andrew whitfield

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape welcomes the swift action by the Hawks in arresting five people, including a high ranking ANC politician in the Kouga Municipality, The ANC today confirmed at a press conference that ANC Caucus Leader in the Kouga Municipality, Cllr Eldridge “Chico” Februarie has been arrested. Cllr Februarie is one of five people that were arrested today for allegedly defrauding the Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU) of more than R450 000. The … [Read more...] about Kouga Municipality must remove councillor arrested on fraud charges

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape will be laying criminal charges against an individual who allegedly tried to bribe DA councillors in the run-up to a recent Nelson Mandela Bay council meeting. This meeting, which took place last week Thursday, 28 January 2021, was of great importance to the Metro as it sole focus was to elect an Executive Mayor for Nelson Mandela Bay. During this council meeting DA councillor Nqaba Bhanga was re-elected as Mayor after first … [Read more...] about DA to lay criminal charges after NMB council bribery scandal

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape welcomes the confirmation of DA EC Provincial Leader, Cllr Nqaba Bhanga, as Executive Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. The confirmation of Cllr Bhanga was never in doubt, as the DA and its coalition partners have a strong coalition based on a shared goal of taking Nelson Mandela Bay forward again. We are committed to delivering services to residents who have suffered for two years under an uncaring ANC … [Read more...] about DA welcomes confirmation of Nqaba Bhanga as NMB Mayor

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) is disgusted by the behaviour of a member of the South African Police Service (SAPS) captured on video beating a man with a sjambok, allegedly for not wearing a mask. The horrific video is a further example of the high levels of police abuse which we have seen throughout the lockdown and proof that the violent culture of enforcement within SAPS has not been dealt with by Minister Bheki Cele and the National Police Commissioner, General Khela … [Read more...] about SAPS must arrest ‘Sjambok Cop’ Immediately

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance has put Nelson Mandela Bay residents first, opting not to waste valuable taxpayer money on a long, drawn-out legal battle with the Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Xolile Nqatha. Last year MEC Nqatha challenged the election of the Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor, DA councillor Nqaba Bhanga, during a special council meeting held on 4 December 2020. Today, 19 January 2021, the DA and MEC Nqatha settled the … [Read more...] about DA settles court case over Mayor with CoGTA MEC

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) will write to the National Police Commissioner, General Khehla Sitole, regarding reports of the Hawks’ fleet being grounded as a result of expired license discs due to unpaid fines. Members of the Hawks in Gauteng have been prevented from conducting investigations due to the license disks on their official vehicles not being renewed because of unpaid fines, some of which date back to 2015. Critical investigations into, amongst others, fraud and … [Read more...] about Expired licenses and unpaid fines clip Hawks’ wings

Dear MyPE Yesterday, 12 January 2021, the office of the Speaker of the Nelson Mandela Bay Council, Cllr Buyelwa Mafaya, refused to accept a petition calling for a special council meeting and has yet again proved that she is deeply compromised and places the needs of the ANC above the needs of the people of the City. The Democratic Alliance (DA) and other opposition parties, namely the ACDP, Cope, UDM, UF and AIC, have drawn up a petition to ensure that a special council meeting is called … [Read more...] about Speaker Buyelwa Mafaya refuses legal petition to call special council meeting

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) condemns in the strongest terms the announcement made by the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, that members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will today be roped in to assist the South African Police Service (SAPS) with patrolling beaches in the Garden Route. It is well known that South Africa suffers from an extremely high crime rate. Rape, gender-based violence, murder, farm attacks and gang warfare are all but out of control. … [Read more...] about Cele playing cops and surfers on the beach while South Africans live in fear of real criminals

CoGTA MEC does not have the power to declare election of NMB Mayor invalid, must go to court Dear MyPE The letter by the Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) to the office of the Speaker regarding last week’s Nelson Mandela Bay council meeting, is devoid of any truth and in extreme bad faith. In it, MEC Xolile Nqatha states the election of an Acting Speaker and, therefore, the election of a Mayor at last week’s Nelson Mandela Bay special council … [Read more...] about On Nqaba Bhanga’s “short lived tenure as Mayor”

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to National Police Commissioner, General Kehla Sitole, to request that he urgently investigates partnerships with private laboratories to tackle the backlog in DNA samples at the National Forensic Science Laboratories (NFSL) which now stands at 117 736. The DA in the sixth Parliament has been raising the alarm on challenges with DNA testing at the NFSL since 2019. I raised my concerns in the Portfolio Committee on Police repeatedly and … [Read more...] about DNA backlog 117 000 and climbing – SAPS must approach private labs urgently

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, to charge the Leader of the EFF, Julius Malema, with incitement to commit violence against members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and their families. The Minister’s condemnation of Malema’s comments ring hollow if not followed by decisive action. Strong and decisive action must follow in order to reassure our men and women in blue and their families that their Minister is on their side not the … [Read more...] about Cele must charge Malema for threats against SAPS members and their families

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) warnings of a crisis at the National Forensic Science Laboratories (NFLS) were vindicated by the DNA Board in Parliament on Wednesday. During a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Police on the handover report from the previous board it was said that the backlog in processing DNA case exhibits is at an alarming 300%. It was also highlighted that the backlog of case exhibits associated with Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) cases … [Read more...] about DNA Board Confirms Chaos at Forensic Science Labs: 300% backlog of DNA case exhibits

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) will write to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise, to request that she uses the power at her disposal in terms of Rule 253(1) (b) of the Rules of the National Assembly to establish an Ad Hoc Committee of the National Assembly to investigate criminality and corruption at the South African Police Services (SAPS). This is in light of yet another scandal involving the police, this time the SAPS Deputy National Commissioner, Bonang Mgwenya, … [Read more...] about Calls for establishment of parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee to investigate rampant criminality in SAPS

Dear MyPE A Democratic Alliance (DA) investigation on police misconduct over a 5 year period has revealed a troubling increase in police brutality and the Independent Police Investigation Directorate’s (IPID) declining capacity to successfully investigate the cases before it. The DA will write to the head of IPID, Jennifer Ntlatseng, requesting that she provides clarity on any plans that the organisation has to clear its case backlog and fast track its investigations on pending … [Read more...] about Police brutality is on the increase while IPID’s capacity to investigate is on the decline

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) to probe possible police involvement in the murder of Charl Kinnear. This is in light of reports that Kinnear was on the brink of cracking a “guns-to-gangs” syndicate at the police Central Firearms Registry (CFR). If these reports are to be believed, Kinnear would have possibly exposed large scale corruption within the CFR ranks. The DA believes that IPID has an important role to play in … [Read more...] about IPID must investigate possible police involvement in Charl Kinnear murder