Letters

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) can today reveal that the Department of Defence spent R33 999 000 on a charter flight to transport over 200 SANDF personnel, including senior generals and students, to Havana, Cuba, for a graduation ceremony that served no operational or strategic value to South Africa. Documents in our possession confirm …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is appalled by the deeply offensive and race-baiting content of the Open Chats Podcast, that went viral on TikTok. In this episode, the hosts engage in despicable stereotyping of coloured people, including an abhorrent discussion questioning whether coloured people engage in sexual activity with their siblings, and describing coloured …

Dear Editor The DA notes Minister of Defence Angie Motshekga’s statement, which admits that she is failing to account to Parliament for the serious problems within the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The DA has repeatedly been calling on the Minister of Defence to account to Parliament over the deadly DRC deployment, but the …

Dear Editor Yesterday I submitted a formal Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application to the Department of Water and Sanitation, after months of silence from Minister Pemmy Majodina. Despite the Minister’s public acknowledgment that a probe into the escalating costs of Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) would be conducted, …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) objects to the ill-conceived procedurally irregular proposal to change the names of Port Alfred and Alexandria and will take the matter up in national government. Renaming Port Alfred, which is an international tourism hub, and Alexandria to iCoyi/iQoyi/iCawa and Nkosi Chungwa/eMnyameni, respectively, would deal a devastating blow to the …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) can reveal that board members at the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA (merSETA) were paid a staggering R6.29 million in the 2023/24 financial year, on top of the Chairperson’s separate remuneration of R924,000. This makes it one of the most expensive boards in the entire SETA system; three …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance has today written to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation to clarify the legal status of the South African Hajj & Umrah Council (SAHUC) after it has made an announcement that all South African hajj pilgrimage tour operators would have to work directly under SAHUC from the coming season …

Dear Editor A DA oversight inspection today has confirmed a despicable reality: racial-classification rules are in full swing in Deeds Offices across South Africa. At the DA oversight visit to the Cape Town Deeds Office today, we witnessed first-hand how citizens are being compelled to declare their race in writing, through the now-mandatory “Form LLL” …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the official commencement of Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee established to investigate explosive allegations by Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi into political interference, corruption, and systemic failures within the South African Police Service (SAPS). The committee, which held its first sitting today and elected its chairperson, has until 31 October …

Dear Editor Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s visit to the Free State is nothing more than a self-serving PR exercise designed to distract from his own scandals and the ANC’s decades-long destruction of the province. This is the same Deputy President who was this week found guilty by Parliament’s Joint Ethics Committee for failing to declare …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) seeks to remove the gap in our law that allows impeached judges and chapter 9 heads from being members of our national, provincial or local legislatures and councils, through a DA-sponsored Private Members Bill. The DA calls on interested parties to submit public comments on the proposed Bill. The …

Dear Editor Yesterday, as DA Federal Leader, I visited the town of Douglas in the Siyancuma Municipality in the Northern Cape – a community suffering the devastating consequences of neglectful governance and political mismanagement. Across Siyancuma, residents are burdened with staggering unemployment rates, collapsing services, and the indignity of outdated sanitation systems, including bucket toilets …

Dear Editor The interventions announced by Ministers Parks Tau and Ronald Lamola earlier today demonstrate that neither will take accountability for the 30% tariff imposed on South African exports to the United States of America in the absence of a solid trade deal. Whereas our Southern African Development Community (SADC) neighbours have managed to negotiate …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Fetakgomo Municipality has consistently warned the ANC caucus to adhere to the prescripts of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, the Municipal Systems Act, and the Standing Rules of Order of Council. These warnings were regrettably ignored. On 3 June 2025, the Limpopo High Court ruled that the …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance welcomes the appointment of Deputy Chief Justice Dunstan Mlambo as a crucial step in strengthening the Judiciary and the rule of law. Justice Mlambo is an experienced and respected member of the Judiciary who has served as the Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court for 13 …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply alarmed by ongoing reports of corruption, financial mismanagement, and abuse at the SAPS Training College in Philippi – issues that have remained unresolved despite investigations dating back to 2019. Most recently, it has come to light that recruits at the college are being compelled to purchase standard-issue …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) announces the successful conclusion of the national elective congress of the DA Students Organisation (DASO), held on 02 August 2025. The congress, the first in three years, brought together student delegates from higher education institutions across South Africa. Following the electoral process, the DA congratulates the following on their …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) demands an investigation into the electrocution of a Northern Cape child at the town park in Douglas, as the result of an exposed cable. The DA visited the child and his aggrieved family in hospital this week. I made this visit with DA councillor in Siyancuma, Lemfvia van Niekerk.The …

Dear Editor Incoming Acting Minister of Police, Prof Firoz Cachalia has a mammoth task ahead of him, as he is set to take the reins of the crumbling Police Service. The DA sets down key “mission-critical” expectations for this incoming Minister, on which he cannot fail. Trust in the police is at an all-time low, …

Dear Editor The commencement of 30% tariffs on SA goods and produce exported to the U.S. is a devastating outcome for South Africa, as Ministers Parks Tau and Ronald Lamola have failed to secure a trade deal. An executive order from the White House last night makes clear that U.S.-imposed tariffs are now a certainty, …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance welcomes the guilty finding of the Parliamentary Joint Ethics Committee against Deputy President Paul Mashatile, for failing to disclose a diamond gifted to his wife by alleged fraudster Louis Liebenberg. We also note the sanction of a reprimand and R10,000 fine. This follows a complaint I laid with the committee …

Dear Editor The latest Annual Survey of Mining Companies from the authoritative Canadian Fraser Institute rates South Africa as the 68th most investable mining jurisdiction. That’s out of a total of 82 mining jurisdictions that were surveyed, indicating the decline of the South African Mining industry. Despite this, Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe continues with his …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned by the allegations made by Aviation Co-ordination Services (ACS) regarding obstruction by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), which, if true, place aviation security and South Africa’s global aviation reputation at serious risk. Minister Creecy must urgently intervene. This as a result of a security incident at OR …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal can confirm that one of the two suspects recently arrested and who appeared before the Howick Magistrate’s Court today is the uncle of the late DA Chief Whip, Councillor Nhlalayenza Ndlovu. The suspect, 56-year-old Inkosi Zuma, is also allegedly implicated in a separate case involving the murder …