Latest news with #PatrioticAlliance
Eyewitness News
a day ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Opposition political parties have mixed reaction to WC's R270bn budget
CAPE TOWN - The Western Cape's budget has been met with mixed reactions from opposition political parties. On Tuesday, provincial Finance MEC Deidre Baartman retabled an almost R270 billion budget for the province for the next three years. The bulk of this budget will be spent on education and health, with an allocation of R100 billion for each department. Just over R6 billion will go towards housing, and more than R8 billion will be spent on social protection. The African National Congress (ANC)'s Nomi Nkondlo said it was unfortunate that the Democratic Alliance (DA) had tabled the same budget, despite concerns raised by opposition parties when the initial budget was tabled in March. "The Western Cape continues to record highest in crime and murder rate in the country. We also are affected by teacher cuts, which are causing overcrowding and the quality of education deteriorating in poor schools. The healthcare system that is collapsing in hospitals which are understaffed and the healthcare sector that is not recovering the loss of the USAID fund." However, the Patriotic Alliance (PA)'s Basil Petrus said the party welcomed the budget. "The PA welcomes the decision that there will be no VAT hike. We support the allocations on infrastructure development to create jobs and economic opportunities. The Patriotic Alliance will monitor the spending of funds on education, health, law enforcement and social development that needs more intervention. We hope that our communities who need it the most will benefit out of the budget."
Daily Maverick
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Gayton McKenzie should be relieved of his Cabinet position
While everyone was distracted by the spectacle in the Oval Office between Presidents Trump and Ramaphosa, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie was engaging in xenophobic outbursts, not as a campaigning Patriotic Alliance rabble-rouser but, in effect, asserting xenophobia as government policy. While addressing the chairpersons and CEOs of all Department of Sport, Arts and Culture entities – including museums, theatres and heritage and funding agencies, he launched into an attack on 'foreigners' in South Africa. He is quoted, inter alia, as saying: 'Some of you here [have] the audacity to hire foreigners instead of South Africans.'; 'I don't care how you used to do it. But for as long as I am the minister, there will be no foreigner that will work in an entity while a South African can do the same thing.'; He said that 'foreigners' employed by departments needed to be 'out in three weeks'. 'I said it, I want them out, get them out.' Leaving aside the inappropriate tone of engagement by a Cabinet Minister, it is the language of 'them' and 'us', threatening to divide and fomenting hate, which should disturb us all. In reporting by Marianne Thamm, we understand that, 'Daily Maverick has seen a letter dated 9 May from McKenzie to the chair and CEO of the Market Theatre following up on 'an audit' of 'non-South Africans employed by the various entities incorporated under the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture'. ' We need to fully understand how dangerous this kind of exercise of authority is from a man patently unfit to hold any leadership position. It beggars belief that he could have been considered for a Cabinet position. An 'all-in' GNU required this irksome compromise, it would seem. His Patriotic Alliance won eight seats in the National Assembly in last year's election, which represents 2.05% of the vote. But, Sport, Arts and Culture has mostly been a ministry where shamed politicians go, to while away time or recover from scandal. The ANC has never really taken this portfolio seriously, which is shameful and says a great deal about what the party prioritises. We should also not be surprised at McKenzie's 'instruction' to Department of Sport, Arts and Culture entities. This is who he is, a crude, embarrassing street-fighter, former criminal and a well-known driver of xenophobia and hate. While district mayor in Beaufort West, McKenzie vowed to make the Central Karoo an 'illegal immigrant-free zone', sending shivers down the spines of the Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Ethiopian communities. As Richard Pithouse has written in a piece worth reading again, 'When McKenzie and the Patriotic Alliance were brought into the government of national unity, all its participants knew that they were right-wing populists whose xenophobia was openly at odds with the Constitution.' There is a reason McKenzie initially expressed a desire for the Home Affairs portfolio. Constitutional rights undermined No one in the Cabinet seems to have raised an eyebrow at their colleague's most recent statements. The President himself has said and done nothing in response to McKenzie's comments, which a large grouping of civil society organisations has called, 'vulgar', in a statement released on 20 May. It further called the comments 'morally repugnant and entirely devoid of legal authority'. The civil society statement says that, 'His demand of CEOs that they immediately dismiss foreign employees or face dismissal themselves constitutes an egregious violation of South Africa's constitutional law, its labour laws and its international treaty obligations. South Africa's Constitution enshrines the rights of everyone – including foreign nationals – to fair labour practices. The minister's remarks and instructions undermine these rights and amount to unlawful discrimination based on nationality, which is expressly prohibited under both domestic and international law.' Again, these sorts of sentiments, while rightly called 'morally repugnant', are not new. They course dangerously through our political discourse. The ANC itself has frequently expressed xenophobic sentiments. A few examples to recall: In 2022, Phophi Ramathuba stood at the bed of a Zimbabwean patient who had been involved in a car accident, in a hospital in Bela-Bela, Limpopo, and said: 'You are killing my (sic) health system.' Ramathuba was MEC of Health at the time. It was a shameful scene, and even while the cameras rolled, Ramathuba showed very little care. When these words were followed by an outcry, Ramathuba insisted she would not apologise. Defiant and callous. After the May 2024 general election, Ramathuba was elevated to Premier of Limpopo. So, xenophobia pays, it seems. Stilfontein When we witnessed a most abhorrent act as illegal miners were trapped inside a mine in Stilfontein with no help forthcoming, the response from Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, made national and international headlines when she said, stone-cold: 'You want to send our law enforcement officers to risk because criminals want to destroy our country? What if we send the police or military down there to supply them with food, the place explodes and caves in? What will happen? So families must continue to sacrifice because criminals got themselves into a bind?' It ran on, with Ntshavheni saying the government would not send help. 'We will smoke them out', she said, without understanding how objectionable her words were. What a disgrace. We recall Operation Dudula, which gained prominence on the streets, especially after its leader, Nhlanhla 'Lux' Dlamini, was arrested in 2022. Operation Dudula brought with it violent language and has enticed those at the margins of our society. There is a straight line from where we are today back to 2008 and the painful moment when violence was unleashed against foreigners across our country. McKenzie doubles down Instead of being remorseful and attempting to understand the constitutional imperatives at play, McKenzie reinforced his comments during an interview with the Africa Report on 22 May while attending the South Africa-France Investment Conference at Place Vendôme in Paris. If the interview is anything to go by, one shudders to think what further contribution McKenzie made at this conference. Responding to the civil society statement, he said, ''Our people don't have jobs. We've got double-digit unemployment, youth unemployment in our country, but illegal foreigners have jobs. 'We cannot allow this and they can call me vulgar. What is vulgar? It's giving your neighbour children food, shelter, water, while your own children are starving. That is vulgar… 'I will get rid of illegal foreigners. I will close this type of charity because we need patriotic charities in our country. I will close down the charities that are anti-government, that are anti-South Africa.' McKenzie, like all populists, understands grievance. But he was greeted with cheers by attendees at the Paris conference while hugging and handshaking. During the same interview, he claimed he had 'Presidential aspirations'. So, President Ramaphosa needs to be clear about where this GNU stands on xenophobia and also the threats to 'close down' 'anti-government' charities (sic). What exactly does this mean? In the same interview, he specifically attacked the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, one of the civil society signatories to the statement mentioned above. There can be no ambiguity about the role of civil society in a democracy. It is not McKenzie's gift, but a constitutional right and the President of the country should reassert this as head of state of our constitutional democracy. Complex causes As with everything else in South Africa, the reasons for violence are complex. Sometimes it has been driven by xenophobia, at other times a rather more confusing cocktail of anger, frustration and intolerance bubbling at the surface of our society, fuelled by exclusion, poverty and rampant unemployment. We seem to be straining at the seams as the repercussions of deep inequalities, our inability to bring about structural economic transformation after 1994 and the old baggage of the apartheid years come to haunt us. The environment is ripe for blaming 'the other' while competing for scarce resources. At the heart of the incendiary rhetoric lies populist exploitation and an instinct to simplify the complex. This is not unique to South Africa. We have seen it in Donald Trump's presidency and the arguments for Brexit. Widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo has driven voters in small towns towards the politics McKenzie espouses. Our towns and municipalities, mostly falling apart as a result of ANC corruption and neglect, are ripe pickings for the Patriotic Alliance. Last week, the party won a seat off the ANC in the small town of Sutherland, and the ANC was able to hold off the PA in two other closely contested by-elections. Last week, we heard of xenophobic violence flaring up in Addo, with dire consequences. We should not be so distracted by historical clips of Julius Malema singing 'Kill the boer!' that we fail to see McKenzie and his ilk in plain sight. Our challenges require thoughtful leadership rooted in the Constitution, not McKenzie's brand of politics, which will only result in further corruption and hate. We can call on our hapless politicians to 'put an end' to the xenophobic violence, rhetoric and disruption that often accompanies these protests, but xenophobia is a challenge for the whole of our society. Having said this, however, President Ramaphosa needs to send a clear message against this thuggery and intimidation by one of his Cabinet ministers. The reality is that McKenzie has no place in government and his clownishly dangerous comments must be met with sanction. If our passive President does not act against McKenzie's threatening comments against civil society and his illegal pronouncements against government entities, then we must assume that these comments represent the GNU Ramaphosa leads. DM
The Herald
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald
SA will continue to use race-based terms until all are equal: Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has insisted that race-based terminology still serves a purpose and will continue to. This is despite many questioning the need in post-apartheid South Africa to divide citizens into categories such as African, Khoi San, coloured, Indian and white. But Ramaphosa believes the terms are valuable in legislative areas covering land reform, employment equity and economic empowerment. 'South Africa belongs to all those who live in it and we all have an equal claim to this country. As we work to overcome the racial divisions of the past, we have put in place legislation and other measures to redress the effects of discriminatory laws, practices and conventions that took place in the country. 'If we are to affirm and advance the position of people who were previously disadvantaged, and held back, we use these terms. We need to use for them for this purpose alone, as they are associated with our apartheid past. Not only is the use of such terms necessary to redress, it is also useful to gauge the progress that we are making, and reduce the stark difference between different population groups in our country.' The president was responding to a question from Patriotic Alliance MP V Daniels in parliament, who asked why racial classification was necessary 30 years into democracy. Despite placing emphasis on its current use in legislation, Ramaphosa conceded that given the country's segregated past, the discussion was a difficult one to have. 'The use of race-based terminology will always be difficult for our country as we work to put behind the racial injustices of the past. However, until we have reached our goal where there is equality for all people in our country, there will be circumstances where we need to use such terminology. Our responsibility is to ensure that our use of such terms ultimately makes the differences they refer to less and less important, until they are rendered meaningless and no longer serve any purpose.' He said finding alternative terms that would be accepted by the entire population would not be straightforward and would be bound to spark a debate. Despite the controversy that lingers around the topic, the president reassured MPs that the country was on the correct path. 'We are on a journey of moving away from the shadow of our horrible past which defined us as separate groups and separate entities. What is important is for us to see ourselves first and foremost as Africans, as it constitutes our being as South African. We need to rid ourselves of those divisions. It will take us time but we are on a journey,' he said.
TimesLIVE
27-05-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
SA will continue to use race-based terms until all are equal: Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has insisted that race-based terminology still serves a purpose and will continue to. This is despite many questioning the need in post-apartheid South Africa to divide citizens into categories such as African, Khoi San, coloured, Indian and white. But Ramaphosa believes the terms are valuable in legislative areas covering land reform, employment equity and economic empowerment. 'South Africa belongs to all those who live in it and we all have an equal claim to this country. As we work to overcome the racial divisions of the past, we have put in place legislation and other measures to redress the effects of discriminatory laws, practices and conventions that took place in the country. 'If we are to affirm and advance the position of people who were previously disadvantaged, and held back, we use these terms. We need to use for them for this purpose alone, as they are associated with our apartheid past. Not only is the use of such terms necessary to redress, it is also useful to gauge the progress that we are making, and reduce the stark difference between different population groups in our country.' The president was responding to a question from Patriotic Alliance MP V Daniels in parliament, who asked why racial classification was necessary 30 years into democracy. Despite placing emphasis on its current use in legislation, Ramaphosa conceded that given the country's segregated past, the discussion was a difficult one to have. 'The use of race-based terminology will always be difficult for our country as we work to put behind the racial injustices of the past. However, until we have reached our goal where there is equality for all people in our country, there will be circumstances where we need to use such terminology. Our responsibility is to ensure that our use of such terms ultimately makes the differences they refer to less and less important, until they are rendered meaningless and no longer serve any purpose.' He said finding alternative terms that would be accepted by the entire population would not be straightforward and would be bound to spark a debate. Despite the controversy that lingers around the topic, the president reassured MPs that the country was on the correct path. 'We are on a journey of moving away from the shadow of our horrible past which defined us as separate groups and separate entities. What is important is for us to see ourselves first and foremost as Africans, as it constitutes our being as South African. We need to rid ourselves of those divisions. It will take us time but we are on a journey,' he said.
TimesLIVE
27-05-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
SA will continue to used race-based terms until all are equal: Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has insisted that race-based terminology still serves a purpose and will continue to. This is despite many questioning the need in post-apartheid South Africa to divide citizens into categories such as African, Khoi San, coloured, Indian and white. But Ramaphosa believes the terms are valuable in legislative areas covering land reform, employment equity and economic empowerment. 'South Africa belongs to all those who live in it and we all have an equal claim to this country. As we work to overcome the racial divisions of the past, we have put in place legislation and other measures to redress the effects of discriminatory laws, practices and conventions that took place in the country. 'If we are to affirm and advance the position of people who were previously disadvantaged, and held back, we use these terms. We need to use for them for this purpose alone, as they are associated with our apartheid past. Not only is the use of such terms necessary to redress, it is also useful to gauge the progress that we are making, and reduce the stark difference between different population groups in our country.' The president was responding to a question from Patriotic Alliance MP V Daniels in parliament, who asked why racial classification was necessary 30 years into democracy. Despite placing emphasis on its current use in legislation, Ramaphosa conceded that given the country's segregated past, the discussion was a difficult one to have. 'The use of race-based terminology will always be difficult for our country as we work to put behind the racial injustices of the past. However, until we have reached our goal where there is equality for all people in our country, there will be circumstances where we need to use such terminology. Our responsibility is to ensure that our use of such terms ultimately makes the differences they refer to less and less important, until they are rendered meaningless and no longer serve any purpose.' He said finding alternative terms that would be accepted by the entire population would not be straightforward and would be bound to spark a debate. Despite the controversy that lingers around the topic, the president reassured MPs that the country was on the correct path. 'We are on a journey of moving away from the shadow of our horrible past which defined us as separate groups and separate entities. What is important is for us to see ourselves first and foremost as Africans, as it constitutes our being as South African. We need to rid ourselves of those divisions. It will take us time but we are on a journey,' he said.
