MAIN STORY
Solidarity slams Blade over higher tax for university fees
By Inge Strydom
The trade union Solidarity criticised Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education and Training, over his statements in parliament with regard to the ongoing debacle on tertiary tuition fees. Minister Nzimande said among other things that the lowering of fees must be funded by the high income group in the form of higher taxes.
Johan Kruger, Solidarity’s Deputy General Secretary, said it is outrageous that South Africans in general must continuously bear the brunt of the ANC’s misappropriation, self-enrichment and corruption and on top of that pay more tax to rectify the ANC’s mistakes.
“It is short-sighted to place the enormous burden of tertiary tuition fees on the shoulders of the high income group, which forms only a small part of the country’s tax payers. In the end, the people who are classified as part of the high income group will be forced to leave the country to take their business elsewhere,” Kruger warned.
Nzimande also said that the ANC is the “victim of its own success” because the party succeeded in providing access to universities to such an extent that they cannot keep up with the funding. “However, the Minister uttered no word about his party’s significant part in the misappropriation of funds and corruption that leads to the loss of billions every year. Furthermore, since the ANC came into power, no university or training institution has seen the light. In fact, the ANC has succeeded in destroying economic growth by means of draconian law enforcement,” Kruger said.
Earlier this year, Solidarity released a report on corruption, which pointed out that in the past 21 years, since the birth of democracy, hundreds of billions have been lost to corruption.
STORY 1
EFF’s race rhetoric disguising the reality and incites racial tension – Solidarity
By Francois Redelinghuys
Trade union Solidarity this week said that the statements made yesterday by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and their leader Julius Malema are inciting racial tension unnecessarily and do not offer an accurate reflection of the reality.
This comes after the EFF, led by Malema, yesterday during the party’s marches to the respective head offices of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and the Chamber of Mines, accused the Stock Exchange of racism and white dominance.
According to Solidarity Deputy General Secretary Johan Kruger, authoritative research undertaken by Alternative Prosperity indicates that, by the end of 2013, black South Africans already owned at least 23% of the shares on the JSE. Of this shareholding, 10% is directly owned by black investors, and 13% is owned indirectly by means of institutional investments such as pension funds.
“This doesn’t mean that the remaining 77% is only white owned. In 2013, foreigners have already owned 39% of the JSE and another 16% was South African owned, although Alternative Prosperity could not establish by which population group they were owned. The remaining 22% consists of white South Africans,” Kruger said.
“Malema’s distorted statements are totally unfounded and once again smacks of an attempt to drive his own race-driven agenda,” Kruger explained.
As far as the South African Reserve Bank is concerned, its 2014-’15 annual report shows that 50,9% of the SARB’s workforce is black compared with the 33,3% of white employees at this institution.
“These unfounded allegations made by Malema are indicative of the party’s attempt to incite racial tensions,” Kruger said.
STORY 2
Solidarity welcomes plans to review GEPF’s clean-break principle
By Inge Strydom
Trade union Solidarity this week welcomed the plans of the Government Employees’ Pension Fund (GEPF) to revise its implementation of the “clean-break principle”. This follows after Solidarity launched a huge campaign during the past number of weeks against the fund’s application of this principle.
The “clean-break principle” entails that the pension benefits that a divorced member’s former spouse is entitled to in terms of a divorce settlement is paid out to him or her shortly after the divorce has been finalised. To date, the GEPF considered the portion paid out to the former spouse to be a debt on which the member had to pay compound interest on a monthly basis.
Solidarity warned earlier that this principle had an immense negative effect on the pensions and financial position of members of the fund. Solidarity has already started to finalise court documents to fight this pension issue in the High Court.
In response to Solidarity’s campaign, the fund, through its CEO Mr Abel Sithole, confirmed that the fund would review this system. “The method whereby the number of years of service is adjusted in order to calculate the payment to the former spouse is a better and more equitable practice,” said Solidarity Deputy Secretary Johan Kruger.
Kruger said that Solidarity would also ensure reimbursement for its members that have suffered a loss due to this principle. “Several of our members that have been negatively affected have recently approached for assistance. We shall enter into discussions with the GEPF to demand compensation for persons that have suffered financially due to the interest charged by the fund,” Kruger explained.
STORY 3
Which SA university is the most expensive?
By Bianca Bothma
Just how much does it cost to get a university education in South Africa and which university is the most expensive?
Following three days of protests at the University of the Witwatersrand, eNCA.com has compiled a comparison on the cost of studying at a university in South Africa.
The Wits SRC organised a mass protest which began on Wednesday over a proposed 10.5% increase in fees. Students blockaded the entrance to the university campus in Braamfontein and all classes were cancelled.
Addressing the National Summit on Higher Education on Thursday, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said university fees should be more affordable.
“Students’ fees need to be affordable to allow for greater access by the poor, the working class and even middle-class families,” he told delegates.
However in a statement, Linda Jarvis, chief financial officer of the university, said the 5% subsidy from the government was not enough to cover costs.
“We have to make up our income to cover our expenditure in order to remain sustainable. If we do not do so, we put the quality of our academic project at risk,” she said.
The proposed increase of 10.5% will not affect two-thirds (20,000) of students who are on bursaries or scholarships, said Jarvis.
Wits Vice-Chancellor Adam Habib addressed students on Friday morning in a long session, to hear their grievances and work towards a resolution.
The upfront registration fee – or first tuition payment as it’s also referred to – at Wits is R9,900, which is far less than what students are expected to pay when they register at the UCT or Rhodes University in Grahamstown.
The University of Fort Hare isn’t included in this chart because their fee structure is not listed on their website.
UCT is by far the most expensive, requiring students to pay R24,000 before setting foot in a lecture hall.
Earlier this year student protests erupted at UCT, sparking a nationwide movement calling for the removal of colonial statues.
The Cecil John Rhodes statue at UCT was defaced and later removed.
The campaign spread throughout the country and trended for days on social media with the hash tag #RhodesMustFall.
It is anticipated that the #WitsFeesMustFall protests may also spread to other university campuses.
eNCA.com also compared the first-year fees of three generally oversubscribed degrees: BCom, science, arts and social sciences.
Angelo Fick, eNCA commentator, says these degrees are more popular because they have more streams with different majors.
“Professional degrees like medicine or electrical engineering have a more specific programme,” he said.
Generally, UCT was the most expensive, followed by the University of Pretoria, North-West University and Wits.
AfriForum
National month of protest against farm murders
By Mariska Batt
The civil rights organisation AfriForum has declared November 2015 as a national month of protest against farm murders. Various actions will be launched during November that will focus on increasing international pressure on the South African Government to prioritise farm murders. AfriForum requests the public to show their support for this campaign by visiting the webpage or to SMS their names to 32534.
Ernst Roets, deputy CEO of AfriForum, explained that on 1 December 2015 it would be exactly five years since the gruesome murder of the Potgieter family on their farm close to Lindley in the Free State. Attie Potgieter (40) was stabbed 151 times with garden forks, pangas and other tools, while his wife Wilna (36) and their little daughter Willemien (2) had to look on. Willemien was then hit over the head with a sharp object, shot in the head and dumped in a box in the outbuilding. After Willemien had witnessed the murder of her husband and daughter, she was taken back to the farm house, hit over the head a number of times and then shot in the neck.
“Although Government had regretted the Potgieter murders in the media, it is quite evident that the police does not consider farm murders a priority at all,” Roets said.
“Since then, hundreds of farmers have been killed on their farms, many in the most brutal way imaginable. If Government and the Department of Police simply laugh away the matter, we will make sure that they are embarrassed in the international arena for this.”
In the coming month, AfriForum will undertake the following actions:
AfriForum will approach the High Court for an order to compel the South African Police Service (SAPS) to publish their statistics on farm murders and make known their methodology to compile these statistics. This follows after the former National Police Commissioner made reference to farmer murders on two occasions in the past year, but gave conflicting figures.
AfriForum has already registered to address the United Nation’s Forum on Minority Issues on farm murders in the last week of November. A report will also be submitted to the UN that specifically focuses on the manner in which victims of farm attacks are discriminated against in the criminal justice system.
This report will also be sent to more than 300 international and foreign media correspondents in South Africa.
On the day on which the UN will be addressed, the report will also be sent to more than 5 000 foreign media institutions.
On 1 December 2015 AfriForum will submit a vote of no confidence in Government’s ability to combat farm attacks to the office of the President.
AfriForum also requests members of the public to add their names to AfriForum’s letter of protest. Leading up to the UN conference, AfriForum will start a comprehensive campaign to raise support for the memorandum.
“The more people who add their names to the list, the stronger our voice will become and the greater our chances of success,” Roets explained.
AfriForum needs to strengthen their report to the UN with at least 100 000 names from members of the public who support the matter. To show their support, the public can visit stopthemurders.co.za or SMS their name to 32534 for R1.
AfriForum is to launch a unit soon that’ll focus on the victims of farm attacks and murders.
HELPENDE HAND
Build your own app
Do you want to know something, do something or see something? There will be an app to find it, and if there isn’t one, YOU can build one and make money in the process. It is easier than you think it is, and you don’t need any programming knowledge. This principle Solidarity Helping Hand wants to convey to South Africans by means of a unique project that has never been attempted before in Afrikaans.
As an initiative of its School Support Centre, Helping Hand decided to teach young and old to build, maintain and market an app, ensuring extra income for themselves in the process. The manual and videos that are free are available on the website. A monthly fee ensuring access to the platform is payable though.
The APPfabriek is a simple, user-friendly platform that will equip you with everything you need to create your own apps. You don’t need to have ANY programming knowledge. Although the platform is in Afrikaans, you can build your app in any language and for any purpose.
To launch the project Helping Hand organised a competition to give prospective APPreneurs an opportunity to build an app to qualify for the prize money worth R100 000. Hundreds of entries have been received and the ten finalists will know on 29 October who 2015’s Top APPreneur is.
The Top Ten are:
•Tana Kruger – Tana Kruger Spraakterapie (Port Elizabeth)
•Ronel Erasmus – Kamae Karate Klub (Pretoria)
•Ryno Davel – Appteek (Pretoria)
•Adri de Beer – Oppipad (Sasolburg)
•Frik de Lange – Boer soek ’n gras (Pretoria)
•Madeleine Greeff – Ezio Graad 2 Wiskunde (Pretoria)
•Mauritz Stander – Namakwaland Blommeprag (Somerset-Wes)
•Nico Steyn – Ons geskiedenis (Pretoria)
•Melissa Troskie – Klein Bondeltjie, Groot liefde (Bloemfontein)
•Hardus Vosloo – SA-Helde (Middelburg)
“This is the first project of its kind in Afrikaans,” Helping Hand’s project organiser, Annette Taljaard, said. “A wide variety of apps are being built. It is a challenge for young and old.
The world is changing and we live in times where the use of technology has become the norm. According to the Harvard Business Review, the average person uses his or her smart phone or tablet 150 times a day for searching, games and surfing. Approximately 80% of the time people spend using their phones, it is by using an app.
Helping Hand understands this world and knows that it can offer many challenges for young and old. Who would have guessed that the world would change like this 20 years ago? For this very reason, Helping Hand wants to help ensure that children, in particular, learn entrepreneurial and technological skills from an early age. With the right equipment in hand they will be able to face the future with success.
The APPfabriek is an initiative of Solidarity Helping Hand and forms part of the Solidarity Movement. Helping Hand is a national non-profit organisation that focuses on the prevention, termination and alleviation of poverty. For more information on the APPfabriek, visit contact Annette Taljaard on 012 644 4390, or send an e-mail to .
RUBRIEKE:
BEDDRYFSBROKKIES
Voluntary severance packages at PetroSA
By Cilleste van Dyk
In addition to a cost-cutting drive that national oil and gas company PetroSA started they announced that the company was now offering its employees voluntary severance packages to reduce operating costs.
PetroSA’s decision to offer the packages comes amid plummeting oil prices and feedstock challenges for the company’s gas-to-liquids refinery in Mossel Bay. Acting group CEO, Mapula Modipa, said in a statement: “We will strive to ensure that the voluntary severance package we have put on the table for our employees to consider will help us to realise our goal without compromising the need to retain critical skills and maintain a sustainable business.” According to Modipa, the move to reduce the headcount is strictly on a voluntary basis. In May, PetroSA suspended three top executives over declining revenues, poor investments and a failed bid to enter the fuel retail market.
MY SPORT
By Francois Redelinghuys
World Cup glory not meant to be for us
And so World Cup glory was just not meant to be for us this year.This comes after the New Zeeland succeeded twice this year to defeat our national teams in the cricket and rugby World Cup semi-finals respectively.
The Boks came very close to playing in the World Cup final this coming Saturday. Two meagre points. I believe after Saturday’s semi-final against New Zealand even their harshest critics would concede that the Boks gave it their all, even putting their bodies on the line with a feint chance of beating a well-trained All Black team. This is exactly where the problem lies ... the All Blacks expected it and the Boks’ game never had a surprise element to it.This is exactly why the All Blacks could simply park in the Boks’ half, launching the one attack after the other. It was as if we were so scared to lose control that we only defended in the hope of getting a penalty without taking the initiative on the attack.Therefore, the Boks couldn’t really ever threaten the All Black goal line.
I believe the shock defeat suffered against Japan was largely to be blamed for this. After the opening match the Bok coaching team proclaimed widely that the Springboks would have to return to their strengths which served the Boks so well in the past.And that is just where the baby was thrown out with the bathwater. For the rest of the tournament the Springboks reverted to a very direct and one dimensional game plan based on domination of the opposition by the forwards – which worked against the lesser teams like Samoa and USA.