ANC’s Constitution 18th Amendment Bill fails to get support in the Section 25 Ad-Hoc Committee

Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Dr Annelie Lotriet MP.

The ANC’s ill-advised plan to introduce the Constitution 18th Amendment Bill to amend Section 25 of the Constitution, to allow for expropriation of land without compensation, has failed round one after political parties represented in the Section 25 Ad-Hoc Committee refused to support its proposed amendments.

If the voting that took place in the committee today on the draft Bill is a reflection of how parties will vote in the National Assembly, the ANC will not have the two-thirds majority needed to pass the Bill.

This is an important outcome for our Constitution, the Bill of rights and the fight to protect the property rights of all South Africans. The DA has always argued that this Bill should never have been brought to Parliament as it does nothing to help landless South Africans who have been let down by the ANC’s failing land reform programme.

Although public comments will now be invited for this new ANC draft Bill, the lack of political support on the Bill from parties represented in Parliament means that it will not be passed. The uncertainty brought about by this Bill, borne out of ANC factional fighting at Nasrec in 2017, is about to end with a victory for the Constitution.

The potential collapse of the Section 25 amendment process, while it is a welcome development, will not stop the DA advocating for an accelerated programme of land reform. We will continue to work towards the settlement of all land restitution cases, release of state land for land reform purposes, increased support to farmers and transference of title deeds among other interventions.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

Government pays R1.4bn and counting on Cuban employment agreements

Please find attached a soundbite by Natasha Mazzone MP

The ANC government has spent more than R1.4 billion over the past decade on its agreements with the Cuban government to employ Cuban workers and service providers in South Africa.

The DA submitted Parliamentary questions to all government departments regarding past and present employment agreements with Cuba and have received responses from 5 departments to date. The cost of each department’s agreement with the Cuban government is as follows:

The combined cost of the 5 departments’ agreements with Cuba, therefore, amounts to a staggering R 1 425 322 510 and counting.

The DA has serious concerns around the astronomical amounts of money the government is forking out to pay for the skills and services from Cuba when there are unemployed and qualified workers across South Africa in all these fields desperate for employment.

It makes no sense that in a country with record unemployment rates, the government would continue to enter into these costly agreements at the expense of local job creation.

Why would the Defence Department spend billions on Cuban service providers to maintain and repair its defence equipment, when the local defence industry is caught in a death spiral and job losses?

Why would the Health Department bring over doctors and nurses from Cuba, when it failed for months to place community service doctors?

The DA is simply not buying the government’s excuse of skills shortages. As in the case of the 24 engineers being brought to South Africa to assist the Department of Water & Sanitation with water infrastructure, the government’s excuse was that “very few of our own engineers would possibly opt to go work in the rural areas”. This was of course disputed when 120 local engineers indicated their willingness to assist in the government’s efforts to address infrastructure challenges in rural communities.

Clearly, there’s more to these contracts between South Africa and Cuba than meets the eye. It would appear that the South African government is once again being captured, this time by its blind loyalty to its old Cuban allies.

The DA will continue to pursue this matter by submitting applications to government in terms of the Public Access to Information Act to ascertain the full details of these agreements and who is benefiting from them.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

DA welcomes weekend vaccination announcement

Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Geordin Hill-Lewis MP.

I am thrilled with the announcement that vaccination clinics will operate 7 days a week from 1 August, following a meeting between the National Treasury and the Department of Health.

When we vaccinate more than 1 million extra people every month, because we vaccinate over weekends, then this will undoubtedly mean thousands of lives saved over the coming year.

Over the last few weeks, the DA has argued that the necessary funds to run weekend vaccination clinics are definitely available in the national budget. It just required leadership to unlock the funds and get this problem resolved.

Now that it has been resolved, this is great news for South Africa, and absolutely the right decision by government.

We are pleased that the pressure brought to bear by the DA and civil society in recent weeks has had the intended effect, resulting in today’s announcement.

We encourage every single eligible South African to please get vaccinated. It is the only way to get out of this pandemic, save lives, and begin to rebuild livelihoods.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

South Africa again left guessing after another Robert McBride suspension 

Please find attached soundbite by Dianne Kohler Barnard MP.

The DA notes the reports that the State Security Agency (SSA) has suspended the head of the Foreign Branch, Robert McBride.

We additionally understand the fog of secrecy surrounding the suspension – which of course has South Africa asking whether or not probably the most suspended man in the country, has this time blundered again or alternatively stirred up his enemies again.

We recall how he was suspended and then fired from his position as Ekurhuleni Metro Police head, after crashing his car allegedly under the influence. Then there was his suspension from his position as head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) – overturned in court – followed by the evisceration of his reputation by fellow ANC members of the Police Portfolio Committee as Bheki Cele allegedly wanted him out. Those so-called hearings saw him refused a second term as that entity’s head.

Today there are claims that his current suspension may be related to reports that four South African spies were caught and left stranded in Maputo, Mozambique, after a failed SSA operation in that country earlier this year.

The report said the four returned safely after the intervention of State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo.

Of course, we have seen the dismissal of the Acting Head of the SSA after his submission at the Zondo Commission – and MacBride gave evidence, too… damning evidence in relation to his suspension from IPID.

As ever, South Africa will be left guessing as the State Security Agency closes ranks.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

SAFDA-confidentiality agreement with Agriculture Department shields it from oversight

Please find attached soundbite by Annette Steyn MP.

The DA can reveal that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has paid the South African Farmers Development Association (SAFDA) more than a quarter of a billion Rand over the span of 5 years.

This was revealed by the Minister of DALRRD, Thoko Didiza, in response to a DA Parliamentary question. (Also see here and here.)

It remains unclear why the Department would enter into a R246 664 290-agreement with SAFDA, especially since it is not clear whether oversight over the projects where SAFDA is involved, is taking place. Community members in Melmoth specifically is concerned about previously successful and profitable farms might be run into the ground.

The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) requires that any government entity, including DALRRD, must adhere to the Act’s strict requirements for transparency and fairness when entering into contractual agreements. DALRRD has not provided any clarity as to whether, before entering into the caretaker agreement that it has with SAFDA, it invited other interested parties to come and bid.

The curious case between the caretaker agreement that subsists between the two parties is the lengths that they took to keep it hidden from public scrutiny. A confidentially clause in the agreement states that:

“Each party agrees not to use, disclose, reveal or allow third parties to use or disclose the others Confidential Information either during this Agreement or at any time thereafter…”

For an agreement where the DALRRD was to use public funds to enable SAFDA to implement its caretaker function, it is puzzling why the Department agreed to this non-accountability clause.

The DA has also made a Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA) application in order to ascertain exactly how SAFDA has spent these public funds. We will be going over this information with a fine-tooth comb – every single cent paid over to SAFDA must be accounted for, and should there be any red flags, the DA will call for an in-depth investigation into what certainly looks like malfeasance.

It would be utterly unreasonable for both DALRRD and SAFDA to expect no oversight to happen regarding public funds, and unless they have something to hide, the DA would expect them to welcome the chance to show how they have benefitted the communities they’re meant to be helping.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

Public Service Committee’s opposition to Ease of Doing Business Bill is unwarranted 

Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Henro Kruger MP.

On Wednesday, the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration deliberated on the DA’s Ease of Doing Business private member’s bill (PMB).

Numerous members of the committee erroneously opposed the Bill and asserted that the legislative process must be brought to an end because it is serving in the wrong committee, amongst other spurious reasons. That is however not the case. If the members in question read the Bill and the accompanying documentation, they would have realised that it seeks to establish a new unit within the Department of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation (DPME), for the purposes of reducing red tape. The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration deals directly with matters related to the DPME.

Some members also contended that the Speaker referred to Bill to the wrong committee, which is also patently false, as the intention from the start was that the Bill serve before the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration. It is also absurd that the committee would be usurping or infringing on other committees’ areas of functioning, as some members suggested.

Another objection given by certain members of the committee was that this Bill is a duplication of a similar Bill introduced in and ultimately rejected by the Fifth Parliament. There is no rule prohibiting introduction of new bills, to a new Parliament, that are similar to past ones.

A similarly absurd objection was that the Bill would interfere with the separation of powers doctrine, and that it is incorrectly classified as a section 75 bill. Both assertions are false, and this was already pointed out in the Fifth Parliament to the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development by Parliament’s own legal counsel when these very same objections were raised to the Red Tape Impact Assessment Bill.

It is disappointing that members of the ANC and the EFF are, once again, failing the people of South Africa based on their own legislative illiteracy. One EFF member even went as far as asserting that the Bill is problematic because it would indirectly privatise businesses that are already private.

It was also disappointing that I was not afforded a chance to air my own comments on this PMB during deliberations and was only afforded the opportunity to respond in writing to objections.

Such subversion of the legislative process cannot be allowed to stand. The DA will be writing to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise MP, to air our grievances regarding the subversion of the legislative process by members of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

DA welcomes the reintroduction of the Blue and Green Drop water programmes

Please find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Leon Basson MP

The DA welcomes the announcement by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) that it will reinstate the Blue and Green Drop programmes. These programmes have been designed to help improve the quality of water and water management by monitoring and evaluating the water quality of a municipality.

The restoration of these programmes will go a long way in restoring the trust of the general public in the quality of tap water in various municipalities.

It should be noted, however, that the Presidency had first indicated the government’s commitment of restoring the programmes at the beginning of the year, but there are still no definitive timelines for implementation.

The DA, therefore, urges the department to immediately provide timelines for when these programmes will be instituted.

There hasn’t been Blue and Green Drop reports since 2014 and recent DA oversights have indicated that things have deteriorated exponentially since then. According to the 2014 Blue Drop report, 1009 water purification plants in the country were assessed of which only 32% produced excellent drinking water. The 2014 Green Drop report assessed 824 wastewater treatment plants. The report found that 84% of plants were in Critical Risk, High Risk or Medium Risk with only 16% of these plants in Low Risk.

The water crisis in municipalities across South Africa reflect government failure at its most basic level. It is the responsibility of municipalities to safeguard water infrastructure and the maintenance thereof can never be overstated, we hope that the DWS will provide local governments with the needed support to effectively implement the programmes.

The DA will be monitoring the rollout of the Blue and Green Drop programmes and will hold the DWS and municipalities that are tasked with carrying out the programmes accountable. Where the DA governs, our governments conduct regular testing of water quality to ensure every municipality retains Blue drop status

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

Disastrous Employment Equity Amendment Bill needs comprehensive socio-economic impact assessment

Please find attached a soundbite by Dr Michael Cardo MP. 

Yesterday, the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour met to finalise the Employment Equity (EE) Amendment Bill. The Bill, in its current form, will deal a hammer blow to the South African economy, which has already been knocked badly out of shape by ruinous ANC policies, Covid-19, and the associated lockdowns.

For this reason, the DA is calling for a comprehensive socio-economic impact assessment to be done on the Bill before it goes any further in the legislative process.

The Bill empowers the Minster of Employment and Labour to set numerical EE targets for any national economic sector after consultation with the Employment Equity Commission and “relevant stakeholders”. In future, state contracts may only be issued to employers that have been certified – by the Minister – as being in compliance with their obligations under the Act. These obligations include compliance with ministerially-determined sectoral targets.

These new powers confer upon the Minister a degree of coercive control that is completely incompatible with the principles of a market-based economy.

When the principal legislation was passed in 1998, then DA leader Tony Leon referred to the Employment Equity Act as a “pernicious piece of social engineering”. The amendment bill is social engineering on steroids. In its ideologically-blinkered and unconstitutional pursuit of “demographic representivity” – the idea that the workforce should mirror exactly the racial and gender composition of the population – the ANC is giving far too much power to the Minister.  It is also engaging in the dogmatic and destructive practice of racial bean-counting.

The sectoral numerical targets imposed by ministerial command, with punitive consequences for non-compliance, are quotas in all but name.

The socio-economic impact assessment report that accompanied the Bill, and which was signed off in 2019, is superficial, inadequate and out-of-date. Since the report was filed, South Africa has descended deeper into junk territory with downgrades by international ratings agencies. The economy has shrunk, unemployment has skyrocketed and social cohesion has frayed. The Employment Equity Amendment Bill is going to make things a whole lot worse.

The DA therefore calls for a comprehensive, up-to-date socio-economic impact assessment to be conducted on the Employment Equity Amendment Bill.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

The DA welcomes the arrest of Jacob Zuma, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg

Please find attached a soundbite by the Leader of the DA John Steenhuisen MP.

The DA welcomes the arrest and incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma, as he starts his 15 month prison sentence for contempt of court.

This is an important victory for the Rule of Law in South Africa, and sends a message to all those who have aligned themselves with the Zuma faction and who have become emboldened by his dismissive attitude, that the law cannot be mocked and challenged with impunity. If the leader can go to prison, then so can anyone.

Last night was a warning flare for the architects of State Capture and the handmaidens of Zuma. They must know that the DA will pursue them as doggedly as we did Zuma. And they must also know that this 15 month sentence is merely the tip of the iceberg. The contempt of court charge, while serious, does not represent his actual crimes against the people of South Africa, and we must still see justice for the charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and racketeering.

We are relieved that his eventual late night arrest went ahead without violence, despite all the bluster and war talk of his supporters and family. However, this doesn’t mean we should not take their threats seriously. Zuma might be behind bars, but the RET gang still has many other senior ANC leaders in its ranks – many of whom still serve in President Ramaphosa’s cabinet or occupy ANC benches in the National Assembly and other legislatures – and their fightback is guaranteed.

Last night’s arrest also confirms that, while Zuma might have done untold damage to many of our institutions of democracy throughout the ANC’s State Capture project, the one institution that has managed to remain largely intact is our independent judiciary. This is something we need to guard fiercely, as it is the final bulwark against a government or state that thinks it can act with impunity.

There are still several loose ends that must be tied up, most notably the unprecedented letter sent by the Police Minister to the Constitutional Court in which he claimed that neither he nor the Police Commissioner would press for Zuma’s arrest until all the frivolous legal actions had been exhausted or until directly instructed by the court to do so. They didn’t need this, as their instruction was already clear and unambiguous. Minister Cele needs to come and explain in Parliament his reluctance to do his job.

The Rule of Law and our Constitution have been under relentless attack of late, and we now need an unequivocal statement by the President that no such future assaults on our democracy will be tolerated. The DA will pledge to continue its vigilance which has played no small role in the deliverance of the current outcome in the ongoing Zuma saga.

Zuma’s arrest last night was a small step in the right direction. But the real fight to reclaim our country from predatory politicians who have robbed from the people to enrich themselves and their networks has only just started.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

DA mourns the passing of colleague and friend, Cameron MacKenzie 

It is with great sadness that the DA confirms the passing of Cameron MacKenzie.

Cameron was a valued member of the Party’s parliamentary caucus and a dear friend who will be missed sorely.

South Africa has lost a great public servant who served his country diligently and with the utmost passion.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Cameron’s wife, Lisa, and their three children. We send them strength and love during this time of immeasurable loss.

After a severe battle with Covid, Cameron lost a valiant fight on Wednesday evening. Our thoughts are with those who still continue to battle against Covid-19, and we urge all South Africans to remain safe during these difficult times.