Tshwane not ready for 2010

Press release: Councillor Johan Welmans, DA Spokesperson for Sport, Tshwane. 24 June 2008

The Democratic Alliance warned the ANC lead Council on numerous occasions that Tshwane is not on track with it’s preparations to host the 2010 World Cup Soccer tournament .

“ I can only reiterate my comments made in this regard before: If the city does not get it’s act together we can forget about hosting the 2010 soccer tournament in South Africa’s capital city.” said Clr Johan Welmans, the DA Tshwane Metro caucus’ spokesperson for sport, reacting to statements in the media confirming the DA’s reservations about the City’s readiness for 2010.

Clr Welmans also pointed out that the DA asked for a report regarding the Confederation cup to be presented a year prior to 2010. “We are still waiting for that report. If we cannot even present the Confederation cup, then really, how can we expect to be ready for 2010?” Welmans asked.

Welmans confirmed that work at the Loftus Versveld stadium and the Giant stadium in Soshanguve is far from complete.

“We are running out of time and still the council is dragging it’s feet. Had Council only taken the DA serious when we warned them about the situation, we would not have been where we are now.” Welmans said.

This is clearly the result of a poorly administrated city council caught up in petty politics that continues to ignore the constructive contribution the DA as official opposition makes.

‘One can only hope that now that the mayor of the city has been warned by her own party, on the highest level that is, will they come to terms with the reality of the looming 2010 crisis.” Welmans added.

Clr Welmans submitted a letter to the MMC for Sport asking to convene a Portfolio meeting as soon as possible to discuss the issue as a matter of great urgency.

The 2010 soccer world cup is a prestigious event that offers South Africa the opportunity to showcase its best. The Tshwane City Council must get it’s house in order to prevent a major embarrassment.

Councillor Johan Welmans – 072 617 919 7



Media verklaring :Raadslid Johan Welmans, DA Woordvoerder vir Sport, Tswane. 24 Junie 2008

Tshwane nie gereed vir 2010

Die Demokratiese Alliansie het die ANC geleide raad op verskeie geleenthede gewaarsku dat Tshwane nie op koers is met sy voorbereidings om die 2010 Wêreldbekersokkertoernooi aan te bied nie.

“ Ek kan net my kommentaar in hierdie verband herhaal: As die stad nie sy sake in orde kry nie kan ons daarvan vergeet om die 2010 Wêreldbekersokker toernooi in Suid-Afrika se hoofstad aan te bied.” het raadslid Johan Welmans, die DA Tshwane metro koukus se woordvoerder vir sport, gesê in reaksie op media berigte wat die DA se bekommernis oor die stad se gereedheid vir 2010 bevestig.

Raadslid Welmans het ook daarop gewys dat die DA gevra het vir ‘n verslag betreffende die Konfederasie beker wat ‘n jaar voor 2010 aangebied moet word. “ Ons wag steeds vir die verslag. As ons nie die Konfederasie beker kan aanbied nie, hoe kan ons verwag om gereed te wees vir 2010?” het Welmans gevra.

Welmans het bevestig dat die werk by die Loftus Versveld stadion asook die Giant stadion in Soshanguve ver van klaar af is.

“ Die tyd is besig om uit te hardloop en die raad sleep steeds voete. As die raad maar net die DA ernstig geneem het toe ons hulle oor die situasie gewaarsku het, sou ons nie nou hier gewees het nie.” het Welmans gesê.

Dit is die gevolg van ‘n swak bestuurde raad, vasgevang in klein politiek, wat aanhou om die goed bedoelde en konstruktiewe bydrae van die amptelike opposisie te ignoreer.

“ ‘n Mens kan net hoop dat nou dat die burgemeester deur haar eie party gewaarsku is, nogal op die hoogste vlak, hulle die realiteit in die oë sal kyk betreffende ‘n 2010 krisis.” het Welmans bygevoeg.

Raadslid Welmans het ‘n brief vir die lid van die Burgemeesters kommitee gestuur waarin ‘n dringede portefeulje vergadering aangevra word om die krisis as ‘n saak van dringendheid te bespreek.

Die 2010 Wêreldbekersokkertoernooi is ‘n prestige geleentheid wat Suid-Afrika die geleentheid bied om sy beste ten toon te stel. Die Tshwane raad moet sy huis in orde kry om homself ‘n groot verleentheid te spaar.

Raadslid Johan Welmans – 072 617 919 7

JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT BY OPPOSITION PARTIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER (ACDP, DA, ID & UDM)
15 May 2008

The ACDP, DA, ID and UDM yesterday filed a joint submission in the High Court as amicus curiae in the application brought by Mr Hugh Glenister to interdict the Government from disbanding the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO).

Our contention is that the decision to pursue legislation disbanding the Scorpions was not made by any organ of state, but by the ANC in an effort to protect its members from investigation and prosecution for alleged transgressions.

We contend that the continued existence of the Scorpions in its current form is an essential element in the fight against crime, a position reinforced by the Khampepe Commission Report.

The reasons that Government and ANC office-bearers have advanced for disbanding the Scorpions have never been sufficient. We have noted that the Khampepe Commission Report dispels virtually all of the "concerns" that have been raised by the ANC relating to the Scorpions. To find the actual motive, one only needs look at the statements by ANC Secretary Gwede Mantashe at a press conference with the DA that the Scorpions are being disbanded because they allegedly target ANC members.

The motive and process being followed in the ANC’s attempts to disband the Scorpions is an abuse of power and a subversion of democracy. We are united in our determination to prevent this undemocratic process that the ANC has initiated. We will pursue, jointly and separately, various steps to thwart the ANC`s disgraceful attempt to undermine the fight against organised crime and corruption. One such step is our decision to apply to act as friends of the Court in the Glenister application. We believe that we are in a position to provide the court with a unique perspective.

We will continue to exhaust all parliamentary avenues when this legislation is debated. We will also vigilantly monitor whether the public hearings provide South Africans adequate opportunity to raise their views. We will do everything in our power to prevent the parliamentary process being subverted and the ANC using its majority in Parliament to rubberstamp a law that will weaken our country’s crime fighting abilities and serves only the interests of certain ANC leaders.

Overcoming the Threats to Freedom

Freedom Day Statement issued by: Helen Zille, DA Leader
26 April 2008

South Africa has traveled a great distance since our first democratic election in 1994. We have come of age as a nation; we have realised that there is more that holds us together than keeps us apart.

As we celebrate Freedom Day we must ask: Are we truly free in South Africa today?

I am afraid to say that the answer to this question must be “no”.

Many people might disagree. They will say that we gained our freedom when we voted in that first democratic election. I will reply that elections are not enough to make you free. We only have to look at Zimbabwe to see that.

They will say that we have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that guarantees our freedom. I will reply that the mere existence of a Constitution is not enough to make us free. It is a blueprint for freedom, but does not guarantee it.

When we use the Constitution as the yardstick to measure our progress, we see that the free society it envisages is not the one we live in. The majority of our people are still a long way from enjoying their most basic freedoms:

• When 53 people are murdered every day, we cannot say that the right to life is upheld.
• When 144 women and children are raped every single day, we cannot say that the right to be free from violence is protected.
• When 15 million people are without access to basic sanitation, we cannot say that the right to dignity is enjoyed by all.
• When 10 million people live in informal settlements, we cannot say that the right of access to adequate housing has been fulfilled.
• When half a million HIV positive people require access to antiretroviral drugs but do not receive them, we cannot say that there is access to basic healthcare.

It is clear that there is much work to be done, and it is going to take the efforts of every one of us to make our Constitution a living, breathing reality. But the story does not end there. Fourteen years after our first democratic election, we face a new threat to our freedom. The threat is a ruling party that believes it is more important than the Constitution. It is a party that believes it will rule until Jesus comes.

• Instead of allowing the free press to flourish, the ANC wants to control the media.
• Instead of allowing the judiciary to be independent, the ANC wants to make judges accountable to politicians.
• Instead of fighting crime and corruption, the ANC wants to take away the Scorpions.
• Instead of opening the space for real debate, the ANC wants to shut down Parliament.

On Freedom Day every year, the ANC pays tribute to the icons of the liberation struggle. Its leader sings about machine guns. This is because the ANC needs people to stay in the past if it is to keep power in the future. The ANC undermines freedom in the present and has no vision for the future. So where is the hope?

The hope lies in the people of South Africa who never gave up in the past and will not give up now. The hope lies in a party that does have a clear vision for the future, the Democratic Alliance.

Our vision is an open society in which the people are more important than the ruling party. It is a society with a free and questioning press, an independent judiciary and a Parliament that holds the government to account. Our vision is an open opportunity society in which every person has the freedom to achieve their goals, whatever their background. It is a society where every person’s basic needs are met, where people do not live in fear of criminals, where every child has access to a good school and where every person has a job. This open, opportunity society is the one promised in our Constitution.

A few weeks ago, the US Presidential candidate Barack Obama, gave a landmark speech in Philadelphia. He spoke of the struggle to attain the liberties that were set out in the American Constitution, but were denied to many for so long. He said:"Words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time."

Narrowing the gap between the reality of our time and the open opportunity society envisaged in the Constitution is the DA’s mission. And it is a mission that will succeed. It will succeed because most South Africans are rejecting the politics of race. They are more interested in the politics of ideas and the politics of prosperity. It will succeed because the ruling party has shown that it cannot govern. It has shown that it rules in the interests of the connected few and not the majority of our people. It will succeed because the ANC believes that it rules South Africa by divine right. It forgets about the people that put it in power.

In the coming months and years, the DA will continue to build the moderate, non-racial centre of politics. We will take power in this country municipality by municipality and province by province. And, make no mistake, we will not wait until Jesus comes.