As early as April 2002, some of the Boeremag accused were arrested. The record trial commenced on 19 May 2002, which would continue for the next eleven years in the High Court of Pretoria. The main charge of which 24 people were found guilty on, was high treason. While some received bail under the strictest conditions, eleven of them remained in custody, while bail were denied continuously. All of them (except two who died during the marathon trial) were found guilty of high treason and were variously sentenced on 28 October 2013. The remark of Judge Eben Jordaan that he has taken the 11 years into account, of which they remained incarcerated or under the most severe bail conditions, seemed only to be lip-service, because he sentenced some of the convicted men for another 25 years effective imprisonment.
The Boeremag men were sentenced on 28 October 2013 and found themselves for the next 4 years in a system effectively depriving them of their right to appeal. Some of the men were not even able to launch an application of leave to appeal. All of them who actually could launch an application of leave to appeal, had to bring the application again before Judge Eben Jordaan, who refused all the applications forthwith. Those who’s application of leave to appeal were denied by Judge Jordaan, still struggle to launch their petition to the appeal court, but without any progress or success due to administrative red tape and lack of cooperation by government officials. Some of the legal representatives do not even seem to get started.
After almost four years of struggling without success, Dr Lets Pretorius and two of his sons, Drs Johan and Wilhelm Pretorius, decided to petition directly to the Judge President of the Constitutional Court, Judge Mogoeng-Mogoeng. In the petition they state that the system effectively deprive them of their right to appeal. It includes their incarceration circumstances created by the Department of Correctional Services, the procrastination and delays caused by the unjust and mal-administration of the Legal Aid Board and the courts. In their petition the three Drs Pretorius asked for a court order to the effect that Prof. Hercules Booysen, and Mr. Julian Knight, be appointed respectively as their advocate and lawyer by the Legal Aid Board in order for them to contest the constitutionality and legality of their incarceration. They state that the constitution guarantees the right to appeal and the right of a judicial process which should commence and be completed without unreasonable delays. The delays caused by the incapacity of the system effectively deprive them of these rights, which renders their trial unfair. To be incarcerated on grounds of an unfair trial, is unconstitutional and therefore unlawful. The international standard for any court case is 10 years from arrest until all forms of appeal have been exhausted. The Boeremag trial started 15 years ago this month.
The Drs. Pretorius are currently waiting for an answer of the judge president of the Constitutional Court.
Boervin is a non-profit company which endeavour for the freedom of the Boer Political Prisoners. We support the application of Drs. Pretorius ask the community to support this application in their prayers. We also ask for the support of Boervin to help us by making us able to expose this injustice nationally and internationally, which still rage against the Boer Political Prisoners, in order to end this injustice, raging for 15 years already.
Police conduct 3am raid, arrest 12 and confiscate petrol bombs and tyres
By Joseph Chirume
21 June 2017 Residents gather to meet on Wednesday morning at Wells Estate after mass evictions. Photo: Joseph ChirumeViolent protests have
continued in Motherwell following mass evictions that began two weeks
ago and restarted on Monday. Hundreds of shacks were demolished in NU29
and NU30 sections this week.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality recently obtained a court order
instructing the office of the sheriff to carry out the evictions.
After shacks were demolished in Ikamvelihle, municipal and other vehicles were attacked and torched.
On Monday, police conducted an early morning raid at 3am and arrested
12 residents of Ehlovini settlement in Wells Estate on charges of
public violence. According to the police 30 tyres, 18 petrol bombs and a
five litre can of petrol were confiscated.
Protesters are demanding houses. Thokozile Soporo, whose shack was
demolished in Ikamvelihle, said she has been on the housing list since
2007.
“I don’t like to live the life of a squatter. It is inhuman and very
humiliating, because the place does not have toilets, water or
electricity. I know of many people who applied for a house after me, but
they are already living in their houses,” she said.
“The municipality should tell us the truth. We know that some of the
house beneficiaries do not qualify to have houses because they are not
poor people but work for government. I will wait for the police to leave
this place, then I will have to rebuild again. I have lost nearly
R5,000 worth of furniture and building material that the police took
away from my shack,” said Soporo.
NU 29 resident Mehlo Jamu, whose shack was also demolished, said, “We
fought and defeated apartheid because the government was very arrogant
and treated its people like animals. What this administration is doing
to its residents is not different to the apartheid administration. I
have lost lots of household goods as a result of this barbaric action. I
will rebuild and fight for this place. This is my home.”
Nolukho Toyo said she was deep asleep when the police kicked her door
in [during the 3am raid on Monday]. “I was sleeping with my 10-year-old
son,” she said. “They also fired rubber bullets while we were in the
shack. In other shacks, the police pointed their guns to children and
old women. I am unemployed so I cannot get the money to pay rent. I will
only leave this place after the municipality has given us a better
place.”
Mayor Athol Trollip said, “It is a problem when people protest about
housing delivery and then turn around and stone vehicles and burn down
municipal infrastructure. Nobody in South Africa has the right to
assault innocent people. That’s criminal, yet people want to be treated
with kids gloves.”
“We have a plan where we are going to build those houses. We cannot
do that if land earmarked for this has been invaded. This is a major
problem in our city. We also have many instances where people invaded
houses whose owners are not there. We need to identify the land and
build the infrastructure to service them. We are planning to provide
12,000 houses with title deeds over the next three years.”
Trollip said the evictions had been done with due legal process.
“Evictions are carried out by the office of the sheriff with the
assistance of the police. If household property is removed, it must be
labelled and taken to a place where the owners can claim it back.”
Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge said the “evictions being
executed by the Sheriff of the Court in Motherwell, Ikamvelihle and
Wells Estate areas have sparked violence and damages towards innocent
motorists”.
Beetge warned motorists to avoid the N2 road between Bluewater Bay
and the R335 off-ramp as well as the Addo road passing through Wells
Estate.
He said the operation will continue until Friday. A truck torched in the protests. Photo: Joseph Chirume
Published originally on
GroundUp
.
Blikkiesdorp was supposed to be temporary, but residents are stuck there indefinitely
By Trevor Bohatch and Ashraf Hendricks
20 June 2017 Blikkiesdorpis a bleak, treeless settlement near the end
of the runway of Cape Town International Airport. Photo: Ashraf
Hendricks.
Blikkiesdorp, also known as “Tin Can Town”, is found tucked
away and out of sight in Delft, about a 25km drive from Cape Town’s city
centre. It was meant to be a TRA, the City’s abbreviation for Temporary
Relocation Area, but it has been housing residents for ten years. It
consists of 1,600 to 2,000 households living in tin shacks.
“This is not a place for human beings,” says Jane Roberts, who has
been in Blikkiesdorp for eight years. Before, Roberts was one of the
Symphony Way pavement dwellers and lived for two and half years on the
street. “The road was a good place to stay,” she says. Jane Roberts has lived in Blikkiesdorp for eight years, even
though it is supposed to be a temporary place. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks
Her home in Blikkiesdorp is tiny. A double bed takes up most of the
space. She says she lives in constant fear of gangsters and break-ins.
“You can’t go out. You can’t leave your house,” says Roberts. “People
want to get out of here. They don’t want to live here. They say they
don’t care where they are going to live, so long as they can get out of
Blikkiesdorp.”
“After eight years it’s not temporary, it’s permanent,” says Roberts. Maureen Philanders wonders where her children and grandchildren will grow up. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks
Maureen Philanders previously stayed at a shelter in Cape Town, but
had to leave after three months. She relocated to Blikkiesdorp and
thought that she would be here for only three years. She has been here
for six years. She says her health is not good. “I’m so worried, because
I think, where are the grandchildren and the children going to grow
up?” Philanders asks. She lives with five children; one is her own
child.
“You are not safe [here] in your own shack,” she says. Philander said she’d even considered moving into the Belhar graveyard. Estrolitha van Ballen says crime is high and the police don’t pick the phone when you call them. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks
Blikkiesdorp has no nearby hospital or police station. According to
Estrolitha van Ballen, who has lived in Blikkiesdorp for seven years,
the police and ambulance take a long time to arrive. “You phone the
police, but they never pick up,” she says. “The crime is so high. During
the night you can’t sleep. You must be alert.
We asked the City of Cape Town what plans it has for the residents of
Blikkiesdorp, and if there’s a date for when they’ll be
moved. Councillor Siyabulela Mamkeli, the City’s Mayoral Committee
Member for Area Central, responded: “Any concrete proposals and
information would be taken to the communities of Blikkiesdorp, Malawi
Camp and Freedom Park first and at the appropriate time. We will follow
our normal engagement processes.”
Published originally on
GroundUp
.
Celebrations and demonstrations held around the country on 16 June
By Ashraf Hendricks, Bernard Chiguvare and Ihsaan Haffejee
19 June 2017 Commemorations were held on Youth Day, Friday 16 June at
the Hector Pieterson memorial in Soweto. People gathered to pay their
respects on the 41st anniversary of the Soweto uprising. Photo: Ihsaan
HaffejeeYouth sang protest songs and danced during a youth day event
in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. About 100 primary and high school youth
gathered at Site B Hall to commemorate the 1976 Soweto uprising. They
also discussed the difficulties that the youth face today. Photo: Ashraf
HendricksIn Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, about 70 youth from Tafelsig,
demonstrated against high crime rates and child abuse. The march
through the suburb was organised by the Eyes of Matroosberg Committee
and the Mitchells Plain Crisis Forum. Photo: Bernard ChiguvareGrade one pupils from Soweto stand ready with white roses
which they placed at the Hector Pieterson memorial in Soweto. Photo:
Ihsaan Haffejee
Published originally on
GroundUp
.
dUp, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the
original article.
International investors are still rattled by President Jacob Zuma’s sacking of respected Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene. Reuters/Sumaya Hisham
South Africa has narrowly survived a downgrade of the rating of its government bonds. The reprieve, however, is temporary because government has been warned by the Big Three rating agencies – Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s – to pull up its socks.
South Africa’s current rating – just about investment grade, heading south fast – puts it more or less on par with countries such as Italy and Spain. And even with a downward trajectory through speculative grade it is still several notches away from outright “junk” or “CCC”.
But a downgrade to sub-investment grade would slow inward investment and the economic fallout could become a self-fulfilling prophecy: as outflows increase, the economy slows.
Such meta-narratives are especially powerful during periods of global turbulence as is currently being experienced, with volatile commodity prices, the oil rout, the slowdown in China and speculative investors moving large amounts of short-term capital very quickly around the world.
Why sovereign debt matters
When governments need to raise money they may decide to do so by borrowing on international financial markets. Such loans, or sovereign bonds, are each assigned a rating by a credit ratings agency. The rating estimates the likelihood of a government’s creditors being repaid against a range of factors. These include hard economic data, political analysis, reputation and sentiment.
The yield of the bond can be roughly understood as the interest rate on a loan. The lower the credit rating, the higher the risk of a default and the higher the yield payable to investors for taking on that risk.
It’s important to note that sovereign bonds are just another asset class investors can consider in a universe of investable assets. A downgrade is not desirable as it may slow down institutional investment and make the economy more vulnerable to speculative activity. But some investors may very well have an appetite for risky sovereign debt if it means they can make a lot of money.
In fact, high-end brokerages such as Charles Schwab advise investors on investing in high-yield, sub-investment grade emerging market debt. This sort of speculative sentiment is exactly what drove the “Africa Rising” narrative. It also drove the introduction of ratings for previously unrated sub-Saharan sovereigns, as investors sought new sources of alpha in the low-growth fallout of the financial crisis in Europe.
Despite this, countries need to borrow to plug the gap between projected tax revenue and budgeted expenditure. However, as debt has to be repaid at some point in the future, any debt raised should be used to finance investment such as infrastructure, which expands an economy’s capacity and therefore potential for growth and increased tax revenue. In addition, the interest government pays on its debt is of paramount importance.
What there’s to like, not to like about South Africa
Rating agencies have cited maintaining investor confidence as one of the critical factors towards preventing a future downgrade for South Africa. So it’s important to know what investors were thinking about South Africa in the run up to the ratings, and what they’re thinking now.
The first point to make is that local institutional investors and financial institutions are also influenced by the global context. The political and economic developments of all countries are viewed proportionately to other markets. For example, in the case of South Africa, Investec Asset Management evaluates the country relative to other emerging markets. It recently did so in relation to Brazil in particular.
Investec’s house view on the two countries is informed by two insights. The first is that South Africa and Brazil have political headwinds that are governance risks to long-term economic development, and may present watershed moments. The other is that the strength of institutions in these countries is often overlooked. An example of this is the South African Constitutional Court’s ruling on President Jacob Zuma’s spending on his private home in Nkandla.
Publicly available international perceptions also matter. An example is the World Economic Forum competitiveness ranking. South Africa is ranked 49th out of 140 countries and only second to China among the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa group.
Investors also like the country’s sound fundamentals. These include a sophisticated financial markets sector, and respect for property rights and the rule of law. And despite US government complaints about infrastructure gaps and the inaccessibility of officials, it still regards South Africa as an important gateway to the rest of the continent.
However, inequality, unemployment, power shortages, policy incoherence around black economic empowerment and labour relations remain risk factors. The UK government, for example, singles out corruption, fronting around empowerment deals and dubious tender processes.
International investors are also still rattled about President Zuma’s unexpected decision late last year to replace his respected finance minister, only to reverse the decision a few days later.
Another bugbear is Zuma’s weakened position and how succession within the ruling African National Congress will play out, particularly the realisation that Cyril Ramaphosa, currently the deputy, may not have enough power to become president.
The competition between Zuma and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is also being watched closely, as Gordhan is seen as a business champion.
Overall South Africa, right now, is viewed as a terribly difficult place to do business, with overweening bureaucracy, a collapsing education system, poor policy and militant labour groups. Kenya and Nigeria are increasingly seen as more favourable destinations.
As one investment advisor in London pithily described South Africa:
Lots of potential, not worth the hassle.
South Africa is thus particularly vulnerable with its relatively liquid portfolio flows and sophisticated financial markets. In addition, the rand, with its high interest rate, is a particular favourite commodity currency for speculators in the carry trade. And indeed, both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have worried aloud about the combination of low growth, high debt and political risk in the current global environment.
But some healthy scepticism and perspective is also in order. Yes, South Africa’s parliament is out of order, but there have been fisticuffs in South Korea too.
And there is no such thing as “idiosyncratic emerging market risk” – a patently hypocritical concept. South Africa has had its recent share of protests, but the 2011 London riots were intense, with three days of violence during which 450 arrests were made. Nor are emerging markets essentially “corrupt”. Take Italy, for example. And rent-seeking patronage networks and what the Chinese call guanxi – networks of influence – are a feature of politics everywhere.
Economic policy priorities
The sooner South Africans realise they have frittered away the Mandela dividend in a cutthroat global economy, the better. But this realisation does not have to come at the expense of equal negotiating power in trade and investment. By growing the economy inclusively with a focus on human development, the business environment also becomes more sustainable. Investors know this too.
Economic policy requires a shift away from the short-termism of a gross domestic product evangelism that is subject to the vagaries of hot money in a panicked and turbulent global economy. If this continues to be the case, economic development will only ever elicit a Pavlovian response from rating action to rating action.
Economic policy requires a shift away from the short-termism of a gross domestic product evangelism that is subject to the vagaries of hot money in a panicked and turbulent global economy. If this continues to be the case, economic development will only ever elicit a Pavlovian response from rating action to rating action.