ACDP Parliamentary newsletter - 17 November 2003

ACDP President Reverend Kenneth Meshoe addressed the Cape Town Press Club last week on why the Government chose to investigate spy allegations rather than arms deal corruption allegations. The event went smoothly although Rev Meshoe had to tackle his fair share of criticism over the party's policy on the death penalty and homosexuals. Although the lunch was well supported by ACDP members, only a few members of the media were able to attend. Many however contacted the media office and asked for copies of the speech and information about the ACDP.

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In this issue:

1. Reverend Meshoe's Press Club speech
2. ACDP visits slain policeman's family
3. Medium-term budget conservative, but optimistic
4. WTO steel ruling will benefit SA
5. "Guerrilla" threats against voters irresponsible
6. Promotion of abortion criticised
7. Error in Leadership and Governance Framework Bill speech

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1. Why the Government chose to investigate spy allegations rather than arms deal corruption allegations

Cape Town Press Club speech by Reverend Meshoe


Firstly I would like to thank the Cape Town Press Club, in particular the chairman Mr Donwald Pressley, for inviting me to speak here today; it is an honour to be invited to speak at the oldest press club in South Africa. I also wish to thank the media for attending and members of the ACDP for their support.

The African Christian Democratic Party opposed the established of the Hefer Commission from the first day because we knew that it was going to be a waste of time and taxpayers' money. What we called for was a Commission of Inquiry to investigate corruption allegations against deputy President Jacob Zuma, who is accused of unlawfully benefiting from the controversial arms deal. Although President Mbeki refused and rejected requests for such a commission, the allegations against his deputy continued to make headlines in both the local and international media.

To our surprise, President Mbeki then decided to appoint the Hefer Commission to investigate allegations of spying that were made against the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Bulelani Ngcuka. The President chose to appoint a Commission that the public did not ask for, but refused to appoint the one that the public both locally and internationally were interested in, which is to investigate whether South Africa's deputy President was involved in any arms deal corruption.

The question has been asked why investigate spy allegations against a man who concluded that there was prima facie evidence of corruption involving deputy President Jacob Zuma. The conclusion that most people, including the ACDP, have come to is that the Hefer Commission was appointed to divert attention from the corruption allegations surrounding the arms deal.

Dr Barney Pityana summed it up well when he was quoted in the City Press newspaper as having said, and I now quote him, "As South African citizens, we are deeply outraged at what is going on. Any rational being can see that, by deliberate ploy, attention has now moved away from the key issue, which is corruption associated with the arms deal." When Dr Pityana referred to those who started spy allegations against Mr Ngcuka, he said, and I quote him again, "The truth is that they are thieves and criminals, whether comrades or not - who must be having a field day, dancing on the pin of a needle, because they have succeeded in diverting attention from the most pressing task - the investigation into irregularities in the arms deal."

So far, all the witnesses that have appeared before the Hefer Commission, except the security have denied that Ngcuka was an apartheid spy. Even Vanessa Brereton has come forward to say she was agent RS452 and not Mr Ngcuka, as his accusers had alleged.

I believe that what has come to the fore so far should have convinced the President that the Hefer Commission is a smokescreen and a waste of time and money and should, therefore, be brought to an end. For some unknown reasons, he has not done it.

To add to the mystery of why this Commission should continue spending money on something that is not of public interest is the letter from the President that was published on ANC Today on the 3rd October, 2003.

Please allow me to quote extensively from the President's letter and then raise five reasons from that letter why I believe the President made a mistake when he appointed the Hefer Commission.

I now want to read from the President's letter:

"In 1993, at our instance, and during the negotiations to move our country from apartheid to democracy, the representatives of all our people agreed that all of us had the responsibility to let bygones be bygones. Among other things, we agreed to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC) that would consider all gross human rights violations that had taken place during the more or less thirty-five year period preceding our liberation.

The TRC did its work as best it could. It submitted its report to our government, which the government released to all our people without alteration. Our movement and government responded to this report as the finalisation of a particular chapter in the history of our country.

Despite all this, now, there are some who are trying to undo what our movement sought to achieve when it proposed and supported the establishment of the TRC. Effectively, these are arguing that some list of members of the ANC, who were allegedly recruited by the apartheid intelligence services, should be published.

Why this should apply only to members of the ANC is not explained. The fact is that there are many people active in various walks of life in our country, including some who argue for the "outing" of suspected former agents of the apartheid system within our ranks, who worked to sustain the apartheid system, even as agent of its secret services.

When we took the decision to achieve reconciliation rather than retribution, and thus established the TRC, we decided to forgive all those who might have caused unjustified harm to anyone in our country and elsewhere, in pursuit of the objective either to perpetuate apartheid, or to achieve the liberation of the oppressed. We created the possibility for all to explain their actions.

And yet, today, there are some in our country who are acting in a manner that seeks to destroy this effort at national reconciliation. They are fishing in muddy waters to allege, with no effort to prove their allegations that various members of the ANC and the government worked as members of the apartheid intelligence services.

We have avoided this route because it would undermine and subvert the objective of national reconciliation and stability. It would deny our country and people the possibility to advance beyond the conflicts of the past, to establish the conditions for a united response of all our people to our national challenges, in favour of a people's contract for a better life for all.

Everyday we work with people who were an integral part of the apartheid system. Some of these serve in our legislatures and other state institutions. From 1994 to 1996, we worked in the same government with the very captains of apartheid. Voluntarily, our movement and government have elected to work with people who belong to a political party that, historically, was the party of apartheid.

We have done this because we are determined to put the past behind us, by promoting the unity of our people to engage in a common struggle to address the legacy of colonialism and apartheid that is not of our making.

There are some who pretend that an authentic list exists of ANC members who served as agents of the apartheid intelligence services. No such list exists. Those who claim that such a list exists are telling an outright lie. They make this claim for the sole purpose of defeating our efforts aimed at the reconstruction and development of our country.

We will not allow that our movement, government and country are torn apart by the agendas of those who have no interest in the success of our democratic and anti-racist revolution. We will not create the opportunity for the mischief-makers wilfully to label whomsoever they wish as secret agents of the apartheid system."

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is strange that the same person who appointed the Hefer Commission could write a letter on ANC Today that would go against the terms of reference of such a commission.

Firstly, he said, and I quote from the President's letter, ". the representatives of all our people agreed that all of us had the responsibility to let bygones be bygones". That is not what the Hefer Commission is doing.

Secondly, he said the TRC report was the "finalisation of a particular chapter in the history of our country." The Hefer Commission is opening the closed chapters of the past.

Thirdly, he said they as the ANC took the decision to achieve reconciliation rather than retribution, and by establishing the TRC, decided to forgive all. Although all South Africans are grateful for this, the Hefer Commission is causing pain, anger and frustration among many of our people.

Fourthly, he made the statement that "there are some in our country who are acting in a manner that seeks to destroy this effort at national reconciliation. They are fishing in muddy waters to allege with no effort to prove their allegations." He continued to say "we will not create the opportunity for the mischief-makers wilfully to label whomsoever they wish as secret agents of the apartheid system." The fact is the President has already created such an opportunity for what he called "mischief-makers" by appointing the Hefer Commission.

Lastly, the President wrote, and I quote from his letter, "there are some who pretend that an authentic list exists of ANC members who served as agents of the apartheid intelligence services. NO SUCH LIST EXISTS. Those who claim that such a list exists are telling an outright lie."

The President has spoken by his letter - NO SUCH LIST EXISTS. The question we must all ask him is what is the Hefer Commission still investigating? If there is no spy list and no witness that can confirm that Mr Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy, then the work of the Hefer Commission should be ended. Government must save taxpayers money that would otherwise be wasted on investigating something that does not exist. What the ACDP wants to see is the abolishment of the Hefer Commission because it is a waste of time and money. Rather, we want to see the establishment of a Commission that will investigate corruption allegations against Deputy President Jacob Zuma and all those accused of having improperly benefited from the arms deal.

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2. ACDP visits slain policeman's family

The African Christian Democratic Party expressed its condolences to the family and friends of slain Police Inspector Sidney Marhwebu during a visit by ACDP President Rev Kenneth Meshoe and Advocate Mighty Madasa to the family in Khayalitsha on Thursday.

The off-duty Guguletu detective was attending a memorial service at the United Methodist Church in Khayelitsha, Western Cape when he received a phone call. After going outside, Inspector Marhwebu was confronted by two unknown men who fired three shots killing him.

"On behalf of my colleagues at the African Christian Democratic Party, I would like to express our sincere condolences and sadness to your family for your loss," Adv Madasa told the Marhwebu family.

"We pray you will experience God presence in your time of sorrow, that he will give you his peace, hold you close, heal your broken hearts and strengthen you."

Adv Madasa also told the family that drastic measures to prevent the killing of police officers must be taken, to prevent the loss of those who dedicated their lives to protecting others.

"The ACDP urges the South African National Police Commissioner to take severe action against perpetrators who kill police officers. It is terrible to think how communities are under threat, with even police officers afraid for their lives," Adv Madasa said.

Explaining that crime is out of control in South Africa, Adv Madasa criticised the government for not doing enough to fight and prevent crime.

"The main role of government is to protect its citizens and to wield the sword of justice; yet there is hardly a person in South Africa that has not had their lives touched by crime. Clearly the government is failing in its primary function."

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3. Medium-term budget conservative, but optimistic

The medium-term budget policy statement is conservative but optimistic in terms of growth and economic stability, says African Christian Democratic Party spokesperson on finance Mr Adriaan Blaas.

"Lower inflation, reduced interest rates and the strong Rand could not be ignored by the treasury in revisiting the budget and although the Minister of Finance remains optimistic, small adjustments were required.

"We are happy that the focus has remained on addressing the needs of the poor by focussing on job creation but we will look carefully at the increasing tendency towards gradual increases in social support. It is vital that the state does not create a system of dependence rather than empowering people to become self-sufficient.

"With specific reference to the adjusted Estimates of National Expenditure, there is an increase from R331.0 billion to R331.5 billion in the bottom line, but a more detailed study is required to understand real increases in savings and details regarding deployment of funds," Mr Blaas said.

Revenue projections were revised downwards by R4.6 billion because of reduced income from taxes. The three year forecast to 2006/2007 however indicates a main budget revenue of 24.8% of GDP for consecutive years.

"No major tax incentives or surprises are expected, but indications are that the tax base will be refined and some tax regimes are still under discussion. We welcome the extension of the amnesty date for repatriation of illegal foreign investments as this may help to further increase the tax base and help to reduce the budget deficit.

"Medium-term expectations are conservative and optimistic, with fiscal policies supporting actions to reduce unemployment and ensure social support, however capacity to deliver on these may be a constraint.

"Of concern is the short to medium term reduction on defence expenditure. At present South African Defence expenditure is lower than comparable countries and lower than the internationally accepted norm of 1.8 - 2% of GDP.

"Although they received R500 million, the bottom line was reduced from R20.1 billion to R19.8 billion. For a department that has a lower than basic needs budget and considering what is expected of it, this is of major concern," Mr Blaas said.

"In general, the medium-term framework is consistent with the stable economy that we experience in South Africa at the moment and there are no indications of major surprises although the increasing tendency in the deficit of the budget should be closely watched," Mr Blaas said.

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4. WTO steel ruling will benefit SA

The African Christian Democratic Party has welcomed the ruling by the World Trade Organisation against United States tariffs on steel.

The World Trade Organisation has ruled that duties ranging from 8 to 30 per cent that the US imposed on steel imports from competing countries last year violated several aspects of the WTO safeguards agreement.

"Although South Africa was exempted by US President George W Bush from increased tariffs on imported steel to the US, the South Africa steel industry has been consistently his by anti-dumping laws by the US," said ACDP spokesperson on trade and industry Advocate Mighty Madasa.

Japan and South Korea were affected the most, suffering a loss of over US$2 billion in net steel exports to the US. China and Taiwan also suffered lossed of about US$100 million, while the European Union's steel producers have claimed that they have lost about US$2.2 billion. Others who suffered losses include Brazil, Switzerland, New Zealand and Norway.

"South Africa produces a special high quality steel even though we are not a major player in the industry," Mr Madasa said.

"One of the side-effects of high steel tariffs in the US has been high prices of steel in the South African domestic market because of import pairing prices. Competitive global steel prices would give our manufacturers a competitive edge based on quality."

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5. "Guerrilla" threats against voters irresponsible

The African Christian Democratic Party Youth Foundation has criticised the ANC Youth League's threats of unleashing its "guerrilla units" against the Independent Electoral Commission and unregistered voters, dismissing its statements as wild and irresponsible political rhetoric.

"The public has a democratic right not to vote and will not be intimidated by the threats of an overzealous youth organisation such as the ANC Youth League," said ACDP Youth Foundation Chairperson in the Western Cape Wesley Douglas.

"Although the youth of South Africa may be disillusioned with the way the country is run and fearful for their futures, many are uninformed as to the impact their vote can have. Therefore many are choosing not to register to vote.

"Young people should be encouraged to register because it is their country and their future that is at stake, not because they are forced by violence into doing so."

Mr Douglas emphasised that the youth must be informed that their disillusionment with the current status quo should take the form of an active response by voting out those who they disagree with and voting in those they feel will do a better job.

"The ANC Youth League should not lay the blame for apathy in voter registration at the wrong door. It is not the IEC nor the media who are to blame, but the government of the day, their own party," Mr Douglas said.

"It is time for political and other youth organisations to stand up and make positive contributions in our society, which build our communities and take them forward, instead of alienating them through political threats and intimidation."

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6. Promotion of abortion criticised

In her response in Parliament to the Minister of Health's statement about Diabetes Week yesterday, African Christian Democratic Party MP Cheryllyn Dudley said that the Minister's reference to the government's support and promotion of termination pregnancy was sad indeed.

"Government's lack of respect for life demonstrated by the legal murder of unborn babies is tragic and horrifying, undermining the emotional and physical health of our nation," Mrs Dudley said.

Mrs Dudley however did aplaud efforts by the Minister and her department, to create awareness around Diabetes and welcome efforts during Diabetes Week by health facilities.

"We also welcome the agreement between government and
Eli-Lilly to implement a diabetes training programme for health professionals in all Provinces starting with Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and Limpopo," said Mrs Dudley.

Diabetes mellitus ranks third in South Africa after (ischaemic)heart disease and cancer in terms of morbidity and mortality, and is a growing problem. The prevalence in adults is 4% for whites, 5-8% for blacks and 13% for Indians.

While changing eating habits and sedentary lifestyles could be the reason for the increase in diabetes, it is curious that this increase is in both rural and urban areas.

We join the Health Minister in encouraging South Africans to value their health and pursue healthy lifestyles.

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7. Error in ACDP Leadership and Governance Framework Bill speech

Please note:

There was an error in the speech by ACDP MP Advocate Mighty Madasa on the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Bill in the National Assembly on Tuesday 11 November. Adv Madasa did in fact not abstain from the vote, but voted in favour of the Bill.