Johannesburg – EFF leader Julius Malema has come out in defence of Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, while urging EFF members to be careful and keep their “governments” inside their zippers.
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Monthly Archives: July 2013
DA must be in charge of Tlokwe, Court rules
By Obakeng Maje
Tlokwe-The Democratic Alliance is elated about the North Gauteng High Court decision in which the former Tlokwe Mayor Maphetle Maphetle and Speaker Barei Segotso’s application to have the Tlokwe Council’s motion of no-confidence was rejected with costs – to be carried by the applicants (Maphetle and Segotso) in person.
In his judgement Judge Tuchten castigated the ANC for not using democratic means after they became a minority party in the Tlokwe Council in Potchefstroom. He referred to the Maphetle-group in their illegal occupation of the municipal offices as squatters.
“It is obvious that the ANC’s illegal occupation of the Tlokwe Council offices for a month , had no legal basis and was intended to frustrate not only the elected DA Mayor, Annette Combrink, and her team, but also in an act of defiance, the community of Potchefstroom” DA Chris Hattingh said.
Hattingh said it is indicative of a belligerent ANC’s regard for the Rule of Law and the Constitution when the loss of power and the control of financial resources are inevitable.
“The DA mayoral team, led by Mayor Annette Combrink, will be claiming their legitimate places in the municipal offices tomorrow morning bringing stability and delivery back to the Potchefstroom community” he concludes.
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DA’s Hattingh- ANC’s forked tongue revealed
By Obakeng Maje
While the ANC is contesting the legitimacy of a Council meeting in which their Executive Mayor, Maphetle Maphetle was removed after a motion of no-confidence, they simultaneously submitted a motion of no-confidence in the DA Executive Mayor Annette Combrink.
This was done on the 26th July, three days before the judgement in their application was to be handed down.
“This vindicates the DA’s viewpoint that the ANC’s application had no merit, the ANC’s occupation of the municipal offices was illegal, intended to cling to power and to control the financial resources of the municipality” DA Chris Hattingh said.
The ANC’s simultaneous acceptance and rejection of the legitimacy of the DA’s mayor is further indicative of the ANC’s disregard for the constitution, legislation and the Municipal Rules of Order and a total disregard for the interests of the community.
“In their desperate attempts to cling to power no Council or Committee meetings were held and Maphetle claimed his salary as Executive Mayor” Hattingh said.
Chris Hattingh says, The DA positively awaits the outcome of today’s High Court Judgement to install stability and sanity to the Tlokwe Municipality in Potchefstroom.
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No formal rape charge yet against Vavi
Johannesburg – The family of the woman who alleged that Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi raped her say she has not yet laid a formal charge against him.
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Vavi rape claim “political-motivated”
Johannesburg – The rape allegation against Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi is politically motivated, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s (Numsa) Kwazulu-Natal branch said on Sunday.
“This latest rape allegation cannot be de-linked from the poisonous, malicious and well-calculated political offensive directed towards destroying comrade Vavi’s political integrity and standing in society,” Numsa regional secretary Mbuso Ngubane said in a statement.
He said the union was “fully behind” Vavi.
“The presumption of innocence until proven otherwise… should be upheld by all, as opposed to the gutter of public opinion.”
Meanwhile, the Azanian People’s Organisation said it was “disturbed” by the rape allegation.
“We hope this allegation would not stick on him,” said Azapo spokesperson Funani ka Ntontela.
“We hope this allegation is not engineered within the tripartite alliance as a weapon to weaken Vavi in his stand against graft and maladministration in this country.”
However, if Vavi was charged, Azapo would encourage him to step down from public representation, Ntontela said.
The Sunday Times published an open letter from a woman accusing Vavi of raping her.
In it, she claimed Vavi went to her office in January last year.
“He is a big man. When I got up, he grabbed me and then kissed me. Then he locked the door. I still have the dress I wore on that day, ” she said without giving more details.
On Saturday, Vavi released documents to the media, including an internal complaint by the woman in which she accused him of rape.
Vavi admitted to having an extramarital affair with her, and claimed she had later tried to extort R2m from him.
He denied raping her, and said the sex was consensual.
The police could not confirm that a charge of rape had been laid against him.
SAPA
One dead, 54 hurt in pile-up
Johannesburg – One person died and 54 were injured in a 16-vehicle pileup near Bronkhorstspruit on Sunday, said emergency workers.
A truck and 14 cars piled into the back of another truck when thick smoke blew across the road from a grass fire raging in the area on Sunday afternoon, said Tshwane emergency management service spokesperson Johan Pieterse.
The vehicles appeared to have been travelling towards Pretoria at the time of the crash, said ER 24’s Chris Botha.
He said a man died in the crash. A critically injured woman had to be airlifted to hospital. The rest sustained injuries raging from serious to minor, and were stabilised on the scene before being taken to hospital.
SAPA
Church Leaders must help cons: Ndebele
Johannesburg – Religious leaders should do more to rehabilitate criminals, because this was not the sole responsibility of the correctional services department, Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele said on Sunday.
“We call upon religious leaders to play a more active role in our concerted efforts to heal victims of crime, and rehabilitate offenders so that they return to society as better human beings,” he said.
“Corrections is not the sole responsibility of the department of correctional services. Corrections is a societal responsibility.”
On Friday, Ndebele met religious leaders and officials at the East London Correctional Centre.
“As government, we will not win the battle against crime and re-offending if victims of crime, and the religious community, are not at the centre of the justice system,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
“The religious community can encourage moral regeneration, coupled with basic values and cultures; be more prominent with its role in rehabilitation…. We cannot allow a situation where the poor are being punished because of their lack of money.”
He said religious leaders should play a major role reintegrating convicted criminals into society, and providing social and economic assistance to the families of people serving time in prison.
Ndebele said there was a church in every community and it was time for them to play their part.
“We all have a duty to play in the eradication poverty. We must perform charitable deeds as Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam and indigenous cultures dictate,” he said.
“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.”
Research showed a correlation between a lack of education, poverty and crime, he said. To reduce re-offending, the department had made education compulsory, he said. “Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace,” Ndebele said.
“The hand that previously held an okapi, to harm others, must be transformed into a hand of a tailor, carpenter, builder and writer.
“We are, indeed, humbled to see offenders taking pride and working hard….”
He said his department was putting the victims of crime at the “core of the justice system” and their pain did not go away until the offenders were sentenced.
“I have no doubt in my mind that the religious community is best positioned to play a decisive role in setting right the hearts, minds, and souls of South Africans.
As long as we do not make moral regeneration a central theme of our conduct, we will find ourselves having progressed one step forward, and regressed 10 steps backward,” he said.
SAPA
Zuma: Society split in hostile camps
Johannesburg – President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday he believed that South African society had split into hostile camps.
“Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other, bourgeoisie and proletariat…,” he said, referring to the Communist Party manifesto.
He was speaking at the Young Communist League’s (YCL) national council in Kimberley, in the Northern Cape.
“You must understand the nature and character of the society in which we live. You have to know that not everything is as it seems,” said Zuma, who is also president of the African National Congress.
He told delegates the government was making progress in tackling education, health and poverty.
“In response to the hunger for education, we are establishing two brand new universities, Sol Plaatje University here in Kimberley and the University of Mpumalanga in Nelspruit.”
Zuma announced the establishment of the new facilities on 25 June, when he said the government wanted every province in the country to have an institution of higher learning.
“We are also investing further in vocational training through the establishment of 12 new Further Education and Training Colleges across the country in under serviced areas.”
He said one of the government’s success stories was the 50% reduction in mother-to-child transmission of HIV between 2008 and 2011, which had increased the life expectancy of South Africans.
SAPA
Vavi, rape accuser to face off
Johannesburg – Cosatu General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi and his rape accuser will face off on Monday at an internal hearing, eNCA reports.
The woman, a mother of two, claims Vavi forced himself on her. He’s denied this, saying it was consensual sex.
“We all do these things in dark corners and when they come out lots of people are hurt,” the Sunday Times reported him as saying.
The 26-year-old woman said she believed the inquiry would get to the truth.
She has not laid a rape charge against Vavi, but is now facing a criminal investigation herself, for allegedly trying to extort R2m from the Cosatu leader.
She claims it was Vavi’s wife who, after being made aware of the incident, allegedly suggested the rape accuser was entitled to a payoff.
Noluthando Vavi, speaking to eNCA, categorically denied this.
And she is standing by her man.
“It’s sad and it’s unfortunate … But I have forgiven him because he came up very openly to me and he answered all the questions I asked him.
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E-toll bill awaits Zuma
Johannesburg – Transport Minister Dipuo Peters says her department will forge ahead with its plans to implement e-tolling on Gauteng’s freeways once President Jacob Zuma has signed the tolling bill into law.
She denied that Zuma was delaying the signing of the transport laws and related matters amendment bill – which paves the way for the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) to implement e-tolling on the province’s highways – because of next year’s elections.
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The Guardian 