The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today taken a decision to table a Motion of No Confidence in President Jacob Zuma – in terms of Section 102 of the Constitution – following his now confirmed intention to fire Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, and his Deputy, Mcebisi Jonas. I have therefore written to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete, in this regard, indicating our intention to have the motion debated and voted on by Parliament once it is back in session.
At a time when 9 million South Africans are without work and our fragile economy requires leadership and clear policy direction, President Zuma continues to play “Russian Roulette” with our economy and the future of our country.
Since his reckless and irrational decision to recall Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, and his Deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, from an international roadshow to boost investment, growth and job creation in South Africa, the gains made by Gordhan and Jonas to restore credibility in our economy following the disastrous firing of former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, 15 months ago, have all but been eviscerated.
This is negatively affecting all South Africans – but in particular the poor and the jobless whose only hope is a growing and inclusive economy.
Zuma has threatened our economy by dangling the possibility of firing Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, and his Deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, before the country, and before the world, by using a bizarre and seemingly last minute “security report” to justify such removals. This is nothing more than an attempt at total state capture and cannot be accepted.
The President’s actions confirm what we already know: Zuma has abandoned the interests of the people, the economy and South Africa in favour of a kleptocratic Guptamocracy, where the keys to the Treasury and the Government are made available to anyone who puts Zuma first and the people last. The Treasury stands as the last line of defence against Zuma and his project of state capture and unfettered looting.
Such a crisis was seen previously during the Nenegate crisis of December 2015. That President Zuma has indicated his intention to go down the same destructive path shows that he has lost all sense of rationality and sound judgement. These actions will result directly in job losses and will thus be most profoundly felt by the poor and most vulnerable citizens in South Africa. President Zuma’s derelict leadership has resulted in a collapse of public confidence in the President of the Republic of South Africa, has created a government at war with itself and ultimately has undermined efforts to restore confidence in the South African economy. There can be no confidence in such a President.
Parliament hired Jacob Zuma, and Parliament must now fire Jacob Zuma. Only Parliament can act now – the Courts do not have the authority to remove a sitting president.
Therefore it is vital that a Motion of No Confidence be tabled against the calamitous, corrupt and job-killing Zuma presidency. For the sake of the country and the people, it is important that Members of Parliament, regardless of political affiliation, come together and put South Africa and our people first by removing Zuma from the Union Buildings.
We therefore call on all political parties to support our motion – including the South African Communist Party’s (SACP) deployees to Parliament. This is in light of their public pronouncements earlier today, in which it was confirmed that the removal of Gordhan and Jonas was discussed with its leadership, and that the party publically denounces Zuma’s assault on the National Treasury and the economy.
The SACP, along with the growing and increasingly public opposition to the Zuma leadership within the ANC, are now afforded the opportunity to put action to their words and support our motion.
This a call to remove Zuma before he destroys our economy and our shared future.
Hamba Kahle, Uncle Kathy
On behalf of the Democratic Alliance (DA), I wish to express my deepest and most sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of struggle hero, freedom fighter, and one of the fathers of our nation, Ahmed Kathrada, who passed away peacefully this morning aged 87.
Uncle Kathy, as he was affectionately known, embodied a profound sense of compassion, and an unwavering commitment to true justice. As leader at the forefront of the struggle for liberation, Kathrada relentlessly fought for the freedoms we all cherish today.
I fondly recall the many times I engaged with Uncle Kathy – most notably the conversation we had when he was bestowed with the Freedom of the City of Johannesburg. He told me of the years on Robben Island where he – along with the likes of Mandela, Sisulu and Tambo – never heard or saw the presence of children. He shared with me that for him freedom meant hearing the voices of children, indicating his sincere compassion, as well as his commitment to the future of our beautiful country.
Kathrada’s political work began in 1941, at the early age of 12 when he joined the Young Communist League of South Africa. His involvement included organising the Campaign of Defiance against Unjust laws of 1952, which targeted the Pass Laws, Stock Limitation Regulations, the Group Areas Act, the Separate Representation of Voters Act, the Suppression of Communism Act and the Bantu Authorities Act – which all unfairly limited the rights of Africans.
In July 1963, Kathrada – along with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Andrew Mlangeni, Billy Nair, Elias Motsoaledi, Raymond Mhlaba and Denis Goldberg – was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for acts of treason in the now infamous Rivonia Trail. This was Kathrada’s 18th arrest on political grounds, an indication of his unwavering commitment to challenging and defeating an unjust system.
Uncle Kathy spent 26 years in prison – 18 of which was on Robben Island – for his resistance to Apartheid. He was released from prison on 15 October 1989, at the age of 60.
In 1994, Kathrada was elected as a member of parliament for the ANC, and served as Parliamentary Counsellor to President Nelson Mandela until 1999.
In the words of Uncle Kathy, “Hatred, revenge, bitterness – these are negative emotions. The person harbouring those emotions suffers more.” My hope and dream is for a South Africa in which we give life and meaning to the legacy of our fallen hero, Ahmed Kathrada, by building a nation that truly bridges the divides which have for so long separated us from living united in our diversity.
Hamba kahle Uncle Kathy. May your unwavering commitment to justice and reconciliation live on in all of us.
BOKAMOSO | Zuma’s mafia turns to intimidating the judiciary
Justice Malala recently wrote: “These are dangerous times indeed. The state and its leader have gone rogue”. The break-in at the office of the Chief Justice on Saturday shows just how true his words are. This is a direct attack on the judiciary by Jacob Zuma’s state security thugs. The Constitution is what stands between Zuma’s mafia state and the ability to loot with impunity. We would do well to defend it with all our might.
The timing of the break-in is no coincidence. It happened the day after our courts delivered two judgements that dealt significant blows to Zuma’s state capture agenda. The Constitutional Court ruled that Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, a key driver of Zuma’s succession agenda, displayed gross incompetence in fulfilling her duties to ensure that South Africa’s poorest continue to receive social grants.
On the same day, the North Gauteng High Court ruled that Major General Berning Ntlemeza’s appointment as head of the Hawks was irrational and invalid. The Hawks is a specialist police unit, specifically tasked with fighting corruption. Despite two previous court rulings that Ntlemeza is unfit to head it, Police Minister Nhleko, another of Zuma’s lackeys, insisted on retaining him. The fact is, our state has been captured by a crime syndicate that cannot tolerate an independent corruption-busting unit that actually does its job. This is why Nhleko is now appealing this ruling, at taxpayers’ expense.
These rulings are major setbacks for the Zuma mafia’s state capture agenda. The checks and balances in a constitutional democracy are specifically designed to protect ordinary citizens from the abuse of power. When you control the executive, and have a supine ANC caucus in the legislature, then only the judiciary is left as an obstacle. Our legal benches are filled with independent thinkers who understand objectivity, believe in the rule of law and who defend the Constitution without fear or favour. And it is both fear and favour that Zuma’s mafia is now trying to extract from the judiciary.
The only plausible inference from this bizarre story is that the break-in at the offices of the Chief Justice was deliberately staged in order to intimate judges into submission. Fifteen computers holding the personal information of South Africa’s 250 judges were stolen, from the second floor of a building with dozens of other computers and other valuables in it, all of which were left untouched. The message to judges is clear: oppose us at your peril. If this sounds alarmist, consider that on Monday the house of Zane Dangor, who resigned as Social Development Director General earlier this month in opposition to Dlamini’s handling of the social grants matter, was broken into by two men looking specifically for his laptop. They didn’t get it, because he had it on him and he wasn’t home, but they assaulted his son. The message is clear: talk, and we’ll come for you.
On Wednesday, in a pitiful attempt to portray the break-in at the Chief Justice’s office as a burglary, the Acting National Police Commissioner, Khomotso Phahlane, announced that three arrests had been made. This was a poorly concealed setup: one of the three “suspects” was released the same day with no charges against him, and the charge sheets for the other two contained no mention of the break-in.
A politically intimidated or captured judiciary could leave us in the predicament that Zimbabweans and Venezuelans now face, and that the majority of South Africans faced during Apartheid South Africa: with no-one to turn to for protection from a hostile state. One step the DA would take to prevent this ever happening in South Africa, would be to allocate funds for a security budget for the judiciary. The judiciary shouldn’t have to rely on SAPS for protection, because SAPS answers to the executive.
The fact is, the judiciary is a direct threat to Zuma’s state capture project and he is using all available levers to fight it. For the Zuma mafia, nothing is sacred. They are taking a scorched earth approach to secure their survival. Very soon, those within the ANC who treasure our constitutional democracy will have to choose between their party, or a prosperous, free South Africa governed by a diverse group of people, bound by their steadfast commitment to the Constitution and its rule of law.
We will never stop defending Human Rights
Note to Editors: The following remarks were delivered by the DA Leader at a commemoration of Human Rights Day and the Sharpeville Massacre. The Leader was joined by DA Gauteng Provincial Leader, John Moodey, DA National Spokesperson, Refiloe Ntsekhe, Tshwane Mayor, Solly Msimanga, Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba, and Midvaal Mayor, Bongani Baloyi, as well as survivors of the Sharpeville Massacre, as well as family members of the victims of the Esidimeni tragedy.
Today we think back to dark days when the people of this country were oppressed and impoverished by the dehumanizing system of colonialism, and then Apartheid.
Colonialism and Apartheid stripped South Africans of their dignity. Slavery, forced labour, displacement, violent subjugation, racial classification with its humiliating tests, making people think they were inferior because of the colour of their skin, industrialised exploitation — these things are all, and much else besides, the legacy of those systems of repression and exploitation.
Now there are some people who believe that this was the price of development and infrastructure.
Well, if this was the price of development, then I say that this price was too high.
Development that is forced upon a country under threat of violence is not human progress. Development achieved by free exchange with the global community, harnessing the best of human ingenuity and fostering a unity of purpose – that is the development we desire.
Because, as a party that stands for individual freedom, we can never condone any aspect of oppression.
The DA will never stop defending human rights, at home or abroad. Oppression has no place in the world we live in.
We will continue to build bridges to unite South Africans, bringing them together when everyone else is seeking to divide them. Madiba dreamed of a country united around a common South African identity, where South Africa would truly belong to all who live in it, both black and white.
We are now the only party that still believes in and works for this vision. The ANC has long abandoned it, they too seek to divide us against each other. They may have abandoned it, but we never will. It is the only sure way to shared prosperity for our country.
We will continue to hold the ANC to account for shielding dictators like Al Bashir.
We will continue to condemn human rights abuses wherever they are committed, whether it is in Zimbabwe, Western Sahara, Sudan, Russia, Syria or anywhere else.
We will continue to fight for the human rights of South Africans here at home, when they are harassed and met with violence from their own government, as they were in Marikana; or when the vulnerable are neglected and left to die, as the “Esidimeni” patients were.
We will stand against the new wave of populists on the right and the left. From Marine Le Pen to Nicolas Maduro. From Donald Trump to Robert Mugabe. From Geert Wilders to Viktor Orban.
Here, at home, we will stand up against those who justify majority tyranny or express sympathy for those systems. Just as we stand up against those who are nostalgic for minority rule.
The painful legacy of colonialism and apartheid is still with us today, and still impacts the way that most South Africans live: cut off from economic opportunity, geographically dislocated and badly educated. These South Africans have been let down by a corrupt ANC government that is more concerned with helping itself and its cronies, than with fixing the inequities of apartheid.
We will continue building a social compact based on non-racialism and reconciliation.
We will continue to stand up for a strong Constitution that protects everybody’s rights.
We will continue to develop new policies that empower South Africans to rise above their circumstances of their birth and build a better future for their families.
We are focusing on expanding opportunities for every child to get the education they need to compete in the global knowledge economy of the 21st century.
We are focusing on skills development for young people, including internships, apprenticeships and vocational training.
And we are looking at ways to grow the economy so that more young people can begin meaningful careers in their chosen fields.
Above all, we are focused on the project of defeating the ANC so that every South African may one day be truly free.
The ANC has become the corrupt and ignoble parasite we were warned against. The ANC cannot be salvaged, it cannot self-correct, it must be defeated at the ballot box.
We will not be derailed by those who put their own interests before the project.
We will not be distracted by sideshows.
We will not be divided.
Together, we will build a non-racial society based on freedom, fairness and opportunity for all.
Ke a leboga. Thank you.
Colonialism, like Apartheid, was wrong and cannot be justified
DA Leader Mmusi Maimane has referred Ms Helen Zille to the Federal Legal Commission for investigation, following a series of tweets this morning, which may have violated the DA’s social media policy for public representatives. Ms Zille has already issued an unreserved apology for her tweet.
Colonialism, like Apartheid, was wrong. It oppressed millions of people and violated human rights in a cruel and inhumane way.
Colonialism, like Apartheid, is in every single way against our cherished values of Freedom, Fairness and Opportunity for all.
The DA is party that is committed to redressing the wrongs of the past. We want to build a united South Africa – one nation, with one future.
We are a party that stands up for the Constitution, and everything it represents. We want to build a Fair Society where every single South African – no matter the circumstances of their birth – can live a life they truly value.
We will continue to do so, tirelessly, because we want South Africa to succeed for all.
94% of Zuma’s Cabinet claim to have “never met” with Guptas
Answers to a series of written parliamentary questions to all 35 Ministers in the Zuma Cabinet indicate that it is not just a select few in the ANC who serve the Gupta project of State Capture, but rather the majority. Zuma’s Cabinet is now working tirelessly to enrich the connected few, while over 9 million South Africans go without a job.
I submitted parliamentary questions to each Minister asking whether he/she had met with any member, employee and/or close associate of the Gupta family and/or attended any meeting with these persons at the Gupta’s Saxonwold Estate in Johannesburg or anywhere else since taking office.
What has become quite clear from the answers provided is that the Gupta project of State Capture is an ANC project – fully endorsed and supported by the majority in the ANC. This is why Ministers are forced to dodge questions, or provide flimsy and equivocal answers to direct questions.
The written responses reveal the following:
- The Ministers of Finance, Defence, Economic Development, Energy, Home Affairs and Trade and Industry all admitted to have “attended social events where members of the Gupta family were present”;
- Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies states that he has indeed met with the Gupta family on several occasions;
- Well-known Gupta affiliates – The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des Van Rooyen, and the Minister of Mineral Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane – both denied having met with members of the Gupta family despite the Public Protector’s State of Capture report providing concrete evidence to the contrary – including phone records and flight details;
- The Ministers of Environmental Affairs, Public Enterprises, Sport and Recreation, State Security and Women in the Presidency all flatly refused to give an answer to the question;
- The Minister of Energy admitted to meeting with Gupta employees Mr Nazeem Howa and Mr Moegsin Williams at various New Age breakfasts;
- The Minister of Small Business Development, Lindiwe Zulu, has refused to even reply to the question, which was put to her in writing 11 months ago, in April 2016; and
- The Minister of Finance avoided answering the question as it related to his Deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, even though the question specifically asked about the Deputy Minister in light of his public proclamations that he was personally offered the post of Finance Minister by the Guptas in 2015;
Lying to Parliament is a serious offense, and if it transpires that any Member of Cabinet misled Parliament – to which they are Constitutionally accountable – we will take whatever action necessary.
I have also today written to the Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly, Cyril Ramaphosa, requesting that he ensures that the Ministers who have yet to answer, failed to answer, or answered vaguely, are made to provide sufficient answers to the question within the next 14 days.
The DA has already laid criminal charges in terms of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act against members of the Gupta family, with the Hawks having confirmed to be investigating this matter. We eagerly anticipate the outcome of said investigation.
It cannot be that the ANC works to enrich and promote a small elite minority of connected cadres, while millions of South Africans go without work and rely on social grants for their survival.
The DA will continue to expose the capture of state institutions by President Zuma and his gang of cronies, who loot the state for personal gain while South Africa suffers.
Zuma gone rogue on land reform, at odds with ANC and Cabinet
President Jacob Zuma’s dangerous comments on land reform this morning, while addressing the National House of Traditional Leaders, point to a man who has no clear vision or policies of his own, only dangerous rhetoric. The President has gone rogue on land reform, contradicting both his own Cabinet and the ANC’s Parliamentary Caucus; and he should be reined in by his Party and by Parliament.
President Zuma states that the current Constitutional provisions are a hindrance to meaningful land reform. This is just a dishonest attempt to excuse the ANC’s own failures in government. In fact, it is corruption and bad policy that have been the greatest inhibitors to land redistribution and reform.
This past week, ANC Members of Parliament and Members of the Executive also articulated this view, saying that the Constitution needed to be actually implemented and adhered to, rather than discarded. Just this morning ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu said that “blaming the Constitution for the embarrassingly slow pace of land reform is both disingenuous and scapegoating”. The President’s comments this morning are clearly not in keeping with the Constitution, or indeed with the policies of his own Party.
In the DA-run Western Cape, the Constitution has been used as an enabler for successful land reform, not an inhibitor. The DA has delivered over 75 000 title deeds to beneficiaries since 2009, making these beneficiaries owners of the homes and land that where they live. This is meaningful land reform. A workable rural strategy, with no corruption, has resulted in a 62% success rate on all rural land reform farms. This is better than any other Province in the country, and there are budgetary provisions that have been made to ensure that even more is done.
This goes to show that with good governance, an understanding of the law and political will, land reform can meaningfully take place within the framework of the Constitution.
Today was a perfect opportunity for President Zuma to address the issue of land ownership in rural areas that fall under the jurisdiction of Traditional Leaders. He could have echoed the call made by King Zwelithini for security of tenure and title deeds for all rural residents living on communal land. But President Zuma is not interested in policies that help the people of South Africa. His only focus is on whipping up divisive emotions and explaining away the ANC’s corruption and failure to deliver.
The legacy of the 1913 Natives Land Act is still real for the majority of South Africans today, and President Zuma’s lawless and arbitrary contribution to this national issue will not work to redressing the land issue. President Zuma and the ANC do not have a vision for the people of South Africa and will do all they can to mislead the people. While the ANC s juggling contradictory positions, DA is working to ensure that we address the legacy of apartheid by building a better South Africa for all.