Al-Qaeda: Alive and well in South Africa

No fear No Favour No Terrorists allowed in SA........


DE WET POTGIETER                          SOUTH AFRICA    13 APRIL 2013 12:44




The police’s specialised unit, Crimes Against the State (CATS) and the State Security Agency (SSA) have been monitoring the training of al-Qaeda terrorists in South Africa for several years, without taking any action. A year-long investigation by the Daily Maverick’s DE WET POTGIETER has revealed surprising inaction by police despite incriminating evidence about secret military training camps and sophisticated sniper training at three well-documented locations as well as several others across South Africa. These subversive activities have taken place at a farm near the notorious Apartheid police hit squad camp at Vlakplaas outside Pretoria, as well as a secluded farm in the mountains of the Klein Karoo.

Nkandla: Zuma’s best-kept secret soon to be Parliament’s secret

Ne Fear No Favour no Corruption..............




Greg Nicolson       SOUTH AFRICA  14 MAY 2013     02:00

If you were hoping the Department of Public Works task team on the upgrades to President Zuma’s Nkandla residence would shed some light on who’s responsible for the R206 million spend, don’t hold your breath. The president’s house is a national key point so his allies can “justifiably” say releasing the juicy details of the report might compromise national security. By GREG NICOLSON.

Speaking on Monday, the Democratic Alliance said National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu indicated the report would be tabled in Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence. DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said in a statement that by submitting the report to the joint standing committee on intelligence those who should be held accountable for the R206 million upgrade to the president’s private home could escape being held accountable.

In Sisulu’s letter to the party, which the DA published, the speaker says he received legal advice that some aspects of the report must be referred to the intelligence committee, which may then refer other matters to appropriate committees.

Mazibuko said that because the report deals with a national key point almost all of the information could be kept secret. “The DA is strongly opposed to this decision which will essentially bury the information in the report and will prevent those at the very top from being held accountable.”

The joint standing committee on intelligence is predominantly made up of ANC members but includes representatives from the DA, IFP, COPE and UDM. Members take an oath of secrecy and the meetings are closed when considering matters of national security or classified information.

Mazibuko will ask Sisulu to reveal the legal opinion that informed his decision. The DA wants the report to go before the committees on public works, defence and police. “Should this not happen, we will consider the process to be fundamentally flawed and a backdoor mechanism to hide the contents of this report from South Africans in order to protect President Jacob Zuma from being held to account,” said Mazibuko.

ANC parliamentary spokesman Moloto Mathapo told Daily Maverick the DA was acting as an “irresponsible” opposition trying to make headlines. Mathapo had not heard of Sisulu’s letter but said it was in line with earlier comments in Parliament regarding the report advising it “be considered with the utmost sensitivity”. The document must be treated with sensitivity, he said, because it deals with the head of state and might make serious allegations against individuals who are yet to face court.

Defending the decision to submit the report to the intelligence committee he referred to section 69 of the Constitution: “The National Assembly may not exclude the public, including the media, from a sitting of a committee unless it is reasonable and justifiable to do so in an open and democratic society.” He also referred to the National Assembly rules which allow a committee or subcommittee to exclude the public when a matter is prejudicial to a particular person.

Suggestions the ANC are trying to protect those responsible for the spending on Zuma’s home are “complete rubbish”, said Mathapo. “The committee this will be subjected to is a multiparty committee where all parties are represented… If there’s any attempt to hide corruption [the DA] will be there to see it.”

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi summarised findings on the issue in January this year. The inquiry’s terms of reference included establishing if Zuma’s residence was declared a national key point, what official recommendations had been made regarding security at Nkandla, and whether the upgrade followed the proper procurement laws.

Nxesi said Nkandla was declared a national key point in April 2010 by which time Zuma had already started renovating his home, including new constructions. Security assessments recommended including a physical security system, an evacuation mechanism, fire-fighting capabilities, and other operational needs including medical facilities and accommodation.

“There is no evidence that public money was spent to build the private residence of the president or that any house belonging to the president was built with public money,” said Nxesi. By January the state had paid over R206 million on the project. The minister didn’t go into detail but said procurement procedures had been flouted. “It is very clear that there were a number of irregularities with regards to appointment of service providers and procurement of goods and services.”

Nxesi said the report would be sent to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), Auditor General (AG), and SAPS to investigate the possible criminal charges while government would discipline any officials found to have flouted procurement procedures.

It’s looking less likely that we’ll see the results of those investigations. Eye Witness News reported on Monday that the SIU is yet to start its investigation into Nkandla. It has been over three months since Nxesi referred information on the procurement irregularities to the investigative unit. The SIU is yet to receive an official proclamation from the president to begin the investigation.

The Public Protector’s office has stated Thuli Madonsela is getting close to finishing her report on Nkandla but her team has been held up waiting for information from unidentified government departments.

Commenting on the Public Works report, Right2Know’s Murray Hunter acknowledged the need for the intelligence committee to have closed sessions but raised questions about its accountability. “It is a committee that is supposed to ensure that national security is being upheld, and to prevent abuses of power among those who are meant to uphold it – yet the committee itself operates behind a veil of secrecy. There is so little information flowing from this body that it is hardly ever possible to know whether it is doing its oversight job or not,” Murray wrote on email.

“The fact that access to the report is even a question is an example of the toxic effect that outdated laws like the National Key Points Act have on our public life; at best, with its broad, draconian clauses it is obstructing access to information. At worst, its sheer vagueness and pervasiveness have created this creeping culture of secrecy, where officials and even parliamentarians are simply afraid to fulfill the public’s right to know.”

Writing on his blog, Constitutionally Speaking, in March, constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos said the National Key Points Act couldn’t be used to hide the Public Works investigation. “There is nothing in the National Key Points Act that prohibits Parliament from discussing details of the amounts of public money spent on the private palace of the president – whether that palace was declared a national key point or not,” wrote De Vos. If the report deals with security specifics that could endanger the president, he argued, that information could be made in camera while the rest of the report must be publically tabled as per the rules on openness and transparency.

That’s what’s supposed to happen, anyway. But whether the details on who is responsible for the exorbitant spending at Nkandla emerge after the joint standing committee on intelligence takes a look at the report remains to be seen. If the information gets buried, it’s unlikely you’ll ever know.DM

Read more:

• Nkandla: Why is the ANC protecting the Emperor who is not wearing any clothes? In Constitutionally Speaking

• Nkandlagate report being tabled behind closed doors in Politics Web

DAILY MAVERICK

COMMENTS BY SONNY

THIS IS NOT A NATIONAL KEY POINT - JUST ANOTHER PERSONAL COVER UP!

LIKE THE AL-QAEDA TERRORIST CAMP ARTICLE WHICH IS NOW UNDER THE RADAR!

LET'S HOPE THEY ARE NOT LINKED TO THE GUPTAS?

NUM: Fighting fire with fire

No Fear No Favour No Num please...........

GREG NICOLSON SOUTH AFRICA 14 MAY 2013  01:16

In a significant escalation, mineworkers in the Marikana area are blaming the NUM for the murder of an AMCU member who was due to appear at the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into last year’s massacre. Under pressure to protect its members and fight to retain its position as mining’s leading union, it appears the NUM is becoming more militant. By GREG NICOLSON.

A key Marikana Commission witness was murdered this weekend. The regional organiser for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) was shot multiple times at a tavern near Rustenburg. His comrades blame the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) for the killing.

The murder is one of many killings in the last year related to the ongoing turf battle between rival mining unions, putting South Africa’s biggest union on the defensive and forcing a “hands off NUM” campaign.

It follows recent comments suggesting the union could take a more militant approach in its defence. Speaking in Rustenburg on May Day, ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa declared war on those against the tripartite alliance and in particular, those threatening the NUM where it is most vulnerable, in the Rustenburg area. “We should declare Rustenburg alliance territory. The same attack is being launched onto the ANC, Cosatu and SACP,” said the NUM founder. “We must stand firm and united and defend this union,” he told the crowd at Olympia Stadium. “We must declare Rustenburg alliance territory because this is the home of the ANC.”

A weak NUM means a weaker ANC, Ramaphosa explained. His slogan for the day was clear: one industry, one union, one federation, one country, one party.

The ANC deputy president didn’t elaborate on the NUM’s enemies, but it’s not hard to guess who he was referring to. The union was severely compromised by the industry-wide strikes in 2012. At its founding congress, when Ramaphosa was the union’s only full-time employee, it had just 14,000 members. Within four years membership grew to 344,000 and the NUM remained South Africa’s biggest trade union, with more than 320,000 members in May 2012. But during last year, the union’s 30th anniversary, internal problems became apparent and were exploited by external challengers.

The secretariat report to the 2012 NUM congress detailed the problems in Rustenburg, a crucial region for NUM. It cited unending leadership tensions, unprovoked violence, internal divisions, unpredictable membership, competing unions threatening its dominance, and “the inability of NUM members to defend the union”. An overarching concern behind those issues remains members vying for leadership positions to enrich themselves and the perception that union leaders are in bed with management.

The NUM is estimated to have lost tens of thousands of members, anywhere between 30,000 and 80,000. While its members felt neglected, even betrayed, AMCU was on a membership drive at key crisis points, offering an alternative to the NUM’s vices. The result was a turf war – protracted strikes not endorsed by the NUM that were accompanied by violence, with previously safe NUM representatives being threatened and killed.

The NUM blamed AMCU for the violence and alliance members have continued the attack as the mining sector moves into strike season. NUM president Senzeni Zokwana blamed the media on Sunday for calling Amcu a militant union instead of a violent one. SACP secretary general Blade Nzimande on Sunday said, “There’s a difference between a trade union and vigilantes. AMCU is not a trade union and never has been.”

The comments come ahead of more possible clashes in the mining industry. The rival unions narrowly avoided more deaths in Februarywhen Amcu members surrounded a NUM office at Anglo American Platinum’s Siphumelele mine in Rustenburg. Amplats had announcedAMCU had taken majority membership, which needed to be audited, and its members decided the NUM had to go. Thirteen people were wounded in the clash as mine security attempted to disperse the crowd.

Amplats announced on Friday it would retrench 6,000 employees, revised from 14,000, and both unions have responded with anger. A resulting protest or strike could lead to battles between supporters of the rival unions. The NUM is still under extreme pressure to retain members and faces another year of challenges as this year’s wage negotiations in the mining sector are due to begin against a backdrop of high demands and violent protests in 2012.

The NUM might be thinking it’s time for a more militant approach. The union launched its Youth Forum last week with a conference in Boksburg. Spokesman Lesiba Sheshoka said the youth wing, for members aged up to 35, was formed in response to a University of Witswatersrand study showing 54% of NUM members are aged 19-39 and young members, less loyal and more militant in their demands, require special attention.

Curiously, the NUM Youth Forum is not a new initiative, with the 2012 NUM secretariat report stating that it was launched in 2011 with interim leaders appointed until a youth summit could be held. Goals included advocacy on youth issues, health awareness, improving access to education and training, and recruiting new members.

The NUM Youth Forum was recast at its launch last week, adopting the language of battle. The theme was “Youth rising in defence and advancement of NUM” with the slogan, “Relax mchana, the NUM is here to stay”.

“The bulk of members we lost are young people and we have realised that they require special attention,” Sheshoka told the Sowetan newspaper. But news agency Reuters summed up its view on the NUM Youth Forum’s role in the ongoing battle simply: “The move signals NUM is preparing to literally fight back against AMCU, seeking younger men to beef up its ranks, after the rivalry between the two triggered violence last year that killed over 50 people and sparked a wave of wildcat strikes that hammered production.”

Put simply, NUM and AMCU members are being killed and it’s likely we will see more deaths as the fallout from last year’s violence, including the Marikana Commission, continues. This year could hold a new set of strikes and a new level of violence. As attacks continue on both the organisation and its members, beware of a new rise in militancy from the NUM as leaders continue to provoke and members attempt to defend their union and their livelihoods. Neither the union nor the ANC can afford to sacrifice the NUM’s dominance as the bloody turf war continues. DM

Photo: At the May Day rally in Rustenburg, ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa declared war on those against the tripartite alliance and in particular, those threatening the NUM where it is most vulnerable, in the Rustenburg area. (Thapelo Lekgowa)

DAILY MAVERICK

COMMENTS BY SONNY

The man who stood to lose the most behind the violence?

Then he received a political posting to avoid the HEAT?

WILL WE EVER KNOW THE TRUTH? 

'Bullying' Guptas wanted diplomatic passports

No fear No Favour No Gupta's...........


SIBUSISO NGALWA, GEORGE MATLALA and SIBONGAKONKE SHOBA | 12 May, 2013 08:06

The "bullying" Gupta family tried to muscle their way into getting diplomatic passports.

It is one of the many outrageous demands the Guptas have made on the government of President Jacob Zuma: that the Department of International Relations issue the three brothers, Ajay, Atul and Tony, with diplomatic passports. The request, made last year, was rejected by the department.

According to high-ranking officials in the government, the Guptas - who settled in South Africa after arriving here from India in 1993 - argued they deserved such passports because they often travelled with Zuma on international trips "promoting" South Africa. They pointed out that their family had invested heavily in the country's economy.

"A diplomat is someone who carries out diplomacy on behalf of the state ... in what capacity did they think they qualify? I have never seen any family that behaves like this anywhere in the world ... they would never do this in India," said a senior government official with intimate knowledge of the Gupta request.

This week, as the controversy surrounding the "unauthorised" landing of a Gupta-hired private jet at Waterkloof Air Force Base continued to dominate the news, a number of government officials described how the family had used their close relationship with Zuma to "intimidate" officials into channeling advertising and business towards their newspaper, The New Age, and other companies.

"We go through bullying on a daily basis. We are called to do certain things. It is not a nice environment to work in. Those guys are disrespectful. They tell you what to do. If you refuse, you will lose your job. Speaking against the Guptas is like speaking against the president," said an adviser to a government minister who asked not to be named.

Among claims made by officials this week were that:

• In early December 2010, Ajay Gupta summoned the then CEO of the Government Communication and Information Systems and government spokesman Themba Maseko to the family's Saxonwold, Johannesburg, "Sahara Estate", where he demanded that the entire R600-million government advertising budget be redirected to The New Age, through GCIS. Maseko refused. Two months later, he was removed as CEO;
• The Guptas wanted Transport Minister Ben Martins to fire the board of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and its CEO, Lucky Montana. Prasa is in charge of aR137-billion railway revitalisation programme. Montana is said to have drawn the family's ire after he awarded a tender to build new trains to a rival company.
• The Guptas wanted the Airports Company of SA to take a R950000-a-month subscription to The New Age to be distributed at airports in "exclusive stalls";
• Ajay, who sat on the International Marketing Council board (now Brand SA) told board members during a meeting in 2010 that his office and not the council - the body tasked with marketing South Africa internationally - would handle all matters relating to Zuma's state visit to India in June of that year; and
• In December last year, officials in the Department of Cooperative Governance spent a combined R1.8-million on adverts in The New Age and on booking tables for the newspaper's "business breakfast briefings" without following procurement procedures.

The Guptas are said to directly approach - and allegedly try to intimidate - individual officials to demand advertising for The New Age. According to insiders, they threaten "difficult" officials by invoking Zuma's name and those of cabinet ministers.

They are said to have told those invited to their Saxonwold compound that Zuma was a regular dinner guest there, particularly on Thursday evenings, after the previous day's cabinet meeting.

Despite public outrage about the Gupta family's influence on the government, Zuma has yet to condemn the use of his name by his family friends.

This has prompted top Durban-based advocate Kessie Naidu, who has known Zuma since 1988, to pen an open letter demanding the president break his ties with the Guptas: "Remove from your midst these vile sycophants and praise-singing opportunists who, like a cancerous sore, has the potential to spread throughout the portals of power. Discourage this cronyism that is threatening the very fabric of our society. Take the lead," Naidu demands of Zuma.

Zuma's spokesman, Mac Maharaj, said Zuma had expressed his support for the investigation into the Water-kloof saga and would not comment further.

Asked whether the Guptas had Zuma's blessing in their request for diplomatic passports, Maharaj said: "People do not tell the president when they wish to apply for passports."

International relations spokesman Clayson Monyela would not respond to a direct question about the Guptas' request. "We get approached by all sorts of individuals all the time inquiring whether they qualify for diplomatic passports ... for those who don't qualify, the department is very clear in saying no."

Gupta spokesman Gary Naidu said the Sunday Times's questions "clearly suggest ... a determined drive to malign the family".

He denied that the family had any interest in the Prasa tender. "We are again amazed by the nature of your questions and fear that your request for comment is simply to legitimise you publishing further untruths about the family. It speaks to the weakness of self-regulation that newspapers like yourselves can publish slander on the basis of giving us a right of reply."

Naidu said it was an "affront" to the leadership of the government and the boards of parastatals when "you suggest that members of the family are able to force ministers and board members to do their bidding".

The Guptas are suing the Sunday Times for R500-million for allegedly defaming the family.

TIMES LIVE 

COMMENTS BY SONNY

If you can buy a president with a fruit farm you deserve a "Golden Banana!"

Some people can buy a president with a 'mielie cob!"

This family should have knocked on Queen Elizabeth III door instead.

Or maybe, just maybe, they would have been crowded by all their ex countrymen.

Mbeki should have exiled Zuma and not just suspended him.

MO SHAIK WAS RIGHT ON ONE SCORE ONLY.......

Africa must stop looting of its resources: Annan

No Fear No Favour No Free minerals available............




10-MAY-2013 | SAPA    SOUTH AFRICA

Picture taken from www.sott.net

Revenues from mining in Africa are not reducing the gap between the rich and the poor on the continent, the Africa Progress Panel said.

The panel, which consists of eminent persons chaired by former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, released its Africa Progress report for 2013.

Speaking in Cape Town at the World Economic Forum on Africa, Annan said while the past decade had brought growth to several African countries, some crucial interventions were needed to ensure revenues were not hidden in tax havens, but invested in critical areas such as health and education.

The interventions should include African countries putting in place bold policies for transparency and accountability.

"The Africa Progress Panel finds it unconscionable that some companies, often supported by dishonest officials, are using unethical tax avoidance, transfer pricing, and anonymous company ownership to maximise their profits, while millions of Africans go without adequate nutrition, health, and education," Annan said.

African countries needed strategies that would dictate to investors the terms under which natural resources should be developed .

These strategies should include fiscal arrangements and tax regimes.

It should also be linked to creating more jobs.

"Processing natural resources before exporting them brings extra value to a country's natural resource sector," Annan said.

SOWETAN NEWS

COMMENTS BY SONNY

Then, you will still vote to allow these despots onto the UN?

They are the ones looting minerals and ignoring the poor.

They become president by default and immediately become dictators.

DOES THE UNITED NATIONS NOT REACH INTO SOUTHERN AFRICA?

.....'Fuck the poor, we're eating cake!'.....

Tshwane suspends Gupta cops

No Fear No Favour No Moonlighting.........



Sapa | 10 May, 2013 13:06

Police vehicles at the wedding of Vega Gupta, daughter of one of the Gupta sisters on May 2, 2013, in Sun City, South Africa. File photo.
Image by: Photo by Gallo Images 

The Tshwane metro suspended eight police officers on Friday for allegedly escorting and providing unofficial security to Gupta wedding guests from Waterkloof Air Force Base to Sun City.

The officers would receive their suspension letters on Friday, said executive director Console Tleane.

"The members will have their firearms and appointment certificates confiscated," he said.

The municipality initially found that nine officers had been involved in the escort, which formed part of the scandal dubbed "Guptagate".

Tleane said one of those officers had not been served with a notice to suspend because he was in hospital.

"It was our considered view that it would not be prudent, nor humane to serve a person with a letter of notice to suspend him while he is in hospital," said Tleane.

The eight received their notices to suspend on Tuesday, giving them 48 hours to inform the municipality why they should not be suspended. None of the officers made a presentation to the municipality on the matter.

The officers were suspended with pay. Formal charges will be bought against the eight on Friday, said Tleane.

He said it has since emerged that two other officers, apart from the nine, were also involved in the controversial escort and security services to the wedding guests.

"This brings the number to eleven. The two will be served with letters of intention to suspend them today (Friday). They may be suspended if they fail to provide the department with reasons why they should not be suspended," said Tleane.

The officers allegedly fitted blue lights and false number plates to their private vehicles to escort guests to the Gupta family wedding in Sun City, North West.

A senior police officer, three air force officers, and the chief of state protocol were suspended for their alleged part in the unauthorised landing of a jet chartered by the Gupta family at the military base.

Some of the officers allegedly carried their service weapons while performing private duties, in contravention of the Firearms Control Act.

The jet chartered by the Gupta family made an unauthorised landing at Waterkloof Air Force Base -- a national key point -- last Tuesday.

It was carrying guests to the wedding of Vega Gupta, 23, to Indian-born Aakash Jahajgarhia.

The Guptas own The New Age newspaper and Sahara Computers.

The jet was moved off the base last Thursday, amid widespread criticism.

Times Live

COMMENTS BY SONNY

This investigation is as "still born" as the Zuma "Spy Tapes!"

IT IS A PITY IT SHOULD HAVE ENDED WITH IMPEACHMENT!

SOUTH AFRICA - THE LAND OF THE CORRUPT, CRIMINALS AND MURDERERS.

We would like to know how much these 'moonlighters' were paid?

No response.

Capitalism the real enemy, says Vavi

No fear No Favour No Communism....................



Sapa | 10 May, 2013 11:45

The capitalist system is the real enemy in South Africa, Congress of SA Trade Unions general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Friday.

Problems such as xenophobia, corruption, gender-based violence, and substance abuse were rooted in economic misery, he said in Johannesburg.

"All of these are rooted in another set of three even bigger demons; unemployment, poverty, and inequality, which provide a fertile breeding ground for all the others."

Vavi was speaking at a seminar hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand's African centre for migration and society.

He said the latest figures on unemployment indicated things were getting "even worse".

Statistics SA reported this week that the official unemployment rate in the first quarter of the year had risen to 25.2% from 24.9% in the last quarter of 2012.

Vavi said this did not reflect the full extent of the problem, as it excluded discouraged work seekers and those reduced to "cutting hair at the corner of the street".

South Africa also had the most unequal society in the world, he said.

"If we do not address this, the demons... will be unleashed," he said.

The "real enemy" was the capitalist system, which undermined social cohesion.

He dismissed business concerns that a proposed national minimum wage would lead to job losses as "propaganda and lies".

"A national minimum wage would be a significant step towards securing greater social cohesion," he said.

Times Live

COMMENTS BY SONNY

VAVI YOU WILL NOT SOFTEN YOUR OWN FALL BY BLAMING CAPITALISM HERE.

THE REAL ENEMY IS ZUMA, HIS FAMILY, HIS CABINET AND HIS GOVERNMENT (ANC).

ONLY WHEN YOU TELL THE TRUTH SHALL YOU BE SET FREE!

GREED COULD BE THE ROOT TO ALL YOU OWN PROBLEMS........