R1m Breakfasts - Sponsored by Eskom, SABC & Transnet

[House]

Drie van die land se grootste maatskappye in staatsbesit dok miljoene rande op om sake-ontbyte van die Gupta-familie, boesemvriende van pres. Jacob Zuma, te finansier.

Die Guptas is die eienaars van die koerant The New Age, wat by sy reeks sake-ontbyte al gasheer was vir sprekers soos *Zuma, Jeff Radebe, minister van justisie, en Malusi Gigaba, minister van openbare ondernemings.

Transnet het al R17,5 miljoen vir 18 ontbytsessies opgedok, Eskom het tussen November en einde verlede jaar R7,2 miljoen betaal om ses sessies (teen R1,2 miljoen elk) te borg; en die SAUK het die koerant nie ’n sent gevra om hul ontbyte regstreeks op SABC2 uit te saai nie.

Vroeër is berig dat Telkom in die 2012-’13-boekjaar altesame R12 miljoen opgedok het om 12 van dié sake-ontbyte te borg.

Dié onthullings kom in dieselfde week dat die Nasionale Energiereguleerder (Nersa) openbare verhore gehou het oor Eskom se voorgestelde kragverhoging van 16%.

Eskom se borgskap van die ontbyte van The New Age is betaal uit sy begroting vir die 49M-inisiatief vir energiedoeltreffendheid.

Gary Naidoo, woordvoerder van die Guptas, sê hy vind die ***us op sy kliënte “baie vreemd en oneties”.

“Dieselfde kliënte verskyn in jul koerant en dit lyk asof jul vrae gemotiveer word deur ’n vrees vir ’n verlies aan markaandeel. Dit blyk jul motief is om ’n *afskrikmiddel te vind vir dié kliënte wat inkoop by ons visie van ‘trots Suid-Afrikaans’, en dat dit heeltemal onafhanklik is van die publikasie van gebalanseerde nuus.”

Die multimiljoenrand-borgskappe het aan die lig gekom in Gigaba se antwoorde in die parlement op vrae deur Kenneth Mubu, DA-LP. Mubu het gesê The New Age is ’n “ANC-nuusblad” en Transnet en Eskom se verhouding met The New Age tas die regering se beeld aan.

“The New Age se eienaars het ’n baie noue en gemoedelike verhouding met pres. Zuma,” het Mubu gesê.

Hy meen dis verkeerd dat die regering die koerant se sake-ontbyte finansier.

Zuma is ’n familievriend van die Guptas en Zuma se seun Duduzane dien in minstens *nege rade saam met Gupta-familielede, waaronder dié van Sahara Holdings en Shiva *Uranium.

Een van Zuma se vroue, *Bongi Ngema, is die hoof van kommunikasie en bemarking by die Guptas se JIC Mining Ser*vices.

In November het Mail & Guardian berig daar is “drie stelle Gupta-vingerafdrukke” op ’n verband van R3,8 miljoen op eiendom in Waterkloofrif wat aan Ngema behoort.

Transnet en Eskom het die afgelope week hul borgskap van die ontbytsessies verdedig. Hilary Joffe, woordvoerder van Eskom, sê die maatskappy het besluit om die sessies te borg ná wedersydse besprekings wat ’n geruime tyd geduur het.

Transnet en Eskom beweer hul borgskap het “leierskap in denke” en “die noodsaak om krag te bespaar” aangemoedig, asook hul handelsnaam gebou.

Transnet het tussen Oktober 2011 en November verlede jaar meer as R8,5?miljoen aan advertensies in The New Age bestee, luidens dokumente in die besit van City Press, Rapport se susterkoerant.

Kaizer Kganyago, SAUK-woordvoerder, sê die ooreenkoms tussen die SAUK en The New Age is ’n “wen-wen-ooreenkoms omdat ons inhoud verkry wat ons help om die publiek in te lig”.

http://www.rapport.co.za/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Brekfis-vir-R37-m-20130119

Will look for an English version as well...

Sorry, just saw it here on MyBB as well - http://mybroadband.co.za/news/busin...et-spent-r37m-on-gupta-breakfasts-report.html

 

[Brawler]

Do any of those parastatals actually have a cent to spend?

 

[FaSMaN]

Sorry but my afrikaans really isnt that great anymore, but does that article say Transnet spent R17,5 Million for 18 breakfasts, some as much as R1.2 Million, No Fcken wonder there bankrupt...

How on earth do you host a breakfast worth R1.2 Mil anyway, do they use solid gold cutlery and the guests get to take them home when there done or something or feed a super secret army the government has hidden from us how about feeding the entire ANC all at once, how on earth do they do it?

 

[MickeyD]

3rd thread for this today...

 

[LazyLion]

New Age Breakfasts are publicly funded, Zille pulls out

http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics...reakfasts-are-publicly-funded-zille-pulls-out

DA leader Helen Zille pulled out of a New Age Business Breakfast on Monday following reports that the event was funded with public money.

"I, and other senior DA colleagues, have previously spoken at the New Age Business Breakfasts, under the assumption that the events were funded by the newspaper and by the members of the public who purchase tickets to attend," Zille said in a statement.

"Now that it has come to light that the breakfasts are funded by public money via the SOEs [state-owned companies] to the tune of millions of rand, the DA cannot continue to participate."

City Press reported on Sunday that some the biggest state-owned companies were paying millions of rands to bankroll the business breakfasts hosted by the Gupta family.

According to the report, Transnet paid R17.5 million for 18 breakfast sessions and Eskom R7.2 million to sponsor six sessions between November 2011 and last year.

It was previously reported that Telkom sponsored 12 business breakfasts to the tune of R12 million in the 2012/13 financial year, according to the newspaper.

The SABC reportedly did not charge The New Age a cent to broadcast their breakfasts live on SABC2.

Zille said she wrote a letter to The New Age editor Moegsien Williams on Monday morning informing him of her decision.

"These breakfasts must be very profitable for the New Age, which is owned by the Gupta family, who are in turn vocal supporters and funders of the ANC and President Jacob Zuma," she said.

"It is not acceptable or defensible for public money to be used to bankroll a privately owned newspaper, and indirectly the coffers of the ANC."

This was especially true for Eskom, which was asking the public to pay more for electricity.

The New Age's chief executive Nazeem Howa responded to the City Press in Monday's edition of his newspaper.

"The latest attack on us in City Press yesterday comes at a time when we are starting to enjoy the fruits of our first two years of publishing... Our intentions are clear and public -- we will be a major publishing force and we will challenge the incumbents in their negative approach to reporting on our new democracy," Howa said in a comment published on the newspaper's front page.

"We know that the attacks on us will increase as the impact we make in the market grows."

Good for her and the DA!

 

[intel8080]

WHERE IS THE SECRECY BILL ! ! ! Read my lips: S.E.C.R.E.C.Y. B.I.L.L We want it and we want it NOW !

 

[Fulcrum29]

WHERE IS THE SECRECY BILL ! ! ! Read my lips: S.E.C.R.E.C.Y. B.I.L.L We want it and we want it NOW !

Who else supports the secrecy bill and why?

 

[doubletrouble]

"I, and other senior DA colleagues, have previously spoken at the New Age Business Breakfasts, under the assumption that the events were funded by the newspaper and by the members of the public who purchase tickets to attend," Zille said in a statement.

2 February 2012: Mr Clyde Rossouw, representing Telkom, the sponsor of this breakfast today. Thank you very much for enabling this to happen

The new age tweeted zille with these quotes with the heading "Zille's double talk"

Seems that these two will be going head to head.

*gets popcorn and awaits further developments*

 

[akescpt]

what are they eating? donner, i want that food.

 

[Redeemed]

There's apparently a clip of Zille at one of the breakfasts where she thanks Telkom for the sponsorship.

 

[Fudzy]

Yep, she's trying to save face now. I asked her on Twitter but the tweet has subsequently disapeared. Will ask again.

PS. This is also a very good deflection for her over the state of the farming strikes in the WC.

 

[Nerfherder]

Yep, she's trying to save face now. I asked her on Twitter but the tweet has subsequently disapeared. Will ask again.

PS. This is also a very good deflection for her over the state of the farming strikes in the WC.

This is why I hate these over the top attack tactics.... they always backfire in some way.

 

[LazyLion]

There's apparently a clip of Zille at one of the breakfasts where she thanks Telkom for the sponsorship.

Yep, she's trying to save face now. I asked her on Twitter but the tweet has subsequently disapeared. Will ask again.

Um, she wasn't take issue with the sponsorship, but with the AMOUNT of the sponsorship. Learn to read the details.

 

[Fudzy]

Um, she wasn't take issue with the sponsorship, but with the AMOUNT of the sponsorship. Learn to read the details.

Except she said this:

"I, and other senior DA colleagues, have previously spoken at the New Age Business Breakfasts, under the assumption that the events were funded by the newspaper and by the members of the public who purchase tickets to attend," Zille said in a statement.

 

[LazyLion]

Except she said this:

So what?

 

[Fudzy]

So what?

So what? I just disproved what you were trying to spindoctor earlier on.

 

[LazyLion]

So what? I just disproved what you were trying to spindoctor earlier on.

Sorry, I don't know which planet you come from or which drugs you have been hitting today, but that proves absolutely diddly squat.

...under the assumption that the events were funded by the newspaper and by the members of the public who purchase tickets to attend...

Is her saying that previously she thought the Breakfasts were being paid for by the New Age (and maybe a few small sponsors had contributed something).
Those members of the public who were there (read: ANC lackeys) must have paid for tickets to be there.

At least that was the impression she was under previously... only to find out that the Parastatals (Which are owned by the government) and are making money off you and I, are actually taking that public money and giving LOADS and WADS and OODLES of it to the New Age Newspaper.

Now maybe you are not a tax paying citizen, or maybe you don't care that Telkom and Eskom keep raising prices on you only to throw that money at a newspaper which is supporting the corrupt ruling party... but a lot of us have a major problem with that.

 

[Fudzy]

Sorry, I don't know which planet you come from or which drugs you have been hitting today, but that proves absolutely diddly squat.

Is her saying that previously she thought the Breakfasts were being paid for by the New Age (and maybe a few small sponsors had contributed something).
Those members of the public who were there (read: ANC lackeys) must have paid for tickets to be there.

At least that was the impression she was under previously... only to find out that the Parastatals (Which are owned by the government) and are making money off you and I, are actually taking that public money and giving LOADS and WADS and OODLES of it to the New Age Newspaper.

Now maybe you are not a tax paying citizen, or maybe you don't care that Telkom and Eskom keep raising prices on you only to throw that money at a newspaper which is supporting the corrupt ruling party... but a lot of us have a major problem with that.

If she was under the assumption that it was funded by the newspaper and by members of the public. Why did she thank Telkom for sponsoring it?

I figure that those figures are quite small compared to some of the other sponsorship deals out there. Think of all the other events these companies might sponsor.

 

[LazyLion]

If she was under the assumption that it was funded by the newspaper and by members of the public. Why did she thank Telkom for sponsoring it?

There have been a lot of these breakfasts. You are trying to fit all her responses into one single event that the New Age is trying to use to obfuscate the real issue here which is THAT GOVERNMENT OWNED ENTERPRISES ARE GIVING TONS OF THEIR (OUR) MONEY TO A NEWSPAPER WITH THE SPOKEN GOAL OF SUPPORTING THE RULING PARTY.

I guess people who have their heads so far up the ANC's manure chute don't really see a problem with that.

 

[Fudzy]

There have been a lot of these breakfasts. You are trying to fit all her responses into one single event that the New Age is trying to use to obfuscate the real issue here which is THAT GOVERNMENT OWNED ENTERPRISES ARE GIVING TONS OF THEIR (OUR) MONEY TO A NEWSPAPER WITH THE SPOKEN GOAL OF SUPPORTING THE RULING PARTY.

I guess people who have their heads so far up the ANC's manure chute don't really see a problem with that.

Well the last breakfast was the previous Big Breakfast sponsored by The New Age, Telkom etc, you could see the logos in the background of Zille when she thanked the sponsors.

But anyway seeing as you're trying so hard to save face by changing the subject I'll entertain you. Do you know how much money these parastatals spend on other events?