SA Politics Thread Part 11: The GNU Normal

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ToxicBunny said:
Much as I don't like the decision, it is also actually the right one given that they don't really have "jurisidiction" over what someone says before they're an MP.

The exposing of these utterances should of course engender a warning to Gayton to watch his words at the very least though.
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That’s fine. What about the DA bloke then? His comments were before he was an MP. But because he is white… it was a massive issue.
 
TheChamp said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1955111303468433574
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"some say" :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL:

It's getting harder and harder to take Spews24 seriously nowadays.

Has Pietertjie wiped his chin yet? The ANC-juice was just dripping from his mouth. Do you think he has located the origins of that famous chart by now? :laugh:

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Priapus said:
That’s fine. What about the DA bloke then? His comments were before he was an MP. But because he is white… it was a massive issue.
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No disagreement, but that wasn't the Ethics Committee that dealt with it from what I remember, it was the DA themselves.
 
ToxicBunny said:
No disagreement, but that wasn't the Ethics Committee that dealt with it from what I remember, it was the DA themselves.
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True. I do think the DA should have come to the same conclusion considering the video was out of context. But then he didn’t help himself on how he handled it.
 
Priapus said:
True. I do think the DA should have come to the same conclusion considering the video was out of context. But then he didn’t help himself on how he handled it.
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In an ideal world yeah, but the DA are held to different standards and such unfortunately...

Granted, the DA are just racist regardless according to the Twitsphere.
 
MalcomZ said:
Good morning!

Plans are underway to rename Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape to iCawa or iCoyi, the Kowie River to iQoyi, and Alexandria to Nkosi Chungwa or eMnyameni.

Heart palpitations incoming. 🤣
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I like how all the EC government is good for is renaming things...

No wonder people now refer to EC as "Cutting Edge"...
 

Three words. Cadre Deployment Committee.

  • There is confusion over the status of the announcement of the board for the new Transport Economic Regulator after the announcement was quietly deleted from the Cabinet statement.
  • The TER will be a crucial institution for price-setting, competition, and subsidy policy as government restructures the sector
  • Many of the appointments are “not suitable” say industry players.
  • For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
The appointment of the inaugural board of the new Transport Economic Regulator (TER) has caused alarm in business circles, as several people with no evident transport experience and others with questions over their reputations have been included.

Among them is a former Transnet executive during the state capture period who was suspended and then given a golden handshake, an accountant who runs a consultancy with no online presence and is a director of the SA Weather Service, and a manager-turned-consultant who was recently on the board of Boxing SA and then headed the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) for a month, despite having no experience in the film sector.

Establishing the TER is one of the most important reforms of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s economic reform programme. It involves establishing a transparent regulatory framework for all modes of transport, including rail, road, and aviation.

The regulator will make crucial competition, pricing, and government subsidies decisions. It is a critical part of the unbundling of Transnet.


The Cabinet approved the appointments at its meeting last week, according to Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, and published the list of names last Thursday. However, by Friday, the names had been removed from the online version of the statement, but without an explanation or notice of a correction or withdrawal.

Spokesperson for Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy, who is responsible for the TER, Collen Msibi, said Creecy had decided that the decision on the TER “should go back to the Cabinet”.

By way of explanation of what had occurred, Msibi pointed out that the Cabinet statement included a qualifier stating that “all appointments are subject to the verification of qualifications and relevant security clearances”.

The statement announced that economist Ethel Teljeur, who has extensive experience in economic regulation and heads the consultancy Lungiswa Energy, would head the TER. Her business partner, Fatima Sheikh, an economist with expertise in regulation and tariff setting, was appointed to the board. While they do have notable regulatory experience, it is unusual to have two members of the same company serving on a regulator’s board.


The most controversial appointment is Ravi Nair, who was the CEO of Transnet Freight Rail from 2015 to 2019. This period coincided with the height of state capture, when TFR procured the controversial 1 068 locomotives from China’s CRRC. The contracts were subsequently set aside by a court for being irregular, leading to an ongoing dispute with CRRC over spare parts, which has crippled Transnet. Nair was directly implicated at the Zondo Commission into State Capture for appointing the sister of then-minister of public enterprises, Malusi Gigaba, to a position in Transnet.

Contacted by phone on Monday, Nair said that Transnet had not presented any disciplinary charges against him. Shortly after his suspension in 2019, he was offered a settlement. He said he had applied for a position on the TER because of his lifelong rail experience and that by the time he left Transnet, the company had achieved its highest rail volumes.

The fourth director of the TER is Balebetje Zondi, a CA who runs her own consultancy, ORI Professionals, an advisory firm seeking to provide “the personal touch” instead of “a report-generating exercise”. Zondi’s firm does not have a website. She serves on the board of the SA Weather Service.

Another director without transport experience is Vincent Blennies, appointed as a director of Boxing SA by the Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture Gayton McKenzie last December. In April, he stepped down from Boxing SA for McKenzie to appoint him as CEO of the NFVF, where he lasted for a bit more than a month, resigning without explanation.

His resignation followed reports of excessive spending by NFVF officials at the Cannes Film Festival, which McKenzie had expressly prohibited.

Neither Blennies nor Zondi could be reached, but comment will be included should it become available.


The sixth and last board member is Pretoria attorney Lucky Thekisho, who has previously served on the Cross Border Road Transport Agency board. In 2016, Thekisho had a run-in with Parliament’s Committee on Communications, where, as the lawyer representing the SABC, he refused to hand over several documents, one of which pertained to the appointment of the controversial former Chief Operating Officer of the SABC, Hlaudi Motsoeneng. Some of the documents were later handed over; however, Thekisho came in for scathing criticism from Parliament for “wasting its time”.

The botched announcement of the TER board follows a similar incident last month when the Cabinet announced a new board of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which included a businessman who was involved in a court battle with the company over a R70-million debt. On that occasion, the Cabinet issued a correction the same day the statement was issued.

University of Stellenbosch Professor Jan Havenga said he was aghast at some of the names on the list. “Establishing the transport regulator is going to be extremely difficult. It must decide how to subsidise transport and set tariffs. Some of the names I have seen are just unsuitable,” he said.
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