DA wants lotto act amended

THE DA has called for the National Lotteries Act to be amended with the aim of ridding the lotteries board of perceived political interference.

DA MP Jacques Smalle, who also serves on parliament’s trade and industry portfolio committee, yesterday said his party had noted a growing trend wherein needy charities were being overlooked by the lotto’s board in favour of Anc-aligned organisations. Smalle told journalists in Cape Town that a total of 16 needy organisations in the Eastern Cape were last year denied funding by the lotteries board simply because they received money in the previous years, while a further six applications had not been responded to.
“The lotteries board needs to explain why these organisations have been declined funding while Ancaligned bodies like Cosatu have received millions,” he said.

By THABO MOKONE, Daily Dispatch, 26 January 2012

New DASO ad rocks conservatives

I love the new Democratic Alliance Student Organisation advert! It shows a black women and white man embracing and is titled "In OUR future, you wouldn't look twice". The message is clear - the DA is a party for all that is committed to unifying South Africa. Many conservatives have complained, but in doing so I believe they are merely showing the world that they are racist. Get over it SA... we are changing and the (intelligent) youth is committed to an equal society.

Another year, another shocking audit

From a press statement issued by Cllr. Kevin Mileham on behalf of the DA’s Buffalo City Caucus on 23/1/2012:

Reacting to the Auditor-General’s report on Buffalo City’s annual financial statements for 2010/11 released last week, the Democratic Alliance has again condemned the municipality’s lack of urgency in implementing good governance practices.

DA Chief Whip, Cllr. Kevin Mileham, noted that the Auditor-General had issued an adverse opinion on the metro’s finances for the 2010/11 financial year, following disclaimed opinions in 2008/09 and 2009/10. An adverse opinion is worse than a disclaimed opinion as it means that the Auditor-General believes that the financial statements of the municipality contain material misstatements, while a disclaimed opinion arises when the AG is unable to form an opinion on the statements as a result of lack of evidence.

Mileham pointed out that the issues raised in previous audit reports had, for the most part, remained unaddressed. “The Democratic Alliance has, on numerous occasions, advised the municipality of the problems inherent in its current supply chain management function, and has in fact raised a motion in council in this regard,” he said. “The irregular expenditure of R349,3 million in the 2009/10 financial year is testament to the municipality’s unwillingness to take bold steps to rectify the problem, including making the tender process more transparent and open to public scrutiny.”

According to Mileham, the poor quality of the municipality’s annual financial statements can be attributed to:

• A lack of understanding of the accounting requirements;
• Insufficient skill levels to manage the accounting function properly;
• A lack of supervision, monitoring and review of daily activities, resulting in underlying information that is inaccurate or not readily available;
• A lack of supervision and review during the preparation of the annual financial statements; and
• An inappropriate attitude towards accounting discipline in the municipality.

The report highlighted ongoing inventory problems, incorrect billing, and inadequate/inaccurate record keeping. A number of performance, legislative and operational issues were also emphasised as areas requiring attention.

“Good governance demands stringent control of the finances of the city,” said Mileham. “Buffalo City has been a rudderless ship for too long – the positions of City Manager, Chief Financial Officer and the heads other critical directorates must be filled as a matter of urgency, disciplinary action must be taken against those who have contravened the law and regulations, and processes implemented to ensure that there are no opportunities to waste citizens’ rates and taxes.”

The DA has indicated that it will submit further motions and questions to council regarding the state of the city’s finances and the steps being taken to address them.

DA calls on Education Union to abandon illegal strikes

The Democratic Alliance has called on the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (SADTU) to abandon all illegal strike action in the Eastern Cape for the sake of learners.

DA Education spokesperson, Donald Smiles, called on the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, and the provincial Superintendent-General to deal decisively with any attempts to cause chaos and disruption in schools. He said that it is disappointing that President Jacob Zuma has failed to show leadership by condemning the actions of union leaders, despite having had the platform to speak to the entire province this weekend in East London.

The DA commends all teachers and principals, including many who belong to SADTU, who have chosen to maintain an excellent work ethic during this time despite heavy pressure from militant union bosses. We respect the right of teachers to strike when it is the only form of appropriate action available to them. Illegal strike action, however, must be met by the full consequences that can be meted out in terms of the law.

While there are legitimate concerns about the dysfunction of the provincial department, this cannot continuously be met by irresponsible unionism. The outcome is always a zero-sum game for learners. SADTU needs to respect the right of the individual child to a fair chance at receiving an education. Sabotaging learners in poor schools this early on in the year is a cruel and unnecessary act. The fact is that everyone in the education sector knew that teacher reassignments would need to take place. Union bosses should have engaged on this matter far sooner before dragging innocent learners into this fight with them. Other unions were responsible enough to enter into negotiations with the Department on teacher reassignments. Satisfactory outcomes were achieved by doing this. 

SADTU has more appropriate options it can use to settle any disputes apart from an illegal strike. Avenues such as going to court, entering into negotiations and appealing to the Minister of Basic Education should be pursued in cases with genuine merit for discontent.

As long as irresponsible unionism that has no regard for the education of a child is tolerated, the Apartheid legacy of unequal education will never be addressed.

Speeding transport minister should have his licence seized

Many people have written in to the Daily Dispatch lately about speed limits and speeding fines. It is understandable that citizens receive speeding fines from time to time, but what about the Minister of Transport? I couldn’t help but be amazed when I read media reports that the Transport Minister has received a number of fines. It is understandable that the Minister, just like any other person, may receive fines which may just surpass a 60km per hour (km/h) speed limit. What is not acceptable is that anyone, particularly the Minister or any of the top Transport officials, receives fines for racing at 250km/h on a road where the upper speed limit is 120km/h.

Media reports indicate that official records reflect that traffic fines were issued to Minister Ndebele for racing between 146 km/h and 250 km/h on the N1 North in Johannesburg in July 2010. The fact that the Minister was the good citizen that he should be and paid this fine leaves everyone doubting the spin story provided by Toyani Rikhotso, Ndebele’s spokesman.

Rikhotso spun that the Minister’s fine was probably an error that lay with the dealership where the vehicle was purchased as the Minister had sold the vehicle that same month. If this was the case then why did the Minister pay the admission of guilt fine? Why then did he not comply with the National Road Regulations by completing the required documentation when selling his vehicle? Why did he not dispute the fine? Clearly, this is a case where the spin doctor didn’t tie up his spin properly!

If the Minister claims that other people drove his car, as the acting head of the RTMC (Road Traffic Management Corporation) Collins Letsoalo claimed, when questioned about the speeding fines he paid for, then it makes it far worse. Besides not taking personal responsibility, these gentlemen allowed their respective vehicles to be driven by other parties who were not nominated as drivers.

More shockingly these un-nominated, and therefore illegal, drivers proved to operate these vehicles irresponsibly and dangerously!

The minister is also SADC champion for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 campaign – how cynical can the man be?

The Minister and acting CEO for the RTMC made an absurd announcement in December threatening immediate seizure, suspension and cancellation of driving licenses belonging to people accused of the exact same offences they have admitted guilt for! When talking about his offences the Minister said that "It distracts public attention from the real issues of unlawful driving and road carnage."

How exactly does it distract public attention from “real issues”, given that both of these individuals continually state that excessive speed is one of the largest contributing factors to road carnage? Is the Minister trying to imply that speed only kills if it is not his vehicle or that of the Acting CEO’s?

The Minister himself has stated that "Any person, including the minister of transport, who commits any traffic violation, will face the consequences of their actions." I agree whole-heartedly with his statement and now that both he and Collins Letsoalo have publicly stated in the media that they have violated the AARTO Act by not nominating a driver, that they will both be charged for their actions and face the consequences.

I suspect that in this case these gentlemen will get away with this as the law appears not to apply to them.

PS: Thanks to Manny De Freitas for the heads up.