MK Vets to Find Government Employment
Umkonto We Sizwe veterans are being considered by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to assist in the battle against illegal dumping in the Metro this week after constant demands for financial assistance from the ANC.
With reports of staff shortages from various sectors of the Bays municipality, the move to recruit up to 70 ANC struggle veterans may come as a welcomed addition to the municipalities struggling workforce.
The public health department in particular has noted their desire to hire the veterans as a lack of staff has hindered their ability to tackle illegal dumping. This notion is further stipulated by a municipal official in the Bay who has remained unnamed. According to said official vacancies exist in the public health directorate and that the veterans would most likely be used as security guards or drivers in and around the dumping sites.
Although there are an estimated 500 veterans within the Bay, many of which are unemployed, municipality officials remain confident that this will be the first step in assisting the ex-struggle Heroes financially and hope to continue veteran employment in time to come.
By: Matthew Deas
Posted: 16 October 2011
Youth League Remains Defiant
ANC Youth League president, Julius Malema, said this Wednesday that the league plans to ask parliament for its assistance in protecting liberation songs after the high court’s ruling of “Shoot the Boer” as hate speech on Monday. The ruling by the high court this Monday which cited the much publicised and controversial liberation song “Shoot the Boer” as hate speech has prompted Malema, along with the Youth League, to pursuit the matter further by appealing firstly to parliament and secondly to the Constitutional Court in an effort to have the decision reversed.
According to ANCYL secretary general, Sindiso Magaqa, the courts operated in favour of a minority, “The minorities continue to control the South African courts and the South African majority”. Magaqa has said that the league was prepared to take the matter as far as the Constitutional Court for final ruling.
No date has been set yet for the Constitutional Court to hear the Youth Leagues appeal.
By: Matthew Deas
Published: 16 September 2011
Eastern Cape municipality Faces Financial Crisis
Municipalities in the Eastern Cape are feeling the financial pinch, this, according to a report by the Provincial Treasury released earlier this week which sighted the non-payment of ratepayers along with governmental negligence to be costing the Bay billions.
According to the report, the inability of ratepayers to pay due funds to their respective municipalities has placed the provinces consumer debt at R4.7-Billion by the end of March this year along with Government debt within all 45 of the provinces municipalities sitting at over R120-million by the end of June.
In response to the report’s findings, Local Government and Traditional Affairs MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane, acknowledged the damaging effects of debt on local municipalities, “The impact of non-payment is severe, especially for rural and poor municipalities”. The lack of funds have heavily hindered governments ability to provide services for poorer communities, Qoboshiyane said further, and that areas such as Queenstown and Chris Hani District have suffered some of the worst effects.
According to Qoboshiyane, the Eastern Cape government intends to set up a task force of highly skilled individuals to tackle the daunting debt crisis but are still in debate as to who shall be making up this four man team.
By: Matthew Deas
Published: 9 September 2011
Eastern Cape ANC Demands Justice
African National Congress officials in the Eastern Cape have joined party heads today in condemning the violent protests by supporters of the ANC Youth League President, Julius Malema, at his hearing in Johannesburg earlier this week.
ANC provincial secretary of the Eastern Cape, Oscar Mabuyane, stated today that the local ANC party officially condemns the manner in which support was given to ANC Youth League President Julius Malema outside of Luthuli house on Tuesday where members of the public along with police forces were violently assaulted and intimidated, “We view these acts as a deliberate ploy to intimidate and undermine the internal disciplinary processes of the organisation. We find these attempts totally unacceptable and foreign to the culture and discipline of the organisation”.
The crowd, a combination of citizens and ANC Youth League members alike, some from the Eastern Cape, vented their dissatisfaction at government for Julius Malema being taken to trial. Flags, T-shirts and posters bearing the current President, Jacob Zumas’ image were burnt along with recorded clashes between protestors and riot police and even assaults on shop keeps and journalists documenting the protest.
The ANC in the Eastern Cape, headed by Mabuyane, has requested that the national executive committee spare no expense in bringing culprits of the violence to justice, “They must face the full might of our disciplinary process”.
Local ANC Youth League provisional secretary, Mziwonke Ndabeni, has agreed with the statements made by Mabuyane and the stance of the ANC in the Eastern Cape, “Those people can’t be members of the ANC. Criminal elements can’t be condoned”.
As of yet no arrests have been made of any individual claiming to have instigated the riots. The hearing of Julius Malema is reported to continue this Friday.
Malema Support Rallies from Bay
ANC youth league leaders from the Eastern Cape have today have transported numerous league members to Johannesburg in an apparent effort to show support in the controversial Julius Malema trial taking place this afternoon.
The trip to Johannesburg has been arranged and coordinated by the youth leagues provisional office in the Eastern Cape along with reported movements elsewhere in the country. Eastern Cape provisional secretary, Mziwonke Ndabeni, has been yet to clarify the exact motives behind the move however, “We are taking members from all our regions in the province... some are already there”.ANC Youth League President, Julius Malema
Malema, the outspoken and controversial leader of the ANC Youth League, faces charges of bringing the ANC into disrepute and attempting to further split racial harmony in the country. The crucial two day trial for Malema begins this afternoon and has been cited by political analysts as an ordeal which will make or break his political future.
By: Matthew Deas
Published: 30 August 2011
