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19 Feb, 2018
State of the Nation Address 2018 debate
Contribution by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP and President of the United Democratic Movement on the occasion of the State of the Nation Address 2018 debate in the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa • Honourable Speaker & chairperson of the NCOP • Mister President • Honourable Members 1. Congratulations Mr Ramaphosa! When an opponent has done well, one must applaud and say: “Well done”. Well done on your speech Mr President! Your message has restored hope and put South Africa on the right track for the restoration of our dignity. This opportunity was given to you on a silver platter by the steadfast efforts of the loyal opposition, the media and civil society, while your party’s leadership turned a blind eye to brazen looting of state resources and fiddled while South Africa was burning. Who will forget the hundreds of thousands of South Africans who marched in a united display of dissatisfaction over an ill-suited and irresponsible President of the Republic. 2. Corruption is the lynchpin in giving effect to your SONA vision 3. Madam Speaker, Institutionalised corruption has been exacerbated by political heads usurping the powers of accounting officers in all three tiers of government. And Mr President, there must be consequences for those who have been found guilty of corruption. 4. The work of the State Capture Inquiry The State Capture Inquiry must be beefed up with the inclusion of forensic audit experts and even the Hawks. The Justice Department must be directed to make special provision for prosecuting capacity and the establishment of dedicated courts to expedite justice, as was done in 2010 with the Soccer World Cup. Once the Inquiry identifies an incident of corruption, the Hawks must pounce, the judicial system must take the baton, whilst the Inquiry continues. 5. On a side note Mr President, you mentioned infrastructure development in your speech; and specifically referred to roads, millions of South Africans are forced to travel long distances to work in the cities and mines. These long-distance travels are marred by accidents, death and injury, with some using insensible transport. It might be time for us to consider state of the art, safe, speed trains to decongest roads, decrease accidents and to save time and lives. Also, Mr President, we need to attend to the phenomenon of anarchy in our society, the general lack of discipline and disrespect for the law. 6. Thuma Mina Your call to action resonates with all South Africans Mr President! We all want to see it prosper so that we might thrive as a collective and as individuals. Your call builds on the action initiated by opposition parties and civil society of the course of the past year or so. We all said “we wanna be there” to stay the rot of corruption; and we were there on the streets in our thousands. We commend your consultative style and welcome the initiatives you mentioned in your SONA, but you did not go far enough. There must be a broadening of the collective consultative process and a wide range of topics that should be interrogated and discussed. Call it what you will, an indaba, convention or a summit, but we need to convene under one roof to discuss the critical challenges facing South Africa today. Contrary to the opinion of some political gurus, who said the opposition was exclusively obsessed with getting rid of former president Zuma, we have laid the groundwork for this national dialogue. With the input from some academics, we compiled a draft “Problem Statement”, which was released in August last year, to serve as a fundamental basis for such a dialogue. The identified issues are: • The reinstatement of our Constitutional order and the Rule of Law; • Reaffirmation of our founding vision and values; • Measures to ensure inclusive economic participation and to address inequality; • Reversing our economic decline. • The establishment of a shared consensus on land reform. This should include the rural tenure system, bodies like the Ingonyama Trust, as well as selling of urban land to foreigners. • Review the National Development Plan, with regard to its implementation and outcomes; • Reviving our national morality and the eradication of systemic corruption; • The reformation of our electoral system to enhance accountability and responsiveness; • Review of the powers and functions of the President to resolve the over- concentration of power; • The development of a capable and professional state, which requires fair employment opportunities in government, for all South Africans as opposed to non-professionals being parachuted into positions of power. • The rehabilitation of our international standing based on a human rights approach. • The reinvigoration of our structures and systems of education and training to ensure skills development and meaningful participation in economic and social activities; • Reversing social decay and putting a stop to violence against women and children; • The fostering of reconciliation, social cohesion and nationhood; • Resolving impediments to the progressive realisation of our basic human rights; • Strengthening and ensuring the independence of our Chapter 9 Institutions; • The reformation of party-political funding; • Securing the attainment of all role players towards the attainment of a state of good governance and the values that underpin it; We are here Mr President and we wanna be there to help find sustainable solutions. I thank you
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16 Feb, 2018
UDMYV: Some SONA2018 announcements give hope to young South Africans
The United Democratic Movement Youth Vanguard (UDMYV) has taken note of the State of the National Address delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa today, 16 February 2018. This on the back foot of many young people of South Africa who continue to be marginalised due to lack of job opportunities in the country. The UDMYV welcomes the President’s commitment to “move young South African’s to the centre of the national economic agenda.” Some of the initiatives announced today include: 1. A jobs summit 2. Launch of Youth Employment Service Initiative 3. Establishment of a Youth Working Group represented by all young South Africans. 4. Creation of one million internships in three years. The UDMYV supports these initiatives in principle and would avail its machinery for the success of these programmes as the UDMYV recognises that the exclusion of young people from economic activity is an injustice to the black child in particular. We also hope that these programmes are not designed to appease the African National Congress Youth League whom we believe are enemies of the President in his party’s factional battles. The UDMYV therefore calls for wide representation and inclusion of all youth formations in these programmes. We shall also continue to work with the United Democratic Students’ Movement (UDESMO) at all tertiary institutions to make sure that free education is implemented in order to benefit the millions of young South Africans who seek to venture into higher education and training. The economy needs a new approach that will attract international investors and create jobs. The UDMYV believes that manufacturing through localisation will indeed help to achieve this and that ratings agencies will upgrade South Africa out of junk status. Issued by: Katleho Mothamaha UDMYV Political Liaison Officer, Gauteng plo@udmyv.co.za Yongama Zigebe UDMYV Provincial Secretary, Gauteng Secretarygp@udmyv.co.za yludwe@yahoo.com
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13 Feb, 2018
Success! UDM reaction to “Suspect Number One”; Jacob Zuma being recalled
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) welcomes the decision to recall Mr Jacob Zuma as the President of the Republic of South Africa (SA). It has taken far too long for this to happen, once it became patently clear (years ago) that he was not fit to hold the highest office in the Country. We can rightly say that the African National Congress (ANC) only reached this decision because of the continued, consistent pressure exerted by opposition parties; civil society; and the media, who played a critical role in exposing institutionalised corruption such as #GuptaLeaks. It is encouraging that those who campaigned for Mr Zuma to vacate his office, had free access to media and radio talk shows. This demonstrates that the tools of democracy and a free society, as provided by our Constitution, work. The ANC’s much vaunted self-correcting nature is a damp squib. South Africans, especially eligible voters, have realised that the ANC has lost its moral high-ground and had relinquished its status as South Africa’s liberation movement. If it wants to be taken seriously, the ANC – which have been protecting Mr Zuma, at all cost – must own up to this mess and immediately charge Mr Zuma and his fellow gangsters. In the end him and his colleagues your deployees! Regarding the future, the UDM is positive, but recognise that it will take the nation years to recover from the damage caused by the tangible effects of Mr Zuma’s administration on the lives of our people on a daily basis. It will also take time to convince the international community, the ratings agencies, and investors that South Africa no longer has a weak and corrupt government that easily succumbs to the influence of pirates and privateers. However, only half the battle has been won at this time. All patriotic South Africans, opposition parties, civil society, and the media should not now rest and lower their guards. We must ensure that the culprits face the full might of the law and that the billions of stolen Rands be returned to the last cent! South Africa has learnt several harsh, but valuable lessons in this experience. One thing that should be done to curb corruption in Government – perpetrated by political deployees and officials alike – should be the appointment of specialist investigating units, with forensic auditing capacity, as well as dedicated courts to expedite the prosecution of offenders. We hope that Mr Zuma’s departure from office also signals a departure from this almost cult-like hero-worshiping of certain individuals just because they have “struggle credentials”. Struggle credentials do not maketh the man! There is no place in our history for people who have tarnished the legacy of our freedom fighters; we must draw a line in the sand and start from scratch to create a corruption-free government that works in the service of the people. Issued by: Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP and UDM President
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09 Feb, 2018
President Zuma’s alleged demands of ANC Top Six is ridiculous: why are you even negotiating?
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) hears that the African National Congress (ANC) Top Six is considering President Zuma’s alleged demands that he will only bow out if his forthcoming legal fees are waived and the safety of his family is guaranteed. Who will foot this bill? Surely not the tax paying South African? One wonders how many people will qualify to be Zuma-family members? Why must we pay for Mr Zuma’s legal fees? Seemingly the soon to be former president is a suspect of a different kind… why must he be treated any differently from any other suspected criminal and get special treatment? How can the ANC conduct these backdoor negotiations on behalf of the South African taxpayer? This is not your territory; it’s not your money to commit or spend! ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa, you and your colleagues must stop this nonsense and these backdoor negotiations must be dropped; the Country can no longer be held at ransom. The ANC deployed Mr Zuma and you should “redeploy” him with the same ease! Let’s go ahead with the Motion of No-Confidence so that we can say goodbye to Mr Zuma and continue with the business of Parliament and Government’s work. Issued by: Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP and UDM President
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30 Jan, 2018
UDEMWO disappointed by the Methodist Church’s reaction on harassment allegations
The United Democratic Movement Women’s Organisation (UDEMWO) commends the action of the young women who decided to speak out about allegations of harassment they have endured in the hands of the senior steward in the Pretoria Methodist Church. The bravery shown by the young girls gives hope that this country is in the right direction. The country is still stunned by the revelation. The house of God is supposed to be a sacred place for the young and old and the Methodist Church is amongst the respected churches in the Southern Africa. It is even saddening that the very people who are supposed to be protecting women and children are the ones accused of these horrific acts. We were even shocked to see how ignorant women are when it comes to the sensitive issues. On the video that circulated on social media, you can see women singing and some are embarrassed by the actions of these young girls who were brave enough not to keep quiet. If the very same people who are under siege, which are women, are still protecting the perpetrators, how do we expect men to take us serious and value us. We do not wish that anyone endures abuse but if it has not happened to you; do not rejoice when it happens to someone else. If it is not you today, it can be your sister or daughter tomorrow. We cannot fold arms and watch while things are taking another turn. The Methodist Church has played a vital role in the apartheid era. We call upon the Church and all those involved to use the same power to get rid of the perpetrators. We cannot be led by abusers in the house of God. The church must do away with the Omotoso tendencies. To women, continue fighting for your place and speak out against abuse. Statement issued by Thandi Nontenja – UDEMWO Secretary General
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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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