The Midvaal amalgamation: at the centre of vested interests

As if the crazy logic of the Municipal Democratic Board (MDB) in amalgamating Midvaal and Emfuleni wasn’t good enough, clear conflict of interests have come to light. This conflict of interest is as clear as daylight; MDB Chairperson, Landiwe Mahlangu, is a non-executive member of a company called Sea Kay Holdings. This is a company that provides construction services, which includes low-cost housing to government. Guess What? As far back as 2008, the Department of Housing in Gauteng appointed Sea Kay Holdings to build 1500 houses in Emfuleni. This contract alone cost R58,2 million. But this is not the end of it! Landiwe Mahlangu is also a non-executive member of Interwaste, a waste management company. So to all to see, in a public document, in the Emfuleni Annual Report of 2012/2013; Interwaste operates the Waldrift landfill site in Emfuleni. If this isn’t a conflict of interest on behalf of the MBD Chairperson and the decision making process when it came to Midvaal, then I don’t know what is. Mahlangu clearly has vested and business interests in Emfuleni. The process in the merging of the municipalities of Midvaal and Emfuleni is obviously called to question. The community is overwhelmingly against this decision. Secondly, the records of these two municipalities each speak for themselves. The ANC’S unbelievable statement that the merger will bring a “fresh start for the people” of Midvaal and development and prosperity in the area. Only in cloud koo-koo land and in South Africa can a party with such a unambiguous history of bad government in the area claim that this decision will benefit Midvaal. The Auditor General (AG) has given Emfuleni disclaimers, adverse opinions and qualified audits in the last 11 years while Midvaal has constantly received unqualified audits. Unqualified audits are the best audit a municipality can receive. In 2006 Emfuleni was identified as a municipality that needed to be “rescued” by the National Government and was placed under “Project Consolidate” under the guardianship of the Department of Provincial and Local Government. The conclusion was reached after the AG confirmed in 2004 that municipal officials had colluded with other parties to sell off council assets at rock bottom prices. According to the report, one official scrapped a R10 million debt in rates on the properties in question. This however was not the beginning of illegal practices in Emfuleni. In late 2001 the municipality was owed R867 million by its debtors, by early 2003 the figure had increased to more than R1 billion. By October 2005, Emfuleni was owed R1,7 billion by its debtors. Only a year later with an outstanding debt of R2 billion, it had the worst culture of non-payment of all municipalities in the country, with a debtor collection period of 489 days. Emfuleni had systematically raised a debt completely out of control. Of course all this translated, and continues to translate, to less delivery. Let’s compare Midvaal, what a contrast! Midvaal has a 100% rates collection rate, the only local government to do so in Gauteng. As a result the poor benefits from this the most with Midvaal offering one of the highest indigent programmes in South Africa, at R3200. The facts are as clear as crystal. The ANC argues that they want the new metro to benefit from the good governance of Midvaal. Of course this is nonsense as experience tells us that this will not happen. Before the 2011 local government elections Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said that; “The ANC has never been defeated by anybody. This area, this municipality, belongs to the ANC.” Again, the ANC’s attitude is clearly displayed; it believes that it should govern by right, by hook or by crook, and not because it has been voted in to do so. Day by day more and more information is coming to light of just how ludicrous this merger decision was. The DA will continue to do what it legally can do to prevent this.

The Midvaal amalgamation: at the centre of vested interests

As if the crazy logic of the Municipal Democratic Board (MDB) in amalgamating Midvaal and Emfuleni wasn’t good enough, clear conflict of interests have come to light. This conflict of interest is as clear as daylight; MDB Chairperson, Landiwe Mahlangu, is a non-executive member of a company called Sea Kay Holdings. This is a company that provides construction services, which includes low-cost housing to government. Guess What? As far back as 2008, the Department of Housing in Gauteng appointed Sea Kay Holdings to build 1500 houses in Emfuleni. This contract alone cost R58,2 million. But this is not the end of it! Landiwe Mahlangu is also a non-executive member of Interwaste, a waste management company. So to all to see, in a public document, in the Emfuleni Annual Report of 2012/2013; Interwaste operates the Waldrift landfill site in Emfuleni. If this isn’t a conflict of interest on behalf of the MBD Chairperson and the decision making process when it came to Midvaal, then I don’t know what is. Mahlangu clearly has vested and business interests in Emfuleni. The process in the merging of the municipalities of Midvaal and Emfuleni is obviously called to question. The community is overwhelmingly against this decision. Secondly, the records of these two municipalities each speak for themselves. The ANC’S unbelievable statement that the merger will bring a “fresh start for the people” of Midvaal and development and prosperity in the area. Only in cloud koo-koo land and in South Africa can a party with such a unambiguous history of bad government in the area claim that this decision will benefit Midvaal. The Auditor General (AG) has given Emfuleni disclaimers, adverse opinions and qualified audits in the last 11 years while Midvaal has constantly received unqualified audits. Unqualified audits are the best audit a municipality can receive. In 2006 Emfuleni was identified as a municipality that needed to be “rescued” by the National Government and was placed under “Project Consolidate” under the guardianship of the Department of Provincial and Local Government. The conclusion was reached after the AG confirmed in 2004 that municipal officials had colluded with other parties to sell off council assets at rock bottom prices. According to the report, one official scrapped a R10 million debt in rates on the properties in question. This however was not the beginning of illegal practices in Emfuleni. In late 2001 the municipality was owed R867 million by its debtors, by early 2003 the figure had increased to more than R1 billion. By October 2005, Emfuleni was owed R1,7 billion by its debtors. Only a year later with an outstanding debt of R2 billion, it had the worst culture of non-payment of all municipalities in the country, with a debtor collection period of 489 days. Emfuleni had systematically raised a debt completely out of control. Of course all this translated, and continues to translate, to less delivery. Let’s compare Midvaal, what a contrast! Midvaal has a 100% rates collection rate, the only local government to do so in Gauteng. As a result the poor benefits from this the most with Midvaal offering one of the highest indigent programmes in South Africa, at R3200. The facts are as clear as crystal. The ANC argues that they want the new metro to benefit from the good governance of Midvaal. Of course this is nonsense as experience tells us that this will not happen. Before the 2011 local government elections Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said that; “The ANC has never been defeated by anybody. This area, this municipality, belongs to the ANC.” Again, the ANC’s attitude is clearly displayed; it believes that it should govern by right, by hook or by crook, and not because it has been voted in to do so. Day by day more and more information is coming to light of just how ludicrous this merger decision was. The DA will continue to do what it legally can do to prevent this.

Forced Smart Card fee is anti-poor

During a recent Home Affairs Portfolio Committee, Department of Home Affairs Director-General, Mkuseli Apleni, confirmed that all South Africans will now have to pay R140 for their first Smart ID card and not just replacements as previously stated by Minister Pandor and the Department’s communications. For millions of South African’s R140 is literally the difference between survival and starvation, and the new Smart ID Card price poses a serious threat to their financial security. In Parliament I requested Minister Pandor to provide clarity on the payment of fees. In the Minister’s reply she confirmed that everyone will be expected to pay the fee except for all persons on the SASSA database and all 16 year old who are first-time applicants. The Minister advised that as Smart Cards are to be rolled out in the next 4 to 6 years, poor people will have the time to save for the fee. Imposing a new ID system on South Africa’s citizens and then forcing them to pay for it effectively puts a price on citizenship that not everyone can afford, and would exclude them from electoral and social security processes once the Green Barcoded IDs are phased out. The Minister has clearly demonstrated exactly how arrogant and out-of-touch she really is. When a person is poor and his/her priority is to put food in their stomachs, an ID fee will not feature high on the person’s list of priorities. We will continue to fight so that poor people are exempt from paying a fee for the new Smart card IDs.

The e-Tolls are indeed unpatriotic!

I recently drove past one of our now-famous billboards which most people love, “E-Tolls. Proudly bought to you by the ANC.” I couldn’t help but feel the rage that Gauteng motorists experience when reading the billboard. It also reminded me of the reaction from the Transport Minister herself, Dipuo Peters who described the billboards as “unpatriotic.” I want to thank the Minister for being honest; at last a government member that is honest about the E-toll project! Indeed eTolls are is very unpatriotic. Particularly as most of the money made from this project will be flying out to Austria whilst the South African taxpayer gets fleeced daily. Yet, the Minister is supporting and defending this unpatriotic project! To make matters worse, the Government Gazette on e-toll tariffs indicates 82.7% of road users (Class A2) will pay a maximum of R100 per month if they are registered as e-tag users. But if you use SANRAL’s own schematic on the toll gantries and then connecting this to the gazetted tariffs to be paid by registered e-tag users during peak periods the DA has estimated costs on several routes around Gauteng and established that the costs will in fact be much higher. How then can SANRAL say that more than 80% of users carrying an e-tag will pay a maximum of R100 maximum per month? SANRAL has resorted to deceiving South Africans about the system itself as well as what it will cost the public irrespective whether one is a registered user or not. The Transport Minister needs to decide if she will continue supporting this system which few support or whether she still thinks eTolls are unpatriotic in which case she needs to halt it now! Now if only we could get the President to realise how unpatriotic and embarrassing his “road in Malawi” comments were, when addressing this issue, not only to South Africans but to Malawians and indeed the whole of Africa!

The Midvaal demarcation is about ANC dominance

The decision and actions by the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) to ignore the over 9800 objections from people in Midvaal to amalgamate this local authority into the new Emfuleni Metro speaks volumes about its impartiality, which clearly isn’t there! For months now the citizens of the Midvaal municipality have been hard at work expressing their opposition to this amalgamation. After all, who can blame them! Midvaal is the best municipality in Gauteng; this isn’t me saying this but the ANC provincial government itself when it released the results of its report which ranked Midvaal as the best in Gauteng in terms of quality of life. Due to its rapid economic growth Midvaal is the fastest growing municipality in the province. In December 2010 Midvaal was ranked 23rd of 231 municipalities making in the 10% of high scoring municipalities in the country. Recently Midvaal moved up 10 places in the annual Municipal Productivity Index for South Africa, placing it within the top 5% of all local governments in the country. Large companies such as Sedibeng Breweries, South Africa’s distributors of Heineken were attracted into the area by setting up its head office there. Naturally, this translates into new job opportunities and job creation which makes Midvaal the municipality with the lowest unemployment rate. Success attracts success; testament to this is the huge investment into the Eye of Africa Golfing Estate development and the Oprah Winfrey School. Of course not everyone is happy with these successes, certainly the ANC isn’t. Midvaal has shown up all the other ANC-run councils. The giant metros in Gauteng are particularly annoyed especially considering that they have a healthier rates base, infrastructure and budget and yet can’t get their act right the way that Midvaal has. They appear oblivious to the fact that the ANC policies of cadre deployment, continuous mal-administration and corruption, their arrogance and attitude of unaccountability are a great part of the problem. In addition to all the “proof is in the pudding” successes, Midvaal conducts its IDP (Integrated Development Plan) Meetings with MMC’s (Members of the Mayoral Committee) present with the Mayor, our dynamic Bongani Baloyi, personally present at the majority of such meetings. All this is unheard of, or exercised, ever in any ANC government in Gauteng! In order to stop Midvaal from achieving those “thorn-in-their-side” successes, and to stop that pesky Mayor and his Committee from continuing this good work, the ANC did what it has traditionally done; use its loyal and subservient institution; the MDB. The plan was simple: pretend to care what the people of Midvaal think by receiving their opinions on this matter and then simply to ignore them and instead heed the commands from Luthuli House to effectively obliterate Midvaal from existence! Simply put: make Midvaal disappear, ensure that it is “swallowed up” into the Emfuleni Metro so that it can feed off the Midvaal successes. Then start providing the sub-standard service that the rest of Emfuleni and surrounding areas have been getting so that the DA’s excellent legacy can start disappearing. I’m guessing that the ANC will think that all this will happen quite effortlessly with minimal opposition, except for two factors. Firstly, the DA won’t give up and will fight to the end and secondly, it is only a few months before a General Election. Gauteng is almost guaranteed to be DA run by next year thanks to the ANC who are attempting to cripple every citizen of Gauteng with the terrible Tolls. This shocking decision of the ANC, via the MDB, to steal Gauteng of Midvaal will simply add fuel to the already mounting fire against the ANC. I have no doubt that the Demarcation Board will defend itself as an independent and democratic institution that works for, and respects, the will of the people. If this is the case, I find it rather strange that Mayor Baloyi was prevented from sitting in at the Demarcation Board’s announcement on its Midvaal decision. This is unthinkable and ludicrous; surely the Mayor of the affected local authority should’ve been allowed to listen to a MDB decision made about the municipality he leads! The MDB actions tell us where they stand. I have no doubt that an ANC mayor would’ve been welcomed in with both arms. The fight is not over. Every legal tool will be used to fight what is the ANC’s main objective; the objective that it has had all along; to be in power and control no matter what. The ANC can no longer take the fact that more and more people of Midvaal from all communities continue to vote for the DA election after election. The more the local council does for its people, the more its people personally enjoy its fruits and want to return the government that so effectively and efficiently serves them. This is the basis of democracy. The ANC however know that they will never be able to win at the ballot box as the DA is simply doing what it is supposed to do too well. So instead, the ANC is trying steal Midvaal. Shameful!

Home Affairs must get its house in order

The Department of Home Affairs has received a qualified audit for the second year in a row, according to its 2012/13 Annual Report. In 2011, the department achieved its first unqualified audit opinion in 16 years under the leadership of Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The regression under Minister Naledi Pandor is a disappointment and requires immediate resolution. The DA will raise the qualified audit in today's scheduled Portfolio Committee meeting with the Department. We will request that a turnaround strategy be devised to deal with the matters raised by the Auditor-General (A-G). In his report the A-G stated that a "lack of adequate oversight" within the department lead to some of the following issues and the qualified audit opinion: • 75% targets not achieved; • Of the 12 drivers of internal control meant to determine the department's efficiency and effectiveness, four were "causing concern" and eight "required intervention"; • R4.2 million in irregular expenditure; • R301 million in unauthorised expenditure; and • R26 million in material losses and 7,099 lost assets written-off. This year's audit outcome undermines the progress, success, and perceived turning point of 2011's first unqualified audit. Minister Pandor must roll up her sleeves and make sure that the department does not receive its third qualified audit next year.

Electoral Amendment Bill is unconstitutional!

The right of every citizen to vote is one of the foremost rights for which the struggle against apartheid was fought. It is a right which we believe is essential to uphold in its entirety. Section 19 of the Constitution ensures that all citizens have the right to vote in elections for any legislative body. Presently the Electoral Amendment Bill recently passed in Parliament restricts the rights of some citizens to vote only on the National Assembly ballot. This unfairly limits the ability of citizens to exercise their rights and as such this Bill in unconstitutional and should not have been supported. Firstly, South African citizens abroad under this Bill are restricted from voting on the ballot for provincial legislatures. This is an unacceptable restriction on the rights accorded to them by the Constitution as citizens of the Republic. During Committee deliberations the DA argument was not accepted on the grounds that it was ‘impractical’ despite the fact that we offered very practical solutions to allow citizens abroad to register and vote on the provincial ballot. Secondly, the current system and the Electoral Amendment Bill restrict the ability of South African citizens who reside inside the Republic from fully exercising their right to vote. While the Bill now provides for a special vote for citizens who will be absent from their voting district on the day of elections, it still restricts citizens from casting their vote from outside their province. The DA believes that there should be no restraints whatsoever on the ability of citizens to exercise their right to vote, including voting from outside ones province. The DA thus believes that this is a major restriction on every citizens’ Constitutional rights In order to ensure that these rights were upheld in legislation, the DA’s James Selfe introduced a Private Members Bill which amongst other things aimed to ensure that all citizens, abroad and within the Republic could vote in both the National Assembly and provincial legislature elections, regardless of provincial boundaries. This Bill was rejected by the Committee. Undeterred, the DA attempted to uphold the rights of all South African’s by proposing amendments in Committee on the current Electoral Amendment Bill to ensure that all citizens can fully exercise their right to vote. Again these amendments were rejected. The DA will now continue to fight in the courts to ensure that South Africa’s elections are free, fair and allow all citizens full access to voting. During the Committee process, the Commission itself conceded that this restriction on the rights of citizens is a problem, but described the issue as “minute”. As such, the ANC chose to ignore what everyone confesses is indeed a problem. The Bill in its current form will not pass the test of Constitutional muster The IEC and the ANC argue that with the low numbers of people who vote abroad and outside of their home provinces such a problem is not material. This is simply not true. More importantly, this belies the very intention on which the Constitution was founded. It undermines the lives lost in the struggle to ensure that the right to vote was never again restricted. The DA will not stand back and allow our democracy to be weakened by this Bill. Therefore, the DA could not support this Bill at it is unconstitutional and unacceptable in our Democracy.

DA to fight for every South African citizen’s right to vote

Note to editors: the following statement was distributed at a press conference in Parliament today hosted by the Chairperson of the DA Federal Executive, James Selfe MP, DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, Manny de Freitas MP, and the DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Masizole Mnqasela MP. The court application can be found here. Yesterday, the DA and nine other applicants filed papers in the Western Cape High Court to allow South Africans living abroad to register and vote overseas. Although this matter of overseas voters has already been ruled on in the Constitutional Court, the DA seeks to take it a step further by ensuring that all South Africans have the right to vote both nationally and provincially. The Constitutional Court found in Richter v Minister of Home Affairs and Others 2009 that the Electoral Act and its regulations were unconstitutional and invalid as they prevented South Africans living overseas at the time of the elections from voting in the national elections. Richter established the principle, and our application is to take it to its logical conclusion by allowing South Africans abroad to register and vote for both the national and provincial elections. Our court application requests the following: • South Africans to be able to vote on the National and Provincial Ballot; • South Africans being able to register abroad; and • Voting stations be made available in locations where there are no embassies or consulates, but where substantial numbers of South Africans reside. The DA has already attempted to remedy this through a Private Member’s Bill submitted by myself earlier this year which was rejected by Parliament. The PMB sought to provide for the following: • Allow eligible voters to register at embassies or consulates; • Allow overseas voters to vote both for the National Assembly and the Provincial Legislatures; and • Require the IEC to establish special temporary voting stations where more than 500 special voting applications have been received. The Department of Home Affairs, however, does have to give effect to the ruling in Richter and for this reason it has tabled the Electoral Amendment Bill which is before the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs. As it stands, the Bill seeks to provide South Africans abroad with the opportunity to vote whilst outside South Africa but will only allow them to vote for the national ballot, and will only allow them to register in a ‘national segment’ of the voters’ roll. The DA is of the opinion that the Electoral Amendment Bill may be unconstitutional in this respect as it is a limitation of the right to vote, for the following reason. When we vote, the Constitution provides for both a regional and a national list. All South Africans have the right to vote for both lists and this contributes to the make up of the National Assembly. The regional list populates the National Assembly first and then this is topped up by the national list. As it stands, the IEC’s Bill will only allow for overseas voters to vote for the national list and not the regional list. By doing this, the Bill would also effectively rule out having a constituency-based system. It will also not provide for overseas voters to vote for the provincial legislature. The Act already allows certain categories of South Africans living abroad or outside their province, namely public servants, to register as voters and to vote in provincial elections. This right should be extended to all South Africans otherwise it effectively creates a situation of some being more equal than others. Logistically, this is in fact quite simple and so the DA does not see any logistical or administrative problems in allowing South Africans abroad to vote both for the NA and the Provincial Legislatures. All that will be required is for the IEC to provide overseas voters with two ballot papers instead of one. In terms of counting those votes towards the provincial list, they can follow the exact same procedure as is already done for government officials abroad. Although we agree that the integrity of the voters’ roll is fundamental to credible elections, so is providing every citizen with the full right to vote. The third aspect which the DA is requesting is that where there are sufficient South Africans who wish to vote in the elections in a certain area, that a special voting station is established. At present, overseas voters can only vote at embassies or consulates which might be a great distance from where they are resident and will prevent them from voting. The DA believes that this matter should be dealt with urgently as the next elections are approximately 8 months away and the first voter registration weekend is as soon as November this year. If we are successful in this application, this will require certain logistical arrangements to be made by the IEC in order to allow South Africans abroad to register and vote. It is essential that all South Africans, even those living abroad, can fulfil their right as citizens to vote. We hope that our application is successful as it will go a long way to ensuring that this right is guaranteed for all.

CANSA Chairperson’s Report: Northern Business Unit General Meeting 2013

Introduction The Northern Business Unit continues to develop amazingly with inspiring and dedicated staff that work well beyond their remuneration. The only reason for the successes we are able to achieve is because of the passion that the people in this room have for accomplishing the mission of CANSA. Highlights The R140 000,00 Anglo-American donation for screenings in the Vaal Triangle enabled us to do 2470 pre-screenings by means of PAP-smears and PSA testings. The Vaal was also host to a Relay for Life event where they hosted 117 teams, 150 Survivors and raised R267 000,00. In the Waterberg Regions, with the assistance of Dr Carl Albrecht, and the Executive Committee of the Woman’s Agricultural Union, we launched a process to get government involved in legislation involving carcinogens and children. Thanks to First National Bank, CANSA has been beneficiary to unused furniture. For the first time, we could renovate our offices to a professional standard. Several offices, including the Northern Business Unit office now look fancy-shmancy thanks to this generous offer! Polokwane Region has now put in new beds in the hospitium through some sponsorships and their children’s oncology ward has been finalised. The Face of Cancer project, in conjunction with West Rand Region was launched during the year with screening for skin cancer, PAP smears and PSA testing done. This project takes CANSA to the people, just as we do with our mobile clinics. Our Well Woman Project, in collaboration with the Department of Health resulted in 1703 tests carried out in remote rural areas. Once again we took the Mobile Clinic to the people in the Northern Gauteng, Waterberg and Polokwane rural areas, enabling people who would not otherwise have been reached the opportunity to Health Services, and possibly saving lives. Rustenburg Region has obtained a sponsorship from a local Trucking company. They spray painted a truck Pink and branded it with CANSA logos. Northern Business Unit has hosted another successful event with Copperstone Productions at the annual Bachelor and Bachelorette of the Year event. The KOSH Region’s Potchefstroom branch held a symposium for the second year running in collaboration with the North West University Business School. Several specialists held talks about topics ranging from cancers affecting women to genetics, hereditary factors to health laws and ethics. The North Gauteng’s Pretoria office has widened their service reach with a satellite clinic in Pretoria Gardens. Their Care Home that caters for patients undergoing cancer treatment has benefited hugely from donations from the community. They received donations to upgrade their garden, for new blankets, paint and a lovely new lounge suite. They were also able to raise money with the “Blou Bulletjie” rugby event at Loftus Versfeld, a highlight on the Pretoria calendar, and reached 234 cancer survivors on International Survivor Day. The Houghton Office hosted 59 Shavathon venues this year. They raised R920 000.00! The annual Etana Insurance Group’s Daredevil run was once again a huge success. Adventure Bootcamp raised an amount of R155 000.00 to enable us to upgrade our Keurboom Care Home in Belgravia in Johannesburg. The Southern Region, based in Soweto, hosted a very successful wellness day for the staff at Gold reef City. The Eastern Region in Alberton took part in the Momentum 94.7 race. R20 000.00 was raised for CANSA during this event, and 890 PSA test were carried out on men to detect possible prostate cancers. They launched a support group at the South African Airways’ technical division, and held a successful Men’s Health Symposium. The 37th Wally Hayward marathon, being run annually in honour of the legendary Wally Hayward has once again proved very successful this year, with funds being raised for CANSA. Health awareness by numbers We reached a total of 187 566 people by means of wellness days, symposiums and workshops, and a further 13 356 with health talks and an additional 44 973 people were reached by means of exhibitions. An estimated 80 000 people were reached via the media. A total of 111 490 youth were educated at our schools and nursery schools. Screening by numbers The total pre-testing done by our clinics were 5 233. Our regions did 9 929 pre-tests and 15 162 tests. A total of 291 patients were referred for further tests. The number of abnormalities detected are down from last year; from 4,6% to 1,9%. This is a heart-warming figure and indicates that our awareness programmes are paying off. Support by numbers We assisted 5 045 patients with wound care and stoma products, and 10 523 cancer patients were cared for in our Care Homes. 7 822 Patients and their families were supported with our home based care. Fund development We’ve been successful in our fund generation which includes over R500-thousand raised with our Cuppa for CANSA programme, over R400-thousand from our Jail and Bail activities and just a little short of R4-million with the amazing Relay for Life programme. Volunteer snapshot The number of volunteers within CANSA is moving up! Our Liaison Committees number 80, we have 437 Health Programme Volunteers and an incredible 1013 fund development volunteers. Our Sponsors: We would like to thank our sponsors without whom we will not be able to do any services: 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. Our sponsors are: First National Bank, Anglo American, Checkers, Nivea, Momentum Life, Sasco, Pick a Pay, Woolworths, Oasis Water, Thobela FM, House of Asante Spa, Bidvest Steiner, Meropa Casino, Ocean Basket, Clover, Concorde Travel, ABSA Bank, MFC, Wesbank, Mercurius Motors Polokwane, Mc Carthy Polokwane, Limpopo Toyota, Cartrack, Mike’s Kitchen, Dura Foods, Enterprice, Granor Passi, Sasco, Uitkyk Vleismark, Welthagen Eggs, Specsavers, Hotel 224, Lifemed, Mamelodi Sundowns, Benoni Rotary Ann’s, The Cycle Hub, MTN, Ernie Els Wines, Guvon Hotels. To all our staff and their 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.

This fight is still on today

The month of August has become synonymous with women. Exactly 57 years ago this month, on the 9th of August 1956 20 000 women marched united on the Union Buildings in Pretoria in protest to the dehumanising Apartheid regime’s pass books. Pass books ensured that the majority of South African were prevented from moving freely within their own country. Daring and courageous women like Helen Joseph, Lilian Ngoyi and Albertina Sisulu, planned and led this dramatic protest. The women came from every colour, political background, creed and corner of South Africa. The march showed the then National Party Prime Minister JG Strijdom could not break our women but only united them more in their resolve to fight the evil system of Apartheid. Today I have the honour and privilege of being in the same room of a new generation of women who have the same courage and resolve to fight the other evils that confront us today in the modern-day South Africa. The reality is that we (and that is all of us; women and men) need to remain committed to the emancipation of women throughout South Africa. Gone are the days when gender and indeed social issues are looked at separately from other issues. All challenges are integrally interlinked and equally pressing. The new DA-led Gauteng provincial government next year will be an open and responsive government. A DA-led government will deal with women and children’s health, domestic violence and rape, youth and family development and unemployment side by side. Here are the facts; because of domestic violence a woman in South Africa is murdered by her partner every 8 hours. 1000 women a year. The DA has not forgotten you, a DA-led government will respond to this. Rape and sexual violence are gripping our nation, and have reached crisis levels. A woman in South Africa is raped every 10 minutes. More than 50,000 rapes a year. The DA has not forgotten you, a DA-led government in Gauteng will respond to this. In fact the DA is not waiting to get into government, as it will here in Gauteng next year, we have already done much work in this regard. For years, the DA has called for the specialised courts to address sexual offences to be revived. Earlier this month, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe did just that and heeded our call and the Specialised Sexual Offences Court will finally be resuscitated. In the same statement, however, he told us the courts will be supported by a budget of only R20m. But R20m is not enough to tackle this scourge with the urgency it deserves. R20m mocks the suffering of the thousands of women, men and children who are victimised by the perpetrators of these crimes every day, more so since the same department allocated R45m to specialised courts for the 2010 World Cup alone. The DA commits that we will continue to work hard in Parliament to put pressure on the government to address this lack of commitment. We will work for change. Our mindset must change as all South Africans are interlinked; the wealthiest person can only reach his or her full potential when the poorest and downtrodden black woman is empowered. It makes as much economic sense as much as it makes moral sense. The ANC has let down the women of this province badly. And by letting down the women, the potential of every man and child has also been held back. Today, just as in August 1956 at the Union Buildings, we must never forget the 60 minutes silence and remind ourselves of how much more there is still to be done today, to give women equality and respect. All South Africans have a role to play. We have a responsibility to honour the sacrifices of our women over the years. Let us never forget. We can remember by continuing this fight. This will we will do together.

What’s this unity everyone’s talking about?

Often in discussions with people of the Portuguese community, I hear about how “un-united” the community is. I’m constantly told that we need “unity” and that we need to be “united”. However, no one can explain to me exactly what this “unity” is. What would it mean for the community to be united? To date, I’ve not received a proper, coherent and understandable response. The closest in the creation of the united Portuguese club or association. All existing clubs and organisation would all collapse into one united organisation. Besides the fact that in reality this would never happen, exactly how would the community be united if such a united club were formed? If hypothetically, all organisations, clubs and associations were to be united to form a “mega-club” it would unite all organisations, clubs and associations into one umbrella mega-origination. Full stop. Nothing else. It wouldn’t translate into the mystical unity everyone refers to. Knowing the Portuguese community as I do, such a mega-club would quickly show cracks of disunity and breakaways would quickly follow. It appears not be apparent to many members of our community that the diversity of opinions, ideas and outlook is a good thing. Who says that unity is a good or positive thing in the first place? The presumption is that it is! I dare to disagree and say that “unity”; something that can’t actually be defined in the first place, is illusive and basically a cryptic idea. If unity is defined as that I have to agree with someone else even when I don’t agree with him or her, then I don’t want that unity. If unity means that we should all express our “Portugality” (“Portugalidade”) in only one way, expression or style, then I’m not interested in that “unity” as we are simply too diverse, vibrant, interesting and awesome as a community. Each of us are individuals with singular personal expressions. This perceived unity can, in my opinion, take only one form; where each one of us takes personal responsibility. We need to be the best person and, in our case, also the best South African we can be. Being the best, loyal, honest, hardworking, faithful, compassionate, caring and kindest person we can be is our contribution to the unity that matters most, that of the unity and understanding amongst all men and women; irrespective of how diverse or different we each are.

The economy must come first, not emotion

In 2009 the United Kingdom (UK) introduced visa requirements for South Africans entering their country. This in itself is not a big story until one scratches a little deeper. Firstly, South Africa has had a special relationship with the UK; we have a historic bond and we are a former colony of the “British Empire”. Until 1961 our head of state was the Queen herself and today we are a member of the Commonwealth. Culturally we, and I mean all South Africans, black and white, are actually quite “English”. The way we speak is not too far removed from that of “Queen’s English”, our lifestyle, outlook and even culture has been heavily influenced by the English. Our school system, the way we conduct business and even our political system all originate from the UK. So for the UK to “suddenly” insist that South Africans must be in possession of visas when entering their country is much more “dramatic” or “personal” than any other country. When this imposition was made it was for a good and solid reason; the systems of the Department of Home Affairs were no longer considered secure enough. Too many illegal people had entered the United Kingdom via South Africa and the UK considered us too risky. Simply put; the government had dropped the ball on this one. Quite some time has now passed, the Minister of Home Affairs told me in Parliament that systems were now secure and that there are no longer reasons for the UK to demand visas from us. Minister Pandor told us that her department was in discussions with UK authorities on this matter. It appears that these discussions appear to be going nowhere as now Home Affairs are threatening to reciprocate and insist on UK citizen’s possessing visas when entering South Africa. On the face of it, if indeed our systems are indeed secure and safe again and the UK is not lifting this criteria on us, then we too should make similar demands; after all they are not our “colonial masters” and who do they think they are in any case!? The emotional attitude however is not helpful and will hurt South Africa more than it would ever hurt the Queen and her subjects. The largest number of tourists to South Africa come from the UK. If Britons start looking at other holiday and, even business, destinations it is South Africa and our economy that would suffer. Britons, or anyone else, are not obliged to visit our shores. They can go anywhere; the rest of the world is our competition. We need to make it as easy and attractive for UK citizens to visit us. Doing anything to complicate or frustrate these tourists or business people from coming to South Africa could potentially mean the loss of jobs in the tourism industry, the hospitality, transport and services industry, to mention only a few examples. We need to be level-headed and to think about our economy, and frankly, ourselves, without getting emotional. In the meantime, we need to ensure that Home Affairs ensures that their systems are safe and secure. If we are confident of this it is our job to show the UK that this is the case and to work towards dropping the visa requirements imposition by the UK.

Customs House: Minister must address failing refugee service

Today, the DA visited the national Department of Home Affairs-run Customs House in Cape Town where asylum and refugee applicants have been queuing for weeks to apply, extend or renew their applications. Media reports alleged both corruption and abuse of asylum seekers at Customs House. In my role as a member of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, my colleague and I, Masizole Mnqansela, visited the centre to see for ourselves.

During our visit, the queues at Customs House were extremely long, but orderly. This, according to one of the applicants, is only because they told officials how things should be done. On other days, there have been stampedes and security guards have been working with officials on the inside taking bribes to allow people to jump the queues.

When we queried officials at Customs House about the bribery allegations, we were informed that six officials have been suspended to date.

From our inspection of the office, it would appear that the centre is severely understaffed and applicants are not being informed as to how everything is working. One of the main challenges is that there are massive delays in adjudicating asylum applications and applicants have to return almost monthly to extend their application status.

The DA will be raising this matter with the Minister of Home Affairs, Naledi Pandor, as it is clear there is a lack of information, staff and efficient systems in place to deal with the number of applicants. We will also ask her to explain why there continues to be massive backlogs in determining asylum and refugee status.

The situation at Customs House in Cape Town is not an isolated one. National Refugee Reception Offices across the country are often characterised by administrative incompetence, endless queues and even stampedes. The Minister of Home Affairs must intervene to see that problems are fixed.

At the introduction of the Smart ID Card in Pretoria today, the Minister said that "at the heart of that dignity and human worth are the attributes of identity, citizenship and dignity which affirm the status of every citizen in every nation and allow us as individuals to move around our countries or the world, knowing that we have been effectively documented". Asylum seekers and refugees who have been forced to leave their countries deserve to have their dignity restored too and be effectively documented.

Mandela commands respect, Zuma demands it!

In the recent debate on the Budget vote of The Presidency, President Jacob Zuma used this debate to attempt to dictate to South Africa on how we should honour the Father of the Nation, Nelson Mandela.  Zuma told Parliament to stop projecting Mandela as the “only nice” person in the ANC.  When did anyone ever say that?

The reality is that the glorious ANC of the past, that I would’ve joined, is not the ANC of today.  The ANC today has deviated from the values that Madiba and his predecessors have stood for.  Gone are the values of reconciliation and multiracialism.  Gone is the vision to grow our people and our economy.  Gone is the aim to ensure that all our children receive quality education, irrespective of race, creed, background or economic background.

These are the real issues that Zuma is trying to hide.  Instead, he wants to dictate to you and I how we should remember the Father of our Nation.  The President claims that our memory of Mandela is superficial.  Exactly what is superficial about Mandela’s vision for South Africa?

Jacob Zuma’s frustration was evident during that debate as the DA spoke the truth when challenging the President’s weak leadership.  In response, the ANC expressed its demand that Zuma be treated with respect.  They just don’t get it; respect is commanded, not demanded!  Zuma cannot, and does not command respect.  Zuma should look to Mandela at how a man commands respect.

Home Affairs costs tax payers millions

Replies by the Minister of Home Affairs, Naledi Pandor to questions I posed reveal some shocking facts.  I asked the Minister about the amount her Ministry has spent on legal fees.

In the last 3 years an astronomical 5217 legal court actions have been fought by Home Affairs.  These court actions involve Immigration Services, Labour, Civil Services and Claims for damages arising either from contractual or delictual obligations.

What this means in Rands is that in the 2009/10 financial year, the Department paid an unbelievable R22 806 347,00 towards legal costs.  In the following year Home Affairs paid R21 396 000,00 on legal costs but in 2011/12 paid more than the previous 2 years combined amount of R46 339 000,00.  These figures are mind-blowing.

Imagine how much more Home Affairs could’ve done if it had not wasted R90 541 347,00 in the last 3 years on legal matters.

This is possible as most of these court cases were Home Affair’s own doing.  If Home Affairs did what it was supposed to in the first place this out-of-control expenditure wouldn’t be happening.

Home Affairs needs to ensure that they reduce administrative errors; deal with applications on time, don’t lose documents, (why are documents not dealt with electronically?) and tightened up verification processes.  These are such simply, easy to implement things.  In the meantime The Minister and her Department does nothing about improving this situation whilst her legal bill continues to go up. 

Shocking!



ANC acting like a bully on UK visas

Thanks to the rampant corruption within the Department of Home Affairs the United Kingdom (UK) withdrew its visa-free status to South Africans entering the UK since 2009. This did not happen out of the blue as there had been concerns before that in this regard.

Government reacted with surprise, as if it was new that there were doubts about the integrity of South African passports.  Weak administration and corruption within the Department made it easy for foreigners to acquire South African passports; authentic and “legal” ones at that. South Africans are now forced to pay over R1000,00 for short-term visitors’ visas for the UK.

At a question session to the Minister in Parliament, Minister Naledi Pandor advised us that the UK had committed to look at this matter after the London Olympics. There appears to be no progress on this matter.  In the meantime thousands of South Africans travelling to the UK are confronted with expensive visas.

Instead of continuing to tighten our systems and intensifying our discussions with UK authorities; the ANC does what it does best: by acting like a big bad bully.  The Ministry is now making a noise.  Minister Pandor was recently quoted as saying that her department to apply the same rules to UK visitors where “the international practice of reciprocity should apply as a principle”.

Interestingly enough, the Minister’s comments come in the wake of the British government’s decision to halt development aid to South Africa worth £19m (R271 million) from 2015.

The fact that the UK is SA’s biggest overseas tourist market seems to escape Pandor.

Should the Minister’s threats become reality it will indeed affect tourism, and therefore income which has implications for our economy.  Tourist will simply choose other more tourist-entry destination.

These proposed steep fees to obtain visas will also have negative implications on business between the 2 countries.  Additionally, the largest South African expatriate community is in the UK; here too expensive visas will affect friends and families in the 2 countries.

As much as the ANC may want to wish it away the relationship between South Africa and the United Kingdom is a special and unique one.  We have cultural, historical, and even diplomatic ties.  Introducing a “tit-for-tat” attitude simply does not party any good

Kleinfontein should be welcomed

The enclosure of Kleinfontein in Pretoria has received much media attention.  I understand that the Old Transvaal Republic vierkleur flag flies at the entrance to the area.  I also understand that residents are required to be descendant of the Voortrekkers and a Protestant Christian.  This community is also enclosed by a fence and entry is controlled. The Leadership of this micro-community indicated that their aim is to advance their culture.

With all this in mind it is as clear as daylight; this community was created out of fear and alienation.  The premise is that, in this case, white Afrikaans-speaking Voortrekker descendent Protestants have no place in our rainbow nation.  I fear that Mandela’s vision for South Africa is fast fading. 

It is up to each of us to keep this vision alive.  Each and very one of us needs to embrace the diverse cultures that makes up the beautiful quilt that is South Africa.  Isn’t it beautiful that we have a variety and diversity of cultures yet we are all South African!

The fact that our people look, sound, speak and act differently is a good thing, not bad.  We should all be striving to learn from each other.  I think it’s wonderful that South Africans are not the same; that our diversity allows for different languages, creeds and outlooks. This diversity allows and incorporates white compatriots who happen to be descendants of Voortrekkers and are Protestant Christians.

Kleinfontein residents should be welcomed with open arms, not isolated.

Act assists those marginalised and misunderstood

Replies

Replies by the Minister of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), Naledi Pandor to my questions prove to be most interesting. I asked the Minister about the Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Act, 2003.  The replies indicate that the DHA has received and approved a total of 95 applications since this Act was passed.

Replies to other questions I posed the Minister of Health indicate that the Department of Health does not keep a database of gender reassignment surgical procedures that are performed in public sector facilities.  There are currently two public sector clinics in South Africa with “specialised and skilled held care providers that perform gender reassignment surgical procedures.”  These clinics are linked to the University of Pretoria (UP) and the University of Cape Town (UCT).

The Department of Health indicated that information at hand suggests that the UP clinic has performed more than a hundred procedures since its inception in 1990.  The UCT has performed more than 10 such procedures since its inception in 2009.

All too often, individuals who have a genuine and legitimate need for gender reassignment are marginalised.  All too often such people are not respected and their dignitary is often impinged on.  This happens simply because people don’t, and sometimes refuse, to understand the affected person and his/her circumstances.

Acts such as Alternation of Sex Description and Sex Status Act ensures that the golden principles listed in our Constitution and its Bill of Rights is put into practice. 

It is now up to each and every one of us to be supportive of this and to educate those that do not understand this issue.

Not on the Fence: Home Affairs rides on past successes whilst no new...

Not on the Fence: Home Affairs rides on past successes whilst no new...: Before I discuss the Department of Home Affairs, I’d like to comment on the entities that fall under its custodianship. The Electoral Commi...

Home Affairs rides on past successes whilst no new ones are seen

Before I discuss the Department of Home Affairs, I’d like to comment on the entities that fall under its custodianship. The Electoral Commission continues to be devoid of scandals and political intrigue that have become so common within so many of other entities within this government. It is run professionally and efficiently. As I stated last year, the IEC doesn’t allow itself to be bullied by any political party, irrespective of how big or small it may be. As a result it is respected all round both locally and internationally to an extent that other countries with longer and more established democracies than ours seek the advice of our own IEC. Again, I repeat, we can only puff our chests out with pride when talking about them. Thank you IEC for making South Africa proud.

The Film and Publications Board has done well in fulfilling its mandate, despite its strange shenanigans with The Spear painting, and has worked hard at improving on its past successes. The FPB has filled a number of key posts and as a result more than double the number of products have been classified in 2012/13 compared to 2011/12.

The Government Printing Works is truly a prime example of how an entity should operate. So much so that it has reached a point that it will be completely self-sufficient. This entity should provide other similar bodies an insight into its workings so they too can emulate what the GPW does so successfully.

Now let’s turn to the Department of Home Affairs; it is clear to me that the Department appears to be riding on its past successes with nothing new or exciting to report on this year. This may explain that despite the Minister being appointed as political head to this Department in October last year she has not once attended or formally met members of the Portfolio Committee.

The Minister has claimed that the Department supports the National Development Plan; but if this is the case how is she monitoring that the objectives within this plan are being met by the Department of Home Affairs?

Minister, your predecessor publically stated on radio that citizens would vote using the new smart cards in the General Elections next year. Is this deadline still going to happen or is this yet another target that will need to be moved? From what you tell us today you confirm that this deadline has indeed been postponed.

Since 2009 the Department has not published a list of scarce and critical skills despite it being required to do so in the Immigration Act. The Minister replied to a written question that the department intends to publish this list “in the near future”. Honourable Minister, when will this list of scarce and critical skills be published, considering that you are obliged to do so by law? This is an important component in ensuring that our economy grows. We need foreign skills, which are lacking locally, so that we can grow at an acceptable rate, transfer skills and compete globally.

A total of 6 217 of quota permits have been issued up to the 5 March 2013. The target set by the Department is 50 000. We clearly have a long way to go. It remains a mystery as to how this Department will reach its own targets and by when, particularly considering that this also meets the objectives listed in the National Development Plan.

To make this an even greater mystery, the Minister has indicated that the “Track and Trace system is not currently able to capture jobs and skills specific criteria of work permit applications”.  How then will we know which skills we need to import?

The Department has spent an excessive R46 million on legal fees in the 2011/12 financial year. There appears to be no sign of this abating as the Department continues to be taken to court for administrative failures and errors and not respecting its own legislation. Court orders are routinely not respected.

Despite the courts being clear about the opening of Refugee Reception Centres, the Department simply ignores court orders and refuses to reopen them. The solution, we are told by the Department, is that Centres will be opened at land border posts. This plan appears to ignore air and sea ports.

The government cannot ignore the fact that South Africa is a safe haven for asylum seekers and refugees leaving conflict zones in search of a better, safer life. Instead of ignoring this issue, we must tackle it head on and take a human rights based approach to handling asylum seekers and refugees.

It appears the Department does not intend on doing this.

I’m interested in the Minister’s announcement of a Border Agency. A leaked document in my possession reveals that the Department has this extraordinary plan to introduce “Refugee Camps” where people previously called “asylum seekers” would instead be referred to as “refugees”. This means that it’s not just about detaining asylum seekers during the status determination process, but keeping refugees in camp facilities. The Refugee Act empowers the DG to establish Reception Offices. There is no empowering provision to establish Refugee Camps. The fact that a camp policy is much, much costlier than the current system, which requires minimal government support for asylum seekers or refugees, seems to have escaped the authors of this proposal. We need to know exactly what are your plans in this regard, Minister. Does this plan form part of the operations of this new Border Agency? 

The Department not only ignores court orders but ignores the Public Protector too.

I have previously presented to this House the April 2012 Public Protector report entitled “Unconscionable Delay” which highlights abuse of power and administration. This straight-forward application remains pending despite the recommendations by the Public Protector that it be approved. Indeed, this is an indictment on the Department. Department officials simply refuse to grant this and many other applications because it appears that it is their egos not the law that is being respected.

As I said earlier, an efficient and effective department should not be spending this exorbitant amount on legal costs resulting from its own administrative failures and non-compliance to court orders. The Minister should look into this issue instead of trying to justify it.

Sadly it gets worse as this department and its officials sometimes forget the impact that it has on real people’s lives. Take for example a letter I received in March from someone in the Eastern Cape, without using the person’s name, I quote directly: “The person underlined here is an indigenous citizen of this country it is very painful to see her being humiliated and reduced to a nil dignity to be made less than a sub-human being humiliated and reduced by a public officer who refuses to issue an ID to her despite any declarations and police affidavits made by family members to ascertain her to be a born and bred in RSA – Colesburg.

She applied for an ID on 15 February 2012 but to date this has not yet been issued to her. In terms of section 20 of the Bill of Rights she is entitled to this document, she was born in 1964 in Colesburg. As we currently speak she does not have access to employment, health care, and a social relief grant, no community benefits, no rights of whatever nature are considered to her because she is treated as an outcast foreigner. She tried to make enquiries at the Colesburg Home Affairs Office where she is sent from pillar to post, ie, Colesburg to De Aar then up and down while she does not have money to travel up and down.”

Further down in this letter, it talking about a Home Affairs official as follows; “…it might happen to many people who opt to keep quiet about such officials who undermine people just because of their poor background and position. He thinks that he is above the law with his superiority complex and bullying others. Never on Earth can and ID application take such a long time.” Although there have been great improvements, there are still incidences of people being abused by DHA officials.

I advise the honourable Minister to read the regular feature in the Daily Sun called Home Affairs Horrors to understand the impact of poor service delivery by her department on ordinary South Africans.

The abuse doesn’t stop here. It is now reaching out into other areas. The recent high profile Guptagate saga is such an example. Clearly the government is working hard to create a perception that it did not condone this major breach of security and that it opposes this violation that took place at the end of April. At a media conference on Friday, all the Ministries, which include Home Affairs, stressed that “no executive authority was granted for the plane to land.”

If this is indeed the case, how is it that, according to Home Affairs itself, all 207 passengers and the 12 crew members on the plane in question had been processed through immigration? If permission had not been granted for this aircraft to land, how is it that officials were on hand to process all of these people at Waterkloof? Exactly how were they processed and how was all documentation for the non-South Africans coming into the country verified as true, accurate and not fake? According to Home Affairs, all passengers were indeed verified as correct and meeting all required legislation.

It appears that the DHA was very well prepared for the receipt of passengers from an aeroplane that government claims had not been granted permission to land at that base. The feeble attempts by the government in spinning the tall story is not holding water as the public won’t be fooled that easily.

If indeed permission had not been granted for this plane to land then it would be logical that resources from the DHA would not have been on hand to process passengers. According to the DHA, it was indeed present and successfully administered all passengers. Government speaks with a forked tongue as it makes claims on one side but actions demonstrate another.

The spin and the actual series of events simply do not add up. The Home Affairs Department needs to come out and admit that it looks after those close to the President and the ANC, even if it means posing a security risk to South Africa and breaking its laws as it did again in this case. 

Honourable Minister, you owe South Africa an explanation. South Africans demand answers to all these questions and you, Minister must be held to account.

This leads me to other forms of corruption which continues to be rife within the Department. It extends from the lowest level right to the top. The Auditor General found that the Department had mismanaged procurement and contracts by awarding them incorrectly and not following tender procedures. The bottom-line is that little is being done to fight corruption in the Department as the results speak for themselves and that is that the level of corruption has not decreased.    

I dream that we will soon reach the stage where South Africans will receive quick, efficient and effective service from the Home Affairs Department – when any experience with this Department will be a pleasant, courteous and corruption-free one.

This is a goal well worth working towards. We are here to assist in realizing this dream. Minister, tackling the issues I’ve mentioned today would go a long way to realising this.  

Not on the Fence: The Gupta plane saga: Government speaks with forke...

Not on the Fence: The Gupta plane saga: Government speaks with forke...: According to the government the landing of a privately chartered jet at the Waterkloof Air Force Base on 30 April 2013 was unauthorise...

The Gupta plane saga: Government speaks with forked tongue

According to the government the landing of a privately chartered jet at the Waterkloof Air Force Base on 30 April 2013 was unauthorised. This plane was carrying guests from India for an over-the-top Gupta family wedding ceremony at Sun City in the North West Province.     

The government has suspended and arrested officials apparently involved in this ordeal as a public “signal” by it that it finds it unacceptable that the Air Force Base, a national key-point, was used for private purposes. Justice and Constitutional Development Minister, Jeff Radebe also announced that a Task team consisting of a number of Directors-General, which includes the Department of Home Affairs, would be investigating this matter.

Clearly the government is working hard to create a perception that it did not condone this major breach of security and that it opposes this breach.

If this is indeed the case, how is it that, according to Home Affairs, all 207 passengers and the 12 crew members on the plane in question had been processed through immigration? If permission had not been granted for this aircraft to land how is it that officials were on hand to process all of these people at Waterkloof? Exactly how were they processed and how were all documentation for the non-South Africans coming into the country verified as true, accurate and not fake? According to the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) all passengers were indeed verified as correct and meeting all required legislation.

It appears that the DHA was very well prepared for the receipt of passengers from an aeroplane that it claims had not been granted permission to land at that base. The feeble attempts by the government in spinning the tall story is not holding water as the public is not gullible enough to believe this spin.

If indeed permission had not been granted for this plane to land then it would be logical that resources from the DHA would not have been on hand to process passengers. According to the DHA, it was indeed present and successfully administered all passengers. Government speaks with forked tongue as it makes claims on one side but actions demonstrate another.

The spin and the actual series of events simply do not add up. Government needs to come out and admit that it looks after those close to the President and the ANC, even if it means posing a danger to South Africa and breaking its laws as it did in this case. 

We demand answers to all these questions and we will be posing these to the Minister who is accountable.  

CARDINAL NAPIER: Explained Nothing

Letter to

As a proud and practicing Catholic I was saddened and hurt with the interview I read with Cardinal Wilfred Napier in the Mail and Guardian of 12-18 April 2013. The interview was entitled “An explanation for everything”, except that Cardinal Napier explains nothing and indeed adds to the confusion.  The interview clearly displayed the Head of the Catholic Church in South Africa as a man out of touch with his own Church on the ground.  What His Holiness, Pope Francis I is trying to do, Cardinal Napier is almost nullifying.  Instead of coming out to the streets with the people, as Francis I is trying to do, Napier continues to sit on his backward-looking stance.

As the most important, largest and most relevant Christian Church, the time is over for semantics and technicalities when it comes to the horrifying abuse by Priests.  The Cardinal needs to move away from his legalistic stance.   If an abused person seeks comfort from the Church because one of its shepherds has used his position to abuse its flock; the Church needs to take it seriously and needs to investigate it; irrespective whether the abused person choses to formally report it with the Police or not.

It is true that the Church, in South Africa in particular, is doing much on this issue.  As a result such cases are dealt with quickly and efficiently.  This is the sad irony.  From the Mail and Guardian interview, for anyone who doesn’t know better, one would think very little is actually done.

The reality is that although Cardinal Napier is indeed the correct man theologically to lead our Church in South Africa, he is not a great communicator.

The Church needs men, or women, who are able to relay the Church’s message on issues in an easy-to-understand, modern and uncluttered manner.

Justifying and “explaining” paedophilia simply makes it worse.  Resorting to the oldest, greyest and most uninspiring trick in the communications book; blaming the media for misinterpreting or claiming to be quoted “out of context” is a thousand times worse.

The Church should simply, matter-of-factly explain and communicate what it is concretely doing on these matters.  Simple.