Mpumalanga police say six police officers and 13 home affairs department officials were arrested on Friday for allegedly accepting bribes from foreigners in exchange for letting them into the country. The illegal entry of foreigners had been taking place at the Lebombo border post near Komatipoort, Lt-Col Leonard Hlathi said.
All the home affairs officials had already been suspended. The arrests, made during a joint police and home affairs operation, were part of efforts to combat illegal immigration. The group was expected to face charges of corruption in the Komatipoort Magistrate's Court on Monday.
Source: Times Live
Showing posts with label Mpumalanga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mpumalanga. Show all posts
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Mpuma health department, police in court for corruption
Eight ambulance officials and five policemen in the Middleburg are facing corruption charges for receiving bribes to call tow-truck drivers after an accident and before calling an ambulance, says Mpumalanga police. "When they got the alert that an accident has happened they will phone a tow-truck driver before they phone the ambulance.., and then they get a kick-back from the tow-truck driver," said spokesman Captain Leonard Hlathi. The five policemen, aged between 28 and 42, were arrested on Wednesday and appeared in the Middleburg Magistrate's Court on the same day facing charges of corruption.
They were granted bail of R1, 500 each and their case was postponed to January 14 for further investigation. Hlathi said seven of the eight ambulance officials, including four women, aged between 31 and 47, were arrested on Wednesday and the eighth one was arrested on Thursday morning. They are employed by the department of health to receive calls from the public or the police about an accident and then dispatch an ambulance to the scene, he said. The group would be appearing before the Middleburg Magistrate's Court on Thursday also facing corruption charges.
The Mpumalanga department of health was not immediately available for comment. "There is a lot of competition between tow-truck drivers to get to the scene [of an accident] first... they paid ambulance officials and the police between R700 and R1, 800 per call to be called first [about] an accident." He did not know how long this corruption had been going on for. "We still need to check when it all started... but we have been investigating this for three months. We have a lot of evidence."
Police and the ambulance officials were not working together in this activity, he said. "They were working uniquely." He said no arrests of tow-truck drivers had been made and he would not speak about possible charges that they would face. "It was different [tow-truck] companies that were paying the bribes." He would not comment on the possibility that lives were lost because tow-truck drivers were informed of an accident before an ambulance.
Source: Times Live
They were granted bail of R1, 500 each and their case was postponed to January 14 for further investigation. Hlathi said seven of the eight ambulance officials, including four women, aged between 31 and 47, were arrested on Wednesday and the eighth one was arrested on Thursday morning. They are employed by the department of health to receive calls from the public or the police about an accident and then dispatch an ambulance to the scene, he said. The group would be appearing before the Middleburg Magistrate's Court on Thursday also facing corruption charges.
The Mpumalanga department of health was not immediately available for comment. "There is a lot of competition between tow-truck drivers to get to the scene [of an accident] first... they paid ambulance officials and the police between R700 and R1, 800 per call to be called first [about] an accident." He did not know how long this corruption had been going on for. "We still need to check when it all started... but we have been investigating this for three months. We have a lot of evidence."
Police and the ambulance officials were not working together in this activity, he said. "They were working uniquely." He said no arrests of tow-truck drivers had been made and he would not speak about possible charges that they would face. "It was different [tow-truck] companies that were paying the bribes." He would not comment on the possibility that lives were lost because tow-truck drivers were informed of an accident before an ambulance.
Source: Times Live
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Huge profits from local land deals
A prominent businessman in Mpumalanga, who is linked to premier David Mabuza, has emerged as the central figure in questionable municipal land deals worth R45-million. The Sunday Times has established that town planner Patrick Chirwa used his company, Pacific Breeze Trading 474, to snap up private plots on the cheap and sell them to municipalities at exorbitant prices.
Chirwa is also the owner of Sisonke Development Planners in the province. At the time that most of the deals took place, the premier, Mabuza, was MEC for agriculture and land administration and served as a director of two companies - Above Average Trading Corporation 44 and 45 - with Chirwa. In one deal, a plot was bought for R3.1-million and sold to the Mbombela municipality for R11-million in one day.
At the time, Chirwa was a board member of the Mbombela Housing Association whose mandate included identifying properties for "social integration" on behalf of the council. He is now the chairman of the association. In another deal, Pacific Breeze bought a plot in the Emakhazeni municipality for R1.6-million and transferred it to the council for R17.4-million. Deeds and company records show that between 2007 and 2008 Pacific Breeze bought four smallholdings from private landowners for a total of R7.6-million and sold them to the government for R44.4-million - pocketing a profit of R36.8-million.
The purchases by the municipalities were all financed through the provincial government. Chirwa confirmed the details of the transactions and admitted to making "huge profits". But he claimed these were not "unseemly" because property developers took "large risks". The massive price hikes, which took place during a global property slump, were "due to normal market forces" for farm land "earmarked for development purposes", he said.
Pacific Breeze is not the only entity through which Chirwa made money out of lucrative government deals. The members of Pacific Breeze - Chirwa, Harrington Dlamini and Robert Burwise - also own a company called Lusito Development Specialists. In 2006, Lusito lodged an application to develop the very same properties bought and sold by Pacific Breeze into a "social housing" project. This project ran into stiff opposition from local landowners, who formed a pressure group, the White River Concerned Citizens Committee.
Committee member Stefanus Labuschaghne told the Sunday Times he had attended a residents' meeting in 2006 convened by Burwise, who claimed there were "very powerful politicians behind this development" and that "we won't be able to stop it". Another resident, Paul Clark, said Burwise "told me personally we will never stop this because there were 'very powerful forces' behind it".
Chirwa denied exploiting his political connections and positions to clinch the deals. He said his relationship with Mabuza was professional. "We have no business association whatsoever," he said, and Mabuza "had no influence on the decision of the Department of Human Settlements to finance the purchase of the land". He threatened to sue the Sunday Times, saying: "The questions raised ... are already defamatory." Mabuza, through a spokes-man, denied that he had benefited from the deals - or through any of his business links with Chirwa.
Asked if the Department of Human Settlements planned to investigate the sales for irregularities, provincial head David Dube said "proper processes were adhered to when purchasing the properties and there is nothing currently that warrants any legal action".
Source: Times Live
Chirwa is also the owner of Sisonke Development Planners in the province. At the time that most of the deals took place, the premier, Mabuza, was MEC for agriculture and land administration and served as a director of two companies - Above Average Trading Corporation 44 and 45 - with Chirwa. In one deal, a plot was bought for R3.1-million and sold to the Mbombela municipality for R11-million in one day.
At the time, Chirwa was a board member of the Mbombela Housing Association whose mandate included identifying properties for "social integration" on behalf of the council. He is now the chairman of the association. In another deal, Pacific Breeze bought a plot in the Emakhazeni municipality for R1.6-million and transferred it to the council for R17.4-million. Deeds and company records show that between 2007 and 2008 Pacific Breeze bought four smallholdings from private landowners for a total of R7.6-million and sold them to the government for R44.4-million - pocketing a profit of R36.8-million.
The purchases by the municipalities were all financed through the provincial government. Chirwa confirmed the details of the transactions and admitted to making "huge profits". But he claimed these were not "unseemly" because property developers took "large risks". The massive price hikes, which took place during a global property slump, were "due to normal market forces" for farm land "earmarked for development purposes", he said.
Pacific Breeze is not the only entity through which Chirwa made money out of lucrative government deals. The members of Pacific Breeze - Chirwa, Harrington Dlamini and Robert Burwise - also own a company called Lusito Development Specialists. In 2006, Lusito lodged an application to develop the very same properties bought and sold by Pacific Breeze into a "social housing" project. This project ran into stiff opposition from local landowners, who formed a pressure group, the White River Concerned Citizens Committee.
Committee member Stefanus Labuschaghne told the Sunday Times he had attended a residents' meeting in 2006 convened by Burwise, who claimed there were "very powerful politicians behind this development" and that "we won't be able to stop it". Another resident, Paul Clark, said Burwise "told me personally we will never stop this because there were 'very powerful forces' behind it".
Chirwa denied exploiting his political connections and positions to clinch the deals. He said his relationship with Mabuza was professional. "We have no business association whatsoever," he said, and Mabuza "had no influence on the decision of the Department of Human Settlements to finance the purchase of the land". He threatened to sue the Sunday Times, saying: "The questions raised ... are already defamatory." Mabuza, through a spokes-man, denied that he had benefited from the deals - or through any of his business links with Chirwa.
Asked if the Department of Human Settlements planned to investigate the sales for irregularities, provincial head David Dube said "proper processes were adhered to when purchasing the properties and there is nothing currently that warrants any legal action".
Source: Times Live
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
COP GETS JAIL FOR MURDERING SWAZI ACTIVIST
A former Mpumalanga police reservist will go to jail for 20 years for the murder of the deputy president of the Swaziland-based People's United Democratic Movement. Dumisani Maduna, 33, was sentenced in the Nelspruit circuit of the North Gauteng High Court on Wednesday. He killed Dr Gabriel Thandokuhle Mkhumane, 48, by shooting him execution-style at the Entokozweni Dam near KaNyamazane on April 2 2008. He also raped a woman who was with Mkhumane three times, and stole the couple's cellphones and the doctor's wallet. He later tried unsuccessfully to draw money at an ATM from Mkhumane's account.
Judge Legodi Phatudi described Maduna as a merciless and cold-blooded murderer. “You had no choice but confess due to the seriousness of the case. The reason for not getting a life sentence is that you pleaded guilty, you were under the influence of alcohol when the crime was committed, and you did not plan the crime," he said.
Maduna was sentenced to six months for assault, 12 years for rape, 10 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, 20 years for murder, three years - suspended for five years - for attempted theft, six years for kidnapping, three years - suspended for five years - for illegal possession of a firearm, and 18 months for illegal possession of live ammunition. All the sentences will run concurrently, which means he will spend 20 years in jail. But Pudemo president Mario Masuku said the organisation was convinced that Mkhumane had been assassinated and that the rape and robbery were an attempt to disguise the hit as a straightforward crime. “Just because Maduna confessed, the police decided to close the case. Why did he follow Mkhumane and why he did not hand in his service pistol after knocking off duty? Justice was not done here. The Mkhumane family will discuss this matter and we will decide what to do next,” he said outside court.
Mkhumane was a Swazi revolutionary opposed to the absolute monarchy headed by Mswati III. He had been living in exile for 24 years, in Mozambique, Cuba and South Africa. At the time of his death, he was living in White River, where he worked as a paediatrician in Themba Hospital. "A family has lost a father, Swaziland will never get another leader of his calibre, and South Africa has also lost a well-qualified doctor,” said Masuku.
Source: Capital
Judge Legodi Phatudi described Maduna as a merciless and cold-blooded murderer. “You had no choice but confess due to the seriousness of the case. The reason for not getting a life sentence is that you pleaded guilty, you were under the influence of alcohol when the crime was committed, and you did not plan the crime," he said.
Maduna was sentenced to six months for assault, 12 years for rape, 10 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, 20 years for murder, three years - suspended for five years - for attempted theft, six years for kidnapping, three years - suspended for five years - for illegal possession of a firearm, and 18 months for illegal possession of live ammunition. All the sentences will run concurrently, which means he will spend 20 years in jail. But Pudemo president Mario Masuku said the organisation was convinced that Mkhumane had been assassinated and that the rape and robbery were an attempt to disguise the hit as a straightforward crime. “Just because Maduna confessed, the police decided to close the case. Why did he follow Mkhumane and why he did not hand in his service pistol after knocking off duty? Justice was not done here. The Mkhumane family will discuss this matter and we will decide what to do next,” he said outside court.
Mkhumane was a Swazi revolutionary opposed to the absolute monarchy headed by Mswati III. He had been living in exile for 24 years, in Mozambique, Cuba and South Africa. At the time of his death, he was living in White River, where he worked as a paediatrician in Themba Hospital. "A family has lost a father, Swaziland will never get another leader of his calibre, and South Africa has also lost a well-qualified doctor,” said Masuku.
Source: Capital
Friday, August 13, 2010
Spin doctor red-faced over fake letter
Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza's spin doctors seem to have played a central role in circulating the fake letter that led to the dramatic arrest of Sunday Times investigative journalist, Mzilikazi wa Afrika, last week.
Mabuza's chief spokesperson, Mabutho Sithole, reluctantly admitted on Thursday that he personally tipped off journalists about the existence of the letter, in which the premier purportedly confirms his resignation to President Jacob Zuma. He also emailed a PDF copy of the letter to at least two journalists at the same time as the premier's office was lodging criminal charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice against "conspirators" Wa Afrika and Mbombela (Nelspruit) councillor Victor Mlimi. The charges were changed last week after the two had been arrested to fraud, forgery and "uttering" — which is knowingly circulating a fraudulent document.
The letter came from a confidential source and was faxed, via Mlimi, to Wa Afrika, who received it on July 21. Wa Afrika then passed the letter on to another Sunday Times journalist, who followed it up with the premier's office by sending it to Sithole for verification.
Sithole has confirmed receiving the PDF version of the letter from the Sunday Times on July 24. "I knew immediately that it was fake. The signature is nothing like the premier's real one. I told them it was part of a plot to destabilise the province and smear the premier," said Sithole. Based on Sithole's response, plus denials from the presidency and ANC, the Sunday Times decided against publishing a story on the issue.
Sithole nevertheless phoned Sowetan journalist Alfred Moselakgomo the following day, July 25, to tip him off about the "rumours" and the existence of the letter. Sithole then emailed a copy of the PDF letter to Sowetan's Mpumalanga bureau chief, Riot Hlatshwayo, and Sowetan reporter Kingdom Mabuza on Monday July 26. "We hadn't even heard rumours about the issue until the tip-off on the Sunday, and would not have had enough evidence to publish anything if we hadn't received the letter from Mabutho," says Hlatshwayo.
Hlatshwayo co-wrote a story about the allegations and then forwarded the PDF letter to City Press, Beeld, The Witness, Jacaranda FM and investigative news agency African Eye News Service (AENS). He also tipped off colleagues in the SABC's local radio and TV news teams. The SABC and City Press subsequently ran stories on the rumoured resignation and Mabuza's insistence that the publicity was part of a political plot to oust him and to topple the provincial administration.
Sithole refused to say why Wa Afrika had been targeted for arrest when he had not circulated the letter or written about it, or why journalists who had circulated it and written about the controversy had not been charged. "Regardless of how the journalists got the letter, there is a plot, and journalists are part of it. We have evidence. But this whole matter is now sub judice and I will not comment further [out of] respect for the legal process," said Sithole. He refused to confirm or deny whether the evidence against Wa Afrika was based on surveillance of the media by intelligence agencies. Mabuza has previously boasted about receiving weekly classified reports on "troublemakers" in the province, including reports about "people who say things". "I checked with [Mabuza] and he will not tell me yes or no. He said he is not going to tell me, because the information is classified," said Sithole.
He also refused to say why the province had not pressed charges in the case of another high-profile fraudulent letter — one purportedly used by project management company, Lefika Emerging Equity. Lefika, whose owners include Kaizer Chiefs general manager Bobby Motaung and Mpumalanga tycoon Herbert Theledi, allegedly wrote a fraudulent letter to First National Bank. The letter, on the Mbombela municipality's letterhead, requested an overdraft based on the claim that it had submitted a sizeable invoice to the council in December 2008 for its work on the Mbombela stadium.
Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala, who announced publicly that he intended lodging fraud charges with police, was killed in front of his teenage son in January 2009, two days before he was scheduled to meet investigators.
Lefika and Motaung were not immediately available for comment, but both repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Mbombela mayor Lassy Chiwayo said at the time that the murder was an assassination to silence Mohlala and said he and other council officials had received threatening calls.
The Sunday Times confirmed on Thursday that Wa Afrika had been investigating why no fraud charge had been lodged in the case and why no one had been arrested for the killing. The paper's legal spokesperson, Susan Smuts, also confirmed that Wa Afrika claimed that he had been followed and narrowly evaded a possible kidnap attempt in the province in April. Another journalist who has started looking into the case, City Press's Sizwe samaYende, is currently under 24-hour protection after dodging a gunman who ambushed him at his Mbombela home last Friday night. "Both these cases, Wa Afrika's matter and Mohlala's murder, are active and ongoing investigations and as such I cannot comment on them," said Hawks spokesperson Musa Zondi on Thursday afternoon.
Wa Afrika and Mlimi are both out on R5000 bail each, pending further investigation by the Hawks. They have had to surrender their passports and are scheduled to reappear in the Nelspruit courts on November 8. Wa Afrika's attorney, Eric van den Berg, meanwhile confirmed that the Hawks had agreed to return Wa Afrika's notebooks and research files, which were seized from the journalist's home without a search warrant immediately after his arrest last week and were turned over to crime intelligence officers in Mpumalanga for "analysis". They include material stretching back 11 years, including notes on his investigations into the arms deal, Travelgate and other scandals.
Media freedom organisations, including the South African National Editors' Forum, have expressed concern that the identity of whistleblowers and confidential sources unrelated to the fraudulent letter case may have been compromised.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Mabuza's chief spokesperson, Mabutho Sithole, reluctantly admitted on Thursday that he personally tipped off journalists about the existence of the letter, in which the premier purportedly confirms his resignation to President Jacob Zuma. He also emailed a PDF copy of the letter to at least two journalists at the same time as the premier's office was lodging criminal charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice against "conspirators" Wa Afrika and Mbombela (Nelspruit) councillor Victor Mlimi. The charges were changed last week after the two had been arrested to fraud, forgery and "uttering" — which is knowingly circulating a fraudulent document.
The letter came from a confidential source and was faxed, via Mlimi, to Wa Afrika, who received it on July 21. Wa Afrika then passed the letter on to another Sunday Times journalist, who followed it up with the premier's office by sending it to Sithole for verification.
Sithole has confirmed receiving the PDF version of the letter from the Sunday Times on July 24. "I knew immediately that it was fake. The signature is nothing like the premier's real one. I told them it was part of a plot to destabilise the province and smear the premier," said Sithole. Based on Sithole's response, plus denials from the presidency and ANC, the Sunday Times decided against publishing a story on the issue.
Sithole nevertheless phoned Sowetan journalist Alfred Moselakgomo the following day, July 25, to tip him off about the "rumours" and the existence of the letter. Sithole then emailed a copy of the PDF letter to Sowetan's Mpumalanga bureau chief, Riot Hlatshwayo, and Sowetan reporter Kingdom Mabuza on Monday July 26. "We hadn't even heard rumours about the issue until the tip-off on the Sunday, and would not have had enough evidence to publish anything if we hadn't received the letter from Mabutho," says Hlatshwayo.
Hlatshwayo co-wrote a story about the allegations and then forwarded the PDF letter to City Press, Beeld, The Witness, Jacaranda FM and investigative news agency African Eye News Service (AENS). He also tipped off colleagues in the SABC's local radio and TV news teams. The SABC and City Press subsequently ran stories on the rumoured resignation and Mabuza's insistence that the publicity was part of a political plot to oust him and to topple the provincial administration.
Sithole refused to say why Wa Afrika had been targeted for arrest when he had not circulated the letter or written about it, or why journalists who had circulated it and written about the controversy had not been charged. "Regardless of how the journalists got the letter, there is a plot, and journalists are part of it. We have evidence. But this whole matter is now sub judice and I will not comment further [out of] respect for the legal process," said Sithole. He refused to confirm or deny whether the evidence against Wa Afrika was based on surveillance of the media by intelligence agencies. Mabuza has previously boasted about receiving weekly classified reports on "troublemakers" in the province, including reports about "people who say things". "I checked with [Mabuza] and he will not tell me yes or no. He said he is not going to tell me, because the information is classified," said Sithole.
He also refused to say why the province had not pressed charges in the case of another high-profile fraudulent letter — one purportedly used by project management company, Lefika Emerging Equity. Lefika, whose owners include Kaizer Chiefs general manager Bobby Motaung and Mpumalanga tycoon Herbert Theledi, allegedly wrote a fraudulent letter to First National Bank. The letter, on the Mbombela municipality's letterhead, requested an overdraft based on the claim that it had submitted a sizeable invoice to the council in December 2008 for its work on the Mbombela stadium.
Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala, who announced publicly that he intended lodging fraud charges with police, was killed in front of his teenage son in January 2009, two days before he was scheduled to meet investigators.
Lefika and Motaung were not immediately available for comment, but both repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Mbombela mayor Lassy Chiwayo said at the time that the murder was an assassination to silence Mohlala and said he and other council officials had received threatening calls.
The Sunday Times confirmed on Thursday that Wa Afrika had been investigating why no fraud charge had been lodged in the case and why no one had been arrested for the killing. The paper's legal spokesperson, Susan Smuts, also confirmed that Wa Afrika claimed that he had been followed and narrowly evaded a possible kidnap attempt in the province in April. Another journalist who has started looking into the case, City Press's Sizwe samaYende, is currently under 24-hour protection after dodging a gunman who ambushed him at his Mbombela home last Friday night. "Both these cases, Wa Afrika's matter and Mohlala's murder, are active and ongoing investigations and as such I cannot comment on them," said Hawks spokesperson Musa Zondi on Thursday afternoon.
Wa Afrika and Mlimi are both out on R5000 bail each, pending further investigation by the Hawks. They have had to surrender their passports and are scheduled to reappear in the Nelspruit courts on November 8. Wa Afrika's attorney, Eric van den Berg, meanwhile confirmed that the Hawks had agreed to return Wa Afrika's notebooks and research files, which were seized from the journalist's home without a search warrant immediately after his arrest last week and were turned over to crime intelligence officers in Mpumalanga for "analysis". They include material stretching back 11 years, including notes on his investigations into the arms deal, Travelgate and other scandals.
Media freedom organisations, including the South African National Editors' Forum, have expressed concern that the identity of whistleblowers and confidential sources unrelated to the fraudulent letter case may have been compromised.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Friday, August 6, 2010
Journalist gets extra security
The City Press is organising extra security for one of its journalists, who was held at gun point after meeting a source. Sizwe Samayende returned from his meeting at about midnight on Friday and was approached by a gunman as he was entering his town house complex in Nelspruit.
The suspect ran away when the house alarm went off. Samayende admitted that he was covering a story of a sensitive nature. He said safety was a concern now especially with tensions running high in Mpumalanga. “I don’t think it was an armed robbery, he could have had his opportunity to take whatever he could take from me,” said Samayende.
Source: Eye Witness News
The suspect ran away when the house alarm went off. Samayende admitted that he was covering a story of a sensitive nature. He said safety was a concern now especially with tensions running high in Mpumalanga. “I don’t think it was an armed robbery, he could have had his opportunity to take whatever he could take from me,” said Samayende.
Source: Eye Witness News
Crime busters 'six feet under'
Cosatu chief Zwelinzima Vavi says corruption-busters have been assassinated but nothing has been done about it. He blasted two provincial governments for not acting against the killers of whistle-blowers and singled out Mpumalanga and the North West as dangerous provinces for people who had disclosed sensitive information. Members of the labour federation in Mpumalanga who asked questions on corruption "are now six feet under", he told a seminar on South Africa after the World Cup in Joburg on Thursday.
Vavi said one of Cosatu's leaders in North West, Moss Phakoe, was gunned down in his house in Rustenburg in March last year for fighting corruption at local government level. "Everybody from the premier (Maureen Modiselle) down are saying they know the killer and will arrest him, but no arrests have been made yet," he said.
North West government spokesperson Khotso Khumalo said Vavi had his facts wrong. "It is factually incorrect to say that the authorities and the premier know who the killers are, because that would imply that they're not acting." He said police were handling the matter.
Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza's spokesman, Mabutho Sithole, said Vavi should come with proof of his allegations. Sithole said many whistle-blowers in Mpumalanga were alive and well, and testifying in corruption cases. "Any truth (to Vavi's allegations) must be determined by a court of law. He must assist us and give us proof of the people getting killed, not just say what he reads in the media," said Sithole.
There have been unverified reports in Mpumalanga of a Mozambican assassin who was allegedly hired to take out corruption-busters. Several politicians were killed and their deaths linked to their attempts to root out corruption. Vavi also said some union leaders were receiving death threats. He himself had received a death threat after he said President Jacob Zuma was not acting on allegations of corruption against ministers. Vavi said the ANC had admitted in its discussion documents for its national general council that corruption was a problem in the party, but he was threatened with disciplinary action when he raised the issue.
Vavi's predecessor-turned-businessman Jay Naidoo on Thursday also called for the fight against corruption and the exploitation of power to be stepped up. He urged NGOs and civil society organisations to fight against the "predatory elite". "If you want an enemy it is these 'democratic' elites who will use military language to create more space at the feeding trough. "(Trade unionists of old) used military terminology that was driven by a purpose, but now it is driven by self-interest, which is to get into government and to get their hands on power," he said.
Vavi noted that people who were appointed in government "moved closer to the seat of patronage". He also said the political climate in the alliance had not improved since the ANC's 2007 Polokwane conference.
Source: IoL
Vavi said one of Cosatu's leaders in North West, Moss Phakoe, was gunned down in his house in Rustenburg in March last year for fighting corruption at local government level. "Everybody from the premier (Maureen Modiselle) down are saying they know the killer and will arrest him, but no arrests have been made yet," he said.
North West government spokesperson Khotso Khumalo said Vavi had his facts wrong. "It is factually incorrect to say that the authorities and the premier know who the killers are, because that would imply that they're not acting." He said police were handling the matter.
Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza's spokesman, Mabutho Sithole, said Vavi should come with proof of his allegations. Sithole said many whistle-blowers in Mpumalanga were alive and well, and testifying in corruption cases. "Any truth (to Vavi's allegations) must be determined by a court of law. He must assist us and give us proof of the people getting killed, not just say what he reads in the media," said Sithole.
There have been unverified reports in Mpumalanga of a Mozambican assassin who was allegedly hired to take out corruption-busters. Several politicians were killed and their deaths linked to their attempts to root out corruption. Vavi also said some union leaders were receiving death threats. He himself had received a death threat after he said President Jacob Zuma was not acting on allegations of corruption against ministers. Vavi said the ANC had admitted in its discussion documents for its national general council that corruption was a problem in the party, but he was threatened with disciplinary action when he raised the issue.
Vavi's predecessor-turned-businessman Jay Naidoo on Thursday also called for the fight against corruption and the exploitation of power to be stepped up. He urged NGOs and civil society organisations to fight against the "predatory elite". "If you want an enemy it is these 'democratic' elites who will use military language to create more space at the feeding trough. "(Trade unionists of old) used military terminology that was driven by a purpose, but now it is driven by self-interest, which is to get into government and to get their hands on power," he said.
Vavi noted that people who were appointed in government "moved closer to the seat of patronage". He also said the political climate in the alliance had not improved since the ANC's 2007 Polokwane conference.
Source: IoL
Mabuza and the R450m building
The Mpumalanga government has been accused in papers filed in the Labour Court of signing a deal to buy a building in Nelspruit for R458-million -- more than four times its market value. According to Priscilla Nkwinika, suspended head of Mpumalanga's public works department, the deal was driven by Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza.Nkwinika has brought an urgent application -- to be heard on August 6 -- to quash charges against her and stop a disciplinary hearing on August 10. Mabuza had, at the time of going to press, not filed responding papers. In her application Nkwinika states that the disciplinary hearings were part of a campaign of "malicious prosecution" by Mabuza, after she twice refused his instructions to sanction the purchase of the office complex for R600-million.
Nkwinika alleges that Mabuza first approached her in October 2008, when he was provincial agriculture minister, to buy the three properties and that she agreed to "follow all the procurement processes, taking into consideration also the reports on the evaluation of the said buildings". Nkwinika was unable to complete the investigations and present her report on the financial viability of the buildings to the provincial executive council before last year's elections. Her affidavit states that Mabuza approached her in May last year -- after being installed as Mpumalanga premier -- "and again instructed me to purchase the Sonjoy buildings for R600-million irrespective of the evaluation reports that were still pending".
According to Nkwinika, Mabuza "told me ... to proceed with the sale irrespective of the evaluation price and he told me that treasury will make available R100-million for the first instalment, and that the instalments were to be paid directly into the seller's account and not into a trust account ... the seller was to be allowed to use the money and in the meantime we should still pay for the leasing of the building. "I was told not to request the seller to furnish security for the transaction. I refused to do that."
The Mail & Guardian is in possession of an offer to purchase the three properties that comprise part of the building, signed in January 2010 in Nelspruit by Kgopana Mathew Mohlasedi, the accounting officer for the Mpumalanga public works department. The deal, which Mohlasedi confirmed as "concluded" in a letter to provincial treasury requesting the R100-million down payment, was for R458-million The M&G also has in its possession an independent evaluation of the properties by JBV Valuers and Appraisers on behalf of the provincial public works department in July 2009. According to JBV, the combined value of the three portions of the building -- at Riverside Park on Nelspruit's Government Boulevard -- was just more than R112-million.
Commercial real estate agents in Nelspruit confirmed to the M&G that the value would not have escalated so dramatically between the evaluation and the offer to purchase early this year. The agents, who asked not to be named, also confirmed that aspects of the purchase agreement were "highly irregular", including the stipulation that the down payment of R100-million "need not be held in trust by the seller's conveyancer pending registration of transfer, but may be used by the seller with immediate effect as it may deem fit in its sole and absolute discretion". The offer also stipulated that the balance of the amount owed would be paid in R100-million instalments on or before March 31 each year. This money would also "not be held in trust by the seller's conveyancer but may be used by the seller upon payment with immediate effect as it may deem fit in its sole and absolute discretion".
The seller is Hardplay Investments 6 (Pty) Ltd, the sole director of which is Sharon Miranda Pillay. Although the properties were bought between 2005 and 2007 for a combined total of R5,4-million, total bonds taken from Investec Bank to purchase them amounted to R80-million. Approached for comment, Pillay she said she had none to offer and put down the phone.
National treasury spokesperson Jabulani Sikhakhane confirmed that the treasury was discussing the sale with the Mpumalanga government.
The M&G emailed questions to Mabuza about Nkwinika's allegations and followed up with several phone calls to his spokesperson. At the time of going to press his office had not responded. The Mpumalanga department of finance had also not responded to emailed questions at the time of going to press.
Source: Mail & Guardian
State hospitals run out of medicines
CLOSE to 400,000 patients at Mpumalanga hospitals go without vital medication daily due to a shortage of prescribed medications.
Health MEC Dikeledi Mahlangu made the admission while answering a DA parliamentary question in the legislature this week.
She said they were failing to honour payments and in return suppliers were freezing the accounts and stopping the supply of medication to depots, hospitals and clinics.
Despite her assurance that the department has set aside R515 million to ensure all hospitals and clinics were fully stocked with medicine by the end of the 2010-11 financial year, the DA questioned why the department was facing cash flow problems.
Source: The Sowetan
Health MEC Dikeledi Mahlangu made the admission while answering a DA parliamentary question in the legislature this week.
She said they were failing to honour payments and in return suppliers were freezing the accounts and stopping the supply of medication to depots, hospitals and clinics.
Despite her assurance that the department has set aside R515 million to ensure all hospitals and clinics were fully stocked with medicine by the end of the 2010-11 financial year, the DA questioned why the department was facing cash flow problems.
Source: The Sowetan
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Student injured in Mpumalanga school violence
A Mayibuye Secondary School pupil was injured on Tuesday morning when police fired rubber bullets at "violent" pupils in an attempt to disperse them, Mpumalanga police said. The pupils had met with teachers at the Daantjie school, near Nelspruit, at 8am "to resolve some problems", said Captain Leonard Hlathi. "They accused the school principal of witchcraft after he failed to attend a pupil's memorial service some time ago. "The meeting did not yield any good results and the learners started throwing stones at the school buildings," said Hlathi.
Police were called in and removed the principal and teachers from the school. The library, laboratory and all windows at the school were damaged by the stones. Two police vehicles were also damaged. The injured pupil was taken to a local clinic for treatment. "The school is a government property and police will not tolerate any unruly behaviour that leads to violence and damage of state property," said Hlathi.
Police are investigating a case of public violence and malicious damage to property. No arrests have yet been made.
Source: IoL
Police were called in and removed the principal and teachers from the school. The library, laboratory and all windows at the school were damaged by the stones. Two police vehicles were also damaged. The injured pupil was taken to a local clinic for treatment. "The school is a government property and police will not tolerate any unruly behaviour that leads to violence and damage of state property," said Hlathi.
Police are investigating a case of public violence and malicious damage to property. No arrests have yet been made.
Source: IoL
Monday, March 15, 2010
Journalists suspended amid probe
Two Sowetan journalists have been suspended in connection with bribery allegations in separate cases in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, editor Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya said on Monday.
Moya said Alfred Moselakgomo, who is based in Mpumalanga, and Alex Matlala in Limpopo, were merely suspended and not yet found guilty of any wrongdoing.
He said the cases involving the journalists were separate and that there were no allegations that stated the two colluded in any way.
However, Moya said he could not give details of the nature of the allegations against the journalists because investigations were ongoing.
Source: IoL
Moya said Alfred Moselakgomo, who is based in Mpumalanga, and Alex Matlala in Limpopo, were merely suspended and not yet found guilty of any wrongdoing.
He said the cases involving the journalists were separate and that there were no allegations that stated the two colluded in any way.
However, Moya said he could not give details of the nature of the allegations against the journalists because investigations were ongoing.
Source: IoL
Friday, March 12, 2010
Cost of Stadium Reveals Tensions in South Africa
Come June, soccer’s World Cup will be hosted by South Africa. Though only 4 of the 64 games are to be played here in Nelspruit, a $137 million stadium was built for the occasion. The arena’s 18 supporting pylons reach skyward in the shape of orange giraffes. At nightfall, their eyeballs blink with flashes of bewitching light.
The people who live nearby, proud as they are to host soccer’s greatest event, also wonder: How could there be money for a 46,000-seat stadium while many of them still fetch water from dirty puddles and live without electricity or toilets?
The 2010 World Cup is meant to display South Africa at its very best: a modern, prosperous nation friendly to commerce, tourists and democratic ideals. This is the first time the event will be held in Africa, and it was buoyantly suggested by the former President Thabo Mbeki that the competition was a milestone for the entire continent, “sending ripples of confidence from the Cape to Cairo.”
Such boasts may well turn out to be true, for South Africa has spent more than $6 billion on stadiums, roads, airports and other projects. But Nelspruit, in preparing for its own six hours of championship soccer, is instead an example of the nation at its worst, with distressing inequality — measured by some economists as the worst in the world — and an epidemic of local corruption that often leads the downtrodden to rise up in anger.
Simon Magagula lives in a mud house accessible by a dirt road whose cavities deepen with each rainfall. His doorway is a short jaunt to the new stadium. “Those who’ll benefit from this are the wealthy that already have plenty in their hand,” he said, not in resentment so much as weariness. And indeed, with the stadium project came an infusion of money, catnip to the corrupt who congregate at the junction of money and power. “No point in trying to hide it, there was a total collapse of good governance, primarily around the World Cup,” said Lassy Chiwayo, Nelspruit’s mayor, who was installed as an emergency caretaker in late 2008 after his predecessor was removed.
Independent investigators into the matter found that millions of dollars had been misspent on big contracts. Their final report calls for criminal charges against the former municipal manager and the directors of three companies managing the stadium project.
The Nelspruit area, which lies in the country’s east and has a population of 600,000, has been home to a long feud between rival members of South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress. The antagonists want a bigger share of patronage and other spoils. Killings seem to have been used as a tactic. In the past month, three supposed hit lists landed in South African newspapers. One includes people to be shot, another those to be poisoned. The Sunday Times recently quoted a repentant Mozambican assassin who asserted that he was hired by top-level politicians and businessmen to kill their adversaries, describing his profession as the work of a “cleaner.”
Mayor Chiwayo appears on each list, and while he said he was unsure if any of the threats were genuine, he noted that several designees had died suspiciously. “I’m afraid mindless greed has eaten into the soul of the A.N.C.,” he said of his own party. In January 2009, the speaker of the municipal assembly, Jimmy Mohlala, was gunned down in front of his house. He had gathered evidence about stadium deals and declared that he was ready to name names and shame the shameless. This past January, another man on the lists, Sammy Mpatlanyane, the deputy director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation, was shot as he lay in bed. He was “a very influential decision maker,” the mayor said.
When it comes to the World Cup, Nelspruit, well known as a gateway to Kruger National Park, seems to put its worst foot forward repeatedly. The acquisition of the stadium site itself seemed nefarious. The municipality persuaded the trustees of a huge tract of ancestral land to sell 173 acres for 1 rand, or 13 cents. Those intended to benefit from the trust objected, and a judge canceled the deal, likening it to when colonial powers robbed the naïve in return for “buttons and shiny mirrors.” The eventual price was about $1 million. “There has been nothing but duplicity, double dealings and double agendas,” said Richard Spoor, the lawyer who handled the case. “And what will we have after the World Cup is played? There’s no team to occupy the stadium. It will be a white elephant. Politicians will use it to make speeches.”
Two schools — John Mdluli Primary School and Cyril Clark High School — sat on the purchased land. They were bulldozed in 2007, and the students were transferred to hot and airless prefabricated classrooms. Parents and their children repeatedly staged protests. They blocked streets, burned tires and once even torched a police car. The police dispersed them with rubber bullets. This year construction began to replace the demolished schools. “The school problem made us furious, that and the need for jobs,” said Mr. Magagula, who lives near the new arena. “Some people were hired to work on the stadium, but not enough. We’ve been promised a better life, but look how we live. If you pour water into a glass, you can see things moving inside.” And yet he loves soccer, the favorite sport of black South Africans. He cannot wait for the World Cup to begin. He could afford only one ticket for one game, an $18 seat specially priced for the country’s residents.
Nelspruit is one of five cities to get new stadiums, including some arenas that are quite spectacular. It will host Honduras versus Chile; Italy versus New Zealand; Australia versus Serbia; North Korea versus Ivory Coast. “I chose the Italians,” Mr. Magagula said proudly. “I don’t really care who wins. But whatever happens, I’ll never forget it.”
Source: New York Times
The people who live nearby, proud as they are to host soccer’s greatest event, also wonder: How could there be money for a 46,000-seat stadium while many of them still fetch water from dirty puddles and live without electricity or toilets?
The 2010 World Cup is meant to display South Africa at its very best: a modern, prosperous nation friendly to commerce, tourists and democratic ideals. This is the first time the event will be held in Africa, and it was buoyantly suggested by the former President Thabo Mbeki that the competition was a milestone for the entire continent, “sending ripples of confidence from the Cape to Cairo.”
Such boasts may well turn out to be true, for South Africa has spent more than $6 billion on stadiums, roads, airports and other projects. But Nelspruit, in preparing for its own six hours of championship soccer, is instead an example of the nation at its worst, with distressing inequality — measured by some economists as the worst in the world — and an epidemic of local corruption that often leads the downtrodden to rise up in anger.
Simon Magagula lives in a mud house accessible by a dirt road whose cavities deepen with each rainfall. His doorway is a short jaunt to the new stadium. “Those who’ll benefit from this are the wealthy that already have plenty in their hand,” he said, not in resentment so much as weariness. And indeed, with the stadium project came an infusion of money, catnip to the corrupt who congregate at the junction of money and power. “No point in trying to hide it, there was a total collapse of good governance, primarily around the World Cup,” said Lassy Chiwayo, Nelspruit’s mayor, who was installed as an emergency caretaker in late 2008 after his predecessor was removed.
Independent investigators into the matter found that millions of dollars had been misspent on big contracts. Their final report calls for criminal charges against the former municipal manager and the directors of three companies managing the stadium project.
The Nelspruit area, which lies in the country’s east and has a population of 600,000, has been home to a long feud between rival members of South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress. The antagonists want a bigger share of patronage and other spoils. Killings seem to have been used as a tactic. In the past month, three supposed hit lists landed in South African newspapers. One includes people to be shot, another those to be poisoned. The Sunday Times recently quoted a repentant Mozambican assassin who asserted that he was hired by top-level politicians and businessmen to kill their adversaries, describing his profession as the work of a “cleaner.”
Mayor Chiwayo appears on each list, and while he said he was unsure if any of the threats were genuine, he noted that several designees had died suspiciously. “I’m afraid mindless greed has eaten into the soul of the A.N.C.,” he said of his own party. In January 2009, the speaker of the municipal assembly, Jimmy Mohlala, was gunned down in front of his house. He had gathered evidence about stadium deals and declared that he was ready to name names and shame the shameless. This past January, another man on the lists, Sammy Mpatlanyane, the deputy director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation, was shot as he lay in bed. He was “a very influential decision maker,” the mayor said.
When it comes to the World Cup, Nelspruit, well known as a gateway to Kruger National Park, seems to put its worst foot forward repeatedly. The acquisition of the stadium site itself seemed nefarious. The municipality persuaded the trustees of a huge tract of ancestral land to sell 173 acres for 1 rand, or 13 cents. Those intended to benefit from the trust objected, and a judge canceled the deal, likening it to when colonial powers robbed the naïve in return for “buttons and shiny mirrors.” The eventual price was about $1 million. “There has been nothing but duplicity, double dealings and double agendas,” said Richard Spoor, the lawyer who handled the case. “And what will we have after the World Cup is played? There’s no team to occupy the stadium. It will be a white elephant. Politicians will use it to make speeches.”
Two schools — John Mdluli Primary School and Cyril Clark High School — sat on the purchased land. They were bulldozed in 2007, and the students were transferred to hot and airless prefabricated classrooms. Parents and their children repeatedly staged protests. They blocked streets, burned tires and once even torched a police car. The police dispersed them with rubber bullets. This year construction began to replace the demolished schools. “The school problem made us furious, that and the need for jobs,” said Mr. Magagula, who lives near the new arena. “Some people were hired to work on the stadium, but not enough. We’ve been promised a better life, but look how we live. If you pour water into a glass, you can see things moving inside.” And yet he loves soccer, the favorite sport of black South Africans. He cannot wait for the World Cup to begin. He could afford only one ticket for one game, an $18 seat specially priced for the country’s residents.
Nelspruit is one of five cities to get new stadiums, including some arenas that are quite spectacular. It will host Honduras versus Chile; Italy versus New Zealand; Australia versus Serbia; North Korea versus Ivory Coast. “I chose the Italians,” Mr. Magagula said proudly. “I don’t really care who wins. But whatever happens, I’ll never forget it.”
Source: New York Times
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Mpumalanga premier feels the heat
David "DD" Mabuza's days as premier of Mpumalanga appear to be numbered as the ANC head office loses patience with his beleaguered administration. The ruling party has sent a sub-committee of its national executive committee (NEC) to the province to investigate complaints, including multimillion-rand government tenders which appear to be at the root of a fall-out.
An embattled Mabuza already suffered a huge blow when the ANC blocked his plans for a cabinet reshuffle. According to reliable party insiders, Mabuza was chastised by Luthuli House a week ago after he planned to reshuffle his cabinet and get rid of individuals who refused to toe his line. One of Mabuza's intended targets was Fish Mahlalela, the provincial chairman of the standing committee on public accounts. Mahlalela is believed to be investigating financial mismanagement by Mabuza's administration.
Top party officials said this week that plans to remove the powerful Mpumalanga premier - also known as the Hurricane - were well under way. The ANC's sub-committee, which is headed by NEC member Malusi Gigaba, is understood to be fed up with the "state of paralysis in the province". The sub-committee, after meeting regions and branches of the ANC in the province, will apparently recommend to ANC headquarters that Mabuza be recalled immediately for failing to show leadership.
This week the Democratic Alliance added fuel to the fire when it called for Mabuza's resignation after he denounced crime and corruption in his state of the province address but made no mention of a spate of murders and the purported existence of a hit-list of ANC officials. The hit-list, which is apparently linked to World Cup tender disputes, is now the subject of an official police investigation and has caused panic among politicians and government officials. Mabuza is further accused of failing to deal with tender irregularities.
The dissatisfaction with his leadership is further evident in a letter sent by ANC members to President Jacob Zuma in September last year, in which they accused him of ignoring glaring irregularities brought to his attention in a range of government departments. Mabuza is no stranger to controversy. In 1998 he resigned in disgrace as Mpumalanga MEC for education after his department illegally inflated the province's matric pass rate to 72.5% from 46%. While he was MEC for agriculture, he is alleged to have authorised the awarding of a R210-million tender to a company owned by his former wife, Ruth Silinda, even though her company had been suspended. Eyebrows have also been raised over the recent awarding of a R232-million tender to the Sizwengendaba-Laeveld Trekkers joint venture for the provision and maintenance of farm mechanisation and equipment in rural communities.
According to senior ANC members, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the provincial ANC Youth League, the MK Military Veterans' Association and ANC branches and regions are on the verge of open rebellion against Mabuza. But ANC spokesman Paul Mbenyane said he was not aware of any plans to remove Mabuza. "Our position is that DD Mabuza remains chairman of the ANC in Mpumalanga. He's got our full support," he said. "Structures of the ANC have the right to raise their problems about Mabuza with Luthuli House."
Mabuza's spokesman, Mabutho Sithole, also dismissed talk that Mabuza would be removed. "There are people who are spreading lies about the premier for their own personal gain," said Sithole.
Source: Times Live
An embattled Mabuza already suffered a huge blow when the ANC blocked his plans for a cabinet reshuffle. According to reliable party insiders, Mabuza was chastised by Luthuli House a week ago after he planned to reshuffle his cabinet and get rid of individuals who refused to toe his line. One of Mabuza's intended targets was Fish Mahlalela, the provincial chairman of the standing committee on public accounts. Mahlalela is believed to be investigating financial mismanagement by Mabuza's administration.
Top party officials said this week that plans to remove the powerful Mpumalanga premier - also known as the Hurricane - were well under way. The ANC's sub-committee, which is headed by NEC member Malusi Gigaba, is understood to be fed up with the "state of paralysis in the province". The sub-committee, after meeting regions and branches of the ANC in the province, will apparently recommend to ANC headquarters that Mabuza be recalled immediately for failing to show leadership.
This week the Democratic Alliance added fuel to the fire when it called for Mabuza's resignation after he denounced crime and corruption in his state of the province address but made no mention of a spate of murders and the purported existence of a hit-list of ANC officials. The hit-list, which is apparently linked to World Cup tender disputes, is now the subject of an official police investigation and has caused panic among politicians and government officials. Mabuza is further accused of failing to deal with tender irregularities.
The dissatisfaction with his leadership is further evident in a letter sent by ANC members to President Jacob Zuma in September last year, in which they accused him of ignoring glaring irregularities brought to his attention in a range of government departments. Mabuza is no stranger to controversy. In 1998 he resigned in disgrace as Mpumalanga MEC for education after his department illegally inflated the province's matric pass rate to 72.5% from 46%. While he was MEC for agriculture, he is alleged to have authorised the awarding of a R210-million tender to a company owned by his former wife, Ruth Silinda, even though her company had been suspended. Eyebrows have also been raised over the recent awarding of a R232-million tender to the Sizwengendaba-Laeveld Trekkers joint venture for the provision and maintenance of farm mechanisation and equipment in rural communities.
According to senior ANC members, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the provincial ANC Youth League, the MK Military Veterans' Association and ANC branches and regions are on the verge of open rebellion against Mabuza. But ANC spokesman Paul Mbenyane said he was not aware of any plans to remove Mabuza. "Our position is that DD Mabuza remains chairman of the ANC in Mpumalanga. He's got our full support," he said. "Structures of the ANC have the right to raise their problems about Mabuza with Luthuli House."
Mabuza's spokesman, Mabutho Sithole, also dismissed talk that Mabuza would be removed. "There are people who are spreading lies about the premier for their own personal gain," said Sithole.
Source: Times Live
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Scandals, murder taint World Cup stadium
Mbombela is one of the most atmospheric new stadiums built for the 2010 World Cup, nestled among the beautiful hills of Mpumalanga and supported by orange pylons that resemble giraffes. But the almost R1.3 billion stadium has been tarnished by a string of scandals, including the murder, apparently by professional hitmen, of a municipal official who blew the whistle on alleged corruption and malpractice.
The stadium has been built just outside Nelspruit, the gateway to South Africa's most famous game park, the Kruger - hence the giraffes - in an area of great beauty, where most of the country's citrus fruit and avocados are grown. But the multiple controversies over World Cup projects have tainted that beauty. Even the mayor describes them as ugly.
The scandals include a failed attempt by the municipality to buy the stadium land from the Matsafeni community owners for R1, allegations of irregular tenders, overpayments, conflicts of interest and tax evasion. In 2008 an angry high court judge blocked the deal, accusing the municipality of being like colonial settlers who tried to buy land for mirrors and shiny buttons. Now the Matsafeni have agreed on a transfer worth almost R9 million. Municipal manager Joseph Dladla was suspended early in 2008 after a scathing investigation by a local law firm which alleged his misconduct had brought the municipality close to collapse. His ally, mayor Justice Nsibande, was fired and the municipality placed under external administration. Municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala, the leading critic of alleged irregularities, was killed by masked men outside his home in January. No arrests have been made.
Stadium construction, now almost complete, was dogged by repeated labour protests and violent clashes between police and local people angered by failure to build new schools to replace two displaced by the project. Failures to deliver electricity and water to Mataffin township next to the arena mean that World Cup matches could be played within sight of tin shacks where people live in sordid conditions without piped water or sewers.
Excitement is growing about the World Cup in South Africa and Nelspruit is decorated with colourful posters for the tournament. But there is no enthusiasm in Mataffin. "We are not happy the World Cup is coming to South Africa," said Sarah Shabangu, 29, an unemployed mother of three, as she drew water from a dirty borehole close to pit latrines and shacks within sight of the stadium. "Only a greedy few corrupt officials and their friends are going to benefit. The people on the ground won't get anything," she said. Her friend Khelina Sibuyi, 49, agreed. "We use this water for drinking, cooking and bathing. The kids get sick and have diarrhoea; ever since they built the stadium we have been hoping for help in getting services but nothing is happening, there is no water or electricity."
Four girls plaiting each others' hair under a tree beside a dirt road in Mataffin said they had been off school for two weeks because of a strike over failure to build new classrooms. Their schools were taken over as offices by stadium builders in 2007 and the children moved into hot temporary classrooms that residents say are converted containers. The girls said air conditioners installed in 2008 worked for only two weeks.
Residents have a document signed by provincial officials in September 2008 promising new schools by July 2009. Frustration over the failure to keep that promise erupted earlier in October with stone-throwing youths clashing with police on three occasions. A squad car was set on fire. Residents say the police retaliated by storming into their houses and firing buckshot and rubber bullets. Phumzile Rooi, 23, sat listlessly outside her hut and showed an ugly wound on her leg she said was from a rubber bullet.
Police spokesman Superintendent Malcolm Mokomene said only two policemen and one protester were hurt. He denied officers had stormed into residents' houses. Asked during an angry township meeting what World Cup fans would think when they saw Mataffin, another resident who asked not to be named said: "They will think they have come to hell." Differ Mogale, the municipality's 2010 coordinator, acknowledged that the scandals had damaged the city's image. "It does, irrespective of the truthfulness of whatever was said." But he said none of the allegations had been proven and until they were he was not worried about any impact on the World Cup. Asked about the schools, he added: "That really concerns us, because we were part of the stakeholders that confirmed the schools should be built."
Construction would be finished by the end of 2009 while water and electricity supplying the stadium would be extended into Mataffin before the tournament, he said. But he said: "This is Africa, we don't have to close certain things because they are ugly."
Nelspruit mayor Lassy Chiwayo said the situation in the township was "very painful; I have to admit that in this instance we have failed our people". He promised construction of new schools would start very shortly but many remain sceptical, including human rights lawyer Richard Spoor who helped the Matsafeni remove discredited leaders who agreed the R1 sale, which he said was a corrupt scheme to benefit a few politicians and officials. "They promised a new school, they promised a new church, they promised many things. Every single one of those promises and those undertakings has been broken, they have done nothing," Spoor said. "It is clear to me now that it is far too late to do anything about Mataffin, so visitors are going to come here and see the slums first hand; it is a pitiful situation."
Source: IoL
The stadium has been built just outside Nelspruit, the gateway to South Africa's most famous game park, the Kruger - hence the giraffes - in an area of great beauty, where most of the country's citrus fruit and avocados are grown. But the multiple controversies over World Cup projects have tainted that beauty. Even the mayor describes them as ugly.
The scandals include a failed attempt by the municipality to buy the stadium land from the Matsafeni community owners for R1, allegations of irregular tenders, overpayments, conflicts of interest and tax evasion. In 2008 an angry high court judge blocked the deal, accusing the municipality of being like colonial settlers who tried to buy land for mirrors and shiny buttons. Now the Matsafeni have agreed on a transfer worth almost R9 million. Municipal manager Joseph Dladla was suspended early in 2008 after a scathing investigation by a local law firm which alleged his misconduct had brought the municipality close to collapse. His ally, mayor Justice Nsibande, was fired and the municipality placed under external administration. Municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala, the leading critic of alleged irregularities, was killed by masked men outside his home in January. No arrests have been made.
Stadium construction, now almost complete, was dogged by repeated labour protests and violent clashes between police and local people angered by failure to build new schools to replace two displaced by the project. Failures to deliver electricity and water to Mataffin township next to the arena mean that World Cup matches could be played within sight of tin shacks where people live in sordid conditions without piped water or sewers.
Excitement is growing about the World Cup in South Africa and Nelspruit is decorated with colourful posters for the tournament. But there is no enthusiasm in Mataffin. "We are not happy the World Cup is coming to South Africa," said Sarah Shabangu, 29, an unemployed mother of three, as she drew water from a dirty borehole close to pit latrines and shacks within sight of the stadium. "Only a greedy few corrupt officials and their friends are going to benefit. The people on the ground won't get anything," she said. Her friend Khelina Sibuyi, 49, agreed. "We use this water for drinking, cooking and bathing. The kids get sick and have diarrhoea; ever since they built the stadium we have been hoping for help in getting services but nothing is happening, there is no water or electricity."
Four girls plaiting each others' hair under a tree beside a dirt road in Mataffin said they had been off school for two weeks because of a strike over failure to build new classrooms. Their schools were taken over as offices by stadium builders in 2007 and the children moved into hot temporary classrooms that residents say are converted containers. The girls said air conditioners installed in 2008 worked for only two weeks.
Residents have a document signed by provincial officials in September 2008 promising new schools by July 2009. Frustration over the failure to keep that promise erupted earlier in October with stone-throwing youths clashing with police on three occasions. A squad car was set on fire. Residents say the police retaliated by storming into their houses and firing buckshot and rubber bullets. Phumzile Rooi, 23, sat listlessly outside her hut and showed an ugly wound on her leg she said was from a rubber bullet.
Police spokesman Superintendent Malcolm Mokomene said only two policemen and one protester were hurt. He denied officers had stormed into residents' houses. Asked during an angry township meeting what World Cup fans would think when they saw Mataffin, another resident who asked not to be named said: "They will think they have come to hell." Differ Mogale, the municipality's 2010 coordinator, acknowledged that the scandals had damaged the city's image. "It does, irrespective of the truthfulness of whatever was said." But he said none of the allegations had been proven and until they were he was not worried about any impact on the World Cup. Asked about the schools, he added: "That really concerns us, because we were part of the stakeholders that confirmed the schools should be built."
Construction would be finished by the end of 2009 while water and electricity supplying the stadium would be extended into Mataffin before the tournament, he said. But he said: "This is Africa, we don't have to close certain things because they are ugly."
Nelspruit mayor Lassy Chiwayo said the situation in the township was "very painful; I have to admit that in this instance we have failed our people". He promised construction of new schools would start very shortly but many remain sceptical, including human rights lawyer Richard Spoor who helped the Matsafeni remove discredited leaders who agreed the R1 sale, which he said was a corrupt scheme to benefit a few politicians and officials. "They promised a new school, they promised a new church, they promised many things. Every single one of those promises and those undertakings has been broken, they have done nothing," Spoor said. "It is clear to me now that it is far too late to do anything about Mataffin, so visitors are going to come here and see the slums first hand; it is a pitiful situation."
Source: IoL
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
SA hit by service-delivery protests
A wave of protests has erupted in townships across South Africa over shoddy housing and public services, adding to pressure on President Jacob Zuma to deliver on promises to fight poverty. Police fired rubber bullets on Tuesday to break up about 200 protesters in Thokoza township outside Johannesburg, where they stoned police cars in anger at their dire housing conditions.
That followed a riot one week earlier in Diepsloot, also near Johannesburg, where two police cars were destroyed, buildings were burned and passing cars stoned in protest at moves to demolish shacks in order to build sewerage lines. More worryingly, a protest in eastern Mpumalanga on Sunday took on anti-immigrant colours as shops owned by foreigners were looted and burned.
That sparked anxious memories of the xenophobic attacks that swept the country one year ago, when about 60 people died and tens of thousands of foreigners fled townships for refugee camps. Protests over poor public service have soared this year, according to Municipal IQ, which monitors municipal services. Poor South Africans have staged 24 major protests so far this year, compared with 27 in all of last year, the group said in a statement. "We've got high levels of unemployment, the whole world is suffering from an economic downturn and that's not making it any easier," said Adrian Hadland, a director at the Human Sciences Research Council, a think-tank that advises on public policy. "Part of the frustration is local government is very uneven, and that is often the level of government where things are most keenly felt and expressed."
The African National Congress (ANC) last weekend called for an audit into municipal services, with the aim of aiding -- or sometimes pressuring -- cities to improve their performance. "The ANC put service delivery of local government at the centre stage," said ANC spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi. "Now we realise that our councillors in the municipalities might be needing intervention." "We need to directly fix the issues at hand, not the symptoms of the problem," Mnisi added.
Since the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has made strides in improving housing while expanding access to clean water and electricity, building 2,8-million houses in 15 years. But more than one million families still live in shacks without power, often sharing a single tap among dozens of households. The problem has heightened as South Africa is at the height of winter, with freezing temperatures in Johannesburg and other parts of the country. "In the absence of electricity, a roof over your head, and running water, it is keenly felt," said Hadland.
Zuma took office two months ago, after campaigning on promises to step up the fight against poverty in a country where unemployment is officially at 23,5% but is believed much higher. But the country has slipped into its first recession since apartheid, and thousands of jobs have been lost this year, complicating plans to boost government spending to fight poverty. "There is quite a serious problem in the sense that there isn't just a straightforward way of resolving it, because the state structures are poorly managed," said David Bruce, of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
Any meaningful solution will take years to implement, but in the meantime the government will have to tread carefully to avoid inflaming public discontent, Municipal IQ said. "What is called for now is level heads, and the opening of communication channels," the group said.
That followed a riot one week earlier in Diepsloot, also near Johannesburg, where two police cars were destroyed, buildings were burned and passing cars stoned in protest at moves to demolish shacks in order to build sewerage lines. More worryingly, a protest in eastern Mpumalanga on Sunday took on anti-immigrant colours as shops owned by foreigners were looted and burned.
That sparked anxious memories of the xenophobic attacks that swept the country one year ago, when about 60 people died and tens of thousands of foreigners fled townships for refugee camps. Protests over poor public service have soared this year, according to Municipal IQ, which monitors municipal services. Poor South Africans have staged 24 major protests so far this year, compared with 27 in all of last year, the group said in a statement. "We've got high levels of unemployment, the whole world is suffering from an economic downturn and that's not making it any easier," said Adrian Hadland, a director at the Human Sciences Research Council, a think-tank that advises on public policy. "Part of the frustration is local government is very uneven, and that is often the level of government where things are most keenly felt and expressed."
The African National Congress (ANC) last weekend called for an audit into municipal services, with the aim of aiding -- or sometimes pressuring -- cities to improve their performance. "The ANC put service delivery of local government at the centre stage," said ANC spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi. "Now we realise that our councillors in the municipalities might be needing intervention." "We need to directly fix the issues at hand, not the symptoms of the problem," Mnisi added.
Since the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has made strides in improving housing while expanding access to clean water and electricity, building 2,8-million houses in 15 years. But more than one million families still live in shacks without power, often sharing a single tap among dozens of households. The problem has heightened as South Africa is at the height of winter, with freezing temperatures in Johannesburg and other parts of the country. "In the absence of electricity, a roof over your head, and running water, it is keenly felt," said Hadland.
Zuma took office two months ago, after campaigning on promises to step up the fight against poverty in a country where unemployment is officially at 23,5% but is believed much higher. But the country has slipped into its first recession since apartheid, and thousands of jobs have been lost this year, complicating plans to boost government spending to fight poverty. "There is quite a serious problem in the sense that there isn't just a straightforward way of resolving it, because the state structures are poorly managed," said David Bruce, of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
Any meaningful solution will take years to implement, but in the meantime the government will have to tread carefully to avoid inflaming public discontent, Municipal IQ said. "What is called for now is level heads, and the opening of communication channels," the group said.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
'Crooked' cop off for 16 months on full pay
Mpumalanga police commissioner Afrika Khumalo -- alleged in a sworn affidavit by drug baron Glenn Agliotti to have profited from drug trafficking -- has been drawing a salary for 16 months while staying at home on sick leave.
Khumalo told the Mail & Guardian he is still on "incapacity" leave, but would not say what is wrong with him or when he is expected to recover.
"I am recovering. I'm coming back to Mpumalanga," he said, before coughing loudly. "I am the police commissioner of Mpumalanga. Nothing has changed. As soon as I am better, I'm coming back."
Khumalo has not reported for work since March 23 last year. He claimed to be ill on the day he was due to respond at a press conference to media reports of Agliotti's allegations.
In a sworn affidavit to the National Prosecuting Authority on January 11 2007, Agliotti said Khumalo was implicated in an international drug-trafficking syndicate involving national police commissioner Jackie Selebi, who is on extended leave pending corruption charges.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Khumalo told the Mail & Guardian he is still on "incapacity" leave, but would not say what is wrong with him or when he is expected to recover.
"I am recovering. I'm coming back to Mpumalanga," he said, before coughing loudly. "I am the police commissioner of Mpumalanga. Nothing has changed. As soon as I am better, I'm coming back."
Khumalo has not reported for work since March 23 last year. He claimed to be ill on the day he was due to respond at a press conference to media reports of Agliotti's allegations.
In a sworn affidavit to the National Prosecuting Authority on January 11 2007, Agliotti said Khumalo was implicated in an international drug-trafficking syndicate involving national police commissioner Jackie Selebi, who is on extended leave pending corruption charges.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Digging for mining licences
Coal-mining companies with black empowerment partners who have friends in high places are posing a growing threat to some of South Africa’s most sensitive environmental areas. The companies are seeking to cash in on South Africa’s coal resources, mainly in Mpumalanga, by supplying cheap coal to Eskom.
Coal-mining companies with black empowerment partners who have friends in high places are posing a growing threat to some of South Africa's most sensitive environmental areas. The companies are seeking to cash in on South Africa's coal resources, mainly in Mpumalanga, by supplying cheap coal to Eskom.
o The empowerment partners of Coal of Africa, which is prospecting near heritage and national park site Mapungubwe, include new Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale's Mvelaphanda group.
o The sister of the former trade minister Mandisi Mpahlwa, (who is President Jacob Zuma's financial adviser) Mandlakazi Mandaka, is the BEE partner of Delta Mining Company, which has been handed a permit to prospect in Wakkerstroom. Concerns have been voiced about the impact of mining on the area's important wetlands.
o In Dullstroom ANC funding vehicle Chancellor House has applied for a prospecting licence amid allegations that it is riding roughshod over local stakeholders.
o In Belfast farmers have mounted a court challenge to Exxaro, Africa's largest black-controlled diversified mining company and the biggest supplier of coal to Eskom.
The applications have pitted environmental groups such as the Escarpment Environmental Protection Group and the Mpumalanga Lakes District Protection Group (LPDG) against mining groups and have turned farmers into green activists. The activists are pointing fingers at the department of minerals and energy for favouring companies with political connections. The department has denied looking at the ownership of companies in awarding permits, except to check their BEE credentials. Many government officials, former officials and their families have decided to seek their fortune in mining through BEE deals in the coal industry.
They include Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor's husband, Sharif Pandor; former director general of trade and industry Alistair Ruiters and former minister of minerals and energy Penuell Maduna. Brigette Radebe, the wife of Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and sister of mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe, is the driving force behind Mmakau Mining, which has entered a joint venture with Total Coal SA.
The department's mineral regulation deputy director general, Jacinto Rocha, said his department would not punish anyone for having political connections. "There is no prohibition on family members [of officials] of the department or elsewhere in government getting mineral rights," he said. The fact that former political leaders had received permits was a mere coincidence. We look at compliance when we issue licences," he said. "We don't look at who is there."
Environmentalists also question Zuma's decision to move Buyelwa Sonjica from minerals and energy to environment, seeing it as a sign that BEE coal-mining interests now trump environmental concerns. Rocha strongly denied this. He said activists sometimes became very "emotional" and did not consider all the facts. "We don't issue licences on emotion, we issue them on the basis of law," he said. "After having followed the process, it does not make a department official happy or sad. It is just a yes or a no, after the process was followed to the letter. "We all have children. No one in the department says 'to hell with the environment'," he said.
Rocha said the department received 622 prospecting applications last year, of which 62 were granted and 125 denied. The others are still being processed. He named an application by an unnamed mining house in amphibian haven Chrissiesmeer, also on the Mpumalanga escarpment, as an example of an application refused on environmental grounds. The applications show that many mining companies now have the Waterberg in their sights. The Waterberg coalfield, around Lephalale in Limpopo, has 50% of South Africa's remaining coal reserves and hosts South Africa's latest power station, Medupi.
The area is home to the Waterberg biosphere, Marakele National Park and many private reserves.
Only Exxaro's Grootgeluk colliery operates in the area. But Exxaro Resources chief executive Sipho Nkosi said the Waterberg has sufficient coal to feed eight power stations and the company could be mining there for the next 200 years. Several mining houses, including BEE company Sekoko Coal, are investigating the feasibility of an open-cast coal mine in the Lephalale area and several have applied to the government for prospecting licences. Companies seeking prospecting licences must submit environmental management plans, which involve consultation with the owners or lawful occupiers of the land in question. In many cases, however, landowners and interested parties dispute that there has been adequate consultation. The department must also submit applications to the water affairs and environmental affairs departments. In many sensitive cases these claim they did not see licence applications or, as in the case of Mapungubwe learned of them only at the last minute. The law provides that sister departments have 60 days in which to react to environmental management plans. "If there is no response, we take it that the department has nothing to say," said Rocha. "You can't blame us if someone in another department doesn't do their job."
Coal of Africa (CoAL), the driver of a controversial proposed mining venture near world heritage site Mapungubwe, has powerful allies. Its BEE partner is the Mvelaphanda group, headed by Tokyo Sexwale before he was appointed to Cabinet. Mvelaphanda owns a stake in CoAL through African Global Capital (AGC), which owns a 26% stake. But the connections do not end there. Former intelligence director general Vusi Mavimbela is the executive director of Mvelaphanda responsible for business strategy and African expansion. This week Mavimbela was tipped to become the director general in President Jacob Zuma's office.
CoAL's mining application has sparked a public outcry, with South African National Parks and even the former minister of environmental affairs, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, speaking out against the proposed mining. But CoAL's chief operating officer, Riaan van der Merwe, said the park and the mine could coexist. "We know there is a lot of emotion around coal mining, particularly considering the scars left by mines in the Witbank area," he said. "But mining methods have changed drastically." He said CoAL took its environmental responsibilities seriously and intended managing the mine in line with the vision of the proposed Transfrontier Conservancy Area. Among the measures planned at the mine were the use of strobe lighting when reversing trucks, rather than a warning beep. High-noise activities such as blasting will also be restricted to between 8am and 4pm. He said the mine was far enough from Mapungubwe not to disturb the park. All baobab trees uprooted as part of mining operations would be lifted and replanted.
CoAL has 74% ownership of the project, with the remaining 26% held by several BEE groups, according to Van der Merwe. He would not disclose their identity.
Environmental groups regard the Delta Mining Corporation's (DMC) exploration for torbanite and coal in the Wakkerstroom region as the gravest threat this environmentally sensitive area has faced. The groups, including World Wildlife Fund South Africa, the Botanical Society and Birdlife South Africa, have objected to the granting of prospecting rights in more than 20 000ha of pristine grassland and wetland. They and local farmers have joined forces against Delta in two high court applications for the prospecting rights to be revoked.
Central to their case is the weak environmental management plan, which the Mail & Guardian has seen. The report turns a blind eye to the pristine state of the area and to its biodiversity, including rare birds such as wattled cranes and other red data species.
Investigative programme 50/50 revealed that the sister of former minister of trade and industry (Mandisi Mpahlwa, who is Jacob Zuma's financial adviser), Mandlakazi Madaka, is the BEE partner in DMC's venture in Wakkerstroom. "We are aware of reports of who our BEE partners are, though we are not aware of any concerns, certainly we have none," said Delta chairperson Bernard Swanepoel. He said Delta Mining was a private company whose shares were mainly held by its chief executive and founder, Heine van Niekerk. An investment company in which Swanepoel is a director, To The Point Growth Specialists, owns 30% and the rest is held by the management team, he said. Swanepoel denied allegations that the environmental management plan used to secure prospecting rights in Wakkerstroom was fatally flawed. "We outsourced two scoping studies to two separate independent competent persons," he said. "We are confident that the process we ran was thorough and professional. Although some areas were identified as sensitive, none were identified as irreplaceable and our exploration process will ensure that sensitive areas are left undisturbed," he said. Swanepoel said the DMC property is not adjacent to or in the wetlands. "Our property is about 20km away and about 200m lower than (or downstream of) the wetlands in the area," he said. "About two-thirds of our prospecting area is old or current mealie fields. Consequently our property and the land we plan to explore will allow for coal extraction that should in no way affect the wetlands."
Source: Mail & Guardian
Coal-mining companies with black empowerment partners who have friends in high places are posing a growing threat to some of South Africa's most sensitive environmental areas. The companies are seeking to cash in on South Africa's coal resources, mainly in Mpumalanga, by supplying cheap coal to Eskom.
o The empowerment partners of Coal of Africa, which is prospecting near heritage and national park site Mapungubwe, include new Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale's Mvelaphanda group.
o The sister of the former trade minister Mandisi Mpahlwa, (who is President Jacob Zuma's financial adviser) Mandlakazi Mandaka, is the BEE partner of Delta Mining Company, which has been handed a permit to prospect in Wakkerstroom. Concerns have been voiced about the impact of mining on the area's important wetlands.
o In Dullstroom ANC funding vehicle Chancellor House has applied for a prospecting licence amid allegations that it is riding roughshod over local stakeholders.
o In Belfast farmers have mounted a court challenge to Exxaro, Africa's largest black-controlled diversified mining company and the biggest supplier of coal to Eskom.
The applications have pitted environmental groups such as the Escarpment Environmental Protection Group and the Mpumalanga Lakes District Protection Group (LPDG) against mining groups and have turned farmers into green activists. The activists are pointing fingers at the department of minerals and energy for favouring companies with political connections. The department has denied looking at the ownership of companies in awarding permits, except to check their BEE credentials. Many government officials, former officials and their families have decided to seek their fortune in mining through BEE deals in the coal industry.
They include Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor's husband, Sharif Pandor; former director general of trade and industry Alistair Ruiters and former minister of minerals and energy Penuell Maduna. Brigette Radebe, the wife of Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and sister of mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe, is the driving force behind Mmakau Mining, which has entered a joint venture with Total Coal SA.
The department's mineral regulation deputy director general, Jacinto Rocha, said his department would not punish anyone for having political connections. "There is no prohibition on family members [of officials] of the department or elsewhere in government getting mineral rights," he said. The fact that former political leaders had received permits was a mere coincidence. We look at compliance when we issue licences," he said. "We don't look at who is there."
Environmentalists also question Zuma's decision to move Buyelwa Sonjica from minerals and energy to environment, seeing it as a sign that BEE coal-mining interests now trump environmental concerns. Rocha strongly denied this. He said activists sometimes became very "emotional" and did not consider all the facts. "We don't issue licences on emotion, we issue them on the basis of law," he said. "After having followed the process, it does not make a department official happy or sad. It is just a yes or a no, after the process was followed to the letter. "We all have children. No one in the department says 'to hell with the environment'," he said.
Rocha said the department received 622 prospecting applications last year, of which 62 were granted and 125 denied. The others are still being processed. He named an application by an unnamed mining house in amphibian haven Chrissiesmeer, also on the Mpumalanga escarpment, as an example of an application refused on environmental grounds. The applications show that many mining companies now have the Waterberg in their sights. The Waterberg coalfield, around Lephalale in Limpopo, has 50% of South Africa's remaining coal reserves and hosts South Africa's latest power station, Medupi.
The area is home to the Waterberg biosphere, Marakele National Park and many private reserves.
Only Exxaro's Grootgeluk colliery operates in the area. But Exxaro Resources chief executive Sipho Nkosi said the Waterberg has sufficient coal to feed eight power stations and the company could be mining there for the next 200 years. Several mining houses, including BEE company Sekoko Coal, are investigating the feasibility of an open-cast coal mine in the Lephalale area and several have applied to the government for prospecting licences. Companies seeking prospecting licences must submit environmental management plans, which involve consultation with the owners or lawful occupiers of the land in question. In many cases, however, landowners and interested parties dispute that there has been adequate consultation. The department must also submit applications to the water affairs and environmental affairs departments. In many sensitive cases these claim they did not see licence applications or, as in the case of Mapungubwe learned of them only at the last minute. The law provides that sister departments have 60 days in which to react to environmental management plans. "If there is no response, we take it that the department has nothing to say," said Rocha. "You can't blame us if someone in another department doesn't do their job."
Coal of Africa (CoAL), the driver of a controversial proposed mining venture near world heritage site Mapungubwe, has powerful allies. Its BEE partner is the Mvelaphanda group, headed by Tokyo Sexwale before he was appointed to Cabinet. Mvelaphanda owns a stake in CoAL through African Global Capital (AGC), which owns a 26% stake. But the connections do not end there. Former intelligence director general Vusi Mavimbela is the executive director of Mvelaphanda responsible for business strategy and African expansion. This week Mavimbela was tipped to become the director general in President Jacob Zuma's office.
CoAL's mining application has sparked a public outcry, with South African National Parks and even the former minister of environmental affairs, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, speaking out against the proposed mining. But CoAL's chief operating officer, Riaan van der Merwe, said the park and the mine could coexist. "We know there is a lot of emotion around coal mining, particularly considering the scars left by mines in the Witbank area," he said. "But mining methods have changed drastically." He said CoAL took its environmental responsibilities seriously and intended managing the mine in line with the vision of the proposed Transfrontier Conservancy Area. Among the measures planned at the mine were the use of strobe lighting when reversing trucks, rather than a warning beep. High-noise activities such as blasting will also be restricted to between 8am and 4pm. He said the mine was far enough from Mapungubwe not to disturb the park. All baobab trees uprooted as part of mining operations would be lifted and replanted.
CoAL has 74% ownership of the project, with the remaining 26% held by several BEE groups, according to Van der Merwe. He would not disclose their identity.
Environmental groups regard the Delta Mining Corporation's (DMC) exploration for torbanite and coal in the Wakkerstroom region as the gravest threat this environmentally sensitive area has faced. The groups, including World Wildlife Fund South Africa, the Botanical Society and Birdlife South Africa, have objected to the granting of prospecting rights in more than 20 000ha of pristine grassland and wetland. They and local farmers have joined forces against Delta in two high court applications for the prospecting rights to be revoked.
Central to their case is the weak environmental management plan, which the Mail & Guardian has seen. The report turns a blind eye to the pristine state of the area and to its biodiversity, including rare birds such as wattled cranes and other red data species.
Investigative programme 50/50 revealed that the sister of former minister of trade and industry (Mandisi Mpahlwa, who is Jacob Zuma's financial adviser), Mandlakazi Madaka, is the BEE partner in DMC's venture in Wakkerstroom. "We are aware of reports of who our BEE partners are, though we are not aware of any concerns, certainly we have none," said Delta chairperson Bernard Swanepoel. He said Delta Mining was a private company whose shares were mainly held by its chief executive and founder, Heine van Niekerk. An investment company in which Swanepoel is a director, To The Point Growth Specialists, owns 30% and the rest is held by the management team, he said. Swanepoel denied allegations that the environmental management plan used to secure prospecting rights in Wakkerstroom was fatally flawed. "We outsourced two scoping studies to two separate independent competent persons," he said. "We are confident that the process we ran was thorough and professional. Although some areas were identified as sensitive, none were identified as irreplaceable and our exploration process will ensure that sensitive areas are left undisturbed," he said. Swanepoel said the DMC property is not adjacent to or in the wetlands. "Our property is about 20km away and about 200m lower than (or downstream of) the wetlands in the area," he said. "About two-thirds of our prospecting area is old or current mealie fields. Consequently our property and the land we plan to explore will allow for coal extraction that should in no way affect the wetlands."
Source: Mail & Guardian
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Mpumalanga's New Premier David Mabuza
Following the successful and peaceful South African General Elections of the 22 April 2009, Mpumalanga's former transport MEC, David Mabuza, has been sworn in as the province's new premier.
Mr David Mabuza will be inaugurated as the fourth Premier of Mpumalanga Province on 11 May 2009 at Kanyamazane Stadium.
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Mr David Mabuza will be inaugurated as the fourth Premier of Mpumalanga Province on 11 May 2009 at Kanyamazane Stadium.
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
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