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25 Jan, 2018
President Zuma signs state capture commission TOR; but what will it uncover?
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) notes, and of course welcomes, that President Zuma at last, on the 23rd of January, signed the terms of reference (TOR) for the judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector, including organs of state. We hope that the six months, it will take Deputy Chief Justice Zondo and his Commission to conduct the inquiry will kick off as soon as possible and no time is wasted, or the process further delayed. Time is of the essence and South Africa must lance this boil and get to the bottom of the question of state capture. Although the TOR seems quite inclusive, in terms of whom and which entities should be investigated, the UDM wonders who else will go down on the sinking Zupta ship? Who also had their hands in the cookie jar? The Nation might be in for a rude awakening. Let’s hope for the best. The UDM wishes the Deputy Chief Justice Zondo and his Commission the best of luck in timeously completing this onerous task; the country’s future rides on your shoulders and if we are to clean-up our government, you will have to leave no stone unturned. Issued by: Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP and UDM President
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24 Jan, 2018
Life Esidemeni tragedy has become a “Who dunnit?”
The United Democratic Movement Women’s Organisation (UDEMWO) notes with frustration and anger the actions of the former Gauteng Health MEC, Qedani Mahlangu in relation to the Life Esidimeni tragedy last year. Ms Mahlangu is clearly trying her best to exculpate herself from any responsibility in this disaster. The finger-pointing is nauseating and no-one in Government seems to take responsibility for what, effectively, had been the murder of 143 mentally-ill patients when they were unlawfully transferred to unregistered NGOs. Listening to the testimonies thus far, it seems that those involved (who form the links in the chain of responsibility) think they all had “done what was expected of them”. For, if they had in fact done what was expected of them, this calamity would not have happened, and the patients would still be alive today. Once it became apparent that something was drastically wrong within the system, those families who placed their faith in the health department had not been given straight answers, but only received the bodies of their loved ones to bury. How powerless they must have felt! Until those found guilty of negligence, face the wrath of law, we cannot rest. Even though the departed cannot be returned to those who love them, someone must be held liable for this inhumane act. Justice must be served and those found guilty of misdeeds and negligence should be arrested and punished.
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23 Jan, 2018
RIP #BraHugh – you will be sorely missed!
It is with great sadness that we have learnt that South African jazz pioneer and trumpeter par excellence, Hugh Masekela, has succumbed to prostate cancer. He put up a brave fight. We recognise your contribution, not only to jazz and music in general, but to the fight for freedom of South Africa through the arts. You rose despite the limitations imposed on an oppressed Nation at the time of Apartheid. Your life is a testimony to the strength and resilience of South Africans and serves as inspiration to young South Africans that adversity can be overcome in a constructive manner. To Bra Hugh’s family and friends, we mourn his loss with you and wish you peace and solace during this difficult time. May his soul rest in peace. Issued by: Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP and UDM President
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17 Jan, 2018
#UniversityStudents, be responsible and good luck for 2018!
Message to students from by Mr Bongani Msomi, UDM Secretary General The United Democratic Movement (UDM) wishes the best of luck to all the young South Africans who will begin a new chapter of life at the institutions of higher learning throughout the Country. We hope that you are ready for new ventures ahead and that you will meet the challenges that cross your paths head-on. Make the most of your education opportunities! As the saying goes: “education is key to success”. When you arrive on campus, remember that your main purpose of being there is not only to better yourselves, but your success will have a positive knock-on effect on your families. Never forget the sacrifices your parents made and all the hard work you have done so far. You will face many obstacles, but do not be led astray or lose focus. You can become whatever you want (and set your goals even higher) through hard work and dedication. South Africa needs more academics who can contribute to finding solutions to the crises we face, be it in finance, politics or health, and so forth. You are our future and must help to find answers to those questions. Even though the UDM has been very vocal about its sympathy for the #FeesMustFall student movement, we urge those students who wish to show their dissatisfaction with the system in a non-violent and non-destructive manner. We understand that desperation and frustration sometimes lead to anger, but civil disobedience – breaking and burning university property – is not the answer. In the long run, such destructive behaviour will only affect you and your studies directly. Please protest in a peaceful manner. The UDM wishes all students a fruitful year of study in 2018. Issued by: Mr Bongani Msomi UDM Secretary General
Admin
10 Jan, 2018
#StateCapture inquiry D/Chief Justice Zondo’s team must have forensic people and TOR must be based on Thuli Madonsela’s good work
Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo Private Bag X1 Constitution Hill Braamfontein 2017 Dear Sir STATE CAPTURE INQUIRY NEEDS A STRONG TEAM COMPRISED OF VARIOUS EXPERTS AND THE FORMER PUBLIC PROTECTOR’S FINDINGS AND REMEDIAL ACTIONS MUST FEATURE STRONGLY IN THE TERMS OF REFERENCE The United Democratic Movement (UDM) congratulates you on your appointment as the head of the inquiry into State Capture that has been instituted based on the prima facie evidence uncovered by, and the advised course of action of, the former Public Projector Thuli Madonsela. You have an enormous task ahead of you that will require in-detail investigation, sober minds, strict adherence to the law. To describe this inquiry as “tricky” is a somewhat of an understatement. The UDM wishes to submit that you should be surrounded by strong team which includes forensic audit experts, and representatives of the Hawks, to ensure that no stone is left unturned, and that the paper trails are followed to exhaustion. It would also be advisable that the National Intelligence Agency NOT be involved in any shape or form. Regarding the terms of reference for the inquiry, the prima facie evidence and remedial actions, as stated by the former Public Protector, should form the basis thereof. It is the work of the former Public Protector, her findings and remedial actions which saw the UDM and other parties in and out of court to force the matter to fruition; we have at last reached that point, where the truth will be revealed. We would however suggest that one of your urgent first stops should be a meeting with all the banks where the Gupta family held accounts to establish exactly how money was laundered and why, in fact, their accounts had been closed. This will of course require a detailed forensic auditing as well. The second aspect that bears urgent scrutiny is, which State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) had tainted relationships – no matter how tenuous it may seem at face value – with the Gupta family, but in particular which individuals and/or political parties may have benefitted from shady dealings and corruption. We wish you the best in this onerous task and hope that you will thresh the corn from the chaff to get to the bottom of State Capture and that any and all guilty parties will be brought to book. Lastly Sir, you will agree that time is of the essence. To have any delay in starting your work, or to have a drawn-out affair would not serve justice. We are not proposing that thorough investigation should be sacrificed for speediness, but the Nation deserves the full truth as soon as humanly possible. Yours sincerely Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP UDM President
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06 Jan, 2018
#PatriciaDeLille: Hypocritical Democratic Alliance gets a “Nee Baas!” in Cape Town
The similarities between the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) political manipulation in Cape Town and in Nelson Mandela Bay confirm a pattern of deceit that makes a mockery of the DA’s claims to a better alternative for good governance. In Cape Town, on Friday, DA Councillors, most probably unwittingly (or maybe mindfully) stood up against deceit conceived, calculated and commanded by their leadership. Perchance, the DA councillors had even learned from the connivance of their leaders when the deputy mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM) was removed in 2017. Councillors, and that includes executive mayors, cannot be removed but by council after exhaustive investigative and prescribed disciplinary procedures. In the NMBMM, the DA conspired to remove the United Democratic Movement’s (UDM) Deputy Executive Mayor Mongameli Bobani, by relying on a draft third party report devoid of any and all Council involvement. They went ahead to eliminate the office of deputy mayor completely, in order to silence any possible voice against DA baasskap, which cannot survive under any form of criticism or review. The DA deceived councillors into believing that Cllr Bobani was crooked by referring to this “draft report” which the it never shared with anyone outside of its conspiring cabal, because the report did not comply with the International Standards on Auditing and no opinions in the report had been expressed based on these standards. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), who was forced to provide some report in time for the DA’s total onslaught against all political propriety in the very city that bears the name of the father of our democracy, called the report “for the exclusive use” of the recipient(s), and declared in writing, that it “will not accept any responsibility to any other party to whom our report may be shown or into whose hands it may come”. Cape Town Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille on Friday refused to resign on grounds that she had already informed legal firm Bowman Gilfillan that their report into her alleged wrongdoing contained “factual inaccuracies” reported to them yet ignored, which led to inappropriate conclusions and recommendations. Council had similarly been informed. Mayor de Lille added that she had not been charged and, obviously, not been found guilty of any wrongdoing. “It’s not a matter of being pushed, it’s a matter of asking to be treated fairly, to be afforded a fair opportunity in terms of natural justice to state my side of the case, to be afforded an open and transparent opportunity for an independent body to come to a conclusion where I am found guilty of anything and then at that stage I will consider what my options are,” Mayor de Lille said. Council had, on Friday, resolved to investigate Mayor de Lille for misconduct. Perhaps the NMBMM council should also have resolved to rather investigate its deputy mayor, UDM Councillor Bobani, and not simply have said “ja baas” to the DA political bully and Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor Athol Trollip’s contrived removal of his deputy, and subsequent elimination of the deputy office. At least the Cape Town DA councillors had the benefit of having learned from the manipulated NMBMM DA councillors. The Cape Town DA councillors refused the impugnable instructions of DA Federal Leader Mmusi Maimane, who desperately tried to keep the removal of Mayor de Lille out of Council’s domain. Chief Whip Shaun August even admitted to the African National Congress opposition in Council that his instructions, by Maimane and DA Federal Executive Chairperson James Selfe, to severely limit debate in the De Lille matter were ill-advised and he granted the opposition its rightful time allocation to address Council. The DA Councillors eventually voted for a Council probe in commendable disregard of the irregular, if not illegal pressure by Maimane and Selfe. By the way, and this is of extreme importance and conclusively indicative of DA connivance, the final PwC Report has since been delivered to the Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor and the report is silent on the accusations Trollip conjured against his deputy; against a councillor of his coalition government. And, the DA had, to date, not apologised for its false accusations and its deplorable self-serving deceit, nor corrected the noisome results of its obvious conspiracy. Trust to the DA for “good governance” at your peril, South Africa! Not only have you been warned; you have witnessed baasskap politics, apartheid dressed in a cheap tuxedo, first hand in Nelson Mandela Bay and in Cape Town. Issued by: Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP and UDM President
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31 Jan, 2018
#StateCapture: does the rot stop with the President? Let the mother of inquiries commence!
South Africa is facing the real and present danger of political, economic, social and administrative collapse from unbridled corruption and state capture. President Jacob Zuma consistently appeals every court judgement where he is involved… the Nation might even give him a new nickname! He even seeks to appeal against the decision by Judge Dunstan Mlambo that Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng chooses the judge to head up the commission of inquiry into state capture. Why? What is going on behind the curtains of the President’s continuous counter actions in the various courts? Why this dogged reaction and, we hear in this case, accusing the court of erring in law sixteen times? Why not just lance the boil and get it over and done with? Should this inquiry go ahead unhindered, and there is a forensic auditing component, might it be that some folks are fearing where the breadcrumbs might lead? The next question could therefore be: is there, maybe, a deal in the wind between the President Zuma and his party – or at least some individuals in the African National Congress (ANC), or maybe even a few cabinet ministers? Which leads to these inescapable questions: who (really) is being protected by whom, and why? Is President Zuma in fact acting as a lightning conductor to delay matters, as far as he is able, to avoid an enormous scandal before 2019? Maybe there are too many individual hands in the proverbial cookie jar of the past ten years; or did Luthuli House itself benefit from state capture? Not only does this inquiry potentially threaten political bigwigs, but one wonders which big businesses and/or business people might also have to come clean. If there is any truth (even just a wisp) in this line of thinking, it could be the ANC’s death knell just before a major election that stands to have the political course of South Africa – and the fortunes of some individuals – changed. The United Democratic Movement (UDM) therefore calls upon all South Africans to unite against corruption and state capture on the widest and most complete front which includes assumptive political posturing. We call on you to turn to political leadership dedicated to the establishment and management of successful coalitions for the benefit of all and not in service of personal and party-political power and positioning. Let us exert pressure from every corner to have this inquiry take place long before 2019; the Nation requires the truth about the people who they’ve elected into power. If these leaders are innocent, they can stand proudly after being tested in the inquiry… but, if they are guilty, they must go to jail. The UDM will continue to promote, and to build, and to support cohesive and sustainable coalitions where baasskap and bullying, and both personal and party self-interest are eliminated to empower governments for service delivery. Issued by: Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP and UDM President
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02 Jan, 2018
#FreeEducation for those who can’t afford it, is a good thing; IF properly implemented!
One can argue that President Zuma’s announcement of free tertiary education, for students who can’t afford it, is a populist Hail Mary Pass; but the United Democratic Movement (UDM) believes there is merit in the idea. From our point of view, the implementation of such an expanded programme can be justified economically, and free education is in fact a strategic economic impetus, as it is an investment by the state in the creation of a larger tax base. We have to keep in mind that three years of tertiary investment leads to forty years of tax revenue from graduate incomes. The challenge will however be the fair and orderly implementation; it should not be assumptive and aggressive for incitement in pursuit of political positioning. It is therefore a little unsettling that the President had apparently taken everyone off guard with the announcement and he seemingly did not consult universities. University capacity, which is limited, must be respected in service of effective and efficient education for the greater good. President Zuma and his cabinet must urgently spell out this plan in detail to avoid a commotion at registration; already universities have issued statements saying they will not accept walk-in registration. We certainly do not want to see another situation where police resources are stretched to handle disgruntled students should this promise not materialise. Surely the President must realise that it will be too late to wait for the Finance Minister to spell out where the money will come from in February. To compound matters, university capacity must be respected in service of effective and efficient education for the greater good. The UDM also believes that, once implemented, student’s progress should be monitored and managed as an investment is managed: unsuccessful students must be removed from the programme. This litmus test should be due every semester. There is a high probability that the effect of a larger graduate population upon societal health generally, and upon reduced associated, concomitant state spending on grants and other social aid specifically, justifies the investment. And, in the long run, the values of an educated citizen will be underpinned by a patriotic sense of duty towards democracy and the responsibilities that it entails, and embody a commitment to develop the country in all spheres of society towards sustainable development. Issued by: Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP an UDM President
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