Parties fume over 5-star stay

2009-10-18 21:55

Johannesburg - Opposition political parties on Sunday reacted with anger at the news that Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has racked up another five-star hotel bill, this time of R570 000 in Durban.

The Sunday Independent reported that between December 19 and April 25, Mthethwa was intermittently booked into the luxurious Hilton Hotel along with members of his VIP Protection Unit at a cost of R578 499.

The Hilton bill was double what taxpayers coughed up for Mthethwa's 17-day stay in Cape Town's five-star Table Bay Hotel earlier this year. Mthethwa stayed at the hotel at a cost of R235 000 while his home was being renovated after flood damage.

The DA said the police department's long list of luxury indulgences did not only contradict President Jacob Zuma's calls for austerity and prudence, but flew in the face of common sense and commitment to put the public before personal gratification.

"If one adds up the hotel extravagance to the cars bought by Mthethwa and his deputy, Fikile Mbalula, it goes up to over R3.7m of public money being spent on person opulence," shadow minister of police Dianne Kohler Barnard said in a statement.

She asked how Mthethwa would justify his behaviour while police officers who often put their lives at risk earned next to nothing each month.

Disgust

The Independent Democrats expressed its "disgust".

"In light of the fact that this is the second such revelation about Mthethwa in less than two weeks, words cannot describe how disgusted the ID is," the party's spokesperson for police Haniff Hoosen said in a statement.

The problem was that ministers were determining their own benefits, he said.

"The Cabinet's powers to approve the handbook must be taken away. Perks, privileges and allowances for ministers should be determined by a similar process to the Moseneke Commission, which was tasked with examining remuneration for public office bearers."

ANC leaders had lost touch with the people who voted them into their positions.

According to the Sunday Independent's copy of the Hilton bill, Mthethwa spent Christmas and New Year at the hotel. During an uninterrupted 17-day stay from December 19, he was not accompanied by any guards and the bill came to just over R86 000.

On the night before Valentine's Day, Mthethwa was booked into the same hotel, this time with four guards, at a cost of R38 516. From April 19 to 25, he stayed at the hotel with two guards. The bill amounted to R89 000.

His spokesperson, Zweli Mnisi, did not comment on the figure, saying only that Mthethwa was in KwaZulu-Natal around December on "official duties", partaking in roadshows aimed at reducing festive season crime. His April stay was due to the national elections.

"The province was identified as a potential hot spot. All these were official programmes aimed at engaging local stakeholders in the fight against crime, including consultation with local authorities as part of preparation for the elections," he said in a statement.

- SAPA

source

Cut ministers' car benefit - DA

2009-07-26 14:27

Cape Town - The DA is proposing a range of cost-cutting measures for the executive, including doing away with free trips on the luxurious Blue Train, removing the right to a state sponsored domestic worker and cutting car allowances to a meagre R660 000.
Party leader Helen Zille said in Cape Town on Sunday economic times were tough and that the executive, like everyone else, should have to tighten their belts.
"This year, our economy is likely to shrink by almost 2% and we are deep in recession," Zille said.
"In the midst of this economic crisis, the government must demonstrate that it is prepared to make sacrifices and demonstrate some frugality."
Zille said her colleague, MP Anchen Dreyer, had submitted a letter to the director general in the presidency, Vusi Mavimbela, asking for certain amendments to be made to the ministerial handbook.
Fund own travels
This was in order to "reflect a more sympathetic appreciation for the plight that South Africa finds itself in".
One of the proposals is to cancel the right of members of the executive to make use of the Blue Train.
"Members of the executive currently are entitled to travel by train for official purposes at the cost of the relevant department, including travelling on the Blue Train," Zille said.
"It is not necessary for carrying out executive duties to travel on the Blue Train, and should members want to travel on the Blue Train, we believe they should fund this from their own pockets."
Members were entitled to a state-purchased car of a value equivalent to 70% of their annual salary. This equated to roughly R929 000.
"The DA believes that this is excessive. We propose that the benefit be reduced from 70% to 50%.
"This would entitle them to a car worth R663 780, which we believe is more than adequate for the purposes that members of the executive use their cars for."
Cancelling VIP lounges benefits
Another of the party's proposals is to cancel the right for the executive to make use of VIP lounges at airports during domestic trips.
"The DA proposes instead that members should not be allowed to use VIP rooms when travelling domestically, as it is not necessary to their jobs."
Domestic workers for members of the executive were also paid for by the taxpayer.
"Where members of the executive stay in private accommodation, they are... entitled to a domestic worker funded by the state. The DA has requested that this right be removed, so that ministers staying in their own houses pay for their own cleaning service."
The party has proposed a further stipulation that members of the executive not be allowed to use blue lights or sirens when being driven around, except in cases of genuine and verifiable emergency.
Zille said the executive was riddled with examples of "profligate spending".
One example was the communications department, which recently purchased two new BMW 750i cars valued at R1.1m each, for Minister Siphiwe Nyanda.
Another was KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize's inauguration party two months ago, which cost the taxpayer R10.6m.
"Across the country, citizens are protesting because of the conditions in which they live.
"In the midst of this economic crisis, the government must demonstrate that it is prepared to make sacrifices and demonstrate some frugality.
Zille said the party's proposals were being put into place in the Western Cape, where she is premier.
"We will be putting these to the president's office, in the hope that the national government will give consideration to implementing them too."

SAPA

source

Prisons' bosses suspended

2009-07-13 15:36

Johannesburg - Correctional services national commissioner, Xoliswa Sibeko, and the department's acting chief financial officer, Nandi Mareka, have been placed on precautionary suspension with immediate effect, the department said on Monday.

"The reason for placement on precautionary suspension is to ensure the investigation into the renting of accommodation for senior executives, amongst others, is not interfered with," said department spokesperson Manelisi Wolela.

"It is important to note that there is no finding on these matters and therefore there is no judgement," he added.

Wolela declined to elaborate on the investigation. He said both Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the commissioner regarded the investigation as "serious".
According to a statement, Mapisa-Nqakula announced the establishment of an investigative team at a special executive management committee meeting on Monday.

The Public Service Commission team would investigate Sibeko's conduct.

Recent media reports said that Sibeko and her Gauteng counterpart were renting properties costing the taxpayer around R35 000 per month.

Rapport newspaper said the rentals were in the exclusive Woodhill area of Pretoria, and were being used while the official residences stood empty.

Democratic Alliance shadow minister of correctional services, James Selfe, welcomed the pair's precautionary suspension, saying the fact that the minister had taken action was "encouraging" but was "only the beginning of what needed to be done".

"The DCS [department of correctional services] desperately needs a turnaround strategy to lift it out of the morass of mismanagement that has characterised the last five years," Selfe said in a statement.

- SAPA

source

Water Affairs DG put on leave

2009-07-21 15:43

Cape Town - Water Affairs director-general Pam Yako has been put on "special leave" pending the outcome of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities within the department.

"No charges have been levelled against Ms Yako or any official of the department and, until informed otherwise by the outcome of the investigation, the director-general remains innocent," Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said on Wednesday.

A statement issued by the ministry said Sonjica had decided to investigate the department's finances "following allegations of financial irregularities and information alleging maladministration and mismanagement".

Yako had been put on special leave to "allow for an unfettered process of investigation".

The statement said Yako was lending her total support to the investigation and had indicated a willingness to co-operate fully.
"As a responsive government committed to clean and efficient governance we had to look into these allegations with the seriousness that they deserve," Sonjica said.

- SAPA

source

Bling BMW: A slap in our faces

by Wayne G

 

2009-07-18 10:17

"Ask Minister Siphiwe Nyanda what government officials do in a recession..."
What does communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda do in the middle of a recession, where jobs are being lost, houses and cars are being repossessed by the thousand, most industries are in negative growth and we are all being told to watch our spending and tighten our belts?
He goes out and buys, not one, but two top of the range luxury German cars with every extra under the sun attached, thus figuratively speaking running around beltless and shameless.

I sit hear confused and irritated asking myself - what world do our ministers live in? In reality we are being encouraged to save and watch our spending. The government on the other hand, being the well-rounded role models they are, are living like rock stars with an endless supply of funds to buy luxury cars fit for heads of state in most rich first world countries.

While we are grappling with the worst global recession in history our ignorant ministers are rushing out to luxury stores and buying like there is no tomorrow.  Eskom, a state owned parastatal, is raising tariffs by 33%; the country is being lambasted by a wave of strikes demanding extra wages, everything is getting more expensive, house hold debt is at its highest in recorded history, and car sales are in negative growth along with most other sales of goods.

Guidelines are flawed

The prescribed guidelines for ministerial purchases are fundamentally flawed and its current practices are not in line with the current economic trends. How on earth can you justify spending R2.5m on two cars when you as a government are pleading poverty, raising taxes, paying your doctors pittances, not supplying your hospitals with the basic equipment used to save lives to name but a few on a very long list?

Minster, I have a friend who was on a flight from Johannesburg to Durban after the final rugby test match between SA and the Lions. One of our senior rugby players and his family were spotted by cabin crew sitting in economy class with the rest of the common man. He and his family were invited to move into business class and he refused point blank saying "he was very happy where he was".
I mention this purely to make a point that you don't have to take everything that is prescribed to you or your misdirected sense of entitlement deems necessary. This form of behaviour should be a lesson to you and all your "bling bling" cronies in government who are rewarding yourselves before you have even started doing your job. At the moment, the way things are going you should be riding a bicycle to the office or making use of our excellent public transport like everyone else.

 
Minister I challenge you to inform the South African tax-paying public who bought these cars for you out of our hard earned taxes what ceramic surround for controls, ambient interior lighting, adaptive headlights, high beam assist, a three-spoke, leather-covered steering wheel, a R23 400 "rear-seat entertainment" system and a R5 600 "high-gloss satin chrome" paint job help you do your job?
Maybe I am just ignorant but these extras are a slap in our faces. What is wrong with a standard 320d BMW? Most people only dream of owning a 3 series BMW, but you lift your nose up at it and go for the top of the range. Why do you need a 750i BMW?
I will tell you why, because to you it's all about image, image at the cost of all else, as long as you look good in your designer suits, ministerial mansions, and luxury German cars everything else can fall to pieces. This form of behaviour has no place in a third-world country where more than half your population are below the bread line.
No guilt?
Minister, on a more personal level, how do you sleep at night knowing you just spent R2.5m on two cars, while so many South Africans can't even afford a roof over their heads? Do you justify your actions with bureaucratic guidelines and red tape?
Shame on you and every other government official spending our taxes quicker than we can earn them. Every day you hear about another minister blowing the bank on some or other exorbitant spending spree or their officials running elaborate fraudulent schemes.

Mr Jacob Zuma, the so called "president of the people" is also slipping into the cracks of gluttonous and unscrupulous spending with a new government which is clearly out of control and has no idea about the fundamental difference between money and wealth.
Let it be known that you were voted in by the people, the same people who are struggling to make ends meet on a monthly basis. It is time for you and your government to humble yourselves and come down to our level. You are after all our employees; we pay your salaries and fit the bills for all of this reckless spending that has become the norm in the ANC.

Lastly, to everyone who voted for the ANC. The next time you are on walking or driving on one of our roads and a 750i BMW with ceramic surround  controls, ambient interior lighting, adaptive headlights, high beam assist a three-spoke, leather-covered steering wheel, a R23 400 "rear-seat entertainment" system and a R5 600 "high-gloss satin chrome" paint job screams past you at 180km/h throwing dust and rubber in your face, leaving your tiny insignificant image in its rear camera view, wipe the dust out of your eyes and take a look around and remember who you voted for. After all it's your vote that gives them the blank cheque.

These officials should be held accountable for this blatant abuse of power and money. It's no wonder we are such an angry nation, our own government is misappropriating our taxes and hiding behind laws they created to protect their taste for the finest luxuries money can buy.

As the late and great Winston Churchill said, "you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time."  We are not fools, so next time you pop into your luxury store and buy some unnecessary item, know we are watching you, and we will not stop until you stop.

source

Support for Hogan grows

26/03/2009 12:32  - (SA) 

Cape Town - Civil society groups and a Constitutional Court judge have added their voices to growing support for Health Minister Barbara Hogan's stand on the Dalai Lama.

Hogan provoked the ire of the government on Tuesday by saying its denial of a visa to the Tibetan leader under Chinese pressure showed it was "dismissive of human rights", and urging it to apologise.

The Helen Suzman Foundation said in a statement it supported the "principled stance" taken by Hogan.

"The notion of a minister having a different view from Cabinet on a matter is not unprecedented nor is it unacceptable for that opinion to be voiced publicly," the foundation said.

"Any censure or other steps that may be taken against Hogan will be deeply unfortunate."

It said Hogan, who "personally" knew the deep suffering of political intolerance, should be commended for reminding South Africans of some basic tenets of their own history and how the country had a special duty to human rights campaigners globally.

Constitutional Court judge Kate O'Regan on Thursday publicly backed Hogan, SABC radio news reported.

"It is a matter of dismay that human rights does not seem to enter into the picture of some foreign affairs decisions that are made," O'Regan was quoted as saying.

She said that like Hogan, she remembered the years of the 1980s "when South Africa was so fortunate to have friends all over the world assisting our human rights struggle".

Narrow interests

Managing director of the Afrikanerbond Jan Bosman said the refusal of a visa to the Dalai Lama was an example of a government that puts its own narrow interests first with no regard to internationally acceptable norms.

"It must therefore be welcomed that individuals such as Ms Barbara Hogan, Minister of Health, spoke out against this decision," he said.

"The deafening silence by the rest of Cabinet must be seen as condoning this abuse of the most basic of human rights."

The Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum on Thursday released a letter it sent to President Kgalema Motlanthe earlier in the week expressing its "serious concern" about the denial of the visa.

"We raise our voice alongside the many others of our civil society expressing anger and disappointment," said the letter, which was signed by forum chairman, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba.

"We were... shocked by the decision to block a visit by one of the world's most highly respected and visible spokespersons for religious faith, tolerance and human rights.

"By acting in a way that reflects Beijing's political demands you have weakened our national sovereignty."

The letter asked Motlanthe to "reflect" on the decision.

"As leaders of diverse faiths and communities, we believe South Africa has erred in its judgement."

Peace conference

The Tibetan spiritual leader, along with other Nobel Peace Prize winners, was to have addressed a peace conference aimed at thrashing out ways of using football to fight racism and xenophobia ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

On Wednesday, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said Hogan's comments were "rather unfortunate".

"The comments of the minister of health were rather unfortunate in the sense that this position on the Dalai Lama is an official position of this government."

Maseko repeated government's stance that the Dalai Lama was refused entry because his presence would draw the world's attention away from World Cup preparations.

But he conceded that relations with China also played a role.

- SAPA

source

'China funding ANC campaign?'

26/03/2009 21:00

Cape Town - The government's refusal to grant the Dalai Lama a visa highlights the need for the regulation of political party funding, political analyst Judith February said on Thursday.

"We just had the situation with the Dalai Lama, so I think it is reasonable to ask whether the ANC received funding from the Chinese recently to fund its election campaign," February, an analyst for the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa), told the Cape Town Press Club.

The Dalai Lama was refused a visa to attend a 2010 World Cup peace conference to have been held in Johannesburg starting on Friday.

The event was cancelled after Nobel peace laureates FW De Klerk and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu withdrew in solidarity with the Dalai Lama.

Shrouded in secrecy

"The whole process of party funding is shrouded in secrecy," February said.

"There are no regulations of private funding to political parties. This is a big gap in our anti-corruption apparatus. It needs to be fixed sooner rather than later."

Idasa took five political parties to the Cape High Court in 2005 to get them to reveal their funding.

The organisation was unsuccessful in its application, with the judge ruling that political parties were private bodies which did not have to make their books public.

Issues with funding

She said all political parties had had issues with funding, including the ANC, DA and Independent Democrats.

"I think most political parties agree on a situation of 'show yours and I'll show you mine'," she said.

February said it was worrying that Parliament had shown no movement on the issue, despite the ANC taking a resolution at its conference in Polokwane in 2007 calling for transparency on contributions to parties.

February also spoke on the upcoming April 22 elections.

ANC could be hurt in polls

She said there was a good chance that the ANC might be hurt in the polls after the way in which it handled corruption charges against party president Jacob Zuma.

"I think that the ANC is in danger of losing the two-thirds majority in Parliament," she said.

"Some of the pressure to drop the charges against Zuma might hurt them at the polls," she said.

"The ANC needs to be very careful in the way it deals with this issue."

February said she expected the DA to "do very well" in the Western Cape and the ANC had itself to blame for losing support in the province.

"The party did not do a good job in running the city," she said.

"I think that in Helen Zille people see a leader of integrity. The city of Cape Town has had no corruption scandals. That sticks with people."

- SAPA

source

'It's a sad day for South Africa'

24/03/2009 14:44  - (SA)  

Johannesburg - A peace conference involving Nobel laureates was postponed on Tuesday over Pretoria's refusal to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama, angering the grandson of Nelson Mandela.

Mandla Mandela, who helped plan the event, said the rejection of the Dalai Lama was "unfortunate" and tainted his illustrious grandfather's efforts to bring democracy to South Africa.

"It's a sad day for South Africa. It's a sad day for Africa," he told reporters.

Nelson Mandela, along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former president FW de Klerk, were to host the peace conference on Friday in Johannesburg, bringing together Nobel laureates from around the world.

The conference was to discuss how soccer can fight racism and xenophobia, as South Africa prepares to host the 2010 World Cup.

Officially South Africa says it does not want a visit by the Dalai Lama to draw attention away from preparations for the World Cup, insisting that his visit has merely been "postponed."

Government stands by decision

Thabo Masebe, spokesperson for President Kgalema Motlanthe, said he could not say when the Dalai Lama would be allowed to visit.

"We made the decision. We stand by the decision. Nothing is going to change," he told reporters.

Now that the peace conference has been scuppered, the event's chairperson Irvin Khoza said he did not know when it would be rescheduled.

Tutu and De Klerk had earlier indicated they would withdraw from the event over the controversy, while the Nobel peace committee said it would have to withdraw its support unless the Dalai Lama was allowed to attend.

"For me personally, and the role my grandfather has played in founding our democracy, together with his colleagues, this rejection by the government to not issue a visa to the Dalai Lama is really tainting our efforts of democracy," Mandla Mandela told a news conference.

"I don't think that as sovereign independent country, we need to succumb to international pressures," Mandela said.

Pressure from China

The government has denied that the Dalai Lama's visa was rejected due to pressure from China, a key trading partner.

But Chinese diplomats told local media that Beijing had urged South Africa to deny the visit or risk damaging bilateral relations.

A spokesperson for the Dalai Lama has also blamed Chinese pressure for the refusal.

After South Africa announced its decision, China expressed appreciation for countries that shun the Dalai Lama.

"All countries should respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity... and oppose Tibetan independence. We appreciate relevant countries' measures," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing.

China vehemently opposes any overseas activities by the Dalai Lama, whom it considers a separatist seeking independence for his Himalayan homeland. He denies such charges.

He angered China earlier this month by marking the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising with a speech saying Chinese control had turned Tibet into a "hell on earth."

After the end of apartheid, South African foreign policy had made a strong focus on human rights around the world.

That reputation that has been dimmed after South Africa refused to condemn Myanmar's military junta or Zimbabwe's repressive President Robert Mugabe while it held a rotating seat on the UN Security Council.

- AFP

source

Property bill 'driving farmers out of SA'

August 05 2008 at 01:39PM

By Deon de Lange

The current exodus of South African commercial farmers will eventually force the country to buy its food from Botswana, Agri SA's chairperson has warned.

Theo de Jager was speaking on Monday at a function arranged by the Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection of Property Rights, an informal pressure group established two months ago to raise public awareness of what it believes will be the dire consequences of implementing the controversial Expropriation Bill.

He said many commercial farmers were quitting agriculture in the face of economic pressures, while others had also packed their ploughs for neighbouring countries - like Botswana - to avoid the uncertainty caused by the government's "threats of expropriation".

De Jager said local farmers were "replicating their commercial agricultural ventures" in countries where they were offered better support and did not face the possibility of having their land "nationalised in the public interest".

The Expropriation Bill will, if passed in its current form, allow the public works minister to expropriate any property - not just land - in the public interest.

Dave Steward from the De Klerk Foundation pointed out that a "particularly nasty clause" in this bill would allow the minister to expropriate "any property on behalf of any juristic person where that person has tried to obtain the property through negotiations and failed".

"We view this as a back door clause to allow for a massive expansion of the government's Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment policy," he said, adding that this would effectively allow the minister to nationalise commercial farms and hand them over to BEE companies.

Concerns were also raised that the bill proposes to limit the role of the courts in arbitrating expropriation disputes.

If a property owner is not happy with the amount of compensation being offered, the bill says the courts may refer the matter back to the expropriating authority - appointed by the minister - for reconsideration, creating what Steward described as a "ping-pong effect".

Parliament is due to continue deliberating the bill in the next two weeks.

 

source