DA wants Tokyo to see RDP fiasco

ROCK BOTTOM: BCM councillor Sanele Magaqa, shadow minister of human settlements Stevens Mokgalapa and MPL Dacre Haddon inspect some of the shoddy buildings that have been left to rot at BCM’S Sweetwater project site.

The DA plans to draw the attention of Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale to a failed housing project in Buffalo City.

DA shadow minister for human settlements Stevens Mokgalapa visited the Sweetwaters project site, which stalled in its first phase, as part of a national tour to examine the workmanship in low cost housing. “The visit is to expose the poor quality workmanship done in building these houses, expose white elephants like this project and show what corruption and cronyism does to poor people,” Mokgalapa said.

During the visit, he was shown around 57 housing units. He was accompanied by local DA members, councillors and MPL Dacre Haddon. There were claims water and electricity were not provided at another phase in the area.

The project started in 2005 and was awarded to three different contractors. Apparently the project was meant to have 620 units and two other contractors were appointed to finish the remainder but to no avail. “This one alone should have cost around R3-million so that is R30-million of taxpayers’ money that went down the drain. That is unacceptable,” Mokgalapa said.

He charged the project showed corruption in housing and the awarding of tenders were still problems. “All 57 should be demolished. We spend money to rebuild while we could have used the money to build further.” The national government had allocated R930-million for rectifying shoddily built houses, he added. “It tells you if you use R930-million to rectify, you actually don’t deal with the backlog of 2.2 million units.”

The need for rectification on such a massive scale sent a message the National Home Builders’ Registration Council should do its job properly. “If they were doing their job properly from the first instance we would not be here, because the poor quality of the workmanship is due to them not inspecting what these contractors are doing.”

He said he would take up the issue of Sweetwaters with Sexwale, who last year announced contractors would be monitored for the quality of their work and blacklisted if necessary. “I am informed in the Eastern Cape only seven were blacklisted and this one, who built these shoddy houses, was even deployed to build other houses in Seymour. “So a person who failed to build properly is rewarded with another project. It means they are not serious when they say they’ll blacklist contractors. I will follow up on this one,” he said.

Mokgalapa said BCM received an urban settlement development grant to provide basic services such as water, sanitation, sewerage and electricity. “I will make sure the municipality accounts on what they did with that grant. It is unacceptable these houses don’t have basic services,” Mokgalapa said.
Haddon said he was concerned the contractors responsible for shoddy work were not prosecuted.
“I will ask for a report on every contractor who has work, how many defaulted and what we do in each case. “There are certain ones who must go,” he said, adding he was uncertain how much it would cost and how many houses had to be rectified in the Eastern Cape.

There was no comment from BCM or the provincial human settlements department by the time of going to print. Metro spokesman Keith Ngesi said questions had been sent to the housing section while the Daily Dispatch was unable to contact human settlements spokesman Lwandile Sicwetsha.

— mayibongwem@dispatch.co.za

Failure of leadership is pulling SA down: President should not seek re-election

Lindiwe Mazibuko, Parliamentary Leader of the Democratic Alliance

30 May 2012

This is an extract of the speech that was delivered by DA Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko MP during today’s debate on the Presidency budget vote.

Honourable President,

Honourable Members,

South Africa is suffering a crisis of leadership.

The stark evidence of this is everywhere to be seen.

The education and health departments of the Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces are collapsing due to a failure of leadership. The national government is teetering under the weight of mismanagement and poor decision-making. 

Earlier this month, the Auditor-General, Terence Nombembe, eloquently spelled out the reasons for this collapse of governance:

They are the lack of skills at the local level; the impunity of those who fail to deliver; the demoralisation of those who try their best, and the failure of those in charge to account for their mistakes. Simply put, the collapse of governance in South Africa is due to a failure of leadership.

This was echoed by the chairperson of Nedbank, Reuel Khoza, who said that South Africa's leadership “needed to adhere to the institutions that underpinned democracy”. He added that “the political climate was not a picture of an accountable democracy”.

Mr Speaker, this failure of leadership is causing havoc on the “frontline” of our democracy where real people live. I have heard some of their stories.  

Over the past few months, my colleagues and I have been undertaking walks of solidarity with our fellow citizens who have been left behind by this government.

I have pushed a wheelbarrow for 7km through Brandfort in the Free State, to collect water at the municipal waterworks, because of the local government's failure to deliver this basic service.

The women of Brandfort must walk this distance several times a day in order to provide for their most basic needs.

I have felt the grinding exhaustion of the children from Zweledinga High School in Queenstown municipality, who have to walk between 10 and 25km every day to get to school, because the Eastern Cape government has failed to provide them with the necessary learner transport.

The children in particular, were an inspiration. One aspires to be an engineer, while another hopes to be a schoolteacher. While they and their parents have shown an unflinching commitment to securing their future, the government has simply left them behind.

Every encounter touched me deeply, and made me determined to make their voices heard.

Mr Speaker: citizens look to the President to propose bold solutions to big problems. But today, their faith has been shaken. The President must restore it by showing leadership.

Look at what is happening elsewhere.

Despite turmoil in the global economy and the capital markets, other developing countries are surging ahead.

From Brazil to Vietnam to the fastest growing region in the world - our continent of Africa – developing states are forging a bright path towards prosperity and a better life.

Yet South Africa is left behind, crying out for leadership and direction.

In these difficult days, we look to the President to give the nation hope to overcome despair. Yet he has failed to match the power of his office with a sense of purpose.

The President’s attention has been diverted from his duties. Energy spent on organising a march to an art gallery and a legal challenge to a work of satire has distracted from the serious work of government.

Once again, representatives of the ANC, and some of its ministers, are attempting to close down the space for freedom of expression through bullying and intimidation.

This perversely mirrors the mind-set and practices of the apartheid government.

Freedom of expression is an essential ingredient of any healthy democracy. Let us rise above this distraction, and have the wisdom to disagree without being disagreeable. And let us remember that those who question power make as indispensable a contribution to our democracy as those who exercise it.

In this spirit, if the President were to act boldly from today by exercising power in pursuit of noble goals, he would have the encouragement and good wishes of the Official Opposition.

This is because the office of the President is greater than the head which it rests upon.

Mr Speaker: we can see how the failure of leadership is holding back progress on jobs.

Everyone in this House will know that the biggest tragedy of our time is unemployment. The nation is crying out for action, and action now.

Last year, the President promised us “the year of the job”. Yet the only job that we seem to hear about is his: Will he keep it? Will he lose it? Who will challenge him for it?

And so the entire nation is left unsure as to whether he uses power, or power uses him.
 
While public debate centres on the person who wears the crown, we know that it is because this Presidency was purchased by a coalition of the discontented at Polokwane.

Where leaders should embody hope, we know that this Presidency was born in discord and dispute.  

The outcome is that the President’s term of office has been directed by remote control. The operators range from Cosatu, to the SACP, to a shadowy ‘state within a state’ in the security services. This has led to the many policy contradictions at the heart of government.

The only place in which jobs seem to have been created is in the Presidency itself. There, the President had to create two additional ministries, and must constantly expand his office in order to pay down his political debts.

The South African taxpayers’ support for the President more than doubled from R43 million in 2009-10 to nearly R90 million rand in 2010-11.

The President’s instincts with respect to taxpayers' money were borne out when he replied to a question I put to him in this House last week about politicians applying for government tenders.

We already know that a Cosatu investment firm benefited from e-tolling in Gauteng, despite their alleged opposition to the project. Yet the President insisted that:

“We are discriminating against politicians by not allowing them to do business regarding infrastructure investments”.

Here, we see the dividing line that is tearing this government apart. The President's reply contradicted his own Deputy, the Honourable Montlanthe, who earlier told Parliament:

“Chancellor House should not do business with government at all…It should not do business in a way which gives it an advantage because it is an investment wing of the ANC. That should not happen. That is our position”.

I agree with the Deputy-President on this matter even if the President does not. And given the overwhelming public outcry against corruption in the public service, this is further evidence that ours is a President who is out of touch, and has left the people behind.

Mr Speaker: the President has failed to demonstrate economic leadership in the midst of a global recession. This further hinders job creation.

His government proposes two economic plans: the Honourable Manuel’s National Development Plan (NDP), and the Honourable Patel’s New Growth Path (NGP).

The National Development Plan promotes market-led growth characterised by inclusiveness and private enterprise; while the New Growth Path is geared towards greater state intervention and participation in a mixed economy.

This has led to widespread confusion.

Is the government pro-growth or pro-intervention?

Is it for attracting investment or entrenching protectionism?

Is the government in favour of state-led capitalism, the mixed economy, the social market economy, communism, a bit of each, or all of the above?

Honourable Members: The President’s greatest responsibility is to help get young South Africans into work.

Last year, he set the bold target of putting 500 000 people to work by the end of the year. This deadline came and went.

Another deadline also came and went: the introduction of the Youth Wage Subsidy.

No one in government or in the DA who supports the Youth Wage Subsidy has ever claimed it would make unemployment disappear. It will, however, give many young people dignity, and a foothold on the ladder of opportunity.

Two weeks ago, over 3 000 young people marched under the Democratic Alliance banner to Cosatu’s House because the union federation is blocking job creation. The President caves into Cosatu even though this Parliament has earmarked the funds for the Youth Wage Subsidy.

For the first time ever, the President announced a policy. It was budgeted for, and the date was set for its implementation, only to be halted because Cosatu opposes it.

Last week, I went to see the country’s first Youth Wage Subsidy scheme in action, right here in the City of Cape Town. I met a number of young beneficiaries of this programme, including Xhobani Balasana from Phillipi, whose life has been transformed by this opportunity. Many other young lives could be similarly transformed, if the President had the courage to put the needs of South Africa's people ahead of his own political advancement.

Mr Speaker: the issue of youth unemployment will, perhaps, more than any other, define this Presidency. The pursuit of power has overtaken the pursuit of noble ideals in the Republic.

While hundreds of thousands of young people are denied the opportunity of the Youth Wage Subsidy, the Presidency has been splurging on the political slush fund that is the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).

Funding for the NYDA nearly quadrupled from R100 million in 2009-10 year to nearly R400 million in 2010-11. This was spent on events like the “Let’s Defeat Imperialism” youth festival, and something else that involved large numbers of delegates kissing in an open field.

This misuse of public money makes it clear that the President has indeed left the young people of South Africa behind.

Mr Speaker:

We can see how the failure of leadership is allowing corruption to take root in our country.

Constitutional democracy is based on accountability and transparency, yet the President has time and again failed the constitutional test of accountability upon which our entire system of government is built. 

A titanic power struggle is enveloping the security services.

When one strips down the never-ending saga of Richard Mdluli - who was again suspended from the Police Service on Sunday - a basic question emerges:

Why would a head of state allow someone facing serious charges to appear in police uniform and occupy a senior post in the police service in the first place?

On this occasion, as on so many others, action was only taken court after a case was brought to court by an NGO to suspend Mr Mdluli.

But why does it always fall to our courts to uphold the Constitution and compel the government to do the right thing, while Ministers try to bully them into submission? 

Does doing what is right simply because it is right play any role in the matrix of government anymore? Or have ‘honour’ and ‘character’ been consigned to oblivion, the misty nostalgia of the Nelson Mandela era?

Does the Presidency strive to create a culture of accountability in which public officials are the servants and the people are the masters? 

The President’s actions - and what he fails to do - are hardening the perception that his own political needs trump service delivery and the rule-of-law.

The President should be using the full powers of his executive office to shine the light of forensic investigation into suspected criminal activity by Mr Mduli and others. Instead Mr Speaker, the President continues to preside over a sinister ‘secret state within the state’ at the apex of which he stands. His problem is that he must constantly reshuffle the security services like a deck of cards in order to stay on top.

If the President had applied even a tiny bit of his talent for getting himself out of trouble to some wider national purpose, South Africa would have progressed in leaps and bounds by now.

The Commission of Enquiry into the Arms Deal underlines this point. Why is it that the President finds it so hard to say that Judge Seriti’s report will be made available to the public as soon as he receives it?

Is the Commission merely a public relations exercise? Or does he wish to be seen to being the right thing without actually doing it?

If the President releases the full report, he would not be, as he claims, pre-empting the findings of the Commission. He would be upholding the principles of transparency and accountability, and rebuilding public trust.

As former ANC MP, Andrew Feinstein, pointed out, the people’s trust was broken when the previous triple inquiry arms deal report – by the public protector, the auditor-general and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) – was doctored.

So I ask, Mr Speaker, will the President reconsider his decision and commit in his reply to Parliament tomorrow that he will authorise Judge Seriti to release the full, unexpurgated report to the public as soon as he receives it? 

This issue unfolds within the wider context of South Africa’s arms industry.

Despite the many and great efforts of the Democratic Alliance, it remains difficult to gain information about the workings of our defence force and the South African arms industry.

And so the people are being left behind by a government that seeks to keep a lid on the truth.

Mr Speaker:

The failure of leadership extends to international relations and foreign policy.

Our President must be the first head of state in history to fly to the United Nations in New York with three jets, and not a single foreign policy brief between them.

Is the President committed to the ‘responsibility to protect’ (R2P) in countries like Syria today? Or does he believe a nation’s sovereignty is sacred?

This is what the President suggested when Resolution 1973 on Libya was debated at the UN Security Council.

Do we have an ethical or a realist foreign policy? Are we a shady place for shady people or a lighthouse of democracy to the world?

Does this government priortise BRICS or Africa, the fast-growing market in the world?  The paradox is that Brazil, India and Russia are benefitting far more from investment opportunities and trade with the rest of than Africa than we are.

This is a because of the President's failure to champion South Africa abroad.

Mr Speaker:

South Africa is in need of bold leadership now.   

What is to be done?

The Official Opposition has a responsibility to provide oversight and demand accountability from the government.

And so, above all else, the DA urges the President to define his vision. 
If the President seeks to do so, he must reacquaint himself with the foundational bedrock of the Republic: the Constitution and its Bill of Rights.

Because, as we have emphasised time and again, it is the government which has let South Africa down, not our human-rights inspired Constitution.

It is a tragedy for the nation, and the President personally, that the government of the day should seek to overturn the very document that would frame his vision.

Why the DA is the only party for LGBTI South Africans

As many of you know, I wear two hats – one as a Democratic Alliance public representative and one as Mr Gay South Africa, which carries with it expectations of being an ambassador for the South African LGBTI community. Some people have criticised my political affiliation, which I believe is more of a testament to their inability to look at political parties in an unbiased manner.

Hon Ian Ollis, MP at Joburg Pride. Photo: Mamba Online

Being gay is only one aspect of me and does not define who I am. I am still a person in a community that wants to lead a normal life like 49 million other South Africans. Whether gay or straight, black or white, rich or poor and regardless of religion or race we all want a government that works for us. I chose the DA because I believe in its vision of an open opportunity society in which every person is free, secure and equal, where everyone has the opportunity to improve the quality of their life and pursue their dreams.

The term “Open Opportunity Society for All” brings together three key concepts: Individual freedom under the rule of law – an open society; Opportunity with responsibility – an opportunity society; and full equality for all. Imagine a society in which even a child born into the most desperate poverty can become a brain surgeon, a concert pianist or a sports hero - I know it’s a distant dream, but one South Africa should be aspiring to. This is in direct contrast to the ANC's approach to governance, which she has led to a "closed, crony society for some.” I don’t believe that any other party comes close in its vision, and it has been proved that where the DA governs they govern better than others that governed previously. I believe that their policy platform (view on da.org.za) will turn South Africa into the country it should be.

Cllr Lance Weyer at the Port Elizabeth the Gay Pride Parade

When it comes to my sexual orientation, I have for years been watching the progress the DA has made. I came to realise that the DA is the only party that has proved that it is fully behind the LGBTI community.

• In the 1994 elections the then Democratic Party was the only party to field an openly gay candidate for parliament.
• Currently the Democratic Alliance has the highest number of gay parliamentary candidates of any party in the country.
• The DA was the only party that when the Civil Union Bill was debated in parliament said that having the word "union" instead of "marriage" for same-sex couples was a form of discrimination.
• In 2010 the DA criticized South Africa’s United Nations delegation who voted to remove reference to sexual orientation from a UN resolution on extrajudicial killings. They went on to say that the vote was a setback for advancement of LGBT rights.
• Openly gay DA Member of Parliament Ian Ollis, is a representative of the Gay Flag of South Africa and played a role in the adoption of the historic 2011 resolution condemning violence and discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation at the United Nations.
• Kenneth Mubu, then Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, called on the Zuma administration to withdraw Jon Qwelane, a notorious homophobe,  as South Africa's ambassador to Uganda.
• The party has shown its support for the South African LGBT but participating in various pride marches. DA Members of Parliament Ian Ollis and Dion George led the Joburg Pride march last year.
• In 2011, then Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, Annette Lovemore and myself played an important uncovering homophobia in the Department of Home Affairs where officials were refusing to conduct gay marriages. The new Shadow Minister, Manny De Freitas, has continued to root out LGBTI discrimination by fighting discrimination against trans-gender citizens by Home Affairs officials.
• The party’s Shadow Minister of International Relation, Ian Davidson, has called on the South African government to lobby for gays and lesbians to be protected by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, following the revival of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
• In November 2011 the City of Johannesburg Council passed a motion proposed by DA Councillor Gordon Mackay condemning corrective rape and committing itself to fighting these attacks against lesbian women. This is the first motion by the City to address issues directly affecting the LGBT community.
• The DA Student Organisation released a poster depicting two lesbian ladies that read "In our future they would be free to love without fear."
• The party officially rejected proposed the Traditional Courts Bill, which could lead to increased discrimination against women and LGBT people in rural areas.
• DA Member of Parliament Watty Watson called for the suspension of ANC MP Patekile Holomisa, chairman of Parliament’s constitutional review committee and president of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA, following his claim that the vast majority of citizens do not wish to promote the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians. Watson said Holomisa’s proposal of doing away with protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was “deeply prejudiced” and this his views “undermine the values of equality, dignity and freedom on which our democracy is based and for which so many fought so hard”.
• The DA leadership welcomed the participation of one of their Councillors (myself) in the Mr Gay South Africa and Mr Gay World contests. Even though there was some conservative push back, the party stuck to its liberal morals and endorsed my activism on LGTBI issues.
• The party's leader, Helen Zille, has stated that she fully endorses the Constitution’s Bill of Rights and its commitment to the right of all to determine their sexual orientation, going on to say that everyone has the right to be themselves and live a life they value.

These are just some of the verifiable media-reported reasons I can think of offhand, but what really makes the difference is the attitude of most DA members and public representatives when they deal with me. I don’t feel like a second class citizen, and I’m taken seriously as a person. Without the assistance of DA MP’s I would not be able to assist many LGBTI South Africans – they have helped me sort out everything from homophobic Home Affairs officials to abusive police and workplace discrimination.

The DA is the party I choose to support because I believe it’s the only party that represents me both as a gay man and as citizen of South Africa who wants to see his country prosper and be the place it should be – one that has full equality and is free from hate.         

De Freitas: Out of a letter action is generated

Dear Editor,

Out of a letter action is generated

Earlier this month I issued a letter expressing my opinion. In the letter I said that I feel that the LGBTI community needs to find a new cause to fight for. I was bombarded with correspondence of all descriptions. The reaction to my letter was as varied and wide in opinion and attitude as the community itself. I thank those that chose to engage even when, at times, they disagreed with my opinion. I thank those that chose to simply insult and belittle me. I simply become stronger with that. In one particular case a person made me feel the same way that religious fundamentalists and bigots make me feel when they stand on the sidelines at a parade or a march. Ironic, isn’t it!? 

Many people felt that my letter was smug and arrogant. I was surprised with these comments as this was not my intention. The colleagues and friends I consulted with, who provide me honest feedback, confirmed this. I am thus apologising unreservedly as this was not the way I wanted to come across. I’m sorry if I offended anyone.

Just to clarify: I have indeed been to funerals in townships and elsewhere where both gay men and lesbian women have been killed. I am well aware of the crimes being committed on our lesbian women, particularly those from township communities, in an attempt to “straighten” them out. I am also working on matter that few others have the privilege to come across; such as a case of a transgender person who is suffering under the maladministration, prejudice and purposefully slow administrative processes of the Department of Home Affairs. I am on the brink of victory for this courageous woman after many months of fighting on her behalf.

There was clearly a misunderstanding in my first letter where I wasn’t clear enough. Of course citizens should march on important issues such as the defence of rights. The recent march to reinforce the sexual orientation clauses in our Constitution is such an example. My point however, is that the annual Pride parades that take place in our large cities have turned into nothing more than a celebration, from what they were originally – that of a demonstration of protest during our dark past.

Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with celebrating, as is done at the well known Pride occasions, we should recognise that this is what they are- celebrations – not protests or a demonstration for or against an issue. This was the gist of my letter.

Out of my letter has come some public debate which I believe was needed. Irrespective of whether people agreed with me or not, it generated emotions, passion and excitement – exactly what we need! Out of that I have received a request from a Cape Townian to join hands with him in looking at how to education both the LGBTI community and those that do not know or understand it. This can only be positive.

Sincerely,

Manny de Freitas MP

Member of Parliament

Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South

Democratic Alliance

President’s privates expose uncomfortable issues for ANC

When a nude painting of Canada’s Prime Minster was displayed in a public library, he and the rest of Canada laughed it off. The same cannot be said for South Africa.

Sunday Times cartoon by Zapiro

Brett Murray’s painting of President Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed, has upset the ANC and has divided public opinion in the country. Taken aback by what they saw as a  ”distasteful and vulgar” work of art, representatives of the ANC asked the gallery to remove the painting from the exhibition, their website, and all other promotional materials on the grounds that it insulted the dignity of the presidency. President Jacob Zuma himself says he was “shocked, and felt personally ­offended and violated” when he saw a copy of the painting for the first time.  He says the painting depicts him as “a philanderer, a womaniser and one with no ­respect”.  Personally, I think the president’s self-description fits perfectly.

The Sunday Zapiro cartoon shows Zuma with a shower-head in place of his genitals, spouting the words “sex scandals, corruption, nepotism and cronyism”.  The caption reads: “With apology to Brett Murray. No apology to President Zuma. Want respect ?... Earn it”

The president seems to think that his office includes an automatic right to respect? Zuma is a man who entered office with a sullied reputation. Our polygamous president’s utterances in court during his rape trial offered an uncomfortable insight into a man to whom sexual pleasure mattered more than safe sex and common sense. Mondi Makhaya is right – when Zuma is gone it will be his sexual legacy that we will remember more than anything else – even more than his flirtation with the corrupt. Zuma should take a break from his sexcapades, corruption and attacking his critics and start concentrating on his day job if he’s interesting in earning the countries respect. 

The original painting as displayed at the Goodman Gallery

Former Daily Dispatch editor Phylicia Oppelt points out that there are other works hanging in the same gallery that should cause the ANC far more discomfort and should lead to introspection. The work with the parties logo with a “For Sale” sign over which “SOLD” is printed, speaks to the heart of much. Its sole has been sold, to businessmen and to cadres out for self enrichment since the party came into power – and 18 years later the ANC leadership must surely worry where they find themselves.  Instead of suing over Zuma’s exposed genitals, the ruling party should take the artwork’s lessons to heart.

The ANC’s response to the Zuma artwork, litigation, is quite a silly one. Much sillier - or rather hysterically scary - it the possibility that Zuma might be installed at Luthuli House, and therefore the Union Buildings, for another term.