Alleged fraud linked to 2010 World Cup tenders amounting to tens of millions of rands is behind the arrest on Friday of municipal officials in Stellenbosch, a senior official revealed on Sunday. And more officials are to be arrested soon as the investigation by the elite Hawks unit is widened to include more Boland municipalities.
The five former officials, who include an ex-mayor and an ex-deputy mayor, are to make their first court appearance in Stellenbosch on Monday. The Cape Times has also learnt that one of the accused has turned state witness and will provide the state with vital information. The group was held by the Hawks in Khayamnandi on Friday, after a seven-month investigation. Stellenbosch mayor Cyril Jooste said the arrests were linked to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigation into a number of municipalities across the province. The men, aged between 36 and 58, previously held positions in the Stellenbosch Municipality. "There is an SIU investigation that is still ongoing. The arrests are linked to that investigation. I can also confirm that a previous executive mayor and ex-deputy as well as three other officials were arrested by the Hawks," said Jooste.
It is understood that the arrests are linked to nine sites that are being erected as viewing parks. "We do expect more arrests. It (the tender) is about R67 million. We are busy working very hard with the SIU and the police. We even gave them a room in the municipality building to work from," said Jooste.
Local Government MEC Anton Bredell welcomed the arrests, saying it was sad that community leaders had been arrested for fraud. On Sunday Bredell told the Cape Times that more people would be brought to book at the other municipalities under investigation. These included Theewaterskloof, Witzenberg, Bitou, Stellenbosch and Oudtshoorn. Bredell said his department was committed to bringing back discipline to councils throughout the province and to stamping out corruption. He said his office had initially asked the Hawks to investigate the municipality.
Police spokesman Colonel Billy Jones said the Hawks launched the investigation in October when the allegations were initially reported to the police. "Details of the alleged modus operandi and the investigation will only be revealed when presented as evidence in court," he said.
The embattled municipality is also busy dealing with nine ANC councillors who were hauled before a full council two weeks ago to face expulsion because they had allegedly breached the code of conduct for councillors. The councillors failed to attend three consecutive council meetings. The councillors' absence from meetings had delayed the passing of the municipality's budget.The council recommended that the nine councillors be expelled. "That's a totally different issue," said Bredell. "All I can say is I will treat them fairly. I will be getting independent legal opinion on the matter."
The ANC has 17 of 37 seats while the DA and other smaller parties make up the rest in a council which has had three mayors in as many years. Alleged corruption in World Cup related tenders is not confined to Stellenbosch. In Nelspruit, Mbombela Municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala Mohlala was shot dead outside his home in KaNyamazane last year, a week before he was due to testify in the disciplinary hearing of former municipal manager Jacob Dladla, who had been accused of financial mismanagement of the World Cup stadium project.
Source: IoL
Showing posts with label Western Cape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Western Cape. Show all posts
Monday, May 17, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Makhaza: Where Dignity Is A Luxury
People across the country have been appropriately outraged by revelations that toilets without walls or roofs were built in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, outside Cape Town, and that residents have been forced to choose between relieving themselves in full view of their neighbours or walking (at times long distances) to enclosed public toilets. A deluge of public outrage has since been directed at the governing DA following a complaint by the ANC Youth League. It is certainly not egregious or opportunistic to claim – as they and many others have – that such treatment is reminiscent of apartheid, and inherently contrary to the rights to dignity, health and safety enshrined in our Constitution.
What has been overlooked, however, is that these rights are denied to millions in South Africa on a daily basis. This incident has provided a stark example of the daily plight of people living in poor, working-class informal settlements, but an example that has come as a shock only to those who do not live there. The protracted absence of the basic services that many of us take for granted and the failure to acknowledge this deficit has resulted in the normalisation of suffering, and the routine violation of basic human rights.
It is worth pointing out that this particular section of Makhaza is not one of the worst informal areas in Khayelitsha – a sprawling and densely populated remnant of segregation where at least 57% of people live in shacks, 80% without access to water in their homes, 35% with no immediate access to flush/chemical toilets, and 24% without access to electricity. Despite being unquestionably impoverished, Makhaza has roads and is not as densely populated as other areas. These material conditions might seem relatively insignificant when confronted with the inhumanity of open toilets, but they form part of a broad range of infrastructural barriers that have direct bearing on the quality of life of residents.
You will not find the informal settlement of RR Section on a map, despite it being directly alongside the N2 highway wedged between Cape Town International Airport and Somerset West. On some maps it is marked as marshland, which is fairly accurate – apart from the fact that it is home to thousands. It is covered in shacks, no more than a metre apart in some areas, possesses no roads and very few lights. The absence of roads prevents fire response teams from extinguishing the frequent fires commonly caused by the use of gas and fuelled by an abundance of flammable material. Ambulances, too, are often unable to provide medical care to residents, and police unable to protect, as homes are inaccessible and poorly marked. This labyrinth of indignity and sorrow is the day-to-day reality of life for innumerable people not just in RR, but in poor informal settlements around the country.
One of the greatest community concerns – as illustrated by the Makhaza saga – is that of clean and safe sanitation. There are too few clean and functioning toilets and safe water sources, drainage is inadequate, and refuse collection irregular. As a result, waterborne diseases and parasites – including gastroenteritis, worms and diarrhoea – are rampant. Getting to and using toilets – one of the most unspoken of human rights – can be life threatening. Residents are often forced to walk long distances down unlit “pathways” that wind between shacks, through back yards and sometimes across busy roads; and are frequently robbed, hit by cars, beaten and raped. In many cases residents choose the alternative of relieving themselves on the outskirts of the community, increasing their vulnerability to crime and exposure to disease for both themselves and their communities.
There are two interlinked lessons we must learn from Makhaza. Firstly, we have a duty to hold the incumbent city and provincial government accountable in ensuring that norms and standards are maintained.
The Water Services Act (108 of 2007) notes how everyone has the right to “basic sanitation – the prescribed minimum standard of services necessary for the safe, hygienic, and adequate collection, removal, disposal or purification of human excreta, domestic waste-water and sewage, from households including informal households”. Moreover, it states that the municipality or local council is responsible for ensuring access to water services: that local government has failed to take responsibility for this incident must be strongly condemned.
We must, however, also acknowledge that this is not an isolated case and certainly not limited to the DA’s term of government. It should not be used as ammunition for mudslinging, but rather as an opportunity to initiate dialogue and action on an issue that has been neglected for too long.
We must call on the City of Cape Town to publicise and educate around its Water Services Development Plan as compelled by law, as well as other plans relating to the provision of other essential services. There is too much confusion surrounding the development of informal settlements.
The second lesson is that of the need for adequate communication and consultation around service delivery. Many people in Makhaza were not aware of the arrangement to build more toilets at the expense of walls and roofs. In fact one elderly woman had no idea she was even receiving a toilet, let alone that she would need to build her own walls around it.
It is not enough to communicate solely with community leaders, especially when it involves the provision of services as essential as toilets. Wide forums need to be established which include government, civil society, and the community. At the same time, the community and civil society have a duty to encourage participation.
We should never learn to accept the everyday indignities and inequalities faced by children, men and women in informal settlements.
Source: Writing Rights: Centre for Law and Social Justice
What has been overlooked, however, is that these rights are denied to millions in South Africa on a daily basis. This incident has provided a stark example of the daily plight of people living in poor, working-class informal settlements, but an example that has come as a shock only to those who do not live there. The protracted absence of the basic services that many of us take for granted and the failure to acknowledge this deficit has resulted in the normalisation of suffering, and the routine violation of basic human rights.
It is worth pointing out that this particular section of Makhaza is not one of the worst informal areas in Khayelitsha – a sprawling and densely populated remnant of segregation where at least 57% of people live in shacks, 80% without access to water in their homes, 35% with no immediate access to flush/chemical toilets, and 24% without access to electricity. Despite being unquestionably impoverished, Makhaza has roads and is not as densely populated as other areas. These material conditions might seem relatively insignificant when confronted with the inhumanity of open toilets, but they form part of a broad range of infrastructural barriers that have direct bearing on the quality of life of residents.
You will not find the informal settlement of RR Section on a map, despite it being directly alongside the N2 highway wedged between Cape Town International Airport and Somerset West. On some maps it is marked as marshland, which is fairly accurate – apart from the fact that it is home to thousands. It is covered in shacks, no more than a metre apart in some areas, possesses no roads and very few lights. The absence of roads prevents fire response teams from extinguishing the frequent fires commonly caused by the use of gas and fuelled by an abundance of flammable material. Ambulances, too, are often unable to provide medical care to residents, and police unable to protect, as homes are inaccessible and poorly marked. This labyrinth of indignity and sorrow is the day-to-day reality of life for innumerable people not just in RR, but in poor informal settlements around the country.
One of the greatest community concerns – as illustrated by the Makhaza saga – is that of clean and safe sanitation. There are too few clean and functioning toilets and safe water sources, drainage is inadequate, and refuse collection irregular. As a result, waterborne diseases and parasites – including gastroenteritis, worms and diarrhoea – are rampant. Getting to and using toilets – one of the most unspoken of human rights – can be life threatening. Residents are often forced to walk long distances down unlit “pathways” that wind between shacks, through back yards and sometimes across busy roads; and are frequently robbed, hit by cars, beaten and raped. In many cases residents choose the alternative of relieving themselves on the outskirts of the community, increasing their vulnerability to crime and exposure to disease for both themselves and their communities.
There are two interlinked lessons we must learn from Makhaza. Firstly, we have a duty to hold the incumbent city and provincial government accountable in ensuring that norms and standards are maintained.
The Water Services Act (108 of 2007) notes how everyone has the right to “basic sanitation – the prescribed minimum standard of services necessary for the safe, hygienic, and adequate collection, removal, disposal or purification of human excreta, domestic waste-water and sewage, from households including informal households”. Moreover, it states that the municipality or local council is responsible for ensuring access to water services: that local government has failed to take responsibility for this incident must be strongly condemned.
We must, however, also acknowledge that this is not an isolated case and certainly not limited to the DA’s term of government. It should not be used as ammunition for mudslinging, but rather as an opportunity to initiate dialogue and action on an issue that has been neglected for too long.
We must call on the City of Cape Town to publicise and educate around its Water Services Development Plan as compelled by law, as well as other plans relating to the provision of other essential services. There is too much confusion surrounding the development of informal settlements.
The second lesson is that of the need for adequate communication and consultation around service delivery. Many people in Makhaza were not aware of the arrangement to build more toilets at the expense of walls and roofs. In fact one elderly woman had no idea she was even receiving a toilet, let alone that she would need to build her own walls around it.
It is not enough to communicate solely with community leaders, especially when it involves the provision of services as essential as toilets. Wide forums need to be established which include government, civil society, and the community. At the same time, the community and civil society have a duty to encourage participation.
We should never learn to accept the everyday indignities and inequalities faced by children, men and women in informal settlements.
Source: Writing Rights: Centre for Law and Social Justice
Monday, September 29, 2008
Western Cape ANC denies obvious rift
The entire Western Cape ANC is denying that it faces a major rift along political fault lines between its former chair, James Ngculu, and former premier, Ebrahim Rasool, on the one hand and its newly elected chair, Mcebisi Skwatsha, on the other.
Last week the ANC in the province held its long-awaited provincial conference and the Skwatsha grouping -- seen as strongly pro-Zuma -- made a clean sweep of the top five positions by unanimously electing Skwatsha as party chairperson, Premier Lynne Brown as deputy chair, Sipho Kroma as secretary, Max Ozinsky as deputy secretary and Songezo Mjongile as treasurer.
In contrast with other recent provincial conferences of the ruling party there were no threats, intimidation or mayhem, but about 42% of branches (86 of 205) boycotted the conference claiming that they were deliberately excluded because they supported Lerumo Kalako for the position of chairperson.
Kalako is seen as a Thabo Mbeki supporter and a staunch backer of now ousted Ngculu. He told the Mail & Guardian on Thursday: "I have nothing to say. It's best if you phone Skwatsha and Ozinsky for their comments." Although a member of the ANC's provincial executive committee, recently ousted premier Rasool did not attend the conference either. He told the local media that he did not want to cause further divisions in the organisation.
On the first day of the conference regional secretary Mbulelo Ncedana and about 500 of his supporters held an alternative meeting in Langa, where Ngculu addressed them after delivering his formal conference address. On both sides of the political divide ANC members deny that the boycott of the conference marks an imminent split in the organisation. Garth Strachan, Western Cape finance minister, said the ANC has 54 000 signed-up members in the province, of whom about 400 were disaffected. "These people chose to step outside due process and they're bringing the name of the ANC into disrepute. They're doing the opposition's work for them and we don't see this as signifying a split in the ANC." Strachan is adamant that the ANC's national leadership, under the chairmanship of NEC member Fikile Mbalula, listened to the concerns of the disgruntled members.
Ncedane sent a memorandum to the national executive committee claiming that Skwatsha and his supporters manipulated branches attending the conference to ensure a Skwatsha victory. Both Strachan and Ozinsky denied this. "When you're a democrat you have to abide by the democratic process. You can't cry foul and boycott the process because you don't like the majority vote," Ozinsky said. "Honestly, we're worried about the divisions in the province. It's worrying if senior provincial leaders are playing a factional and divisive role with the intention of disrupting the highest organ of the organisation in the province, namely the conference."
Regional executive committee member Yengwayo Kutta said he and others decided to boycott the conference because "there had been a clear attempt to exclude branches that supported Kalako as the ANC chair". "Eighty-five branches out of 205 are not participating because we're unhappy with the process. Branches in good standing were excluded because of political interference. I myself believe that the conference is fraudulent," Kutta said. "We want the national leadership to listen to our concerns and then we would like another, more inclusive, conference to be held."
Source: Mail & Guardian Online
Last week the ANC in the province held its long-awaited provincial conference and the Skwatsha grouping -- seen as strongly pro-Zuma -- made a clean sweep of the top five positions by unanimously electing Skwatsha as party chairperson, Premier Lynne Brown as deputy chair, Sipho Kroma as secretary, Max Ozinsky as deputy secretary and Songezo Mjongile as treasurer.
In contrast with other recent provincial conferences of the ruling party there were no threats, intimidation or mayhem, but about 42% of branches (86 of 205) boycotted the conference claiming that they were deliberately excluded because they supported Lerumo Kalako for the position of chairperson.
Kalako is seen as a Thabo Mbeki supporter and a staunch backer of now ousted Ngculu. He told the Mail & Guardian on Thursday: "I have nothing to say. It's best if you phone Skwatsha and Ozinsky for their comments." Although a member of the ANC's provincial executive committee, recently ousted premier Rasool did not attend the conference either. He told the local media that he did not want to cause further divisions in the organisation.
On the first day of the conference regional secretary Mbulelo Ncedana and about 500 of his supporters held an alternative meeting in Langa, where Ngculu addressed them after delivering his formal conference address. On both sides of the political divide ANC members deny that the boycott of the conference marks an imminent split in the organisation. Garth Strachan, Western Cape finance minister, said the ANC has 54 000 signed-up members in the province, of whom about 400 were disaffected. "These people chose to step outside due process and they're bringing the name of the ANC into disrepute. They're doing the opposition's work for them and we don't see this as signifying a split in the ANC." Strachan is adamant that the ANC's national leadership, under the chairmanship of NEC member Fikile Mbalula, listened to the concerns of the disgruntled members.
Ncedane sent a memorandum to the national executive committee claiming that Skwatsha and his supporters manipulated branches attending the conference to ensure a Skwatsha victory. Both Strachan and Ozinsky denied this. "When you're a democrat you have to abide by the democratic process. You can't cry foul and boycott the process because you don't like the majority vote," Ozinsky said. "Honestly, we're worried about the divisions in the province. It's worrying if senior provincial leaders are playing a factional and divisive role with the intention of disrupting the highest organ of the organisation in the province, namely the conference."
Regional executive committee member Yengwayo Kutta said he and others decided to boycott the conference because "there had been a clear attempt to exclude branches that supported Kalako as the ANC chair". "Eighty-five branches out of 205 are not participating because we're unhappy with the process. Branches in good standing were excluded because of political interference. I myself believe that the conference is fraudulent," Kutta said. "We want the national leadership to listen to our concerns and then we would like another, more inclusive, conference to be held."
Source: Mail & Guardian Online
Wednesday, July 9, 1997
CHURCHES WERE USED TO OPPRESS BLACKS, SAYS AMNESTY APPLICANT
Churches were used as instruments of oppression by the white minority, one of four men seeking amnesty for the 1993 St James Church massacre told the Truth Commission's amnesty committee on Wednesday.
Bassie Mkhumbuzi was a member of the Azanian People's Liberation Army unit that killed 11 people and wounded 58 others in a automatic rifle and handgrenade attack on the church's congregants in Cape Town on July 25, 1993. "Whites used churches to oppress blacks. They took our country using churches and bibles. We know and we have read from books they are the ones who have taken the land from us," Mkhumbuzi said. Truth Commission lawyer Robin Brink said Mkumbuzi and his comrades perpetrated a "mindless barbarity" on defenceless people praying in a house of worship. Was it a revenge attack?" he asked Mkhumbuzi. "No," Mkhumbuzi replied, "we just wanted our land to be brought back to us, not because we were revenging the actions of the church."
Mkhumbuzi, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, said he had not been told beforehand by unit leader Sichumiso Nonxuba that a church was the target. Nevertheless, "I felt that whites were using churches to oppress blacks". There was confusion at the start of Wednesday's amnesty hearing in Cape Town when it emerged that one of the amnesty applicants - former Apla operations director Letlapa Mphahele - had failed to turn up. The whereabouts of Mphahlele were not known, lawyer Norman Arendse told the amnesty committee chaired by Judge Hassen Mall. Arendse said he represented Mphahlele's co-applicants Mkhumbuzi, Thobela Mlambisa and Gcinikhaya Makoma. Makoma was found guilty on 11 counts of murder and 58 counts of attempted murder in March 1995 and sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment.
Mkhumbuzi, a member of the SA National Defence Force, and Mlambisa are on trial facing similar charges relating to the attack. "We don't know where he (Mphahlele) is," Arendse said. "He has not given us any instructions. We can't understand and we don't have any reasons why he is not here. We ask that his application be withdrawn at this stage." Ian Bremridge, the lawyer for two of the victims opposing the amnesty applications, said Mphahlele's absence could be problematic as the other applicants intended testifying that he ordered the attack. The applications are being opposed by Dawie Ackermann, whose wife was killed, Lorenzo Smith and Ukranian sailor Dmitry Makogon, who lost both legs and an arm in the incident. Mkhumbuzi said while he sought forgiveness from the victims, "we could not stop what was happening at the time". "We were fighting for our country and for democracy. It was difficult at the time to stop such incidents. The purpose of Apla at that time was to fight until the land was brought back to its owners." Bremridge: "Do you thing the attack achieved anything?" Mkhumbusi: "Yes. Today We are in this country. We are living together. We are not fighting together."
On the day of the attack he had remained in the getaway vehicle while Nonxuba - who was killed in a car accident last Novemmber - and Makoma entered the church armed with R4 rifles and M26 handgrenades, which he had fetched earlier from Apla high command in Umtata. "I was told that I would be the security, Mlambisa the driver. Nonxuba and Makoma were going inside. After they came out of the building, I was to use the petrol bombs to throw them inside. "I heard a grenade and gunshots and then saw a red car stopping in front of us, apparently to block us. "I got out of the car and threw a petrol bomb at the car and Mlambisa shot at the car causing it to speed away." He said it was only later that night, while watching a television broadcast by CNN, that he saw for the first time what had happened inside the church. Mlambisa testified later that he was an Apla unit commissar based in Transkei when he was ordered to travel to Cape Town to take part in the operation. He only realised the target was a church when the team drove up to the target in Kenilworth, Cape Town. "I deeply regret the loss of lives and causing so many people to be injured," he said.
Source: South African Press Association
Bassie Mkhumbuzi was a member of the Azanian People's Liberation Army unit that killed 11 people and wounded 58 others in a automatic rifle and handgrenade attack on the church's congregants in Cape Town on July 25, 1993. "Whites used churches to oppress blacks. They took our country using churches and bibles. We know and we have read from books they are the ones who have taken the land from us," Mkhumbuzi said. Truth Commission lawyer Robin Brink said Mkumbuzi and his comrades perpetrated a "mindless barbarity" on defenceless people praying in a house of worship. Was it a revenge attack?" he asked Mkhumbuzi. "No," Mkhumbuzi replied, "we just wanted our land to be brought back to us, not because we were revenging the actions of the church."
Mkhumbuzi, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, said he had not been told beforehand by unit leader Sichumiso Nonxuba that a church was the target. Nevertheless, "I felt that whites were using churches to oppress blacks". There was confusion at the start of Wednesday's amnesty hearing in Cape Town when it emerged that one of the amnesty applicants - former Apla operations director Letlapa Mphahele - had failed to turn up. The whereabouts of Mphahlele were not known, lawyer Norman Arendse told the amnesty committee chaired by Judge Hassen Mall. Arendse said he represented Mphahlele's co-applicants Mkhumbuzi, Thobela Mlambisa and Gcinikhaya Makoma. Makoma was found guilty on 11 counts of murder and 58 counts of attempted murder in March 1995 and sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment.
Mkhumbuzi, a member of the SA National Defence Force, and Mlambisa are on trial facing similar charges relating to the attack. "We don't know where he (Mphahlele) is," Arendse said. "He has not given us any instructions. We can't understand and we don't have any reasons why he is not here. We ask that his application be withdrawn at this stage." Ian Bremridge, the lawyer for two of the victims opposing the amnesty applications, said Mphahlele's absence could be problematic as the other applicants intended testifying that he ordered the attack. The applications are being opposed by Dawie Ackermann, whose wife was killed, Lorenzo Smith and Ukranian sailor Dmitry Makogon, who lost both legs and an arm in the incident. Mkhumbuzi said while he sought forgiveness from the victims, "we could not stop what was happening at the time". "We were fighting for our country and for democracy. It was difficult at the time to stop such incidents. The purpose of Apla at that time was to fight until the land was brought back to its owners." Bremridge: "Do you thing the attack achieved anything?" Mkhumbusi: "Yes. Today We are in this country. We are living together. We are not fighting together."
On the day of the attack he had remained in the getaway vehicle while Nonxuba - who was killed in a car accident last Novemmber - and Makoma entered the church armed with R4 rifles and M26 handgrenades, which he had fetched earlier from Apla high command in Umtata. "I was told that I would be the security, Mlambisa the driver. Nonxuba and Makoma were going inside. After they came out of the building, I was to use the petrol bombs to throw them inside. "I heard a grenade and gunshots and then saw a red car stopping in front of us, apparently to block us. "I got out of the car and threw a petrol bomb at the car and Mlambisa shot at the car causing it to speed away." He said it was only later that night, while watching a television broadcast by CNN, that he saw for the first time what had happened inside the church. Mlambisa testified later that he was an Apla unit commissar based in Transkei when he was ordered to travel to Cape Town to take part in the operation. He only realised the target was a church when the team drove up to the target in Kenilworth, Cape Town. "I deeply regret the loss of lives and causing so many people to be injured," he said.
Source: South African Press Association
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