MBEKI'S OUSTING MAY SIGNAL END OF ANC'S DOMINANCE
President Thabo Mbeki's dignified resignation speech has helped calm
South Africans in the wake of his departure from office. It was
crucial for Mbeki to convey a message that there would be stability in
government after his departure.
ZUMA JUDGEMENT: THE ROAD AHEAD
A number of measures could be taken to ensure transgressors were held
to account, that justice was served and that independent state
institutions were protected from undue political influence.
FLAWED INVESTIGATIONS FREE CRIMINALS
Failure by government to address weaknesses in the police's detective
service has allowed criminals to go unpunished.
COULD NEW DEAL BE THE BEGINNING OF STABILITY IN ZIM?
While the signing of the deal was the first significant ray of hope
for the future stability of Zimbabwe, Leon voiced concerned about the
durability of the deal.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
The success of our Paralympics team in Beijing is a shining example of
the extraordinary talent that South Africa possesses - our
Paralympians have shown incredible determination, perseverance and
dedication throughout the games – values which all South Africans
should emulate in our efforts to build a prosperous and winning
nation.
James Masango congratulates the South African paralymic team on their
stellar performance in at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing -the
team finished in sixth position with 21 gold medals, 3 silver medals
and 6 bronze medals.
MBEKI'S OUSTING MAY SIGNAL END OF ANC'S DOMINANCE
President Thabo Mbeki's dignified resignation speech has helped calm
South Africans in the wake of his departure from office, Democratic
Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Sunday.
She said that Mbeki had used his live resignation speech on television
as the opportunity to spell out the legacy for which he would like to
be remembered and to differ with Judge Chris Nicholson's inference
that HE may have interfered in the National Prosecuting Authority's
prosecution of Zuma.
"This judgment gave the Zuma faction the reason it had been seeking
for a long time to oust Mbeki and seize power so that they can impose
a political solution to avoid Zuma having to face his day in court,"
she said.
"The dignified way in which Thabo Mbeki handled his exit gives us hope
that there will be some continuity in government between now and the
next election," she said in a statement.
It was crucial for Mbeki to convey a message that there would be
stability in government after his departure.
"We must now look ahead and consider what is in the best interests of
our country," she said.
While Mbeki had made some blunders, it was important not to lose sight
of his achievements.
"For all his faults, Thabo Mbeki must be praised for his sound
stewardship of the economy - under his watch, South Africa experienced
its longest sustained period of economic growth, albeit in a benign
international economic climate," she said.
Zille reiterated her view that the ANC's decision to remove Mbeki was
motivated by the party's desire to protect its President, Jacob Zuma,
from prosecution.
"The President's forced resignation is clearly motivated by the ANC's
stated aim to find a 'political solution' to Jacob Zuma's legal
problems," she said.
"The incoming president must make a commitment that he or she will not
interfere with the NPA's decision to appeal Judge Nicholson's judgment
or any further efforts by the NPA to prosecute Jacob Zuma for the 783
alleged bribes he received."
The vicious way in which Mbeki was forced out by his enemies had
shocked the nation and as a result, the ANC stood irrevocably divided,
as did its supporters.
"Ironically, President Mbeki spoke about the value of Ubuntu, which
has clearly been denied to him by his own party," said Zille.
She said that Mbeki's conciliatory tone belied the deep divisions in
the ruling party and that his ousting may prove to be the undoing of
the ANC's electoral dominance.
"We must now show South Africa that there is an alternative to the
political thuggery that has come to characterise the ANC."
"I have long called for a realignment of politics to unite all South
Africans who wish to defend the constitution and the gains of our
democracy," she said.
"We must stand together to resist the war-talking
anti-constitutionalists that have taken over the ANC and we will
redouble our efforts to bring together all those who believe in the
Constitution to challenge the power hunger and power abuse of Jacob
Zuma's ANC."
"All new democracies go through periods of political turbulence and
the future depends on how we react to the tumult," Zille said.
This was a time for bold leadership and fresh thinking.
"If we make the right decisions, South Africa's democracy can emerge
stronger than before. This is our challenge and we must not fail."
ZUMA JUDGEMENT: THE ROAD AHEAD
In a press conference last Tuesday, DA leader Helen Zille said that
the verdict delivered by Judge Chris Nicholson in the Pietermaritzburg
High Court the preceding Friday raised key questions about the
corruption cancer at the heart of government
She outlined four key issues arising from the judgement which she said
should be given due consideration.
"Firstly, it is clearer than ever that a judicial commission of
inquiry is the only way we are going to get to the truth of the arms
deal," she said.
This was a demand the DA had been making from the start. DA
parliamentary leader Sandra Botha last Monday submitted a motion to
Parliament calling for a debate on the establishment of a commission
of enquiry into the arms deal.
"We must get to the truth because we cannot build our future as a
constitutional democracy when government leaders block all means of
establishing whether or not they are corrupt. "
"Secondly, the judgment suggests that President Thabo Mbeki influenced
the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in his war against his
designated successor, Jacob Zuma."
This matter was subsequently addressed by Mbeki in his resignation speech.
"Thirdly and most importantly, Jacob Zuma has not been acquitted of
corruption charges," Zille said.
"A court of law has yet to determine whether Zuma is guilty or
innocent of charges of corruption relating to the arms deal."
Zuma had repeatedly asked for his day in court to clear his name and
until this happened, he could not be a fit candidate for the
Presidency of the country and he must withdraw until his name had been
cleared in court.
"Fourthly, it is clear that the NPA is susceptible to political
interference, which needs to change if we are to prevent accusations
of selective prosecution in the future," Zille said.
She said that the manner which these issues were dealt would determine
whether constitutional democracy was strengthened or weakened.
A number of measures could be taken to ensure transgressors were held
to account, that justice was served and that independent state
institutions were protected from undue political influence.
These interventions included the establishment of a judicial
commission of inquiry into the arms deal; the prosecution of Jacob
Zuma, after he had been given the opportunity to make representations,
given the prima facie case against him; and a re-evaluation of the
constitutional provisions and legislation governing the NPA, so as to
restore the integrity of that institution.
She added that should the National Prosecuting Authority decline to
prosecute ANC President Jacob Zuma on charges related to the arms
deal, the DA would investigate the option of bringing a private
prosecution against him.
"We need to be sure that a court has pronounced him innocent before he
assumes that office, and if a court finds him guilty, that he has no
chance of assuming that office.
"Because if somebody guilty of such serious corruption charges is in
the highest office in this country, then the rot will quickly
consolidate itself in the body politic, and it will be a disaster for
everybody," she said.
Read the detailed plan here >> http://www.da.org.za/?p=373
FLAWED INVESTIGATIONS FREE CRIMINALS
Failure by government to address weaknesses in the police's detective
service has allowed criminals to go unpunished, the Democratic
Alliance said last Thursday.
Briefing the media on the DA's recent survey on the capacity of the
SAPS's detective service, safety and security spokesperson Dianne
Kohler Barnard said the state had failed to equip the country's
investigators with adequate resources.
"As a result of the neglect of the Detective Services, the SAPS's
investigative ability has been severely undermined and this has
contributed to the overall dysfunction of our criminal justice
system," she said.
According to the DA's calculations, six out every 100 crimes reported
to the police resulted in a conviction.
Close to a million crime scenes were not being visited as a resulted
of a shortage of forensic experts in the SAPS.
Detectives managed a case load of 40 or more cases as opposed to the
norm of 10 cases.
Kohler Barnard attributed the deteriorating investigative capability
to the department of safety and security's pattern of funding that was
heavily skewed in favour of other components of the SAPS to the
detriment of the detective service.
"Since 2004, the Detective Service has received only a seven percent
increase in the number of staff while Protection Services, which does
not provide security to the general public but instead is used
increasingly to protect the ANC leadership, has increased by a
staggering 160 percent," she said.
Measures proposed by the DA to beef up the service included the
immediate employment of 30 000 detectives, the improvement of
detectives' salaries and high quality training.
"It is clear that, in order to improve the functioning of the criminal
justice system, the ability of the SAPS to detect and solve must be
substantially improved," Kohler Barnard said.
Read the full report here >> http://www.da.org.za/?p=431
COULD NEW DEAL BE THE BEGINNING OF STABILITY IN ZIM?
The news that ZANU-PF's Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic
Change leaders, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara had finally
succeeded in reaching a mutually-agreeable power-sharing deal in
Zimbabwe, signed last Monday, was to be welcomed said DA foreign
affairs spokesperson, Tony Leon.
The significant reduction of Mugabe's powers was to be welcomed, he said.
While the signing of the deal was the first significant ray of hope
for the future stability of Zimbabwe, Leon voiced concerned about the
durability of the deal, as well as the dangerous precedent it would
set for the future of ballot-based regime change in Africa.
"The Kenyan power-sharing deal, which came in the wake of the
extensive political violence which followed that country's last
election, and today's agreement have established a disturbing trend in
Africa whereby despotic rulers can continue to cling to power even
after their removal from office by democratic means," he said.
"In addition to this, past experience has shown that Mugabe is not a
man who may be taken at his word; as such it remains to be seen
whether he will honour his part of the agreement."
"Of particular concern is the indication that the security ministries
– which have been used by ZANU-PF as instruments of political violence
– will by-and-large remain under Mugabe's control."
He expressed the hope that Zimbabwe's people who had been subject to
crippling socio-economic turmoil and political violence at the hands
of Mugabe's repressive regime would come to benefit from the
agreement, however flawed.
"We also hope that today's deal will be the last in a series of
political solutions in Africa, which ignore the democratic consensus
and threaten to undermine our chances of seeing true democracy take
root and flower on the continent," he concluded.
DID YOU KNOW?
While charities serving South Africa's neglected and abandoned
citizens have been fighting desperately with the National Lotteries
Board to have their applications processed, the NLB 2008 annual report
shows that its officials were all paid generous bonuses during the
2007/08 financial year.
• NLB staff received a total of R1.4m in bonus payments, amounting to
a 14% addition to the total salary bill, an amount that could have
been a life-line to some of the charities which have been brought to
the brink of closure by the NLB's failure to pay out..
• Six senior managers received approximately a quarter of this amount
(R279 000).
• The CEO benefited the most, with a large payout of R76 000.
• The manager of applications (who should be held directly responsible
for the chaos in the applications process) received a generous R49
000.
• Other staff members received an estimated average of R19 000.
THE NEGLECT OF OUR DETECTIVE SERVICES
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/439
THE TRUTH BEHIND POLICING IN SOUTH AFRICA
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/438
HOW GOOD IS YOUR PERSONAL SECURITY?
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/437
WOULD YOU TACKLE CRIMINALS AFTER ONLY TWO WEEKS OF TRAINING?
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/436
THIS WEEK IN THE REAL ANC TODAY
An overview of 11 key Judgments handed down by the High Court, the
Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court, regarding the
ANC government and the nature of its administration.
The Nicholson Judgment has brought the ANC's behavior into stark
relief. Against that background, it is worth considering what the
Courts have had to say about the ruling party more generally.
http://realanctoday.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/the-judiciary-on-the-anc/
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