South African Communist Party deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin has defended Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel over his comments that the government could no longer blame apartheid for its failures, SABC radio reported on Thursday.

Cronin said Manuel’s comments were taken out of context and that it had been a media ambush.

“Let’s see what (the) comrade was actually saying, some more which weren’t on the banner headlines – we need a strong and effective government, we will not be able to reverse the effects of apartheid on the opportunities available to all South Africans,” quoted Cronin, who was speaking in Cape Town on Wednesday evening.

Manuel’s remarks were intended to encourage civil servants to be proactive in delivering services, said Cronin.

Last week Manuel reportedly said it was time for the government to take responsibility for its actions.

“We (government) should no longer say it’s apartheid’s fault. We should get up every morning and recognise we have responsibility. There is no longer the Botha regime looking over our shoulder, we are responsible ourselves.”

On Wednesday, President Jacob Zuma said it was impossible to see complete change in just 20 years. The damage done by apartheid would be with the country for some time, he said.

“To suggest we cannot blame apartheid for what is happening in our country now, I think is a mistake to say the least,” Zuma said at the 20th anniversary of SACP leader Chris Hani’s assassination.

“We don’t need to indicate what it is apartheid did. The fact that the country is two in one, you go to any city there is a beautiful part and squatters on the other side. This is not the making of democracy and we can’t stop blaming those who caused it,” said Zuma. – Sapa

Read Trevor Manuel’s

An eyewitness has come forward to describe the massacre of four Pakistani men in Mitchells Plain last month.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Voice, the woman told how she came face-to-face with one of the gunmen before he blasted the four men to death.

For more www.iol.co.za

Shocking evidence has emerged of high school learners being forced to eat out of buckets with their hands as a result of a shortage of bowls at the Boresetse High School in Barkly West.

The inhumane treatment of learners at the school came to light during a visit by Childline in the Northern Cape to the school recently.

For more www.iol.co.za

Cape Town – Former South African Idols winner Karen Kortje has appeared in court on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.

A smartly dressed Kortje, accompanied by her husband, Shaundore Aspeling, appeared calm as she entered the dock of the Kuils River Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

For more www.iol.co.za

Johannesburg – Joburg police are following several links they believe might lead to the arrest of a woman who allegedly snatched a two-month-old Pretoria baby.

Last week, The Star reported the disappearance of baby Prince, who was snatched by his mother’s soon-to-be employer on March 18. Victoria Muyambo met a prospective “employer” while begging on Nelson Mandela Drive.

While in a Joburg shop together, the “employer” left with the baby.

This was after President Jacob Zuma and the ANC’s national working committee (NWC) appointed a task team that excludes all Malema’s allies from the disbanded youth league leadership.

For more http://www.sowetanlive.co.za

The situation has returned to normal at Tlhwahalang High School in Valspan, in Jan Kempdorp, after parents had kept their children home in protest against the principal’s suspension.

On Monday, parents, teachers and school governing body members closed the school gates, demanding the reinstatement of the principal Aubrey Modiakgotla. He was suspended by the department of education seven months ago over corruption and maladministration of funds claims.

The general feeling at the school was that Modiakgotla was not given a charge sheet.

The Congress of the South African Students (Cosas) thanked parents for sending the children back to school.

Cosas deputy president Tshepo Louw on Monday met teachers, the SGB and the parents and asked them to allow pupils to go back to class.

“Parents need to understand their role is to guide their kids and teachers should understand that their role is to teach, not engage in politics,” Louw said.

Department of education spokesperson Sidney Stander said they met with parents and teachers on Monday and the delay around the completion of the disciplinary process of the principal was addressed.

Last year in Olifantshoek pupils were kept away from school for most of the year as the community demanded the removal of the mayor and a tarred road.

For more http://www.thenewage.co.za

DA NWest leader criticism attempt to downplay call for bold steps to overcome challenges facing municipalities

Democratic Alliance North West Provincial leader and member of the Provincial Legislature Chris Hattingh’s criticism of Premier Thandi Modise’s comments on the 2011-2012 Municipal Finance Audit Outcomes are nothing but cheap politics, usual theatrics from Hattingh to draw attention to himself and a desperate attempt to downplay the call for bold steps to be taken to overcome challenges facing municipalities.

The media statement issued by Hattingh under the heading” Modise’s latest rant about NW Municipalities sounds hollow” on Wednesday 10 April 2013 suggest that either Hattingh is trapped in the blame game mode like an old musical record with a scratch or he is genuinely unaware that municipalities are in terms of the constitution

  of the Republic of South Africa autonomous.

The broadside that Hattingh threw at Premier Modise is part of the DA’s strategy to drive a wedge between the provincial government and municipalities and between the Executive Council and portfolio committees within the provincial legislature.

Hattingh’s deafening silence on provincial intervention in Matlosana, Ditsobotla and Maquassi Hills and tacit support to those opposed to the interventions as they

  threaten their interests in the said municipalities have betrayed that he is not interested in functional municipalities but a divided ANC.

His criticism of the ruling party’s two centres of power in the province which has nothing to do with the AG’s audit outcomes is yet another disguised attempt to fan the flames of division within the ranks of the ruling party for the benefit his party.

Premier Modise has consistently urged municipalities to employ qualified, skilled and experienced senior managers to accelerate and deliver quality services to our communities and will thus not be sidetracked by Hattingh from focusing and pushing for implementation of the local government turnaround strategy which is the only hope for our communities.

Corruption and maladministration in municipalities across the province were not swept under the carpet as Hattingh suggest but were investigated by the Special Investigating Unit(SIU) appointed by President Jacob Zuma. The SIU final report earlier announced for release this month were not part of the Audit General’s 2011-2012 Municipal audit findings. 

Their link to the AG’s audit findings while they are not mentioned in the report proves that the fork-tongued Hattingh is a charlatan and a demagogue.

The Premier’s call for municipalities to appoint qualified, skilled and experienced senior managers was not based on any forensic investigation as circumspectly suggested by Hattingh but on the AG’s findings.

All forensic reports that Hattingh is demanding from the Premier in his attempt to divert the public from interventions to deal with non-performers, accelerate and deliver quality services to communities were not commissioned by the Modise Administration in municipalities and do not relate to the local government turnaround strategy.

  To the best of our knowledge Hattingh has not seen nor read the report on audit outcomes as it will only be distributed to municipalities, legislature, stakeholders and the public during the AG’s Provincial roadshow to be held in the province on 18 April 2013.

Only a desperate psychotic demagogue would use last year’s audit findings to criticise Premier Modise on her comments on the findings of a report he has not seen.