Admin
17 Oct, 2013
Time is now for Tripartite Alliance to be disbanded
Time is now for Tripartite Alliance to be disbanded – statement by Mr Bongani Msomi (UDM Secretary General) on 18 September 2013 The UDM cannot but state the obvious, which is that the foundation of the Tripartite alliance is visibly shaking, and partners are feeling uncomfortable with this marriage of convenience. The common enemy, Apartheid, has been defeated, leading to a situation where the alliance is no longer relevant. The ANC’s appointment of their deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa is a clear indication that the ANC is nonchalant about this alliance. Ramaphosa himself shows his true colours, through actions such as purchasing a buffalo for a staggering R12.5mil, when there was a problem at Lonmin. He is also the wrong man for this job as he does not care about the workers. The bottom line is that Cosatu is suffering at the hands of the ANC, the latter has weakened Cosatu by absorbing its leaders to government departments or institutions. This must stop. The UDM reiterates is call that the time is now for the tripartite alliance to be disbanded.
Admin
17 Oct, 2013
Minister Nzimande’s failure to address problems at the Walter Sisulu University
Member’s Statement by Mr Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP and UDM Deputy Secretary General, in the National Assembly regarding Minister Nzimande’s failure to address problems at the Walter Sisulu University is jeopardising futures of Eastern Cape youth The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is very concerned about the manner in which Government and the Minister of Higher Education are handling the crises at Walter Sisulu University (WSU). If not for the intervention of civil society, under the leadership of the South African Council of Churches, the current crisis would have escalated beyond the point of no return. It is an indictment of Minister Nzimande that our President had to dispatch Minister Chabane to clean up his colleague’s backyard. However, after an agreement was reached to end the seven-week long strike, we hear that classes are disrupted yet again. The allegations are that Government is negotiating in bad faith and has reneged on its promises. The UDM is of the view that the Minister Nzimande has failed to attend to the WSU challenges, which include, but are not limited to: Not intervening in the labour dispute timeously; Not reporting on his Departments’ turn-around strategy for the university; Whether its budget allocation is adequate; Whether the salaries of academics and workers are competitive; Allegations are that local companies are overlooked for university business; Whether the merger of various institutions has delivered the desired results. The UDM calls on Government to urgently resolve the crises at WSU, because a day lost in a student’s learning, is a day too many.
Admin
17 Oct, 2013
UDM calls for McCord rescue
UDM calls for McCord rescue – statement by Mr Bongani Msomi (UDM Secretary General) on 19 September 2013 The news that a prominent hospital in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) will be closing its doors soon is very saddening news. The McCord Hospital has an excellent track of sterling service, and has a pivot role to play in the fight against the HIV/AID epidemic and related diseases, due to its strategic location. KZN can ill afford to lose such a credited health facility, which is still so relevant to the health of our nation. The closure will also result in workers losing their jobs, with many of them having special skills and expertise, thus making it even more challenging for them to find employment, and on the flip side of that coin, making the loss of their services an incredible blow to the communities they serve. It will be worse to those who are just general workers. They are all breadwinners. The UDM makes a clarion call to the board of McCord Hospital and the KZN government to make an eleventh hour rescue in service of the people.
Admin
17 Oct, 2013
Dirco DG Matjila on special leave; multi-faceted forensic audit required
Dirco DG Matjila on special leave; multi-faceted forensic audit required statement Mr Bantu Holomisa (UDM President) (20 September 2013) We welcome the news that the Director General (DG) of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Mr Jerry Matjila, has been placed on special leave following the United Democratic Movement’s (UDM) exposure of alleged irregular expenditure to the tune of half a billion rand of the African Renaissance and International Co-Operation Fund (ARF). Apparently the DIRCO DG, who is the accounting officer for the ARF, acted with the blessing of the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, as well that of President Zuma. The only way to get to the bottom of this mess is for a forensic audit to be instituted; it cannot merely be a departmental investigation which, we hear, has been mooted by the Minister. The UDM believes that an audit team consisting of National Treasury, the Auditor General, the Hawks, the National Intelligence Agency and Interpol must be constituted to do justice to any investigation of the alleged irregular expenditure. The Public Service Commission, whose task it is to investigate, monitor, and evaluate the organisation and administration of the Public Service, should also be involved in determining the DG’s fate.
Admin
08 Oct, 2013
Minister Nzimande’s failure to address problems at the Walter Sisulu University is jeopardising futures of Eastern Cape youth
Member’s Statement by Mr Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP and UDM Deputy Secretary General, in the National Assembly regarding Minister Nzimande’s failure to address problems at the Walter Sisulu University is jeopardising futures of Eastern Cape youth The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is very concerned about the manner in which Government and the Minister of Higher Education are handling the crises at Walter Sisulu University (WSU). If not for the intervention of civil society, under the leadership of the South African Council of Churches, the current crisis would have escalated beyond the point of no return. It is an indictment of Minister Nzimande that our President had to dispatch Minister Chabane to clean up his colleague’s backyard. However, after an agreement was reached to end the seven-week long strike, we hear that classes are disrupted yet again. The allegations are that Government is negotiating in bad faith and has reneged on its promises. The UDM is of the view that the Minister Nzimande has failed to attend to the WSU challenges, which include, but are not limited to: Not intervening in the labour dispute timeously; Not reporting on his Departments’ turn-around strategy for the university; Whether its budget allocation is adequate; Whether the salaries of academics and workers are competitive; Allegations are that local companies are overlooked for university business; § Whether the merger of various institutions has delivered the desired results. The UDM calls on Government to urgently resolve the crises at WSU, because a day lost in a student’s learning, is a day too many.
Admin
08 Oct, 2013
Tribute to the late Mr Krakrayo Simayile
Tribute by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP (UDM President) to the late Mr Krakrayo Simayile, a loyal UDM member, at the Langa Sports Complex, Cape Town on Wednesday, 04 September 2013 Programme Director, The Simayile family; in particular his wife and children, UDM NEC Members, Provincial Executive Members of the UDM in the Western Cape, Distinguished guests, UDM Members, Ladies and gentlemen, On behalf of the United Democratic Movement (UDM), I wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the late Mr Krakrayo Simayile. Our hearts go out to you during this difficult time. Mr Simayile or Noderi – as he was affectionately known – was a long-serving member of the UDM. He worked hard to build and grow the UDM in the Western Cape. He witnessed the murders and killings of many of our members in this Province for political reasons, without any of the perpetrators being brought to book. It is sad that today we have come here to pay our last respects to him under circumstances where there is no indication whether the people responsible for his death have been arrested. In hindsight, it would appear that we erred when we agreed to adopt the current provincial system instead of creating a unitary state. The general feeling is that the provincial system perpetuates the same evils we were trying to avoid in the former homeland system. Apart from being costly and being an administrative nightmare, the provincial system is constructed along the same racial and ethnic lines of the old homeland system. KwaZulu-Natal is for Zulus, while the Eastern Cape is for Xhosas, and so on. Here in the Western Cape you get an impression that National Government is treating this Province as if it is a federal state. For instance, I fail to understand how Ministers with national competence are always reluctant to monitor whether funds allocated to this Province are indeed being used for the betterment of the lives of the poor and previously disadvantaged communities. What stops President Zuma from calling a meeting with the Premier Zille and ask her to account for her government’s dismal service delivery performance in disadvantaged communities? It seems the governing parties are only content to use the poor and disadvantaged communities in this Province as voting cattle. One wonders whether the time has not come to review the current provincial system with a view depoliticise service delivery. I thank you.
Admin
08 Oct, 2013
WSU crisis Stakeholder Meeting
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP ( UDM President) at the WSU crisis Stakeholder Meeting at Mthatha High School Stadium on Monday, 02 September 2013 Programme Director and Ladies and Gentlemen, At the funeral of the late Mr Tsengwa in Willowvale a few years ago, Bishop Mbethe expressed feelings of great sadness about the dreadful state and poor quality of our education in the Eastern Cape. His lamentation was prompted by the continuous poor matric performance of the Eastern Cape Province. He summed up the importance of education in the Eastern Cape as follows and I quote: “The Eastern Cape is not endowed with gold, but its gold has over the always been the good quality of its education.” I guess it is precisely because of this reason that the people of this Province heeded our call to meet here today to discuss and find solutions to the challenges facing Walter Sisulu University (WSU). WSU challenges are as old as our democracy itself. This university has long-standing problems, which have been allowed to recur ceaselessly. I therefore hope that our discussions today will go a long way towards identifying and solving some, if not all, of WSU’s challenges. You will recall that this meeting is an outcome of requests for my intervention from concerned parents, students, members of the public and other stakeholders about the challenges at WSU. After I was inundated with these requests, I wrote a letter to President Zuma, asking him to set up a task team to look into the crisis at WSU. President Zuma is however yet to respond to my letter. The inordinate amount of time he is taking to respond prompted me to propose today’s meeting. I took this decision because it appears that salary negotiations between the Department of Education and WSU management and employees have deadlocked and there seems to be no resolution in sight. Even last week, Mr Qonde, the Director General of the Department of Higher Education refused to alter the Department’s stance. Nor has he even tried to meet the workers halfway on their demands. His primary argument is that WSU management and employees are paid more than workers doing the same jobs at other universities. Needless to say, the crisis at WSU negatively affects the quality and access of students to education. This is more so when one considers Government’s bizarre decision to close the university. Has Government thought about what is going to happen to the students who come from other Provinces? I would therefore like to take this opportunity to urge all of us here today to working together towards finding short, medium and long-term solutions to the crisis at WSU. The role of authorities is particularly important in this regard. However, we should not hesitate to take the legal route should we sense a tinge of intransigence on their part. As we now ready ourselves for our discussions, we should do so mindful of the fact that we are not a labour court, nor are we a bargaining council. Ours is to help restore stability and normality at WSU. You will recall that I when I called for this meeting I proposed that it be presided by the South African Council of Churches (SACC). I am now going to hand over the meeting to them. But before I do so I wish to thank the UDM King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) Municipality Councillors for sponsoring the marquee and the chairs for this event. I now hand the meeting over to the South African Council of Churches and in doing so wish the meeting the greatest success! I thank you.
Admin
08 Oct, 2013
Marikana Commemoration
Address by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP (UDM President) on Marikana Commemoration on Friday, 16 August 2013 at Marikana Programme Director, Church and union leaders, Leaders of political parties, Mining management, Community leaders, The workers and people of Marikana 16 AUGUST 2012 I stand here and I remember when we heard the terrible news of what happened on this very soil on 16 August 2012. Indeed the South African Council of Churches (SACC), under the leadership of Bishop Jo Seoka, and the leaders of political parties visited this community to pay our respects and to hear what it was that happened. You will recall that we left here with the advice that the SACC should not leave this community to fend for itself and we are thankful that you have stayed your course. We again plead with you to not leave this area without having made sure that this community has access to proper housing, schools, roads, clinics, crèches and above all until the citizens of this country go to an Economic Indaba that will address the skewed distribution of resources which have benefited a selected few and only some regions. If we had strong civil society, after Government’s botched handling of this situation, we would have had a plan of action in place, with specified deadlines, that insured that this community received the care and services they need to have an acceptable standard of living and the disputed funding of legal representatives would not be an issue. WE MUST NEVER HAVE A REPEAT OF THIS TRAGEDY If it had not been for the harsh reality, one would not have believed that we lived in a new South Africa where it was possible for nearly 80 South Africans to be injured, and 44 to die, in one day, in a conflict between a people and their government. A year has passed and this community still has a long way to go to find healing. You still have much heartache, frustration and disappointment to process, because of not only what happened on that fateful day, but also what happened thereafter. This community, and those who find employment on the mines across South Africa, have however proved that we as a Nation have an innate strength and resilience. You have shown that we will not be defeated by that which is wrong; that we can rise from the ash, dust and grime; and that we are willing to work to find mutual trust and a brighter future for all our people. To the families, friends and colleagues of those who were injured and had lost their lives, it is not only important that we find peace in our hearts, but also peace in this community and in the workplace. I hope that all the people who form part of this community, employer and worker alike, will soon find each other. We therefore congratulate the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and the mine management for their continued willingness to engage with one another to talk about a solution that will benefit all. CONCLUSION We will never forget what happened here, but I am sure we can all agree that some good must come from this tragedy. Things must change for the better. On behalf of the United Democratic Movement, I commiserate with those who were left behind and we appeal to all concerned, to work hard to find common ground and above all, let us never-ever have a repeat of what happened on 16 August 2012. I thank you.
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