Issued by Mmusi Maimane – Leader of the Democratic Alliance
29 Mar 2018 in News
Today the EFF, ANC and UDM coalition has resorted to disrupting and attempting to collapse the Council meeting in Nelson Mandela Bay, because they know they will not win the Motion of No Confidence against Mayor Athol Trollip.
The Council meeting is still attempting to proceed, despite the constant disruptions of the EFF, UDM and ANC councillors.
Their conduct today has confirmed to the country that they can only respond with chaos and violence when things don’t go their way. Instead of accepting the loss and moving on, they decided to hold the Council meeting hostage by refusing to allow the meeting to continue. They should be ashamed of their conduct.
This coalition of chaos and corruption, between the EFF and the ANC (with the UDM as hangers-on), has never had the best interests of the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay at heart, and that is why they will always fail. Their motion was always just about racism. The people of the Bay and the people of South Africa reject the hate-fuelled politics of the EFF, and reject giving the Metro back to the corrupt ANC. We must continue to guard against their hatred and continue to build a united South Africa for all.
What the public want is clean, honest government that delivers better services, especially to the poor. They want parties to work together against corruption, and they want leaders that bring our country together, not tear it apart. This project of co-operation, clean government, and unity, is the project the DA is committed to. We will commit ourselves to this project, no matter the hate and divisiveness of our opponents.
Now the Mayor and the coalition government must get back to delivering better government to the people of the Bay.
We thank those parties (ACDP, COPE, PA, and AIC) that stand with us on the right side of history.
What the public want is clean, honest government that delivers better services, especially to the poor. They want parties to work together against corruption, and they want leaders that bring our country together, not tear it apart. This project of co-operation, clean government, and unity, is the project the DA is committed to. We will commit ourselves to this project, no matter the hate and divisiveness of our opponents.
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Now the Mayor and the coalition government must get back to delivering better government to the people of the Bay.
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We thank those parties (ACDP, COPE, PA, and AIC) that stand with us on the right side of history.
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The Democratic Alliance has approached the courts Yesterday to fight the ANC’s roughshod attitude towards opposition parties. During the preparation of the Transport Portfolio Committee report on the Road Accident Benefit Scheme (RABS) Bill, opposition parties requested that their dissenting views on this bill be recorded. The DA tabled a minority report at 8 November 2018 Portfolio Committee Meeting. According to the rules of Parliament, (National Assembly rule 166 and 288) opposition parties may table minority reports in such instances.
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Despite these unambiguous rules which permits minority views to be tabled officially, the ANC refused a minority report. Instead, it chose to include their own interpretation of a minority report. The DA has therefore approached the court to fight for the right of all opposition parties.
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In its minority report, the DA objected to the Motion of Desirability pertaining to the inclusion of no fault and the exclusion of the use of common law within the RABS Bill. If passed, the RABS bill will permit anyone to claim after accidents even if it is that party’s fault. The bill also circumvents legal processes that are constitutionally available.
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This is simply a violation of the rules and an abuse of power. This case will strengthen parliamentary participatory democracy and the right of all parties in parliament to be heard. This will ensure that the ANC’s such strong-arm tactics do not reoccur in future.
The Democratic Alliance has approached the courts Yesterday to fight the ANC’s roughshod attitude towards opposition parties. During the preparation of the Transport Portfolio Committee report on the Road Accident Benefit Scheme (RABS) Bill, opposition parties requested that their dissenting views on this bill be recorded. The DA tabled a minority report at 8 November
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Yesterday, the ANC Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Trade & Industry, through a Parliamentary statement, confirmed it will not lift a finger to hold a special portfolio committee meeting for it to decisively intervene in the impending collapse of the sugar cane industry, after I formally wrote a letter requesting it to do so.
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The ANC believe it is better to rather make mention of the imbedding crisis in its Legacy Report and outsource this problem to the 6th Parliament after the elections in May.
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The ANC believe that the 350 000 workers who stand to lose their jobs, should rather wait until uncaring ANC MP’s can be bothered to find time to meet.
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Today’s development is not surprising. For far too long, the failing ANC Government have dragged its feet on offering real assistance and tariff protection to sugar cane farmers against devastating droughts in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and 500 000 tons of dumped sugar which landed on our shores last year.
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The fact is, the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) refused to accede to farmer, large and small scale for a Dollar Based Reference Price of $856 per ton which would have at least allowed sugar farmers in South Africa to match the below cost of production of imported sugar. Instead, ITAC granted a measly $680 per ton. This continued situation is simply not sustainable for the industry.
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In addition to this, R200 million for drought relief has disappeared in the KZN Provincial Government.
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In the end, If this is not enough to rock the ANC from its slumber, then South Africa should vote them out. In a country where 9.4 million South Africans are unemployed, every effort should be made to save jobs.
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President Ramaphosa has no hope of ever creating 275 000 jobs per year as outlined in the ANC’s manifesto when 350 000 jobs could be lost because uncaring ANC MP’s refuse to meet and find solutions to this crisis.
Yesterday, the ANC Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Trade & Industry, through a Parliamentary statement, confirmed it will not lift a finger to hold a special portfolio committee meeting for it to decisively intervene in the impending collapse of the sugar cane industry, after I formally wrote a letter requesting it to do so.
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The Democratic Alliance (DA) is delighted by the results of two by-elections that took place yesterday in the Western Cape. We are thankful to the voters in the City of Cape Town, Ward 54 for entrusting the DA with their vote as well as voters in Knysna, Ward 4 where we saw a massive increase in our voter percentage.
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The DA in the City of Cape Town, Ward 54 retained the ward with 88,63% of the vote. In Knysna, Ward 4 we saw an impressive increase of more than 20%, increasing our voter percentage from 6,42% in the 2016 municipal election to 26,97% yesterday. These by-election results together with our victory over the ANC in Bergrivier, Ward 5 last month, silence our critics and it shows that the DA is continuing to grow across the Western Cape.
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I am confident that Nicola Jowell will represent Ward 54 with pride and ensure that that the people’s concerns receive top priority. I would also like to thank Thobeka Duna for helping to increase our voter percentage in Knysna, Ward 4.
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Yesterday in the City of Cape Town, the DA received an overwhelming endorsement from the residents of Ward 54 and in Knysna, more and more voters are turning towards the DA. Through their vote, voters have showed us that they believe in our cause and support our efforts. Now, more than ever we need change that will build our nation.
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We encourage all South Africans who have not yet registered to vote, to visit their nearest IEC office. It is crucial that all South African citizens of voting age are registered to vote in the National and Provincial elections on 8 May 2019. The DA values every single voter. We remain committed to keep making progress that will build One South Africa for All.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is delighted by the results of two by-elections that took place yesterday in the Western Cape. We are thankful to the voters in the City of Cape Town, Ward 54 for entrusting the DA with their vote as well as voters in Knysna, Ward 4 where we saw a massive increase
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The following remarks were delivered today by Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, Mmusi Maimane, on the steps of the National Assembly in Cape Town. The Leader was joined by DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, Natasha Mazzone, and DA Western Cape Premier Candidate, Alan Winde.
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This afternoon, President Cyril Ramaphosa will address Parliament and deliver his response to the debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA). The President’s response will undoubtedly be overshadowed by our nation’s current energy crisis, demonstrated by stage 4 load shedding across the country over the past days.
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The doors to hospitals, businesses, and key industries have been shut due to rolling power cuts by Eskom, with the entity in R400 billion of debt and reportedly having only two months left before being declared bankrupt. The situation is dire, and there is no time for complacency. Like every fundamental challenge our country faces, tinkering at the edges won’t solve the underlying causes. We require complete overhaul and reform.
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South Africans are well aware as to why we find ourselves in this mess. For the past decade, the ANC in government has repeatedly put Band-Aids onto the bullet wounds in our energy sector – most notably at Eskom. And the result today is a national power utility that is on its knees, threatening to take the entire country down with it.
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What we need now is bold, immediate action to reform the energy sector in South Africa before it’s too late. In this light, the DA proposes the following interventions which are immediately available to the President:
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Reject pressure from the ANC’s union allies opposing the introduction of Independent Power Producers (IPPs). IPPs are producing energy as we speak, and must be allowed to sell power to the grid immediately. Ramaphosa needs to pursue the interests of South Africa, not the interests of his union allies;
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Instruct Eskom to immediately freeze the build on the last two outstanding units at Kusile, and instead look to bring on more IPPs to provide power. Eskom’s debt is spiralling due to cost overruns on the two big coal builds, while the units are not running at full capacity due to design and build flaws.
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Ensure Eskom’s coal procurement policy is immediately changed to allow Eskom to procure coal from any source;
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Reaffirm Eskom’s engineering and maintenance employees as an “essential service” that cannot enter into strike action;
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Immediately review all Eskom’s diesel contracts to ensure the cheapest diesel is sourced from professional and reliable sources; and
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Instruct PetroSA to supply Eskom with diesel at tax-free cost prices to avert a crisis in the short-term.
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Over the medium term, the DA would implement the following interventions:
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Privatise the generation entities of Eskom, allowing a diverse range of energy to enter the grid, increasing competition and lowering the cost;
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Commence with a drastic salary restructuring of Eskom’s executive;
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Audit all middle management and begin the process of cutting ‘dead weight’;
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Instruct municipalities to start a “name and shame” campaign for non-payers of electricity. In short, to release the names of the main offenders that are non-paying to the municipality website and local papers making sure communities know who is skipping on payment. This would be similar to the City of Cape Town’s water saving “name and shame” campaign.
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Install major smart meters for municipalities to force municipalities to collect revenue timeously. The top 5 worst municipality offenders at the end of last year were (in millions): Maluti A Phofung, Free State – 2 809; Matjhabeng, Free State – 1 815; Emalahleni, Mpumalanga – 1 667; Ngwathe, Free State – 940; and Emfuleni, Gauteng – 872.
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The DA has led the charge on ways to fix Eskom over the last year, with the introduction of the Independent Systems Market Operator (ISMO) Bill or “cheaper electricity bill”. The bill seeks to break Eskom into two separate entities – a generation and transmission/distribution entity. Our offer would see the generation entity privatized in an effort to break Eskom’s monopoly on production of energy, allowing independent power producers to compete on an equal footing in the generation sector.
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With the splitting off of the generation part of Eskom, they could look at selling off power stations to different IPPs. This will reduce the debt component and create competition within the generation sector. The transmission/distribution entity would manage the grid as an independent operator and source power from IPPs and Eskom generation.
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Lastly, the bill allows for well-functioning metros to source energy directly from independent energy suppliers.
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Where the DA governs, we are way ahead of the rest of the country in terms of renewable energy readiness. 85% of municipalities in the Western Cape already have legislation in place to allow for independent solar energy generation, and most of them are geared to sell clean energy back into the grid.
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Just last week, Mayor Herman Mashaba unveiled the R1.2 billion Sebenza Power Station Project in Johannesburg. It is the biggest sub-station in the Southern Hemisphere now stabilising electricity supply to the North Eastern quadrant of the City. This was completed both on time and under-budget. These are the kinds of solutions we should be looking at to make our country more energy secure.
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The inconvenient truth is that as Deputy President from 2014, Ramaphosa knew – and was part of – many decisions that have brought South Africa’s energy sector to its knees. As far back as March 2015, he was there and headed up a ‘war room’ to oversee Eskom’s turnaround.
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He was there during the board and executive appointments that helped collapse Eskom. He was there as Head of the ANC’s deployment committee from 2012, deploying the likes of allowed Brian Molefe, Anoj Singh and Matshela Koko to Eskom. And he was there as the Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
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As next week’s Budget fast approaches, ratings agencies will be watching the action President Ramaphosa’s government will take with almost R3 trillion in projected national debt. Moody‘s has warned that South Africa’s sovereign rating will be downgraded if State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) like Eskom raise government’s debt burden any higher.
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The President has an array of options at his disposal that could end the energy crisis. It is now time for the President to find the political will, stand up to his allies, and do what is best for South Africa.
The following remarks were delivered today by Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, Mmusi Maimane, on the steps of the National Assembly in Cape Town. The Leader was joined by DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, Natasha Mazzone, and DA Western Cape Premier Candidate, Alan Winde. This afternoon, President Cyril Ramaphosa will address Parliament and deliver his
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President Ramaphosa’s denial of the Democratic Alliance’s Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request for all contracts and invoices for the services provided by his son, Andile Ramaphosa, and his companies to Bosasa – now African Global Operations (AGO) – has confirmed that the President and his son have something serious to hide.
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The DA challenges the President to bring unredacted copies of these contracts with him to his reply to the SONA debate in the House this afternoon to assure South Africa that he and his family are not corrupt and are not beyond reproach. If the President has less to hide than his son and AGO, he should have no problem rising to the occasion.
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While Ramaphosa Jr and AGO’s response to similar PAIA requests hid under the ‘commercial interests’ of the Bosasa benches, the President has chosen to hide behind his son’s ‘private body’ in this same triangle of secrecy. This despite the fact that President Ramaphosa is on record as having told Parliament on 6 November 2018 that he had seen these contracts.
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The President is compromised. Watching and waiting on corruption is no longer an option for ‘Mr. Squeaky Clean’.
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Talk is cheap; President Ramaphosa must act. He has a prime opportunity to show the country that the contracts are as above board as his record reflects, and that he has not colluded his way into the criminal pockets of Bosasa.
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He was there. It is high time he stopped insulting the intelligence of the electorate and confess under oath in the House what he ought to have known.
President Ramaphosa’s denial of the Democratic Alliance’s Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request for all contracts and invoices for the services provided by his son, Andile Ramaphosa, and his companies to Bosasa – now African Global Operations (AGO) – has confirmed that the President and his son have something serious to hide. The