Guest

Dear Editor The FF Plus strongly opposes the Gauteng Legislature’s support of the Copyright and Performers Protection Amendment Bills and will submit a minority report on it to the Legislature. It will highlight the irrationality and destructive consequences of the Bills. It will also be valuable for future litigation against the proposed legislation. The Legislature’s …

Dear Editor Government’s statements and actions concerning the controversial Karpowership create the impression that the ANC government is willing to throw all environmental concerns overboard. Part of the 2020 emergency power plan was that these floating power stations would be connected to the national power grid at Richards Bay, Coega and Saldanha Bay. The FF …

Dear Editor When a government is grey listed by the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) it should serve as a wake-up call. But it made no impression on the ANC. Instead, government is misleading itself and the people about the detrimental impact of the country’s grey list status. The FATF keeps watch over international …

Dear Editor The ever-rising unemployment rate in South Africa is the direct result of the ANC’s miserable failure as government. According to the latest statistics, which were announced today, the unemployment rate currently stands at 32,9%. It was 32,7% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Racially driven legislation, like the Employment Equity Amendment Act, will …

Dear Editor “The incoherence of the Act’s quotas betrays the hasty and clumsy manner in which they were formulated. This demonstrates a knee-jerk, electioneering ploy, devoid of any thoughtful consideration of the far-reaching implications.” The proposed quotas in the Employment Equity Amendment Act – or Racial Quota Act, as the DA calls it – will …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) condemns State Security Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni’s attendance of the “International Meeting of High-level Officials responsible for Security Matters” in Russia. Given the recent claims made by the US Ambassador in South Africa regarding alleged ammunition supply to Russia by South Africa, this visit is yet another diplomatic blunder that …

Dear Editor New information obtained by the Democratic Alliance (DA) through parliamentary questions reveals that, over a period of two years, the ANC government spent R93 million on maintaining the 97 mansions, valued at nearly R1 billion, occupied by its Ministers and Deputy Ministers in Pretoria and Cape Town. The DA is submitting a complaint …

Dear Editor The DA calls on the ANC to conduct an internal audit of all its public representatives with degrees obtained from the University of Fort Hare since 2013. A recent oversight conducted at the University of Fort Hare revealed the level of political interference by the ANC in the faculty of Public Administration at …

Dear Editor Acting Speaker of the National Assembly, Honourable Tsenoli, has denied my request for an urgent debate of national importance on US allegations that South Africa provided war materials to Russia. His rationale is that the allegations although serious, remain speculative. But even though the allegations “may yet prove unfounded”, they have already done …

Dear Editor The DA is deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Dr Denis Worrall – an exceptional individual whose contributions as an academic, businessman, politician, and diplomat left a lasting impact on South Africa. Denis Worrall’s political career spanned several significant roles in politics and diplomacy – he was a Senator for the …

Dear Editor Outside every South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) office there will be a long queue in which South Africa’s most vulnerable would have either slept over in a desperate attempt to receive assistance or stand all day only to be turned away when the office closes. Queues have become synonymous with SASSA. In …

Dear Editor Senior managers within the public service, who are already earning millions of rands in salaries per year, are violating the existing provisions in law by failing to obtain permission to engage in Other Remunerative Work (ORW) outside of the public service – a practice which has seen some of them earn up to …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance has submitted its petition to Parliament in which we are calling on the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, and her Department to release Onderstepoort Biological Products’ (OBP) vaccine strains to the private sector so that they can assist with the production of vaccines to save …

Dear Editor With the rising cost of living and soaring unemployment, poor households that rely on free basic electricity and water are under threat to immediately be cut out from accessing basic services. This is if The Municipal Debt Relief plan is passed that implies that impoverished households are required to relinquish their constitutional entitlements …

Dear Editor South Africa cannot participate in “mediation efforts” between Russia and Ukraine with any credibility whilst allegations that the country may have aided and abetted Russia’s war of aggression remain unresolved. In a portfolio committee meeting of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) yesterday, senior government officials informed Parliament that the President …

Dear Editor A legal blunder during a parliamentary portfolio committee on social development meeting in May 2022 might have jeopardised the passing of the committee’s Children’s Amendment Bill. It now seems that legal advice to reject certain clauses instead of separating the Bill into two could imperil the Bill as there may not be enough …

Dera Editor 33% of Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) and 19% of learners that qualify for learner transport do not receive the necessary transport assistance. This was revealed during a parliamentary portfolio committee on basic education meeting with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) this week. The learner transport system in South Africa faces …