DA VINDICATED BY COURT FINDING ON ERASMUS COMMISSION
Rasool's establishment of the commission was not only an abuse of the
law, but also of millions of rands in taxpayer's money - money which
would have been far better spent on delivering much-needed services to
the people of the Western Cape, he concluded.
FAILING SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME LEAVES IMPOVERISHED CHILDREN STARVING
Amongst the problems are non-delivery of food, shortages and delivery
of poor-quality products.
DA CALLS FOR URGENT DEBATE ON THE ONSLAUGHT OF CRIME IN SA
The time has now come for Parliament, which represents the people of
South Africa, to debate this matter vigorously, and to compel the
government to seek immediate solutions to the country's crime
epidemic.
DA WELCOMES END TO POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN MEDICINES REGULATION
decision on the Medicines Amendment Bill by Parliament's health
portfolio committee, which will see medicines registered only on the
basis of safety, quality and efficacy, was welcomed by the Democratic
Alliance last Wednesday.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"It seems like SASCOC (South African Sports Confederation and Olympic
Committee) officials are more preoccupied with flying business class,
staying at five-star hotels, and enjoying the best food than they are
with the interests of our athletes."
DA sports spokesperson Donald Lee comments on allegations that South
African athletes competing at the paralympic games in Beijing had not
yet received their training equipment and had to walk at least 2kms -
including those on crutches - to buy refreshments, as SASCOC had
failed to distribute the magnetic coupons which allowed them to
purchase items from vending machines.
DA VINDICATED BY COURT FINDING ON ERASMUS COMMISSION
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille, vindicated by the High Court's
finding on the unlawfulness of the Erasmus Commission, has called for
the dismissal of former premier Ebrahim Rasool, now working as a
ministerial adviser, and provincial Police Commissioner Mzwandile
Petros.
She is also calling for the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to
investigate whether there had been misconduct by Judge Nathan Erasmus,
who chaired the commission.
"As a public servant, Rasool is required by the Constitution to
promote and maintain a high standard of professional ethics," Zille
said.
"In the light of the Cape High Court judgment, however, it is clear he
is unfit for this form of public office."
Rasool has been appointed special adviser to Minister in the
Presidency Kgalema Motlanthe.
Zille said DA chief whip Ian Davidson would write to Motlanthe, asking
him to dismiss Rasool. She also called for the dismissal of Petros,
found by the court to have illegally handed police evidence to Rasool.
"According to the court ruling, that information should have been
fully investigated by the police and then handed to the Director of
Public Prosecutions, and not to a politician for his own purposes."
The DA's provincial representatives have called on Petros to resign.
Zille said she had asked the DA's representative on the JSC, Sheila
Camerer, to approach the commission with a view to investigating
whether Erasmus had been guilty of misconduct.
Erasmus had compromised himself, and the integrity of the judicial
system, when he agreed to chair the commission, Zille said. The court
also found he had acted unlawfully by providing an interim report,
containing confidential information, to Rasool.
"For these two reasons, I believe Judge Erasmus may have a case to
answer to the JSC," Zille said.
She said the JSC gave vague terms of reference for what constituted misconduct.
"Here we have the Cape High Court saying very specifically that a
judge should not have accepted that appointment, and should definitely
not have given the outcome of the investigation to a politician,
saying that it was illegal."
Zille said her position that a judge should not chair an
illegally-constituted commission had been 100 percent underscored by
the high court.
Zille said she had known from the beginning that there could only have
been a political motive for the commission.
The DA's legal advisers are to investigate whether Rasool or any other
official involved in the Erasmus Commission may be personally liable
for costs incurred.
Zille has written asking the Public Protector to investigate whether
the commission was an abuse of funds.
"The (court) decision declaring the Erasmus Commission unlawful and
invalid was a landmark ruling for constitutional democracy. As such,
it will have repercussions far beyond the City of Cape Town - by
reaffirming the supremacy of the Constitution."
Speaking after judgement was handed down by the court last Monday,
Chairperson of the DA's Federal Council, James Selfe said that the
court's decision was a full vindication of the DA's long held view
that the commission was established by Rasool out of political malice,
and with the overriding objective of smearing the DA.
"It is now clear for all to see that both Rasool and the ANC's zeal in
establishing the commission and misusing the judiciary was a desperate
attempt by the governing party to strengthen its dwindling prospects
ahead of next year's election," he said.
Rasool's establishment of the commission was not only an abuse of the
law, but also of millions of rands in taxpayer's money - money which
would have been far better spent on delivering much-needed services to
the people of the Western Cape, he concluded.
FAILING SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMME LEAVES IMPOVERISHED CHILDREN STARVING
A Public Service Commission (PSC) report into the functioning of the
National School Nutrition Programme in two provinces has shown that
many impoverished children are going hungry due to unreliable food
suppliers, the Democratic Alliance revealed last Thursday.
"Suppliers often do not deliver at all, or do not deliver what they
are contracted to supply," said party education spokesperson, George
Boinamo.
He said the DA would be asking questions to the Minister of Education
to ascertain what steps were being taken to improve levels of
accountability of those contracted to provide school meals.
The study, conducted in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, showed that the
Nutrition Programme was a significant benefit to the children who
received it and had improved their attendance, concentration and
academic ability.
"It has proven itself as an essential tool in helping poor children to
lift themselves out of poverty and thus problems that still prevent
some children from being able to benefit from the programme must be
resolved," Boinamo said.
The report stated that amongst the problems were "non-delivery of
food, shortages and delivery of poor-quality products"
"In 20% of Eastern Cape schools, food was not provided five days a
week, as required, but sometimes on only two or three days, and
deliveries were also often late."
"While deliveries were more reliable in Limpopo, a quarter of
principals said that the food they received was not fresh, 32% of
principals said there were problems with delayed delivery and 20% said
too little food was delivered," he said.
"It appears that suppliers are often more interested in profits than
in supporting children."
Boinamo added that, in some cases, the schools were partly to blame in
that many did not monitor feeding programmes through nutrition
committees and that only about 20% of principals actually monitored
the delivery of food and evaluated the performance of suppliers as was
the requirement.
"As most of the children in the schools surveyed come to school
without breakfast, it is imperative that the importance of the
nutrition programme is acknowledged and improved in order to ensure
that all children living in poverty can benefit properly from it,"
Boinamo said.
DA CALLS FOR URGENT DEBATE ON THE ONSLAUGHT OF CRIME IN SA
Reacting to the brutal slaughter of the Sham family over the weekend,
DA safety and security spokesperson, Dianne Kohler Barnard said she
would move a motion in the National Assembly, when parliament
reconvened in mid September, calling for an urgent debate on the rapid
onslaught of crime in South Africa, and what immediate steps may be
taken to stem it.
"Naren and Meera Sham, and their 20-year-old son, Kavir, were gagged,
had their hands tied behind their backs, and their throats slit by a
band of armed men who had forced themselves into the family's Stamford
Hill home."
"The fact that Kavir was best friends with my own son, Peter Barnard,
makes this tragedy all the more personal to me," she said, "but what
is even more tragic is the fact that my family and the Shams' many
grieving friends and relatives represent only the smallest drop in the
ocean of South Africans who have lost their loved ones to the scourge
of violent crime."
She called on parliament to debate the issue urgently in light of
mounting indications that the ANC government was simply not up to the
task of tackling South Africa's debilitating crime epidemic.
Earlier in the year, Justice & Constitutional Development
Deputy-Minister, Johnny de Lange admitted: "The situation is sometimes
so overwhelming that we don't know what to do about crime. We have not
necessarily taken the right decisions over the past 15 years or used
resources efficiently."
In addition, the most recent crime statistics released by the SAPS
showed a 14.5% spike in the number of residential robberies throughout
the country , as well as a 4.4% increase in the frequency of car
hijackings, and a staggering 47.4% increase in the regularity of
business robberies.
"In August, the DA released a comprehensive crime plan, aimed at
addressing the problems within our criminal justice system, which
includes putting more police officers on the streets and training more
detectives in order to beef up the SAPS' investigative capacity."
"We called for the reinstatement of SAPS' specialised units, and put
forward proposals for the improvement of South Africa's prisons by,
amongst others, involving prisoners in productive labour and community
upliftment," she said.
"The time has now come for Parliament, which represents the people of
South Africa, to debate this matter vigorously, and to compel the
government to seek immediate solutions to the country's crime
epidemic."
DA WELCOMES END TO POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN MEDICINES REGULATION
A decision on the Medicines Amendment Bill by Parliament's health
portfolio committee, which will see medicines registered only on the
basis of safety, quality and efficacy, was welcomed by the Democratic
Alliance last Wednesday.
DA health spokesperson Mike Waters lauded the committee's decision to
'reject ministerial interference' in medicines regulation.
"We hope that this decision will finally put an end to a proposal
from the health ministry that would have delayed or denied access to
life-saving drugs to South Africans by politicising the approvals
process," Waters said.
Over the past few weeks, the committee had been discussing a proposal
in the bill for a two-tier system for the regulation of medicines,
with the second tier involving approval by the minister on political
grounds.
"However, in debate on the clause today, ANC members were slowly
convinced of the danger of the minister's proposal and eventually
agreed to reject it," he said.
"The clause has now been removed from the Bill which is being voted on
today and which will be presented to parliament later this year for
voting."
DID YOU KNOW?
Contrary to Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula's
assertions that the amalgamation of the Scorpions with the SAPS would
run smoothly a reply to a DA parliamentary question has revealed that:
• Only 121 members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) had
completed the new five week organised crime course which began more
than one year ago.
• Furthermore, according to the SAPS's own figures, only 17% of staff
belonging to organised crime, serious economic offences and commercial
branch units had tertiary qualifications.
• Of the total 24,343 members, each member had completed an average of
only five SAPS courses - which included any course offered by the
SAPS, and not necessarily related to investigative expertise.
It is critical that all units that investigate organised crime have
the required training and expertise. The DSO's successful record is a
direct result of having highly-skilled and -qualified staff working on
complex cases.
EYE ON CRIME
NOT IN THE SAME LEAGUE
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/428
DO YOU FEEL SAFE AT HOME?
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/427
BRIBES AND THREATS
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/426
"MAXUIMUM SECURITY PRISON" – NOT SO SECURE AFTER ALL
http://www.eyeoncrime.co.za/?q=node/425
THE REAL ANC TODAY
In this week's edition we provide 'The Idiot's Guide to the Erasmus
Commission' http://realanctoday.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/an-idiots-guide-to-the-erasmus-commission/
– a simple overview of the 157 page judgment handed down last week by
the Cape High Court, and what it means for the ANC and our democracy.
Click through http://realanctoday.wordpress.com/ , read it, tell us
what you think. You can also, subscribe to the RSS feed, or to
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