NEHAWU and their ANC allies flee out of fear for DA accountability

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is disturbed that Parliament has decided to protect public sector trade unions from scrutiny for their recent destructive behaviour in demanding further above-inflation wage increases. Yesterday, the DA was informed of a unilateral decision taken by Parliament to indefinitely postpone a portfolio committee meeting that was scheduled to take place tomorrow, 16 October.

During the meeting, members of the portfolio committee on public service and administration would have had the opportunity to hold the leaders of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) accountable for their calls to commit fiscal treason against the Republic by demanding further across the board above-inflation wage increases for 1.2 million public servants.

Ironically, the meeting was scheduled at NEHAWU’s behest after the union submitted a memorandum to Parliament, wherein they demanded that the government implement the final year of wage increases contained in the 2018 collective bargaining agreement, which would cost taxpayers an additional R37.8 billion this year. This comes after the salaries of public servants have already increased by 66% after inflation over the past decade, with over 29 000 cadres now being paid more than R1 million per year. NEHAWU’s demand to further wage increases at the direct expense of productive investment comes after over 2.2 million people have already lost their jobs in the productive private sector.

However, likely in fear of the DA holding union leaders accountable for their irresponsible and destructive demands, the ANC in Parliament has now decided to protect their union allies by running away from the scheduled meeting. The DA’s request to be furnished with reasons for the indefinite postponement of the meeting were met with cowardly silence.

We will not allow this transparent attempt to protect destructive union leaders from accountability to derail our efforts to save South Africa from fiscal implosion. The DA reiterates our call for the number of millionaire managers to be reduced by a third and that the salaries of all managers and administrators to be frozen so that frontline service delivery heroes like teachers and nurses can at least get inflation-linked increases. This approach would cut the public wage bill by R168 billion over the next three years.

The DA will now write to the Speaker of the National Assembly to reiterate these points, and to demand that the meeting with NEHAWU is urgently rescheduled so that we can hold union leaders accountable for their treasonous calls.

Economic recovery action plan: implementation is all that counts now

Tomorrow, President Cyril Ramaphosa will present his government’s Economic Recovery Action Plan to the nation. Structural reform is no longer imperative just for the economy’s growth, but for its survival. South African households are in deep distress. Lockdown delivered a body blow to our economy which was already in recession on the back of bad policy, corruption and endless state meddling.

Ramaphosa has run out of road for plans and promises. Now we need action and results. If this plan fails on implementation, it will go down in history as his Economic Destruction Inaction Plan and his presidency will mark the biggest ever sustained contraction of South Africa’s economy.

Assuming the final version of this plan echoes the most recent draft circulated, it contains some long-overdue pro-growth reforms which, if actually implemented, will have a major positive impact on South Africa’s economic and social wellbeing.

The most vital of these is energy sector reform to improve reliability and affordability of electricity. Government has finally gazetted the necessary determinations to allow independent power producers to generate and sell almost 12 megawatts of much needed additional electricity. The measure of this commitment will be how fast the necessary requests for proposals are issued and the bid window for renewables opened. There is also a welcome promise to fast-track implementation of self-generation projects above 1 megawatt.

Other long-overdue reforms promised are the release of spectrum to bring down data costs and the overhaul of the visa regime to import critical skills and promote international tourism. The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Economic Structural Reform Tracker will be monitoring progress on these and other reforms closely.

Almost every growth-promoting reform does so by putting more power in the hands of ordinary South Africans, who together make up the private sector. The path to prosperity is private enterprise and entrepreneurship. Economic activity will flourish only to the extent that our feckless state stops trying to control every aspect of it and instead starts to perform its own role with a degree of competence and integrity.

The president must therefore be held to account for his promise to implement independent life-style audits for public office bearers and officials such as have already been implemented by Premier Alan Winde in the DA-run Western Cape.

The plan contains many insincere commitments that the government has no intention of acting on. “Building a capable state”, for example, isn’t worth the ink it’s written with until the ANC commits to ending their policy of cadre deployment that hollowed out the state in the first place.

In some areas, there is a stated intention to place yet more power in the hands of the state. Let us hope commitments to“strengthen the master planning process” fail on implementation.

And then there are some major gaps, such as a failure to commit to liquidating SAA, and to a clear roadmap to debt stabilisation.

Overall, the plan is unlikely to move the needle on socioeconomic wellbeing unless we see real and rapid implementation of the big-ticket structural reforms promised, particularly energy reform. Our future, and President Ramaphosa’s legacy, is at stake.

The president has long and often promised pro-growth reforms, and he must be held to account for these commitments. Endless plans and empty rhetoric are not going to cut it. Implementation is all that counts now.

DA reveals Federal Congress 2020 theme: Our statement of intent for South Africa

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today revealed and announced the theme for our elective Federal Congress 2020. The theme is a statement of intent for South Africa and our offer to the people of South Africa.

The theme embodies a DA hard at work on a path to building a new majority for South Africa that will see our country out of the clutches of bad governance and corruption. In everything the DA does, we work toward a better future for our country, offering real hope of real change for South Africa.

The DA remains the party most trusted to deliver on our promises, to govern well and to change the lives of people for whom we govern.

To encapsulate our offer and promise to the people of South Africa, the theme for DA elective Federal Congress 2020 is: Real Hope. Real Change. Now.

Real Hope is a reflection on our extensive track-record of fighting for what matters, for the rule of law, for fairness in South Africa, for open opportunities for all, and our commitment to keep up this fight every day, while delivering the best governance in South Africa where we govern.

Real Change is our commitment to always do everything we can to deliver on our promises, to make urgent progress where we govern and to turn around every town, city and province where voters elect us; and as we build a new majority to govern South Africa it is our promise to rescue our country from the clutches of corruption.

The word “now” represents the enormous urgency of our mission and our work. As South Africa hurtles toward economic and social crisis under current failed governance, there is no time more important than right now to reassert the role of the DA in fighting for a better South Africa. We see the word “now” as a binding contract with the people of South Africa – there is no time to waste and the DA is hard at work right now, and every day.

South Africa cannot prosper under the current national government which is committed to reducing personal liberty, ongoing capture of the state, ingrained corruption, broken promises and weak leadership – South Africa needs change urgently, and the DA is working hard to deliver that.

On 31 October and 1 November 2020, the DA will hold its virtual Federal Congress to elect a new leadership and charter a way forward for the 2021 Local Government Elections and beyond, toward ultimately unseating the ANC government in South Africa.

Yesterday, we announced the names of candidates nominated to stand for election to Party Leadership roles, and the successful candidates, chosen by a democratic, internal election, will be announced on Sunday 1 November 2020.

The DA has been hard at work in preparing for this historic Federal Congress and preparations are going to plan.

On Friday the Party will officially open media accreditation for DA Federal Congress 2020.

Why must someone die in order for Minister Cele to get to grips with conditions on farms?

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) investigation into allegations that members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) are involved in the stock theft syndicate operating in the Senekal-area in the Free State and call on them to expand the investigation to encompasses more rural communities in South Africa.

The DA has been reliably informed from our numerous oversight inspections to various rural communities through the years that SAPS officers are often linked to the crimes they are supposed to investigate.

Rural communities cannot reasonably be expected to trust the police to keep them safe when they are alleged to be part of the perpetrators committing crimes against community members.

Recently, the DA wrote to genl. Khehla Sitole, the National Police Commissioner, regarding concerns in Tlakgameng-community in the North West and requesting the implementation of the SAPS Rural Safety Strategy there. Farmers and members of the community there regularly experience stock theft, poaching, vandalism, illegal land grabs, illegal grazing and intimidation.

The farmers in Normandien in KwaZulu-Natal brought similar complaints to an imbizo with Police Minister Bheki Cele in September. On that occasion the Minister told farmers in isiZulu that they must not complain if they get hurt – an allegation the Minister has since denied and blamed on a poor translation in a Sunday newspaper, but that have been confirmed by various sources present at the meeting the day.

While Minister Cele seemed to listen to farmers in the Free State at a meeting yesterday, there will never be true change unless he shows the political will and a change of attitude towards rural communities. According to a joint report by SAPS and StatsSA there were 28 418 reports of stock theft between 1 April 2019 and March 2020. Yet, the Minister was unable or unwilling to answer farmers’ questions in Normandien and had the audacity to accuse them of arrogance.

Conditions in SAPS will never change if the Minister does not change his attitude. It is exactly this kind of behaviour on the part of Minister Cele, which trickle down to the entire police service.

Yesterday, my colleague Andrew Whitfield MP, DA Shadow Minister of Police, wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise, to request the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee of the National Assembly to investigate criminality and corruption at SAPS.

South Africans are tired of the show of outrage and sympathy when a life is lost in a brutal and tragic way. We are tired of Minister visiting communities and promising the world just to negate those promises the first chance they get. Why must someone die in order for Minister Cele to get to grips with conditions on farms? When will action be taken to prevent these vicious deaths?

The DA will closely monitor the promises made by Minister Cele in the Free State yesterday to see if action will follow his words, or if they will ring hollow.

DA calls for independent investigation as CSA government intervention could open door to political interference 

The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the decision by the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa to give a notice of government intervention to the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the  affairs of Cricket South Africa (CSA).

This intervention by government is far from ideal, as it could open the door to political interference at CSA. We trust that no decisions will be made without the applicable response from the ICC.

The DA maintains that the appointment of an independent committee to investigate the ongoing challenges within CSA would be a much better option. Urgent intervention is required to address the financial, administrative and management challenges that the CSA board has failed to turn around.

The CSA board must carry the blame for this government intervention – cricket in South Africa is in this situation because the board chose to ignore several calls to submit itself to administrative intervention.

Instead of playing open cards, the board also chose to table a whitewashed forensic report into its affairs which effectively attempts to scapegoat one person for the crisis within CSA. All board members and executives, past and present, who were involved in CSA’s maladministration should be investigated, as the blame cannot be laid solely at the feet of one man.

The CSA board must fall on its sword for its failure to address challenges in South African cricket despite numerous chances to do so and submit itself to a full, transparent and independent investigation.

IMF makes it clear that SA government should prioritise poverty over SAA

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in characteristically diplomatic language, has made its view clear on government’s plan to bail out South African Airways (SAA) again. The IMF has acknowledged the need for the South African government to weigh “subsidies to persistently loss making state-owned enterprises” like SAA, “against alternative uses of scarce public resources, including investments in alternative growth enhancing and/or poverty-reducing investments”.

 This was the response from the IMF Executive Director, Kristalina Georgieva’s to a letter the Democratic Alliance (DA) wrote to her in early October to draw the Fund’s attention to the government’s decision to proceed with a further R10.4 billion bailout for SAA.

This decision to throw the defunct airline another lifeline is at odds with the commitments Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni made in his Letter of Intent (LOI) sent to the Fund to secure a $4.3 billion emergency loan. The LOI clearly commits the government to use the funding from the IMF to support health and frontline services, solve the balance of payments problems caused by the pandemic, protect the vulnerable, support economic reform, drive job creation and stabilise public debt.

This SAA bailout will likely be funded by cutting Covid stimulus expenditure earmarked for public employment programmes and for rail infrastructure, or by cutting basic services on which South Africans depend. This decision to prioritise SAA over all other urgent spending priorities is morally indefensible.

In her letter, Ms Georgieva reiterated the importance of IMF emergency funds to be used “in an inclusive way to protect people’s lives and livelihoods, and in particular those of the most affected and least prepared to weather the crisis.”

The Fund also underscored the South African government’s commitment “to transparently plan, use, monitor and report all [Covid-19] related spending to ensure it reaches the targeted objectives”. We are pleased that the IMF is keeping close tabs on the government’s spending of this emergency loan and trust that the Fund will trigger its funding requirement for ‘full transparency and accountability’ on the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) loan it extended to South Africa.

Amendments to the Health Act give unvetted powers to the Minister of Health similar to a State of Disaster

Please find attached soundbite by Siviwe Gwarube MP.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize’s late night introduction of amendments to the Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions, 24 hours before the extended National State of Disaster under the Disaster Management Act expires is deeply concerning. It gives an impression of a government desperate to retain power over its citizens even outside of a legitimate State of Disaster by giving powers to the Minister which will allow him and the Executive to impose far reaching restrictions.

These regulations are attached to the existing National Health Act of 2003 and are now being amended to introduce sections akin to the Disaster Management Act to normalise snap government interventions. They give the Minister of Health or more broadly, the Executive, unlimited powers to impose restrictions that will impede civil liberties.

More importantly, these powers conferred to the Minister via the backdoor of the regulations make no provision for Parliamentary oversight and allow the Executive to impose restrictions without any checks and balances.

Parliament is not legally required to vote and pass on regulations, however, these specific regulations have far reaching consequences and must be brought to the full sitting of Parliament accompanied by a legal opinion sourced from Parliament’s legal services. These regulations must be debated and adopted by the House and cannot be snuck through the back door; in the middle of the night; 24 hours before the State of Disaster is meant to expire. This is why the Democratic Alliance (DA) will be writing to the presiding officers of Parliament to request that this be done as a matter of urgency.

While a legitimate argument can be made that these regulations in question ought to be improved in order to better manage notifiable medical conditions like Covid-19 in the future, sections of these amendments are reminiscent of the regulations contained in the Disaster Management Act which give the Executive unchecked powers.

The most concerning amendments state the following:

  • The Minister of Health may “impose necessary restrictions, relating to such notifiable medical condition” by the mere publication of a Government Gazette;
  • Restrictions may include:
    • Complete or partial closing of any public place including a place used for public receptions, tourist activities or events or public recreation, amusement or entertainment activities or events;
    • Prohibition of movements between districts and provinces of people;
    • Prohibitions of the use of ports of entry;
    • Imposing curfews for people to remain indoors; and
    • Closing of educational institutions.

During the past seven months we have seen the South African government tighten its grip on citizens more with some irrational and unnecessary limitations of their rights. This was done arbitrarily through a Covid Command Council that was accountable to no one else besides the executive. We have seen Parliament sidelined and relegated to a mere spectator all while massive decisions pertaining to the rights of citizens were taken. This was done in aid of our fight against Covid-19 – a legitimate global health disaster. We cannot allow this state of affairs to be normalized as though we do not live in a Constitutional democracy.

The Department of Health must ramp up its efforts to bring about behavioral change among South Africans and individuals must take personal responsibility for their health. This cannot be done through stringent and regressive pieces of legislation. Parliament must enforce its role as an oversight body when attempts to amass power on the executive starts to happen in this fashion.

DA calls for Parliamentary Inquiry into the South African Post Office

Please find attached a soundbite by Cameron MacKenzie MP.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will push for a Parliamentary Inquiry into the South African Post Office (SAPO). It has become abundantly clear that SAPO is suffering from the same deep-set rot afflicting many State entities such as Eskom and the SABC as a result of years of corruption, mismanagement and irregular interference by Ministers.

We believe that the on-going issues currently troubling SAPO have their origins in the past and that a Parliamentary Inquiry will uncover and ventilate issues by cross-examining present and past SAPO executives. This will ultimately plot a path forward that steers SAPO in the correct direction and hold those responsible for its current desperate state to account.

While the DA recognises the strategic importance of the SAPO to so many of our people as their sole connection to the formal economy, this cannot come at an unsustainable cost to the taxpayer. The Post Office can, and must, meet its core mandate: the delivery of parcels and mail – yet it is still losing more than a billion Rand a year.

The institutional malaise affecting SAPO looks unlikely to end as the entity remains cloaked in controversy, with future plans and initiatives long on vision but short on detail, and potential “strategic partnerships” shrouded in secrecy.

The government’s answer to the SAPO’s woes is to table yet another Strategic Turnaround Plan as a means to make the entity viable and financially sustainable. Yet, the SAPO cannot even get the basics right, with a mail backlog topping 3 million items and simple IT systems like online track-and-trace for international parcels still offline and non-functional.

It is also clear that the decision to corporatize the PostBank and turn it into a fully-fledged transactional bank – confirmed in the Communications Committee by Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams as a move to satisfy an ANC Congress resolution for a State bank – was not properly thought through before implementation, with severe unintended consequences for the SAPO as a whole.

For example, once the Department of Communications realized that SAPO could not be the controlling company for the corporatized PostBank, it now faces the prospect of the SAPO Group being completely bankrupt as the Post Office on its own is not a going concern, with its liabilities far exceeding its assets. And no solution is in sight.

It is also clear that largely as a result of ministerial interference in the operational affairs of the SAPO, a leadership vacuum exists at the entity. An acting CEO has been seconded from the Department to head SAPO, a clear indication that all is not well. This paucity of leadership starts with the Board itself, which is beset with infighting and conspiratorial plots centred around the erstwhile chairperson, Colleen Makhubele and Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams, and extends down throughout the organisation.

Only once the dealings at SAPO have been thoroughly ventilated, with stakeholders, past and present, called to account to Parliament, can the serious work begin to create an efficient, effective, profitable and sustainable postal service that delivers – whatever it takes.

DA announces Federal Congress Leadership Candidates

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today announced the names of candidates nominated to stand for election to Party Leadership roles at the DA elective Federal Congress on 31 October 2020 and 1 November 2020.

In just 18 days, DA Federal Congress delegates will participate in a democratic internal election to select the leadership of the DA; successful candidates will subsequently take the Party forward.

Preparation for DA Federal Congress 2020 is proceeding full steam ahead, and the hard work being carried out to prepare for a successful virtual Federal Congress is progressing to plan.

Nominations for the candidates standing for election opened on 7 September 2020 and closed on Saturday 10 October 2020.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the DA had to reimagine the format of our Federal Congress and chose to proceed virtually, with delegates attending congress from their homes and also from a variety of venues being made available nationwide. This approach ensures that the Congress is extremely accessible to all delegates, from all communities.

In terms of the clause 6.1.4 of the DA Federal Constitution, “The Federal Congress elects the Leader, the Federal Chairperson and the [3] Deputy Federal Chairpersons.”

Furthermore, alongside Federal Congress, the members of the DA Federal Council will vote for the Chairperson and two Deputy Chairpersons of Federal Council, as well as the Federal Finance Chairperson, in terms of clause 6.2.4.1 of the Federal Constitution.

As the DA Federal Congress Presiding Officers, we have the pleasure of announcing the following candidates who have been nominated respectively:

Federal Finance Chairperson (Uncontested):

George, Dion

Deputy Chairpersons of Federal Council (Uncontested)

Masango, James

Walters, Thomas

Chairperson of Federal Council:

Moriarty, Mike

Zille, Helen

Deputy Federal Chairpersons [3]:

Bredell, Anton

Lotriet, Annelie

Nt’sekhe Refiloe

Smalle, Jacques

Federal Chairperson (Uncontested):

Meyer, Ivan

Federal Leader:

Ntuli, Mbali

Steenhuisen, John

The DA looks forward to a robust and successful Federal Congress as we demonstrate a clear commitment to internal democracy in our Party, despite the limitations of the current pandemic.

DA calls for independent investigation into CSA, as board tables whitewashed forensic report

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls for the establishment of an independent committee to investigate the ongoing challenges within Cricket South Africa (CSA). This comes as the CSA board finally released its long-overdue forensic report into the organization’s administration following sustained pressure from the DA and Parliament’s Portfolio Committee of Sports, Arts and Culture.

Following our initial reading of the report, the DA is of the view that the allegations in the report was not compiled or investigated independently.

The report’s findings focus almost solely on the alleged misconduct of Thabang Moroe, but fail to finger those who may have been in cahoots with the former CSA CEO. The report also does not contain any recommendations on turning around the mismanagement and malfeasance within the cricket association.

The report effectively attempts to scapegoat one person for the crisis within CSA. The financial crisis, administrative challenges and poor leadership at CSA cannot be laid solely at the feet of one man.

All board members and executives, past and present, who were involved in CSA’s maladministration should be investigated. It is for this reason that the DA calls for an independent investigation into the administration of CSA dating from 2016 to present.

We will not accept this whitewashed report which essentially absolves the CSA board and other senior executives from any wrongdoing related to the past six years of decline in CSA’s administration.