A wave of xenophobic attacks spread through Johannesburg townships on Monday. Mobs beat foreigners and set some ablaze in scenes reminiscent of apartheid-era violence. A total of 22 people have now been killed in the violence directed at immigrants around Johannesburg, which began a week ago.
As a fresh wave of severe xenophobic violence gripped Johannesburg on Sunday, with five people killed in the Cleveland area, hundreds fleeing to the safety of police stations and shops in the CBD looted, President Thabo Mbeki announced that a panel had been set up to look into the attacks.
A full bench of judges on Friday reserved a ruling on the bid by the City of Cape Town and the Democratic Alliance (DA) to quash the Erasmus commission. The commission was set up by Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool to probe the DA-led city’s investigation of renegade councillor Badih Chaaban.
Having a judge head the politically loaded Erasmus commission undermined the principle of separation of powers, lawyers for the City of Cape Town and the Democratic Alliance argued on Thursday. The city and the party have asked the court to quash the commission to probe the legality of the city’s spying on renegade councillor Badih Chaaban.
The African Christian Democratic Party, Democratic Alliance, Independent Democrats and United Democratic Movement have filed a joint submission in the Pretoria High Court as a friend of the court in support of Hugh Glenister’s bid to stop the disbanding of the Scorpions, the parties said on Thursday.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes that the Bill abolishing the Scorpions and amalgamating them into a police directorate will dramatically undermine the fight against crime, and against organised crime in particular. ”As such, the DA will do all in its power to ensure that the Bill does not become law,” the party said on Wednesday.
The Democratic Alliance has called on the Speaker of Parliament to explain why a decision has been made to stop further investigations into MPs implicated in the Travelgate scandal. This follows publication of a notice directing liquidators ”not to pursue any action as against the various members of Parliament in relation to the un-invoiced tickets, levies and/or services”.
Xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, are against the freedom and democracy that was fought for in South Africa, political organisations on Tuesday. African National Congress spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso said: ”Such acts can only take society backwards.”
Police were monitoring the situation in Alexandra on Monday following a suspected xenophobic attack that left two people dead and 40 injured, Gauteng police said. Constable Neria Malefetse said security had been tightened and units, including the public-order police unit, were helping to monitor the situation.
President Thabo Mbeki must go, and he must go now, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille said on Monday. ”In a constitutional democracy such as ours, it is untenable for a president with his track record to remain in office,” she said in a statement. It is ”in the interests of South Africa” that Mbeki step down as president.
Tens of millions of rands of Lotto money earmarked for charities and good causes is lying undistributed in the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. Over a 100 non-profit organisations were affected, DA social development spokesperson Janet Semple told a parliamentary media briefing.
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The Scorpions must be disbanded because they are a counter-revolutionary force out to destroy African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma and destabilise the party, the Umkhonto weSizwe Veterans’ Association (MKVA) said on Saturday.
One of the key motives behind the Erasmus commission was to stop the realignment of South African politics, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille said on Friday. The commission was set up by Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool in December 2007 to investigate the City of Cape Town’s probe into controversial councillor Badih Chaaban.
The Department of Health and the Department of Water Affairs are still collecting door-to-door information on the outbreak of diarrhoea in the Eastern Cape which cost 78 children’s lives, the provincial government said on Thursday. Spokesperson Papama Mfenyana said the province was still waiting for information from the team on the ground.
Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri expressed ”great concern” on Wednesday about the suspension of South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) CEO Dali Mpofu and head of news Snuki Zikalala. ”All will be done on [the minister’s] part to ensure the ability of the SABC to carry out its mandate,” she said.
In politics, as in life, chickens usually come home to roost. Fourteen years of failure in leadership and management at the Department of Home Affairs. Nine years of self-indulgent denialism in the Presidency. Six months of Umshini Wami and the violence and human rights promiscuity it implies — not to mention the failure in intelligence.
Debate on the future of the Scorpions gained new steam on Monday as the government released a report from an inquiry it had commissioned into the elite detective unit. The Scorpions still have a role to play in the country’s crime-fighting efforts, states the report that was submitted to President Thabo Mbeki two years ago.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday accused Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang of keeping Aids statistics low after an official report was released by the Development Bank of South Africa. ”The minister of health must explain why official statistics are so low,” said DA spokesperson and MP Sandy Kalyan.
When was the last time you heard from Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa, Free State Premier Beatrice Marshoff, Northern Cape’s Dipuo Peters or even KwaZulu-Natal’s S’bu Ndebele? I reckon not lately. It may be true that some, such as Marshoff and Peters, have always had a low public profile anyway. But Shilowa and Ndebele?
South Africans cannot wait for the government to rescue them from crime, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Saturday. ”It is up to us to take our communities back. This is going to take the commitment and drive of every person … who values the ideal of a crime-free South Africa,” she said.
The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) request to attend closed sessions of the Ginwala inquiry into suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli was rejected on Wednesday. The party requested permission from President Thabo Mbeki in March to attend the closed session into Pikoli’s fitness to hold office.
Statistics South Africa should appear before the finance portfolio committee to explain alleged unreliability in the Producer Price Index (PPI), said the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday. ”Reliable official data is essential to policy-making,” said DA finance spokesperson Kobus Marais.
South Africa’s international land borders are as porous as the proverbial sieve, with tens of thousands of refugees streaming into the country each week, alongside gun-smugglers and drug-traffickers, says the Democratic Alliance (DA). The party called for the deployment of South African National Defence Force troops to the worst-affected border regions,
A statutory media tribunal would not only be unconstitutional but it would not solve the plethora of problems in the industry, a discussion group concluded on Tuesday. Jane Duncan from the Freedom of Expression Institute said the proposed body would obviously be unconstitutional, and would not fly.
A total of 7 868 items of luggage belonging to South African Airways (SAA) passengers were reported missing from airports in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London in the three-month period between December 1 and February 29 this year.
About one third of posts for environmental impact assessment (EIA) officials are vacant, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday. DA spokesperson on the environment Rika Kruger said 37% of all posts in the directorate were vacant, while 25% of the managerial positions were also vacant.
The full Khampepe commission report will be gazetted on May 5, the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. DA leader Helen Zille said the presidency had written to the DA to inform it of the move. Zille said the report was a crucial source of information during the legislative process to decide on the future of the unit.
There was a need for a ”new South African” who embodied everything that was morally good, President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday. He was addressing several thousand people at the national Freedom Day celebrations at a blustery Turfhall Stadium in Cape Town.
South Africa faces a new threat 14 years after the first democratic election, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Saturday. She was addressing a large crowd at the KwaZulu-Natal Freedom Day celebrations in Molweni, outside Durban. ”The threat is a ruling party that believes it is more important than the Constitution. It is a party that believes it will rule until Jesus comes,” said Zille.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will present a set of proposals to the Foreign Affairs Ministry on how the government can resolve Zimbabwe’s electoral crisis, the party said on Friday. The proposals include the possible suspension of Zimbabwe from the African Union, arms embargoes and the severing of diplomatic ties.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday proposed six steps to help the economy weather the current storm. ”Overall, sustainable and consistent policy is required,” DA spokesperson Kobus Marais told a media briefing at Parliament. ”Reverting to knee-jerk, short-term and populist measures will do more harm than ever before,” he said.
Areas in and around the Kempton Park CBD will be without power until Sunday, the Ekurhuleni municipality said on Thursday, following a fire at a substation in Spartan on Monday. The crisis has left one resident dead and residential and business areas without electricity. Meanwhile, South Africans will be free of scheduled power cuts next week, Eskom said on Thursday.