Tuesday, May 24, 2011

ANC announces Gauteng mayors

2011-05-24

Johannesburg - Former Johannesburg finance boss Parks Tau is the city's new mayor.....





The man who was in charge of finance and planning during the billing crisis is now the boss of the whole municipality, and has already made clear that service delivery and effective governance are not his top priorities. 


Let the corruption begin.

Welcome aboard the gravy train 

Let's wait for the skeletons to come out. I have yet to see an ANC leader do something other than for themselves. If there are any improvements it will be to boost ANC brand loyalty and image, and not for the sake of the people.

Johannesburg - Former Johannesburg finance boss Parks Tau is the city's new mayor, the ANC in Gauteng announced on Tuesday.

Tau replaces long-serving mayor, Amos Masondo, whose two terms in office came to an end after the election.

The former city finance boss said transformation was at the top of the list of priorities for his term in office.

ANC Gauteng chairperson David Makhura also announced the names of 10 other mayors in the province. They are:

Mondli Gungubele - Ekurhuleni

Kgosientsho Ramokgopa - Tshwane

Mpho Nawa - West Rand district municipality

Simon Mofokeng - Sedibeng district municipality

Greta Hlongwane - Emfuleni local municipality

Calvin Seerane - Mogale City

Maphefo Letsie - Merafong

Sylivia Thebenare - Randfontein local municipality

Lerato Maloka - Lesedi local municipality

Nonkoliso Tundzi - Westonaria local municipality.



Parks Tau: the man behind the council's bills 

Written by Thomas Thale   
23 January 2004   

HE might look youthful - indeed, at 33 years, he is the youngest councillor on the mayoral committee - but Johannesburg city councillor Parks Tau holds what is by far the most arduous portfolio, that of finance, strategy and economic development, which includes the revenue department.

As political head of the much maligned revenue department, which has been slated by ratepayers for allegedly issuing inaccurate bills and then cutting off services, Tau has been in the firing line of customer complaints. But he remains unfazed by the challenge, being a seasoned political campaigner with almost two decades of political involvement behind his name.

Working from his offices in Jorissen Place, Tau gets to see firsthand irate ratepayers queuing on the ground floor to query their accounts, and has a clear grasp of the challenges facing his administration.

Tau, who is the deputy chairperson of the African National Congress in Joburg, has been involved in civic politics since 1995, when he chaired the Urban Development Committee of the then Southern Local Metropolitan Council (SLMC). He served as the deputy chairperson of the executive committee of the SLMC and as a member of the Transformation Lekgotla, which ushered in the City of Johannesburg as presently constituted.

In his previous position as councillor responsible for development planning, transportation and environment, Tau played a pivotal role in the formulation of the City's spatial development framework, the environmental management plan and the integrated transport plan. "We had given ourselves two years in which to formulate clear urban development policies and a management approach for the city, and we have largely achieve that," Tau says.

But, just when he thought he was done putting systems in place, and could retire to his Winchester Hills house to focus once again on his MBA studies, he was redeployed to the finance portfolio and had to acquaint himself with the demands of his new position from scratch. 

"I had told myself that after concluding the bulk of policy processes at planning and seeing the World Summit through, I would have a break," he says. But it was not to be.

Not for the first time, Tau has been forced to put his MBA studies on hold as he familiarises himself with his new portfolio. Indeed, disrupted schooling appears to be a motif that runs through Tau's life story.

His schooling was first interrupted during the 1976 Soweto student uprising, just as he was starting out on his first year at school in Sub A. The political turmoil of the late 1980s also resulted in Tau having to put his studies on ice to pursue student politics.
Indeed, politics is one of the two social currents that shaped Tau's formative years, the other being religion.
"Leadership has always been thrust on me," he says diffidently. From the 1980s, at the height of the national State of Emergency, as deputy president of the Soweto Student Congress (Sosco) and president of the Student Representative Council (SRC) at Pace Commercial College, and president of the Soweto Youth Congress (Soyco), Tau had his finger on the pulse of the political upheavals in Soweto.
But Tau's exposure to the brutality that defined resistance politics goes even further back. As a six-year old growing up in Zone 1 Meadowlands, he was exposed to the internecine violence between township residents and hostel inmates. He describes this "horrific" experience as "part of my life that's difficult to come to terms with".
From very early on, Tau came to understand politics as a deadly game of survival, as residents of his native Meadowlands, where he stayed with his grandparents, engaged in running battles with inmates of the nearby Meadowlands hostel. This was at the height of the 1976 student uprising, when hostel inmates opposed to the boycotts, engaged in fierce battles with township folk. The township came under siege as hostel dwellers launched indiscriminate attacks on township residents, Tau recalls. He remembers hiding under the bed with his young cousins while older people joined in the battle. "We could not play outside and had to barricade ourselves indoors as there could be a sudden eruption of war."
Concerned about the deteriorating conditions in Soweto schools, his parents sent Tau to study at St Joseph, a Roman Catholic boarding school in Aliwal North, Eastern Cape, where he completed his primary education. Lessons were conducted in Afrikaans, Tau says. "We used to joke that we were learning to speak English in Afrikaans." Today though, Tau confesses that he no longer does his Hail Mary's and has become somewhat of an agnostic.
At boarding school, Tau learned to be on his own. "You had to fend for yourself." But the teachings of the brothers and nuns have left a lasting impression on him. "Religion is part of who and what I am today. I'm not a practicing Christian anymore, but it has certainly been a platform of a value system that shaped my life," he admits. Although he has jettisoned Christianity, Tau still sees value in the faith. "I want my three sons to go to church. I think there are important value systems one gets from the church."
Tau's return to school in Soweto coincided with the resurgence of political formations allied to the then banned ANC, and soon he was in the forefront of student and youth politics.
Following the formation of the United Democratic Front in 1983, the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) was revitalised and Soyco came into being. Tau's return to Meadowlands as a young student activist in 1985 coincided with the banning of Cosas and the setting up of Sosco. "We organised ourselves within communities as comrades," Tau recalls. "Re ne re inyova (we were on a warpath)," he says nostalgically.
In 1983, Tau enrolled at Pace Commercial College in Jabulani, a private school attended mainly by children from affluent families "Not that I was from an affluent family. It was only through a Rhodes scholarship that I made it into the school," he says.
Tau was drawn into student politics, and set about galvanising students under the banner of Cosas. "We began mobilising in school to get students to participate in Cosas activities, but our headmaster at the time, Mr Rex Pennington, didn't think it appropriate for students to engage in political activities." Tau recalls. "He ran a referendum of the whole school, asking a question along the lines of - 'should the school allow political activity on school premises?'" Although they lost the referendum, student leaders never accepted the results. "We still question those results. They were never audited." The stage was thus set for conflict between school management and student leadership. Soon schools throughout Soweto were closed, as students took to the streets in massive protests.
Away from the school grounds, in 1986, during the second State of Emergency, Tau was once again caught up in the violence between hostel dwellers and township residents, but he is reluctant to speak about the experience, saying only: "I don't want to talk about that." Tau avers though, that: "For all of us who grew up in that area, conflicts have been an unfortunate part of our lives. We witnessed death from a tender age - the community has been scarred. There were ongoing battles until 1988."
His activism did not endear Tau to the authorities, both at school and within the police force, and soon, he was barred from school and put behind bars. Tau was first detained for 30 days under the State of Emergency in 1985. Prison experience only served to broaden Tau's political horizons, making him more militant.
When schools reopened in January 1986, he was back mobilising students, more radical than before. By then, he had had more exposure to struggle politics and had engaged with structures in the township and the leadership in prison. So when schools reopened, activists regrouped to Sosco, following the banning of Cosas. "At the time, those of us who had been activists, were conditionally readmitted to school but others were excluded. Our first campaign was thus to fight for those students who had been excluded to be readmitted to school."
The next year was going to be characterised by running battles between youth activists and the police, detentions and constant disruption of schooling, resulting in students not sitting for exams at the end of the year. Tau was hounded out of school, as police continuously raided the school in search of activists. "I stopped attending formal classes in standard 9. It was apparent that we couldn't sit for exams, what with police looking for us," he says. Sometime in mid-1986, Tau was once again behind bars as police clamped down on activists.

It was only in 1987 that Tau resumed studies at Harambee, a fly-by-night school in the city centre. But the struggle remained his priority as he continued mobilising students in political campaigns. "I ended up studying on my own, and managed to complete matric after two years."
But Tau's reading was not of a purely academic nature. "I read a lot of politics, economics - general reading, on my own. The culture of reading within the ANC helped me," he says. Tau remains a prolific reader.

Tau displays acute awareness of the problems besetting the revenue department. He admits that the department faces serious challenges. "We have been reviewing issues seriously. Just last week, we spent two days assessing the situation. We are determined to resolve these problems. My sense is that the challenge is to speed up the resolution of problems. The contamination of data has been identified as a major problem, but much work has been done in our data clean up programme."

There are instances of incorrect billing that creep into the system that also need to be eliminated, Tau says.

Cleaning up the data, says Tau, is not just about clearing people's bills. "We have picked up cases where clients haven't been correctly billed. In some cases, we found that people had been undercharged."

According to Tau, the revenue department has had some success in eliminating clearance certificate fraud. "Even before I came here, there was significant progress on certain fronts. We will continue to step up credit control." Explaining the rationale behind cutting off services, Tau says: "We are trying to limit instances where people accumulate huge debts before the council intervenes". The department has also set out to beef up its staff complement by recruiting experienced personnel.

Tau says he would like to see his department being able to identify problems and resolve them without subjecting ratepayers to any inconvenience. "We will strive to give correct meter readings and improve on the consistency of meter readings. When we receive complaints of incorrect billing or meter reading, we must resolve them within a specified period." Tau promises not to rest until the problems at revenue are brought under control.

Tau has his job cut out for him, but, if his track record is anything to go by, he might just be the man to take it all in his stride.



Holding up the mirror to blacks for 350 years

By Mike Smith
17th of May 2011
One of the biggest fears of blacks in South Africa is that they would prove “white racists” right. When “white racists” point to the obvious lack of IQ of blacks, the lack of any meaningful achievements and contributions to modern civilization then they want to start shouting about the evils of colonialisms and Apartheid over the last 350 years.
Problem is that since whites came into contact with blacks in South Africa, we have reminded them of their inferiority. They looked at the wheels of our wagons and went. “Wow, why have we not thought of something like that?”
And so it was with some other white inventions such as scissors, mirrors, pocket knives, tobacco pipes, etc…It all reminded blacks that whites had something magical, something that made them appear superior to blacks.
The blacks thought that by possessing all this magical gadgets of whites, that somehow they would then become equal to whites or also obtain this something, this white magic…
When they could not trade it with whites then they were willing to steal it, or even kill for it, but over the years they have realized that no amount of stealing, killing or raping could take that feeling of inferiority away. In fact their behavior made this feeling worse. They saw themselves and how they behaved and they shamed themselves for who they were and their behaviour…and the feeling of inferiority became worse.
No amount of education could take this feeling of inferiority away as can be seen from the weird speeches and writings of Thabo Mbeki, most notably the one at the funeral of Sarah Baartman. Instead of looking into the mirror and accept what he saw, Thabo resented what he saw and looked for the fault in the person who made and handed him the mirror. It was everyone else’s fault except blacks themselves.
And maybe he had a point, for whites cannot help that they are whites and blacks did not make themselves either.

To say that blacks cannot govern a modern civilization, is not racist. It is a fact. It is as much racists as to say a horse cannot climb a tree. It is a fact.

There is not a single well run black country in the world. The liberals will quickly say, “Botswana”, when it is in fact common knowledge that Botswana is mentored and run by the Anglo_American mining company as Nigeria is run by Shell Oil.

The simple failure of blacks is first observed at personal hygiene. Then noticed in the abode where the person stays…then one has to ask the question: “If a person cannot even look after himself and his immediate environment…keep it clean at least…then how will he be able to run a farm or a small town?”

Is it then not absurd to expect blacks to run a white, westernized and civilized country?

Liberals believe that it is possible for blacks to do so. Just a bit more education, just a bit more mentoring and a bit more money, then blacks will be able to do it. Throwing money at a problem always seems to be the liberal’s favourite way of solving issues.

What these liberals forget is that they are admitting the failures of blacks. They are admitting that blacks are incapable of uplifting themselves.

Blacks who constantly cry about Colonialism and Apartheid that oppressed them, actually admits to the superiority of the whites, because if whites were not superior to blacks, they would not have been able to dominate them “For the last 350 years of Colonialism”.

The only solution that blacks see is to undo this “350 years” of colonialism. By that it is meant that Whites should leave behind everything that they have built with no compensation, all their gadgets such as cars and airplanes and those whites should leave the continent or be killed, but most of all that whites should take their mirrors with them. Blacks do not like to see themselves in it.

Would that take the inferiority complex of blacks away? Certainly not. We live in a modern global world. Blacks will continue having contact with Whites and Orientals and will constantly be reminded of their own inferiority complex.

Somewhere along the line blacks are going to have to face reality and start to accept themselves and be honest with themselves…that a horse simply cannot climb a tree. Horses can do lots of other useful things, but climbing trees is not what they are good at.

All the proof is there in the world: Haiti that has been independent for 200 years. Liberia which was never been colonized and never had Apartheid, and which has a constitution modeled on the American one, Ethiopia being independent for 4000 years and which has never been colonized or had Apartheid…are all failed states. Throughout Sub Saharan Africa you see the same thing, famine, civil war, disease, death, chaos…
Even when there are no more whites in the country, they will still be blaming whites for their own savage and uncivilized behavior.
In South Africa the liberal experiment has failed as well. By that I mean their expectations of  the ANC and Thabo Mbeki.
They thought that if they could have their own Western educated “Noble Savage” at the helm that things would somehow work out. Liberals thought that Thabo, backed up by “The most liberal constitution in the world” would somehow govern successfully and without corruption and South Africa would prosper.
For years Liberals have fought the system of Apartheid, the system of Bantustans and Black homelands where blacks could rule themselves, but what do we see today? What was the result of their liberal experiment? South Africa has turned into one Giant Bantustan.
The truth is that the period in time where South Africa had the biggest bloom, the best economy and the best standard of living for everybody on the entire African continent was during Apartheid, most notably during the time of Verwoerd.
Liberals and blacks believed that they could do better. After 17 years of experimenting with black rule, South Africa is a monumental failure and getting worse by the day.
So what comes next? We have tried Bantustans, we have tried an all-hold-hands-and-sing-Kumbaya, Multi-Culti Rainbow Nation…It all failed.
Shall we try Whitestans now? Shall we create an Afrikanerstan or Boerestan? Shall we create an Englishstan? What about a Colouredstan and an Indianstan? Hey?
How far shall we turn the clock back? To 1994 and renegotiate? To 1948 and accept Smuts’ model rather than the NP model? Or shall we go back to 1910 and recreate the two Boer Republics and the two British colonies? Or shall we go back even further to 1652 before Jan van Riebeeck came to the Cape...?
Oh hang on, the Blacks were practicing genocide back then in Shaka’s Defecane and murdering millions of each other, but it was somehow OK, because there were no whites holding up the mirror to them.
My guess would be that if Shaka was not killed by his own half brother that there would only be one black nation in South Africa today, namely the Zulu’s. There would not be any Xhosas or Swazis or Sothos. Thanks to Colonialism and Apartheid these people along with their cultures and religions have survived.
But the “350 years of Colonialism” is in any case a myth and a lie. Whites were in the Cape for 120 years already before they met the first blacks, namely the Xhosas on the Fish River. The ZAR and the Orange Freestate were only established in 1854 and 1857 respectively. Before that Blacks fully ruled themselves and were never under white rule. The countries of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland were British colonies and became independent since the 1960’s and during the 1970, the homelands of Transkei, Ciskei, Bophuthatswana, Venda became independent…So in effect, Blacks should not speak about “The legacy of 350 years of colonialism” when it was only about 100 years.
During that 100 years of Colonialism and Apartheid, Blacks have experienced the greatest leap forward in their civilization. Today they wear modern clothes, use cars, television….what part of colonialism do they want to undo first?
Blacks should finally admit that Colonialism and Apartheid benefitted everyone in South Africa. There is no shame in it, just like there is no shame in admitting that the Germanic tribes, The Gauls and the Ancient Britons all benefitted from Roman Civilization.
The difference is that the Ancient Britons, Gauls and Germans embraced the advantages that Roman civilization brought and built on it and improved themselves. Blacks want to undo 350 years of history and civilization.
How can they ever go forward in South Africa if they keep on wanting to go back? How does one explain this logic?
http://mspoliticalcommentary.blogspot.com/2011/05/holding-up-mirror-to-blacks-for-350.html
 

FW de Klerk warns Zuma and Malema

21 May 2011

Stop Dehumanising Hatespeech Against Whites

Malema: Hacking at foundations of national reconciliation

FW de Klerk Foundation 
 
 

FW de Klerk Foundation on ANCYL president's 'whites are criminals' comment


On 6 May, at an ANC rally in Galeshewe, near Kimberly, Julius Malema ratcheted up the ANC Youth League's anti-white rhetoric a few more notches. He said, among other things, that "we must take the (whites') land without paying. Once we agree that they stole our land, we can agree they are criminals and must be treated as such." "They" (white farmers - or perhaps whites in general?) are thieves.

Malema repeated the Youth League's threat to nationalize the mines, the banks and the commanding heights of the economy. "Political freedom without economic freedom means nothing. You can vote until you turn yellow, but without economic freedom it means nothing." The subtext is that key to economic freedom is to grab the wealth that whites ‘stole'.

He called Helen Zille, the Leader of the Opposition, a "dancing monkey" from "monkey town". He chided people for allowing "the madam to kiss your children, when you know that the madam does not care about your children.

They (presumably whites) kill our people (blacks) when they confuse them with baboons." (Guilt for the reprehensible action of a single farmer some years ago is ascribed by Malema to a whole community on the basis of their race.)

We all know the old adage that ‘sticks and stones can hurt your bones but words can never hurt you.' Unfortunately, it is not true - particularly in fragile multicultural societies like our own.

Racial aggression is often preceded by dehumanizing language - as it was in Nazi Germany, Rwanda and by lynch mobs in the southern states of the USA. Such messages are particularly dangerous when they are directed toward unsophisticated audiences who can be easily persuaded that all their problems are caused by the Jews, the Communists, the Tutsi - or whichever group the propagandist wants to target.

It is particularly easy for propagandists to target relatively advantaged, racially distinct groups (like the Jews in pre-World War II Europe, or the Chinese in Malaysia or Indonesia in the 60s, or the whites in Zimbabwe after 2000) and to charge that their wealth was accumulated by exploitation or theft - rather than by hard work, skill or successful entrepreneurship.

Land in South Africa is also an easy target - because it is true that many black South Africans (like aborigines and American Indians) were unfairly deprived of their land in the past. However, what is the position of whites who have bought land since 1994 at fair market prices? Should they also be stripped of their property - simply because they are white? Or should they be limited to owning a demographically representative 9% of the country - that we could, perhaps, call a whiteystan?

Since 5% of agricultural land comes onto the market every year, a high proportion of South Africa's farmland must already have changed hands since 1994. And what of the Malherdes and Du Toits whose families might have been farming in the Western Cape for 300 years? Should their land be taken from them without compensation and handed over to newcomers from the Eastern Cape?

The message that the 3 000 people in the Galishewe stadium heard was that their problems have been caused by white criminals who stole their land. They heard that Whites should be treated as thieves. They heard that Whites care nothing for them and kill black people because they see them as baboons.

Within this context, Malema's "kill the boer" song (which he apparently did not sing on this occasion) takes on a different meaning. The struggle is not over; the ‘boers/whites' are still the enemy; they should be dealt with as criminals and the property they stole from blacks should be repossessed without compensation. I wonder what the crowd was thinking a little later when President Zuma sang umshini wami - his signature "bring me my machine gun song"?

And therein lies the problem. Malema's performance took place on a platform that was shared by the President of all South Africans, black and white alike. President Zuma has sworn an oath to uphold our Constitution and "to protect and promote the rights of all South Africans."

The Constitution is founded on non-racialism and prohibits hate speech. And yet the President did not say a word. He did not jump to his feet and repudiate Malema. He did not even issue a statement after the meeting diplomatically distancing himself from Malema's views.

Instead, he sat smiling quietly while Malema did his act. Later, the ANC limply went to Malema's defence by explaining that he might have been referring to the Native Land Act of 1913 which had taken all but 7% of the land from black people by force. ANC spokesmen also implied that the Youth League's advocacy role gave it a free hand to advocate whatever policies it likes - including those that openly contradict official ANC policy.

According to its constitution the ANCYL "functions as an autonomous body within the overall structure of the ANC of which it shall be an integral part. It shall be based on the political and ideological objectives of the ANC." The question, then, is whether the views expressed by Malema are based on the political and ideological objectives of the ANC itself.

A reading of the ANC's Strategy & Tactics documents reveals, disturbingly, that Malema's views are not very far out of line with the core elements of the ANC's National Democratic Revolution ideology.

Other reasons why President Zuma is not calling Malema to order may include his demagogic mass appeal in the run-up to the municipal elections and the role that the Youth League might play next year at the ANC's National Conference - where the leadership of the country will be decided for the coming five years.

One thing, however, is certain: our country cannot afford Malema's racially divisive rhetoric. It is threatening to unravel the national unity and reconciliation for which President Mandela worked so hard and upon which the future success of all South Africans depends.

Issued by the FW de Klerk Foundation, May 20 2011


Magistrate Guilty of Attempted Murder

May 24 2011



Suspended Umlazi magistrate Michael Masinga has been found guilty of attempting to murder his now-estranged wife by hitting her on the head with the blunt side of an axe. 

But Nompumelelo Masinga, the woman he married 28 years ago and with whom he had three children, said she bore him no malice and hoped he would not go to jail. 



“He has never shown any remorse … and he has never contacted our daughters (aged 30, 22 and 15), so they have lost a parent already. But it would not be good for a person like him to go to jail,” she said after Monday’s court hearing. 

Nompumelelo now lives in Gauteng where, she says, she feels safe. “I do not feel safe in Durban anymore,” she said. 

She is still not divorced from Masinga who, Durban regional court magistrate Anand Maharaj found On Monday, had not only hit her on the head with an axe, but also kicked her, calling her a dog and shouting, “aren’t you dead yet?” 

She said divorce proceedings had been delayed because of negotiations over maintenance, and then her funds had run out. 

“I think now we will proceed, though,” she said. 

The attack on Nompumelelo occurred at the family’s home in Woodlands, Durban, in March 2009. 

Evidence before the court was that the couple were living separate lives at the time, and Masinga was occupying the servant’s quarters. 

On that evening, he had brought home a woman and Nompumelelo had become enraged, and began throwing potatoes and onions at the window. 

She and her daughter, Gugu, testified that they had gone back to the house when Masinga emerged with his axe and attacked Nompumelelo. 

A doctor testified that she had sustained three deep wounds to her head. 

Denying the charge, Masinga said she was lying and that their daughter was fabricating a story to back up her mother. 

He claims Nompumelelo and his daughters had threatened to “kill the prostitute” (to whom he is now engaged) and had assaulted him with sticks. 

He managed to disarm his daughter and hit his wife randomly with a stick in self-defence.
At no time did he have an axe and he had not seen any injuries on his wife when the police arrived. 

However, magistrate Maharaj rejected his version and said he was a poor and unsatisfactory witness, who was unable to explain how his wife had sustained her injuries. 

He said while Nompumelelo was “not the most impressive witness”, most of what she had said had been corroborated by her daughter, who had shown no sign of prejudice or bias against her father. 

“She was honest and made concessions. She was candid, for example, about the fact that her mother was angry and had thrown the potatoes and onions. She admitted hitting him with a broomstick to protect her mother.” 

The case was adjourned until August for sentencing. 

Officials from the Magistrates’ Commission were in court on Monday, monitoring the proceedings. It is believed Masinga will face an internal misconduct inquiry today

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/magistrate-guilty-of-attempted-murder-1.1072928 

Motata gets R5m for Sitting at Home

May 24 2011



Justice Minister Jeff Radebe says he is of the “firm view” that Judge Nkola Motata should remain on special leave with full pay until the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has concluded its investigation into allegations of gross misconduct levelled against him, even though the judge has now been booked off for four years. 


Judge Nkola Motata has been on leave with full pay for four years.



Radebe’s comments come as a sub-committee and the investigative arm of the JSC, the judicial conduct committee, on Friday ruled that the complaint against Motata lodged by rights group AfriForum warranted being dealt with by a judicial tribunal, to be appointed by Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo. 

Motata, found guilty in 2009 by the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court of driving under the influence, has been on special leave with full pay since May 2007. In 2006 a judge earned about R60 000 a month. 

“I am of the firm view that Judge Motata should continue to be on special leave until the JSC has concluded its investigation of the complaint brought against him,” said Radebe in a parliamentary written response to questions posed by Cope MP Dirk Feldman. 

Radebe said he was in agreement with the decision of his predecessor, Brigitte Mabandla, to grant the judge leave pending the finalisation of his hearing on a charge of drunk driving and that his leave should be extended. 

The case dates to early 2007 when Motata crashed his Jaguar into the wall of Richard Baird’s house in Hurlingham, Johannesburg. He was found guilty of driving under the influence in November 2010. 





“Subsequent to his conviction and sentence in November 2010, a complaint was laid against him with the JSC to investigate whether in light of his conviction and sentence he is fit to hold judicial office,” said Radebe. 

Motata unsuccessfully appealed his conviction in the Johannesburg High Court that month.
On Friday, JSC spokesman advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza said the conduct committee had found that AfriForum had a prima facie case of gross misconduct against the judge for allegedly racist remarks made against white people on the night of the car crash. 

Three separate complaints, including that by AfriForum, a second by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and the third by advocate Gert Pretorius in his personal capacity, had been lodged with the commission, he said. Following a sitting of the committee on May 14 it had recommended to the JSC that the case should rightfully be heard by a judicial tribunal. 

The recommendation would be tabled with the JSC at its next sitting in October. The JSC would then request that Justice Ngcobo select members for the tribunal and set up the time frame, said Ntsebeza. 

Asked when the JSC expected the matter to be finalised, Ntsebeza said: “I don’t know, the wheels of justice grind slowly. I don’t know if it’s urgent, but it is important.” 

The decision to extend Motata’s special leave fell squarely with the Department of Justice, said Ntsebeza. 

Justice spokesman Tlali Tlali said: “You cannot interfere with remuneration of someone who is on leave – he’s on paid leave.” 

Feldman, who put the questions to Radebe, said he was “deeply concerned” that Motata’s leave had been extended. He called on the JSC to “set an example” and “draw the line” with Motata’s case and called on the judge to “immediately resign”. 

DA Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said while he respected that legal process be allowed to take its course, it was a “worrisome phenomenon” that public servants who were paid out of the public purse were allowed to receive a salary month after month for interminable periods. 

“They cost taxpayers a king’s ransom for nothing in return. The processes must be sped up,” he said. 



Election Adverts Gone Viral

Election adverts of a different kind



 

'Hands off our police'

May 23, 2011

Commissioner warns killers not to sleep at night, they will be caught.

National Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele jetted into Cape Town yesterday to commiserate with the families of the murdered Kraaifontein officers - and delivered a stern warning to their murderers and the community.


Standing at the murder scene with the dried blood of Warrant Officer Gershwin Matthee and Constable Cannon Cloete still visible, Cele said: "Tell those criminals not to sleep at night. We will catch them unless they tie heavy stones around their necks and drown themselves in the sea.


"Criminals are known by the community, they don't just come with the rain." 

On Sunday morning, Matthee and Cloete responded to a call from the Wallacedene township when they were shot in the head. Their deaths brings the total of murdered officers for this year to 36. 

Cele said he understood 88 officers were killed in the past financial year and the year before 107 were murdered. The killing of police was a national crisis. 

He visited the families of Matthee and Cloete in the nearby suburbs of Northpine and Bernadino Heights. 

"There must be a big call. Hands off our police officers. Just hands off. I think the time has come for everybody to shout, 'Hands off our police officers,'" said Cele. 

Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union general secretary Nkosinathi Theledi said: "Whether the statistics are rising or declining, the point is how should we cap those figures with immediate effect. We come from an apartheid era where police were seen as the enemy. In this new dispensation, they should be seen as those who protect. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!! Unfortunately not everyone has accepted this." EC Woman beaten up by police

Theledi called for stronger interaction between communities and police to grow their relationship. "We are shocked by the police killings." 

Experts such as Gareth Newman of the Institute of Security Studies reportedly called yesterday for the national task team to be brought back to investigate attacks on and killing of police officers. 

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut said no arrests had been made in the Kraaifontein killings. "At the moment we are following up on leads and interviewing as many people as possible," he said. 

Captain Sidney Bongani Hlengwa and Constable Zamikhaya Patrick Hlangulela were shot dead in a raid last Thursday on illegal liquor outlet at Creighton, southern KwaZulu-Natal. A colleague, Sergeant Aaron Gcaleka, is in a critical condition in hospital. 

Norman Khathi, 67, the tavern owner and alleged gunman, briefly appeared in the Ixopo Magistrate's Court yesterday. 

He allegedly shot the officers, who asked to see his liquor licence. The case was postponed to June 7. 

 

Woman Beaten By Police

May 24, 2011

An Eastern Cape woman was severely beaten up allegedly by police officers outside the East London Airport. 

 Lulama Feni, 34, said she was assaulted on Saturday evening and doctors at Frere Hospital told that her face had been fractured "numerous times", the Dispatch Online reported on Tuesday.

Feni said her pleas to the officers to stop only incited their anger. 

She said after the beating officers threw her in the back of the police van and took her to the Fleet Street Police Station. She claims officers continued to beat her upon their arrival. 

Feni was released yesterday morning but was back at the station to open a case of police brutality. 

When the Dispatch interviewed Feni yesterday outside the Fleet Street Police Station she could barely speak. 

She had deep cuts on both sides of her face and her eyes were swollen shut. 

"I am unable to walk properly and the blood does not stop flowing from my lips and nose," she said. 

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mtati Tana said the woman and her brother were arrested for fraud. 

"Circumstances are still not clear ... at this stage as to what happened. All we know is police were called to a complaint of fake R200 notes at a tavern," he said, adding that police were investigating further. 

However, Feni dismissed the charges and said she was on her way home with her boyfriend when they saw police officers arresting her brother-in-law. 

She said after trying to ask the officers why they were arresting her brother-in-law they became angry and started to "slap" him around. 

"I tried to intervene but I never even finished my question ? the police punched me in the face and I fell on the ground," she said. 

Police officers then reportedly kicked her until she stopped moving. 

Madiba - Rural Home in Qunu.

May 23, 2011

Former resident Nelson Mandela landed at Mthatha airport with his wife Graça and his medical team at 1.30pm on Sunday. 

"We are excited so see Dalibhunga at Qunu. He is like inyange eliphakathi kwekhaya [an ancestor]. Everyone is excited to see the old man," said his grandson, Chief Mandla Mandela, yesterday. 

Mandela was welcomed at his Qunu home by Mandla, Napilisi Mandela and other family members. 

AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, who is Madiba's close clan nephew, arrived later and joined the family. 

Mandla said his grandfather was a rural man and being in the rural areas had a great effect on his wellbeing. 

"To be around the rural areas, sit on the balcony and look at his livestock makes Dalibhunga strong and happy. When he is in the big city he misses the rural life, the scenery and the livestock," he said. 

This is the first time that the 92-year-old has returned to Eastern Cape since being discharged from Johannesburg's Milpark Hospital, in January. 

Mandla said no strain will be placed on Madiba. 

"He would like to visit every family member and travel every place close to him, but we need to understand that he is elderly. We must put his health first before anything and not strain him," he said. 

It is not known whether Madiba's health will permit him to travel to Mvezo, where his grandson is the traditional leader of six villages. 

Mandla described his grandfather as healthy and strong but said: "The man is really elderly."
He could not say when the struggle icon will return to his home in Houghton, Johannesburg. 

Poll revolt hits ANC

May 23, 2011

Supporters hold Zuma to lists promise

Only 48 hours after claiming victory in the municipal elections, ANC president Jacob Zuma was facing an internal revolt over the party's candidate nominations process. 

Yesterday, ANC supporters in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal took to the streets, demanding that Zuma keep his word and remove candidates who had been improperly nominated.

In Bizana and Mthatha, in Eastern Cape, members from more than 30 ANC wards protested against the way in which candidate lists were compiled. 

In KwaZulu-Natal, residents of Waterloo rejected their newly elected ward representative and said he should be removed from the list of councillors to be sworn in this week. 

The ANC in the province said yesterday that it was not aware of the Waterloo protest. 

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu



Shortly before the local government elections Zuma said a task team would be set up to investigate all complaints about candidates who had been listed against the wishes of the communities. 

He said such councillors would be removed. 

Zuma also said that the party would go as far as to call by-elections to remove undesirable candidates in an attempt to defuse anger about the party list process. 

"We have worked hard to address these problems and to ensure that the people who serve in our local, district and metropolitan municipalities are truly those who have been chosen with the participation of the communities," Zuma said. 

Last night, the ANC condemned the protests but it said that the swearing-in of councillors could not be stopped. 

Party spokesman Jackson Mthembu said that Zuma was still committed to removing people who had jumped the queue in the compilation of nominations lists. 

"We remain committed to the process of investigating all cases of list tampering," said Mthembu. "The ANC president has made a commitment and the investigations will be done. 

"It is now surprising that people will revolt and take to the streets when the leadership has committed to deal with their problems." 

Mthembu said the ANC would not be held to ransom by members who disregarded party decisions. 

Yesterday, ANC members in Bizana threatened a complete shutdown of community services if Zuma did not resolve their problems immediately. 

Community members told the SABC that some of the councillors were imposed on them by the ANC provincial leadership. They wanted them removed before they could take office. 

ANC member from Bizana Bonakele Duzane said no one should be sworn in until the community's demands had been met. 

Duzane said the aim of the protests was to hold Zuma to his word. 

In Waterloo, residents called on the ANC to deliver on its list promises. 

Residents said that their elected ward councillor, Mxolisi Mzibomvu, whom they claim was imposed on them, should not be sworn in this week. 

According to unconfirmed reports, Mzibomvu's house was burned down by angry residents last week shortly before the elections. 

Anger about the nominations started soon after the ANC adopted a new strategy for the selection of candidates for the municipal elections. 

It involved the participation of community members in the identification of ANC candidates.
But shortly after the nominations process was opened to party members, the party had to deal with a number of protests across the country and infighting started over whose names should appear on the final list. 

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe is expected to brief journalists this morning on the party's response to the nomination-list disputes. 

Mantashe is also expected to discuss the ANC's preferred mayoral candidates.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/specialreports/elections2011/article1082765.ece/Poll-revolt-hits-ANC