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DA teaches ANCYL a constitutional lesson

Please find attached a photo.

The DA welcomes the judgment of a defamation case brought by the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Free State Legislature Dr Jankielsohn against the ANCYL in the Free State and ANC Member of the Legislature Mr Thabo Meeko.In his ruling, Judge Johann Daffue ruled in favour of Dr Jankielsohn with an award of R300 000 in damages with costs. Read the judgment here.

On 5 October 2017 the ANCYL in the Free State released a media statement in response to a Member’s Statement made by Dr Jankielsohn regarding an honorary doctorate received by Ace Magashule from the Bahcesehir University (BAU) in Turkey, which was a substantial beneficiary of the Free State governments bursary programme.

Magashule received the honorary doctorate in 2016, while the Provincial Government paid R32,6 Million to BAU in the 2016/2017 financial year. This is in sharp contrast to the R8 Million paid out in the 2015/2016 financial year and the R12 Million payment in the 2017/2018 financial year.

In reaction to the Member’s Statement, the ANCYL referred to Dr Jankielsohn as a “racist”, “clown”, “irrelevant white supremacist”, “Chihuahua”, and “political red neck”.

In his judgement on this case, in the Bloemfontein High Court Judge Johann Daffue indicated that:

“It must be one of the biggest insults to accuse a politician, or for that matter anyone else in our diverse society, of being racist or a white supremacist. People are sent to jail for making racist remarks. Racism is an extremely sensitive issue”.

“There is no justification for the publication of untruths. The statement was published recklessly and with indifference as to whether it was true or false”.

“Plaintiff is labelled and even stigmatised as a racist and white supremacist and it is highly probable that some people might have been incited to cause him and/or his family harm. We experience this on a regular basis on this country”.

“I am not prepared to accept that a political party or one or more of its members may use absolute freedom of speech in order to say whatever they want to say about opposition political parties or their office-bearers merely because an election is around the corner. Surely, parties may contest for votes and do that fairly and squarely within their rights as such. Our country will erupt into chaos if it were otherwise”.

This case is crucial for our democratic interaction with each other as politicians in South Africa. During sittings of Legislature and Parliament the presiding officers are able to rule immediately on points of order regarding defamatory comments. Outside of these structures the courts have to play a vital role in determining the rules of political engagement between politicians who represent different political parties.

This case has contributed to the entrenchment of our democracy by interpreting freedom of speech for politicians and determining the rules of political engagement.

The Democratic Alliance is grateful to have been able to contribute to South African jurisprudence regarding the use of the term “racist” in our transitional society. We are grateful to our legal team advocate Kristle Peterson and attorney Marius van Rensburg for their support and representation during this case.

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ANC disruption of Gangster State book launch akin to censorship

The Democratic Alliance Youth (DAY) notes the disruption of Pieter-Louis Myburg’s Gangster State book launch today by individuals who identify as part of the ANC and ANC Youth League (ANCYL).


ANC and ANCYL members reportedly stormed into the bookstore where the launch was held and proceeded to destroy copies of the book.

The DAY condemns this violence in the strongest possible terms. Not only is this destruction of property deplorable but it is also akin to censorship.

The ambush of this book launch is indictive of an ANC which has lost its way and of an organisation which is incapable of self-introspection and self-correction. The ANC, in an attempt to cling onto their dwindling grasp on power, has now resorted to chaos, thuggery and anarchy to hold onto its grip over government.

The truth is that this book details the nature of the people President Cyril Ramaphosa is surrounded by. In particular, the book paints a damning picture of Ace Magahsule’s corruption and destruction of the Free State.
From alleged assassinations, money laundering and racketeering; to manipulating a tender process on a housing project worth R150 million in favour of a company linked to his daughter; to using the Free State government as a piggybank – the ANC has remained silent on the alleged looting and criminality of its real boss, Ace Magashule.

At the end of the day, no matter how much chaos and violence the ANC incites, the people of South Africa know that Ramaphosa is surrounded by criminals and thugs who belong in prison, not Parliament.

The ANC will never speak out against this violence because they are the orchestrators thereof. This kind of thuggery does not belong in a democratic South Africa and it is for this very reason the ANC must be voted out of power come Election Day.

Only the DA can Build One South Africa for All and jail corrupt politicians.

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As former Communications Minister confirms Multichoice allegations, ICASA & Parliament must act

Honourable Chairperson,
The DA will not be supporting this report, for one main reason, the Minister’s recommendation for the appointment of Rubben Mohlaloga as Chairperson of the Council of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).
It is our belief that cadre deployment is one of the main causes of the problems facing state-owned entities, and with Mohlaloga having previously served as an MP for the ANC and a Deputy President of the ANCYL, he is just that.
We do hope that Mr Mohlaloga will prove us wrong, and will demonstrate leadership that will be independently-minded, and focused on taking ICASA to greater heights.
The biggest task facing Mr Mahlaloga will be an inquiry the DA has requested into payments made by Multichoice to ANN7 and the SABC.
Yesterday, the DA revealed SABC board minutes dated 6 June 2013 suggesting that Multichoice sought to pay the SABC R100 million a year for its 24-hour news channel in exchange for the public broadcaster’s political influence over digital migration.
This notion has since been confirmed by the former Minister of Communications, Yunus Carrim, who is quoted in the media today stating that: “…Multichoice was seeking to change government policy to serve its own interests”, and he “…felt it wrong for a private company to seek to buy government policy in this way so that it could retain its 98% dominance of the pay-TV sector”. 
This is very serious indeed, and ICASA must exercise the very broad powers the ICASA Act gives it to investigate this. It is ICASA’s duty, to take this matter up in the public interest, and in particular, on behalf of those who use the very little they earn to fork our subscription fees for DSTV. It cannot be that their hard-earned money is used by Multichoice for nefarious deeds.
In addition, it is important for us in Parliament to do the same.
The Communications Committee must discharge of its duty to conduct an inquiry into allegations of State Capture relating to the former Communications Minister, Faith Muthambi as it was requested by the Deputy Speaker.
We believe that in that inquiry the following people must be included in those summoned:

  • Former Communications Ministers, Faith Muthambi, Yunus Carrim and Dina Pule
  • Former CEO of Multichoice, Imtiaz Patel
  • Multichoice’s executive chairman, Nolo Letele
  • Naspers CEO, Bob van Dijk
  • Former SABC board Chairperson, Ellen Tshabalala; and
  • Former CEO Lulama Makhobo

We look forward to feedback from ICASA, and also, the Minister of Communications, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane who has thus far remained silent on the SABC and Multichoice matter, and indeed, her views about the encryption of set-top boxes. What will it be Minister? Encrypted or unencrypted?

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DA to lay charges against Just Coal CEO and ANCYL’s Maine for bribery and corruption

Just Coal CEO, Joe Singh, must immediately be arrested following his admission that he paid the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) half a million Rand in a bid to score political favours.
According to reports ANCYL president, Collen Maine, accepted a R500 000 “donation” from Singh, in the hopes that the League would convince Eskom against terminating their contract with Just Coal.
Singh’s shameless on-air confession is an admission of guilt and Maine’s acceptance of the questionable “donation” points towards his complicity in a crime.
This was not just a donation. This was clearly a bribe to persuade politically aligned individuals close to Eskom to act in Just Coal’s interest.
In an interview, Singh admitted that “We did have an expectation, it was that someone politically aligned could deal with [Matshela Koko].”
Despite reports indicating that Maine failed to deliver on this promise, money still exchanged hands in what was clearly a blatant attempt to unduly influence an Eskom executive.
Bribery is a crime and Singh must be held accountable for his illegal and unethical conduct.
The DA also calls on the ANCYL to come clean and prove that this was a legitimate donation and that the monies did not line the pockets of any one individual but that it went towards the empowerment of our youth.
The DA will also be laying charges against Singh and Maine on the allegations that the two possibly contravened Section 3 of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities (PACCA) Act, which states that:
“Any person who, directly or indirectly […] (a) accepts or agrees or offers to accept any gratification from any other person, whether for the benefit of himself or herself or for the benefit of another person; or […] (b) gives or agrees or offers to give to any other person any gratification, whether for the benefit of that other person or for the benefit of another person, in order to act, personally or by influencing another person so to act, in a manner [which is] illegal, dishonest, unauthorised, incomplete, or biased […]is guilty of the offence of corruption”.
Singh’s admission that his company paid the ANCYL to assist Just Coal in extending their Eskom contract can be seen as a general offence of corruption, in terms of Section 3 of the PACCA Act as set out above.
The DA will ensure that Singh and Maine face the full might of the law and account for their questionable conduct.

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ANCYL want another Zuma and more of the same

It is no surprise that the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) came out today in support of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as their preferred presidential candidate.
The ANCYL has become nothing more than a group of Zuma cheerleaders whose only mission is to secure their own political careers to ensure continued access to state coffers for their own enrichment.
Dlamini-Zuma is indeed Jacob Zuma’s first choice and therefore the ANCYL follows suit
The fact is that Dlamini-Zuma has recently made a number of particularly concerning remarks that betray how unsuitable she is as a presidential candidate.
Specifically, she attacked hundreds of thousands of South Africans who took to the streets to protest against Jacob Zuma, using the old trick of reducing the motivation to racism and claiming that these South Africans wanted to oppose the ‘radical economic transformation’, a concept that she, nor any in the ANC seem to be able to define.
Dlamini-Zuma also put on display her propensity for conspiracy theories when she recently attacked schools, claiming that children in Model C schools are “taught to hate the ANC, and taught that the ANC is corrupt, ANC is bad”.  She went further to say that some universities‚ such as Wits‚ would not let their students refer to South Africa as a democracy.
These views are extremely destructive to nation building and confidence in the economy, meaning fewer economic opportunities for young South Africans.
With youth unemployment currently at 65.7% the ANCYL choice shows that they don’t care about young people getting jobs and getting ahead.
Just like her ex-husband, Dlamini-Zuma is an economic wrecking ball.
Dlamini-Zuma has also defended ANC ministers who’ve made headlines recently for all of the wrong reasons, saying “Ministers that deal with particular issues become targets, you as supporters must protect them.” This shows that NDZ is a protector of corruption and state capture.
South Africa and our youth deserve much better and that is what the DA will deliver in 2019 – a government that will prioritise the advancement of the youth over political and financial self-interest.