Saturday, July 30, 2016

Prostitution explode in Toti under DA rule



Prostitution explode in Toti under DA rule

Driving through the streets of Amanzimtoti has never been this dangerous, with streets filled with prostitutes, drug peddlers and illegal car guards, roaming the streets at all times of the day and night. 

The alarming fact is that the majority of these activities are happening in ward 97, and that these vagrants have access to municipality owned buildings, where they wash clothes and linen on Sunday morning and afternoons. The mere fact that metro facilities are available brings serious questions if not allegation to the table.

Questions like: Does the councillor in these areas know about the activities? If not the next more serious question are unavoidable: What do councillors do between elections? According to the people in Amanzimtoti the councillors do not respond between elections to any of these or other matters of the tax-payers in ward 97. There are even allegations that the DA council tell people in Beach Road that they are racist if they complain about the vagrants ruling the streets on weekends and December holidays.

During investigation I found that the prostitution and vagrant problems increased dramatically over the past 5 years, ironically this period fall within the period of service of the current councillor of ward 97. I am aware that the allegations are circumstantial and might even be a result of hear-say, but it should at least warrant an investigation into the action or no actions of elected councillors.

It seems to be common practice in South Africa for councillors to ignore the mandate given to them from their voters, a mandate born out of the only democratic right that the voters have their votes. Once elected, councillor’s start driving their own personal agendas, trashing the rights of the very people that they are representing, the very people who gave them a mandate to look after their rights.
I can obviously not say that, that is what is happening in Amanzimtoti, but I have to ask the question. As a responsible citizen I need to investigate if the voters have any rights or not, if the council do what he promised or not.

The DA promise where they govern things are going well, so does the increase in vagrant and prostitution constitute that it is going well, does the fraud allegations in Midvaal constitute that it is going well. Yes I must agree that in Cape Town it is going well, but then through the history Cape Town have a great track record.

So the real question will remain, do the councillor’s keep their promises, do the councillor’s represent their voters.


Willie Beetge

Friday, July 29, 2016

Open letter to Andre Beetge (DA)

Open letter to Andre Beetge (DA)

Dear Andre

So Andre like the ANC you have decided that it is a good idea to lie to your voters, to send a sms to the people ignoring the constitution of South Africa. I must say you and your party have “balls” to under estimate the voter intelligence to this extent, to think that the population can be fooled with cheap untrue intimidation. I am well aware that this sms started in Pretoria (sorry you will only know it as Tshwane) but I thought your and the DA’s integrity in Amanzimtoti would not have lowered to this level.

Besides the sms I would like to ask you and your supporters a few questions, a few questions on your integrity that you flaunt on social media.

Why did you betray your people and the minorities in Amanzimtoti by supporting your parties vote for BBBEE, while our children in Toti have to find work in other countries, why did you betray your people by supporting your parties vote for stronger affirmative action, while white Coloured and Indian people in Amanzimtoti are struggling against the quota systems. Andre how did it feel to betray your people, when your party voted for land reform against your own people, against the very people who created your heritage, the very people that had to suffer in concentration camps, people who paid with their lives so that you and your family can be here today.

You know Andre I am sure while you were a rugby coach at Toti club, you probably must know how it feels if you have to tell one of your star players, that you cannot take them to represent their province, because you need to take a black player. You probably know how that poor black person feels, when he is known as a quota player, how the talented players of colour feel when everyone labels them as a quota player, but yet you remain steadfast behind a party that promotes these systems. Don’t you feel ashamed when you tell your minority group supporters that you will represent them with the party that trashes their rights.

Andre I fail to see the difference between you and the ANC councillors, suddenly you all start doing something, posting on social media only because the election is around the corner. Have you kept a list of the things you have done in Amanzimtoti, did you add that prostitution has exploded during your time as councillor, that the drug trade has flourished under your control, or shall we blame it on the mayor, apartheid or even Jan van Riebeeck.

You know Andre I will rather lose an election before I betray my friends and people of my town with stories that is untrue. Perhaps I am too hard on you Andre, perhaps you have lived the lie so long that you actually believe it, perhaps you betray the minorities because you believe that they have no rights, and perhaps because you only fight for your own survival. You know Andre in your defence you are not the only politician that fight for yourself, I think of Pik Botha, Kortbroek van Schalkwyk and suddenly I understand. The question however will your voters understand?

Yes Andre I am in total disagreement with you, but should this country fall I will still come and fetch you and your family, because I will never leave my people behind, I will never betray my people for a pot of lentil soup or a job.

Your slandering sms offended me, it offended the educated voters. This letter should not offend you, as there are no lies in it.

Hope you all of the best for the election not because you represent me at all, but you are still one of my people.

Regards


Willie Beetge

Sunday, July 10, 2016

OPEN LETTER TO Mr MAIMANE

OPEN LETTER TO Mr MAIMANE

Dear Mr Maimane

It is always noble to introduce different systems to empower people in South Africa, and as a business man I appreciate your stand against the ANC with their BEE system and your new proposal of how BEE should work in South Africa, sir.
But unfortunately once again the proposed system, like that of the ANC, was done without a proper investigation, and will probably be implemented without any changes. The system Mr. Maimane will really empower me as a business owner, but unfortunately it will destroy the new black empowered worker. Other than you coming up with a dream, I investigated this empowerment long ago, and came to the conclusion that I will destroy my loyal work force by doing this.

At the moment, sir, my employees earn between 65% and 70% of gross profit, so if I decide to give them 51% of my company, they will earn on average at least 14% less per month, but the good news is I will earn 14% more, and that sir is why we would like to thank you for your commitment to the business owners in our poverty stricken country.
The fact that’s bothering me, sir, is that you and your esteemed learned leadership came up with this brilliant plan to address the poverty levels in our beloved country, and you stand unashamed in front of thousands of possible new voters, telling them that you will empower them without the faintest idea of the industry sir.

Sir I will gladly assist you with a working model of empowerment, a model where we represent our voters with real hope, hope that is not found in dreams but in reality. Sir, I am talking about a model that empowers the economy, where the poverty stricken black man can regain his self-worthiness.  

I will assist you because I believe together we are stronger.

Your vote for me will empower you and the poverty stricken population, so if you committed to real change for these people vote for my knowledge.

Yours faithfully, in building a nation

Willie Beetge (Freedom Front plus Amanzimtoti)



Thursday, July 7, 2016

Pollution continues unabated in bird park

Pollution continues unabated in bird park: The municipality continues to do the same thing daily for the past five years, expecting a different outcome or change in the problem.

Monday, July 4, 2016

understand the proportional voting system

Dear Editor
Understand the proportional voting system
You do not have to vote for the largest party to have an effect on the outcome
WITH the next local government elections set to take place on Wednesday, 3 August it is important for Toti voters to undertand how the proportional voting system works in municipal elections.
For local or municipal elections you receive two ballot papers in a metro – one of the ballots is for the candidate standing in your area and the second ballot is for the proportional representation of parties on the council.
In eThekwini, close to 50% of seats are for winning candidates and 50% go to proportional councillors. The proportional vote works as follows: If there are, for example, 100 proportional seats on the council and your party secures 1% of the votes in the election, your party will secure one seat. If your party secures 2%, they secure two seats and so on.
After the elections, parties can form coalitions to control the metro. With a coalition the different parties agree on certain principles from their party’s manifesto to form the coalition and they run the metro under those agreements.
Let’s look at an example of the proportional system.
Take 10 people. All 10 decide to vote, six of them vote for a majority party and four for smaller opposition parties. The larger party now has six votes out of 10, which give them 60% of the seats on the council. The smaller parties have four out of ten, therefore 40%.
If one of the opposition voters now decides not to vote, the majority party will still have six votes, but now it will be out of nine voters. They will secure 66,6% (more than two thirds) of the seats.
Advantages of this voting system
·         You do not have to vote for the largest party to have an effect on the outcome, you have the freedom of association as stipulated in the Constitution.
·         Your vote will never be lost as it will remain part of the percentage calculation of proportional seats.
·         If a coalition is formed after the election, your vote will ensure that your views are reflected in the coalition negotiations.
·         The only time your vote will not count towards a PR seat is if you vote for an independent candidate, as there is no party that will receive the proportional percentage.
Vote for what you believe on 3 August and allow the Constitution to work for you.

Willie Beetge

Response to SADTU attack on Angie Motshekga

Response to SADTU attack on Angie Motshekga
When she was made aware of allegations of improper, unethical appointments of education officials, principals and teachers, Minister Angie Motshekga constituted a task team to investigate. This was the only correct action to take. Her reputation is now being smeared by the Union whose members who have most frequently been implicated in this corruption. Surprise, surprise!
I have read the more than 200 pages of this report, and it names specific individuals, identifiable as SADTU ‘agents’. SADTU describes itself as an ‘industrial’ union., which may explain its inability to engage with schooling issues in an informed, academic and professionally appropriate manner. Hence their attack on Motshekga using that blunt, desperately fatigued instrument of the crass, crude and frankly inane personal slur.
In response to the recently published Ministerial Task Team's report on Jobs for Cash in Basic Education, SADTU, from the mouth of secretary Mugwena Maluleke, has again attempted in its inimitable mealy-mouthed fashion, to undermine and denigrate the Minister of Basic Education by accusing her of being an ‘agent of the Democratic Alliance’.
I suppose I ought to express appreciation that SADTU has not reverted to implementing the disgustingly sexist and disrespectful 'panty protest' tactic they employed against her in 2013.
I suppose I should also be grateful that they have not called a strike along the lines of their cynically timed, anti-educational thuggery just before Matric finals in 2010.
JaWellNoFine. Given her obvious commitment to her party as ANCWL President, as an ANC member of the Gauteng Legislature and MEC for Education and as a senior cabinet member since 2009, this pronouncement gives rise to some interesting observations, grounded in reality and based on fact.
The cloth-eared SADTU official who made this patently ridiculous accusation appears fundamentally obtuse and clearly does not perceive that he is actually presenting Mrs Motshekga with an opportunity of being associated with the successful performance of the Western Cape Education Department, currently under the political control of the DA.
To be acknowledged as being aligned with good performance and success in the Basic Education sector is not much of a slur, is it, Mr Maluleke?‪#‎Fail‬!
That province is doing well, and the MTT report suggests that the reason there is no systemic 'jobs for cash' problem is that SADTU and the other teacher unions have a 50:50 membership share.
Aside from an apparent insight deficit, SADTU appears to be unaware that the National Minister is constitutionally required to execute her mandate, through the Provincial Education Departments, to all provinces in the country, regardless of which party is in political control.
In similar vein, the same SADTU intellectual accuses her of 'trying to reverse what the Freedom Charter propagated.'.
For the purposes of deflecting attention from SADTU members’ complicity in this 'jobs for cash' fraud, I assume that SADTU is restricting reference to the education related clauses in the Freedom Charter, but am at a loss to identify which of them Mrs Motshekga is being accused of attempting to 'reverse'.
The attempted slur (that of being a DA agent) loses steam completely and is exposed as a pathetic canard thus; although it is not an exciting document to read, the DA Education policy, like the ANC's, also espouses the principles of the Freedom Charter!
To take the argument a step further, since much of the South African Constitution is derived in principle from that 1955 document, any political party attempting to propagate policies in conflict with the Freedom Charter or the South African Constitution would not be likely to garner significant electoral support.
The ANC has enough on its plate at the moment. I'm not convinced that this party wants to risk losing more support on the grounds of a reversion to Verwoerdian Apartheid policies.
To accuse this Minister, a senior member of the ANC and of the Cabinet, of attempting to reintroduce Verwoerdian doctrines is either an expression of near-fatal ignorance or downright stupidity.
When I saw the SADTU statement it occurred to me that the union might have appointed publicity agents who suffer from delusions of becoming successful script writers in the genre of Absurdist Theatre. Watch out Tom Stoppard, here comes Mugwena Maluleke!
The education - related clauses of the Freedom Charter are listed below. I challenge Mr Maluleke to identify those that Minister Motshekga and the DA, want to 'reverse'.
The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life.
(We have an entire Ministry of Arts and Culture now)
All the cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all, by free exchange of books, ideas and contact with other lands
(South Africans are free to travel anywhere in the world now, no books are banned and no ideas forbidden. The concept is known as freedom of expression. People are even free to display their stupidity, ignorance, self-interest, avarice and amorality)
1 The aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people and their culture, to honour human brotherhood, liberty and peace.
(These principles find expression in the Basic Education Curriculum)
2 Teachers shall have all the rights of other citizens;
(Including the right to be employed without paying a 'fee' to corrupt officials)
3 Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children; (Most of the 26 000 Public Ordinary Schools are 'no - fee' schools and access to Basic Education has is)
4 Higher education and technical training shall be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit; (The Funza Lushaka bursary scheme that supports education students and the more general National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NASFAS)
5 Adult illiteracy shall be ended by a mass state education plan.
(The Kha Ri Gude adult literacy programme has taught four million, formerly illiterate South Africans to read since 2010)
6 The colour bar in cultural life, in sport and in education shall be abolished. (ANC policy, DA policy and the Constitution clearly espouse principles that are anathema to a ‘colour bar’.
Mr Maluleke, unless you and I are referring to different Freedom Charters, I must conclude that you are talking a load of tripe, and you should apologize for your rude, unfounded allegation that Angie Motshekga is some kind of turncoat.
I submit the following fact for use by Mr Maluleke. An indicator of this ‘reverse’ would be evidence of a reduction in the number of South African children who have access to Basic Education. With this in mind, according to Statistics South Africa, 99,3% of 7 to 13-year-olds are in primary schools. I am genuinely intrigued to see how Mr Maluleke would use this fact to support his contention that Verwoerdian Bantu Education is the ultimate goal of this Minister. I won’t be holding my breath waiting for his response though.
Having demolished the SADTU twaddle, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the work at classroom level that is being done, at the behest of Minister Motshekga. I write with the authority of the person responsible for implementing these directives.
Some background then. A trend has developed that showed that there was a decrease in the pupil participation rate in Mathematics in the FET Band, (Grades 10 – 12). Somewhat cynically, in pursuit of improving school pass rates in the National Senior Certificate (Matric), schools have been encouraging pupils to enrol for Mathematical Literacy (Maths Lit) in preference to (core) Mathematics. There is no doubt that Maths Lit is easier to pass than Mathematics, hence the shift nationally from Maths to Maths Lit. About 60% of grade 12 pupils are enrolled for Maths Lit which is not a desirable outcome given the need for larger numbers of school – leavers to have access to Higher Education courses in technical and scientific fields of study.
In 2014 it was noted that some schools were presenting entire cohorts of grade 12s, with none enrolled to write Mathematics. In layman’s terms, a crazy situation!
Obviously this position had to change and a decision was taken to develop a plan to reintroduce Mathematics as a subject option in these schools. Bearing in mind that the supply of maths teachers is quite restricted, a solution had to be devised that would place academically competent personnel in schools that could not attract teachers with the necessary skills. In addition, even if Maths teachers were still present in the identified schools, there was a great likelihood that these teachers’ content knowledge deficits were a cause of the declined pupil enrolment in the first instance anyway.
We thus faced a double challenge. The first being to find people able to teach the content who were also willing to be placed in some of the most difficult-to-staff schools, mostly in the furthest and poorest reaches of the country. Consequently, a plan was developed, called The Reintroduction of Mathematics Project (RoMP) and my job is to see that it is implemented.
The first action was to enter an agreement with an NGO called TEACH SA. This NGO has, since 2009, been recruiting non-education students from all university campuses in the country. These young graduates attend a two-week residential induction training course and are then placed in schools that need their academic subject knowledge. The main focus is on Science, Maths, English and Accounting. TEACH SA specifically do not recruit from the education student pool, since they are already on track to become professional teachers and one objective of TEACH SA is to increase further the pool of teacher talent in these ‘scarce-skills’ subjects.
Following the induction programme in December 2015, 78 TEACH SA graduates were placed in schools where their skills were desperately needed. There is a cherry on the top for this programme. In Mpumalanga for example, over 60% of TEACH Ambassadors have undertaken professional teacher qualification (the Post-Graduate Certificate in Education) and have remained in the profession following their first two year stint in the TEACH programme. TEACH Ambassadors have been placed in very remote, rural villages around Nongoma in KZN. Their motivation to contribute to educational advancement within the country is apparent, and they express a heartfelt desire to ‘give back’ or ‘pay forward’ in school communities that have a need for their skillsets. Many of the TEACH Ambassadors have Honours and Masters degrees, and I have seen and heard first-hand how much they are valued by the principals, parents and pupils of the schools where they serve.
Earlier this year, we took a groups of TEACH Ambassadors to a particular district that had indicated a need for their services. Here I encountered the ugly face of the ‘jobs for cash’ scam in person. Despite the provincial department’s identification of the need, the principals of the schools in this district refused to accept the Ambassadors. The principals could give no reason for their refusal and we had to return to Johannesburg with this group of very disheartened graduates. It occurred to me that the likely reason for not taking the Ambassadors was simply that there was no way for these principals to skim off the top of these Ambassador’s salaries. In my view these principals should have been fired for insubordination since that province’s Head of Education had directed that these appointments should be made. I doubt there was any consequence though. Union protection? I have no doubt. Shame on them!
Sad for the children in these understaffed rural schools, but a bonus for the schools where they were ultimately placed. Panyaza Lesufi, MEC for Education in Gauteng and his Head of Department, Edward Mosuwe, eagerly grabbed these Ambassadors and they were placed in needy schools within that week.
Since the TEACH Ambassadors are not professionally trained teachers, they need quite a lot of mentoring and support with regard to teaching methods and lesson planning, classroom and behaviour management - the ‘soft-skills’ side of teaching practice.
This minister, whom you accuse of reactionary reversion, has a deputy, Mr Enver Surty. His objectives align with hers, and his initiatives are an extension of her portfolio. So, in short, as a consequence of DM Surty’s engagement with the British Council, an outstanding ICT-based teacher-training programme called IRIS Connect is being piloted in six township schools in Ekurhuleni South. The British Council contribution to this partnership provides the training and hardware needed to maximise the impact of this platform.
Whilst this leg of the RoMP programme was initially planned to support only the TEACH Ambassadors, while the training was being conducted, 18 in-service, professionally qualified teachers asked if they could also participate.
These teachers are the kind of people who volunteer themselves to take on extra work because they see the value to be derived by their pupils and themselves as professional teachers. These are the kind of teachers we need more of. Even the district subject specialists requested to be included. The platform allows for self-reflection by filming classroom activity and gives teachers access to a community of practice that provides feedback and support in matters ranging from pedagogic content knowledge to marking memo discussion. There are myriad other applications for this proven, impactful teaching and training platform.
The point is that the same ministry you allege is reverting to antediluvian Apartheid-style activities, is actively promoting the introduction of technologically innovative, cost effective programmes, in precise contradistinction to your union’s waffling twaddle.
Mr Maluleke, how does an innovative programme that increases the national pool of competent, young Maths teachers lead to your nastily unfounded belief that this minister is ‘reversing’ the principles of the Freedom Charter?
Mr Maluleke, how do you square provision of academically excellent graduates to the most difficult to staff schools, with your delusion that this minister is reverting to a system designed to produce people competent only to draw water and hew wood? Regrettably it appears that the only wood in this scenario is to be found between your ears!
I answer my question with the observation that you cannot square delusion with reality. If SADTU members are involved in ‘jobs for cash’ deals, do the right thing and help to prosecute them. They are not worthy of protection, and unless your union takes action and you stop deflecting attention from their malfeasance, your union will continue to damage the prospects of a decent future for this nation’s children.
Stop with the ad hominem attacks and make a positive contribution. Become a union that represents the interests of professionals, not industrial workers. Stop protecting the useless and unwilling by preventing the formation of an inspectorate. Our children are not inanimate units of production like sticks of furniture or sanitary ware.
It is understood that a union represents the interests of its employed members. Fair enough, but is it really necessary to prejudice the life chances of the school children your members are supposed to be serving, (who are of course not SADTU members), by attempting to destroy the work and reputation of a smart, hard-working and honest minister?
David Silman