions such as the Public Protector. The problem originates because legislation is not always followed, resulting in applicants turning to the courts to have matters resolved. Disregard for the judicial process is so great that even when applicants have obtained court orders, the department is loath to rectify its actions, as illustrated by its recent failure to reopen the Cape Town Refugee Centre to newly arrived asylum seekers.

• Improve the ease with which applications for official documents are made. The department should generally work towards making it as easy and simple as possible for the public to apply for documents and use appropriate technologies to do so. Processes should be automated wherever possible so that members of the public are able to print standard forms for completion and track applications online without having to visit Home Affairs offices. The implementation of processes like these would go a long way towards improving the public’s overall experience during the application process.

As clients of the Department of Home Affairs, South Africans deserve an institution that is run efficiently. The implementation of these basic steps would go a long way towards achieving this.

Zuma is treading water on Home Affairs appointment

Democratic Alliance press statement by
Manny de Freitas MP
DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs
Zuma is treading water on Home Affairs appointment

02 October 2012
Release: immediate

The appointment of Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, to the Home Affairs portfolio in an acting position is evidence of President Zuma’s unwillingness to be decisive in the run-up to Mangaung.

The President must put the interests of the people of South Africa before his own election prospects at the ANC conference. The DA calls on President Zuma to appoint a permanent Minister of Home Affairs as soon as possible.

Minister Pandor may be performing adequately in the Science and Technology portfolio, but the Department of Home Affairs requires a full-time Minister to ensure that South Africans get the service they deserve.
We cannot afford to wait until after Mangaung for a new Home Affairs Minister. The President must act to fill this vacancy without delay.

MEDIA RELEASE

Immediate Release

Heritage Day celebrations a success!

This week the Johannesburg South Constituency celebrated Heritage day in the community of Vrededorp. Over 120 people, representative of the diverse South African community, gathered. At these celebrations some dressed in traditional gear to show their heritage.

Manny de Freitas, Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South explained that various types of pootjies were cooked for lunch. “We were spoilt for choice in deciding what to have for lunch as the delicious smells made us even more eager to try the variety of delicious food,” explained de Freitas.

When welcoming and addressing everyone present Manny de Freitas said that Heritage day is an opportunity to celebrate our various heritages yet at the same time united as South Africans. “We have a vision of building a united and reconciled country. A country that will ensure that our people are able to economically grow by having jobs, have the best possible education for our children and a bright future for generations to come,” said de Freitas.

Manny de Freitas explained that one should be proud of one’s heritage as South Africa is made up of many people. “This should be used as a unifying factor as South Africans; this is what makes up the wonderful Rainbow Nation that Mandela dreamt about,” de Freitas. He concluded by saying that we will continue to build this wonderful Rainbow Nation. This is what Heritage Day reminds us to do.

Photo 1 Caption: At the Heritage Day celebrations (from left to right); Cllr Rashieda Landis, Steve Williams, DA activist, Nazley Khan Sharif, DA activist and DA Youth Regional Deputy Chair, Manny de Freitas MP (Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South), Tania Turk (DA Activist), Cllr Bev Turk and Luyolo Mphithi (SA Student’s Organisation Leader).

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

A new sensible Home Affairs Minister is indeed needed

I must completely agree with the out-going Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma that her successor should be “sensible” and continue where she left off rather than change the way the department is currently being run.

It is true that the Department of Home Affairs has a long way to go to get to where it should be.  Dr Nkosazana-Zuma however has made many dramatically positive changes when it comes to basic services delivered by the Department.  This project therefore needs to continue under the leadership of the new Minister once Dlamni-Zuma leaves for Addis Ababa to take her new position as African Union Chair.

President Zuma needs to be mindful of this: he needs to appoint someone who is tough and ready to confront this challenge.

Alas, I suspect that that won’t be the criteria that he’ll use to appoint the new Home Affairs Minister.  His criteria will be who will be best to serve in his plan to be re-elected in December.

Manny de Freitas MP

Member of Parliament

Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South

Democratic Alliance

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

It’s now official: Zuma doesn’t understand democracy

Last week’s Questions to the President Parliamentary Plenary proved to be most revealing. The Democratic Alliance Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko challenged President Zuma on the Marikana issue. Put simply, the industrial relations regime is skewed in favour of only big unions (who coincidently are in alliance with the ANC). Smaller unions like the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) are excluded from wage negotiations. Therefore this system ensures that the small politically connected elite are kept in the system and everyone else is kept out.

Zuma’s response demonstrated his true colours. The President said that in a democracy it is the majority that prevails. In the interim the Presidency released a statement denying that the President said this and that President Zuma’s statement was misconstrued by the DA.

So that I don’t get accused of misconstruing what the President said, I quote exactly what is recorded in the Hansard; -

“You can’t have a union of half a thousand people because you have declared it as the union then expect to have the same rights.  Sorry, we have more rights here because we are a majority.  You have fewer rights because you are a minority.  Absolutely, that’s how democracy works.  So, it is a question of accepting the rules within democracy and you must operate in them.”

So there you have it, directly from the horse’s mouth!  I was in the House and heard exactly the same thing.

Based on the President’s statements, the following can be concluded;-

1.    The President does not support or agree with the Constitution;

2.    The President supports a one party state provided it is the ANC that is in Government;

3.    Only those aligned with the ANC have more rights that anyone else;

4.    Some rights are worth more than others, in the same way that existed in various fascist states.

These conclusions are supported by Zuma’s historical demagogic attitude; he has previously argued that the ANC is more important than the constitution and that it exists only to “regulate matters”.

Clearly, our President doesn’t understand or cares for democracy or our Constitution. Each one of us has to therefore ensure that our democracy and Constitution is protected.

Yours Sincerely,

Manny de Freitas MP

Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South

Democratic Alliance

Chairperson’s Report: Northern Business Unit Annual General Meeting

Introduction

Today is a historical day; it’s the very first AGM of the NBU. These new structures are very new so we are all learning as we progress so that we can ensure that CANSA delivers as effectively and efficiently as possible.

The Northern Business Unit serves the Greater Gauteng, Vaal Triangle area, North West Province, Waterberg area and Limpopo provinces.

Key highlights

Some key highlights for the last year are:

·         Ouma Yvonne Terblanche, a long time Volunteer in Polokwane, was rewarded with an outstanding award for exceptional service by the local Rotaries. We are proud of this hard-working, dedicated Volunteer who is a huge asset to CANSA.

·         Polokwane CANSA Care Centre, as well as our Stoma division in Pretoria, introduced new medical software programmes, enabling us to exercise better control delivers a more efficient service to patients.

·         In August 2011 the NBU launched six CANSA Care Clinics in Pretoria, Roodepoort, Houghton, Rustenburg Klerksdorp and Polokwane. All six Clinics are managed by Registered Nurses.

Our flagship is the newly launched Tough Living with Cancer (TLC) programme in Polokwane.  We were able to refurbish a wing of the Polokwane Hospital. The children now have lovely rooms, colourful tables and chairs, games to keep them busy and space where they can run around and play. This does wonders for their mental and emotional well-being while their little bodies are fighting the disease. Parents are able to stay in a CANSA Care Home close to the children, affording them the love and support they need during these times.

Prevention and Early Detection

Health Awareness programmes took on a new meaning with the introduction of the Sure Touch machine that enables us to screen for Breast cancer. Together with the FotoFinder machine doing screening for Skin cancer, we are able to expand this service to the community at large and reach many more people.

Inca Portfolio Managers put up a generous sponsorship by presenting a golf day, enabling us to upgrade our Mobile Health Unit.  We launched several programmes in rural areas with the new Mobile Unit. 

The Mobile Health Unit also served us well at the ‘Pink Cricket’ – a first in South Africa this year.  The event was first launched in Australia by the McGrath Foundation in memory of former fast bowler Glenn McGrath’s wife, Jane, who passed away in 2008 due to breast cancer. 

 The launch of ‘Pink Cricket’ in South Africa was at a cricket match between South Africa and Australia during the Aussies’ 2011 tour of South Africa. South African men turned out in their thousands wearing pink and sporting false beards to assist us in creating awareness of early detection. We utilised our Mobile Health Unit to do screenings and give out information to the cricket fans.

A couple of Regions dusted off their Toktokkies (Tap-Tap) and together with the Pulani show programme, we were able to reach our Youth through various education programmes.

Dr Annemarie Oberholzer who has had much success utilising animals to help the healing process in kids affected with cancer - has now introduced art programmes at primary schools to create awareness.  She also appointed ‘ambassadors’ in High Schools in order to create peer awareness, as well as to create a volunteer spirit amongst kids.

Rustenburg region reached more than 2 000 men with health talks at community centres, schools, church groups and at social institutions. 

Etana hosted the annual Daredevil Run to create cancer awareness amongst men. This event is in its fourth year and Durban and Cape Town have now joined in to make this a meaningful annual event.  In Gauteng more than 700 men which included me shared in the fun and raised the tidy sum of R60 000.

Advocacy

As far as advocacy work goes;

·         An informative and successful symposium on ‘Cancer in the Workplace’ was held in Potchefstroom.

·         In Pretoria guest speaker Dr Hans Jekel spoke at the symposium, addressing the topic ‘Healthy Balanced Lifestyle’.

·         Dr Carl Albrecht addressed guests at a symposium held in Vereeniging, speaking on the topic ‘Environmental Factors and cancer’.

Our staff attended 12 Symposiums held by outside parties and hosted 25 events (Corporate Wellness Days).

Fund Development

Relay For Life:                    R  4 511 032

Shavathon:                         R  2 848 966

Cuppa for CANSA :          R     345 983

SCC Golf:                             R     757 753

Special Events:                  R  2 175 100

Rooi Rose Tea:                  R     280 000

Teledonations:                  R  2 832 719

Our Relay for Life (RFL) events were a great success this year.  Rina Burke from Eastern Gauteng excelled in making the best ever income at a Relay in South Africa, whilst Central Gauteng Region added an innovative twist by hosting a very successful Ice Skating RFL Event at Northgate Mall.

Launch of CUPPA for CANSA was held on the 4^th June 2011 at the Grey Owl shopping centre in Pretoria.

Sanlam Golf Day is going from strength to strength, 186 golf clubs participated in this challenge.

As far as the Shavathon is concerned the NBU won Gold by raising the most money nationally with Shavathon: a staggering R2 848 966. Thanks to all the 124 malls, numerous schools, corporates and the public that took part in our Shavathon.

Provincial and Regional Events

Our Regional Council Committee in Mafikeng hosted a ‘Bollywood Extravaganza’.   The event was well attended by more than 500 people from all communities and R180 000 was raised.

Polokwane region held a well-sponsored and well-supported bazaar.  The generous people of Polokwane donated so much fresh food that we were able to channel some of it into poorer communities making this a double benefit from the occasion.  This bazaar is held annually to raise funds on behalf of people who cannot afford to stay at our CANSA Care Homes.  We have also, with the aid of our generous sponsors, been able to increase the number of beds in the CANSA Hospitium in Polokwane to meet the growing demand for accommodation from patients.

Copperstone Promotions and Silverstar Casino, in aid of CANSA, raised a handsome sum of R117 000 with their annual Bachelor and Bachelorette Event, whilst the Rooi Rose Tea raised R280 000. This annual prestige event is done in partnership with Spar and Rooi Rose magazine.

Chellaine Gieske and Theresa Wilson run the Comrades marathon annually to raise funds for CANSA West Rand. They collected R150 000 during the year adding great value and awareness for the West Rand Region.

Partners and Sponsors

The Phakamisa Project in partnership with the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) and Astra Zeneca we trained 128 volunteers on Breast Cancer in Pretoria, Vereeniging, Potchefstroom, Klerksdorp Polokwane, Soweto, Waterberg, Rustenburg, Brits and Roodepoort. These volunteers render support to women diagnosed with breast cancer at the clinics and do awareness talks in their communities.

A special thanks to our volunteers

We express our thanks and appreciation to all our volunteers, donors and supporters for their kindness, commitment and continued support to us and for the cause of Cancer control in South Africa. You have worked side by side with us and your support has inspired us when it mattered most. The success of this organisation is your success.

To all our staff and families, thank you for your commitment, hard work, time and sacrifices for the greater cause of fighting Cancer and providing support to all those affected by Cancer. We Salute you and thank you.

Allow me to congratulate in advance all those who will be receiving awards.

I thank you.

Manny de Freitas

Chairperson: Northern Business Unit

CANSA