The election of fraud convict Tony Yengeni to the African National Congress’s (ANC) powerful national working committee (NWC) is proof that the ruling party has been taken over by criminals, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille said on Wednesday.
Shortages of teachers and textbooks and belated efforts to enrol children were some of the problems plaguing public schools on the first day of term on Wednesday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said. ”It’s clear that the shortage of classrooms and teachers is dire. One teacher told us that there are between 60 and 70 children to one class.”
The Statistics Council has not questioned the scientific basis of last year’s Community Survey, council head Howard Gabriels said on Tuesday. He said the fact that it had recommended that Stats South Africa issue a cautionary notice on the reliability of some of the data was standard scientific practice.
Opposition parties on Tuesday voiced their concern over the National Prosecution Authority’s (NPA) delay in announcing whether it will charge police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, with the Freedom Front Plus accusing the NPA of double standards.
The statistics council has not questioned the scientific basis of last year’s Community Survey, council head Howard Gabriels said on Tuesday. And the fact that it had recommended that Statistics South Africa issues a caution on the reliability of some of the data was standard scientific practice, he said.
Arms-deal corruption must be probed by an independent judiciary, Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille said on Tuesday. ”It is the African National Congress’s right to set up an ad-hoc committee on the arms deal, but we in the ID want all the allegations of corruption in the deal to be tested by an independent judiciary,” said De Lille.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday asked that acting National Director of Public Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe be called to Parliament to explain the delay in making public the decision on whether or not to charge police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the Presidency to break its silence over the ongoing fracas in Kenya. ”An upfront reiteration by the South African Presidency that it will not countenance ballot rigging and improper retention of power would be both appropriate and timeous,” the DA’s Tony Leon said.
The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday called on Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel to sack the statistician general, Pali Lehohla. Revelations in morning newspapers that a crucial survey by Statistics South Africa contains serious errors has resulted in a serious crisis of confidence in this institution, according to the party.
The newly elected leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) should not undermine South Africa’s economic credibility for petty party political reasons, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. This would be to the detriment of all South Africans, poor and rich, the DA’s deputy finance spokesperson, Kobus Marais, said in a statement.
The African National Congress (ANC) needs to assure South Africans it will not follow the path that has led to chaos in Kenya, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Monday. ”Events in Kenya have shown us how quickly a combination of cronyism, populism and ethnic mobilisation can destroy a country’s democratic prospects,” she said.
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South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) leader, Jacob Zuma, has denied allegations of corruption and vowed to fight charges laid against him in court, local media reported on Friday. ”I am innocent. I have not committed any crime,” Zuma was quoted as saying in Beeld.
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/ 31 December 2007
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The state has identified a list of 218 witnesses it intends calling to testify in its case against African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma. Attached to the indictment, filed in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, the list of witnesses includes Independent Democrat party leader Patricia de Lille and former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein.
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/ 29 December 2007
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Supporters of Jacob Zuma, the new leader of the African National Congress, protested on Saturday that new corruption charges against him were part of a politically inspired vendetta. Zuma’s supporters have cried foul over the timing of the charges, a little over a week since he was elected leader of the ANC.
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/ 28 December 2007
The decline in the matric pass rate is worrying, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said in Pretoria on Friday. The country needed to increase the number of candidates for entry to higher education levels, she said. Pandor said several reasons were responsible for the decline in the matric pass rate.
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/ 28 December 2007
The disappointing South African matric pass rate came as no surprise, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Friday. MP George Boinamo said it was, however, disappointing that the pass rate had deteriorated. ”During the past year our country’s education system, and more importantly, its learners, faced many challenges.”
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/ 23 December 2007
The new chairperson of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Khanyisiwe Mkhonza, paid tribute to the outgoing board in a statement to the media on Sunday. Mkhonza, who is the current chairperson of the public broadcasting services board sub-committee, also acknowledged challenges facing the new board.
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/ 21 December 2007
A Democratic Alliance Cape Town city councillor, Frank Martin, appeared briefly in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Friday after his arrest on Thursday for allegedly encouraging homeless people in Delft to move into houses not allocated to them. Martin was released on R1Â 000 bail by a Bellville prosecutor.
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/ 20 December 2007
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Finding a value-based overarching South African identity has become a priority for the African National Congress (ANC), national executive committee member Joel Netshitenzhe revealed on Thursday in a press briefing on the party’s strategy and tactics document.
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/ 18 December 2007
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Jacob Zuma is the new president of the African National Congress. The announcement was greeted by an outpouring of joy and ecstatic cheering by ANC delegates at the party’s conference in Polokwane shortly before 9pm on Tuesday. Thabo Mbeki received 1 505 votes and Zuma received 2 329.
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/ 18 December 2007
Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille has extended by a month the deadline for the independent investigation into various allegations surrounding the city’s so-called spy saga. Zille has appointed Advocate Josie Jordaan of the Cape Bar to lead the investigation into allegations surrounding the George Fivaz and Associates investigation of Councillor Badih Chaaban.
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/ 17 December 2007
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The African National Congress’s Polokwane conference may deal with nominations for the party’s presidency late on Monday, according to a senior party official. The nomination process is expected to result in a head-to-head clash for the top post between party president Thabo Mbeki and his deputy, Jacob Zuma.
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/ 17 December 2007
Uncertainty over the prosecution of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi was not in anyone’s best interest, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said. The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) spokesperson Tlali Tlali said on Sunday that a decision had been made on whether Selebi ”has a case to answer”.
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/ 16 December 2007
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Ministers and aides in President Thabo Mbeki’s government were heckled by delegates on Sunday when the African National Congress opened a conference that could see Mbeki losing control over the party. Some of the delegates booed Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and Essop Pahad, a top aide to Mbeki, as they arrived.
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/ 14 December 2007
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A Jacob Zuma-led African National Congress will have a major impact in KwaZulu-Natal, analysts and politicians in the province said on Friday. They agreed the ANC’s popularity in the province would increase at the expense of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) if Zuma was elected the party’s new leader in Polokwane next week.
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/ 13 December 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for effective sanction of government departments for failing to answer written parliamentary questions after 233 of its questions went unanswered this year. Thirteen percent (233) of the 1 690 written parliamentary questions posed by the party this year remained unanswered on Wednesday.
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/ 6 December 2007
Opposition parties have lamented the increases in crime detailed in the latest statistics for April to September, which were released on Thursday. It was deplorable and made a mockery of Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula’s assurances that the crime rate was under control, Democratic Alliance spokesperson Diane Kohler-Barnard said.
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/ 6 December 2007
The klebsiella death toll at Durban’s Prince Mshiyeni Hospital has risen to six. This follows the deaths of five other babies at the hospital two weeks ago. The deceased’s mother, Lungile Ngema, said that nurses had taunted her, saying mothers who gave birth at home brought the disease to the hospital.
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/ 5 December 2007
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According to the Democratic Alliance (DA), the broadcast by President Thabo Mbeki on 15 South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio stations on Wednesday evening confirms for South African listeners at large the conviction that the public broadcaster is a party organ.
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/ 4 December 2007
The embattled South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) suffered yet another blow on Tuesday with the resignation of its CEO, Zakes Myeza. Myeza was touted as the saviour of the CAA when he took office in February last year, becoming the first permanent appointee to the post in years — at least since the debacle surrounding Trevor Abrahams.
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/ 4 December 2007
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In the fierce debate raging around the man tipped to become South Africa’s next president, African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma, there are few neutrals. With less than a fortnight to go before the ruling party’s national conference in Polokwane, reports show a country split over the politician.
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/ 3 December 2007
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South African President Thabo Mbeki and his arch-rival, Jacob Zuma, have both officially confirmed they are candidates for party chief of the African National Congress (ANC), their offices said Monday. ”Mr Jacob Zuma signed the ANC nomination form over the weekend in London,” Zuma’s spokesperson, Ranjeni Munusamy, said.