Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the Council -
1) notes that R346 million of public money was stolen by civil servants in the past financial year, according to a report by the Public Service Commission;
2) further notes that the figure of R346 million is the highest recorded in five years, representing a 346% increase compared to R100 million in 2008-09;
3) acknowledges that most of the fraud in 849 cases was committed by government officials in provincial departments, while national departments were responsible for 286 cases;
4) further acknowledges that 259 cases were committed in KwaZulu- Natal, whilst the Mpumalanga and Northern Cape provinces reported the least number of cases, namely 24 and 20 respectively; and
5) notes that the report criticised the government for not robustly pursuing criminal prosecution and stated that failure to institute criminal action may encourage further acts of financial misconduct.
Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move:
That the Council -
1) notes with utmost dismay the biggest scandal to ever hit the auction industry where it is alleged that one of the biggest auction companies, Auction Alliance, was involved in massive kickbacks, corruption, bribery, mismanagement, misrepresentation and blatant organised systemic fraud with some of the largest banks, lawyers and liquidators;
2) further notes that since the scandal surfaced a number of people in the auction industry, including liquidators and attorneys, have come forward to confess to receiving massive bribes from Auction Alliance and other auction companies to manipulate the auctions in their favour by planting ghost auctioneers to overshoot prices and, in some instances, undervalue properties that they wanted to procure and later sell at exorbitant prices;
3) takes this opportunity to condemn in the harshest possible terms such a blatant level of greed and utmost unethical conduct of the attorneys, banks and liquidators to blatantly rob and manipulate auctioneer processes for their gratuitous greed; and
4) calls on the Ministers of Trade and Industry, Economic Development and Finance to establish a commission that will thoroughly investigate the auction industry and the relevance of the SA Institute of Auctioneers, SAIA, and ensure that those found to have enriched themselves in dubious ways and peddled systemic fraud to rob people and inflate the prices of properties are made to face the full might of the law for their repulsive and selfish deeds.
Please time your motions. You have one and a half minutes for your motion. I am going to stop you if you go beyond that.
Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of Cope:
That the Council debates -
1) the incorrect statement made by the Minister of Police in this House yesterday on the issue of police stations being closed for lack of payment of rentals;
2) the misrepresentation by the Minister of the facts already reported to Parliament by Lt-Gen Bonang Mgwenya in the Police portfolio committee meeting last week on the same matter;
3) the widely reported eviction in the media of the Criminal Record Centre of the SAPS in Mitchells Plein, Cape Town, last week, and the eviction of the SAPS from the Erasmia police station, which is testimony to the Minister's misleading statement to the house; and
4) the need for the Minister of Police to come back to the House and account for his lack of knowledge about his department.
Voorsitter, ek sal by die volgende sitting van die Raad namens die DA voorstel:
Dat die Raad -
1) kennis neem dat die volstruisbedryf se uitvoerprodukte in die Wes- Kaap se Klein Karoo-streek, veral in die Oudtshoorn gebied, sedert April 2010 in 'n krisis is weens die H5N2 virus;
2) verder kennis neem dat die verbod op uitvoerprodukte, verlies aan werksgeleenthede, effek op toerisme en diensverskaffers dringend aandag moet kry;
3) erken dat huidige maatreels deur die Wes-Kaapse regering en nasionale Minister van Landbou, Bosbou en Visserye ondersoek moet word om die bedryf volhoubaar te maak; en
(4) erken dat volstruisprodukte geskik is vir die plaaslike mark en die regering met plaaslike bemarking sal moet help. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)
[Mr D JOSEPH: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the Council -
1) notes that export production in the ostrich industry of the Little Karoo region in the Western Cape, especially in the Oudtshoorn area, has been in a crisis since April 2010 due to the H5N2 virus;
2) further notes that the ban on export products, loss of job opportunities, and the effect on tourism and service providers require immediate attention;
3) recognises that prevailing measures should be investigated by the Western Cape government and the national Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in order to make the industry sustainable; and
4) acknowledges that ostrich products are suitable for the local market and that the government will have to assist with local marketing.]
Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move:
That the Council -
1) notes that the locking of police out of offices which they rent to deliver services to our people is regrettable and is a kick in the face of the public from the ANC-led government;
2) further notes that it is clear from a report of the Department of Police that less than 30% of the R1,2 billion budget allocation for infrastructure was spent; and
3) debates service delivery in government.
Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move:
That the Council -
1) notes with utmost dismay the contemptuous statement and misguided political utterances made by the DA's Western Cape MEC for health, Mr Theuns Botha, that he will not allow the national government to take control of hospitals in the Western Cape should the government adopt policy in that regard;
2) further notes Mr Botha's utterances are driven by nothing else than an attempt to mislead the people of the Western Cape and cover up the massive challenges that have been identified in public hospitals in the Western Cape, particularly the following:
a) a three-year-old boy died on his grandmother's back three years ago after being turned away by three public health centres in Cape Town;
b) the R1 million independent complaints commission announced by Mr Botha in December 2010 has since been disbanded;
c) elderly people, some of whom can hardly manage to walk, must queue for hours on the pavement in the open and outside the fence of the clinic or day hospitals in Athlone in the City of Cape Town, while the DA is doing nothing to care for these desperate and destitute people; and
d) hospitals are being funded by the national government; and
3) condemns Mr Botha's cheap misguided political ploy and calls on the national government not to deviate from its course to eradicate the injustices of the past practised by the likes of Mr Botha and the DA and their predecessors and to continue without fear or favour to seek to provide better health services and a better life and future for all South Africans in general.
Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of Cope:
That the Council -
1) notes the lacklustre attitude of the ANC-led government towards hopelessly dysfunctional municipalities in the North West province;
2) further notes that the Ngaka Modiri Molema district mayor's failure to disclose her other salary from the department of education as an education specialist amounts to fraud and corruption;
3) also notes that the attempt by her faction to sweep the matter under the carpet is indicative of the total disregard of ethical consciousness and a lack of political leadership; and
4) calls on the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to intervene and demands that the mayor act within the prescripts of the legislation.
Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move:
That the Council -
1) notes with utmost dismay the DA's disregard, evidenced particularly through the conduct of the Western Cape Transport MEC Robin Carlisle, who has shown utmost disrespect for the people of Hout Bay and the general public views of the people of the Western Cape, and plans to halt any plans to build the controversial toll plaza and double-storey office on one of Cape Town's treasured landmarks, the historical Chapman's Peak, which forms part of Table Mountain, that was recently voted one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature;
2) further notes that the building of the toll plaza continued despite written assurance to the Hout Bay Residents' Association by the premier of the Western Cape, Premier Helen Zille, that the public would be given 30 days' notice before construction began and an indication that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, will investigate the building of the toll plaza on historical land;
3) further notes that the toll plaza has drawn some of the greatest public opposition to a development the city has had, with a mass protest of 2 300 Capetonians marching on Chapman's Peak Drive to show their opposition to the building of the toll plaza and double- storey office on Table Mountain National Park land; and
4) condemns in the harshest possible terms this disregard of the democratic views of the people of the Western Cape, particularly the conduct of Premier Helen Zille and MEC Carlisle and the utmost disrespect they showed to the people of Hout Bay and Cape Town.
Voorsitter, by die volgende sitting van die Raad sal ek namens die DA voorstel:
Dat die Raad -
1) kennis neem van die dringendheid om die gevaar van suurmynwater aan te spreek, wat in die Witwatersrand besig is om een van die mees sprekende voorbeelde van onbevoegdheid in die regering te word;
2) verder kennis neem dat 'n jaar gelede voorspel is dat die mynwater in Februarie 2012 die omgewingskritieke vlak sou bereik en in die Boksburgse middestad sou begin uitloop;
3) erken dat as Western Utilities Corporation se voorstel in 2009 aanvaar was sou daar verlede jaar begin kon word om die water uit te pomp en te suiwer, waarvan die kapitaalkoste R1,52 miljard sou wees wat deur di Londen firma gedra sou word;
4) verder erken dat as gevolg van die regering se traagheid om die saak te hanteer, gaan dit nou die belastingbetaler R3,5 miljard kos en sal dit een van die beste voorbeelde wees waar die regering die land se mense in die steek gelaat het; en
(5) 'n dringende ondersoek na suurmynwater aanvra om die omvangryke gevaar te voorkom. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)
[Mr H B GROENEWALD: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the Council -
1) notes the urgency of addressing the danger of acid mine drainage in the Witwatersrand, which is becoming one of the most telling examples of ineptitude in government;
2) further notices how it was predicted one year ago that this mine water would reach an environmentally critical level by February 2012 and would proceed to spill out into the Boksburg CBD;
3) acknowledges that, if the 2009 proposal by Western Utilities Corporation had been accepted, pumping out and purifying the water could have commenced last year, with the London firm bearing the capital cost of R1,52 billion;
4) further acknowledges that, due to the government's inertia in dealing with the matter, it will now cost the taxpayer R3,5 billion, with this becoming one of the best examples of government leaving the people of this country in the lurch; and
5) requests an urgent investigation into acid mine drainage in order to prevent this extensive danger.]
Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of Cope:
That the Council -
1) notes the importance of the pending decision on 4 April 2012 about the location of the Square Kilometre Array, SKA, Telescope to serve as a catalyst for African science;
2) acknowledges the social, scientific and economic impact and benefits that the world's most powerful radio telescope will have for the people of Africa, if located at the proposed site close to Carnarvon in the Northern Cape; and
3) requests the President and the executive of the Republic of South Africa to consolidate all their efforts to convince the bidding committee that Carnarvon is indeed the preferred choice for this multibillion pound facility.