Dan Roodt, Author at praag.co.za

Alexander Forbes is ‘rassiste’

Die Black Management Forum (BMF) het gister te velde getrek teen die aanstelling van Bruce Campbell as uitvoerende voorsitter van Alexander Forbes om “’n ogie te hou” oor Peter Moyo, die uitvoerende hoof van die maatskappy. Volgens die BMF is dit ’n voorbeeld van “diepgewortelde rassisme.”

Jimmy Manyi, voorsitter van die organisasie, meen Campbell se aanstelling is “’n belediging vir swart mense oor die algemeen en vir Peter Moyo in die besonder.”

Alexander Forbes is die land se grootste pensioenfondsadministrateur. Manyi meen die instelling maak hom skuldig aan die soort rassisme wat swart mense as “inherent minderwaardig, middelmatig en onbekwaam“ tipeer. Steven Friedman, analis van IDASA, stem met hierdie kritiek saam. “Daar is ’n wydverspreide geloof dat die aanwesigheid van swart mense in die sakewêreld net vertoon is,“ het hy gister gesê.

Die aktivis en politieke kommentator Rhoda Kadalie meen egter die aanstelling van Campbell het niks met rassisme uit te waai nie. “Mens gaan tog vir die beste.“ Volgens haar laat die kwaliteit van aanstellings in Suid-Afrika veel te wense oor omdat mense slegs op grond van hulle ras aangestel word.

In Mei vanjaar het Manyi, wat ook voorsitter is van die Gelyke Indiensnemingskommissie, die nuus gehaal toe hy gesê het dat dit ’n mite is dat daar ’n gebrek aan vaardighede by swart mense is. Hy het gister tydens ’n toespraak in die parlement sy stelling herhaal. Volgens hom word bestaande vaardighede net nie reg aangewend nie.

Bruce Campbell was vroeër verbonde aan Mutual & Federal. Die besluit om hom aan te stel, is deur Actis gemaak. Actis het onlangs Alexander Forbes aangekoop in ’n transaksie wat R8,4 miljard werd was.

Actis wou nie op die redes vir Campbell se aanstelling kommentaar lewer nie.

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Mugabe gul ontvang

‘n Helde-ontvangs

Robert Mugabe is vandag gul ontvang met die opening van die Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelingsgemeenskap se spitsberaad in die hoofstad van Zambië, Lusaka. Levy Mwanawasa, voorsitter van Malawi, het deelnemers gemaan om nie Zimbabwe se krisis buite verband te ruk nie en om die politieke en ekonomiese probleme "in gedagte te hou".

Die waarderende gehoor het lank hande geklap toe Mugabe sy verskyning in die saal gemaak het. Die spitsberaad duur twee dae en word deur die staatshoofde van al die SAOG-lande bygewoon.

Die lande in die Gemeenskap is al by verskeie geleenthede gekritiseer omdat hulle nie ferm genoeg teen Mugabe optree nie. Alhoewel Mwanawasa Zimbabwe met die Titanic vergelyk het, het hy gevra dat Zimbabiërs "saamstaan om hul onafhanklikheid te beskerm".

"Vrede en stabiliteit moet ten alle koste bewaar word," het die Zambiese president aan die hand gedoen. Die Gemeenskap het Thabo Mbeki in Maart afgevaardig om weer met Zimbabwe in gesprek te tree. Die sekretaris-generaal Tomaz Salomao van Mosambiek, is by dieselfde geleentheid gevra om ‘n ekonomiese verslag oor Zimbabwe op te stel.

Waai vir Mugabe

Mbeki en Salomao sal tydens die spitsberaad verslag doen aan die Gemeenskap. Woensdagaand het Salomao aan die pers te kenne gegee dat Westerse sanksies deels verantwoordelik is vir die haglike toestande wat in Zimbabwe heers.

"Alhoewel die internasionale gemeenskap weier om dit te erken, funksioneer Zimbabwe met sanksies," het hy tydens ‘n nuuskonferensie gesê. Salomao het vertel dat hy met meer as ‘n 100 Zimbabwiërs uit alle sektore van die ekonomie onderhoude gevoer het en dat hulle sy aanname bevestig het.

Hy het ook bygevoeg dat dit uiters moeilik is om die ekonomie van die politiek te skei in die land en dat die twee verstrengel is. Die EU het in 2002 sanksies ingestel en die elite mag nie na Europa reis nie. Hul bankrekeninge is ook bevries. Wapenverkope aan Harare is verbode. Dieselfde maatreëls is deur die VSA aanvaar.

Patrick Chinamasa, minister van Justisie van Zimbabwe, het gesê dat sy land nie onregeerbaar is nie en dat soortgelyke stellings van alle waarheid ontbloot is. Hy het voortgegaan en gesê dat sy land ook geen politieke hervorming nodig het nie. "Ons het ‘n demokrasie soos al die ander. Ek sien nie ‘n stelsel wat meer regverdig en deursigtig is as ons s’n nie."

NATO warns of war in Kosovo

Serbia-NATO’s commander in Kosovo said Tuesday that patience is running out in the volatile province and he warned of further deterioration if international envoys fail to persuade ethnic Albanians and Serbia to agree on its future.

German Lt. Gen. Roland Kather, who commands over 16,000 troops in Kosovo, urged Western and Russian envoys to broker a deal between the independence seeking ethnic-Albanians and Serbia’s officials or risk facing a violent backlash if no agreement is reached.

"Patience is not endless," Kather said. "They should come up with a decision as soon as possible."

Last week envoys from United States, the European Union and Russia launched a 120-day effort to end the impasse over Kosovo.

The new effort follows Russia’s threat to block a Western-backed plan to grant Kosovo internationally supervised independence in the U.N. Security Council.

The diplomats are to report back to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by Dec. 10.

Kather said the situation was quiet in the province of some two million people but added it was "unpredictable."

"Certainly the situation will deteriorate after those 120 days," Kather said. "We have to do everything possible to keep it under control."

The delay in resolving Kosovo’s political status has raised fears of renewed violence as the frustration among the majority ethnic Albanians grows in the absence of a decision over its future, eight years into U.N. and NATO administration.

"My main worry is that following some kind of … political trouble, there will be some individuals, there will be some extremists, there will be some frustration," Kather said.

"They need a fuse, and then they might come up with some violent actions. That of course, will cause a reaction … and then suddenly this violence might run out of control," he said.

Both sides in the talks have expressed doubt an agreement will be reached and prospects for compromise are slim. Kosovo’s Albanians continue to insist on full independence from Serbia, an outcome Belgrade opposes.

Over the weekend the EU envoy to the talks said that partitioning the province along ethnic lines was an option if ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders agreed, and threatened to deny the possibility of EU membership if the sides failed to compromise.

The two sides are to hold the next round of talks with international envoys Aug. 30 in Vienna, Austria.

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Groot betoging op 24 September teen Pretoriase naamsverandering

PRAAG en die GHA (Genootskap vir die Handhawing vir Afrikaans) beplan ’n groot betoging op 24 September 2007 teen die Pretoriase naamsverandering, maar veral teen die gebruik van die gehate naam “Tshwane” op die TV-nuus van die SAUK.

Tot dusver het die GHA reeds 90 000 name ingesamel van mense wat teen die gebruik van die ongewenste naam op die TV gekant is. PRAAG het ook etlike duisende name op die internet ingesamel teen die naamsverandering. In die aanloop tot 24 September sal nog petisies egter geteken word.

Alle Afrikaanse organisasies word uitgenooi om aan hierdie betoging deel te neem. Hoewel die hoofkwessie die uittartende gebruik van onsinnige name vir Pretoria op die SAUK is, kan afvaardigings van Potchefstroom, Louis Trichardt en ander dorpe of stede waarvan die name verander is of verander gaan word, teen sulke plaaslike naamsveranderings betoog.

Daar word ook beplan om TV-stelle voor die SAUK stukkend te gooi om ons misnoeë met die irriterende gebruik van fiktiewe name deur dié organisasie te kenne te gee. Dr. Dan Roodt van PRAAG het hom reeds uitgespreek ten gunste van ’n algehele boikot sover dit die betaling van TV-lisensies betref.

Die naamstryde is besig om ’n belangrike mobiliserende uitwerking op die Afrikanerbevolking te hê. Die vorige betoging teen die naamsverandering in Pretoria was ’n reuse-sukses met 5 000 mense wat daaraan deelgeneem het. Intussen het die Afro-fascistiese ANC-regime wat so hand om die blaas met die geklike Mugabe-bewind is, net verder gegaan in sy arrogante afdwing van ongewilde naamsveranderings wat bedoel is om die Afrikaner te verneder en hom onwelkom in sy eie land te laat voel.

Tot dusver het die SAUK nog geensins op enige skrywes of beswaarskrifte gereageer nie. Op Dinsdag 14 Augustus het dr. Dan Roodt van PRAAG en mnr. André Alkema van die GHA die SAUK besoek en gepoog om mnr. Dali Mpofu, Snuki Zikalala of enige van hul verteenwoordigers te siene te kry. Verskeie oproepe vanuit die voorportaal van die SAUK het vrugteloos geblyk. Die SAUK ignoreer die bykans 100 000 mense wat reeds hul teenkanting teen die ge-tshwane op TV uitgespreek het en bejeën die Afrikanerbevolking wat ’n groot deel van sy lisensiegeld betaal met die grootste minagting.

Ook op 14 Augustus het Roodt en Alkema die Johannesburgse munisipaliteit aangedurf en van een munisipale gebou na ’n ander gery in ’n poging om toestemming vir die betoging op 24 September te kry. Blykbaar sal die SAUK genoodsaak wees om kennis te neem van die betoging en beswaar teen sy naamspeletjies indien die Johannesburgse metroraad hom daaroor kontak.

Hoewel Dinsdag ’n vrugtelose oefening geblyk het, omdat nóg die SAUK, nóg die Johannesburgse metro blykbaar oor enige senior amptenare beskik wat tydens kantoorure op kantoor is, is daar intussen met die Johannesburgse metropolisie kontak gemaak en die nodige vorms vir die reël van ’n wettige betoging is verkry. Die vorms sal aanstaande week ingehandig word en ‘n beplanningsvergadering rondom die betoging sal met amptenare van die Johannesburgse metro, asook die metropolisie, gehou word.

Daar word nou volstoom georganiseer aan die betoging wat op Erfenisdag 24 September 2007 sal plaasvind. Die plan is om langs die McDonalds om 10-uur die oggend op die hoek van D.F. Malanrylaan en Kingsway bymekaar te kom en van daar af na die SAUK te stap waar die petisie oorhandig en die televisiestelle stukkend gegooi sal word.

Belangstellendes kan ‘n epos stuur na inlig@praag.org.

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Iranian unit labeled ‘terrorist’

The United States has decided to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a "specially designated global terrorist," according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group’s business operations and finances.

The Bush administration has chosen to move against the Revolutionary Guard Corps because of what U.S. officials have described as its growing involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as its support for extremists throughout the Middle East, the sources said. The decision follows congressional pressure on the administration to toughen its stance against Tehran, as well as U.S. frustration with the ineffectiveness of U.N. resolutions against Iran’s nuclear program, officials said.

The designation of the Revolutionary Guard will be made under Executive Order 13224, which President Bush signed two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to obstruct terrorist funding. It authorizes the United States to identify individuals, businesses, charities and extremist groups engaged in terrorist activities. The Revolutionary Guard would be the first national military branch included on the list, U.S. officials said — a highly unusual move because it is part of a government, rather than a typical non-state terrorist organization.

The order allows the United States to block the assets of terrorists and to disrupt operations by foreign businesses that "provide support, services or assistance to, or otherwise associate with, terrorists."

The move reflects escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran over issues including Iraq and Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran has been on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1984, but in May the two countries began their first formal one-on-one dialogue in 28 years with a meeting of diplomats in Baghdad.

The main goal of the new designation is to clamp down on the Revolutionary Guard’s vast business network, as well as on foreign companies conducting business linked to the military unit and its personnel. The administration plans to list many of the Revolutionary Guard’s financial operations.

"Anyone doing business with these people will have to reevaluate their actions immediately," said a U.S. official familiar with the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced. "It increases the risks of people who have until now ignored the growing list of sanctions against the Iranians. It makes clear to everyone who the IRGC and their related businesses really are. It removes the excuses for doing business with these people."

For weeks, the Bush administration has been debating whether to target the Revolutionary Guard Corps in full, or only its Quds Force wing, which U.S. officials have linked to the growing flow of explosives, roadside bombs, rockets and other arms to Shiite militias in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Quds Force also lends support to Shiite allies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and to Sunni movements such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Although administration discussions continue, the initial decision is to target the entire Guard Corps, U.S. officials said. The administration has not yet decided when to announce the new measure, but officials said they would prefer to do so before the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly next month, when the United States intends to increase international pressure against Iran.

Formed in 1979 and originally tasked with protecting the world’s only modern theocracy, the Revolutionary Guard took the lead in battling Iraq during the bloody Iran-Iraq war waged from 1980 to 1988. The Guard, also known as the Pasdaran, has since become a powerful political and economic force in Iran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rose through the ranks of the Revolutionary Guard and came to power with support from its network of veterans. Its leaders are linked to many mainstream businesses in Iran.

"They are heavily involved in everything from pharmaceuticals to telecommunications and pipelines — even the new Imam Khomeini Airport and a great deal of smuggling," said Ray Takeyh of the Council on Foreign Relations. "Many of the front companies engaged in procuring nuclear technology are owned and run by the Revolutionary Guards. They’re developing along the lines of the Chinese military, which is involved in many business enterprises. It’s a huge business conglomeration."

The Revolutionary Guard Corps — with its own navy, air force, ground forces and special forces units — is a rival to Iran’s conventional troops. Its naval forces abducted 15 British sailors and marines this spring, sparking an international crisis, and its special forces armed Lebanon’s Hezbollah with missiles used against Israel in the 2006 war. The corps also plays a key role in Iran’s military industries, including the attempted acquisition of nuclear weapons and surface-to-surface missiles, according to Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The United States took punitive action against Iran after the November 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, including the breaking of diplomatic ties and the freezing of Iranian assets in the United States. More recently, dozens of international banks and financial institutions reduced or eliminated their business with Iran after a quiet campaign by the Treasury Department and State Department aimed at limiting Tehran’s access to the international financial system. Over the past year, two U.N. resolutions have targeted the assets and movements of 28 people — including some Revolutionary Guard members — linked to Iran’s nuclear program.

The key obstacle to stronger international pressure against Tehran has been China, Iran’s largest trading partner. After the Iranian government refused to comply with two U.N. Security Council resolutions dealing with its nuclear program, Beijing balked at a U.S. proposal for a resolution that would have sanctioned the Revolutionary Guard, U.S. officials said.

China’s actions reverse a cycle during which Russia was the most reluctant among the veto-wielding members of the Security Council. "China used to hide behind Russia, but Russia is now hiding behind China," said a U.S. official familiar with negotiations.

The administration’s move comes amid growing support in Congress for the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act, which was introduced in the Senate by Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and in the House by Tom Lantos (D-Calif.). The bill already has the support of 323 House members.

The administration’s move could hurt diplomatic efforts, some analysts said. "It would greatly complicate our efforts to solve the nuclear issue," said Joseph Cirincione, a nuclear proliferation expert at the Center for American Progress. "It would tie an end to Iran’s nuclear program to an end to its support of allies in Hezbollah and Hamas. The only way you could get a nuclear deal is as part of a grand bargain, which at this point is completely out of reach."

Such sanctions can work only alongside diplomatic efforts, Cirincione added.

"Sanctions can serve as a prod, but they have very rarely forced a country to capitulate or collapse," he said. "All of us want to back Iran into a corner, but we want to give them a way out, too. [The designation] will convince many in Iran’s elite that there’s no point in talking with us and that the only thing that will satisfy us is regime change."

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UK blocks military exports to Israel

The British government has blocked almost one third of British military exports to Israel this year, citing possible threats to regional stability and fears the equipment might facilitate human rights violations.

According to official figures, the value of UK military sales arms to Israel declined by one third last year, and has fallen by a drastic 75 percent since 2005.

"There is evidence that the British government’s export control policy to Israel may have been tightened up," said Parliament’s new 2007 Strategic Export Controls report, issued by the Quadrapartite Commission, which comprises representatives from four ministries.

The change in policy, said the report, reflects a convergence of government attitudes with its own official guidelines.

The report comes amid a period of uncertainty in Anglo-Israeli relations.

While the new prime minister, Gordon Brown, has voiced public support for Israel and has appointed several pro-Israel MPs to cabinet positions, he has also promoted a leading critic of US and Israeli policy, former UN deputy secretary-general Mark Malloch Brown, to a key Foreign Office post.

Outside of government, the opposition Liberal Democrat party has called for a rethinking of arms sales to Israel, while in May the UK’s Legal Services Commission, the state agency that provides funding for attorney’s fees for indigent defendants, agreed to underwrite the costs of litigation brought by a Palestinian man in a British court seeking a ban on arms sales to Israel.

The August 7 Quadripartite Committee report largely praised the government’s overall handling of strategic exports but warned that the rapid pace of technological change and rising threat of terrorism required increased state vigilance.

"Any gaps in the legislation could have serious consequences for the UK," it concluded.

However, it criticized as "unclear" the British government’s policies on arms sales to Israel.

While the "case-by-case" approach gave the government a "flexibility" that allowed a "latitude to adjust policy without the need for public explanation," its arms sales policies towards Israel were "neither transparent nor accountable," the panel found.

The committee asked that "the government explain its policy on licensing exports to Israel, Jordan or other countries in the Middle East and that it explain whether it has adjusted its policy since 1997 as events in the Occupied Territories and Middle East have unfolded."

"We further recommend that the government explain how it assesses whether there is a clear risk‚ that a proposed export to Israel might be used for internal repression," it said.

Statistics published by the committee showed that arms exports to Israel totaled 14.5 million pounds last year (about $29 million), compared to GBP 22.5 million in 2005. Between 1997 and 2006 Britain granted Israel 1561 Standard Individual Export Licenses (SIELs) valued at GBP 113 million. During the same period it authorized 626 SIELs valued at GBP 136.5 million for shipment to Jordan.

However, over the last 10 years, 190 application for military sales to Israel have been prohibited, comprising 11 percent of all applications for sales of military equipment. During the same period, only two such applications were rejected for military and restricted goods bound for Jordan.

The British government reported it had approved 37 military SIELs to Israel in the first quarter of 2007 valued at GBP 1.5 million, a rate that if held constant throughout the year would cut British sales to Israel by three quarters since 2005.

The UK also blocked 11 SIELs to Israel in the first three months of 2007: three for airborne guidance systems, four for information security systems and equipment, one for munitions, one for fire control equipment, one for electronic components, and one for specialty aluminum alloys.

Three SIELs for the sale of radar and avionics guidance systems to a third country for use in aircraft destined for the IAF were blocked this year also.

The 14 rejected SIELs violated various "Consolidated EU and National Arms Licensing Criteria," the Foreign Office stated, citing concerns the shipments would not respect "human rights and the fundamental freedoms in the country of final destination," would worsen the "the internal situation in the country of final destination;" and would harm "regional peace, security and stability."

One SIEL was denied due to the "behavior of the buyer country with regard to the international community; in particular its attitude to terrorism, the nature of its alliances and respect for international law," while concerns the equipment would be "diverted" for non-approved uses or "re-exported under undesirable conditions" were cited in rejecting three SIELs.

The Foreign Office said in its annual human rights report to Parliament that "progress on improving the human rights situation" in Israel and the territories had been "limited."

Testifying before the committee on March 15, foreign secretary Margaret Beckett stated that the Foreign Office kept a "close eye" on the uses made by the IDF of British military equipment.

The then-foreign secretary said: "If we discovered that equipment had been sold to Israel and was being used contrary to agreed terms, we would regard that with grave concern and we would make sure we did not issue licenses for such equipment in the future."

Beckett said at the time that Britain’s total arms sales to Israel were slight. "I believe something like 0.1% of Israel’s total arms imports comes from the United Kingdom, and we have not sold main equipment like tanks or artillery or warships to Israel since 1997," she said, noting the Blair government had "visibly conformed" to EU guidelines not to sell equipment that might harm regional peace, security and stability in the Middle East.

During last year’s Second Lebanon War, the leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat party urged the government to review its arms sales to Israel.

Sir Menzies Campbell said the government "must now comply with its own arms export rules and institute an immediate suspension of all UK arms exports to Israel."

Pressure is also being exerted through the courts to end arms sales to Israel.

Last November, Public Interest Lawyers, in cooperation with the Palestinian rights group, al-Haq, filed suit against the British government on behalf of Saleh Hasan of Bethlehem. Hasan claimed the sale of military goods to Israel violated British export guidelines and contributed to his "oppression" as a Palestinian by Israel.

Phil Shiner, head of Public Interest Lawyers, stated the crux of their case was whether the British government had met its own criteria about what it can and cannot do in terms of arms exports where there is a risk of internal repression in another country.

In May, a spokesman for the Legal Services Commission said Hasan’s lawsuit was receiving legal aid as a test case.

"The fact that applicants may live abroad is not a factor under the legal aid scheme," he told The Times. "The key is whether the case involves issues of English law and will be tried in this jurisdiction."

The case is scheduled for a court hearing in October.

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Malawi in ‘n krisis

Bingu wa Mutharika

President Bingu wa Mutharika van Malawi het gister gedreig om die parlement te ontbind indien die huidige begrotingskrisis nie binne die volgende twee dae opgelos word nie. Die debat oor die 2008/08-begroting, wat al aan die einde van Junie afgehandel moes word, is verlede maand opgeskort aangesien die opposisie daarop aangedring het om eers debat te voer oor die wyse waarop die regerende party van hulle lede afgerokkel het.

“Ek gee hulle twee dae – vandag (Dinsdag) en môre – en as hulle nie ernstig begin om die begroting te bespreek nie, gaan ek die parlement ontbind,” het die president in ’n toespraak gesê wat deur die staatsbeheerde radiostasie uitgesaai is.

Hy meen die parlement het “irrelevant” geword wat die ontwikkeling in Malawi betref. Parlementsleiers sou laat gistermiddag vergader om oor die dreigement te besluit. Goodall Gondwe, minister van finansies, het in ’n onderhoud met Reuters gesê dat Malawi gevaar loop om geld van buitelandse skenkers te verloor indien die huidige situasie voortduur. “Ons is in ’n finansiële krisis en verdere vertragings om die begroting goed te keur sal ’n katastrofe wees,” meen Gondwe.

Op 13 Augustus het die regering ’n voorstel deur die opposisie verwerp dat ’n tydelike begroting vir ’n periode van drie maande aanvaar word terwyl die dispuut oor partyoorlopers besleg word. Volgens die begrotingsontwerp vir 2007/08 sal meer geld aan landelike areas spandeer word, staatsamptenare sal verhogings kry en meer sal op die gesondheidsektor en voedselproduksie spandeer word.

Malawi maak in ’n groot mate staat op hulp van skenkers. Volgens Gondwe verwag Malawi om $500 miljoen van die buiteland te ontvang ten einde by hul nasionale begroting van $1,2 miljard uit te kom. Frustrasie het die afgelope tyd in Malawi toegeneem oor die parlement se vertragingstaktiek en duisende mense het reeds aan betogings deelgeneem.

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Departemente verloor miljoene

Die Staatsdienskommissie het gister bekend gemaak dat meer as R45,6 miljoen weens wanbesteding in nasionale en provinsiale staatsdepartemente verlore gegaan het in die 2005/06 finansiële jaar.

Volgens die verslag wat gister vrygestel is, was daar in die vorige finansiële jaar 771 gevalle van “finansiële wanbestuur.“ In die voorafgaande jaar was daar 513 insidente. Van die R45,6 miljoen wat verlede jaar verlore gegaan het, is slegs R3,2 miljoen teruggekry. Volgens Stan Sangweni, voorsitter van die Staatsdienskommissie, kan daar selfs meer geld ter sprake wees, aangesien nie alle departemente die bedrae wat hulle vermis aangegee het nie.

Insidente wissel van bedrog en diefstal, wat 64,7% van die sake verteenwoordig, tot ongemagtigde uitgawes, growwe nalatigheid en diverse vorme van korrupsie.

Die departement van grondsake het R20 miljoen weens “finansiële wanbestuur“ verloor. Die Oos-Kaap was die provinsie met die meeste insidente (173), gevolg deur die Wes-Kaap met 75 gevalle.

Provinsiale departemente in Gauteng het maar ses gevalle aangemeld, wat Sangweni se stelling staaf dat nie almal gehoor gegee het aan die oproep om insidente van wanbestuur aan te meld nie. “Sommige departemente is belangeloos oor korrekte verslaggewing of beskik nie oor die kapasiteit omn behoorlike aandag aan akkurate verslaggewing te bestee nie,“ meen hy.

Die Staatsdienskommissie beplan nou om departemente te dwing om elke maand verslag te doen en om die verantwoordelike beamptes voor die kommissie te daag indien hulle versuim om dit te doen. Tans verplig die Korrupsiewet finansiële beamptes slegs om wanbestuur aan te meld as die bedrag R100 000 of meer beloop. Dit sal binnekort verander word om laer bedrae ook te akkkommodeer.

Engels kniehalter operasie

Duits moes die knie buig

Sewe-en-veertig pasiënte wat knie-operasies in ‘n Berlynse hospitaal moes andergaan, is ondertussen as slagoffers van ‘n mediese vergissing uitgewys. Dié fout is te danke aan ‘n verkeerde vertaling uit Engels.

Die Berlynse dagblad, die Tagesspiegel, het Sondag berig dat al die pasiënte ‘n knievervanging moes ondergaan. Die pasiënte het ‘n prostese ontvang waarop foutiewe aanwysings op die handleiding aangebring is. Dit is bekend as ‘n duur en lang operasie.

Reinhard Nieper, woordvoerder van die Sankt-Hedwig hospitaal, het aan die koerant gesê dat dit onverskoonbaar is. Die pasiënte het die operasie ondergaan sodat hulle weer die gebruik van ‘n knie kon hê. Die prostese moes hulle in staat stel om hul beweeglikheid te verhoog.

Maar die medici het die vervanging gedoen sonder om die nodige sement te gebruik omdat die aanwysings in Duits uitdruklik sê "Prostese behoef geen sement". In Engels lui dit egter "Non-Modular Cemented" wat beteken dat die prostese nie aangepas is nie en daarom gesementeer behoort te word.

Tydens die opleiding wat die mediese personeel ontvang het om die vervanging te doen, het niemand opgemerk dat die vertaling verkeerd gedoen is nie. ‘n Verkoopsman vir die prostese het trouens bygestaan toe die eerste operasie gedoen is en hoegenaamd niks verkeerd gevind nie.

Die pasiënte wat tussen Mei 2006 en Maart 2007 geopereer is, is van die fout in kennis gestel en ‘n derde van hulle het reeds laat weet dat hulle probleme met die vervanging ondervind. Die helfte van die ongelukkige mense is weer geopereer om te remedieer aan die fout en die hospitaal het onderneem om vir die kostes in te staan.

‘n Professor in ortopediese chirurgie, Heino Kienapfel, het sy afkeer aan "sekere produkte wat op die Europese mark aanland waarop net Engelse aanwysings verskyn", betoon en gesê dat die aanwysings in verskeie tale behoort te wees of ten minste van illustrasies voorsien moet wees. "Dit is ‘n probleem," volgens hom.

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Louis Trichardt het dalk nie veel om te vier nie

Op Saterdag 4 Augustus het ’n vergadering van dorpsinwoners by die Louis Trichardt-skougrond plaasgevind. Inwoners het hulle ten sterkste teen die munisipaliteit se naamsveranderingplanne uitgespreek.

Die Appèlhof het vroeër vanjaar besluit dat die plaaslike munisipaliteit nie die reg gehad het om die dorp se naam van Louis Trichardt na Makhado te verander nie. As rede is aangevoer dat die munisipaliteit nie plaaslike inwoners voldoende oor die besluit geraadpleeg het nie. Dit was nie lank ná hierdie besluit in April nie dat die munisipaliteit ’n taakspan aangewys het om die saak weer aan te roer. Hulle is steeds vas van plan om die Makhado-naamsverandering deur te voer.

Op 11 Augustus is ’n sogenaamde konsultasieproses met plaaslike inwoners begin, maar in die lig van die munisipaliteit se vorige optrede kan verwag word dat hierdie proses gemanipuleer sal word.

Die Nasionale Padagentskap het in Julie vanjaar die Makhado-padtekens afgehaal, maar as die munisipaliteit sy sin kry, word hulle eersdaags weer opgesit. In die geval van die naamsverandering van Potchefstroom na Tlokwe is 1 700 skrywes (die meeste hiervan téén die voorgestelde naamsverandering) na die provinisiale regering gestuur. Slegs 70 hiervan is egter aan die munispaliteit gestuur vir reaksie. Die burgemeester het toe eensydig besluit om nie daarop te reageer nie.

Daar is geen rede om te vermoed dat dit in Louis Trichardt se geval anders gaan wees nie.

Александр Фильчаков