Positive talks between DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE and COPE in Kouga & Koukamma

Very positive negotiations between the leadership of both the DA and COPE took place during the weekend in Humansdorp.

The positive vibe at the meeting resulted from healthy cooperation between the two parties during a by-election in Humansdorp/Kwanomzamo some two years ago.

During the upcoming local municipal elections COPE unfortunately did not manage to register their candidates in Kouga and Koukamma in time due to an administrative blunder.

After lengthy discussions the two parties resolved that they share a common view with regard to the municipal election:
• The ANC must be stopped in both Kouga and Koukamma due to corruption, financial- and administrative- malfunctioning, and poor service delivery.
• Both the DA and COPE wish to experience Kouga and Koukamma reaching award-winning status once again by rendering “clean” administration and top class service delivery.

With the above in mind the COPE leadership in Kouga and Koukamma recommends the following:
• That their followers remain members of the COPE party;
• That due to the fact that COPE could not register candidates in Kouga & Koukamma, their followers will vote for the Democratic Alliance on all three ballot papers on May, 18;
• That future cooperation between the DA and COPE be jointly decided.

The DA leadership in Kouga and Koukamma agreed to incorporate COPE members in local municipal structures.

(Submitted by Dr. Nico Botha, Chairman of the Management Committee of the DA in the Jeffreys Bay Region)

ANC: A party at war with itself

Lindiwe Mazibuko, DA National Spokesperson
23 March 2011

There is now even more evidence to demonstrate that the ANC is a party at war with itself, and as a result unable to govern and deliver services effectively to South Africa's citizens.

The party’s candidate selection process for the upcoming elections has been chaotic and marred by violence in several parts of the country. If the ANC cannot manage a straightforward internal process such as selecting candidates to represent communities around the country, there is little to suggest that it will be better able to manage the process of governing the municipalities it does win and ensure effictive service delivery in South Africa. Read more ...

ANC cadre deployment: Redefining cluelessness

James Lorimer, Shadow Deputy Minister of Co - operative Governance and Traditional Affairs
23 March 2011

The ANC’s MEC for local government in the Eastern Cape has justified the deployment of a cadre with a consistent record of failure to a new position. MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane has responded to a DA enquiry about the matter with an answer that redefines the concept of cluelessness.

Siphiwo Sohena is an ANC cadre who has been appointed to a succession of important jobs despite highly questionable results. He first rose to prominence as the head of Human Resources in the Nelson Mandela Metro in 2004. He was suspended after a scandal involving his purchase of golf shirts at R560 apiece. He left with a golden handshake.

He was then appointed as municipal manager of the Sundays River Valley Municipality, at that time one of the best run in the Eastern Cape. Within two years the municipality was bankrupt and he was sacked, facing 11 charges of gross misconduct and mismanagement. After party political infighting the ANC reinstated him. Unhappy residents took this decision to court and the court confirmed the sacking, awarding costs against Sohena. Read more ...

If the ANC is serious about fighting corruption, they will support our bill

Ian Davidson, Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance
23 March 2011

Today I briefed the Committee on Private Members’ Legislative Proposals and Special Petitions on the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) private member’s bill to regulate the business interests of state employees.

The proposed bill is designed to address the continued scourge of corruption in the public service, which has reached alarming levels in recent years. Read more ...

Trevor Manuel is telling South Africans not to vote ANC

Lindiwe Mazibuko, DA National Spokesperson
17 March 2011

Trevor Manuel’s latest attack on the ANC government’s service delivery record is the fourth such incident in three months. Trevor Manuel is at war with the ANC. He has described it as unaccountable, racist, corrupt, and a party that has failed to deliver to the poor. But if Trevor Manuel, as a member of the senior leadership of the ANC, has no confidence in his party’s ability to govern, there is no reason why voters should. In short, Trevor Manuel has told South Africans why they should not vote for the ANC. Read more ...

DA is working to stop tender fraud with legislation - Bobby Stevenson

There is a way to stop corruption, maladministration and overpricing when it comes to the manner in which the province does its business.

Legislation simply has to be approved that prevents civil servants and their families doing business with the province.

I have introduced a Private Member’s Bill which is currently being considered by the provincial legislature to bar provincial employees from trading with the government. This is based on legislation that has already been passed by the Western Cape — with the support of the African National Congress. Read more ...

Bhisho heads for clash over temoprary teachers: The Herald

THE Eastern Cape Education Department is heading for a collision course with the Bhisho High Court over the reinstatement of temporary teachers whose contracts were summarily cancelled in December.

It emerged yesterday that the department was unlikely to comply with an interim order granted on Tuesday, which ruled that thousands of temporary teachers be reinstated within five days.
Read more ...

DA’s record in local government is a game changer

Lindiwe Mazibuko, DA National Spokesperson

17 February 2011

Three months from now, South Africans head to the polls to vote for their local government representatives. This is an important election, and also quite a unique one. It is important because of the acute service delivery failures that plague municipalities across the country, and unique because, for the first time in our democratic era, a political party that is not the ANC has a comprehensive record in municipalities across the country against which its commitment to service delivery can be gauged. Read more ...

100 ideas that can help South Africa

Athol Trollip, DA Parliamentary Leader released 100 ideas that would help to build a better South Africa. Trollip said that change is achievable and involves the implementation of a series of actionable policy measures, the adoption of which would not only improves the quality of life for all South Africans, but would also address some of the most glaring problems that have hampered service delivery and good governance under successive ANC administrations. Read more ...

Cover up on SIU reports on municipal corruption

The Eastern Cape Department of Local Government is to appoint service providers to further delay findings on municipal corruption by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).

The municipalities of Koukamma, Kouga, Alfred Nzo and Sundays River Valley were fingered by the SIU for investigation — a process that started some 18 months ago. Read more ...

Gas exploration in the Karoo: DA wants moratorium on “fracking”

Gareth Morgan MP, Shadow Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs has called for a moratorium on any exploration or mining activity that involves “fracking”. Read more ...

Jy mag net kla as jy stem

Helen Zille, die leier van die DA, het Atlantis in die Wes-Kaap en Mamelodi in Gauteng vandeesweek besoek om inwoners aan te moedig om vir die komende munisipale verkiesings te registreer. Lees meer hier ...

School workbooks

Dr Wilmot James' (DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education) recent visit to the printers PaarlMedia has confirmed that these workbooks have not yet reached students, and will, at the earliest, reach all schools by the end of January 2011, almost three weeks into the school year. While schools may well be in possession of textbooks and stationery, it is therefore evident that they have not yet received the Department’s workbooks.

Read more ...

Matric results

The Democratic Alliance (DA) congratulated those matric students who performed admirably and met their goals in the 2010 final examinations. Rising pass rates across the country are certainly an essential precondition for eliminating poverty, expanding opportunities and enhancing South Africa’s long-term prosperity, said Wilmot James MP, Shadow Minister of Basic Education.

Read more. Go to
http://www.da.org.za/newsroom.htm?action=view-news-item&id=9016

Jeug-loonsubsidie

Die regering moet werkskepping vir jeugdiges steun

Die DA-jeug het onlangs ’n memorandum aan die Bedryfshoof van die Parlement, mnr. Tango Lamani, oorhandig en die Parlement versoek om die geleidelike bekendstelling van ’n jeug-loonsubsidie spoedeisend ’n hoë prioriteit te gee. ’n Jeug-loonsubsidie sal die wesentlike koste van indiensneming verlaag, en potensieel sonder ’n loon-aanpassing of wysiging van diensvoorwaardes honderde duisende werkgeleenthede skep, sê Makashule Gana, die leier van die DA-jeug. Lees meer ...

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Patel's plan

A fatally flawed macroeconomic stance

The Democratic Alliance has voiced serious concerns over Minister Patel's New Growth Path stating that there are significant flaws in his approach to the macro-economy. At its core, the plan fails to address the fundamental distortions in our economy – which the minister conveniently chooses to ignore says Dr. Dion George MP, Shadow Minister of Finance. Read more ...

Openbare Diens-uitsaaiwetsontwerp

DA vra dat konsep van wetsontwerp teruggetrek word

Die DA het gevra dat die Wetsontwerp onvoorwaardelik teruggetrek moet word omdat dit té veel problematiese bepalings bevat, onder meer die sentralisering van die beheer oor die Suid-Afrikaanse Uitsaaikorporasie (SABC) in die hande van die Minister van Kommunikasie, en die instelling van ’n persoonlike inkomstebelasting van 1 persent, al het die Tesourie reeds aangedui dat dit hoegenaamd nie lewensvatbaar is nie. Lees meer ...

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This is the Hitachi scandal all over again

Recent evidence presented has indicated that the ANC, via its front company Chancellor House, is benefiting from the national energy crisis, through its recent purchase of a major Swazi coal mine, which is in turn apparently set to supply coal to several power plants, including the new Medupi plant. In other words, as was the case in the Hitachi scandal, the ANC stands to profit from higher electricity tariffs, and from the state’s World Bank loan deal. The DA believe that this amounts to a gross conflict of interest. It blurs the lines between party and state, and we once again call for the ANC to shut down Chancellor House. Read more ... 

Plaas-ekwiteitskemas

DA verwelkom die opheffing van die moratorium

Die DA verwelkom die opmerkings van Gugile Nkwinti, die Minister van Landelike Ontwikkeling en Grondhervorming, oor die regering se voornemens om die moratorium op plaasekwiteitskemas (PESe) op te hef. Die PESe is ’n grondhervormingsmodel wat behels dat die staat aandele in kommersiële plase namens die plaaswerkers wat daarop werk, verkry. Die DA sal die Departement se inwerkingstelling van die program steeds bly monitor om te sorg dat grondhervorming in Suid-Afrika vir alle belanghebbendes ’n wen-wen-situasie word. Lees meer ...

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Cabinet reshuffle: Commitment to accountability key to new cabinet’s success

There are serious challenges facing the reshuffled Zuma cabinet- particularly with regards to tackling unemployment and improving service delivery. The extent to which the President is able to pursue a path which is based on a commitment to accountability and performance, rather than one which uses state positions and resources to reward political loyalty, will be the determining factor of his administration’s success. Read more