Daily Archives: May 21, 2014

EFF overalls brighten up Parliament


Cape Town – Parliament awoke to the sights and sounds of the Economic Freedom Fighters on Wednesday morning.

Male EFF MPs, dressed in red overalls and hard hats, sang and danced in front of the steps of the National Assembly where they were due to be sworn in.

Most female EFF MPs chose to dress as cleaners in red dust coats with aprons, and brightly coloured headscarves.

New EFF MP Magdalene Moonsamy said she was excited to be in Parliament.

Moonsamy, unlike her EFF colleagues, wore a red skirt and red knitted top.

Representing working class

Explaining the symbolism, EFF MP-in-waiting Floyd Shivambu said: “The working class and poor now know they’ve got representatives in Parliament. There is no other organisation which associates itself with the struggles of the poor.”

Shivambu said the EFF dress code was deliberate.

Unlike during election campaigning when EFF members wore overalls displaying the party’s name, Wednesday’s uniforms were bare of party insignia.

Parliament has said MPs should observe the decorum of the House by not displaying party political insignia during sittings.

MPs from other parties walking into the National Assembly building chose the traditional suit and tie, or dress suits for women, for the swearing in ceremony, due to start at 10:30.- SAPA

Mbete ‘to ensure ANC presence in Parliament’


Cape Town – Luthuli House will have a strong presence in Parliament with ANC chairperson Baleka Mbete steering matters in the National Assembly, according to an ANC MP.

Die Burger reported on Wednesday that the ANC elected Mbete as the Speaker for the fifth parliamentary term, which starts on Wednesday.

The unnamed MP told Die Burger that the ANC had to improve its performance in Parliament, and Mbete was the right person to ensure the party’s leadership stood strong in the National Assembly.

Mbete was the Speaker from 2005 to 2008, and was described by MPs who worked with her as strong, capable, effective and a very loyal ANC cadre.

Political analyst Richard Calland said Mbete is very ambitious and a “heavyweight” and based on this the party had to give her an important position.

Lechesa Tsenoli, previously minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, will be the new deputy Speaker. Stone Sizani remains as the ANC chief whip and Doris Dlakude is the deputy chief whip.

Speculation over Sisulu

Mbete will take over as Speaker from Max Sisulu.

According to Die Burger, there was speculation that Sisulu ‘s role as Speaker ended because of his decision to appoint a parliamentary ad hoc committee to investigate the Public Protector’s report on Nkandla. Beeld reported that Sisulu had made himself available for a second term.

However, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe strenuously denied this speculation and said Sisulu was not the head of the Nkandla project. There is thus no reason for the party to blame him. There were rumours that Sisulu could be given a Cabinet post.

Mantashe also announced that former Reserve bank governor Tito Mboweni had withdrawn as MP, but would not give reasons. There was still speculation that Mboweni could be appointed as finance minister, as two Cabinet ministers can come from outside Parliament.-Sapa

Fifth Parliament set to elect president


Cape Town – South Africa’s fifth democratic Parliament holds its first sitting on Wednesday morning to swear in new MPs and formally elect President Jacob Zuma as head of state.

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng will preside over the swearing in of the 400 new members of the National Assembly – a process traditionally undertaken in batches of 10 for speed’s sake.

Following this, the chamber will elect a new Speaker. The African National Congress announced on Tuesday that it will nominate Baleka Mbete, the party’s national chairperson, to return to the post of Speaker she held from 2004 to 2008.

Once elected, the Speaker will preside over the election of the deputy speaker. The ANC plans to nominate Lechesa Tsenoli for the post.

MPs will then elect the country’s new president, a post certain to go to Zuma for a second term.

He will take the oath of office at the Union Buildings on Saturday, bringing foreign dignitaries back to the capital for the inauguration five months after former president Nelson Mandela lay in state there.

Zuma will announce his new Cabinet on Sunday.-Sapa

Duarte lambastes ANC over single female premier


Johannesburg – It is unacceptable that only one woman has been appointed as a premier in the ANC-run provinces this year, party deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte said on Tuesday.
“It is a strange outcome which is not an acceptable one,” she told reporters in Johannesburg.

“I would like to call it a political structural fault line… The fault is with us, and the fault is that we need to deal with the transversal reality of the structure of the ANC at provincial level and make sure parity means exactly that.”

The ANC had gender parity at national level, but not at provincial. Duarte said this was not because there were no capable women leaders in the party.

“We have capable women in this country who don’t need grooming to lead.”

“No man is ever groomed to lead anybody, they assume leadership is their God-given birthright. It’s wrong. Women can lead as capably and often more capably than men lead.”
Of the eight provinces run by the ANC only the Northern Cape would have a female premier, Sylvia Lucas. Kenny Moemang would be provincial speaker.

After the 2009 elections four provinces had female premiers – Gauteng, North West, Northern Cape, and Eastern Cape.

The ANC held a special national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Pretoria on Monday where it decided on its premiers.

Duarte said it was a marathon meeting, which started at 08:00 and ended late evening. Each province proposed three names for premier, but the NEC had the final say.

“We [the NEC] were really concerned with the male domination of nominations and… we agreed that going forward to the next national general council of the ANC we might have to review the nomination regulations and fine-tune them to ensure the selection process has outcomes which guarantee our policy of gender parity.”

She said the NEC decided where there was a male premier there had to be a female speaker, and the provincial executive committee had to be 60% women.

Lack of women

ANC treasurer general Zweli Mkhize echoed Duarte’s sentiments about the lack of women premiers and denied this was because of a lack of female leadership in the party.

“As you are aware a number of leaders… are women and the ANC has many of them in various structures.”
Like Duarte he said women did not need to be groomed to lead and there was no programme like that in the ANC.

Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, and Limpopo retained their premiers – David Mabuza, Senzo Mchunu, Ace Magashule, and Stan Mathabatha respectively. Their speakers would be Thandi Shongwe in Mpumalanga, Sisi Mabe in the Free State, Merriam Ramadwa in Limpopo, and Lydia Johnson in KwaZulu-Natal.

In the North West, Premier Thandi Modise was replaced by ANC provincial chair Supra Mahumapelo. Sussana Tsebe was chosen as provincial speaker.

ANC Eastern Cape chair Phumulo Masualle was appointed premier, replacing Noxolo Kiviet, who becomes the province’s speaker.

ANC Gauteng secretary David Makhura would replace Nomvula Mokonyane as premier. Former co-operative governance MEC Ntombi Mekgwe would be provincial speaker.

Concerns over Gauteng

Duarte said during Monday’s NEC meeting stability in the provinces was discussed, as a local government election was 18 months away.

“We needed to be sure that we put in place people that can carry the burden of managing both an election as well as service delivery at a higher level than ever before, so that we capture back the space we may have rescinded in the national elections.”
This was especially true for Gauteng.

The ANC’s support in Gauteng, the country’s economic heartland, decreased from 64.04% in 2009 to 53.59%, the party’s worst provincial performance in 2014.

“Frankly speaking we didn’t do very well and the ANC is very concerned about this province. We want to put it right out there, it’s not a secret. We are concerned,” she said.

The ANC in Gauteng welcomed Makhura’s appointment.

“We are confident that David Makhura will lead Gauteng province with decisiveness and sound principles, and continue to make it a better place to live, work, and play in,” it said.

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal congratulated Mchunu on his re-appointment, saying he was the ideal person for the job.

The SA Communist Party in the Eastern Cape congratulated Masualle on his appointment.

ANC North West to hold its 5th Parliamentary Sitting


By Obakeng Maje
Mahikeng- ANC North West will have a press conference on 5th Parliament Sitting.

“The ANC in the North West led by the Provincial Chairperson, Cde Supra Mahumapelo will have a press conference to be held at the Legislature Chief Whip’s Boardroom” ANC North West Secretary-General Dakota Logoete said.

Members of the media are invited to attend the conference immediately after the 5th Parliament Sitting, taking place at the North West Legislature Chamber at 10h00.-TDN
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