Tuesday 29 November 2016

Letter to the DG Public Service Commission re Dr Mazwai conflict of interest










29th November 2016 
Public Service Commission
Director-General:
Dr Dovhani Mamphiswana

RE: Request to investigate conflict of interest

Dear Dr Mamphiswana

In replies to our DA Parliamentary Questions, the Minister of Small Business, Lindiwe Zulu, revealed that she allowed her department to pay R22 million to Mtiya Dynamics, a company in which her department advisor, Dr Thami Mazwai, owns 40% of the shares.

Thursday 10 November 2016

Oral question in the House to Minister Zulu - what will you do about Dr Mazwai's conflict of interest?

Yesterday I asked a question in the House during the Oral Questions session for Economics Cluster 5 which includes the Minister of Small Business Development, Lindiwe Zulu.

"Minister, a number of companies your department supported in the Eastern Cape are beneficiaries under the National Gazelles Programme.

The programme is managed by a private company, Mtiya Dynamics, to which your department paid R22 million rand in the current financial year.

I now discover that your special advisor, Dr Thami Mazwai, who devised the Gazelles Programme, owns 40% of the shares in Mtiya Dynamics.

Tuesday 8 November 2016

Media statement: Minister Zulu’s advisor receives over R22 million in contracts

Minister Zulu’s advisor receives over R22 million in contracts
by Toby Chance - DA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development
 
Date: 08 November 2016
Release: Immediate
Type: Press Statement
 
Successive replies to DA Parliamentary Questions have revealed that Minister of Small Business Development, Lindiwe Zulu, allowed her department to pay R22 million to Mtiya Dynamics, a company in which her advisor, Dr Thami Mazwai, owns 40% of the shares.
I will write to Minister Zulu to request that she either terminate Dr Mazwai's contract with immediate effect or instruct Dr Mazwai to dispose of his shares immediately.
Failing this immediate action, the DA will write to the Auditor General, Kimi Makwetu, to request that he investigate these activities.
Furthermore, I will submit parliamentary questions on whether or not Dr Mazwai has received any material benefit from fees or dividends paid by Mtiya Dynamics.
The reply lists the following amounts totalling R22,085,000 that was paid to Mtiya Dynamics:
• R2,910,150 on programme set up costs
• R2,355,738 on call for applications & adjudications
• R683, 234 on promotion, marketing and branding
• R2,848,965 as a management fee
• R1,723,573 on inductions, capacitation and business report
• R948,302 on research and development
• R1,629,350 on project admin costs
• R1,930,000 Third trance expenses
• R3,500,000 for capacitation costs
• R463,785 project costs
• R3,091,900 VAT
Mtiya Dynamics, under Dr Mazwai's direction, developed what is now called the National Gazelles Programme and sold it to the DTI. After the formation of the Department of Small Business Development in 2014, the programme was transferred to it from the DTI.
Last year Dr Mazwai joined the Department of Small Business Development on what is no doubt a lucrative contract, shortly after his company Mtiya Dynamics was given the contract to manage the National Gazelles Programme.
Government employees in DA-controlled departments, metros and municipalities are barred from doing business with the state. Minister Zulu must demonstrate a similar level of probity in the management of her department.
 
Media Enquiries
 
 
 
Toby Chance
DA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development
083 251 5613
 
Luvuyo Ndlangisa
Press Officer
061 738 0812
 

Thursday 3 November 2016

Declaration in Parliament on the DSBD Budget Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR)

This afternoon I made a two minute declaration in the National Assembly on the Portfolio Committee's BRRR on the Department of Small Business Development. These yearly reports coincide with the Minister of Finance's medium term financial statement delivered towards the end of October.

The BRRR process is an important function of Parliamentary oversight of the Executive. Before writing the reports, each Portfolio Committee receives presentations from the Auditor General on the financial performance of the department it oversees, from the department itself and all the agencies/entities reporting to it. We then deliberate the information received and make observations and recommendations for the department to include in its budgeting and strategic planning for the following financial year, beginning April 1st.

I had to cut out quite a bit of what I wrote to stick to the 2 minute limit. Minister Zulu, who was supposed to be in the House for all the different parties' declarations, arrived late so didn't hear mine. Who knows, perhaps she will read this blog! Below is the unabridged version.

Wednesday 2 November 2016

Statement made in the National Assembly, Parliament, on the Small Enterprise Finance Agency

Yesterday I made a statement in the House to follow up my article which appeared in Business Day two weeks ago and posted on this blog, drawing attention to the dreadful state of Sefa's finances.

In response, Minister Lindiwe Zulu stood up and acknowledged the problem, but then went on to excuse the businesses who did not repay the loans by saying they knew nothing about finance and loans and were untrained, and this could not be termed "reckless lending".

Monday 24 October 2016

Portfolio Committee meeting minutes - I am elected Acting Chair and face immature ANC behaviour

At the first meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development after the election, our Committee Chairperson Hon Ruth Bhengu was off sick so the committee had to elect an acting chair. There were two nominees - me, and Hon Mabasa from the ANC. Due to the poor attendance of ANC MPs I was elected with the ACDP and EFF voting for me and the NFP abstaining.


It is very rare for a non-ANC member to be in the Chair at portfolio committee meetings. Below are the meeting minutes taken by the Parliamentary Monitoring Group staff member who attended the meeting. I'm not sure of his use of the word meme, but the minutes convey the somewhat surreal meeting which ANC members did their best to disrupt.


Wednesday 12 October 2016

Sefa forced to review its business model after sustaining heavy losses

The Small Enterprise Finance Agency, Sefa, presented its annual report to Parliament on Wednesday. CEO Thakhani Makhuvha hit the nail on the head when he said “cash is king” in business.

He was referring to his cash-hungry clients, thousands of small and micro businesses for whom a cash injection from Sefa is often the only thing that keeps them going. But he could have been referring to his own organisation, which is bleeding cash at an alarming rate.

Thursday 22 September 2016

Press Statement: DA reply reveals government’s failure to budget for important Small Business fund

Democratic Alliance press statement by

Toby Chance MPDA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development 
Release: Immediate 

22 September 2016

In a reply to a DA oral question, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa admitted that government had not yet budgeted for its half of the funds to match the private sector’s contribution of R1,5 billion to the SA SME Fund. This is telling of government’s stance to be all talk without any tangible action in creating jobs.

The SA SME Fund is a joint venture capital fund between the private sector and government where the aim is to bolster the creation of jobs through supporting the growth of SMEs, which will ultimately create jobs. These joint ventures therefore serve as the engine room for creating jobs in South Africa.

Tuesday 9 August 2016

Chance Glassworks Heritage Trust - a new chapter in the history of Chance Brothers

Last year I was approached by a group of business people, historians and leaders in civil society in the UK's West Midlands to accept the position of Patron of the Chance Glassworks Heritage Trust. It did not take me long to agree.

The Trust has been formed to preserve and redevelop what remains of the once famous site of the Chance Brothers Limited glassworks in Smethwick, founded by my great great great uncle Robert Lucas Chance in 1824. My grandfather, Sir Hugh Chance, was the last family member to chair the company before it was taken over by long-term rival Pilkingtons. The factory poured its last glass and finally closed its doors in 1981.

Since then the site has fallen into disrepair but many of its Grade 2 listed buildings are still standing and cannot be demolished. The trustees have a grand vision to restore the buildings and add new ones, including a full scale lighthouse in recognition of what is probably Chance Brothers' greatest achievement, the manufacture of over 2500 optics for lighthouses and other aids to navigation supplied to nearly 100 countries across the globe.

The site will have multi-purpose usage including offices, a hotel and conference centre, a small business incubator and innovation hub and affordable housing units. Situated in a very depressed former industrial part of the UK, the site will offer opportunities for entrepreneurship, technological innovation and social renewal which are much in keeping with the ethos that sustained Chance Brothers during its 157 year history.

The Trust recently launched its website which you can find here. I and the trustees would be happy to hear from anyone who has an interest in its activities or wishes to donate time, money or resources to this worthy cause.

History West Midlands magazine has been championing the Trust in its publications and website - see here for their recent newsletter.

HWM has also just published a special edition on the 1851 Great Exhibition, which was housed in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. This iconic building was glazed by over 900 000 square feet of glass made in Chance Brothers's Smethwick glassworks, and was where James Timmins Chance, my great great grandfather, exhibited the firm's first dioptric lighthouse apparatus. For more information on the firm's lighthouse business, visit my website here.


A day in the life of an MP, and: Are we heading for a seismic shift in SA’s political landscape?

The August 3rd municipal elections are behind us and we are in the midst of an unprecedented period of gamesmanship by the contenders for power in over twenty hung municipalities and metros throughout the country. The outcome of negotiations to form coalitions, particularly in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Ekurhuleni, could well determine South Africa's future and certainly influence voting patterns in the 2019 provincial and national elections. 

It is against this backdrop that I am publishing a talk I gave at my church three weeks ago, as the topic of political realignment is very much on people's minds now. 

A day in the life of an MP, and:
Are we heading for a seismic shift in SA’s political landscape?
A discussion evening hosted by the Centre for Christian Spirituality
Led by Toby Chance MP
St George’s Anglican Church, Parktown, Johannesburg
20th July 2016 

Wednesday 13 July 2016

Press statement: Government no closer to launch of venture capital fund earmarked for job creation

Democratic Alliance press statement by Toby Chance MP DA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development

13 July 2016
Release: immediate 

In replies to parliamentary questions from the DA, neither Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan nor Minister of Small Business Development, Lindiwe Zulu, could provide substantive details on the mandate, composition, governance structures, funding, board of directors or launch date of the venture capital fund that President Zuma announced to much fanfare on 09 May, over two months ago. 

This means that the job creation promised by this venture capital fund will be stalled because of government’s hollow commitment to placing job creation at the apex of its agenda. 

Monday 13 June 2016

DA mayoral candidate for Tshwane Solly Msimanga pickets outside the Department of Small Business Development

This morning, the DA staged a picket outside the offices of the DSBD at the DTI Campus in Hatfield, Pretoria protesting the high levels of unemployment in the city and the Department's failure to fulfil its mandate to bring it down by supporting small businesses.

Sadly I could not attend as I was at an event in Joburg where our mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba, introduced all our ward and PR candidates to the media.

Below is Solly's hard-hitting speech which includes some practical and immediate steps he would take on being elected the DA mayor of Tshwane.

Update on the township industrial parks - very slow progress to resolve the issue

One of the issues I have taken up since my appointment as Shadow Minister of Small Business Development is the appalling neglect of the township industrial parks in Gauteng. These were set up in the early to mid 1980's by the Small Business Development Corporation, a joint venture between government and the private sector headed by Anton Rupert's Rembrandt Group. They were an attempt to get around the Group Areas Act, which prevented blacks from owning businesses in areas designated for whites, which was where the economy of South African was concentrated.

For some background on the parks, read this piece I wrote for Politicsweb here as well as this blog post here.

Wednesday 8 June 2016

Press statement: SEFA corruption stifles small business and job creation

Democratic Alliance press statement by
Toby Chance MP
DA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development 

08 June 2016
Release: Immediate
The DA calls for the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) to bring to a speedy conclusion the disciplinary inquiry initiated against officials suspected of being involved in collusion and bribery in the issuing of loans.

Since November 2015 the DA has been in correspondence with small businesses owners in Tshwane who raised concerns about alleged fraud at SEFA. Six months later the matter is yet to be resolved.

Monday 23 May 2016

Entrepreneur Fund: has potential, could do better

President Zuma made much of his May 9th announcement of a new fund to finance entrepreneurs. It’s the first tangible deliverable of the collaboration government and business promised after their emergency meeting convened in February, prompted by the fallout from Nenegate.

The DA’s 2014 election manifesto called for the formation of a National Venture Capital Fund. How does this new fund stack up?

Zuma and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, and business at large, are relieved South Africa has so far avoided the dreaded ratings downgrade. The announcement came just three days after Moody’s retention of its investment grade rating for the country, seemingly emphasising government and business in partnership are serious about supporting small businesses and the important role they play in creating jobs and stimulating growth. 

Wednesday 18 May 2016

Declaration on the Appropriations Vote - Small Business Development

This evening in the debate on the budget votes for all government departments I made the following declaration on behalf of the DA:

The Department of Small Business Development can rightly be accused of fiddling while South Africa burns.

The DA will support all efforts and money spent on policies and programmes which deliver real, measurable and positive returns.

This Department has not yet demonstrates these returns, therefore we cannot support its budget.

Wednesday 11 May 2016

Budget speech in Parliament today - New entrepreneur fund has potential but business must demand concessions in return

Watch the debate on YouTube here - scroll through to halfway through the video, this is where the debate begins, after the Energy debate.

Chairperson, Minister, Deputy Minister, members of the portfolio committee, honourable members, visitors in the gallery - good afternoon.

First let me acknowledge and welcome my guests, Vuyisa Qabaka and his group of young mentees from Nyanga East. Vuyisa, through his example as a successful entrepreneur and commitment to building the next generation of entrepreneurs, is showing the way towards a more prosperous South Africa. Malibongwe!

Chairperson, the Department of Small Business Development is approaching its second birthday. At our first EPC I portrayed our minister as Cinderella and urged her to avoid the clutches of her ugly sisters, Ministers Davies and Patel, whose antagonism to business is well known. Rather, she should be outspoken as the first truly business-friendly minister in the cabinet.

Wednesday 13 April 2016

DA Soweto West on Radio Today

The DA in Soweto is speaking to our traditional voters in this podcast on Radio Today.

Is there change happening in our democracy?

Yes, there is, and here is the proof. It's our leader Mmusi Maimane's and Joburg Mayoral Candidate Herman Mashaba's campaign message.

I am very proud of Matau Maloma and Billy Nyaku, Chair and Secretary of the DA Soweto West Constituency, for speaking out and communicating our message.

Tuesday 12 April 2016

Press statement: Minister not appointing SEDA CEO will affect potential jobs


Democratic Alliance press statement by
Toby Chance MP
DA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development


Minister not appointing SEDA CEO will affect potential jobs

12 April 2016
Release: immediate

Today’s SMME Summit in Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) chaired by Minister of Small Business Development, Lindiwe Zulu, has ignored the fact that the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) has been without a permanent CEO for over two years. Her inaction in this regard has contributed to the stagnation in the stimulation of small to medium enterprises. This is despite her assertions today that “small business is big business”.

Wednesday 2 March 2016

Minister and Deputy Minister at odds over Department strategy



The minister of finance, Pravin Gordhan, announced in his budget speech that a further R475 million has been reprioritised to the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) for assistance to small and medium enterprises and cooperatives.

The minister of DSBD, Lindiwe Zulu, has stated that this is not enough. In a small business portfolio committee meeting last Wednesday, it was clear there are deep divisions within the department between the minister and her deputy about the department’s strategy, and how their budget allocations should be spent.

The minister and director general, Edith Vries, agree with the recent strategic review recommendations from consulting firm SizweNtsalubaGobodo (SNG) to abandon or transfer sector specific programs and restructure the department using a value chain approach. This would mean transferring support for crafts back to the DTI, which the Deputy Minister ElizabethThabethe and some members of the department sharply disagreed with.

A large part of this budget allocation is to fund craft fairs in the US, Europe and Asia, which are jamborees for the deputy minister and her officials but they deliver precious little in terms of building sustainable overseas markets for the craft sector. No explanation has been offered for why this sector should be given preference over others within the department.

Furthermore, the SNG review did not include the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) or the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) which account for 80% of the department’s budget, posing the question as to why this consulting report was compiled in the first place. SEFA's latest results show it costs R1.55 for every R1 loaned to small business, and 58% of its direct loans are impaired.

The Committee Chair Ruth Bhengu shared the DA view that the department cannot come to the committee with its house in disarray regarding strategy, and that an urgent review of SEFA and SEDA is required before we will accept that the additional funding for the department is justified and will be well spent. 

The DA support the recommendations to transfer crafts back to the DTI and maybe Deputy Minister Thabethe and her cherised staff with it.

Thursday 18 February 2016

DA Parliamentary caucus signs anti-racism pledge

Today, the DA Parliamentary caucus gathered on the National Assembly steps for a group photo, holding up the DA anti-racism pledge which we had all just signed.

  

This is an important re-statement of our principled stand against racism, which is divisive and against the letter and spirit of both the country's and the DA's constitution. I will be encouraging all my members and activists in Soweto West to sign the pledge and give it force in their everyday lives.

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Opinion piece in Business Day - Synergy holds the key to growth

Today's Business Day features my opinion piece on supply chain inclusion  (SCI) - you can read it here or else below.

The Word Bank’s most recent annual update on the South African economy highlights anti-competitive behaviour by industry-wide cartels as a major impediment to economic growth and poverty alleviation. It correctly notes the role our competition authorities play in breaking up these cartels, which serve the interests of large players dominating their markets and cosy supply chains favouring long-standing supplier relationships.

Sunday 7 February 2016

Speaking to business owners in Jabulani with Herman Mashaba

Yesterday Herman Mashaba, DA mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, was the guest speaker at an event organised by my Soweto West constituency in Jabulani. The focus was how the DA would assist businesses in Soweto and other townships gain access to the mainstream economy.

Herman was inspiring and received a warm welcome from the roughly 125 members of the audience.

It was great to see representatives from business associations such as The Entrepreneur Network, the Chamber of Business Associations and the Orlando East Business Forum present, as well as the Centre for Development Enterprise, Small Business Project, Seed Academy and other organisations with an interest in support for small business.

Before he left Herman drew the lucky winners of prizes donated by Seed Academy and the SA Professional Network Association. We also had impassioned speeches by founder of PhindiK shoes, Tshepo Kgaudi, and Pam Green, founder of Second Chances NGO, both of whom got a standing ovation.

Tuesday 2 February 2016

BizNews op-ed - Stability Key – Shifting regulatory goalposts points to ‘Rocky Road’.

BizNews has today published my op-ed on doing business in South Africa, first posted on this blog on January 22nd. You can find it here.

BizNews editor Stuart Lowman provides a nice summary of the issue - The problem with any form of regulation is that it can often form the basis of a deterrent. One is not arguing that it needs to be put in place, but any form of it needs to be well thought out, with both sides arguments taken into account and put into practice. And then all an investor requires is stability as the ever changing landscape is not attractive. The Democratic Alliance’s Toby Chance takes a look at the current business landscape in South Africa. He says, “A new balance needs to be struck. Business’s willingness and capacity to invest, grow and create jobs has been taken too much for granted by policy and lawmakers.” And as ever, he calls on the urgent need for reform, and offers some advice.

Regulations and red tape might not be the sexiest things to tackle, but they are strangling the life out of business like a boa constrictor suffocates its prey. Most of our lawmakers do not have a background in or understand business - the only source of wealth creation from which most taxes are paid.

My colleague Henro Kruger has been working extremely hard for the past year on a piece of legislation which, if enacted, will have a dramatic effect on the law-making process, making it much more business friendly. Watch this space!!!!

Friday 29 January 2016

Press statement: Minister Zulu must account for R689 000 splurged on UK-France trip

Democratic Alliance press statement by
Toby Chance MP
DA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development

Minister Zulu must account for R689 000 splurged on UK-France trip

29 January 2016
Release: immediate

The Department of Small Business Development could have supplied a 7 000W generator to nearly 70 small businesses with the money Minister Lindiwe Zulu spent on a business trip to the UK and France in October last year. 

In reply to a parliamentary question posed by DA MP Toby Chance, Zulu revealed that she spent R689 000 on the trip, which should have consisted of various meetings with clear objectives and goals, but seems to have been a number of talk shops amounting to nothing concrete. 

Thursday 28 January 2016

DA Joburg Mayoral Candidate Herman Mashaba and I to share a platform in Soweto

On Saturday 6th February Herman Mashaba and I are hosting a public meeting at the Jabulani Technical High School in Soweto.

We will be presenting the DA's small business policy with a special focus on Johannesburg in the lead up to the local government elections.

I first met Herman in 2005 when I was a member of the team at Adele Lucas Promotions running the Soweto Festival. This was the re-incarnation of the Soweto Homemakers Festival, the inspiration of Adele Lucas and the Soweto Chamber of Commerce, which ran from 1983 - 85, the first of its kind in a black township.

Herman brought Black Like Me to the Festival as one of our exhibitors and supported the event every year until I left the company in 2014 and became a DA MP.

In 2011 Herman was the keynote speaker at the opening function of the Soweto Festival Expo which was the biggest to date, attracting over 550 exhibitors of which 400 were SMMEs from all over Gauteng.

Minister Zulu splurges R689 000 on UK - France trip

An answer to a Parliamentary question I put to Minister Lindiwe Zulu reveals that she spent nearly R700 000 on a trip to the UK and France in October.

I fail to understand how such an enormous sum was spent unless she stayed in the best hotels, travelled first class and took a whole entourage with her.

I will be following up with another question to get to the bottom of how the money was spent.

This wasteful and fruitless expenditure is against the background of Minister Zulu and her Department crying about lack of budget for their programmes to boost small business development. 

Her response (carried in full below) shows nothing concrete emerged from her trip, which was more a series of talk shops than meetings with a clear set our outcomes. 

Financial Mail - Small Business: Request for a re-design

Today's edition of Financial Mail has an article by Stephen Timm on the strategy review recently conducted on the Department of Small Business Development.

"A TROUBLED picture of the small business development department has been painted by an auditor's review, which calls for the axing or relocation of a number of the department’s support programmes.

The department has faced criticism that nearly two years after its inception it has little to show for itself.

Parliament’s small business development committee last year ordered the department to carry out a review of its programmes, following concern over its failure to develop a proper strategic plan."

The author quotes me quite extensively towards the end of the article. It's a fair assessment of the review, in my opinion, which is by leaps and bounds a more incisive analysis of the department's strategy and programmes than its own internal assessments.

Now we wait for the department's and Minister Zulu's response. At our first Portfolio Committee meeting on Feb 10th I will be urging some swift action as the department cannot afford more months of drift and non-performance.

You can read the whole article here.

The Parliamentary Monitoring Group has a very comprehensive account of the Portfolio Committee meeting where the review was presented, here.

Friday 22 January 2016

Back to school: DA donates educational toys at a Soweto school

Today our media office sent out a media advisory about our visit to Emseni primary school in Soweto, to hand over toys and other educational materials to a Pre-grade R class.

Journalists arrived just as we were confronted by a member of the school governing body who made a fuss about us appearing on the school grounds wearing our DA-branded clothing. We pointed out that the school principal had sent out a letter, on the school's letterhead, inviting parents to attend the handover. I also mentioned that I had made numerous visits to Soweto schools wearing DA clothes and not once were objections raised.

We compromised and removed our DA clothing for the official handover, and narrowly avoided a protest by the parents who objected to the SGB member's high-handed attitude!

The kids and parents packed into the classroom and received us with clapping and songs. The SGB chairperson graciously introduced us and a few speeches followed, including one from Steven Swiel whose efforts, and those of his parents Greg and Nicky, were entirely responsible for the funds raised to buy the toys and materials - three cheers to them!

Hlox and Pumla from our ward 130 branch put the event together (they have kids in another class at the school), along with Lebogang and other activists. Our councillor Timothy Radebe left the parents with the DA ringing in their ears.

Well done to them all for their initiative.

Doing business in South Africa - a roundtable discussion at the US consulate

On Monday I attended a roundtable discussion on the topic “Doing business in South Africa: challenges and opportunities”, hosted by the US Consulate in Sandton. The occasion was organised to coincide with a visit by a group of 45 MBA students from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ninety minutes of presentations and discussions left those present under no illusions about the tough journey we have travelled since 1994, and the mammoth task before us to reverse the worrying signs of decay and despondency now engulfing our nation.

The panellists’ three presentations could not have been more different, and taken together gave the bald facts, the historical context and some scenarios for our political economy which offer the doomsayers and optimists much to ponder on.

Tuesday 19 January 2016

Speech by DA Leader Mmusi Maimane on race and identity

Democratic Alliance speech by
Mmusi Maimane MP
Leader of the Democratic Alliance

Let’s find each other again
          
19 January 2015
Release: immediate

Note to Editors: This speech was delivered by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, Mmusi Maimane MP, at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg today.

Ladies and gentlemen

Fellow South Africans 

Bagaetsho 

Dumelang  

I stand before you as a child of Soweto, a proudly Black South African, a son of the African soil. 

I stand proud to live in a country that is no longer the skunk of the world, proud that out of the ashes of Apartheid a new nation could rise. 

I am a product of the Group Areas Act, the Population Registration Act and the 1913 Land Act. 

Saturday 16 January 2016

DA selects Herman Mashaba as Joburg Mayoral candidate

I don't normally put someone else's press statement on my blog but this announcement is a potential game-changer so I am making an exception.

I have known Herman Mashaba for ten years in business and more recently politics. I know him to be a forthright, no-nonsense individual who will add a new dimension to SA politics, now that he has thrown his hat into the ring. 

For him to put a life-long career in business on hold and dedicate himself to the DA winning, then running, the City of Joburg, is a measure of the man and I applaud him for his self-sacrifice and patriotism.

Below is his press statement  in full:


Democratic Alliance press statement by
Herman Mashaba
DA Mayoral Candidate for Johannesburg

I am ready to bring change to Johannesburg as DA Mayoral Candidate

DA Soweto West Constituency vocal on racism and jobs - featured on Soweto TV

My constituency, Soweto West, marched against racism and unemployment in Protea Glen last Saturday. We were joined by a crew from Soweto TV who produced a 2 minute clip which was aired on the Monday evening and Tuesday morning news bulletins.

You can watch it here

Then on Tuesday our Constituency  Secretary, Billy Nyaku, was interviewed on the News and Views show which aired that evening. You can see the interview here.

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Press release - Democratic Alliance Soweto West constituency marches for jobs

Democratic Alliance media statement by
Toby Chance MP
Soweto West Constituency leader

Democratic Alliance Soweto West constituency marches for jobs
                                                                                                              
12 January 2016
Release: Immediate

The Democratic Alliance Soweto West constituency recently marched against the high unemployment rate in Soweto.

In attendance was the DA Soweto West constituency leader, Toby Chance MP, Councillor Makatisane Papo, DA Activists and the Protea Glen Community members.

Unemployment is the primary challenge in the lives of South Africans at present and the march demonstrated the DA’s commitment to presenting solutions to this issue.