This morning it was agreed that Nyami Booi, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, will forward a letter to Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Leader of Government Business, advising him that the portfolio committee:
• has received guidance from the Max Sisulu, Speaker of the National Assembly, that parliament has the power to [...]
Posts under ‘Quote of the week’
The Ministry of State Security has noted with concern the ongoing media onslaught on the Protection of Information Bill debate. After the public hearings on the bill, the Minister for State Security, Dr Siyabonga Cwele requested additional time to consider the submissions made, this owing to the seriousness of the issues at hand. What is [...]
Do they want ministers to ride on scooters when they do their work or drive 1400 bakkies? It’s unfortunate to link these two, as if it’s for the first time to see ministers riding in these vehicles. Even during apartheid time ministers were using vehicles such as Mercs … it is a tool of our [...]
The money and ingenuity looking for a long term home – i.e. capital that is prepared to set up bricks and mortar and businesses with global reputations to uphold – is going to be particularly cautious about deals like this one because: It exposes Black Economic Empowerment to be nothing more than a mechanism to [...]
The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus [...]
The general secretary of the SA Communist Party, who works as minister for higher education when he feels like it, wants the media shackled because it has shown him up to be a hypocrite. This champion of the working class drives posh cars and lives it up in fancy hotels — at our expense. Now [...]
A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy…. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution so that it can protect our rights as citizens. It is only such a free press that can temper the appetite of any government to amass power at the expense of the citizen…. It is [...]
But there was a moment when the mask slipped, and slipped badly. Moffet Mofokeng from the City Press, a mild-mannered, very experienced, and very polite reporter asked simply, “Mr President, the movements in your office, can you give us an update on them?” No hostility, no malice, no agenda. Just a request for information. Zuma [...]
One consequence of such conspiracies and ructions, and the preoccupation with pure politics that they cause, is that a gap has opened up between the effective and the ceremonial parts of the Presidency. Mbeki and his crew used to form a bridge between policy and politics. Under Zuma, the practical and the symbolic aspects of [...]
On the outward journey, we wondered if South Africa would be worthy of the World Cup. We left for home today with the uneasy feeling that the World Cup had not lived up to the welcome and the facilities provided by its hosts. They gave us their vast and spectacular new stadiums, their best shot [...]
