These were the DA’s level 4 lockdown proposals to save lives and livelihoods Dear MyPE On Monday, Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, John Steenhuisen, submitted the Party’s inputs on the draft regulations of the risk-adjusted level 4 Covid-19 lockdown to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and Trade and Industry Minister, Ebrahim Patel. The DA welcomed Government’s decision to ease the hard lockdown from level 5 to level 4, in … [Read more...] about Read ’em and Weep
Dean Macpherson
Dlamini-Zuma to the Rescue
Dlamini-Zuma comes to rescue Patel from his legal nightmare on cooked food Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes that the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Nkosasa Dlamini-Zuma has swooped in at the last minute to rescue Trade, Industry and Competition Minister, Ebrahim Patel from a legal challenge which we were set to announce at 2pm today. Dlamini-Zuma has hurriedly amended the lockdown regulations to explicitly ban the sale of cooked foods in an attempt … [Read more...] about Dlamini-Zuma to the Rescue
Masks Should be Cheaper Now
DTIC adopts DA proposal on zero duty for life saving face masks Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the announcement by the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC), an entity of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) that life saving face masks will be subjected to zero duty on imports into South Africa. This comes after I wrote to Minister Ebrahim Patel on 19 March 2020 requesting him to do so as part of the DA’s 10 'urgent steps' he needed to … [Read more...] about Masks Should be Cheaper Now
BEE NOT a Factor for Lockdown funding
DA welcomes rejection of race-based criteria for funding during national lockdown Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the rejection by Government of the absurd proposal by the Department of Small Business Development to link SMME-funding during the national lockdown to race-based ownership. This issue has caused mass panic in the business community across South Africa due to a leaked document from the department. This is why the DA wrote to Minister Patel on 20 March 2019 … [Read more...] about BEE NOT a Factor for Lockdown funding
Lottery corruption scandal
Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Chairperson of the Trade and Industry Portfolio Committee, Duma Nkosi requesting that an urgent committee meeting is held to get to the bottom of the corruption scandal which has consumed the National Lottery Commission (NLC) and threatens to derail it. This follows further allegations by GroundUp that COO, Philemon Letwaba’s wife Rebottle Malomane scored R4.8 million in grant funding in 2017. Investigations have revealed that … [Read more...] about Lottery corruption scandal
SA taken to the brink over Copyright Amendment Bill
Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the announcement by the United States Government to begin a review of South Africa’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) eligibility due to the unwillingness of President Cyril Ramaphosa to send back to Parliament the fatally flawed Copyright Amendment Bill. On 12 June 2019, I wrote to the President requesting that he send the Copyright Amendment Bill back to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry for amendments and further … [Read more...] about SA taken to the brink over Copyright Amendment Bill
Economic Assessment report mauls Ramaphosa’s ‘Credit Bill’
Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance can finally reveal that our long held view that the recently passed ‘Debt Relief Bill’ will be a devastating blow to low income South Africans, is entirely correct after the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) finally released the 112 page Socio-Economic Impact Assessment Study (SEIAS) into the Bill. The DA maintains that the biggest winner from this Bill will be loan sharks as South Africans will now be forced into their open and waiting arms. The … [Read more...] about Economic Assessment report mauls Ramaphosa’s ‘Credit Bill’
National Credit Amendment Bill signed into into law at the worst possible time
Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) is dismayed that President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the deeply flawed and possibly unconstitutional National Credit Amendment Bill, drawn up by the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry (PCTI) in the fifth Parliament. The Amendment Bill, will increase the cost of credit for low income earners, weaken the fight against illegal lenders and negatively disrupt the credit market while posing a financial risk to the state, when South African … [Read more...] about National Credit Amendment Bill signed into into law at the worst possible time
Transnet to be hauled before a parliamentary inquiry
Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance welcomes an agreement today by the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry for a Parliamentary Committee Inquiry, in terms of National Assembly Rule 227, 1 (c), into the Transnet acquisition of 1064 locomotives at a cost of R50 billion. After two failed attempts at extracting answers from a clearly belligerent Transnet CEO, Siyabonga Gama, who appeared before the committee to answer for the many allegations that have dogged this program including: … [Read more...] about Transnet to be hauled before a parliamentary inquiry
