North West – One of the men who alerted ANC president Jacob Zuma to rampant corruption and fraud in the ANC-controlled municipalities in North West feels let down by his own party.

Not only is Alfred Motsi feeling aggrieved about the ANC’s lack of action – his best friend and fellow ANC councillor Moss Phakoe was shot and killed in his driveway for handing over the dossier to Zuma and ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe.
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Johannesburg – If existing problems of wealth distribution and poverty are not urgently addressed, South Africa will face serious problems in future, former president Thabo Mbeki has warned.

Speaking to new Gauteng talk radio station Power FM, Mbeki said South Africa remained a two-nation, The Star reported.

Mbeki was speaking to presenter Tim Modise.

The former president urged the public to hold elected representatives accountable.

“South Africa remains divided in terms of race and colour, in terms of wealth. If we don’t address it properly, tomorrow, we are going to have very serious problems,” Mbeki said.

Noting SA Airways’s plan to train more black pilots as an example, Mbeki said the aim was “not to discriminate against white people, but to achieve the objectives of our Constitution”.

These objectives included non-racialism, non-sexism and building a prosperous country.

He also said he knew for sure that his condition was improving because he was in contact with the Mandela family and his doctors.

“Nelson Mandela is indeed improving in terms of his health. I don’t think anybody should entertain wrong notions that Nelson Mandela is going to die tomorrow. It’s not going to happen,” he insisted.

– News24

Pretoria – South African troops have begun deploying to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s volatile east as part of a special UN brigade to battle armed rebels, the deputy foreign minister said on Friday.

“South African troops are on their way to the DRC now,” deputy international relations minister Ebrahim Ebrahim told reporters.

South Africa has pledged 1 345 soldiers to the first-ever offensive United Nations brigade.

Tanzania and Malawi are also part of the 3 000-strong force, which began deploying to Goma on 13 May.

“The Tanzanians are already on the ground,” said Ebrahim.

The eastern Congo has been the scene of intense fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels, an armed group launched by Tutsi former soldiers who mutinied in April 2012.

– AFP

Johannesburg – South Africa has not fully reversed the damage done by the Natives Land Act, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.

“A great wrong was done, and now it is up to us to follow-up by doing a great right,” he said in a speech at a commemoration of the centenary of the 1913 Land Act.

“We are now in charge of our own destiny. We have achieved a successful transition to democracy, but we have not yet fully reversed the dreadful pattern of poverty and landlessness – the havoc created by the Natives Land Act,” said Zuma.

“Correcting the consequences of this act is a critical cog in the wheel of state. It is a crucial component in the National Development Plan.”

The act dispossessed land from black and “native” South Africans.

Zuma said it marked the beginning of the socio-economic challenges the country now faced.

“The act was enforced for 78 years until it was repealed in 1991, and during these many years it did enormous damage, so much so that despite 22 intervening years, the legacy of the act stubbornly persists,” he said.

“We take our hats off to the black people of this country and to the Khoi and the San people, for not allowing the pain of the past to stand in the way of building the present and the future.

“The pain of being driven off one’s land is worse than anything one can imagine.”

Land redistribution

Zuma said the government admitted that the land redistribution progress had been slow, and that the 2014 redistribution target would not be met.

Until now, only 6.7 million hectares of land had been transferred through redistribution and restitution.

“We call on all South Africans to commemorate this landmark, with a view to correcting the wrongs of the past and to reinforce reconciliation,” Zuma said.

“We urge the public to participate in the process of improving land redistribution and reform to reverse the impact of the 1913 act.”

– SAPA

Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma on Friday told shack dwellers near Cape Town he was shocked to see the conditions in which DA rule had left them.

“When the DA speaks in Parliament they say things have improved,” Zuma told a crowd of a few hundred people in Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay.

“I came to see for myself, and I have been shocked to see my people live in these conditions.”

The president went from door to door, talking to residents at length, and repeated the exercise in the nearby fishing community of Hangklip.

Media were crowded out of homes he visited by a massive security contingent.

But staff reported that Zuma commiserated with neighbours of a woman who died days ago when her dwelling caught fire.

He asked another why the DA was in power there.

She retorted that she had voted for the ANC, and invited him to check on that.

An unemployed, but qualified nanny, Pumla, said she planned to vote for the ANC next year, and had come to see Zuma because his visit had brought some hope.

“It’s just promises probably, but even if the promise is empty you still want that hope,” she said.

ANC spokesperson Keith Khoza said the visit was part of the president’s grassroots campaign for the 2014 elections, now 10 months away.

– SAPA

Polokwane – Ten days will not be enough for the trial of fraud-accused Julius Malema and four others, the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court heard on Friday.

Defence lawyer Michele Gioia said the November dates proposed by the State would be opposed.

There would not be sufficient time to deal with the 60 witnesses and over 11 000 pages of evidence that could be necessary at the trial, he told the court.

Gioia also claimed that the trial date was illegally communicated and that the defence was not consulted.

Malema is out on bail of R10 000 and faces charges of fraud, corruption, money-laundering, and racketeering.

His co-accused are his business associates Lesiba Gwangwa, Kagisho Dichabe, Helen Moreroa, and Makgetsi Manthata, who are out on bail of R40 000 each.

‘State wasting our time’

Prosecutor Billy Moalusi said it was the State’s duty to determine the trial period, rather than the defence’s.

Magistrate Mohamed Shaik gave the accused formal notice of the trial date, before the matter was adjourned to 14:00.

Earlier, Malema’s counsel accused the State of employing delaying tactics.

“The State is playing with time, they are wasting our time,” Tumi Mokoena told the court.

The State alleges Malema and the others misrepresented themselves to the Limpopo roads and transport department, leading to a R52m contract being awarded to On-Point Engineering.

According to court papers, Malema had business ties with Gwangwa, a director of On-Point Engineering. Malema’s Ratanang Family Trust was an indirect shareholder in On-Point.

The department paid the company R43m. According to the charge sheet, Malema substantially benefited from this payment, knowing the money formed part of the proceeds of crime.

All five have proclaimed their innocence.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Someone of Mamphela Ramphele’s calibre should be welcomed into South African politics, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said on Friday.

“…I have known Dr Ramphele for more than 30 years as a brave and principled leader who has been ready to take costly stands for social justice,” Tutu said in a statement.

“If Dr Ramphele formally enters the election race next year, and goes on to attract sufficient votes to become a parliamentarian, there is no doubt that South Africans will benefit from her experience and her knowledge, and from hearing her voice.”

He said a strong constitutional democracy was strengthened by the presence of vibrant and credible opposition.

Ramphele’s political platform AgangSA will be officially launched as a party in Pretoria on Saturday.

A climate of fear

Tutu said that although Ramphele criticised the African National Congress, as he had done, this did not mean she did not love her country or should lose the right to speak.

“Dr Ramphele has spoken of a pervasive climate of fear and intolerance in South Africa, where critics restrict their criticisms to their armchairs behind closed doors rather than risk their capital or their connections or their clout.

“If we have indeed become a nation that fears the consequences of not kow-towing to the government we have clearly taken a wrong turn somewhere,” he said.

Last month, in an opinion piece carried by the Mail & Guardian, Tutu said he would not vote for the ANC.

“I have voted for the ANC, but I would very sadly not be able to vote for them after the way things have gone.

“I am not a card-carrying member of any political party,” he said in the piece.

There was a need for change in the country.

On Friday, he said Ramphele’s voice was worth hearing.

“… I look forward to the contribution she will make towards building the society we know we can become,” said Tutu. 

SAPA

Polokwane – The resumption of expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema’s corruption case was delayed in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Friday morning due to a technical problem.

Proceedings could not begin on time because there was a problem with the power supply to the machine that records the court proceedings.

Around 08:30 it was decided that the case be moved to another courtroom.

Malema is accused of making nearly R4m from corrupt activities.

He is out on bail of R10 000 and faces charges of fraud, corruption, money-laundering, and racketeering.

Dozens of police cars

His co-accused are his business associates Kagisho Dichabe, Lesiba Gwangwa, Helen Moreroa, and Makgetsi Manthata, who are out on bail of R40 000 each.

Malema arrived at the court on Friday morning, where Magistrate Mohamed Shaik is expected to hear further argument as to whether the case should be postponed or not.

Dozens of police cars were stationed outside the court.

The defence is applying for an early trial date and is expected to argue about the State’s failure to provide a date for the matter to be heard in the high court.

On Thursday, the State argued that there was no court order in place demanding a high court date.

The State and the defence teams argued for and against the matter being postponed on Thursday, when the court had been expected to transfer the case to the high court and set a trial date.

Dept paid R43m

The State alleges Malema and the others misrepresented themselves to the Limpopo roads and transport department, leading to a R52m contract being awarded to On-Point Engineering.

According to court papers, Malema had business ties with Gwangwa, a director of On-Point Engineering. Malema’s Ratanang Family Trust was an indirect shareholder in On-Point.

The department paid the company R43m. According to the charge sheet, Malema substantially benefited from this payment, using it to buy a farm and a Mercedes-Benz.

Malema allegedly did this knowing the money formed part of the proceeds of crime.

All five have proclaimed their innocence.

SAPA

Johannesburg – Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi allegedly covered up a report on apparent corruption involving its investment company to protect his ally, the Mail & Guardian reported on Friday.

The report by the Financial Service Board (FSB) apparently found cases of corruption, fraud, and money laundering involving the Congress of SA Trade Unions’ investment company Kopana ke Matla and Westside Financial Services.

The newspaper said two sources with insight into the report had confirmed that Kopana ke Matla conducted financial advisory services without approval in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act.

The two people had told the newspaper the report recommended that criminal charges be brought against senior staff members of Kopana ke Matla.

One Cosatu leader said the report recommended the matter be reported to the Hawks for criminal investigation but Vavi did nothing about it.

Kopana ke Matla had also been stripped of its licence to manage pension funds for workers.

The M&G said the report named Kopana ke Matla CEO Collin Matjila as contributing to the company’s woes.

According to the newspaper, Vavi and Matjilla were close allies and Vavi covered up the report to keep him safe.

Vavi allegedly knew about the report but chose not to share it with other Cosatu leaders.

Both Vavi and Cosatu president Sidumo Dlamini declined to comment on the matter.

FSB spokesperson Tembisa Marele said: “What I can say is that the FSB did conduct an investigation which was presented to Kopano.”

Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven could not immediately be reached by Sapa for comment on Friday. 

SAPA

Johannesburg – Flamboyant businessman Kenny Kunene lambasted President Jacob Zuma on Friday, calling him a “monster” and a “tyrant” in an open letter published on The Star’s website.

In the letter, addressed to Zuma, Kunene said: “In public you smile and laugh, but in truth you behave like a monster, a tyrant who will target perceived enemies ruthlessly, and because of that fear few dare to speak openly.”

Kunene wrote that he had supported Zuma before he ascended to the presidency, but was now disillusioned with his leadership.

“I’m writing this because I’ve never been more disappointed with the ANC you lead.

Credibility

“…Mr President, I don’t want to be one of those who tell you in fear that you have clothes on, when it’s obvious you are completely exposed,” Kunene said, referencing the fairy tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes”.

He said Zuma’s relationship with the Gupta family and the recent wedding scandal, and controversy surrounding spending on Zuma’s lavish household at Nkandla, detracted from the president’s credibility.

“The Gupta issue alone should be the last straw for many South Africans,” Kunene wrote.

“But the extent of how much the Gupta family controls you, and by implication this country, has not even begun to be understood.”

He said many people within the ANC were “terrified” to speak out against Zuma because they feared him.

‘Heartless’

“After the Shaiks and Julius Malema, the Guptas must know that you can drop them faster than they could drop your name. In your quest for self-preservation, you have become heartless.”

Kunene defended his own lavish lifestyle, saying that the money he spent was not taxpayers money.

“I love the ANC, or what it’s supposed to be, but I don’t love your ANC,” he wrote.

“For those of us who care, the question now is, as [communist theorist] Vladimir Lenin asked: ‘What is to be done?’,” Kunene concluded.

SAPA