6 December 2007
Themba Maseko: Okay, good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much
for making the time to join us this morning. This was the final Cabinet meeting
of the year, and I want to take the opportunity to thank all the members of the
media for attending all our sessions and for reporting very well on the
post-Cabinet briefings that Iâve been doing. Most of your reports have been
fairly accurate, and I want to thank you for that, for a job well done. And Iâm
sure that youâre all looking forward to a long break, we will see you in the
New Year.
Cabinet held its ordinary meeting in Pretoria yesterday morning, the 5th of
December 2007. Cabinet approved both the Biofuels Industrial Strategy and the
Electricity Master Plan. Iâm pleased to welcome the Minister of Minerals and
Energy whoâs here with us this morning, whoâll elaborate further on these two
initiatives during the course of this briefing. The Ministerâs statement will
also be put on the website just for further information. Cabinet noted that the
APRM report has now been published by the APRM secretariat. The report
identified 18 best practises that were worth emulating in other countries,
including innovations such as the Mzansi Account, the Multi-Purpose Community
Centres renamed Thusong Service Centres, and the Black Economic Empowerment
Charters initiative. Further, the report highlights a number of strengths which
characterise the South African society, including having one of the most
progressive constitutions in the world, having the largest and strongest
economy on in the continent, a political environment conducive to political
debate, a First World economic and infrastructure⦠physical infrastructure; a
strong public financial management system; strong technological capability;
good corporate governance; a robust legal system and a strong framework for the
protection of human rights.
However the report also highlights a number of challenges including racism
and xenophobia as some of the challenges that we still need to address. The
under-representation of women in the private sector; high levels of gender
based violence; the rise in education expenditure that is not mirrored in the
outcomes of the education system; insufficient contact between ordinary South
Africans and political representatives; the pervasive legacy and distortions of
the apartheid system; high HIV infection rate, and the high levels of violent
crime.
The Government response to the report is included in appendix two of the
document. In raising some of the concerns about certain aspects of the report,
Government was of the view that the APRM process would be strengthened if the
identified weaknesses were addressed. In this regard a workshop was held in
Algeria to review the process and methodology issues. Government is satisfied
that its concerns have been⦠have received the necessary attention at the
Algeria workshop. The South African Government thanks the panel for their hard
work and dedication to the task of reviewing our complex country.
The next step is the implementation of the form of action to address the
challenges raised in the report. South Africa will be reporting progress to the
Secretariat every six months, and will table an annual report to the APRM Heads
of State and Government forum in July. Cabinet noted that the programme of
action and that greater alignment between the two programs of action will be
attained in 2008 when government finalises its program of action for the year.
The two programs are the APRM proposed country program and the government
program of action. So attempts will be made to align the two in the next
year.
All stakeholders led by government are urged to work together to ensure the
implementation of the recommendations of the APRM country report. The report is
now available and can be accessed from the website, www.nepad.org/aprm.
At its meeting of the 7th of November 2007, Cabinet had resolved that the
forensic report on the financial affairs of the Land Bank was to be referred to
the South African Police Services, and the prosecution authorities for further
investigation and possible prosecutions. Cabinet resolved yesterday that this
decision will be rescinded, pending further internal investigations by the
Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs.
Cabinet also noted that the second European-Africa Summit would take place
on 8 and 9 December in Lisbon, Portugal. The summit will strengthen relations
between the two continents and will help to consolidate the African agenda. The
South African delegation will be led by President Mbeki and the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nkosazana Zuma⦠Dlamini-Zuma, rather.
The meeting noted that the World AIDS Day was celebrated in many parts of
the country on the 1st of December 2007. A number of activities were held in
many parts of the country which served to mobilise society to act together to
heighten the implementation of the national strategic plan. To this end Cabinet
welcomed the progress that is being made in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The
highlights of the progress include the following. The mother-to-child
transmission program has the largest coverage in the Sub-Saharan region,
reaching between 50 and 60% of the targeted population. More than 370 000
people had been initiated on the antiretroviral therapy by September 2007. The
prevalence level among teenagers had decreased from 15.9% to 13.7%. And that
the South African National AIDS Council had succeeded to strengthen the
partnership between government and all stakeholders in the fight against the
pandemic.
Cabinet welcomed the 2007 report card of the United Nations Childrenâs Fund,
UNICEF, on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and the
paediatric HIV care and treatment in low and middle income countries. The
report lists South Africa among 17 countries that are on track in meeting the
UNâs 2010 target in the provision of antiretroviral treatment to PMTCT. Efforts
are being made to strengthen the PMTCT program, including impact assessment and
the improvement of the treatment protocols to introduce dual therapy.
The meeting was also briefed on the 8 cases of klebsiella reported at the
Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal. Cabinet expressed
its deepest condolences to the mothers and families of the five babies that
unfortunately passed away. The three other babies were in a stable condition
and have since been cleared of the infection. While further investigations may
be necessary to establish the actual source of the infection, Cabinet welcomed
the fact that no new cases of klebsiella have been reported and that the
situation is now under control following the intervention by the health
authorities to contain the situation.
Cabinet noted that the 2nd of December marked the 40th anniversary of the
worldâs transplant operation which was conducted by a South African, Dr. Chris
Barnard in 1967. The meeting urged the countryâs health professionals to
continue to demonstrate excellence in various fields of health and science.
The observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons on the 3rd of
December was noted. Cabinet reaffirmed its commitment to ensure that at least
2% of governmentâs payroll will consist of disabled persons by the year
2010.
The meeting received and noted the senior management service remuneration
panel report which proposes that the salary structure of senior managers in the
public service should be reviewed. The meeting resolved that a task team be
established, consisting of the Ministers of Public Service and Administration,
National Treasury, Health, Education and the Presidency. This team will review
the report and consider the salary structure of the SMS, including the
introduction of differentiation in the salaries of DGs and DDGs, in view of the
different scope, complexities and impact of their various functions. The matter
will be finalised by April 2008.
Cabinet also approved the formalisation of the existing human settlement at
Dukuduku forest, with limited relocation of some households from the sensitive
Umfolozi floodplain and the St. Lucia estuary in order to protect and conserve
the Futululu section of the Dukuduku state forest. The formalisation of the
settlement will limit the ongoing illegal settlement within the Dukuduku
forest, which has resulted in the destruction of approximately 5 000 hectares
of the indigenous forest, and poses a threat to the World Heritage status of
the wetland park. All affected departments will commit the required resources
to implement the formalisation of this decision. A project steering committee
will be established, consisting of all the role players to finalise the
implementation plan. The details of the plan will be unveiled by the Minister
of Water Affairs and Forestry at a meeting with all stakeholders.
The revised strategic framework for the development of human resources in
the public service was approved. Copies of the framework can be obtained from
the Department of Public Service and Administration.
The report on the implementation of the Financial Services Charter was
received. The meeting noted that there were a number of issues still
outstandingâ¦still to be considered by the sector, including the need to align
the charter with the broad based black economic empowerment codes. The report
was noted as work in progress.
The rural transport development strategy was also approved. The strategy
will be published by the Minister of Transport shortly.
The South African Mint Companyâs commemorative coin designs for 2008 were
also approved and will be gazetted shortly by the Minister of Finance.
The following appointments were approved; the following bills were also
approved. End of statement, thank you very much.
The process from here onwards will be I will take questions on my statement.
And we will then get a presentation from the Minister of Minerals and Energy on
the Biofuels Strategy and the Electricity Master Plan. So letâs take the easy
questions and then Iâll hand over to the Minister. Any questions on my
statement? Yes, Sir.
Journalist: On the APRM report, why didnât the President release it earlier
this week as, or last week as scheduled? Why didnât we get a copy beforehand?
Itâs a 370, 380-page document that we have to question you about now. You know,
those two questions for now, please.
Themba Maseko: Okay, the original idea proposed by the communication team
was, yes indeed, that the President will formally receive the report from the
secretariat, especially the chair of the panel. But unfortunately the chair of
the panel could not arrive in the country, so that formal handover did not take
place to the President. However, what happened was that the report was handed
to Cabinet by the Minister of Public Service and Administration, so it was a
technicality that we could not secure the presence of the chair of the panel to
come and do a formal handover to the President as proposed by ourselves as the
communicators. Why the report was not given out earlier, same answer, the idea
was that we will hand over⦠the Secretariat will hand over the report to the
President and at that point copies will be given to the public, but
unfortunately that did not materialise. But the copy has been available on the
website Iâm told for at least a week already. So apologies at this stage.
Journalist: The issue with the Land Bank, does this mean that the document
has not in fact been referred to the South African Police Services and
prosecution authorities? That that is now going to be held back pending further
investigations?
Themba Maseko: My understanding is that the report has not yet been handed
over to the NPA and SAPS, largely because members of the board have come forth
and said there are still a number of other issues that need to be considered
before the matter is handed over for a police investigation and possible
prosecutions. So the process will unfold and weâll advise you as soon as a new
decision is taken in that regard. Yes, Sir.
Journalist: Ja, as a follow-up to that, are you saying that, on record, that
the government is still committed to refer those matters to the police and
prosecutions?
Themba Maseko: Well, the commitment of government is to make sure that all
the issues that have been highlighted by the forensic report are followed up
and dealt with as effectively as possible. Now you cannot hand over a report to
the police unless you are certain that in fact all the issues raised in the
forensic report have been dealt with appropriately, and all the information
that would not have been handed over to the forensic auditors is handed over.
So the matter still continues and if it still emerges that in fact there was
fraud committed in the bank, then the matter will be handed over to the police.
But the view of Cabinet was that letâs make sure that we exhaust all the
internal processes, do our proper and thorough investigations, so that the
police are handed over a much easier task. Is there a follow-up on this
question?
Journalist: Yes.
Themba Maseko: Yes.
Journalist: Thanks. So does this mean⦠who is going to decide then if there
was fraud or not? If the police or NPAâ¦
Themba Maseko: Well, the forensic investigation was done, members of the
board and some senior executives of the bank felt that in fact the forensic
audit did not take into account a lot of other information that needs to be
brought to their attention. So as soon as that internal process is concluded
the matter can then be handed to the police, when there is contentment by the
Minister of Land Affairs that in fact all the issues that were not looked at by
the forensic auditors are dealt with before the matter is handed over to the
police. But if there is indeed fraud that was committed, there will not be a
change of position. The matter will indeed be handed to the police.
Themba Maseko: Then weâll go to Cape Town
Journalist: Sorry, Themba, it just sounds like governmentâs backtracking a
bit here.
Themba Maseko: Ja, I agree, it does sound like that, but itâs not. I can
assure you that a forensic audit was conducted. When the report was tabled to
the Minister other members of the board and other senior executives came forth
and said in this report the following factors were not taken into account or
this information was not available to the auditors during the investigation
period. So all of those issues will be brought on the table, and when that is
completed the matter would still be handed to the police if indeed there was
clarity that in fact there was fraud which was committed. The issues about
whether some of the decisions taken by management did not have formal approval
of the board and the Department of Land Affairs and Agriculture. When all those
matters have been clarified the matter will then go to Cabinet. Letâs go to
Cape Town and take a few questions from there.
Journalist: Thank you. Themba, I think you have to concede this is highly
irregular. You say it as though itâs normal procedure but surely if a forensic
investigation which as I understand it implicates members of the board should
be handed directly to the investigating authorities to look at it. How can you
now say that members who are implicated by the report are to be investigating
the issue internally further? I mean, wonât it make the whole thing just look a
lot better if this issue is handed to the police to investigate?
Themba Maseko: Well, Deon, Iâm not saying that the members of the board were
implicated, I did not use that phrase. I am saying that some members of the
board and some members of the executive have come forward with new information
that was not considered by the forensic auditors, and this will now take place.
The new information that has been brought forward will be considered, and as
soon as that information is considered and presented to the minister then a
decision will be taken to take the matter forward. But at this stage all
Cabinet is saying is that if there is⦠and it appears that there is indeed new
information, that needs to be incorporated and considered before a final
decision is taken to hand over the report to the police authorities. So new
information to make sure that the complete information is handed over to the
police, if indeed there was fraud which was committed. Because auditors will do
an investigation, if they did not get certain information they may have made
recommendations that would make⦠would not complete the picture that government
wants to paint when the report is handed to the police.
Journalist: Themba, sorry, can I just follow that up immediately again.
Themba Maseko: Ja.
Journalist: But surely any new information, I mean, even if the police
investigate this matter thereâs going to be new information coming to light all
along. And it surely it should be the job of the police and the Prosecuting
Authority to take any new information and consider it in their investigation.
Any delay in handing this over to the police for investigation now looks like a
cover-up, and thereâs no way avoiding that.
Themba Maseko: Well, Deon, what Cabinet is trying to achieve here is to make
sure that the police are given a complete report of what really transpired at
the bank. The information that was given to the forensic auditors appears not
to have been complete, and therefore Cabinet says letâs complete the
information before it is handed over to the police for further investigation.
Thatâs all that this is saying. Anymore questions from Cape Town? Weâll come
back to Pretoriaâ¦
Journalist: Also on this, Themba, in your last comment now you said you want
to make sure that complete information is handed to the police. A few comments
back you said if anything goes to the police. Can you tell us, is the
additional information mitigating or aggravating? Does it make the case sound
as though there may not have been a crime, or that the crime is worse than you
originally thought? Can you tell us specifically the board members who asked to
be heardâ¦are they specifically board members who were not implicated in
anything in the forensic report, or do they include board members who may have
been implicated? Can you tell us whether definitely the final file will be
given to the prosecuting authority to consider, or is Cabinet going to decide
whether to hand⦠whether there is a criminal case here? Or are you going to let
the National Prosecutor decide that?
Themba Maseko: Okay, weâll come back to your question Brendon. You want to
follow-up now? Itâs similar to that. Basically, unfortunately I cannot give
details of the additional information that has come top the fore. Neither can I
give you the names of board members who have⦠and members of senior executive
who have come forth with new information, because that matter still needs to be
considered by the Minister, and when the file is complete and all the prima
facie evidence at this stage is indicating that in fact some fraud could have
been committed in the financial affairs of the Land Bank. So my expectation is
that when the file is completed it will still be handed over to the police and
prosecution authorities for final investigation. But at this stage the view was
that at the time when the forensic report was concluded not all the information
was actually available to the auditors, so thatâs what Cabinet is trying to
achieve here. Liezl? Okay, letâs move onto other questions. Cape Town, is there
another question?
Journalist: Yes, Iâm trying to follow it up. Sir, it seems as though there
is a forensic audit report. This forensic audit report is now being brought
into question by people who apparently are not forensic auditors. Would it be
fair to say that at this stage is it being shifted from a forensic audit report
to some sort of political decision? Who will take the final decision, and how
on earth is this at all acceptable with good practise if thereâs a forensic
audit report and these cases are now being decided on issues which are not
forensic audit issues.
Themba Maseko: Well, let me just answer your question by giving you an
example. Some of the⦠one of the findings in the forensic audit report says
basically management in the board took decisions without the approval or
authorisation of the Board. Now the new information is indicating that in fact
some of the information was indeed⦠or some of the decisions were indeed
approved by the Board. So it means itâs very clear that in fact there is some
inconsistency between what the report found and the new information thatâs
being brought to the fore. So the Minister has been given the mandate to look
at the new information that has been presented, compile a complete report,
which could then be handed over to the police. The issue is the fact that the
information on the basis of which a decision was made during the forensic audit
was not complete. And now that new information has come to the fore and Cabinet
is saying⦠weâre not saying weâre blocking but Cabinet is saying complete the
information before the file is handed over to the police and the NPA, and the
Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs will indeed look at all that
information and if indeed there is a need to do further investigation that will
be done, and at what point the matter will be handed over to the police, the
Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs will take a final decision in that
matter. Any other questions before I hand over to the Minister? Yes, Sir,
Pretoria.
Journalist: On the klebsiella issue, I mean, whatâs the view of government?
Because we had this outbreak of⦠this is last year and it seems that itâs also
catching health authorities there off guard. What kind of guarantees are you
providing to the populace out there to say that weâll never see these cases
again?
Themba Maseko: Unfortunately on matters of health itâs not possible to give
100% guarantee that certain occurrences of certain bacterial disease will never
occur. But what the initial investigation found was that in fact there were
shortcomings in the procedures that were followed in that particular hospital,
so the investigation has identified issues that need to be addressed in that
particular hospital, and when decisions are taken about this hospital
information will then be shared with other hospitals and clinics to make sure
that procedures are tightly monitored and followed, to make sure that we
prevent further outbreaks. So, thatâs how the matter is being handled at this
stage. We canât give 100% guarantee that there will never be any outbreak of
klebsiella or any other disease in future, but procedures will be tightened to
make sure that there isnât a recurrence of this kind of thing. Okayâ¦
Journalist: A couple of questions. One is you say the government response to
the APRM report identified weaknesses, I mean I guess I could go and look at
the website. But can you just identify some of those weaknesses that the
government feels should be addressed in the APRM process? And secondly, can you
give us a clue as to the proposals which will be in the consumer protection
bill and the intellectual property laws amendment bill?
Themba Maseko: Okay. Weaknesses, Michael, on the APRM report, Iâll just
mention one but advise you to take a look at the report. Basically a lot of it
has to do with process issues, but also methodological issues which are
included in the government response there. One of the fundamental issues that
government raised in the process was the need for some more detailed analysis
to be conducted on the history that the country has gone through. The fact that
we have not dealt with some of the key challenges has a lot to do with the fact
that weâre trying to reverse a legacy of apartheid that has existed in this
country for more than 300 years, and reversing some of the weaknesses of the
past is not something that can be dealt with overnight. And the fact that the
government has a program to address a number of those challenges, for instance
the fact that there is a shortage of housing in the country is something that
weâve acknowledged as government, but have said that in fact we have an
extensive program, one of the largest programs in the world to meet the
shortage of houses for South Africans. The fact that we have for instance built
more than 2.5 million houses over a period of 13 years is a great achievement.
So to just indicate housing as a major challenge, without giving the historical
context of that particular problem was seen to be a weakness. But the workshop
did take place in Algeria, a lot of those issues were presented and all the
delegates who attended the workshop did actually concede that in fact the APRM
process needs to be strengthened in many ways to make sure that in fact issues
that are being dealt with by the various countries participating in the review
process are given sufficient attention, and that the history of the problems
experienced by individual countries is actually not discouraged. But can I
advise you to just go through the report and look at those weaknesses. The
bills⦠Michael, Iâll email you copies of the bills, but I can tell you for
instance that the intellectual property bill is accompanied by a policy
document that basically seeks to ensure that the⦠what is termed indigenous
intellectual property of countries such as South Africa is protected. Thereâs a
lot of knowledge that emerges from indigenous communities which does not enjoy
intellectual property protection. Thereâre a lot of for instance plants that
have huge medicinal value which is not protected, and is being used by the
Western world as they come and do research in these countries without
acknowledging the intellectual property that belongs to those indigenous
communities. So thatâs what this bill will try and address. Collin, you said
there was a second question in Cape Town?
Journalist: its two questions that have nothing to do with each other,
starting with the APRM. We recall that government was quite unhappy with some
versions of the APRM report, which one is the one being posted? Has it been
changed in any way from anything that was originally received? You know, we
havenât had sight of anything so itâs a bit tough for us to tell. Was this
edited at all? And my second question is from a place far away which is
important, called Dukuduku, that has been going on for more than 15 years now.
What I cannot comprehend is how the decision to formalise that squatter
community in the Dukuduku forest, which has⦠which has just about destroyed
parts of that forest, the decision to formalise it, how on earth will it stop
squatting. What will government do to squatters that are streaming into the
Dukuduku forest all the time? Will they actually take sanction against people
who have moved there illegally as they have been for almost two decades
now?
Themba Maseko: Jan-Jan, letâs start with your last question about the
formalisation of that community. Whatâs important to understand is that this
community has now settled in that area for a period of at least 12 years, and
there are a lot of land claims that have been put by communities in that
particular part of the world, but thereâs also been a number of conflicts
within the community itself about whether relocation is the right way to go or
not, and government after consulting with the community leaders, the various
role players, the province, the local authorities in that area, the idea is
that we⦠the community needs to be formalised, you identify a specific area,
you formalise that area, and limit all settlements to that particular area. And
those settlements that are in the most sensitive parts of the forest will be
relocated to other parts of that area to make sure that we at least protect and
limit the destruction of this indigenous area to this specific area, without
allowing expansion. Because if we donât limit the settlement to where it is
now, chances are that in fact we could lose more ground and the area could lose
its World Heritage status. So the idea is the community has settled⦠limited
the settlement to a specific geographic location, make sure that you donât
allow any future settlement sin other parts of the forest, and relocate those
community or sections of the community that are in the most sensitive parts of
that geographic area, to make sure that in fact we at least meet the community
halfway whilst also conserving the wetland areas that have been identified as
the World Heritage site. So this is we think the best compromise position
reached, which takes into account the fact that there are land claims, there
are community disputes, but also the community has almost settled there and it
will be difficult to relocate a whole community from that area.
Journalist: Themba, sorry that was not my question. I mean, those people
have been there illegally all along. The limiting of people, you know, settling
in the Dukuduku forest has been a matter of law since time immemorial. The
point being that what would the sanction be? Itâs a growing community, what
would the sanction be against people who go in there now? What will government
do that is different from what government and its predecessors have been doing
very unsuccessfully for the past 20 years, namely trying to not get people to
settle in that forest?
Themba Maseko: Well, as I said, there have been extensive discussions and
consultations with the communities there. Whatâs going to be done is that now
the community will be informed that we are acknowledging and accepting that you
are settled in this particular part of the forest, but that your settlement
will be limited to this particular geographic area, and those who are in the
most sensitive part of the forest will be relocated to different areas. So the
issue is that there will be greater law enforcement to enforce this particular
decision which we think is a compromise position arising out of extensive
consultations with the communities. So, Jan-Jan, a direct answer to your
question, law enforcement will be used to make sure that settlement is limited
and restricted to the geographic area as identified in this particular
decision. The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry together with provincial
and local leadership will be meeting leaders of the community to formalise this
matter and our sense is that in fact thereâs already consensus that this is the
best way to proceed, instead of relocating the whole community only a small
section of the community will be relocated. And because thereâs some consensus
on this matter we think that in fact there is a basis to enforce the law and
make sure that in fact no further settlement⦠new settlements are allowed in
other parts of the forest. So law enforcement will be the tool used more
forcefully this time. The⦠which version of the APRM report⦠let me just
explain the process once more. The panel did its work, compiled its report, the
report was given to South Africa for comment, we commented. There were a number
of factual inaccuracies that were included in the first draft of the report.
Those comments were given to the panel. There are areas where the panel
acknowledged that in fact some facts were inaccurate and some of those were
corrected. But the final report was then presented to the heads of state, AU
heads of state summit in Ghana. The summit discussed the report particularly
the APRM heads of states. And the South African disagreements with the report
were then incorporated as an annexure to the report. So the report itself is
indeed the views of the APRM panel, the governmentâs view is attached as an
appendix to the reports, which makes it very clear that the views of the
report⦠contained in the report, are the views of the panel. The South African
Government response is attached, but what you are seeing in the report will be
the views of the panel, of the APRM panel. So thatâs the version you have. Itâs
a version of the report, some comments incorporated from our initial response,
comments received from APRM heads of states meeting in Ghana incorporated in
the report. Does that cover you, Jan-Jan?
Journalist: Thanks, ja.
Themba Maseko: Okay, Pretoria. Ja. I think this will be the last question
from Pretoria and then we will handover to the Minister.
Journalist: Thanks, Themba. Unfortunately I have to hammer on the issue of
crime in the APRM report because thatâs the one I quickly looked at, I mean
there might be other issues. In the APRM forum the President said he took issue
with the report, suggesting that thereâs an unacceptable high level of violent
crime. The President then apparently explained himself and said that, you know,
thatâs a populace perception. But then he goes on to criticise the statistics,
police statistics that the APRM panel used, and he used a very⦠he used the
rape statistics, saying yes giving an example of the rape statistics that the
panel used and then going on to say incidents of rape might have been reported
but some have resulted in acquittals. While government on several occasions on
its own version said that rape is under-reported in the country. So, you know,
what was the President trying to say there to the forum?
Themba Maseko: Youâre asking me to second guess the President. A difficult
task, but I think that my advice would be that you look at the report itself,
the Presidentâs comments on the report and report exactly as it is stated
there. So I think that it would be inappropriate for me to try and interpret or
explain what the President was saying.
Journalist: Thank you. So⦠I mean basically it says here that the⦠does the
President then believe that the levels of violent crime in the country are not
high.
Themba Maseko: Well, I can⦠I donât want to second guess what the President
has said at that particular meeting, but I can confirm that government position
is that the high rate of crime in this country is totally unacceptable and that
is why crime is indeed a priority. If you look at the government program of
action, thereâre a lot of initiatives that are in place to make sure that we
accelerate our fight against crime. We did announce the proposed criminal
justice system review, which in our view will put us in a better position to
fight the scourge of crime in the country. So, yes, crime⦠high levels of crime
is unacceptable in the country, and that is why we are putting so many
resources to make sure that we accelerate the fight against crime. Minister, I
think Iâm going to hand over to you.
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
6 December 2007
