The DA demands a full investigation and the arrest of those complicit into the bogus Home Affairs office.

Please find an attached soundbite by Angel Khanyile MP

The recent report of a bogus Home Affairs office in Hillbrow and the arrest of at least one suspect, hint to a medium- to long-term operation allegedly aided within the actual department. Some of the documents found during a police had stamps dating back to 2020.

The DA thus calls for a full investigation, and the arrest and blacklisting of all officials who may have had a hand in the establishment of this ‘unofficial’ Home Affairs office allegedly run by a Zimbabwean National in his Hillbrow flat.

It is crucial for the authorities to establish how the suspect sourced the documents with security features which was used to print ID, passports, and birth certificates.

In several meetings with Government Printing Works (GPW) we have been assured that all papers used by GPW to print the aforementioned documents had security features and security embedded documents. Only GPW is authorised to print any of the documents provided by the department of Home Affairs.

Any person who is complicit in the setting up and running of the bogus office in Hillbrow or supplying this office with official resources must face the full force of the law.

DA pressure results in the release of the Ministerial Task Team report on the Cuban drug procurement scandal

Please find attached soundbites in Afrikaans and English by Kobus Marais MP

 

Following the submission of a PAIA application to the Minister of Defence, Thandi Modise, requesting that she releases the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) report into the Cuban drug procurement scandal, the Minister has instead opted to table it in Parliament.

 

This is still a DA victory on accountability because had we not exerted pressure on the Minister, the report would not have been released.

 

An important outcome is that the Military Command Council, under Generals Shoke Dabula and Mzikayise Tyhalisi, still procured the unregistered Cuban drugs despite clear red flags that they were flouting procurement and import regulations. They failed to adhere to the provisions of The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) and procurement guidelines of the PFMA. 

 

This means that the first three deliveries of this Cuban drug were fraudulent and bought under false pretences. 

 

The implicated parties went ahead with this deal fully aware of the acute financial constraints of the Department of Defence (DoD) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Fortunately, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) took the brave step of refusing the payments of the 2nd and 3rd deliveries.

 

It is worth noting, however, that the South African Auditor-General (AGSA) has already classified all four orders as irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditures. This has, by extension, meant that all contracts under Operation Thusano were irregular and wasteful.

 

The onus is now on the Department of Defence and the SANDF to take disciplinary action against all individuals involved in the drug procurement scandal. If any wrongdoing is discovered, criminal charges should be laid . 

DA calls for moratorium on onerous regulations for independent power generation to address electricity crisis

Please find an attached soundbite by Kevin Mileham MP

As part of the ongoing DA campaign to have the ongoing electricity crisis declared a State of Disaster, the DA is calling on the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, to consider placing a moratorium on the onerous regulations that are creating insurmountable red tape for independent power generation in the country.

South Africa will struggle to expeditiously address the loadshedding nightmare if the electricity ecosystem, comprising regulators and policymakers, is continually beset by lack of urgency in removing regulatory obstacles for Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Despite the dire state of our electricity generation capacity, South Africa should be making it easy, not difficult, for IPPs to bring new power at scale and in the shortest possible time.

In a press briefing yesterday, Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter himself revealed that:

  • There is potential to add 200MW of new capacity from existing IPPs but they were being constrained by contractual obligations which prevent them from feeding this into the grid regularly. It is scandalous that the IPP office has not amended these contracts to allow for uncapped supply to the grid, considering the negative impact that loadshedding is having on the economy.
  • Existing IPPs were also potentially able to add an additional 200MW to their existing generation capacity if they were allowed to expand their plant capacity. However regulatory decisions were standing in the way.
  • The Eskom Board approved a plan on the 3rd of August last year to enable private generators to make bids and supply power to the grid. However, Treasury, Mantashe’s DMRE and NERSA are yet to approve the plan.
  • There were onerous registration requirements for embedded or own generation players who produce electricity less than 100MW. These requirements are being kept in place by NERSA.
  • Stringent zoning and slow environmental impact assessment processes were impeding the progress of onboarding IPPs interested in leasing Eskom land in Mpumalanga.

In the same vein, concerns have been raised on how state heavy handedness on localization rules could potentially increase the cost of renewable energy. Local material content requirements and import tariffs on imported steel need to be waived to lower the cost of solar and wind generation.

The ANC government may be in denial but the reality is that South Africa is in the middle of an electricity emergency. Unless urgent steps are taken to remove existing red tape for IPPs, there is a high probability that South Africa could face another decade of continuous loadshedding.

Mantashe and his colleagues in Cabinet must either act in the national interest and use the provisions of a State of Disaster on the electricity crisis to place a moratorium on unnecessary regulatory requirements, or get out of the way and allow provinces and municipalities that have the resources and capacity to do so to get on with it.

Time for the State of Disaster to serve South Africa and not the ANC.

Please find an attached soundbite by Natasha Mazzone MP

With the re-introduction of the State of Disaster by the National Government, South Africans are justifiably concerned that funds earmarked for rebuilding flood devastated regions will be looted in a similar fashion to the Covid-19 relief funds.

I will therefore be tabling a draft resolution in the National Assembly to establish an ad hoc committee to oversee all aspects of the National State of Disaster to respond to floods in Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Eastern Cape.

The DA notes the president’s request for a joint sitting of parliament to conduct oversight over the work required to provide relief and rebuild in the affected provinces. However, this once-off sitting is simply not enough. Over the last two years South Africans have received updates from the executive only when a Minister has chosen to arrange a press conference. There is an urgent need for consistent oversight to be conducted by Parliament over a declared state of disaster on behalf of the public.

The Disaster Management Act does not provide for parliamentary oversight, thereby allowing the executive to use the Act to bypass Parliament and govern through regulations. The government already abused this Act during the Covid 19 pandemic, when Parliament and its constitutionally mandated role of exercising oversight over the executive was all but forgotten.

The DA will not allow this situation to repeat itself. The proposed ad hoc committee must meet daily throughout the state of disaster given the urgency of this situation.

This committee will have extensive powers to exercise oversight over all activities related to the State of Disaster.  Some of these powers will include:

  • To summon any person before it to give evidence on oath or affirmation, or to produce documents;
  • To conduct public hearings; and
  • To receive petitions, representations, or submissions from interested persons or institutions.

While the ANC has previously rejected proposals to amend the Disaster Management Act, the party clearly plans to use the Disaster Management Act on an increasingly regular basis, with the potential to govern through the Act in perpetuity. As a result, there is a need to limit the government’s power to perpetually extend a state of disaster.

The DA will therefore be moving ahead with our PMB to amend Section 27 of the Disaster Management Act which will require express approval from Parliament for any extensions to a state of disaster beyond an initial 21-day period. We cannot allow the executive branch of government to continue extending a declared state of disaster into perpetuity without express approval from Parliament.

Parliament’s role of exercising oversight over the executive branch of government was sidelined throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. This status quo cannot be allowed to continue. The DA will be taking firm action to restore Parliament’s central oversight role within government.

Assistance for KZN is welcome but must be for victims not cadres

Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Cilliers Brink MP

The DA welcomes the assistance by national government to communities in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape devastated by last week’s floods. Many people have lost loved ones, their homes, their possessions and the most basic of services.

We will be making specific proposals to the Speaker of the National Assembly on how to strengthen the oversight powers of Parliament and prevent the abuse of power and public money under a national state of disaster.

Having ignored the DA’s proposals on how to prevent the abuse of disaster relief funds at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa would be well advised to listen what we have to say this time around.

The declaration of a national state of disaster is a confirmation of what DA public representatives have been telling us: there is no effective coordination of flood relief in especially KwaZulu-Natal, and widespread reports of abuse of public resources by the ANC in the wake of the disaster.

The health risks linked to an unstable supply of clean water and a lack of sanitation are high and we cannot afford a repeat of the PPE scandal where people’s lives were gambled while officials and cadres looted critical funding.

The DA is especially concerned the lack of drinking water in the Ethekwini metro, where two of the city’s reservoirs are no longer functional, and thousands of households rely on municipal water tankers. There are now widespread reports of ANC ward councillors commandeering these water tankers.

The La Mercy Civil and Ratepayers Association has even issued a statement in which it claims that Premier Sihle Zikalala has at his disposal the use of an entire water tanker, while many communities across the metro area do not have reliable access to drinking water.

What is needed now is a clear plan of how basic infrastructure is going to be restored, and how disaster relief will be managed in the meantime. Unfortunately, the President’s address (last night) did not include any of these details.

Eskom must be declared a State of Disaster

Please find attached soundbite by Ghaleb Cachalia MP.

Last week the DA wrote to the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, requesting that they motivate for a Cabinet resolution that addresses impending disaster looming in the country’s electricity sector, almost exclusively under the failing aegis of Eskom.

Now that 17GW of unplanned outages and a further 5GW offline for planned maintenance has been announced – amounting to a third of Eskom generation capacity – the country is in a state of disaster, driven by Eskom’s ongoing failures.

The DA warned that Eskom has “proved beyond any doubt that it is not able to solve South Africa’s 14 year old loadshedding crisis. The entity’s old generation fleet is on life support and is constantly tripping, resulting in power outages being announced at short and debilitating notice.”

It is now high time that our demands are addressed. The dire situation in KwaZulu-Natal is being compounded by electricity supply issues which affect the ability, inter alia, to pump much needed water supplies. People are dying, businesses will die, ports are closed and the country will grind to a halt.

Do we need to wait before this failure engulfs the entire country?

The DA demands that Cabinet addresses this forthwith and that the situation at Eskom is dealt with urgently by way of the declaration of a State of Disaster at Eskom as a prelude to a commission of inquiry into our generation of electricity.

May Easter be a time of hope and renewal

On behalf of the Democratic Alliance I would like to wish all South Africans who observe the Christian faith a blessed and safe Easter. May this sacred holiday’s message of unconditional love and sacrifice bring you great comfort and strength.

As we celebrate Easter, let us also keep those affected by the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal in our prayers this weekend. Our deepest condolences go out to the families of those who lost their lives, and we pray that the people of KZN may find strength and courage to rebuild their lives and their homes in the wake of this tragedy.

After the disruption of the pandemic, it is wonderful that many South Africans will be able to celebrate Easter this year with the people they love, and without many of the restrictions that had made life so hard these past couple of years.

I know that many people will be traveling long distances for the first time in two years to visit family or friends, or to attend special church services. If you’re going to be on the road this weekend, I ask that you please take extra care and that you don’t put yourself or others in danger.

Be patient, be vigilant and stay safe, and urge all your friends and family to do the same. Let us all come back safely next week, even if our journeys take a little longer. Everyone sharing the road with you also just wants to get home safely and embrace their children, parents and loved ones.

I also hope you find some quiet time over the weekend to reflect on the message of Easter, and what this could mean in our world today. Easter is not only the story of God’s sacrifice, it is also a story of hope and renewal.

Right now, on a different continent, a brutal and unjust war continues to terrorise innocent people, with thousands killed and millions already displaced. I ask that you hold the people of Ukraine in your prayers, so that they may soon experience their own hope and renewal, free from tyranny and violence.

Closer to home, millions of our own citizens are facing a bleak and uncertain winter as unemployment, crippling poverty and hunger affect half our population. And once the ripples from Ukraine hit our own economy, this situation will likely get worse before it improves.

We desperately need our own hope and renewal, and this doesn’t have to come from government or a political party. There is much that each of us can do in our own lives to start turning the tide in our own country.

Let us begin with tolerance and empathy. Don’t allow others to turn what might be rightful fears and frustrations into resentment and hate. Don’t allow yourself to become a tool of violence in the populist, xenophobic campaigns of others.

I know we have problems in our society and that life is extremely hard for many, but none of these problems will be solved by making foreigners the scapegoats.

We dare not lose our humanity.

Our hope and our renewal won’t be achieved by blaming and hurting others. It will only be achieved by standing together, respecting one another, and then building the South Africa we all want to live in.

That goal is well within our reach.

May God bless you all and keep you safe.

DA calls for probe after yet another Malmesbury jailbreak

Please find an attached soundbite by Janho Engelbrecht MP

The DA will write to Gratitude Magwanishe, the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, to demand a full probe into the state of Malmesbury Prison after another prison escape at this facility.

This is the latest in a series of similar incidents that have occurred at this facility in recent months. 69 convicts fled in June 2020, 2 escaped in February 2021, and 3 escaped today. It is evident that security at the Malmesbury Prison facility is insufficient, and this is something that we should all be concerned about.

Following each of the preceding two instances, investigations into the circumstances that led to inmates escaping were initiated; nevertheless, the suggestions provided following these investigations plainly did not result in future escapes being prevented.

The DA demands that problems at this correctional facility be thoroughly investigated and resolved as soon as possible. If there is something more sinister at play, involving employees or prison administration, those responsible must be held accountable for breaking the law.

A porous prison facility undermines the efforts of law enforcement officers who fought tirelessly to apprehend the now-escaped criminals. This also places undue demand on law enforcement resources, which are already strained. Parliament must intervene.

DA welcomes the extension of public participation process for Draft Health Regulations

Please find an attached soundbite by Michele Clarke MP.

The DA welcomes the extension of the public participation process for the Regulations in the Government Gazette to the National Health Act 61 of 2003. The public participation process, which opened on 15 March, were set to close on 15 April 2022. During today’s parliamentary portfolio committee on health meeting, the Department of Health announced a 7-day extension to the public participation process, which will now close on 22 April 2022.

This extension is in response to the DA’s letter to Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, highlighting various reports that email submissions were deleted without being viewed.

Although we welcome the extension, emails that were deleted are potentially lost and we therefore call on the Department to conduct an audit of the emails that were received as well as a technical system assessment in order to prevent such an error from happening again.

The DA has raised serious concerns with these regulations, including:

  • Forced quarantine, without the option of refusal, in the event of a positive Covid-19 case;
  • Forced testing and taking of bodily samples, without the option of refusal, in the event of a positive Covid-19 case, or worse, upon the mere suspicion of a positive test;
  • Forced treatment or providing of prophylaxis, without the option of refusal, in the event of a positive Covid-19 test. Currently, the only lawful prophylaxis for Covid-19 are the various vaccines as approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Agency (SAHPRA); and
  • The ability to enforce trivial limitations on gatherings and funerals without the need for scientific based evidence or input, which will continue to destroy small businesses and the entertainment and restaurant industry.

There has already been more than 160 000 submissions regarding the Regulations.

Public participation is a central part of our democracy and although this could very well be technical error, South Africans deserve to know if their submissions have been viewed.

The 7-day extension is welcomed and we encourage South Africans to submit their concerns regarding the Regulations before 22 April 2022 via WhatsApp on 060 012 3456; e-mail at legalreviews@health.gov.za; or via the website on www.health.gov.za/public-comments-on-regulations.

SASSA crashes about 10 times per month: DA calls on SAHRC intervention

Please find attached soundbite by Bridget Masango MP.

The DA will write to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to highlight the shocking rate of delivery of social grants.

The Minister for Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, recently revealed in an answer to a written parliamentary question from the DA, that the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has experienced 119 incidents of downtime nationally, between May 2021 and March 2022. This means that the SASSA system crashes on average 10 times per month.

The crashes were blamed on loadshedding, electricity failures and network or server malfunctions with incidents lasting between 3-6 hours. Another major cause was the national rollout of the biometric system used to verify transactions.

Another parliamentary question from the DA revealed that over the past two years 51 Post Office pay points have been closed.

SASSA’s constant system crashes combined with continuous closures of various Post Office pay points, severely limits millions of South Africa’s most vulnerable citizens from accessing their social grants. These grants are often their only means of providing for their families, and there needs to be urgent intervention to address the situation.

The Department of Social Development is continuously failing and violating their mandate to protect children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities by creating an enabling environment for the provision of a comprehensive, integrated and sustainable social development service.

The SAHRC should urgently intervene by:

  • Monitoring and reporting on the methods of grant disbursement. The vulnerable apply and receive their grants under humiliating conditions while they stand in hours-long queues in all weather conditions.
  • Addressing the failure of DSD in effectively disbursing grants as a human rights violation.

It is time the ANC government took their responsibility to protect the vulnerable and not exacerbate their vulnerabilities, seriously. Section 27(1) of the Constitution guarantees that everyone in South Africa has the right to social security. The Department needs to implement measures that effectively address the various problems within the system.

South Africa’s most vulnerable have suffered enough humiliation at the hands of government. It is because of ANC policies that their economic growth and opportunity continues to be severely damaged and that they struggle for survival month after month.