The Premier Must Fire Mmemezi

The Gauteng Premier, Nomvula Mokonyane, must fire Local Government and Housing MEC, Humphrey Mmemezi, for apparently misleading the Gauteng Legislature about the accident damage to his official vehicle.


According to a press report today, the BMW in which Mmemezi had an accident in November 2011 in the Eastern Cape, will be auctioned off. Of concern is a comment by one of his department’s officials that the vehicle is not in mechanical running order which will affect the price that can be obtained for the vehicle at an auction.

This is despite a written response to my formal question in the Gauteng Legislature earlier this year in which Mmemezi indicated that the vehicle was in “good condition, except the left rear door”. He repeated these claims in the legislature during oral question time in March this year.

However, it has now transpired that the vehicle has sustained much more damage than revealed by the MEC. He also gave the impression that all was in order with the accident report and that the insurance claim will be dealt with through administrative procedures in his department. The question remains, why has the car not yet been repaired by the insurance six months after the crash?

The MEC has ducked my follow-up questions to him by continuously requesting extensions in answering them. These questions requested more details about the accident, the accident report and the insurance claim. Now it is clear why he has been ducking these questions.

The MEC has had ample opportunity to come clean about the accident but has not done so, therefore the Premier has no choice but to fire him as she did with her former Agriculture MEC, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko when her vehicle was stolen. The precedent has been set by the Premier and she must act consistently.

The DA will continue to demand answers about the crash from the MEC and his department and will maintain pressure on the Premier to fire the MEC.

GETTING RID OF PROVINCES WILL BE ADMISSION OF ANC FAILURE

Some positive news recently emerged after DA Leader and Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille, met with President Jacob Zuma. This was that provinces are not in the immediate firing line of the ANC Government. However, Zuma’s assurances did not close the door on either the debate or the possibility of provinces disappearing in the future. He just indicated that provinces were here to stay for the time being and that he will inform other parties when this changes. Thus it can be argued that the door is still wide open on the issue.
A further sign that the door is still wide open on the future of provinces is the fact that Constitutional Amendment 17 is still on the table. This amendment will give central government the power to intervene in the executive decision making of municipal councils should it experience resistance to the execution of its centrally formulated schemes. Power, I would suggest, paving the way for the abolition of provinces and regulating a centralised relationship between national and local government.
Should provinces be abolished in the future it will lead to an over centralisation of power and it will effectively erode South Africa’s Constitution to such an extent that it will impede the freedom its citizens are enjoying currently. There will be less accountability by Government as central government will become extremely big and inaccessible. Local government, even though it might enjoy more powers, will just become even more derelict in service delivery as it will not be able to deal with the added responsibilities. It already struggles with its current mandate how will it deal with current provincial powers being devolved to it in future?
It seems as if, technically, Jacob Zuma was honest with HelenZille when he said that provinces will remain for the time being. However, I do not believe he was totally honest about the ANC’s plans for provinces once “for the time being” has expired. I still firmly believe that provinces are still very much in the firing line of the ANC government. The main argument will be that provinces are a “stone in the river” slowing down the flow of resources necessary for proper service delivery.
This argument does not hold water as the flow of resources can be accelerated through proper and capable management and management systems and procedures. The argument does inherently come down to an admission by the ANC that it is unable to govern provinces. An inherent admission that the ANC failed despite hailing their successes during every election campaign. The ANC does not seem able to manage within any type of system that is not centrally controlled (i.e. control freaking).
So, beware the debate about provinces are still a very hot issue and we should not become complacent based on “technically honest” assurances. We cannot go forward on assurances, what we need is a commitment from President Zuma that provinces should stay, we need a totally honest stance before we can become assured.

18 June 2009 - The Gautrain Visit!

Today I had quite an interesting experience. I visited one of the Gautrain sites. The Gautrain is a rapid rail link that will connect the OR Tambo Airport by rail to Sandton and on the north-south axis Johannesburg Park Station will be connected with Pretoria and Hatfield stations via Sandton. A ride between Johannesburg and Pretoria stations will be 35 minutes! Much better than the hour plus it takes on the highway nowadays. The Gautrain is the largest greenfields rail project in the world currently and will cost about R 30 billion. You can read more interesting facts about the train at www.gautrain.co.za.

The visit was very interesting and impressive. It started out at the Gautrain headquarters in Linbro Park where we received a safety induction. After the induction we were presented with a slide show about the project and its progress. According to the presenter they are ahead of their schedule to finish the rail link.

After the presentation and a number of questions we were issued with safety shoes, reflector jackets and hard hats and were put on a bus which headed to the Gautrain depot in Midrand. The depot is where the trains are stored, assembled, tested (each train must complete 3000 test hours before it can be commissioned) and maintained. Very well equipped. Currently the site also accommodates the concrete casting works for the viaduct parts. This part will be converted to a bus depot for the Gautrain buses.

After arriving at the depot we had another safety briefing (they are really very safety conscious) and were taken off to the stores where the trains are being kept. As you can see from the photographs we were able to inspect the trains close up and were explained how the driver controls work. Very high tech stuff. There were (obviously) opportunities for pictures and questions to the resident experts. All the while being watched closely by the security guards. Unfortunately we couldn’t get onto a moving train but did see them running up and down the test track. These trains achieve 160 km/h (they achieved this yesterday and today – the engineers are very chuffed!), really quick.

Also interesting are the track inspection vehicles. Three Land Rovers fitted with track wheels (small train wheels) that engage once they are on the track and then inspect the tracks to make sure the trains can use them safely. Good to know they are doing this because it would not be fun crashing in one of these trains at a 160 km/h!!

The trains run on electricity which they get from 25 KVA (25 000 volt!) overhead lines – it was made clear to us a number of times that should you touch the overhead wire, it will be the only time you will get to do it – you will end up a small heap of carbon if you do.
Well, enough about trains – check out my pics and the website for more interesting stuff.

NOW ABOUT MY WEEKEND AHEAD

If you thought us politicians do a weekday, daytime only job, think again. Yes, another weekend full of politics. Quite a significant one actually.

On Friday afternoon it is off to Cape Town where I will attend my last ADAC (Association of DA Councillors) National Council meeting (see www.adac.co.za for more info about ADAC). On Saturday my successor will be elected after I make a presentation about the ADAC strategy and our future training approach. I am really sad to leave ADAC as it has been such an enriching experience and probably one of the best positions you can ever occupy in politics. However, I am now an MPL and therefore have to move on as new challenges await me.

Soon after making my presentation on Saturday morning it is back to Gauteng and off to Kwa Ndaba where our caucus (DA Gauteng Provincial Caucus) will be having our first bosberaad (team building and strategy formulation meeting). On Sunday it is back home.

I am particularly also looking forward to Monday when I will have my first portfolio committee meeting. Come back on Monday evening or Tuesday to read more about what goes on in such a committee.

Enjoy your weekend! I hope I can catch the end of the Springboks vs. British and Irish Lions test. Go Bokke!!

5 May 2009 - The Mock Sitting

As I indicated yesterday, today we had our mock sitting. We basically sat in the auditorium got lectures on the basics of the rules of the house and the cute little touch screens that we use, once they work fully, for all kind of stuff.
The mock sitting ended with a run down of tomorrow's inauguration/ swearing in procedures. The nice thing about the mock sitting was that we were able to get used to our seats in the legislature. I am sitting between Mike Moriarty and Bev Abrahams and have Thomas Walters, Paul Willemburg, Solly Nkhi, Khumi Ramulifho, Neill Campbell and Gavin Lewis in close proximity - oh and off course chief whip Glenda Steyn! I already feel at home in the house and am looking forward to the first real debate.
Things are moving fast now. Today I got a parking space (with my name on it!), access card, office allocation as well as my portfolios. I will be spokesperson on local government (my first choice - yeah!) and deputy spokesperson on public transport, roads and stormwater (could have been worse!). I look forward to my exciting and challenging two portfolios and I think I will be having a lot of fun with them.
As I said tomorrow it is our formal swearing in (as Paul said today he loves swearing!) and after that we will hopefully get our programmes and start working proper.
I still have to deal with the admin around the medical aid transition and as well as my cellphone porting (i must choose a handset on Friday - these choices are killing me!).
Tomorrow will be the inauguration edition!!!

Campaigning for the DA - 22 Days to Go!!

Can you believe it that there are only 22 Days to go to Election Day!!?? It felt like only yesterday when the election was announced and now we are nearing the end of the campaign at a rapid speed.

It has really been a different but also fun camapign at the same time thus far. Also a very positive campaign. Being out there doing foot canvassing, handing out pamphlets, being visible at sport events, visiting retirement homes and other special homes and holding tables at shopping centres I have never felt such a positive vibe towards the DA in an election as this time around.

People are interested in politics again and they just want to chat to you about Helen Zille and the DA and ghow important it is to drive the ANC below a two thirds majority. Even though many of us, especially the candidates, are feeling tired, we are pumped because of the positive response we have received thus far.

This makes me very optimistic about the DA's chances in the coming election. Our campaign is running smooth and I don't think we have ever before been so visisble as we are this time around. Apart form the ANC I have not seen other parties campaigning on the ground outside the eyes of the media as much as we have. It just goes to show that size matters and the importance of having many activists, members and public representatives who can help campaigning.

I believe that this election will see a number of smaller parties being obliterated as South African politics experiences a realignment. Voters are more informed that before and understand what is at stake. So allow me, at thsi stage while I am still very positive to predict the winners and losers as I see it will emerge after 22 April.

Winners:

Democratic Alliance with a growth of between 4% and 6% in growth; with a win in the Western Cape and possibly part of a coalition government in the Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

ANC - although with less votes than before will still win the national election.

COPE - although they will fare worse than expectation may come in between 5% and 8% of the vote which is good for a first time party.

Losers:

ID - will loose votes to the DA and COPE.

UDM - will loose votes to COPE.

FF+ - will retain their core fundamentalist voters but will return with less votes (international votes are going to the DA and not the FF+ as they expect).

PAC, AZAPO, APC, PAM - these are all splinter parties - old and new - who fish in the same pond but can't get along which will see the pan-African Azanian movement without representation in parliament due to their fractious support and internal vote splitting

New parties - with the exception of COPE none of the new parties will amass to anything as history has learnt - let's just hope that their collective votes do not cost other opposition parties seats in Parliament.

Retain their support:

IFP - has a core support but may be the surprise package in this election if they succeed to increase their votes in KZN. However, I expect them to retain their current support level.

ACDP - their voter base is a fundamentalist base and usually remains the same.

Well, roll on 22 April so that we can see whether my predictions are a hit or a miss!!!

Keep coming back I will blog at least once a week from now on to share experiences on the campaign trail with you.

Photos: DA manifesto launch in Johannesburg, DA election launch in Kliptown Soweto.

IT IS STILL THE DA VS ANC

There has been a lot of hype in South African politics about the breakaway from the ANC - the Congress of the People (COPE). The promise that it offered to help help break the power of the ANC has however, turned out to be a cracker without a fuse.
The last week we saw the COPE being sued for unpaid printing bills and it losing out totally in by-elections in the Eastern Cape, its supposed heartland. To top it all a new poll was published today that shows COPE to achieve 8% only in the coming elections.
This is very disappointing as we hoped that the COPE would be able to help driving the ANC below its current two thirds majority, unfortunately they seem unable to get going with a proper election campaign in order to compete.
On the other hand the IFP, written off as a has been party, seems to show some promise again in KwaZulu-Natal its traditional power base in taking on the ANC majority in conjunction with the DA.
All of this shows that the major parties in South African politics are still the DA and the ANC competing for the majority of South African votes.
The lesson in all this is that if you want change, you must vote and vote DA!

The challenges we face

The heading above was the title of a speech delivered by DA Leader Helen Zille during the recently held DA Eastern Cape Provincial Congress. The challenges she referred to does not only describe the challenges faced by the DA in South Africa but by the entire democratic movement. In short, our democracy is under threat, and here is why.

A true democracy is characterised by a number of key characteristics namely:

- A regular opportunity for citizens to vote in free and fair elections;
- Freedom of speech;
- Basic human rights;
- An independent judiciary including independent law enforcement agencies;
- Free media and free expression;
- The freedom to engage in political debate and scrutinise government; and
- Respect for the Constitution.

“We, the people of South Africa . . . adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to ­ Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights; Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law; Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.” [The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa]

There are many more characteristics off course, but these are key features of any democracy. When these are under threat, democracy is under threat. Let’s look at a few recent examples of the ANC’s undemocratic behaviour.

Recently the Sunday Times published shocking information about the Minister of Health and exposed her as a convicted thief and exhibiting dubious anti-social behaviour. In stead of investigating the Minister, top police officers were assigned to investigate the journalists who wrote the story and to find out who their sources are. Even flying to countries afar and using forensic technology that should rather have been employed in the fight against crime. The investigation went so far that the journalist and the editor of the Sunday Times were ready to hand themselves over to police as they expected to be arrested at any moment. Need we remind ourselves that the deterioration in Zimbabwe started with a crackdown on the media?

Freedom is what democracy is all about. And the most basic freedom is the
freedom of expression. The freedom not only to believe, but to profess your
belief in public. Freedom of the press. Freedom to demonstrate
peacefully.
These freedoms are not “foreign, frigid or feelingless,” as Dali Mpofu the Group Chief Executive of the SABC, claims. These freedoms are alive. They are what we struggled for. They are what it means to be a South African.
But the ANC has a different idea about what freedom of expression means. They believe they are free to speak, and you are free to listen.-Helen Zille

The story did not end there. Mike Waters, DA MP asked the Public Protector to investigate whether the Minister of Health was unfairly advantaged in obtaining a liver for a transplant. Waters later withdrew his request, but now find that he is being investigated by the same body for raising such a question. A clear case of intimidating persecution.

When Waters raised questions about Minister Msimang’s past in Parliament, he was summarily silenced, chased out and suspended from Parliament. The Speaker’s ruling was that the language used in his questions was inappropriate and offensive. Now asking fair questions that are in citizens’ interest is all of a sudden “inappropriate”. A clear undermining of the democratic functions of Parliament, a Constitutional body.

The ruling party, the ANC, still talks about something that seems to take precedence over the Constitution. They call this the “National Democratic Revolution”, although there is nothing democratic about it. The ANC refers to its political rivals as “the enemy.” It threatens South Africans with what it calls “the Jacobin option”—the use of “revolutionary force to suppress and destroy its historical opponents,” in its own ominous words.
The ANC’s threats mark a break with the Constitution. They signal a turning point in South African history.
The ANC used to say that the DA was interested in democracy for its own sake, while they were interested in the purposes democracy could achieve.
Today, the ANC is not interested in purposes or in democracy. It is interested in power for power’s sake. And the future of our nation is at risk...
The ANC’s latest trick is to use the Constitution to undermine the Constitution.
So James Ngculu tells us that it is unconstitutional to criticise the Minister of Health because she has a constitutional mandate to carry out. That statement is a warning about the direction South Africa is heading under the ANC.
When it becomes unconstitutional to criticise the government, the Constitution means nothing.
If the ANC behaved in 1994 the way it is behaving today, there might never have been a constitutional settlement in South Africa. It wants to undo many of the freedoms, checks and balances that the Constitution provides.
But we can stop it.
We must remind ourselves that the Constitution belongs to us all, not just to the ANC. It protects the individual. It protects minorities. It protects the people from their government. It protects us all from power abuse.-Helen Zille

However, the most shocking actions by the ruling party have been the all out attack on Helen Zille. During a peaceful, approved march against the scourge of drugs, especially tik, in Cape Town, she and other marchers were summarily arrested. Charges were later dropped, but one can’t help to raise questions why participants of an approved march were arrested together with the Leader of the DA, surely this could not have been a coincidence.

The second attack, and 11th attempt to topple the DA led coalition in Cape Town, came care of the so called spy saga. An investigation asked for into the shady actions of a Cape Town councillor during the floor crossing by the FF+ speaker of that council, is now portrayed as a misuse of council resources by the DA. The police have been involved in a so called investigation but have clearly taken a biased view in the matter, clearly evident from the investigating officer’s comments during a national TV news broadcast. Are they secretly colluding with the ANC to use information against the DA?

The techniques used by the police in this investigation is also dubious after the main “suspect” in the case, exposed the police’s three attempts to coerce him into making false statements against Helen Zille, in return for a successful bail application. The question begs, what power does the police officers in this case have over a supposedly independent judiciary to influence who receives bail and who not?

The government seems not to care. The President and his Cabinet surround
themselves with more and more bodyguards. They take away the child protection
units and the rural commandos. They build boom gates in their own suburbs and
then forbid anyone else to do the same.
If you ask for crime statistics, they hide them. If you complain, they tell you to emigrate. If you exercise your democratic right to protest, you risk arrest. It is not hard to see where the criminals get their inspiration. They see that the President protects the national police chief from arrest. They see how the ANC punishes some and not others. They see the Travelgate MPs still sitting in Parliament. And they develop a contempt for the law.
They understand that crime in South Africa is not a matter of innocence or guilt, but whose side you are on. Close times with those in power seem to buy immunity from prosecution. Being in opposition invites a constant stream of false allegations and groundless charges. Even more sinister, we see ANC leaders increasingly using the institutions of state to drive their political agenda against their opponents. These institutions, particularly in the criminal justice system, charged with protecting our constitution, are now under pressure to undermine it, as the ANC forces them to serve the party not the people.-Helen Zille

It won’t get easier and opposition politicians will find it increasingly more difficult to execute their Constitutional mandates. As this fight intensifies it will become more difficult for DA politicians to execute their duties as persecution intensifies. More DA politicians are being detained by police for doing their job than ever before. Those who ask difficult questions are all of a sudden being persecuted by the ruling party through the misdirection of crucial state resources.

We are probably faced with another struggle in South Africa equal to the struggle against apartheid in order to preserve the country’s fledgling democracy. After all, the fight against apartheid was not just for the removal of a racist system, it was also a fight FOR democracy. Now that hard fought democracy is under serious threat by those who portrayed themselves as freedom fighters. The freedom fighters are becoming the new oppressors.

Read Helen Zille's full speech here