Letter

Dear Editor The news that government has dropped the requirements for its COVID-19 Tourism Relief Fund from 51% to 30% Black ownership is nothing more than a veiled admission that BBEEE simply is not working. But for government to “save face” they could not completely scrap this requirement. Although there is no doubt that this …

Dear Editor The DA welcomes the progress on the processing of the long-awaited Climate Change Bill. Today the portfolio committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment agreed to a motion of desirability on the Climate Change Bill after a series of amendments were considered and agreed to. The Bill, a first of its kind for …

Dear Editor The country is currently in an elevated schedule of load-shedding yet, according to Eskom’s system update released this morning, zero Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) have been utilised in the past 24 hours. This can only mean one thing, either Eskom has run out of diesel, or money or both. If the diesel …

Dear Editor Today, the Ministers of Social Development and Communications and Digital Technologies, Lindiwe Zulu and Mondli Gungubele, addressed the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grant payment chaos of the past two weeks which was apparently caused by a payment glitch of Postbank’s own making and affected more than 500 000 vulnerable beneficiaries. The …

Dear Editor Parliament’s 6th Parliament legislative is a poor reflection of the institution Chairperson, As the sixth Parliament winds down its business, we should take a long and hard look at the work we have done to improve the lives of the South Africans we represent in this House. Have we sufficiently held the executive …

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned to learn that the Post Bank Board has resigned en masse, citing a “hostile and oppressive” work relationship with the Minister of Communications & Digital Technologies, Mondi Gungubele. The DA had written previously to the Minister and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, asking for accountability regarding …

Dear Editor As the country goes through a punishing and economically destructive stage 7 load-shedding schedule, it is now abundantly clear that the Minister of Electricity – Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has failed. His appointing authority, President Cyril Ramaphosa, has adopted a ‘hands-off’ approach on the electricity crisis, further underlining the fact that the ANC has run …

Dear Editor Given the ANC’s rejection of the DA’s motion calling for a review of the current funding model, we call on the Minister to finally reveal his Department’s long-touted comprehensive funding model, as well as take us into his confidence about where the money will come from. Yesterday, the ANC rejected the DA’s motion …

Dear Editor Five months after the ANC in Parliament voted to reject a DA motion calling for the establishment of an ad hoc parliamentary committee to oversee the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, they have made a sudden U-turn and are now saying he must account to the Public Enterprises committee. While the DA welcomes …

Dear Editor The DA is calling on the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Thembi Kadimeng, to stop dragging her feet and urgently sign the agreement that establishes the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre (SHOC). The Centre cannot be fully operationalised until at least 16 SADC countries have signed the agreement, and …

Dear Editor Hard on the heels of the news that the SABC incurred a significant loss of R1.1 billion in the past fiscal year, comes a call from the public broadcaster that it will need additional financial support before the 2024 Election. This was confirmed by the Chairperson of the SABC Board during a recent …

Dear Editor The DA takes note of a letter from Brig Jap Burger, the officer appointed by the National Commissioner in August 2022 to address high-level and organised crime threats impacting Eskom and energy security. The letter outlines a series of events that raise questions about the accuracy of the National Commissioner Fannie Masemola’s statements …

Dear Editor According to an analysis by Parliament that was presented to the parliamentary portfolio committee on basic education today, “… most of the submissions were not in support of the [BELA] bill based on the rejection of clause 4, clause 5, clause 14, clause 16 and clause 37. Overwhelmingly email submissions rejected clause 37 …

Dear Editor The Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, has repeatedly stated that South Africa cannot afford the NHI, with his most recent admission coming at the News24’s On the Record Summit. It is clear that the rest of his comrades in the ANC either do not understand simple economics or refuse to listen to logic. The …

Dear Editor The announcement by the Board of South African Tourism (SAT) that they had withdrawn Nomasonto Ndlovu from her position as SAT Acting CEO but that she retains her position as Chief Operation Officer is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The latest action by the SAT board is an attempt to create the …

Dear Editor The DA was today vindicated in its opposition to the appointment of Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane whose removal was voted for by the National Assembly with 318 members voting yes, 43 voting no and 1 abstiaing, achieving the necessary two-thirds threshold to remove a Chapter 9 Head. In 2016, the DA was the only …

Dear Editor In 2016, the Democratic Alliance stood alone in its opposition to Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s appointment as Public Protector, while the ANC and EFF stood together to appoint her. For the last seven years, we held firm in our conviction that she was not a suitable individual to occupy the office of Public Protector. …

Dear Editor The ANC has descended into full-blown panic as it tries to delay the inevitable release of its cadre deployment secrets to the people of South Africa. Last week, the DA scored yet another victory in our ongoing quest to expose the ANC’s dirty cadre deployment secrets when the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) …