Letters

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned by the NPA’s withdrawal of charges against another accused in the prosecution against Thabo Bester. This marks the fourth instance of charges being dropped against an accused in the case – only half of the original 8 defendants will now stand trial in the matter. The DA …

Dear Editor In answer to a parliamentary question from the DA, the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, revealed that the vacancy rates as of April 2025 for doctors, nurses, and radiographers were 9.42%, 14.22%, and 15.7%, respectively. Furthermore, yesterday, the Department of Health admitted in a meeting with Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations (SCOA) …

Dear Editor A reply to a DA Parliamentary question has revealed, quite shockingly, that the Minister of Land and Rural Development is enforcing racial classification regulations in property transfers without a legal or legislative definition of “race” to underpin the compulsory classification requirement introduced. The DA sees this as being utterly flawed – a Minister …

Dear Editor The DA has today filed a supplementary ethics complaint against the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, because shocking new information about the Minister’s conduct further misleading Parliament, has come to light. Following the disclosure by the Minister of the names of the panel tasked with appointing the Sector Education …

Dear Editor Outgoing PIC CEO Abel Sithole admitted that the asset manager did not implement its own disciplinary committee’s recommendation to fire company secretary Bongani Mathebula. It’s also not clear from the PIC’s evasive responses whether it implemented the Mphati Commission’s recommendation that the PIC Board examine Mathebula’s reinstatement. The PIC potentially misled parliament earlier …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance calls on Labour and Employment Minister Nomakhosazana Meth to immediately scrap the proposed quotas that would severely restrict the employment of skilled foreign nationals in South Africa. These quotas threaten to slam the door shut on the skills that we need to transfer into our economy, which desperately needs much …

Dear Editor The DA welcomes the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary’s decision to upgrade South Africa’s progress on the final two reforms necessary to exit the FATF greylist. While this is an important step, the DA cautions the NPA and our financial regulators against complacency. Exiting the greylist remains subject to a site visit …

Dear Editor Seven years after the first Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence in 2018, South Africa still has no functioning Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Council, despite repeated promises, signed legislation, and national commitments. At the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities held on 17 June 2025, members expected a long-overdue briefing …

Dear Editor During the Police Parliamentary Committee held last week, SAPS remained silent when questioned about the exclusion of gender-based violence figures from the most recent crime statistics report. In a country where a woman is murdered every three hours, this omission is not just a statistical gap, it is a moral failure. The DA …

Dear Editor The DA will refer the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, to the ethics committee for misleading the parliamentary portfolio committee on higher education when she stated that all members of the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) Board Chairpersons Selection and Evaluation Panel were independent. This afternoon, the Minister …

Dear Editor The former National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) administrator, Freeman Nomvalo, failed to leave a handover document for the new NSFAS board. This despite earning R5.5 million in the 10 months and 2 weeks he was contracted to administer the Scheme, as revealed in answer to a written parliamentary question from the DA. …

Dear Editor The DA in the Western Cape is outraged by the latest example of rot within the South African Police Service: a SAPS constable caught working with gangsters has escaped with barely a slap on the wrist, and the Police Commissioner himself signed off on it. This was confirmed to the DA in official …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned by the political circus that unfolded during a special sitting of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport on Wednesday evening. What should have been a focused and serious engagement on the crisis engulfing the Road Accident Fund (RAF) was derailed by opportunistic political interference enabled by the …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is outraged by recent revelations that an astonishing R131, 585,808.09 has been spent on South African Police members (SAPS) who have been on paid sick leave for periods exceeding six months during the 2023/2024 financial year. This shocking misuse of public funds demands urgent accountability. The DA demands that …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is dismayed by the chaotic scenes in Bloemfontein today, where 249 SANDF troops were expected to land at 12:00. Despite full media coverage and the presence of dignitaries, the soldiers are now unlikely to arrive before nightfall. What was meant to be a dignified homecoming has descended into disarray, …

Dear Editor With Major-General Philani Lushaba and three of his colleagues now in the SAPS custody, the Democratic Alliance is calling on the Minister of Police to waste no time and initiate a full-scale clean-up of Crime Intelligence (CI). Enough tiptoeing around. CI needs a root-and-branch overhaul to restore integrity to one of South Africa’s …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is gravely concerned by the accelerating collapse of South Africa’s defence capabilities, starkly laid bare in today’s Armscor presentation to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence. This is not just about late maintenance or delayed procurement. The SANDF is facing a full-blown capability crisis. Our Navy is barely seaworthy. …

Dear Editor Minerals and Petroleum resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has issued “corrections” on his new Mineral Resources Amendment Bill. He has removed a requirement for BEE participation in applications for Prospecting Rights and has dropped a provision for Ministerial approval for change of control in listed companies that own Mining Rights. Both these requirements were …

Dear Editor The DA is outraged and will vigorously fight against a pronouncement by the Minister of Employment & Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, that her Department will make employers self-implement sectoral racial quotas, including forcing employers to decide and declare the race of their employees, where employees are not willing to disclose their race. The DA …

Dear Editor After years of instability, the newly appointed South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) Board must immediately begin repairs to the broken entity. The DA will monitor the new Board’s work closely, as the SABS is a crucial institution entrusted with ensuring that all manufactured products in our country are safe for use. The …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is gravely concerned by the revelation that almost 15 000 cases (14 907 currently) remain outstanding for investigation by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) across the country. These include some of the most serious allegations ranging from deaths in police custody to rape, now caught in a growing …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the long-overdue return of South African soldiers deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part the SADC Mission. These brave men and women served with courage under dangerous and debilitating conditions. Their safe return is a moment of national pride. However, the Department of Defence’s planned …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance has written to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training, Tebogo Letsie, requesting the official summonsing of Higher Education Minister Dr. Nobuhle Nkabane’s secret Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) Board Chairpersons Selection and Evaluation Panel. This is in terms of section 14 of the Powers, …