Staggering Out Over The Abyss

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A Lutra Continua
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Staggering Out Over The Abyss

#1 Post by A Lutra Continua »

Aviation content to kick off.

LAST year, South African Airways (SAA) chairwoman Dudu Myeni blocked the airline from signing a deal with Emirates Airlines that would have earned it R1.7bn.

Now Ms Myeni has reportedly undone a deal with Airbus that would have saved the cash-strapped SAA R1.6bn.

A total of R3.3bn has effectively been wasted by Ms Myeni. That money would have been more than enough to fund the shortfall SA’s universities will have this year because of the no-fee increase that has been agreed.

The money wouldn’t be quite enough to pay for the new jet, which is reportedly being bought to fly President Jacob Zuma around. But then, what Mr Zuma and his close friend Ms Myeni apparently share is a somewhat warped sense of priorities.

In Ms Myeni’s case, the priority seems to have been her desire to ensure some "rents", as economists call them, were extracted, presumably by people she knows, on SAA’s purchase of a fleet of new Airbus planes.

SAA does not have the money to buy the new 20-aircraft fleet it had originally planned. That is why, as part of its 90-day turnaround plan earlier this year, it negotiated an agreement with Airbus to waive the R1.6bn payment which was due on the 10 aircraft that hadn’t yet been delivered, but that SAA cannot now buy.

Instead, it was planning to lease aircraft. But Ms Myeni had other plans, writing to Airbus in September to demand that an unnamed African leasing company act as financier for purchase of the new planes.

That raised ethical concerns at Airbus and prompted it to demand payment of the R1.6bn.

Ms Myeni’s conduct is a shocker. She has undone a rescue deal that was negotiated and approved by her own shareholder ministry, the Treasury, which was put in charge of SAA last December after Ms Myeni flouted instructions by her then shareholder, the Department of Public Enterprises.

She and her board, which refused to approve the deal with Airbus, have undermined their own company’s turnaround plan, which is surely a breach of their fiduciary responsibilities.

And the bottom line is that SAA, which has reportedly already defaulted on a recent R500m payment to Airbus, does not have the R1.6bn. There may be no option but for government to pay the money — and a cash-strapped fiscus doesn’t have R1.6bn to spare either.

For a state-owned entity to put government in a position in which it is forced to make a payment it never planned for is untenable and unprecedented.

That was the message in a scathing letter that the director-general of the Treasury, Lungisa Fuzile, wrote to SAA’s finance director, who had alerted the Treasury to the problem.

He asked bluntly why board members did not think their conduct amounted to a breach of their fiduciary responsibilities.

But does Ms Myeni care? Her track record suggests she does not and the Treasury’s letter reflects the enormous frustration government officials feel at Ms Myeni’s conduct.

It seems to reflect, too, her perception that the airline for which she is responsible is there to be plundered, rather than fixed.

She appears to feel she can act with impunity. And so far, any and all attempts to rein her in have failed.

This is where the capricious appointments at public entities that the president influences become absolutely lethal.

Incompetence is one thing, and there is a fair amount of that in the governance structures of SA’s state-owned entities. But the deliberate and destructive flouting of the principles of governance and of plain good business is entirely another.

The damage capriciousness has done to SA’s national airline will not be reversed easily, if it ever can be.


http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/editori ... ity-to-saa
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Re: Staggering Out Over The Abyss

#2 Post by Sisemen »

Slowly, slowly the once proud South Africa follows the rest of the dysfunctional tribes into penury and tribalism.
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#3 Post by BackToAllNightLights »

...with cronyism and corruption.....
She is difficult to research but I believe she has secondary school teacher qualifications and......well, that seems to be it, apart from cooking for Zuma sometimes because she knows what he likes to eat.

So, no problem, run a major international/domestic airline, should be no sweat.
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#4 Post by A Lutra Continua »

Great job Zuma. The cANCer policy of giving preference to those of the correct hue regardless of background rather than the right character and training is paying dividends.


Reservist held over stolen vehicle, gun
Article By: Staff Reporter
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 3:32 PM

A police reservist and his two passengers have been arrested in Cape Town after police discovered their vehicle was stolen.

The three men, in a VW Polo Vivo, were travelling on the N2 when metro police officers drove past, News24 reported.

"The one suspect who was sitting at the back of the vehicle acted suspicious and nervous when he noticed the metro police officers," metro police deputy chief Yolande Faro told the website.

After pulling over the vehicle, officers found a handgun stashed under the seat, with its serial number filed off.

Upon further inspection police found that the car had been reported stolen in Delft earlier this month.

The car had Gauteng number plates while the licence disk reflected a Cape Town registration number.

The three face charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, armed robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and using false plates on a vehicle.
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#5 Post by A Lutra Continua »

Strangely enough, when she took office with zero experience apart from being a party apparatchik, all this was predicted and unsurprisingly shouted down by the usual suspects. Cronies and party faithful the in top jobs is nothing more than politicising of the organs of state. Never a good thing. Then we wonder why it's all turning to shit...


Hawks can't confirm or deny move to suspend top cop
2015-11-25 20:05

Lizeka Tandwa, News24

Johannesburg - Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said he could not confirm or deny whether deputy police commissioner Lieutenant General Nobubele Mbekela had been served with a notice of intention to suspend her.

Speaking to News24, Mulaudzi said: "This was an internal matter between the employer and the employee; I can’t make any further comments."

This follows reports by Eyewitness News that Mbekele had been served with a notice of intent to suspend her, similar to that served on police spokesperson Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale.

News24 reported earlier that Makgale was served with a notice of intention to suspend on Tuesday.

When contacted by News24, Makgale would not be drawn to comment on the allegations.

It is broadly understood that a group of top cops, including Mbekela and Makgale, are in the firing line because of statements issued in support of suspended National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega.

In August, the board of provincial police commissioners issued a statement in support of Phiyega. The statement was issued a day after she submitted her response to President Jacob Zuma relating to the recommendation of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry that her fitness for office be investigated.

While the police portfolio committee directed the commissioners to withdraw their statement and apologise, Makgale issued another statement on their behalf almost two weeks later to "correct the misconceptions" created by the initial statement.

Makgale has come under fire from members of Parliament for issuing statements in defence of Phiyega.

Phiyega is currently suspended and is set to face an inquiry into her fitness to hold office.
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#6 Post by A Lutra Continua »

No surprises there then. It was always about getting their hands on the money.


Transnet faces biggest class action in SA history over stripping of pension fund assets
2014-07-20 06:00

Transnet is planning to dissolve the pension fund into which it transferred 65 000 pensioners from the apartheid years and then stripped it of its assets.

The legal team bringing a class action against Transnet to try recover the stripped assets plus interest amounting to almost R80 billion last week discovered documents showing that the fund’s trustees – all employees of Transnet – are amending the fund’s rules in such way that they can dissolve the fund.

The lawsuit, which is being led by two of the country’s top advocates, Jaap Cilliers, SC, and Leon Kellerman, SC, begins in the North Gauteng High Court tomorrow. They will ask the court for approval to bring a class action on behalf of the 62 160 severely impoverished pensioners to claim around R79.963 billion – in assets and interest – from Transnet.

If the court approves the application, it will be the start of by far the largest class action ever in the country’s legal history. The average age of the pensioners is 77, but their average pension is R2 850 per month. The legal team was also promised an early court date because delaying tactics by Transnet and some of the other respondents in the case have already delayed the case unnecessarily.

An angry Brian Molefe, Transnet’s CEO, earlier made it clear to City Press’ sister paper Rapport that the plight of the pensioners did not concern him because they are “beneficiaries of apartheid”.

A total of 33% of the pensioners are black.

Rapport received copies of the documents from the legal team on Friday. The amendments to the fund rules allow for the fund to be dissolved on the instruction of Transnet.

Amendments to the Transnet Pension Fund provide for the liquidation of the fund.

On Friday, Transnet said through spokesperson Viwe Tlaleane it is not aware of any “formal process” to amend the rules of the fund or the Transnet Pension Act. “Talks on this are internal [among] the fund’s board of trustees. The documents are therefore confidential,” Tlaleane said.

But the board of trustees is still fully under Transnet’s control. Four of the six board members are employees of Transnet. The chairperson of the board is a nonexecutive member of the Transnet board. It is therefore impossible that Transnet’s top level does not know of the plans.

The fund and its administrators, Metropolitan, are the first respondents in the court application. The other respondents are Transnet, Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown, Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene and President Jacob Zuma.

There were initially 65 000 pensioners, but because of deaths they have now been reduced to 62 160. Several committed suicide because of their desperate circumstances.

Johan Pretorius (69), one of the two pensioners who is bringing the claim on behalf of the 62 160 pensioners, said in a sworn statement the deficit in the pension fund arose because in 2001 Transnet exchanged the fund’s key asset, debentures valued at R7.7 billion, for shares in MTN – at the time M-Cell, whose value in 2001 was R1.395 billion.

Until 2001, the debentures provided the fund with an annual income of R1.2 billion. But there is no indication that the fund earned any income from the M-Cell shares.

Since the debentures were exchanged for the M-Cell shares, the increases for the initially 65 000 pensioners were limited to 2% per annum. This is inconsistent with previous decisions that the annual increases of pensions must cover at least 70% of the inflation rate.

The stripping of the fund’s assets only came to light last year when the two advocates, Cilliers and Kellerman, gained access to the fund’s statements.

Cilliers and Kellerman are providing their services pro bono. If the case is successful, they will be reimbursed at ordinary rates under the supervision of the General Council of the Bar, but if the case fails, they get no compensation.

- Jan de Lange, Rapport
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#7 Post by A Lutra Continua »

Hmmmm... There's an admission of discrimination in there somewhere. Same old shit, different flies.


We aren't seen as black enough - Khoi and San Council
2015-08-20 18:52

Mpho Raborife, News24
(Genevieve Quintal, News24)

Johannesburg - Some members of the Khoi, San and coloured communities are missing out on work and study opportunities because they are not "black enough", the National Khoi and San Council said on Thursday.

"Some people are telling us that when they apply for jobs, for bursaries, they've been told: 'You are not black enough. You are not black-black basically'," John van Rooyen, a member of the council, told reporters in Johannesburg.

Van Rooyen and other representatives of the coloured community across the country had a meeting in Johannesburg with ANC national executive committee members to discuss the issues affecting their communities.

Secretary General Gwede Mantashe, Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Co-operative Governance Minister Pravin Gordhan attended the meeting.

A number of issues were raised, including better access to education, access to Reconstruction and Development Programme housing, the acknowledgement by government of the Khoi and San as the first settlers in the country, better access to economic opportunities and violence associated with coloured communities.

Van Rooyen said, although the policies set out by government were inclusive, implementation was a problem.

"[We] need to form part of broad-based black economic empowerment and employment equity... the legislation deals with it, but when it comes to implementation, you find that... it is the officials that are not monitored or watched properly to effect the policy," he said.

Van Rooyen said at some levels discriminatory practices take place. "Hence... why we are saying we are marginalised."

Mantashe told Van Rooyen that in some instances, coloured people marginalised themselves by not wanting to classify themselves as black.

"Sometimes you get marginalised and sometimes you marginalise yourself. If you see a column written 'Black' you don't want to be black. That is marginalising yourself, while in the [broader] definition we are all black."
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Re: Staggering Out Over The Abyss

#8 Post by Cave Canem »

It appears that the only people being discriminated against in the fiasco noted above in the opening post are the South African taxpayers (whatever their colour or race) who are being left down by the mal-administration of their national airline.

Sad to see an airline with such a rich history being singularly ruined at the nation's expense!
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#9 Post by A Lutra Continua »

Reality's a bastard, eh Max? Singing a different song now. What did you expect with a public sector completely politicised and under the control of the ruling party?


Visa disaster 'shows lack of genuine ANC leadership'
2015-10-27 19:16

Max du Preez

Here’s something to chew on: if minister Malusi Gigaba had not issued the stricter visa regulations or if he had scrapped them as soon as he knew the damage they were doing, South Africa wouldn’t even wonder today whether we can afford the R2bn or so we now need for tertiary education.

These regulations severely damaged the one sector of our economy that could have grown phenomenally with our weakening currency. It will take months before we will be able to undo the damage.

The consulting firm Grant Thornton advised the Tourism Business Council recently that the regulations would result in a net loss to South Africa’s GDP of around R4.1bn.

Gigaba defended the regulations as recently as three weeks ago, saying the tourist industry shouldn’t blame him when they can’t market the country properly.

The handling of this issue is deeply depressing, also because Gigaba isn’t the worst minister in the Cabinet – in the ANC he’s talked about as a future president.

Too scared to stand up

The visa disaster was purely a result of the ANC’s instinct to want to control and regulate everything, of incompetent bureaucrats that are not managed properly by their political principals, of Gigaba’s massive ego that prevented him from admitting a mistake, and because different state departments don’t communicate with each other on critical decisions.

Most of all it was a reflection on the absence of genuine leadership in government. There was no president, deputy president or Cabinet that got up quickly and decisively and stopped the nonsense before too much damage was done.

All the politicians were too scared to stand up to a colleague, just in case it damaged their own careers and position in the faction-riddled ANC.

The question in the ANC seems to be not whether you are competent and doing your job properly. It is: In what camp are you? Are you for or against Jacob Zuma? Are you a Cyril Ramaphosa-supporter or are you campaigning for Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma? Does Gwede Mantashe like you or not?

I wish I could say that last week’s earth-moving events will change the thinking in the Union Buildings and Luthuli House; lead to a sharper focus and more deliberate action.

The student protests were perhaps not our own version of the Arab Spring that would lead to regime change. But we could call it a Campus Spring. It will have consequences for the ruling party.

No longer swallowing populist rhetoric

If Zuma and his colleagues didn’t have their heads buried in the sand, they would be seriously concerned about next year’s municipal elections and the general election of 2019.

They would also have realised that ordinary South Africans - certainly the youth - no longer simply swallow their populist rhetoric, double talk, tactics of diversion and cheap promises.

Alas, no.

On Sunday Zuma and Blade Nzimande declared on separate platforms that the ANC had supported the #FeesMustFall movement from the start and that free higher education had been ANC policy all along. Ha!

You don’t need to be a student to ask: but why then did you spend less and less on tertiary education the last number of years relative to the huge increase in the number of students?

Nzimande also said that there was enough money in the country to pay for free tertiary education, but this money was “in the private sector”. (Read: “white monopoly capital”.)

Hehehe. That’s Doctor Six Percent Nzimande for you, leader of the party that prides itself in being in the vanguard of the struggle of the working class and the poor.

Nzimande also gave an indication that he planned to abuse last week’s events to undermine the autonomy of universities. I sincerely hope the students won’t fall for this.

Steering the debate

Everything is always everybody else’s fault, never the ANC’s.

It is predictable that the ANC leadership will now attempt to steer the debates and anger towards a simplistic blaming of the white minority in the weeks and months ahead. Define a new enemy and turn the flak away from yourself.

In the meantime, more millions have been rolled out to prepare for the trillion rand nuclear power stations government has committed to.

There’s an Afrikaans saying: As dit pap reën, skep! (If porridge rains down, help yourself.)

And this just in: the ANC Woman’s League and the Youth League are planning marches to the Union Building in defence of Zuma, “the champion of our revolution”.

Which revolution would that be?
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#10 Post by A Lutra Continua »

Zuma having his strings pulled by the Guptas, now this... The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.


Zuma's son denies Panday ties
2015-11-25 13:56

Amanda Khoza and Jeff Wicks, News24
Thoshan Panday (City Press)

Durban – President Jacob Zum's son, Edward, has distanced himself from controversial Durban businessman Thoshan Panday.

His denials came on Wednesday after News24 published the contents of a secret draft audit report that found that key police officials in the province had allegedly been bribed by Panday.

"I have never been his business partner, nor am I his friend," Zuma junior said.

"I just know him as another Durban businessman like any other, and knowing him does not make him my business partner."

His stance stands in contrast to a range of media reports that linked him to Panday.

Moreover, Panday was one of about 500 guests who attended Edward Zuma's glitzy wedding in October 2011.

When quizzed about this Zuma junior said: "He was a guest of a guest, nothing more."

The Sunday Tribune reported in March 2012 that KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Johan Booysen had accused the younger Zuma of exerting pressure on him to release a R15m payment that had been frozen because of an investigation into Panday.

It was reported that Edward Zuma met Booysen at the provincial police headquarters on June 6 2011.

At the time, Zuma admitted that the meeting took place, but on Wednesday he denied that it had happened.

"I met him at a SAPS event and chatted with him casually, but I never met him in his office. I don't ever recall meeting in his office as reported by the media.

"If Thoshan Panday has committed a crime, then he should face the full might of the law. This has nothing to do with me.

"The allegations that Booysen was charged because he was investigating Panday also have nothing to do with me."

'I don’t even know where the guy lives'

Zuma insisted that he has never even spoken to Panday.

"I don’t even know where the guy lives. I have spoken to Booysen and I have nothing against him.

"People should stop making references to a business and personal relationship existing between me and Panday, because there isn't one."

At the time, Booysen was quoted as saying that Edward Zuma had been wearing a striped shirt and had come alone to the meeting.

"I had never met him before or after this incident," Booysen had said.

"He said he was there to elicit assistance for Thoshan Panday. Edward Zuma claimed he was a silent partner in Panday's business and had invested R900 000.

"He said he wanted the R15m unfrozen because he was not getting his dividends from Panday...

"I refused, saying I would be party to corruption and would not go down that road. I also advised Edward to get his money out and take his business elsewhere. I immediately reported the matter to my superiors upon his exit. I have not heard from him again."
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#11 Post by A Lutra Continua »

And again. So much for protect and serve...


Police reservist held for robbery
2013-11-05 20:28

Johannesburg - A Meyerton police reservist was arrested on Tuesday in connection with business robberies, said Gauteng police.

"He is one of the seven suspects who were arrested for six business robberies," said police spokesperson Lungelo Dlamini.

Robbers had targeted U-Save businesses in Evaton West and Evaton Central, near Vereeniging, from June this year, he said.

The seven were arrested during a raid in Drieziek, Orange Farm, on Tuesday, in which police also seized an R5, a pistol, a toy gun, and a police uniform.

They would appear in the Sebokeng Magistrate's Court within 48-hours.
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#12 Post by A Lutra Continua »

Just another day in the new socialist paradise of Azania.

Robbers attack man with samurai sword
2015-06-08 10:35

Susan Cilliers, Netwerk24
Roger van Parys (Herman Verwey, Netwerk24)

Mahikeng - An elderly man from the North West whose throat was cut by robbers with a samurai sword does not want to live anymore.

Roger van Parys, 71, has been left extremely traumatised after the attack last Thursday, said Sharon van Pieterse, a neighbour who lives in another house on the property between Rustenberg and Moonooi where Van Parys was attacked.

Five robbers pounced on Van Parys early last Thursday morning when he went to the bathroom, reported Netwerk24.

They tied his hands and feet and dragged him through the house with a gun to his head.

When they wouldn’t accept the jewellery he tried to give them, they put a sword to his throat. Van Parys sustained cuts to the mouth, neck and oesophagus. Three of his ribs were broken and he has abrasions all over his body.

Pieterse said Van Parys has recovered well physically and could be discharged from hospital on Monday.

“He doesn’t eat because he’s so shocked and also doesn’t drink his medicine. He is still struggling to talk and says there is nothing left for him. The robbers also wanted to burn him with a hot iron but they couldn’t find a wall socket quickly enough.”

Came from Belgium to live in SA

According to Pieterse, Van Parys started to become depressed after his wife, Cathryn, died of cancer four years ago.

When they were young, they emigrated from Belgium to South Africa. “They have a son and daughter who both live abroad and who Roger isn’t in contact with anymore,” said Pieterse.

Van Parys’s truck, which he used to transport and sell wood and charcoal, was stolen in the robbery, along with two cellphones.

“He will come back here [to his house], because he has nowhere else to go,” she said.

“We have everything ready for him at home and have a guard now patrolling every night.”

Mario van Wyk, a tenant, was shot in the thigh and dragged into a field. Pieterse said the robbers threatened to set him on fire.

He has been discharged from hospital, she said.

Police spokesperson Sergeant Kelebogile Moleko said on Sunday no one had been arrested.
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#13 Post by A Lutra Continua »

It would be horrifically ironic if this clown even had a clue what that is. Malema doesn't understand that he doesn't understand. Accelerating out over the abyss...


SA will become a failed state if Zuma is left alone - Malema
2015-11-27 07:12

Ahmed Areff, News24

Oxford - South Africa will become just like other failed African states if President Jacob Zuma is left unchecked, EFF leader Julius Malema said.

"If a president does not like red berets, a law is passed that all red berets are banned in this country... If the president in South Africa does not like a corruption fighting institution called the Scorpions, they go and close down the scorpion so that he can go and steal R250m - I don't know what is that in pounds," he quipped at the Oxford Union at Oxford University in the United Kingdom on Wednesday.

Malema was making a reference to the approximately R246m spent on upgrades to Zuma's Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal.

"Because he does not want to go to prison -- every institution that wants to take him to prison, he closes down that institution," he said.

"Anyone fighting corruption in SA is the enemy of the president. And if the president is left alone, South Africa will become one of the failed African states, but not under our watch - the EFF has arrived."

Malema said that in South Africa, corruption had become institutionalised.

"You get a senior position on the basis [of] to what extent you are corrupt. If you are anti-corruption, you will never get a promotion."

He said the African National Congress had become more politically right-wing, as most of its competition has come from the right.

"There has never been a legitimate, credible left formation to challenge the ruling party," Malema said.

"Because nature does not like a vacuum, the organisation the Economic Freedom Fighters emerged, and closed that gap."
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#14 Post by A Lutra Continua »

Big fat hairy surprise. Of course no one saw this coming 20 odd years ago...Image


Hawks incapable of fulfilling their corruption-busting role - NPO
2015-11-27 18:31

Jeff Wicks, News24

Durban - The Hawks have become incapable of investigating the politically connected, according to non-profit organisation Accountability Now.

Accountability Now head Advocate Paul Hoffman was responding to the contents of a secret forensic investigation published by News24 this week, which alleged that three high ranking KwaZulu-Natal police officers were showered with gifts by a businessman in exchange for tenders and contracts worth more than R50m.

The report named provincial police commissioner, Mmamonnye Ngobeni, as well as supply chain management unit officers, Naven Madhoe and Aswin Narainpershad, who had allegedly been given gifts from Thoshan Panday valued at nearly R150 000.

At the same time, Panday was under investigation for a range of corruption charges, and allegedly banked millions of rands at an average profit rate of 200%.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has however withdrawn all charges against Panday, Madhoe and Narainpershad "in the interest of justice" and declined to prosecute Ngobeni.

"It’s quite clear to Accountability Now that the Hawks are incapable of fulfilling the role of an effective and independent corruption-busting agency. This role and function is required in terms of the Constitutional Court rulings in the Glenister litigation," Hoffman said.

"The proximity of Mr Panday to those with their hands on the levers of power has ensured him a level of impunity which would not be attained were we to have an effective anticorruption entity.

"Until such time as our Parliament generates the political will to create an institution which is fully compliant with the criteria set by the Constitutional Court, we are going to find more instances of this kind," Hoffman added.
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#15 Post by A Lutra Continua »

What do you expect when standards are allowed to go down the shitter and any old party faithful union member is appointed?


19 teachers guilty of sex with pupils in Mpumalanga
2015-11-27 15:27

News24 Correspondent

Mbombela - Nineteen Mpumalanga teachers have been found guilty of having sex with pupils.

Another eight teachers were found guilty of sexual harassment during the same period, and six more were found guilty of sexual assault.

Provincial education department spokesperson Jasper Zwane said the period was between 2012 and 2015 as well as incidents in the current 2015/16 financial year begun in April. Further cases were being investigated for the current year.

He said sanctions differed from case to case.

"[Teachers] may face a fine not exceeding one month's salary; suspension without pay for a period not exceeding three months; demotion or a combination of sanctions and dismissal," he said.

He said of the cases reported and handled in the current year, one person had been dismissed as a sanction pending an appeal process. Another person was fined R5 000, while one unsubstantiated case had to be closed. Three others were pending investigations.

Zwane said the department had created awareness programmes for their employees.

"These help them know and understand such acts of misconduct," he said.

The department conducted workshops on the code of conduct, code of professional ethics and the disciplinary code.

"The purpose was for advocacy and awareness meant for employees to know and understand the implications, so they can refrain from engaging in such acts of misconduct," Zwane said.
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#16 Post by A Lutra Continua »

You couldn't make it up...


'Child sacrifice' parents due in court
2015-10-28 18:01

News24 Correspondent

Mbombela - A Mpumalanga couple accused of making a ring of fire to sacrifice their three-year-old son as a way of becoming rich will appear in court on Thursday.

Cedric Mkhonto, 29, and Nelly Jawuki, 25, from Khutsong near Matsulu outside Mbombela, are facing charges of attempted murder after their son was nearly killed in a fire that left him seriously injured in January this year.

The two were arrested on October 16 after being tracked down to a hideout in Tonga .

"The couple, who are sangomas, are accused of wanting to burn and kill their baby in Matsulu to perform a ritual that they believed may make him rich," Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said on Wednesday.

"They allegedly made a ring of fire... and tied the baby to a plank, using ropes.

"They placed him on top of the fire to sacrifice him and were sitting around the fire naked. A neighbour heard the baby crying and called for help from the community."

Mohlala said the neighbours rescued the boy from the fire and called police.

"The parents fled after the child was rescued. The boy has since recovered from the injuries that he sustained during the fire. He is living with a relative in KaMhlushwa near Malalane," he said.

Mohlala added that Mkhonto was first hospitalised at Tonga Hospital on October 14 before being arrested along with Jawuki.

'Boy tied with ropes on top of fire'

He could not, however, confirm rumours that Mkhonto was treated for injuries sustained in an assault by community members who had uncovered his hideout.

"We cannot confirm that he was attacked by the community, but he was placed under police guard from 14 October at the Tonga Hospital. He was discharged on 21 October and is currently in police custody in Matsulu," Mohlala said.

According to neighbour Ruby Magagula, 34, the incident had shocked the entire community.

"On that fateful night another community member heard a baby crying in the night. When they went to see what was going on, they found the boy tied with ropes on top of a fire. The couple was sitting naked beside the fire while the baby was burning,” Magagula recalled.

She said other community members were called to assist.

"It was with the help of the community that the baby was saved, but the parents managed to escape into the night. We alerted the police.”

She said there was very little furniture inside the shack, not even a single bed.

"It seems as if they were sleeping on the floor. There were some clothes, a lot of muti bottles, a lamp and a fire pit where the baby was being sacrificed," Magagula said.
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Re: Staggering Out Over The Abyss

#17 Post by Woody »

Good job they all didn't go to Eton, they would be as useless as our lot. Alternatively the opposition could vote in a teetotal , vegetarian peacenik and wonder why no one trusts him [-(
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Re: Staggering Out Over The Abyss

#18 Post by 500N »

Woody wrote:Good job they all didn't go to Eton, they would be as useless as our lot. Alternatively the opposition could vote in a teetotal , vegetarian peacenik and wonder why no one trusts him [-(


The only good thing about having Corbyn as leader ? It means Labor won't win Gov't while he is leader
And most probably a few years aftewards once he has gone.
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#19 Post by Woody »

He supports Arsenal well :ymsick:
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Re: Staggering Out Over The Abyss

#20 Post by Cave Canem »

Following on from the original post about SAA!

November 25, 2015 at 07:30am

By Sechaba ka'Nkosi

Johannesburg - SAA plans to take disciplinary action against the pilots who mounted a vote of no confidence against its board chairwoman Dudu Myeni last week, because they have brought the national airline into disrepute.


SAA chairwoman Dudu Myeni. Picture: Bheki Radebe.
(Credit: INDEPENDENT MEDIA)

Business Report understands that the SAA board and management want the pilots disciplined according to the company’s code of conduct to to which all employees are subjected.

According to sources familiar with the matter, SAA’s view is that the no confidence vote – by a cohort of mostly white pilots – was disparaging and cast doubts on the airline’s own internal processes.

Yesterday they confirmed that the investigation into possible charges against the pilots was at an advanced stage and that a decision was imminent.

“We are definitely going to subject them to an internal disciplinary process because what they did was uncalled for,” one said. “SAA must treat all its employees the same, and when they break our internal code they must be subjected to internal processes in terms of our regulations.”

The move follows an unprecedented statement issued by the SAA Pilots Association last week, in which they said they had overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence in Myeni and the board.

The association’s chairman, captain John Harty, said after a special general meeting in Johannesburg that the pilots wanted Myeni and the board to resign with immediate effect for flouting their fiduciary responsibilities. Harty said of the 472 pilots who were present in person and by proxy, 457 had voted in favour of a motion of no confidence, two pilots voted against the motion and 11 pilots had abstained.

“The vote was prefaced by a discussion around the precarious financial situation at SAA, the controversial Airbus deal and possible breaches of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and/or Company’s Act, the decimation of the board and the executive leadership team, as well as the impact of recent statements made by the chairperson on the authority of the captain of the aircraft,” said Harty, who is due to retire soon.

Drawn out

“The future of SAA requires immediate and urgent attention and a new board, fit for purpose and able to deal with the challenges currently facing the airline should be appointed as soon as possible.”

Myeni dismissed the vote as an anti-transformation ploy, and said she had the support of the board. But her fallout with the pilots now seems set to raise the stakes in what is becoming a long drawn out effort to stabilise the airline.

The pilots’ association seized on her claims before Parliament in September, when she blamed the airline’s poor financial position on what she claimed were excessive salaries. But her assertion was supported by the majority union at SAA, the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu). It branded the move as an attempt by the mostly white pilots association to preserve unnecessary privileges within the airline.

Satawu general secretary Zenzo Mahlangu said the criticism of Myeni’s was not justified as the pilots were a drain on the company.

“Their salary increases are guaranteed at more than 20 percent every year, irrespective of the company’s financial position,” Mahlangu said. “They are paid in dollars, regardless of where they fly in the world. They stay at six-star hotels at the carrier’s expense.”

Meanwhile, on Friday, SAA management gave the president of the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca), Zazi Nsibanyoni-Anyiam, a week to explain why she should not be subjected to a disciplinary action following her public claims of victimisation and harassment of flight attendants.

Business Report is in possession of the letter signed by the airline’s head of employee relations, Lourens Erasmus, in which SAA questions Nsibanyoni-Anyiam’s decision to act outside of the company policies by going public with her claims.

The letter says Nsibanyoni-Anyiam acted outside the parameters of its bargaining forum and its code of ethics and conduct.

Give reasons

“The company hereby requests Sacca, by the end of business on November 27, 2015, to give reasons for its conduct, including reasons for acting outside the bargaining and engagement process, and to give reasons why the company should not take disciplinary action against Ms Zazi Nsibanyoni-Anyiam; to give reasons why the company should not withdraw access to company communication facilities as provided in clause 15 of the SAA Bargaining Forum Constitution,” the letter states.

Neither Nsibanyoni-Anyiam, Erasmus, nor SAA were immediately available for comment.

But another source within the airliner claimed that Nsibanyoni-Anyiam’s planned suspension was selective, as SAA also needed to take action against the pilots association and Harty for their public statement.

“SAA needs to apply its regulations consistently,” the source said.

“It cannot afford to give the world an interpretation that the pilots are untouchable and, therefore, are above company regulations. People may view such as racism as the pilots association represents mostly white pilots.”

BUSINESS REPORT
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