Pretoria, South Africa
15 February 2007 03:56
Increased security measures have been taken at Pretoria's C-Max prison to prevent the Boeremag treason trial accused from escaping, the Pretoria High Court heard on Thursday.
Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour earlier this week applied for two previous court orders, dealing with the incarceration and consultation arrangements of 12 of the 22 Boeremag accused, to be set aside.
The Correctional Services Department expressed concern that the objectives of a document found in possession of re-captured Boeremag escapees Rudi Gouws and Herman van Rooyen would be carried out if the two were held with the others in the same section at C-Max.
The document -- which may not be published -- apparently contained a detailed escape plan.
Three of the treason triallists have already been moved out of the "Boeremag section" of the jail at their own request.
Judge Eben Jordaan said he was not prepared to hear the application at this stage, following objections that he could be "contaminated" by information in the "secret" document, which has not yet been admitted as evidence in the criminal trial.
He referred the application to Judge Hans Fabricius, who in turn refused to make an order and referred the matter back to Judge Jordaan.
Counsel for the minister, Jaco Roux, said this left the department in an unenviable checkmate situation, because there was no ruling to appeal and Judge Jordaan did not want to hear the application -- or even read through it -- at this stage.
Correctional services therefore had no choice but than to shelve the application until the document on which it wanted to rely was before the court. This situation also worried the department, which could not choose when and if the state decided to use the document.
Roux said extra security measures had, meanwhile been put in place, but this was only a short-term solution, as they placed enormous strain on correctional services.
Gouws and Van Rooyen -- both farmers in the Bela-Bela district -- have appeared in court in leg irons since their escape from the cells at the Pretoria High Court during a lunch break in May last year. They escaped despite the presence of numerous armed members of the National Intervention Unit. -- Sapa
Source (http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=299127&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/)
Crime is Crime Corruption is Corruption Murder is Murder Rape is Rape Facts are Facts
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
7 year Trial.....
As the Boeremag trial enters its 7th year next month, some of the accused are calling on the Geneva Convention to be tried as prisoners of war in The Hague and not as terrorists.
A total of 21 men are facing numerous charges, including treason, terrorism, sabotage, murder, causing explosions, illegal possession of arms and ammunition, and attempted murder.
While at the stand in Pretoria High Court last week, one of the accused, Dr. Johan “Lets” Pretorius, who has been testifying since March 10th, refused the state prosecutor’s questions on the international legal grounds that he was part of a “freedom struggle.”
Legal representatives for his sons, brothers Cobus and Wilhelm Pretorius, indicated in the court that they would follow the same route.
The brothers, who are among the 13 who are being held in C-Max Prison, hoped that if declared prisoners of war, they would be freed as “the war is over”, their father, Dr Lets Pretorius, on trial with them, said.
Judge Eben Jordaan recessed the court and will consider the application Wednesday.
The Geneva Convention, which South Africa is a signatory, provides for the rights of prisoners of war. Some of the other men on trial are considering joining the brothers in their application.
Earlier in the trial, brothers Johan and Wilhelm Pretorius changed legal representatives and made written confessions to the bombings, claiming they declared “war” against South Africa.
Although their part in the various “legitimate military operations” differed, both indicated that they “at least knew of it.”
According to the confession they wrote, they were also involved in the establishment of a “base” in Gauteng, which would be required in the “anarchy” that would come when the “Night of Long Knives” would break loose.
Willhelm was also involved in the writing of the “blue letters” sent to the ANC and the South African president, which claimed the land for the “Boerevolk” and must be immediately given back to them.
“We formally declared war” when the requests are ignored, Pretorius said.
De Boer Krygsgevange-committee has already issued a declaration saying: “It was not brandy-and-Coke-talks around a campfire, but professionals who have left everything in the quest for the Boer nation’s self-realized.”
The Boeremag trial started on May 19, 2003, with 23 accused. One pleaded guilty and is already out on parole after serving his jail term. Another accused, Herman Scheepers, died while awaiting trial.
The case record runs more than 44,200 pages and has cost the South African government more than US$18 million. It is the longest-running trial in the history of South Africa.
Analysts expect the trial to end sometime next year. The State closed its case more than two years ago and only four of the 21 accused still have to take the stand.
Plot to kill 'treacherous whites'
Boeremag trial hears of plot to kill 'treacherous whites'
Pretoria, South Africa
23 March 2007 03:48
Documents discovered in the possession of Boeremag treason-trial escapees Herman van Rooyen and Rudi Gouws describe a plot to kill "treacherous whites", the Pretoria High Court heard on Friday.
Captain Sietze Albertse testified that the documents were found in a townhouse in Centurion where Van Rooyen and Gouws were recaptured in January after nine months on the run.
The documents describe not only a plan for a revolution aimed at securing an independent Boer state, but also a plan to free other Boeremag accused from C-Max prison.
Police also found two assault rifles, ammunition, a GPS device, three cellphones and cash in the sparsely furnished flat.
The documents -- with Van Rooyen's fingerprints on them -- describe the ideals of an independent Boer state, the development of a revolutionary freedom struggle and the nature of rebels and guerrilla warfare.
The author makes it clear that the enemies (of the "Burger Bevrydingsorganisasie") were not black people, but "traitors" in the white community, including Afrikaners who worked for the state.
"Our biggest threat is not the ANC [African National Congress] or black people in general, it's TREASON. White treason," the document reads.
The document proposes freeing the other Boeremag detainees and then starting a freedom struggle with a form of ethnic cleansing ("volksuiwering") "to get rid of the cancer within".
From there it moves to the creation of a Utopian Boer state, using guerrilla warfare and revolutionary techniques such as propaganda war.
It describes the different stages envisaged for the struggle, culminating in a new government and commando units forming "the new army".
The author makes no bones about the use of violence.
Phrases such as "the heroic struggle", "taking back the fatherland metre by metre", "ANC oppressors", "white slaves", "revolution", "freedom struggle" and "war" occur throughout the lengthy documents, which includes maps and aerial photographs of the area surrounding C-Max prison.
The accused have opposed admitting the documents as evidence, claiming they were not relevant to the charges against them. The 22 accused have denied guilt on more than 30 charges including high treason, terrorism and murder.
The state alleged the document was highly relevant.
Judge Eben Jordaan provisionally allowed the documents to be placed before the court as evidence, but said he would have to weigh up their value at the end of the trial.
Source (http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=302863&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/)
Pretoria, South Africa
23 March 2007 03:48
Documents discovered in the possession of Boeremag treason-trial escapees Herman van Rooyen and Rudi Gouws describe a plot to kill "treacherous whites", the Pretoria High Court heard on Friday.
Captain Sietze Albertse testified that the documents were found in a townhouse in Centurion where Van Rooyen and Gouws were recaptured in January after nine months on the run.
The documents describe not only a plan for a revolution aimed at securing an independent Boer state, but also a plan to free other Boeremag accused from C-Max prison.
Police also found two assault rifles, ammunition, a GPS device, three cellphones and cash in the sparsely furnished flat.
The documents -- with Van Rooyen's fingerprints on them -- describe the ideals of an independent Boer state, the development of a revolutionary freedom struggle and the nature of rebels and guerrilla warfare.
The author makes it clear that the enemies (of the "Burger Bevrydingsorganisasie") were not black people, but "traitors" in the white community, including Afrikaners who worked for the state.
"Our biggest threat is not the ANC [African National Congress] or black people in general, it's TREASON. White treason," the document reads.
The document proposes freeing the other Boeremag detainees and then starting a freedom struggle with a form of ethnic cleansing ("volksuiwering") "to get rid of the cancer within".
From there it moves to the creation of a Utopian Boer state, using guerrilla warfare and revolutionary techniques such as propaganda war.
It describes the different stages envisaged for the struggle, culminating in a new government and commando units forming "the new army".
The author makes no bones about the use of violence.
Phrases such as "the heroic struggle", "taking back the fatherland metre by metre", "ANC oppressors", "white slaves", "revolution", "freedom struggle" and "war" occur throughout the lengthy documents, which includes maps and aerial photographs of the area surrounding C-Max prison.
The accused have opposed admitting the documents as evidence, claiming they were not relevant to the charges against them. The 22 accused have denied guilt on more than 30 charges including high treason, terrorism and murder.
The state alleged the document was highly relevant.
Judge Eben Jordaan provisionally allowed the documents to be placed before the court as evidence, but said he would have to weigh up their value at the end of the trial.
Source (http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=302863&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/)
Boeremag Escape
June 1 2011
The presence of heavily armed members of the elite national intervention unit could not deter five determined Boeremag members from trying to make a dash for freedom during a tea break at their high court treason trial in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Chaos erupted shortly after 11.30am as the five tried to hot-foot it out of court after spraying ammonia into the faces of several police officers.
Amused pedestrians look on as Boeremag accused Herman van Rooyen is hustled back to jail
after car guards had helped catch him during a brazen escape. He was one of five members of the right-wing organisation who made a break for freedom during their treason trial in the High Court in Pretoria.
Three of the men only made it out of the courtroom door before they were apprehended.
The elderly Tom Vorster, said to be one of the leaders of the Boeremag, made it as far as the foyer before he was brought down by a female police officer.
Police screamed orders and bewildered members of the public trying to leave the building saw Herman van Rooyen jump through a glass panel.
Surprised security guard Steven Molokomme, who was guarding the door, dived towards Van Rooyen but he was sprayed in the eyes with ammonia.
Van Rooyen, who managed to escape from the same court five years ago, was chased by a group of policemen and security guards as he ran towards Church Square. Shouts of “Boeremag, Boeremag” alerted car guards, who joined the chase.
Van Rooyen was caught on Church Square by a member of the intervention unit. About five minutes after the drama began, he was cuffed and led back to court to cheers from onlookers.
By the time the Pretoria News arrived, Vorster was quietly lying in a foetal position on the floor. His hands were bound with a cable tie.
He lay there for more than a minute before a member of the elite intervention unit, part of the group who daily watch over the Boeremag accused at court, dragged him back into the court.
Some of the people claimed Vorster was stopped at the door by a policewoman, who shocked him with a stun stick, but this was denied by national police spokeswoman Sally de Beer.
A senior police official, who was at the scene, claimed Vorster punched a policewoman, who then knocked him down.
Accused Dr Lets Pretorius, who was awaiting trial in prison for several years before he was granted bail, just shook his head while observing Vorster lying on the ground. “You know, this is frustration. These men are extremely frustrated. They have been in jail for years now without being given bail and this trial is taking its toll on them,” he said.
The other three who tried to escape were Mike du Toit, and the first to be arrested more than eight years ago, Gerhardus (“Oom Vis”) Visagie and Rudi Gouws.
Oom Vis is deep in his 70s and the chaplain of the group. Early in the trial he often sat with his Bible on his lap. Gouws escaped with Van Rooyen in May 2006 during a lunch break. The pair were on the run for several months before they were apprehended in Lyttelton.
Since then Gouws and Van Rooyen have been sitting in the dock with leg-irons.
How it came about that they were without their leg-irons is still a mystery at this stage. According to the police, it is part of their investigation.
De Beer said: “We are going to make a request to the judge that all those on trial are placed in leg-irons for their next appearance.”
When the Pretoria News entered the courtroom shortly after their attempted dash for freedom, the only evidence of the escape was a pair of leg-irons in the dock and another next to the dock. Both pairs still had their locks attached.
Several bottles of nose spray, apparently filled with ammonia, were lined up against the wall of the courtroom.
The police confirmed that four members of the intervention unit and a security guard were taken to hospital for treatment after being sprayed with ammonia.
De Beer on Tuesday confirmed that all five had been apprehended and said that although there was “a strenuous struggle between the accused and the police”, minimum force was used under the circumstances.
The court resumed sometime later with the accused who are on bail in the dock. Prosecutor Paul Fick told Judge Eben Jordaan about the escape attempt. He also said that the dock was virtually empty as the 11 accused awaiting trial in jail were being kept in the court cells following the incident.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/cops-foil-boeremag-escape-1.1076620
Sex Scandal Rocks School
June 1 2011
A sex scandal has rocked a Soshanguve secondary school after allegations of sexual misconduct involving five or more pupils - and a case of attempted rape - were levelled against the principal of the school.
The principal has since been suspended by the Department of Education.
He appeared before a magistrate for attempted rape last Friday and has since been released on bail.
If he is found guilty of having sexual relations with the pupils the principal could be dismissed.
On Tuesday Soshanguve residents said they were shocked and disappointed by the principal, who is alleged to have been involved in sexual relations with at least five pupils at the school.
When a fight broke out between some of the girls, claims of attempted rape surfaced, prompting the mother of one of the alleged victims to report him to the police.
“He is alleged to have tried to rape a 16-year-old and 17-year-old at the school, but we arrested him when the mother of a 17-year-old reported him for attempted rape,” police spokesman Warrant Officer Dikgatso Thebe said.
Department of Education spokesman Charles Phahlane said a “precautionary suspension” followed the principal’s arrest for sexual misconduct.
Trouble at the school began last week when two girls discovered that they were both dating the principal.
When they got into a fight, other girls revealed that they too were having sexual relations with him.
“Two other girls said he had tried to rape them but they had been intimidated into keeping quiet,” a community member said.
He was arrested on Friday and appeared in court the same day.
Chaos broke out when the principal arrived at the school on Monday morning, with pupils abandoning class in protest against his presence.
“The principal went to the school before the letter could be served on him.
“He has been advised of the letter and is on precautionary suspension pending an internal investigation,” Phahlane said.
On Tuesday community members told the Pretoria News that they would prefer he be removed from the school permanently because their teenage daughters were not safe.
“Not only has this man betrayed our trust but he has also dragged his whole family into an unnecessary mess,” one visibly upset father said.
“This is very bad and could mess up the lives of our daughters for a long time,” another said.
“At no point should teachers look at girls as sexual objects, no matter how they might dress or carry themselves,” he added.
Parents said the principal had taken advantage of his position and coerced the girls into the relationships by making false promises.
Meanwhile, the school’s deputy schoolmaster has been appointed to act as principal and yesterday normal schooling resumed.
Phahlane said support has been offered to the pupils and counselling began on Monday.
“The department has organised a workshop on Child Abuse Protocol for educators and counselling for the victims,” he said.
“The department condemns the alleged abhorrent behaviour of the educator in the strongest terms.
“If the allegations are proven true, such educators should never be allowed near pupils again,” he said.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/sex-scandal-rocks-school-1.1076622
City Mansion Under Siege
May 31 2011
http://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/city-mansion-under-siege-1.1076333
A BISHOPSCOURT mansion, valued at R4.4 million, has been invaded by about 35 people who have stripped it bare, wrecked parts of it and allegedly turned it into a haven for drug dealing and prostitution.
That is the evidence before the Western Cape High Court as part of an application to evict the illegal occupants.
The house, described in court papers as having eight bedrooms and situated on a 475m2 plot in Maclear Road, is registered in the name of a close corporation, Windflower Properties.
However, the court has been told, the cc ran into financial difficulties and could no longer afford the bond repayments or the utility bills.
It was liquidated last December and two trustees were appointed to wind up the estate. It is the trustees who have approached the court seeking an eviction order.
In an affidavit, liquidator Mohamed Ismail Patel painted a grim picture of the manner in which the house had been vandalised. It said the trustees had received information to show that the occupants had:
- Disposed of human waste in drains and elsewhere after the water supply was disconnected.
- Installed a large generator after the electricity was cut.
- Attempted to divert water on to the premises by connecting the inflow pipe where it adjoined the municipal water meter.
- Strewn rubble across the backyard and in the garage.
- Broken the garage door and removed the motor.
- Broken the ceiling and removed the geyser.
- Broken doors as well as cupboards.
- Loosened the house’s parquet tiles.
- Removed light fittings.
- Removed copper and electrical pipes.
The extent of the damage can be seen in photographs, which Patel included with his affidavit.
He said the occupants had been using paraffin and gas and that the smell of the fumes from the generator also hung in the air. There was an odour of human effluent at the property, attracting cockroaches and flies, he said.
“Respondents and other occupants are persons of no visible means and it is suspected that they are presently using the property for various illegal activities such as the sale of dependence-producing substances and prostitution,” Patel said.
Aside from five names, the trustees had not been able to establish the identities of the occupants because none of them was willing to co-operate, he added.
The sole member of the cc, named in court papers as Ridwaan Banderker, has abandoned the property and no longer lives in South Africa, while a handyman who initially lived at the property could not be traced, Patel said.
“It is clear that, contrary to the premises’ stated use as a residential dwelling, it is now being used to house a large group of transient persons with nobody having any responsibility to maintain the property,” he said.
Neighbours had managed to establish that some of the occupants come from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo or Zimbabwe, he added.
The neighbours, he said, feared for their lives and had reported that police had had to step in on several occasions.
A valuator went to the property in January but was held by the occupants for two hours after they took umbrage when he told them the cc had been liquidated and that they had to vacate the premises, Patel said.
The valuator was released unharmed. The following month, the occupants had addressed a second valuator in an aggressive manner.
“(The occupants) have threatened with violence and death persons who they deem might interfere with their occupation of the premises and indeed persons living in properties adjoining the premises live in fear of them,” he said.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Zuma and Gaddafi
Zuma and Gaddafi
They say a picture says a thousand words.........
ZUMA: "Oh shit, what have I done?".........
GADDAFI: " Ah ha, I have got you"
Cops Arrested for Theft
2011-05-31
Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Mdunge said two metro police officers confiscated 400 watches, worth about R3 000 each, from a 70-year-old Johannesburg man in a hotel in Umhlanga last week.
On the way to the Durban north police station, the two metro police officers each took 25 of the watches.
They handed in the rest, but the sergeant on duty at the police station also stole a few.
The Durban organised crime unit launched an investigation when the owner of the watches complained about the theft.
Mdunge said police arrested the two metro police on Monday afternoon. They found 25 of the watches in the home of one of the officers and 17 at the other's house.
The investigators the took the two to the Durban north police station, where they saw an on-duty sergeant wearing one of the watches and arrested him too.
They found 20 watches in a search of his house.
All three men were charged with theft and would appear in the Durban Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Cops-arrested-for-theft-20110531
R750 000 to Rent House
2011-05-31
The public works department will spend about R750 000 to rent a house for Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros, The Star reported on Tuesday.
"Last month, the department hired Siyakula Logistics to provide a house at a cost of R31 042 a month, or R745 008 for the two-year contract," the newspaper wrote.
The award was listed in the Tender Bulletin on Friday and the cost was confirmed by department officials.
The state provided Petros with housing because he did not apply for the position, but was transferred from his previous position as Western Cape provincial commissioner.
He was appointed in Gauteng September of last year.
Housing tender
The Star reported that the housing tender, issued in March, called for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in or around Rosebank, Melrose, Oaklands, Dunkeld, Killarney, Morningside, Houghton, Illovo or Saxonwold.
It also called for the house to have electronic access control and a "solid perimeter wall with a minimum height of two metres" with an electric fence on top.
The acquisition of the house followed a report by the Gauteng department of infrastructure development, in which revealed it had 780 state-owned houses in the province.
One of these houses, in Bryanston, which was previously occupied by Mzwandile Kibi, deputy director-general of the department of infrastructure development, "appears to have all the features to accommodate Petros," The Star wrote.
The provincial government owned 826 state houses across six regions, but only 46 tenants had signed lease agreements.
In February, infrastructure development MEC Bheki Nkosi promised to act against those who were illegally occupying government houses.
"He issued a March deadline, but apparently has yet to act on his promise."
READERS COMMENTS:
INSANE!
Guarantee you the house belongs to an ANC cadre!
Prime example of corruption...why do the department have to hire a shipping logistics company to provide a house? I wonder how much of the rent is going into the back pocket mr Siyakula?!
anc -stop your wasteful ways. This is not a senior position. Any state house will do. This is why the anc is losing the vote . You are rip off artists with zero good intentions of doing a job. Your housing department should never have a mandate to go private ,especially when it is not a seniot job. WHY IS HE GETTING A HOUSE ANYWAY . BUY HIS OWN. I HOPE HE GETS TAXED ON THE FULL AMOUNT WHICH ADDS R372000 to his ridiculous package.
What makes this prick so special, he is a PUBLIC SERVANT and should be treated as such. Again we see the excess of the ANC and the waste of taxpayers money that should be used for uplifting the poor and service the country. They have hundreds of houses that would surfice. Why the additional security? if he did his job correctly then he would be a target, but for now he is the puppet and has no enemies!
Not really amased by this. Government issues mansions for government officials while poverty sits at the bottom of their list. Why he need the electric fencing etc. most probably comes down to the fact that he knows the the comunity and tax payers are being hard done to accomodate him. Pathetic! And everyone else in the country is expected to buy or rent their house with monthly income.
When is this going to end? When the money dries up.
This is the free housing everyone voted for.......
Keep voting ANC people...you will keep voting for your children to be uneducated, for your health system to continue in the downward spiral it's already in and you'll keep living in shacks and having lower class income through blue collar jobs!!!
Exactly why does this house have to be in so-called elite areas? Is Millionaires row in Soweto not good enough?
CAPE TOWN MUNICIPAL BANK
Did you know that commercial banks create money out of nothing, and lend it to you at compound interest, and moreover insist that you pledge real assets for such loans? Let me repeat - banks create money out of nothing. So why not have our own municipal bank which creates money out of nothing and which will enable lower property rates, low interest home loans and low interest student loans for the benefit of all our citizens?
The myth, which private bankers maintain, is that they accept deposits and then lend these deposits on to borrowers, earning the difference between the higher and lower rates of interest. This is not the case. Banks lend on those deposits, which can be withdrawn by new borrowers either by cheque or electronically. In terms of the latest Basel III agreement, banks are only required to have share capital and reserves of 12%. The other 88% of loans and advances represent money created out of nothing. This is known as the fractional reserve system.
How we will benefit:
(i) The City of Cape Town currently has outstanding borrowings and bonds of R5,5 billion. A municipal bank would enable the redemption of these loans and the funding of all infrastructure programmes at zero interest. As a result of the municipality not having to pay interest and the bank’s profits, ratepayers will enjoy a permanent reduction of at least 15% in annual property rates, and future increases will be lower than the official rate of inflation.
(ii) A ratepayer who deposits for example R60 000 for a fixed period of 5 years, will receive a competitive interest rate of say 6% per annum and be entitled to a home loan of R500 000 at a fixed rate of 2% p.a. Remember that the municipal bank will create this money out of nothing. It will pay R3 600 p.a. on the fixed deposit and receive R10 000 p.a. on the home loan.
Currently, Capetonians who have home loans spend 52% of their income on interest and repayment of capital per year. A drop in the home loan rate from 9% to 2% p.a. would result in a substantial boost to take-home pay and a rise in overall levels of prosperity.
(iii) In order to assist all our young people in obtaining the best education possible, student loans for tertiary education will be available at a nominal rate of 2% p.a. Applicants will have to be South African citizens permanently resident in the city for at least 5 years, with those born in the city receiving preference.
A municipal bank will not only help to eradicate poverty, it will make Cape Town one of the most prosperous cities in the world. Are there any precedents? One may look no further than the state bank of North Dakota in the USA, which was founded in 1919. North Dakota is the wealthiest state in the USA, having full employment and is one of only two states reflecting a budget surplus.
Visit http://www.banknd.nd.gov/
STEPHEN GOODSON is qualified in all aspects of banking and currently serves on the board of the South African Reserve Bank, where he has been a director for the past 8 years.
http://www.abolishtax.org.za/
tel/fax (028) 2738887
The myth, which private bankers maintain, is that they accept deposits and then lend these deposits on to borrowers, earning the difference between the higher and lower rates of interest. This is not the case. Banks lend on those deposits, which can be withdrawn by new borrowers either by cheque or electronically. In terms of the latest Basel III agreement, banks are only required to have share capital and reserves of 12%. The other 88% of loans and advances represent money created out of nothing. This is known as the fractional reserve system.
How we will benefit:
(i) The City of Cape Town currently has outstanding borrowings and bonds of R5,5 billion. A municipal bank would enable the redemption of these loans and the funding of all infrastructure programmes at zero interest. As a result of the municipality not having to pay interest and the bank’s profits, ratepayers will enjoy a permanent reduction of at least 15% in annual property rates, and future increases will be lower than the official rate of inflation.
(ii) A ratepayer who deposits for example R60 000 for a fixed period of 5 years, will receive a competitive interest rate of say 6% per annum and be entitled to a home loan of R500 000 at a fixed rate of 2% p.a. Remember that the municipal bank will create this money out of nothing. It will pay R3 600 p.a. on the fixed deposit and receive R10 000 p.a. on the home loan.
Currently, Capetonians who have home loans spend 52% of their income on interest and repayment of capital per year. A drop in the home loan rate from 9% to 2% p.a. would result in a substantial boost to take-home pay and a rise in overall levels of prosperity.
(iii) In order to assist all our young people in obtaining the best education possible, student loans for tertiary education will be available at a nominal rate of 2% p.a. Applicants will have to be South African citizens permanently resident in the city for at least 5 years, with those born in the city receiving preference.
A municipal bank will not only help to eradicate poverty, it will make Cape Town one of the most prosperous cities in the world. Are there any precedents? One may look no further than the state bank of North Dakota in the USA, which was founded in 1919. North Dakota is the wealthiest state in the USA, having full employment and is one of only two states reflecting a budget surplus.
Visit http://www.banknd.nd.gov/
STEPHEN GOODSON is qualified in all aspects of banking and currently serves on the board of the South African Reserve Bank, where he has been a director for the past 8 years.
http://www.abolishtax.org.za/
tel/fax (028) 2738887
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