SAPS Operation Needed To Stop Crime In Actonville

Actonville SAPS

The DA in Gauteng extends our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of Actonville residents who lost their lives during armed robberies in Actonville in the past week.

Last week two very prominent families from the community were victims of horrific incidents.

The Maghoo family was brutally attacked at their family business. Mr Maghoo was shot and killed while Ms Maghoo remains in critical condition after being shot seven times.

During the same week Nerrisa Pillay was shot at her workplace. The owner of the business was fatally wounded and Nerrisa is now fighting for her life.

I visited both families yesterday and it has become increasingly clear that crime in Actonville has spiralled completely out of control.

Communities Plagued by Crime

One of these incidents took place only a block away from the Actonville SAPS.

The area is plagued by drug trade and the local police station in Actonville is unable to deal with the high incidents of crime.

Many residents have told me that they live in constant fear of their lives.

I will write to the Community Safety MEC, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane and the Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt General D.S de Lange, to launch a large-scale police operation in the area.

The Department of Community Safety and SAPS must be pro-active in communities plagued by crime.

The DA wishes both Ms Maghoo and Ms Pillay a speedy recovery.

 

Media enquiries:

Michele Clarke MPL

DA Gauteng Constituency Head – Benoni

060 558 8299

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Only 191 Fillings For 8608 Dental Patients At Lenasia Clinic

Lenasia Clinic

The Lenasia Clinic in Nirvana Road, Lenasia saw 8608 dental patients last year but only did 191 fillings because of non-functioning suction on the dental chairs.

This was disclosed by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu in an oral reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mahlangu, the low water pressure in the area meant that there was no suction function on the chairs and mobile suction units had to be used instead. A new dental chair had been bought in July last year but could not be used because it tripped the electricity supply at the clinic.

Dental Fillings

The Department of Infrastructure Development would attend to these problems in the new financial year which starts in April. Mahlangu also said that patients who need fillings could go to other clinics or to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

I think that it is unacceptable that dental patients at this clinic are not given the option of fillings because of broken machinery. Many teeth that could have been saved are yanked out instead.

I have visited the clinic twice and I saw that the two mobile suction machines are also broken, contrary to what is said by the MEC. This is why so few fillings are being done there. I was told that not a single filling had been done since October last year.

The MEC should not delay in fixing the facilities at this clinic so that it can provide a full dental service to local residents.
Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222

Pikitup Strike: The Time To Act Is Now

The City of Johannesburg and the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) must immediately act to resolve the illegal strike of Pikitup workers.

The strike has been raging for more than three weeks now, while SAMWU workers trash the city’s streets and intimidate contractors who have been engaged to collect waste.

For as long as the talks between the city and SAMWU continue, metro police officials must be assigned to escort service providers on their rubbish collection rounds, and immediately act against SAMWU intimidation.

During this time, it should be all hands on deck, and all JMPD officers must work extended hours and be on permanent stand-by.

Residents and business should not be allowed to suffer while SAMWU tries to hold the city to ransom.

In the City of Cape Town, the DA has placed all service delivery entities under central control to speed up delivery and for greater accountability and oversight.

Because where the DA governs, service delivery comes first, especially to the poor and the vulnerable.

During this year’s local government elections voters will choose between government under DA control that puts people and service delivery first, or an ANC one that prioritises personal party loyalties and union alliances first.

Change is coming, and the DA is ready to step in and bring the DA difference to the people of Johannesburg.

 

Media enquiries:

Willie Venter

Director: Communications and research

060 963 8260

Gauteng Government Unwilling To Support Gupta Media

Gupta Media Empire

The Gauteng Provincial Government is much more reluctant to spend its advertising budget on the Gupta media empire than its ANC counterparts elsewhere.

According to a written reply to my questions by Gauteng Premier David Makhura, his office spent R450 300 in 2014/15 on advertising in the New Age out of a total advertising spend of R5.3 million in 11 newspapers.

However, a number of Gauteng provincial departments do not advertise at all in the New Age.

Advertising in the New Age

The reply is incomplete in respect of all departments, but Health, Economic Development, Infrastructure Development, Finance and Local Government have indicated that they spent nothing on New Age advertising in 2014/15.

The Social Development Department spent R162 000 on New Age advertising in 2014/15, the Community Safety Department spent R124 000 and the Transport Department bought R58 636 in advertising.

The lack of spending in the New Age by Gauteng provincial departments probably reflects anti-Zuma feeling in the ANC in Gauteng.

Politically Favoured

It is a puzzle that the Premier’s Office is an exception to this but it is possibly an overlooked carry-on of former premier and Zuma supporter, Nomvula Mokonyane.

The Premier should explain why his office spent disproportionately on advertising in the New Age as it is a waste of money and arouses suspicion that this publication is favoured for political reasons.
Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Member of the Oversight Committee on the Premier’s Office

082 333 4222

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DA Reports City Of Johannesburg To HRC For Rights Violations

The DA has today compiled a complaint to the Human Rights Commission over the City of Johannesburg’s repeated violation of residents’ human rights. This complaint will be filed without delay.

We are doing this to hold the government of Johannesburg to account for neglect of our citizens.

The most powerful way for people to change their circumstances is through voting for change, and voting in a new government. The people of Johannesburg can vote for change in this year’s election.

But until this change-election of 2016, the ANC government of Johannesburg cannot be allowed to continue violating human rights without scrutiny.

To date I have personally experienced violations as follows, which form the basis of our complaint to the SAHRC:

  • In Zandspruit people have no access to emergency services, and have to live without sewage infrastructure and without legal electrical connections while relying on standpipes or grey water. Children play close to dead rodents that are not cleaned away by City health and sanitation.
  • In Noordgesig people live close to a mine dump which is cause for major environmental and health problems. Many residents suffer from chest complaints and there is a high rate of tuberculosis in the area.
  • Alexandra has informal housing units scattered between formal housing without access to any services, resulting in sewage flows between units.
  • The Madala Men’s Hostel in Alexandra is an unsound structure that has not been maintained and unfit for human occupation. Part of the roof has been destroyed leaving residents exposed to the elements. Access to water is sporadic and the sewage system is blocked, leading to severe health concerns.
  • At the Melrose Street informal settlement in City & Suburban about 150 people share a few portable toilets that are filthy and are not emptied regularly. There is a single tap to service the settlement, while storm water drains are blocked and the municipality does not clear them.
  • In Diepsloot people are profoundly affected by crime and violence. There is raw effluent in the streets, since no sanitation service is offered. Children cross flowing sewage to play, and to get around their neighbourhood. Recently a young child drowned because there is no bridge for residents to cross the river when it rains.
  • In Kwa Mai-Mai thousands of families live in squalid conditions in a run-down building next to the Kwa Mai-Mai market. Only one toilet, erected by inhabitants, services the entire community. There is no sanitation and no refuse removal, garbage lies knee-deep and sewage runs in the alleys like a grey river.
  • Helen Joseph Hostel for Women in Alexandra is home to thousands of women, but has a serious sanitation problem: pipes are blocked and the communal bathrooms are flooded and the ablution facilities are blocked. There is no piped water for residents, and water has to be collected at a central point.
  • Kliptown’s residents live in old houses that are crumbling and are forced to share central portable toilets. Rats are fearless of humans because of the unsanitary conditions and are everywhere.

It cannot be that these living conditions can go unpunished at the hands of Mayor Parks Tau and the ANC.

A DA government in Johannesburg will deliver functioning sewerage infrastructure, running water and electricity, and spend more and more public money on upgrading our poorest communities.

From Cape Town to Midvaal where the DA governs, living conditions improve.

The DA will deliver change to Johannesburg that sees the highest levels of water, sanitation and electricity access, just as we have done where the DA governs already.

Change is coming to Johannesburg; change that delivers services for all residents.

 

Media enquiries:

Willie Venter

Director: Communications and research

060 963 8260

INVITATION TO SOUTH AFRICANS TO ASSIST IN VOTER REGISTRATION WEEKEND 9 & 10 APRIL

I have made myself available to stand as the DA’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate for the upcoming elections because I’m committed to change in Joburg.

I have spent every day of the past 10 weeks visiting parts of Johannesburg, I’ve been horrified and I’ve been inspired. Horrified at the lack of service delivery, and at the plight of dejected citizens who have no hope of improving their lives under the current climate. But I’ve been inspired by ordinary South Africans who are determined to contribute to a city that succeeds, to a country that will flourish.

The municipal election to be held later this year is one of the most important elections South Africans will have. It is obvious to anyone who has been following the downward trend of the social and political climate how vital it is that South Africans register to vote and then vote in the election. A few years ago, I made a commitment to my children that I never wanted to have to say I saw what was happening and I did nothing.

I urge ordinary South Africans to do more than register to vote, but encourage everyone you know to vote, and if you can, volunteer to man DA voting stations over the 9-10 April weekend, to ensure that we are able to register all voters who turn up to register. You can be a catalyst of change by being of service to your City.

I need your support. Johannesburg is an important city in this election. If the DA are to win the election then Johannesburg will work, and by extension South Africa will work. The City is the major economic hub of the country. The DA is the only party that can turn the City around, the only party that can make Johannesburg work, so that South Africa works.

If every civic-minded South African gave a couple of hours of their weekend to make a difference at the next Registration Weekend, it would transform voter registration. If you are prepared to contribute to the next election, by manning a voter registration point you will be making an enormous contribution to the future of our City and our country.

To volunteer your service to make Johannesburg work, please send an sms with the words “Volunteer” and the area where you live in to 35839 and a DA representative will get in touch with you.

I look forward to meeting you out in the field during the next voter registration weekend.

I thank you.

 

HERMAN MASHABA

DA JOHANNESBURG MAYORAL CANDIDATE

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Bunking Jeppe Police Station Commander Under Urgent Review

I welcome the announcement today by Gauteng Community Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane that the position of Jeppe Police Station Commander Brigadier Govandsamy Mariemuthoo is under review as “a matter of urgency”.

She said this in an oral reply to my questions in the house following the disclosure earlier this month that he had taken 156 days absence since his appointment at the station in February 2014.

Nkosi-Malobane said that there was an ongoing investigation into this matter and that he had been “very clever” to take as many days as possible as he had used different categories of leave.

This included 64 days which he took for what was described as “Alleged IOD – Injury Left Knee”, which she said had not been granted but was “pending” as processes had not been finalized.

She said that they were not sure whether he was at home when he was on leave or “moonlighting”.

I pointed out that the general absenteeism at the station is 14% and she said that when the head is ill-disciplined others will follow.

I am surprised that the MEC said she did not know about his previous record of high absence when he was the Station Commander at Benoni, which shows that this has been an ongoing problem with Mariemuthoo.

Crime is high in the area and I hope that an effective station commander is put in place as soon as possible.

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Constituency Head Johannesburg East

082 333 4222

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E-Tolls: With Prosecutions Looming, Where Is Premier Makhura?

Premier Makhura’s Electioneering Gimmick

With the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) now threatening to prosecute thousands of Gauteng motorists, it has never been a more important time for Premier David Makhura to act on his word, to be the champion of the people and stand up to his political masters in Luthuli House.

In his State of the Province Address, the Premier rightly acknowledged that the cost of e-tolls were too high and that this is why people were not paying them.

He was backed by Gauteng ANC Provincial Chairman, Paul Mashatile, who reiterated that something needed to be done to alleviate the heavy burden of e-tolls.

But now, with residents being threatened with legal action – because they simply refuse to be subjected to an unjust and unaffordable burden, where is Premier Makhura?

Did Makhura really listen to the people’s cries? Or was this a simple and hollow electioneering gimmick – because he knew his hands were already tied?

OUTA

It is too late to talk of a “new” strategy on e-Tolls when Luthuli House has already decided its plan of action.

While the DA will continue to fight against e-tolls we strongly urge all residents of Gauteng to join forces with the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA).

We believe that OUTA have made a tremendous contribution to the civic discourse on e-tolls, and we offer them our support whenever they need it.

The pertinent question remains however, in this hour of need, where is Premier Makhura?

 

Media enquiries:

John Moodey MPL

DA Gauteng Provincial Leader

082 960 3743

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Gauteng MECs To Face Questions For Oral Reply

Today, 22 March 2016, DA members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature will pose oral questions to Members of the Executive Council (MECs).

A number of issues will be covered, including the absence of Jeppe Station Commander Brigadier Govandsamy Mariemuthoo, SADTU holding meetings during school hours and the payment of R14 million for upgrades to roads in Emfuleni that did not take place.

The list of questions can be viewed here.

Date: 22 March 2016

Time: 10h00

Venue: Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Johannesburg.

There will be opportunities for interviews and photographs. Members of the media are welcome to attend.

 

Media enquiries:

Warren Gwilt

DA Gauteng Manager: Communications and Research

060 963 8320

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Herman Mashaba To Reveal Repeated Rights Violations In Johannesburg

Today, 22 March 2016, DA Mayoral Candidate for Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba will reveal repeated rights violations by the City of Johannesburg, and announce what action the DA will take on these rights violations, and what a fair city would do under a DA government.

Date: Today, 22 March 2016

Time: 09:00

Venue: Liliesleaf Farm, 7 George Avenue, Rivonia.

There will be ample opportunity for interviews and photographs. Members of the media are welcome to attend.

 

Media enquiries:

Willie Venter

Director: Communications and Research

060 963 8260

 

Nkele Molapo

Media Officer

072 041 4842

076 127 0719