Connecticut authorities confirm that Lindiwe Sisulu’s legal advisor is a wanted man

JOHANNESBURG – Authorities in the state of Connecticut, USA, have confirmed that Paul Ngobeni, the new legal advisor to Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, is a fugitive from justice.

In response to a query from Politicsweb Mark A. Dupuis, Communications Officer for the Division of Criminal Justice, State of Connecticut confirmed that “The status of the case remains unchanged, the charges are pending and Paul Ngobeni is a fugitive from justice in the State of Connecticut.”

Ngobeni is currently facing a series of criminal charges in Connecticut. These are of forgery in the 3rd degree, larceny in the 4th degree, larceny in the 3rd degree and larceny in the 6th degree. In November 2007 Robaina, J granted Ngobeni’s motion to dismiss one charge, that of “practice of law by a person not an attorney.” However, Ngobeni’s motion to have the other charges dismissed was denied by the court.

Ngobeni was due to appear in court in Connecticut on March 28 2008. However, he failed to turn up and a re-arrest warrant was issued.

Ngobeni told Jan-Jan Joubert of City Press that Dupuis was “talking rubbish. A court dismissed part of the case against me and leave t appeal on the rest was granted on March 10 2008. I can’t be a fugitive while my appeal is pending. He has it wrong.”

Ngobeni is also permanently prohibited from practising law in Connecticut, after ethical misconduct charges were brought against him. According the Connecticut legal practice book (PDF) “The superior court may, under the procedure provided herein, permit the resignation of an attorney… against whom a presentment for misconduct under Section 2-47 is pending.” Although Ngobeni did not have to sign an admission of guilt he did, according to the regulations, “waive the privilege of applying for readmission to the [Connecticut] bar at any future time.” Ngobeni confirmed this to City Press saying, “I don’t want to go back there anyway.”

Ngobeni also admitted to City Press that he lacked South African legal qualification. However, he stated he was eligible to practice law through an exemption granted by the minister of justice, under the Recognition of Foreign Legal Qualifications and Practice Amendment Act of 1995.

“I believe the DA racist bastards are hiding behind so-called parliamentary privilege to abuse my name”, City Press quoted Ngobeni as saying.

I am a DA Councillor in the eThekwini Municipality (Durban). As Councillors we have no mandate or power to influence crime fighting but we do have a responsibility to mobilise our residents to ensure they participate in eradicating crime in their areas.

I would like to suggest to everyone that if you really do want to “take our country back” (from criminals) then you need to do more than sent a petition to the Minister of Police. The true commitment of the ANC government to the fight against crime is questionable and thus petitions are more than likely going to fall on deaf ears. Instead, as communities, we must thus work hand-in-hand with the police to ensure they do their jobs effectively.

Some might suggest however that “We pay tax and the Government should do its job!” but unfortunately the reality in the South Africa of the present is a little different. And that reality is unlikely to change until it is forced (http://warwickchapman.com/the-time-has-come-for-the-poor-to-vote-the-change-they-want).

So what we do in the meantime is get involved? There exists an under-resourced and poorly appreciated organization which every single South African who is at issue with the state of crime should be a member of: Your local Community Policing Forum (CPF). Effective CPFs have been shown all over South Africa to not only arm Police with the information they need to do their jobs but also to give lazy and corrupt Police less space to hide.

Your CPF is your answer to TAKING South Africa BACK. It just needs you to be actively involved.

How we’re going to stop crime in South Africa

Two months ago, Stuart Knight addressed the Westville Community Policing Forum. Stuart is a practical man with practical solutions. I’ve said before that Africa, and South Africa’s problems are not complex and that they just require practical and implementable solutions which are actually put into practice. Stuart’s message was clear. The police need as many eyes and ears as they can get and thus a CPF with 50 members is far less effective than a CPF with 3000 members.

Stuart was the chairman of the Town Hill (Pietermaritzburg) CPF for 5 years and in that period they supplied the SAPS with all the intelligence they needed to virtually eradicate crime from their area. Stuart contends that Town Hill police officers arrest far more people these days for minor offences such as piddling in public or crossing the road when the man is red than for the serious crimes of the past.

Another point Stuart made was that CPF’s are not a forum to bemoan the service of the Police. If you have an issue with the performance of your Police station, you need to take that up in the Police service through the correct channels. If you fail with that, go straight to the station commissioner and speak with them directly but if your intention is to run in there cursing and blinding then expect to be fobbed off.

Stuart’s address was refreshingly practical and possible. All of those people who are either victims of crime or don’t want to be should put a little time and energy into their CPF; feed a little intelligence to the Police; and be more caring toward those who have less than they do and the results may be beyond their wildest dreams.

Things you can do:
1. Attend your CPF meeting and take some people with you.
2. Put all the relevant emergency numbers on your cellphone, make sure you know 10111 and the number of your local SAPS office.
3. Report *anything* suspicious to the police:
3.1. Suspicious vehicles (make not of make, colour and plates)
3.2. Pedestrians with heavily laden bags (make note of clothing, build)
3.3. Any form of suspicious after hours activity
3.4. Crimes which suggest complicity of security companies
3.5. Make a note of the serial number of all expensive electronic equipment which could be stolen so it can be traced; without this pawn shops and dealers in stolen goods cannot be nailed

Most importantly, the number of people active in the CPF must grow. If you have 30000 residents in your area, you want 3000 members of your CPF and all its sub-forums. Those eyes and ears will feed the police with all the intelligence they need to stop crime in its tracks.

–
Warwick Chapman (Cllr)
083 7797 094
ward18@ethekwini.org

http://warwickchapman.com

A reply to a DA parliamentary question has revealed that Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) condoned the overfishing by many abalone rights holders on the eve of the closure of this fishery in February 2008. The total allowable catch for this period was exceeded by over 5000kg, with some fishers overfishing to levels that exceeded the individual annual quota of the average abalone fisher. This is yet another example of the severe mismanagement that this fishery has been subjected to by MCM.

The DA calls on the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mrs Buyelwa Sonjica, to investigate the management of the abalone fishery, which deteriorated under the watch of her predecessor, and to set up a clear strategy for the turnaround in its management.

The circumstances surrounding this over extraction of abalone followed Minister Van Schalkwyk’s decision to close the entire abalone fishery in October 2007. He however permitted one further Total Allowable Catch (TAC) during February 2008 totaling approximately 74000kg. The legal rights holders, of which 294 participated, were permitted to extract abalone in certain zones around Robben Island, the West Coast and Gansbaai.

The reply to the question revealed that 195 abalone fishers extracted more abalone than they were individually permitted to do. While small over-extractions can be condoned it is difficult to understand how 36 rights holders each exceeded their permitted quotas by more than 31 kg. In one case a rights holder’s overcatch was 367kg, a figure which should lead to a criminal case.

In this financial year MCM for will begin the Performance Review of rights holders in all fisheries that were awarded rights under the Long Term Rights Allocation process. Considering that this process, will among other things determine whether rights holders are using their rights in accordance with the prescribed standards, the recent revelation that MCM condoned overfishing in the abalone fishery makes a mockery of its attempts to ensure rights in other fisheries are being correctly utilized.

The abalone fishery is plagued by mismanagement. MCM has never delivered the social plan for abalone fishers affected by the decision to close the fishery. Poaching remains rampant, with many poachers acting brazenly in full view of the coast. The export of legally harvested abalone has in recent years not been accompanied by endorsements in terms of CITES requirements. This makes it difficult to determine the difference between legally and illegally harvested abalone. Further, there are serious question marks surrounding the handling of confiscated abalone, which was the subject of a recent report by the Auditor-General, which is to be discussed by SCOPA in early September. Lastly, and most importantly, the Minister has no ability to assess whether the fishery can be opened again, at least in certain zones, as there is no recent report from the relevant scientific working group, an action which should happen timeously each year.

Statement by Gareth Morgan MP, Shadow Minister of Wate and Environmental Affairs

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the suspension of the CEO of BloemWater, Ms. Nolene Morris. It has been reported on OFM that Morris has been suspended for among other things the alleged intimidation of employees, the manipulation of procedures and the misuse of company vehicles. A disciplinary panel must be instituted by the Board of BloemWater to fully investigate the allegations and to determine whether Ms Morris is fit to hold this critical post. The Chairman of the Board should then report back to the portfolio committee of Water and Environmental Affairs at the earliest possible convenience. The committee has in recent weeks been very preoccupied by problems and challenges faced by the 14 Water Boards of South Africa, of which BloemWater is one.

Ms Morris is the second significant official within the water governance sector to have allegations of mismanagement levelled against her in the last week. On Tuesday, Ms Pam Yako, the Director-General of Water Affairs, was placed on special leave by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs pending an investigation into alleged financial irregularities in the department.

The provision of water to municipalities by water boards is a critical development imperative, and it is therefore important that the right people are at the helm of these organisations. The CEO of BloemWater is responsible for overseeing the provision of water to municipalities in the Free State, the Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. BloemWater has plans to increase its area of supply, and to refurbish and replace much of its infrastructure over the next few financial years. Like all water boards it faces serious challenges in obtaining regular payment from small municipalities for the water it sells to them. Further, it faces serious challenges in treating the bulk water it obtains, particularly from the Caledon River, because of excessive siltation which is gradually making water treatment more costly.

All of these reasons make it particularly important that the allegations against the CEO are thoroughly investigated, and that a determination is made whether the current CEO is the correct person to lead BloemWater through its current and future challenges.

Co-operative governance minister, Sicelo Shiceka, has recently re-ignited the debate on the future of the provinces in our country. Citing poor delivery and high costs Shiceka has, for the first time put on the table the option of scrapping the provincial sphere of government altogether. It is no secret that the ANC has been lukewarm about the provinces ever since the constitutional negotiations. They would far prefer to see a highly centralized state where all planning and decision-making for every square inch of South Africa is done at a national level, this is also the driving force behind the Constitution 17th Amendment Bill. The constitutional implications alone of the latest proposal to scrap the provincial sphere are most worrying. The pseudo-federal provision for provinces in our constitution is an underpinning principle. To remove the provincial sphere on an ideological or partisan populist whim could have profoundly undesirable implications for our constitution and the future development of government and democracy in our country.

The ANC repeatedly point to their view that the provinces have not worked. This is a somewhat disingenuous argument, especially when, if the truth be told, the provinces have never really been given a fair shot at succeeding. The autonomy of provinces is very weak with their roles and functions often reduced to mere franchises or agencies of national government. The fact that provinces exist almost exclusively on money handed down from national, with little opportunity to raise their own revenue, does not help in breaking the master-servant mindset which currently exists. Expecting provinces to perform exceptionally under current circumstances is rather akin to expecting a stellar performance from a sprinter after his legs have been tied together. The legislative role of provinces has also to a large degree been hobbled by the ANC obsession with the primacy of national legislation. This almost always offers provinces very little chance of passing local versions of legislation to suit the unique environment, demographics, geography and political landscape of individual provinces. No two provinces are the same and there is great value in being able to devolve power from the centre to far more localized government structures. It is internationally accepted that government works best when power is devolved to the lowest possible level. It is certainly inconceivable to think that planning for a province as geographically and demographically diverse as KwaZulu-Natal could ever be effectively done in a one-size fits all approach from Pretoria. Just as ideas and initiatives which may work in Gauteng may not work in KwaZulu-Natal and vice-versa.

Shiceka has raised the issue of massive “cost-savings” which could be realized from scrapping the provinces. This issue is frankly a red herring and even the most rudimentary analysis of the facts soon reveals that this notion is pure fantasy. There is no way on earth that the ANC would politically or practically be able to simply terminate the services of the thousands of provincial employees across the country. Politically because the majority of these employees belong to ANC affiliated unions who would not take kindly to the move and practically because the impact on actual service delivery would be devastating. The only realistic cost savings would be as a result of closing down provincial legislatures which count for a miniscule portion of the overall provincial budgets anyway. There is no doubt, and here I do find some agreement with Schiceka, that many provinces are not working effectively and the pace of service delivery is non-existent or painfully slow. I would argue however that is largely because these administrations are riddled with incompetent officials who have been placed in their positions based not on experience or ability to perform the task, but rather on the party membership card in their pocket. The same applies to the political leadership. There are many instances across the country where the ANC simply refuse to take the hard decisions and get tough on incompetent or corrupt politicians. Instead these individuals are retained or shuffled into other positions where their behavior continues to cause even more harm to both the image of government and the public purse.

What Schiceka and the ANC fail to grasp is that the key to effective service delivery actually lies in strengthening the provincial sphere of government rather than weakening it. This can be done principally by allowing provinces a far more autonomous legislative mandate and the ability to adapt national legislation to more make localized decisions. By removing the straitjacket of centralized control and the one-size fits all approach, and allowing provinces more freedom to experiment with alternative models and methods of service delivery, could in fact result in new innovations and mechanisms to improve service delivery and the lives of the people of that province. This freedom could also engender a healthy competition between provinces, particularly when not all provinces are controlled by a single party, as each attempts to become a more attractive investment destination, this would inevitably result in reduced costs and overheads for business and consumers alike. This would also have to be accompanied by a wholesale clearing out of corrupt, incompetent and greedy officials and politicians who siphon funds from the mouths of the very people who need it the most. Simply throwing the baby out with the bathwater by getting rid of provinces is not going to solve the problems and could well exacerbate the service delivery crisis, plunge us into a constitutional crisis and remove government even further from the citizenry of our country. This cannot be in the best interests of democracy, plurality or the creation of an environment where government is truly accountable to the people.

With the impending appointment of Constitutional Court judges likely to test the uneasy relationship between politicians and the judiciary, the ANC has sparked a row by replacing the only opposition National Council of Provinces MP on the Judicial Service Commission with one of its members.

The Democratic Alliance says the move is “absolutely unacceptable”.

The convention of multi-party democracy and representativity had been broken and the ANC had used its majority position to abuse the constitution by replacing the DA’s Darryl Worth with an ANC member, the DA’s leaders in Parliament and the NCOP, Athol Trollip and Watty Watson respectively, said in a statement.

“With the upcoming interviews for new Constitutional Court judges, it is clear the ANC’s members are pushing out any opposing voices in a bid to ram through their own agenda,” they said.

“Despite the rhetoric of judicial independence and multi-party co-operation, these acts demonstrate that the ANC is merely paying lip-service to public opinion.”

Worth was replaced by the ANC’s Grace Borotho after resignations from the JSC of two ANC MPs in the NCOP.

At the end of Wednesday’s NCOP sitting, ANC Chief Whip Nosipho Ntwanambi proposed a motion without notice to re-elect the four delegates serving on the JSC.

The constitution provides that the four NCOP delegates be designated together by the council, with the support of at least six provinces.

The resignations therefore invoked the re-election of the others.

“The JSC is the official body charged with the responsibility of appointing judges and investigating complaints of misconduct against judges,” Trollip and Watson said.

“It is a critical institution that absolutely must be representative.

“It is clear that the motion (was) nothing more than a deliberate attempt to appoint ANC loyalists to the JSC in order to elect ANC loyalist judges.”

Ntwanambi said there was nothing untoward about replacing the DA’s MP.

The motion to reconstitute the delegation was not about the ANC, but what was in the best interests for the provinces.

“In the NCOP (the law) says four permanent delegates must be appointed (to serve on the JSC),” Ntwanambi said.

“To me it was not about filling vacancies, but what is in the best interests of the NCOP and putting in the right people.”

But the DA said: “The result is that all NCOP delegates to the JSC are now ANC members – a state of affairs that reflects just how determined the ANC is to deprive the opposition of its democratic right to representation on the JSC, and possibly push through partisan judicial candidates.”

The row comes hardly days after judges attending a judicial conference released a statement reaffirming their independence.

The JSC halted interviews for judges after Justice Minister Jeff Radebe requested a delay in June.

• This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Times on July 10, 2009

South Africa’s mix of English and Dutch law needs to be “Africanised” to make it more relevant, Cape Judge President John Hlophe said in Durban on Thursday night.

“I believe that people need law that embodies their own culture and their values. We need to Africanise our law and make it relevant to the masses. There is a huge void in our legal system,” he told a symposium organised by the Progressive Professional Network.

South Africa’s common law was a fusion of English and Dutch law, which had been imposed at the expense of indigenous law.

“If we do not transform the legal system we will have a problem because people will not identify with the system.

“We need to have the situation where people obey the law not because they fear being sent to jail, but because they feel that it is the right thing to do and something they are proud of.

” He said South Africans had a legitimate expectation for transformation in the judiciary.

“I describe transformation as change for the better. The society is crying out loud for transformation. The citizens have a legitimate expectation.

” He also believed that there was a need for courts to use African languages. “We expect courts to allow citizens to use their own languages.

The Constitution, in my view, imposes a duty on us to advance the use of African languages in courts.

” Using interpreters was not adequate, as “languages get diluted if interpreted”.

He called for judgments, especially those of the Constitutional Court, to be made more accessible.

“Just take out all the Latin expressions from the judgments and make them simple for people to understand.” — Sapa

Source: Mail & Guardian Online Web Address: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-07-10-hlophe-calls-for-africanisation-of-sa-law

Banks here in South Africa charge the consumer fees on every little item. You are charged if you use your ATM card at an ATM, if you use your debit card at a POS, you are charged a fee on every transaction in your bank account, they even charge you around R6 if you setup a direct debit to pay a creditor every month. The craziest thing I have ever heard is that they charge you to deposit money into your account, and they charge even more if that deposit is cash, where is the incentive for anyone with a CASH business to deposit their daily earnings in the bank.

I don’t think they realize that they need the consumer’s money to operate more than the consumer need to put their money in the bank. I have a credit card which I never use, it is purely for emergencies, they started by charging me R50 per month fee just for the “privilege” of having the card, I pay this fee every month but somehow the next month this R50 becomes R53 and so on as they charge a daily interest on the R50 monthly fee, so every month that “fee” is going to go up.

Now let’s compare that with the other market I know firsthand, the USA. When you open a checking account there it is free and no minimum balance is required and you are not charged for transactions. You are not charged for checks you write, not charged for deposits, you are only charged ATM fees if you use the ATM of another bank, you are not charged for direct debits or online banking. Granted there is no interest on these accounts but I would rather no receive interest on an account because the fees I am charged by banks in South Africa outweigh the benefits of receiving interest. You are not charged a fee for having a credit card and the interest if you have good credit can be as low as 3% with special offers like 0% for 12 months for purchases made before a certain date. The banks in the USA make their money from lending your money to consumers seeking loans; e.g. Home loans, cars etc. I don’t think banks here understand that they need the consumer’s money to operate, which is the money they use to make home loans, personal loans, car loans etc. They need us more than we need them.

The government really needs to look into the lack of competition in the industry and the fees we are charged. It must really hurt the people living from paycheck to paycheck because not only do they have to concern themselves with having enough money to pay bills but also make sure they have enough to cover all the fees.

Unofficial results on the KZN By-Elections held on June 24th, 2009 are as follows:

• Pietermaritzburg with 90%

• Umhlanga with 91.4%

• Westville / Pinetown with 83.5%

• Durban North with 75% of the votes

Well done Warwick Chapman and the DA for your double digit wins in PMB, Umhlanga, Dbn North, Westville / Pinetown. You are going to make a great councilor Warwick.

South Africa should scrap its drive to give black people a slice of the white-dominated economy because it stifles growth and spurs corruption, the brother of the country’s former president said on Friday.

Political commentator, entrepreneur, journalist and critic of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Moeletsi Mbeki believes the affirmative action policies championed by his brother Thabo have entrenched the rich-poor divide in Africa’s biggest economy and could lead to an explosion of violence.

MOELETSI MBEKI

“If you made me president of South Africa, the first thing I would do would be to scrap everything to do with black economic empowerment [BEE],” Mbeki told Reuters in an interview following the publication of his book on economic policy in Africa, Architects of Poverty.

“If we keep going with these policies, the question is what will collapse first, BEE or the economy, or the country?”

As part of a push to right the wrongs of apartheid and give blacks a stake of the economy, South Africa requires firms to meet quotas on black ownership, employment and procurement.

The government argues its policy offsets the racism of the past and stimulates the economy by creating a black middle class hungry for its own homes, cars and designer clothes.

But the cracks are beginning to show. Several black empowerment deals have collapsed as the global crisis has caused the value of shares used as collateral to fall, and critics argue the drive has enriched a small black elite while doing nothing to boost South Africa’s economy.

Mbeki (63) goes further. He says the policy entrenches the country’s shocking economic inequalities by creating a culture of cronyism and entitlement that discourages black entrepreneurship and education, keeping millions in poverty.

“BEE tells blacks — ‘you don’t have to build your own business, you don’t have to take risk, the whites will give you a job and shares in their company’,” he said.

“I blame the ANC for buying into this story that instead of blacks working hard … they should be given a free ride.”

Corruption
Mbeki, who worked as a journalist and trade unionist before starting his own construction, media and agriculture firms, also argues that black empowerment has encouraged corruption, with lawmakers reportedly rigging tenders to benefit associates.

He says white “business oligarchs” are complicit because they use the policy to keep a few members of the black elite happy while still dominating the economy 15 years after the fall of apartheid.

South Africa’s new president, Jacob Zuma, himself the target of a corruption case until it was dropped on a technicality just before the election that brought him to power in April, has vowed to tackle graft but has no plans to ditch empowerment.

Mbeki argues that unless South Africa axes the policy in favour of a broader skills development drive, South Africa’s underclass, crammed into vast settlements of rickety shacks with no water or electricity, will balloon and eventually turn on the elite.

Rampant levels of crime and last year’s attacks on foreigners in the townships are warning signs, he said.

Asked if he discussed black empowerment with Thabo before he was ousted as president by the ANC last year, Mbeki laughed: “No, he was the driver of these policies,” he said. “My brother knows I have been opposing this for some time, but this is what he decided to do.” — Reuters