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Dear Editor In a reply to a DA Parliamentary question, the Minister of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), Thoko Didiza, revealed that her Department has spent R78 million purchasing foot and mouth vaccines from Botswana. This comes after the DA asked for reasons why vaccines cannot be procured in South Africa. This revelation …

Dear Editor The release of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for Q1:2023 reveals a grim reality: South Africa’s unemployment crisis is not only persisting but intensifying. The official unemployment rate has escalated to 32.9%, a 0.2 percentage point increase from the preceding quarter. An analysis of these figures reveals that the ANC government’s inability …

Dear Editor I visited Washington DC two weeks ago to launch a campaign to protect AGOA, the programme which gives SA preferential access to key US markets. I will now intensify this work by meeting with agriculture and industry bodies, DA governments, the US ambassador and international organisations. My message is clear: The ANC does …

Dear Editor The DA notes reports that the Commander of the South African ground forces, Lieutenant-General Lawrence Mbatha has led a delegation to Russia that discussed “issues relating to military cooperation and interaction” with their Russian counterparts. This once again demonstrates the ANC government’s callousness and insensitivity to our diplomatic and trade dilemma. News reports …

Dear Editor “Far from being the much vaunted ‘project manager’ who was to come in and fix the electricity crisis, Ramakgopa has emerged as nothing more than an ANC PR hack, paid for by the taxpayer, sent to hoodwink South Africans into believing that something was being done to roll back loadshedding. If anything, the …

Dear Editor On behalf of the The Democratic Alliance we would like to extend our sincerest condolences on the passing of South Africa’s Ambassador to the Republic of Algeria, H.E. Billy Masetlha. Ambassador Masetlha passed on 14 May 2023 after a long illness. Ambassador Masetlha has also served the South African Government previously as Director …

Dear Editor “The social perversion created by these targets constitute a clear and urgent threat to the social fabric of South Africa. The implication is that companies operating in certain parts of the country are banned from employing even a single coloured or Indian person in a particular position. If companies defy these regulations, they …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) strongly condemns the ANC’s bulldozing of the NHI Bill through the Health Portfolio Committee without amendments from opposition parties, despite overwhelming legal opinions and arguments to do so. This move by the ANC is worrying, particularly their amendment to change the definition of “migrant” to “foreigner”, which groups all …

Dear Editor As the international community grows increasingly concerned about South Africa’s dalliance with Moscow, the United States of America have now issued a stern diplomatic warning shot to the Executive to come clean and change course. More than five months have passed without confirmation from the President or his Defense Minister as to exactly …

Dear Editor It is clear that South African Tourism (SAT) is in serious trouble as it encounters one crisis after another. Within days of being appointed as the SAT acting CEO, Nomasonto Ndlovu has been implicated in bribery. Information provided to me indicates that a whistle-blower called the SAT hotline with claims that Ndlovu, on …

Dear Editor Once again, Minister Sihle Zikalala did not appear at the Portfolio Committee Meeting for the Department Of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) this week – because he was in the Netherlands to propagate Infrastructure South Africa’s (ISA) efforts to get hydrogen projects off the ground. While this might be a noble effort, it …

Dear Editor Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, at the eleventh hour, postponed his highly anticipated address to Parliament today. The Minister was expected make an “Executive Statement on the Energy Plan Activities and Short to Medium Term Interventions to Limit the Intensity and Frequency of Load Shedding”. No reasons for this postponement were provided. We are …

Dear Editor In today’s sitting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), the committee was briefed by the Eskom Board on allegations of corruption, theft, maladministration, sabotage, and other financial irregularities made by ex-GCEO, Mr. Andre de Ruyter. The early use of the axiom “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” by the Chairperson of the …

Dear Editor Minister Thulas Nxesi’s outburst yesterday in the budget debate on Vote 31: Employment and Labour reveals a ruling party on the ropes. The ANC government is so evidently floundering – so overwhelmed by its own incompetence – that in sheer desperation it has started to ratchet up the rhetoric against minorities. It has …

Today the parliamentary portfolio committee on health concluded its clause-by-clause deliberations on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill. It should come as no surprise that the ANC members in committee refused to effectively engage with the content of the Bill, as well as the concerns and contributions of opposition party members in the committee and …

Dear Editor Minister Mondli Gungubele, when asked about the costs of data and data coverage, stated that South Africa have the most expensive mobile data in the region and ranked 34th out of 47 countries in the Research ICT Africa Mobile Pricing (RAMP). According to the Minister, only 77.5% of all households have access to …