Parliamentary News Digest 4 August 2003

Parliament has once again resumed, with MPs attending Portfolio Committee
meetings and public hearings. Plenary sittings will begin again in
September.

ACDP president Reverend Kenneth Meshoe and deputy president Louis Green will
be travelling to the USA next week to raise funds for the ACDP's upcoming
election campaign. They will be meeting with top business and Christian
leaders in Atlanta and New Orleans in order to raise the necessary financial
support to get the ACDP's message out to South Africa. May the Lord bless
their efforts and we pray for their success.

Indien u sou belangstel om in te teken op die ACDP se weeklikse Afrikaanse
e-nuusbrief, skryf aan Johan Kriel by johankriel@acdp.org.za. Hierdeur sal u
op die hoogte bly van 'n wye verskeidenheid sake wat die ACDP landswyd raak.

Here is the latest news from Parliament:

1. Gay and Lesbian Alliance deceiving voters
2. Health Minister's defence of MCC decision not surprising
3. Probe into private prisons needed
4. Getting away with murder

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1. Gay and Lesbian Alliance deceiving voters

Media Statement by ACDP leader Revered Kenneth Meshoe

ACDP President Reverend Kenneth Meshoe has criticised the Gay and Lesbian
Alliance after the group announced yesterday that they had changed their
name to the Death Penalty Party of South Africa in order to contest next
year's elections.

"This is blatant deception by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, as they are
trying to conceal who they are from the voters" said Rev Meshoe. "This is
not a group of concerned citizens that has come together to form a party to
campaign for the death penalty. This group is trying to cheat its way into
Parliament in order to promote the homosexual agenda.

"They have chosen to rename themselves in order to conceal their identity
and have chosen a name that represents an issue they know will attract voter
attention. Already they are showing how dishonest they are.

"The public wants honest people to represent them and this group must be
exposed as dishonest before the elections," Rev Meshoe said.

"Voters are not necessarily always informed about the background or policies
of each political party when they go to the polls. Many will be deceived by
voting for the death penalty without realising they will be supporting the
homosexual agenda."


For more information: Rev. Kenneth Meshoe MP at 082 962 5884
Media Liaison: Charmaine Horne at 084 370 3550 or 021 403 3307

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2. Health Minister's defence of MCC decision not surprising

- Media Statement by Cheryllyn Dudley

It is hardly surprising that the Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang
has defended the controversial decision of the Medicines Control Council
(MC) to query the safety of the Aids drug Nevirapine, says ACDP spokesperson
on health Cheryllyn Dudley.

"We had no doubt that she would defend the decision as it is no secret that
the MCC is run from the Minister's desk," Dudley said on Friday.

"What is worse however, is that she has tried to deflect attention away from
this critical issue by making poorly-timed statements on the importance of
nutrition for HIV sufferers.

"Anyone would think that she is purposefully trying to undermine nutritional
solutions, as she consistently refers to the African potato and garlic
whenever she is backed into a corner on the issue of Aids drugs.

"Nevirapine has been tried and tested by various studies and has proven
successful in our own hospitals. It is cost-effective and has a minimally
toxic effect due to the small doses given. Yet the Minister continues to
discredit the Nevirapine issue and block any attempts to promote this
treatment," Dudley said.


For more information: Cheryllyn Dudley MP at 082 890 6520
Media Liaison: Charmaine Horne at 084 370 3550 or 021 403 3307

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3. Probe into private prisons needed

Media Statement by Steve Swart

A probe into the awarding of contracts for private prisons is necessary to
determine whether the process was above board, says ACDP spokesman on
Correctional Services Steve Swart.

Responding to the calls for such an investigation by Professor Julia
Sloth-Nielsen of the University of the Western Cape, Swart said that the
fact that the Department of Correctional Services had admitted "impropriety"
in the privatisation process, but had as yet done nothing to investigate the
allegations, was a serious concern.

"The fact that the officials involved in the project design, contract
drafting, and negotiations resigned soon afterwards to take up senior
positions in the companies that won the tenders suggests that the process is
not above suspicion and requires immediate investigation," Swart said.

Swart has previously raised his concerns in Parliament regarding the
exorbitant costs of private prisons, saying that that they were a drain on
the department's budget, to the detriment of other departmental programmes
such as rehabilitation and restorative justice programmes.

"It is unacceptable that huge chunks of the department's budget have been
allocated to house 6 000 prisoners in the comparative luxury of private
prisons, whilst 180 000 other prisoners are detained in appalling,
overcrowded state prisons.

"An independent investigation into the whole tendering process should be
conducted as a matter of urgency," Swart said.

For more information: Steve Swart MP at 083 285 6290
Media Liaison: Charmaine Horne at 084 370 3550 or 021 403 3307


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4. Getting away with murder

Letter to the Editor by Steve Swart

Three men have been arrested for the brutal hijacking and murder of Janine
Drennen, her future mother-in-law Heyster Rawstone, and her one-year-old
daughter, Kayla, as well as the rape and attempted murder of an unnamed
teenager. Society is yet again faced with a crime that is so brutal, so
unspeakably barbaric, that it defies belief.

The minimum sentencing legislation dictates that these criminals, if
convicted, should be sentenced to life-imprisonment at the taxpayers'
expense.

The African Christian Democratic Party believes that this crime cries out
for the imposition of the death penalty. Surely, no other punishment can
satisfy the demands of justice?

The common law standard or lex talionis, called for an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth and served as a restraint, a limitation, that punishment
would be no greater than the crime. Yet, this law implied that the
punishment should be at least as great as the crime.

There is simply no other appropriate response than execution, if justice is
to be served in this and other similar cases. No other response is
appropriate, no other punishment sufficient for the deliberate savagery of
the crime.

Whilst opponents of the death penalty may question its deterrent value, it
will certainly prevent a convicted murderer from murdering again or a rapist
from raping again.

In our society, people are literally getting away with murder, and the moral
stupor that has descended over our culture reflects a decay, an utter
erosion, of time-tested moral norms. The secular humanist approach adopted
by the government has been tried and found wanting. Its failure provides an
opportunity for our party, as Christian Democrats, to present the case for
an alternative crime strategy.

Steve Swart, ACDP MP

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