Constitutionally Speaking » Quote of the week

Pierre De Vos — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:56:29 +0000

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 require any person or institution to produce reports;
• is now formally requesting that the interim reports be produced within a reasonable period of thirty days;
• that until the interim reports are received the portfolio committee has taken a decision to suspend deliberations on the Defence Amendment Bill; and;
• that in the event the interim reports are not produced the portfolio committee reserves the right, as a measure of last resort, to compel cabinet to produce the interim reports. – Statement of DA MP David Maynier

Pierre De Vos — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:15:39 +0000

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 concerning is the tone of the debate which suggests that the work on this bill is complete and that Parliament has already made its pronouncements on the matter. This perception is clearly not true and mischievous on the part of some who are participating in the debate. An additional element of concern is the ‘war-talk’ that forms part of the media debate, as well as personal attacks on members of the adhoc committee working on the bill. This type of engagement is unwarranted and does nothing to add value to the debate and the work that is currently underway. If anything, it is dangerous and misguided. – Statement issued by the Ministry of State Security spokesperson, Brian Dube, in an attempt to intimidate and silence critics of the Bill

Pierre De Vos — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 10:05:56 +0000

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 trade. – Minister of public service and administration, Richard Baloyi, responding to Cosatu’s criticism of executive excess in the face of the public servants strike

Pierre De Vos — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:33:51 +0000

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 bribe the political class – rather than what it was promised to be: a mechanism to spread the benefits of capitalism to the previously denied and disadvantaged; It acts as a massive drain on the productive employment of capital i.e. it adds so much extra costs to the normal costs of conducting whatever business you are in that the benefits of being in South Africa, as opposed to anywhere else, disappear; The kind of “money and ingenuity” that you get when your market presents such long term risks are short term specialists – the ones who make a living out of basket cases and are used to dealing with them – with their bribes and coups and political meddling. – Nic Borain on the ArcelorMittal /Imperial Crown Trading deal

Pierre De Vos — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:38:36 +0000

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 by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State. – Josef Goebbels

Pierre De Vos — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:25:06 +0000

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 he wants a tribunal to stop or frustrate the media from telling the truth. But that’s par for the course, I suppose. After all it was Vladimir Lenin who blurted: “Telling the truth is a bourgeois prejudice. Deception, on the other hand, is often justified by the goal.” – Barney Mthombothi in an editorial in Financial Mail

Pierre De Vos — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:18:12 +0000

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 only such a free press that can have the capacity to relentlessly expose excesses and corruption on the part of the government, state officials and other institutions that hold power… – Nelson Mandela in 1994

Pierre De Vos — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:05:07 +0000

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 became a different person. He leant forward as far as the lectern would allow, “The problem with you guys”, he said, “is that you discuss matters that are not relevant to you, the discussions are confidential, we should end the matter there. Don’t go to speculation, even though that’s your right.” He stopped there. And caught himself. There was a definite pause, then that peculiar grunt he makes whenever under pressure, and he laughed. And ended with, “you’re just trying to make matters confidential not confidential.” – Stephen Grootes on President Jacob Zuma’s post-lekgotla press conference

Pierre De Vos — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:53:47 +0000

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 the office have become increasingly divorced. The Presidency is in danger of becoming a symbolic institution, dedicated to projecting an image of a beloved national leader and obsessed with how the world looks rather than with how it is. If this continues, its practical work will increasingly fall away. The planning commission will plan and the monitoring unit will monitor. But ministers and premiers will do their own thing, oblivious to one another and unable to work towards a wider national good. - Anthony Butler in Business Day

Pierre De Vos — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:12:19 +0000

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 at building an integrated transport system from scratch and their kindness and consideration at just about every turn. We gave them a rubbish final from which only the winners could take genuine pleasure. In the tradition of gracious hosts, however, they pretended not to notice. – Richard Williams in The Guardian