Letters

Dear Editor As South Africa enters its final hours to negotiate a viable trade deal with the United States of America to avoid punitive tariffs on South African imports, South Africa now faces a secondary blow via restricted access to Taiwanese semiconductor chips following Minister Ronald Lamola’s unnecessary decision to downgrade the Taiwanese mission in …

Dear Editor With the United States’ 30% tariffs about to kick in, the pressure to secure a trade deal is now enormous. After months of inaction and aimless subterfuge, Business Day is now reporting that DTIC Minister Parks Tau is running for the hills and passing the buck, proposing to implement a taxpayer-funded incentive for …

Dear Editor The statement issued by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition yesterday evening, suggesting a “reset” in trade relations with the USA is inevitable, is deeply concerning and raises far more questions than answers. While the Democratic Alliance welcomes the decision not to retaliate against the 30% tariff threat, it is clear the …

Dear Editor The DA calls on the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, to urgently implement consequence management against Health Department Director-General (DG), Dr Sandile Buthelezi, for his role in the IDT oxygen supply scandal, exposed by Minister Dean Macpherson yesterday. The Independent Development Trust awarded Bulkeng (Pty) Ltd a contract to install the pressure …

Dear Editor The DA is deeply concerned that the National Treasury has handed Transnet nearly R100 billion in new government guarantees, with minimal transparency and no democratic input. The South African taxpayer is now standing surety for almost R150 billion in debt for an entity that has little prospect of turning a profit from its …

Dear Editor The fatal shooting of a 55-year-old East London woman at a coastal property near Mpande has once again highlighted the urgent need to restore safety and stability to one of the Eastern Cape’s most valuable tourism regions. Her brutal murder follows a spate of recent kidnappings and violent incidents that continue to threaten …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance is calling for an investigation into two companies linked to Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s sons that were paid R36.4 million for fire suppression and detection systems, but they failed to prevent the recent fire at Tembisa Hospital. According to reports, Ngwato and Manzi Group (NMG) and Modipadi Nokaneng are linked …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance is keeping our promise to fight against corruption in government, and to cut it out in every way possible wherever we find it. The DA is proud that Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, the DA’s Dean Macpherson, is enforcing real accountability for a grossly inflated tender that he uncovered …

Dear Editor The DA welcomes the precautionary suspension of the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Corporate Services Officer of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), close to a year since the DA first raised concerns over their alleged conduct during their respective stints as Acting CEO. Sources from within the SABS observed the two …

Dear Editor Today, the Democratic Alliance (DA) opens applications for our flagship political leadership development programme. South Africa urgently needs a new generation of ethical, capable, and values-driven leaders who can confront our country’s deepening economic, political, and social crises. The DA’s Young Leaders Programme (YLP) is a part-time development initiative that equips young South …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance announces changes to our party spokesperson on the International Relations portfolio in Parliament. This comes after Ms. Emma Powel has chosen to resign from her role as Spokesperson on International Relations today. We thank Emma for her service, on this portfolio. Powell remains a valued member of the DA caucus …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is appalled by the shocking revelations obtained through our Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application into the disciplinary case involving Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s VIP protection unit – the same officers caught on video brutally assaulting civilians on the N1 highway. The record of decision we obtained …

Dear Editor The DA is concerned that, with under a week remaining to the August 1 deadline, negotiations with the United States on a trade deal remain far from completion. Minister Tau continues to claim negotiations are advancing, while South Africa is being kept in the dark, without any public updates, worried about the future …

Dear Editor The DA strongly opposes the Minister of Employment and Labour’s proposed job-killing retrenchment reform, which would double the costs of retrenchment for struggling businesses, stifling hiring and job creation in South Africa. Higher retrenchment costs will entirely disincentivize job creation. Businesses will not hire if, when times are tough, they face massive costs …

Dear Editor An oversight visit by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to the SASSA office in Benoni this week has exposed the devastating impact of SASSA’s poorly implemented “fourth payment date” system that is meant to flag beneficiaries for verification. Instead it is throwing them into confusion and placing their social grants at risk. This fourth …

Dear Editor Earlier this week I attended the FMD Indaba opened by Minister Steenhuisen, where he reiterated the urgent need to build local vaccine manufacturing capacity while committing to empowering and restructuring both Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC). This was a first-of-its-kind indaba of over 400 key role-players in agriculture …

Dear Editor The DA will launch a PAIA application to obtain the names of members of the lottery licence bid evaluation committee, bid adjudication committee and quality assurance committee. Only once these names become public can their connections to the contesting bidders be assessed. Minister Tau has refused to reveal these names to Parliament’s portfolio …