Hypocrite Malema jets off to R10m party with the rich after march against poverty

Just two hours after leading thousands of desperately poor people on a march for "economic freedom" on Friday, Julius Malema jetted out of Johannesburg for an all-expenses-paid weekend of booze, parties and luxury at a R10-million wedding in Mauritius.

Malema couldn't get away from the masses fast enough. He was whisked away in a blue-light convoy to catch a business class flight to party it up at the five-star resort.

The wedding was that of his friend, Limpopo-based property developer David Mabilu, who booked out the entire Long Beach resort for 300 guests.

Yesterday Mabilu, 42, married his fiancée, Phala Mokgophi, 38, at a glamorous beach ceremony in front of about 300 guests. The couple had splashed out more than R10-million on the three-day ceremony, including flights and accommodation for their guests.

On Friday, once Malema was seated on board the Air Mauritius aircraft, the pilot announced: "Please welcome Mr Julius Malema, president of the ANC Youth League, on board." When the flight landed at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, Malema was picked up from the aircraft in a private vehicle and shuttled to the terminal. He later checked into the exclusive five-star Long Beach resort, where rates start at R4648 a night for a beach-facing room and go up to R14 784 for a suite.
At the couple's pre-wedding party at the resort, Malema, who had changed into a pale pink and white long-sleeved shirt and beige trousers, joined the celebrations at 1am.

Earlier on Friday, addressing his followers before sunrise in Pretoria, Malema said: "When they ask you why you are marching, you must say you are marching because you want to live like whites. Everything that whites have, we want it also." Outside the Union Buildings, placards carried by the crowd read: "Ninety percent of the economy is still in the hands of the minority" and "Down with white capital monopoly". (From TimesLive)

Only one word comes to mind... Hypocrite! 

DA responds to Zuma's action against Mahlangu-Nkabinde, Shiceka and Cele

The Democratic Alliance welcomes the firm action taken by President Jacob Zuma today in firing Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde and Sicelo Shiceka, and suspending Bheki Cele.

This announcement is better late than never.

President Zuma’s government has been beset by controversy for several months. The Public Protector urged the President to take strong action against those involved in the SAPS lease deals as well as Minister Shiceka for his abuse of public money. We applaud the President for reaffirming his government’s commitment to the role of the Public Protector and other Chapter Nine institutions.

Accountability is critical to making democracy work. If Ministers abuse their power, they must be fired.

The Public Protector has already conducted a comprehensive inquiry into Commissioner Bheki Cele’s actions in the police lease deal scandal. We understand that legislation requires the President to establish a Board of Inquiry into the Commissioner’s actions, before any final decision can be taken to fire him. We trust this step will follow swiftly should the Board corroborate the findings of the Public Protector.

We also note the list of eminent judges who the President has named to head the Judicial Inquiry into the Arms Deal. We look forward to seeing the Terms of Reference at the earliest possible opportunity.

Helen Zille, Leader of the Democratic Alliance
24 October 2011

Outrageous R170million upgrade to Zuma's house

Revamping the interior of President Jacob Zuma’s official residence in Pretoria, Mahlamba Ndlopfu, is expected to cost nearly R170 million, Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde has said.

She also revealed that the president would be getting a sauna and steam room. 

The total cost of the refurbishment, building and other work that has been carried out or is planned for Zuma’s offices and official homes in Cape Town and Pretoria, as well as projects on the Bryntirion ministerial estate, which includes Mahlamba Ndlopfu, is more than R400m. None of the furniture is to be replaced. 

Details of the spending emerged yesterday in written replies to parliamentary questions asked in March and April by DA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip. Trollip is now writing to the minister for a full explanation of why the spending “was deemed an appropriate use of state funds”. “I will also be submitting an oral question to the president, so that he can account to Parliament and the South African people for this vast expenditure.” 

All this from a president who claims to be close to the people... he certainly doesn't think that he should live like them!

HIV infection rate stabilised

In an eye-opening presentation by the Eastern Cape health department it was revealed that South Africa consumes a massive 25% of the world’s supply of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). 17% of the world’s HIV-positive people live in South Africa, and the number of citizens dying every year in the country has doubled in the past 10 years.

The presentation also revealed that South Africa had the highest “health burden per capita” of any middle-income country in the world. This takes into account all deaths from HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, violence and injury, non-communicable diseases, and maternal and newborn deaths. The costs of providing free health care to all are HUGE, hence it’s essential that we reduce infections so that we can reduce treatment costs.

According to The Lancet, the world’s leading general medical journal, South Africa, with a population of 48 million people, makes up only 0.8% of the world’s population of almost seven billion... yet we consume 25% of ARVs!

Despite these shocking figures, however, HIV prevalence has stabilised in South Africa.
“We are one of only two countries in the world where the spread of the virus has stopped growing,” said the DoH’s Dr Silva Pillay. The other is Botswana. The Eastern Cape’s HIV infection rate was sixth in the nine provinces, with the leading provinces being KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
Nelson Mandela Bay topped the provincial list of infections, with 30.7% of its population infected with HIV. This was followed by O R Tambo district (29.8%) and then Amathole district (27.2%), which includes Buffalo City metro. Pillay said the country had turned the tide on the virus as education measures kicked in.

Reaffirming a figure highlighted in the Daily Dispatch’s “Dead on Arrival investigation, Pillay said that “57% of deaths of children under the age of 5 during 2007 were as a result of HIV/Aids”. “That is where we need to concentrate our efforts to curb the effects,” he said.

Even though HIV prevalence rates in South Africa are high, I see the stabilisation of the infection rate as promising. It shows that the country is doing something right to stem the spread of the pandemic. The Mbeki administrations years of denial meant that effective measures were not put into place in time, which meant that the DoH has had a huge battle to fight. Implementation of more HIV/Aids strategies are still needed to further improve the situation improve the situation.

Sources: Daily Dispatch, Eastern Cape Department of Health.

Tutu: ANC Government Worse Than Apartheid Regime

Archbishop Desmond Tutu does have his moments of faulted wisdom, for example his suggestions that white South Africans should pay extra tax to make up for apartheid. However, more often than not the man speaks a very wise truth.

Recently Tutu has highlighted the issue of the government refusing to issue a visa to the Dali Lama so that he could attend Tutu’s 80^th birthday celebration. The reasons for the refusal of the visa are not clear, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why the ANC wants to keep the Dali Lama out. Tutu stated at a press conference today that South Africans will pray for the downfall of the ANC like they did with the apartheid government. Tutu repeatedly told ANC leaders to "watch out" and warned them about becoming too complacent after winning every election since 1994 with large majorities. He indicated they could face the fate of Arab dictatorships. "The Nationalists had a huge majority. They ate dust," Tutu said while shaking his finger.

China and the Dali Lama are not friends, and have exiled him as they accuse him and his followers of advocating Tibetan secession, despite repeated assurances from the Buddhist leader that he only seeks to establish autonomy, rather than independence, for Tibet. Why should this affect South Africa though? Simply put, China is South Africa’s biggest trade partner, and the ANC government has caved to Chinese pressure. China openly discourages foreign leaders from hosting the Dali Lama. Political analyst Steven Friedman said “We are going to be seen as a country who lets China tell us what to do because we want their money. That's going to hurt us because it will cut off other opportunities if we're seen around the world as a country which does whatever people with money tell us to.”

The idea that international trading relations would be made or broken by receiving the Dalai Lama shows a total misunderstanding of the way the world works. United States President Barack Obama clearly understood this when he received the Dalai Lama at the White House in July in defiance of China's stance on Tibet. China invests in Africa because it has important economic and strategic relationships here. Our relationship does not hinge on whether we grant entrance to the Dalai Lama or not. South Africans should be really worried that they have people in positions of authority who think it is the way it works.

Not surprisingly, Government spokesman Jimmy Manyi declined to comment...