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DA Leader’s Diary: Monday, 27 February 2017 – Wednesday, 01 March 2017

Monday, 27 February 2017

Mangaung: DA Leader Maimane to campaign ahead of by-elections

Today, 27 February 2017, DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, will embark on a door-to-door campaign ahead of by-elections in Thaba Nchu, Ward 39.

The Leader will be joined by Free State Provincial Leader, Patricia Kopane.

The media is invited as follows:

Date: Monday, 27 February 2017

Event Type: Door-to-door

Time: 11:00

Location: 3624 Moroka Extension, Thaba Nchu

Event Type: Public Meeting

Time: 11:45

Location: Open space by KFC, Brand Street, Thaba Nchu

 

Tuesday, 28 February 2017

Johannesburg: DA Leader Maimane to lead protest at Makhura’s Office

Tomorrow, 28 February 2017, Democratic Alliance Leader, Mmusi Maimane, will lead a protest at Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s Office, following the mistreatment and death of over 100 mentally ill patients at the hands of an uncaring ANC government.

The Leader will be joined by DA Gauteng Provincial Leader, John Moodey, DA Johannesburg Regional Chairperson, Khume Ramulifho, and DA Shadow MEC of Health, Jack Bloom.

The media is invited to cover the protest as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 28 February 2017

Time: 09:30

Location: Office of the Premier, 30 Simmonds Street, Johannesburg

 

Wednesday, 01 March 2017

Parliament: Questions to the Deputy President

On Wednesday, 01 March 2017, Democratic Alliance Leader, Mmusi Maimane, will be in the National Assembly to ask the Deputy President and Leader of Government Business about his role in and knowledge of the decision to employ stringent security measures during the State of the Nation Address.

This sitting will commence at 15:00 in the National Assembly.

 

 

Media Enquiries
Mabine Seabe
Spokesperson to the DA Leader
084 677 7851
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Premier Makhura’s Response To SOPA Debate Welcomed

The DA in Gauteng welcomes Premier David Makhura’s response to the debate on his State of the Province Address, today.

We applaud the Premier for his stance against the violence, destruction and thuggery of the ANC members and affiliates who stormed the Johannesburg City Council yesterday.

We welcome the Premiers instruction that the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Paul Mashatile, will meet with the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, to dealing with the mayhem which occurred yesterday.

However, it appears as if the storming of the council by the ANC was deliberate and orchestrated.

Given the unrest around xenophobia and other violence in the province, the storming of the council sitting and the violent attacks on a government institution does not bode well for where South Africa is in its democracy.

The DA once again condemns the ANC for its actions in trying to halt service delivery in the province.

The Premier in his response failed to acknowledge that he was in fact well aware of the transferring of mental health patients long before the tragedy of Life Esidimeni 100+ occurred.

We, therefore, reiterate our call for the Premier to do the honourable thing and resign.

 

 

Media Enquiries
 
 
 
John Moodey MPL
DA Gauteng Provincial Leader
082 960 3743
 
Yaseen Carelse
Social Development Cluster Manager
072 721 8613
 
 
 
 
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Legislature Speaker Denies Motion To Debate Thuggish ANC Behaviour In Joburg

The Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Ntombi Mekgwe, denied the DA’s request to debate a matter of urgent public importance this morning, following yesterday’s disruption by the ANC at the Johannesburg City Council.

Protestors stormed the council chamber and were threatening councillors and city employees while trashing furniture, laptops and smashing glass doors. Police had to resort to the use of stun grenades to disperse the mob.

Those who attended the meeting were left shaken and traumatised by the level of violence and destruction they had witnessed. Many, fearing for their lives, hid in cupboards and empty offices until the police arrived.

The agenda of these protestors were politically motivated to disrupt the business of the council.

Their actions were undemocratic and informed by a campaign of “un-governability” synonymous with protests in municipalities led by the DA in coalition governments in the province.

By denying this debate of public importance, the speaker is accepting that lawlessness and “un-governability” campaigns of the ANC will prevail.

The Speaker has once again supressed freedom of speech and has shown her bias towards the ANC. The residents of Johannesburg and the province have a right to debate matters such as these as it directly affects service delivery.

Despite the thuggish behaviour of the ANC and their affiliates to deter the DA from governing, the DA yesterday passed its very first successful budget adjustment in the council.

With this budget adjustment passed, the DA can now implement its plans in the city to uplift communities, cut corruption and deliver much needed quality services which the residents of the city deserve.

 

 

 

Media Enquiries
 
 
 
Khume Ramulifho MPL
DA Johannesburg Regional Chairperson
082 398 7375
 
 
 
 
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Urgent SAPS Operation Needed To Clamp Down On Crime In Benoni

Criminal Activity Rife

The Benoni Central Business District (CBD) and Actonville and surrounding areas are severely affected by crime. Drug smuggling, human trafficking and prostitution have become the norm in the CBD of Benoni.

Many of the residents have written to the DA expressing their concern about constantly having to live in fear.

Criminal activity has become rife in the community over the past few years. The community has expressed to me that they will take matters into their own hands by torching homes owned by drug lords.

SAPS should work with the Community Policing Forum and gather intelligence from members of the community in order to clamp down on illegal activity.

I implore 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.

Police officers must be dispatched in order to prevent violent protests and to keep community members safe.

Young people are most affected by the scourge of drugs and crime and they are unable to walk to school and partake in evening extra-mural activities at school as they constantly have to watch over their shoulders.

The MEC and the Provincial SAPS commissioner must act now before it is too late.

Media Enquiries
 
 
 
Michele Clarke MPL
DA Gauteng Constituency Head – Benoni
060 558 8299
 
Yaseen Carelse
Social Development Cluster Manager
076 721 8613
 
 
 
 

 

 

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Merafong Ward Committee Elections Halted

Merafong Local Municipality

The Democratic Alliance in Merafong has learnt that all the ward committee elections scheduled for this coming weekend in Merafong will not be taking place.

This was confirmed by the local IEC who informed the DA that the Speaker of the Merafong local municipality had failed to follow the correct procedure in formally approaching the IEC to handle the election of ward committees, and also failed to provide a budget for the IEC to do so.

The Speaker further neglected to inform Council of the cancellation of the ward committee elections.

This is yet another flagrant abdication of the Constitution by the ANC in Merafong.

Mayor must Set a Firm Date for Fresh Elections

Residents are entitled to representation through their duly elected ward committees and to participate in the governance of their communities. This right is being arbitrarily withheld by an uncaring government.

Further investigations have revealed that the office dealing with ward committee matters has been closed for quite some time now, and all attempts to reach officials have been unsuccessful. An oversight visit revealed a nearly empty parking lot at the municipal offices in Halite Street on Wednesday.

The DA will call an urgent meeting with the Executive Mayor to demand an explanation and set a firm date for fresh elections.

 

 

Media Enquiries
 
 
 
Ina Cilliers MPL
DA Constituency Head: Merafong
060 556 4344
 
Warren Gwilt
Economic Cluster Manager
073 601 6144
 
 
 
 

 

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JHB Council Disrupted By Undemocratic ANC Thuggery

Undemocratic Thuggery

Today’s disruption of the Johannesburg Council, by members of the ANC and ANC-affiliates, is nothing less than undemocratic thuggery.

The ANC in Johannesburg has nothing to offer but chaos and violence, and is undermining the will of the people who voted the ANC out of power in Election 2016.

The DA condemns the ANC disruption of Council in the strongest terms, and the calculated, orchestrated way in which it unfolded shows that the ANC had pre-meditated this chaos.

That ANC Councillors assisted members of the MKMVA and the ANC-offshoot ‘Johannesburg Social Movement’ to stop the business of council and damage property, shows that the ANC came to council today with a singular mission to disrupt.

The People’s Business

The DA-led government of Mayor Herman Mashaba will not be deterred and will continue to press forward in passing the Adjustment Budget. Mayor Mashaba’s government has the people’s business to do, and the ANC cannot stop this.

We welcome the City of Johannesburg confirmation that footage of the disruption will be studied and that criminal charges will be laid.

The time for the undemocratic ways of the ANC is over. Johannesburg has business to do.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Khume Ramulifho MPL

DA Johannesburg Regional Chairperson

082 398 7375

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ANC’s Failing Ekurhuleni Government Must Take Blame For Duduza Violence

Violence and Service Delivery Protests

The ANC’s failing Ekurhuleni Metro government must take responsibility for the waves of violence and service delivery protests that have rocked Duduza over the last two days.

Residents have taken to the streets to express their dismay at the broken promises of successive ANC mayors in Ekurhuleni who have failed to deliver jobs to this community. Residents have barricaded roads, destroyed traffic lights and have torched government buildings, including the local post office and library.

DA-run Tshwane and Johannesburg Metros

The Ekurhuleni Metro has not had any significant changes in governance, or exposed any major corruption, or attracted major investment since the August 2016 elections, whereas the DA-run Tshwane and Johannesburg metros are undergoing fundamental transformations that are improving the lives of its citizens.

The ANC’s continued failure to engender confidence in the economy that would lead to growth and job creation is squarely to blame, and a community that has been historically peaceful has now had to resort to violence to highlight their plight to an indifferent, uncaring ANC mayor and province.

The DA urges for calm in the community, and encourages residents to express their dismay with the ANC through the ballot box. The DA will keep fighting for every resident left behind by the ANC.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Ashor Sarupen

DA Constituency Head – Springs

060 558 8303

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ANC Shields Premier From Questions On Esidimeni Deaths

Life Esidimeni Contract

The ANC in the Gauteng Legislature’s Oversight Committee on the Premier’s Office and Legislature (OCPOL) has shielded Premier David Makhura from questions relating to his role in the deaths of more than 100 patients transferred to dodgy NGOs after the cancellation of the Life Esidimeni contract.

According to the minutes of a previous OCPOL meeting, the committee had agreed that an agenda item be included “to deliberate on the role of the Premier on the Health Ombudsman’s findings in the Esidimeni report.”

Premier Makhura appeared before the committee yesterday and gave a report on the implementation of the Health Ombudsman’s recommendations in his report.

But I was blocked from asking Makhura why he had not acted on the letter that Wits University occupational therapy students wrote to him on 18 January last year in which they warned about moving the patients from Esidimeni’s Waverley Care Centre in Germiston.

ANC Chief Whip Brian Hlongwa

I also wanted the Premier’s response to the claim made in the Ombud’s report by Dr Barney Selebano, the Head of the Gauteng Health Department, that “the decision to start deinstitutionalization of mental health care users from Life Healthcare Esidimeni was undertaken in the Office of the Premier of Gauteng, the Honourable David Makhura, together with the HoD”.

ANC Chief Whip Brian Hlongwa said that the committee should not be turned into a committee of inquiry on this matter, and Chairperson Godfrey Tsotetsi refused to allow me to put my questions to the Premier.

I am disappointed that the oversight committee is not fulfilling its role in holding the Premier and his office to account for the failure to effectively monitor the disastrous transfer of patients that led to the deaths.

Section 130 (3)

This was despite a plethora of media reports on the plight of the patients and complaints by the relatives, as well as two court applications where the Premier was cited as a respondent.

The DA will use other opportunities to hold the Premier to account, including a no-confidence motion that will table in the Legislature to force his removal in terms of section 130 (3) of the Constitution.

 

 

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222

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Rail Regulator Must Investigate Gauteng Rail Safety Standards

Metrorail Head-on Collision

The head-on collision by two Metrorail trains yesterday in Pretoria raises serious concerns about rail commuter safety in Gauteng.

This is the second incident in a week after a Gautrain carriage derailed between Hatfield and Pretoria last week.

The DA calls on the Rail Safety Regulator to expedite its investigations into these two matters so that the root causes can be addressed without delay.

Rail Safety Regulator

The Rail Safety Regulator must institute an investigation into Metrorail signalling systems as well as train driver fitness which could possibly be the cause for yesterday’s accident.

The DA is of the opinion that the problem is much wider, and that yesterday’s accident should not be treated as an isolated incident.

The safety of Gauteng commuters must be paramount in the operations of public transport as it is the main mode of transportation for those who make up the bulk of the province’s economy.

 

 

 

Media enquiries:

Fred Nel MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Roads and Transport

083 263 2427

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Former Mogale ANC Officials Rake In R1 Million Each Despite Not Appearing For Work

Mogale City Coalition

The coalition government of Mogale City is making progress to turn around the dysfunctional municipality – despite the efforts of the ANC in the region to destabilise the council as they are reluctant to accept the democratic will of the people.

Under the ANC, the number of people living in informal settlements continued to grow with little effort by that administration to provide basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity. This was compounded by the fact that the portion of people who had access to water and electricity declined between 2010 and 2014.

Instead, the ANC were more interested in enriching themselves.

Two officials working in the office of the previous ANC Mayor had not been at work for over a year, despite each earning more than R1 million per annum. A Councillor from the district municipality had been living in the Mayor’s house free of charge – a house that is paid for by residents.

ANC’s Maladministration

With each day, more evidence is mounting against the ANC’s maladministration. Irregular expenditure for the 2015/16 financial year amounted to R110 million – money which could have been better used to uplift the lives of residents.

In contrast, the new administration is working tirelessly to redress the wrongs of the ANC. It is strengthening processes to ensure that all deserving individuals will benefit from social assistance, grants and bursaries and not just the connected few who may be family or friends of a politician or who are cadres of a particular party.

The ANC’s sabotage attempts in Mogale City have one purpose. They are not interested in serving the people of the municipality, rather, they are upset about losing out on the patronage networks that have already empowered elite at the expense of the poor majority.

Media enquiries:

Alan Fuchs MPL

DA Constituency Head – Mogale City

060 558 8313

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