The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) could not confirm a report on Sunday that it owed creditors R50 million, saying only that it owed “a lot of money”.
“Everybody has been quoting a figure, we are still verifying how much the ANCYL owes,” spokesman Bandile Masuku said.
“The figure could be less [than R50 million] or more.”
He was reacting to a report in the Sunday Times that the organisation was R50m in the red, and struggling to run its affairs efficiently.
Masuku said the league was still receiving requests for payments. The organisation was making a plan to pay its creditors.
“The organisation has been plagued by financial problems for some time now. Our task is to get all resources together and settle with creditors,” he said.
The amounts owed included R15m to the company University Events Management, for services rendered during the league’s 2008 national conference in Bloemfontein; and an undisclosed amount to Gallagher Estate, Midrand, for the 2011 national congress, according to the Sunday Times.
It also had a R270,000 legal bill, relating to the case of the league’s former spokesman Floyd Shivambu calling a journalist a drunkard. – Sapa
Government has failed to redistribute land to previously disadvantaged groups, the so-called Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said on Wednesday.
“[The] government of South Africa has failed to use almost 20 years of democratic dispensation to address and redress the land question,” said spokesman Floyd Shivambu.
“Our people remain in squatter camps, informal settlements, and non-arable rural communities with no forms of subsistence because they do not have access to land.”
Wednesday marked 100 years since the promulgation of the Natives Land Act of 1913 which dispossessed indigenous Africans of land.
Shivambu said government had to pay particular attention to the country’s food economy.
“Food production, packaging, transportation, marketing, advertising, retail, and trade should constitute one of South Africa’s biggest economic sectors,” Shivambu said.
South Africa needed to provide subsidies for small-scale farmers and open packaging and retail opportunities.
“The crisis faced by small-scale black chicken farmers in South Africa leads to a situation wherein they only contribute less than 30 million chickens of the one billion produced in South Africa annually.”
Shivambu said government should develop structural support mechanisms for small-scale chicken farmers to enter the formal retail market.
Furthermore, government should legislate that all food bought for hospitals, schools, and prisons be sourced from small food producers.
With interventions in the agricultural sector, South Africa could develop a food economy exceeding that of its Brics grouping partner, Brazil.
“This will add to [the] creation of sustainable jobs, not the kind of short-term jobs created through infrastructure development.”
The food economy would “save” South Africa’s social ills because it was not heavily affected by changes in global markets, as food demand was “essential and constant”.
He said the EFF would demand expropriation of land without compensation. – Sapa
A few years ago, the ANC made a huge blunder in electing Jacob Zuma as President of the ANC in December 2007. Ironically, the re-election of President Thabo Mbeki in the same Conference would have been a huge blunder, portraying an incapable ANC that cannot outgrow its individual leaders. This is an unfortunate part of politics where it happens that both sides of political options are disastrous.
Now, Polokwane bred a disaster in Jacob Zuma who despite his literary incapabilities, has very low or non-existent moral standards, and obsessed with enrichment of his family members and household. An expectation was somewhat developed towards Polokwane that the election of Jacob Zuma will lead to discontinuation of rabid presidentialism and the ANC will be taken to the people. It was not to be so judging by the many individually inspired blunders committed by the sitting President both as ANC President and President of the Republic of South Africa.
Election of Jacob Zuma in the 53rd National Conference of the ANC will be the biggest blunder the ANC would have made in its history because it is going to lead to massive electoral support decline of the ANC. Majority of the people will lose confidence on the capacity of the ANC to create conditions for betterment of their lives and govern society effectively. The ANC should never elect Zuma, despite efforts to co-ordinate tribal support in KwaZulu Natal.
Between January and August 2012, the membership of the ANC in KwaZulu Natal grew by more than 100 000, actually more than 36% growth, meaning that KZN delegates will have mandates from unseasoned members on what should be the direction of the ANC. The membership growth had nothing to do with organisational development and growth, but the tribal need to defend a fellow Zulu speaking individual who has failed to provide leadership to the ANC.
What this means is that a tribal regiment has been mobilized as voting fodder to defend and protect President Zuma. Under real circumstances, there can never be a straight thinking individual without tribal prejudices, and without expectation to be defended from corrupt practices, and without legitimate expectation of being recipient of State and government patronage who will support the re-election of President Zuma as President of the ANC, and subsequently as President of South Africa until 2019.
If in their wisdom, ANC members believe and think that the re-election of President Zuma is the right thing to do, then the ANC would have lost its moral compass and total wrong. It will mean that the people of South Africa will be justified to lose confidence in the ANC.
Jacob Zuma is a corrupt leader who encourages corruption of self-enrichment. We can all appreciate that the Courts of law have not yet decided on his impending guilty verdict, and it does not need rocket science to know and notice that any competitive and fair court of law will find him guilty of corruption. The biggest corruption however is that Jacob Zuma will cost the South African government more than R1 billion on his three official residences, many wives who are subsidized by the State, and now recently the expansion of his private residence in Nkandla and the roads leading towards there.
A R1 billion can do a lot in the eradication of informal settlements and bettering of living conditions of many fronts. Zuma is a liability to the ANC, to the country and to the image of Africans the world over. He must be stopped sooner than later and held accountable for his corruption, fraud and money laundering.
The wisdom or lack of it on the President’s side led to first, militarization of the Police, second, destabilization of its leadership through unexplainable release of Police Commissioner Bheki Cele, and appointment of an inexperienced and Security cluster novice police commissioner Riya Phiyega.
The mishandling of the mass wage protests in Marikana in August this year, which led to the massacre was as a result of the directionlessness of the police and lack of experienced leadership. The Police Commissioner is on record of justifying the Marikana massacre claiming that the police were defending themselves, whilst they conspicuously resorted to cold-blooded killing of protestors after failing to arrest all of them for withdrawing their labour from the Mines.
The reason why the Mines protests happened in the first place is a reflection of lack of leadership at the highest level of the State and government. As a territory with mineral resources endowments, the leadership of South Africa have a permanent obligation to ensure that the people of South Africa, not Mine bosses, derive maximum benefits through salaries and decent human settlements from the extraction of Mineral resources.
The Zuma led government does and has never even pretended to care about the well-being of the people and Mineworkers, the government has instead arrested thousands of mineworkers, injured and killed some of them and recurrently assured Mine bosses that they are safe and should not panic. President Zuma went to the extent of deploying the military to intimidate mineworkers and those who associate with them from pursuing a national protest action against Mine bosses. South Africa has degenerated into a Security State due to the insecurities of President Jacob Zuma.
Offered an opportunity to provide political and ideological leadership to the ANC, President Zuma dismally failed and instead gave a pathetic characterization of the ANC struggles as second transition, which in all intents and purposes deviates from the core values and mission of the ANC to achieve Freedom Charter objectives.
Members of the ANC had to re-educate President Zuma in the Policy Conference that our struggle cannot be characterized as second transition because the first transition towards attainment of Freedom Charter objectives has not been fulfilled. In the ANC, inability of a sitting President to provide political and ideological leadership is treacherous. There is not even a single new idea or intervention provided by President Zuma that has taken the country forward, and yet he still want re-election for another 5 years.
Re-election of Jacob Zuma will not only cause massive and irreparable divisions in the ANC, it will isolate a significant number of voters in the 2014 general elections, most of whom will stay away for fear of voting for a white dominated party and some who will guarantee the opposition increased majority and representation in the National Assembly and Provincial Legislations.
This is an absolute fact and ANC structures and members should in a uniting fashion avoid repeating the mistakes made in the 52nd National Conference of electing a leader who is only concerned about his personal and private family’s upliftment, whilst not offering any durable, sound and sustainable solutions to South Africa’s crisis of unemployment, poverty and inequalities. We cannot afford to repeat mistakes.
The University of Limpopo must explain why two men linked to the Friends of the Youth League (FYL) allegedly benefited from big contracts, the IFP Youth Brigade said on Friday.
“How is it possible that an institute of higher learning can be involved in such corrupt, nepotistic practices?” chairman Mkhuleko Hlengwa asked in a statement.
“The University of Limpopo must fully disclose the tender process it followed and the criteria it used in awarding these tenders.”
The Mail & Guardian reported that the university had confirmed that it awarded a R27.8 million tender in July last year for the conversion of a gymnasium into a laboratory to Collins Foromo.
Foromo was once a driver for expelled African National Congress Youth League president Julius Malema.
FYL spokesman Floyd Shivambu has rejected the allegation as a “cheap and lousy claim”.
Hlengwa called for the university council’s probe into the matter to investigate thoroughly and quickly.
“Our universities must not become pawns in the political arena, serving the self-interest of a few and in the process, sacrificing their political stance in exchange for partisanship.”
Questions have been raised about who funds the FYL, an organisation which was formed after Malema was expelled.
The M&G reported that Foromo said he was invited to all FYL rallies, but he denied contributing to the organisation.
The university also awarded Mandla Seopela, one of the founders of the FYL, a three-year lease for dining facilities on campus.
Seopela has been quoted as a spokesman for the FYL, and works as a speech-writer for Limpopo premier and Malema ally Cassel Mathale, according to the report.
The M&G alleged that the FYL was using the university to fund its activities.
Shivambu denied this.
“This cheap and lousy claim is made because of comrade Mandla Seopela’s open and unashamed association with struggles of economic freedom fighters, which he said on various occasions is due to the fact that the leadership of the ANC Youth League… was treated unfairly and should be supported.”
Foromo and Seopela “have a right to be economically active and involve themselves in legitimate economic activities”, Shivambu said.
He called on the M&G to provide proof that university money was being used to fund FYL programmes. – Sapa
With a warrant out for Julius Malema’s arrest, it seems that both President Zuma and Helen Zille were right on cue in deploying the army. After Malema’s imminent arrest was leaked to City Prees, the South African National Defence Force may be necessary to keep the peace upon Malema’s supporters getting unruly.
The Friends of Malema and the ANCYL leadership suspended earlier this year, as well as current leaders of the League’s National Executive Committe have warned that the country’s youth would rebel and engage in mass action if the suspended former League President had to be arrested.
These warnings were issued in a week during which Malema spoke openly about alleged threats to have him killed or arrested.
Malema’s closest ally, Floyd Shivambu, the League’s former spokesman who had also been suspended, told the Mail & Guardian newspaper this week that both Malema and the Youth League’s secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa no longer slept at home because they feared being attacked.
Shivamabu said that State Security sources had told him that there was a plan to neutralise them, concocted at the highest levels of government and that options had been narrowed down to “arrest or kill”. But he did add that Malema had no fear of arrest as he knew that he had committed no crime.
Two members of the Youth League’s National Executive Committee told the M&G anonymously that the youth will go on the rampage if the state had to “abuse” resources to arrest Julius Malema.
“On what basis would he be arrested? What has he done wrong with tenders in Limpopo? When there are limitations in society you can’t stop people from addressing any section of society,” said one of the members.
“Julius has lots of support from youth who don’t rely on patronage from the ANC. They are not MECs, mayor or ministers. The youth are angry and they will go out in numbers. Young people will lead the mass action and they have lots of energy. And young people will not be peaceful …
“We know that the security cluster has allocated five people to follow him wherever he goes and this surveillance has not even been approved by a judge,” one of the members said.
The President of the Congress of the People, COPE’s youth movement, Ncaba Bhanga, promised that the organisation would defend Malema if hy had to be arrested.
“This is not about Malema,” said Bhanga. “It is about the ruling party using state resources to suppress dissenting views [in the build-up to] its Mangaung conference. Malema has done nothing wrong.”
A warrant of arrest for Julius Malema was issued this morning, City Press reported. He is expected to appear in court next week.
Eyewitness News reported earlier in the week that Malema might be arrested after conclusion of the Hawks’ investigation of him. He was being investigated for alleged corruption.
South African military bases were placed on high alert last night.
The status – the first of its kind since the ANC’s takeover of the country in 1994 – comes as axed ANC Youth League president Julius Malema is expected to meet soldiers near a military base in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, today.
Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula issued a strongly worded statement which said, in part, that ill-discipline in the military was a direct threat to the country’s security.
Today’s meeting comes after sources told The Times, a Johannesburg newspaper, that top security intelligence briefings, involving several government ministers, were held last night.
In a statement issued late yesterday by Friends of the ANC Youth League, Malema said he would address soldiers after listening to their “cries and demands”.
The meeting comes after Malema met disgruntled mineworkers from various companies around Gauteng over the past two weeks.
Malema’s planned address has been slammed by the Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans slammed as incitement. He yesterday called for mineworkers to go on a five-day nationwide strike every month until mine bosses had listened to their demand for better wages and for National Union of Mineworkers leaders to step down.
Malema has called on the miners not to give up on their struggle for a R12500 a month salary.
It is a move economists say will shut down mines and affect pension savings.
Malema’s spokesman, Floyd Shivambu, said: “The meeting is as a result of the pleas and requests the armed forces – soldiers of the SANDF – sent to Malema to come listen to and voice the military and soldiers’ cries and demands.
“For a considerable amount of time now, South Africa’s important component of its defence force has been marginalised and threatened with dismissal whenever they raised concerns about conditions of work.”
Defence Ministry spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said all bases had been placed on “high alert”.
“The situation is being monitored. We cannot elaborate. Directives have been issued to base commanders and certain steps are being taken,” he said.
Dlamini said it was the first time that something like this had happened in the military.
“The military is a non-partisan organisation … this is being viewed as incitement … which is a criminal offence … it will be treated as such,” Dlamini said.
Mapisa-Nqakula said Malema’s intentions had been noted.
“It has been the expressed intention of Malema that his activities in the mining sector are aimed at rendering the sector ‘ungovernable’, thereby undermining the economy. The country cannot afford for similar instability in the military. The SANDF is the last line of defence of the sovereignty of the country. We cannot allow anyone to play political football with this institution,” she said.
Mapisa-Nqakula said any attempt to destabilise the military would be regarded as anti-South African and counter-revolutionary at the highest level.
“It is not going to be tolerated. It must be stated in no unclear terms that the military operates within an environment of command and control wherein discipline forms an integral part.
“Any actions outside this realm will be dealt with decisively by the chief of the SANDF.
“The minister calls on all members of the SANDF and the public to distance themselves from these actions of Malema.
“No permission has been granted by the SANDF’s command structures for any soldiers to participate in the proposed gathering.
“Any member who does without proper permission will be subjected to the disciplinary code of the SANDF. The compromise of discipline within the SANDF is a threat to the security of our country and all our people.”
Military analyst Helmoed Heitman said it was clear the military was the next target.
“Malema turned his sights on the mines and unions, but did not succeed. Now he is targeting the military in an attempt to continue with his campaign.
“If you are intending to plot sedition, the military is a good place to start. If you want to destabilise the state you demoralise the military.”
Heitman said a dim view should be taken of pseudo-politicians who addressing the military, which is meant to be “apolitical”.
“It is definitely something to keep an eye on. Despite there being numerous systems such as the military ombudsman, the Defence Review Commission and service commission being in place to address soldiers’ concerns, some troops will fall for Malema’s rhetoric,” he said.
SA National Defence Union spokesman Pikkie Greeff said the meeting was not union-driven.
“We have nothing to do with this. The information we have is that among the matters to be discussed are concerns over the deployment of ANC cadres to the top structures of the defence force, poor salaries and grievances around dismissals and disciplinary matters.”
NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said heeding the firebrand’s calls would lead to massive job losses.
“To call on workers to embark on illegal strikes is totally irresponsible and childish.
“NUM condemns his attack on its leadership and the desperate behaviour of taking advantage of vulnerable people and trampling on rights of families of the deceased in Marikana in an attempt to score cheap political points.
“The National Union of Mineworkers appeals to all its loyal members to reject Malema’s hogwash and to return to work.
“Cosatu called on mineworkers not to allow themselves to be used as a “political football”.
“[Malema] is playing a dangerous game, exploiting the emotions of angry workers. This can only inflame tensions within the mining industry, flames which he is quite incapable of quenching.
“It is revealing that his main target is not the capitalist employers, who are responsible for the mineworkers’ low wages and terrible conditions, but their union, the National Union of Mineworkers.”
Peter Major, a mining consultant at Cadiz Corporate Solutions, said companies would lose $192-million a day should the national strike take place, a move that would lead to massive retrenchments.
“Eventually everyone would sell their shares. They would rather put their money in the banks, property and bonds.
“All these pension funds – the government pension funds, the mineworkers’ pension funds and foreign pension funds – they will obviously sell all their South African mining shares,” he said.
The appeal hearing of three ANC Youth League leaders was postponed on Thursday, ANC national disciplinary committee of appeals (NDCA) chairman Cyril Ramaphosa said.
League president Julius Malema, spokesman Floyd Shivambu and secretary general Sindiso Magaqa were scheduled to submit their appeal presentations to the NDCA at the African National Congress headquarters at Luthuli House, Johannesburg.
Ramaphosa said the three asked for the hearing to be postponed because their lawyer was not available.
“The NDCA turned down the request and insisted on the continuation of the hearing.”
The appellants then asked for a new legal representative, and the committee agreed to this, on the condition that the new lawyer be available within an hour. Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane arrived soon afterwards, but asked for time to familiarise himself with the heads of argument, Ramaphosa said.
“The NDCA agreed to postpone the hearing with a proviso that the new legal representative will submit the appellants’ heads of argument by the 18th April 2012 in writing.”
He said the ANC would need to submit its heads of argument two days later.
“The parties have agreed that the appeal will proceed through written submissions rather than oral hearing.”
Unnamed sources told the SABC that Malema’s lawyers had not arrived for the hearing because they had not received key documents relating to the national disciplinary committee’s previous sitting, which expelled Malema.
Malema was expelled from the ANC in November 2011 for sowing division in the party and for bringing it into disrepute. He was found to have done so by unfavourably comparing the leadership style of President Jacob Zuma to that of former president Thabo Mbeki and for remarks about bringing about regime change in Botswana. He remains ANCYL president until all options to overturn his sentence have been exhausted.
Shivambu was also found guilty of sowing division and bringing the ANC into disrepute. He was suspended from the ANC for three years for swearing at a journalist and for issuing a statement calling for a change of government in Botswana.
Magaqa was suspended for three years for making derogatory remarks about Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba. This was suspended for three years on condition that he apologise to Gigaba within 15 days. Magaqa apologised to Gigaba, in a statement sent to the media, on March 10.
Last week when the ANC’s national disciplinary committee suspended Malema from the party for calling Zuma a dictator. The conditions of the suspension prohibit him from exercising any duty as an ANC member, president of the ANCYL or member of the Limpopo provincial executive committee. He would face fresh disciplinary proceedings in this matter.
The two disciplinary proceedings were separate.
The ANCYL remained defiant, with provincial leaders insisting Malema remained its president. Should Malema’s appeal fail, he could ask the ANC’s national executive committee to review the matter. Failing this, he could attempt to raise his concerns at the ANC’s elective conference in Bloemfontein later this year.
Last month, Malema said he would seek redress in the courts if he was expelled. Until then he had consistently rejected the idea of taking legal action against the ANC.
ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said the party frowned on its members taking it to court.
“We are against anyone who takes the ANC to court because we do have a constitution in the ANC and we abide by the constitution,” he said. – SAPA
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) could not confirm a report on Sunday that it owed creditors R50 million, saying only that it owed “a lot of money”.
