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Quote of the Week
"It is time for everyone to realise that corruption is not just an aberration in the ANC that must be ‘rooted out’ from time to time. The ANC needs corruption to survive, it is its lifeblood. It needs it to fund its election campaigns. It needs it to pay the loyalty networks necessary for ANC leaders to entrench their power. And it needs corruption to pay for its leadership’s lifestyles. ANC leaders in the party, the state, and in business have become an interlocked network of patronage and corruption.”
Helen Zille, Da Leader in her most recent SA TODAY newsletter.
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Last Week's Highlights
Top Story: DA calls proposes Presidential Portfolio Committee
Athol Trollip MP, Parliamentary Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), in a recent press conference, proposed the establishment of a presidential portfolio Committee. Trollip said that the committee would oversee the Presidency, which included the National Planning and Performance Monitoring & Evaluation Ministries.
He stated that it was necessary for the Presidency to be held to account and not be exempt from exercising its functions in an open and transparent manner. Trollip added that the constitution mandated Parliament to establish such a committee, which required a change to the rules and various principles of the National Assembly.
The constitution recognises that parliamentary committees are the best mechanism through which to achieve transparency, and the same principles that apply to the rest of government departments should now be applied to the Presidency, said Trollip.
Trollip raised concerns over the lack of proper oversight which had resulted in a number of problems which had not been carefully investigated. He included the Presidential VIP Unit or ‘blue light bullies’, the wasteful expenditure of government, the appointment of the Director of the NPA, the Presidential Hotline and the issue on presidential pardons as examples.
Trollip called on President Zuma to take the lead and provide the country with effective leadership, vision and direction. He said that the President’s ever-growing budget and large staff compliment are further reasons for an oversight committee to be established. Trollip urged Zuma to demonstrate his commitment to the constitutional principles of the country, as well developing a more effective channel for communication with the South African public.
Read more here>>
The DA’s five point plan to fix forensic labs
Dianne Kohler Barnard MP, DA Shadow Minister of Police revealed how the DA’s five point plan would fix the Forensic Science and Chemistry Laboratories. She presented a detailed plan at a recent press conference, where she reported the dysfunctional state of the laboratories.
Kohler Barnard stated that the police’s Forensic Science Laboratories (FSL) and the Department of Health’s Forensic Chemistry Laboratories (FCL), play a critical role in the prosecution and conviction of criminals. She stated that if the laboratories were not functioning optimally, delayed court cases or cases where charges were dropped were often the result.
She pointed out a number of problems that contributed to their dysfunctionality. These included massive backlogs, high vacancy rates, staff retention and training issues, as well as the unsuitable housing of the laboratories.
Kohler Barnard proposed a five point plan as a solution to the crisis of the Laboratories. This included the removal of both the Forensic Science Laboratory from the SAPS and the Forensic Chemistry Laboratories from the Department of Health and instead, to merge them into a Forensic Laboratory Service which would operate as a private-public partnership.
The DA proposed to build a laboratory in each province, which would cater for all of the major categories of forensic analyses, said Kohler Barnard.
She added that a partnership with South Africa’s universities and technikons was needed to create post-graduate forensic science degrees and courses tailored to the specific needs of the Forensic Labs and urged that all Forensic Lab vacancies be filled as a matter of urgency.
Kohler Barnard concluded by saying that SAPS officers must be adequately trained in evidence collection techniques and a strict adherence to crime scene evidence protocol must be enforced.
Read more here >>>
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IN OTHER NEWS
DA run City of Cape Town rates tops
A recent report by the international rating agency, Global Credit Rating (GCR) awarded the Democratic Alliance (DA) one of the highest possible long term debt ratings of AA- which meant that the city boasted a “very high credit rating”.
Marti Wenger MP, DA Shadow Deputy of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, confirmed that two of the 11 other municipalities rated by GCR also received it. Wenger stated that this placed the City of Cape Town ahead of Buffalo City, the City of Johannesburg, the City of Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and a host of other ANC run metros.
Wenger said that high credit rating was the result of the DA’s strong track record in government and the City’s excellent financial planning capabilities. She added that it was further proof that the DA was both a party of government and the only other meaningful alternative to the ANC.
Read more here >>>
DA calls on amendments to SA / Zim bilateral trade agreement
Kobus Marais MP, Shadow Minister of Trade and Industry criticised the ANC on their recently signed bilateral trade agreement between South Africa and Zimbabwe, stating that it did not offer adequate protection to South African investors in Zimbabwe at all.
Marais stated that the treaty would probably not even be properly debated in Parliament. He said that it was important that implications of this agreement, and the specific protection provisions afforded to South African investors in Zimbabwe, be properly debated in Parliament and amended as needed.
Marais said that if these investments were not properly protected, the South African government would have failed to protect the interests of its citizens, using the recent occupation of the farms of in Zimbabwe, as an example. Marais said the DA would call on the speaker of Parliament to have the treaty debated in parliament in order to interrogate the provisions and ensure that South African business was protected abroad.
Comments by Sonny
The ANC rhetoric is equal to their service delivery!
Nonexistent!
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