5 February 2009
Presenter: Themba Maseko, Government Spokesperson
Venue: Imbizo Media Centre, Cape Town
Statement read by Themba Maseko
Cabinet held its ordinary meeting this morning, 4 February 2009 in Cape
Town.
The meeting discussed the anti-Semitic statement made by Ms Fatima Hajaig,
the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs at a Palestinian solidarity rally which
was held in Lenasia on 14 January 2009.
Cabinet expressed concern about the statement as it was contrary to the
stated policies of this government regarding anti-Semitic sentiments.
Subsequent to the Cabinet meeting, the President held discussions with the
deputy minister to discuss her statement. The deputy minister expressed her
deep regret to the President for making the statement. She accepted that the
comments were contrary to stated government policy. She subsequently apologised
unreservedly and unequivocally for the comments and agreed to withdraw them
unconditionally.
Further, she assured the President that she does not harbour any
anti-Semitic feelings or views and that in her statement issued yesterday, she
had stated that 'she condemns, without equivocation, all forms of racism
including anti-Semitism in all its manifestations'. The President has accepted
her withdrawal of the comments and her unqualified apology and trusts that the
matter has been concluded satisfactorily.
So in short government is indeed apologising for the comment and note that
she has also apologised and withdrawn these comments. And the fact that the
President was able to convene a meeting with her at such short notice clearly
indicates that this government takes these comments quite seriously and hopes
that they will not be made by any member of this government again in
future.
The 8th Annual Report of the Commission for Employment Equity was noted.
This report reflects, inter alia, the slow progress in the implementation of
the Employment Equity Act by the designated employers; the gross
under-representation of the designated groups that still exist in the labour
market, particularly that of African and coloured women and people with
disabilities and the drop of the black group in the professionally qualified
and middle management level. The meeting resolved that the commission should
conduct research and formulate strategies to address these challenges in the
various industries.
The following initiatives from the Department of Transport (DoT) were
approved: The Taxi Subsidy Framework and Funding Strategy for the Taxi
recapitalisation Programme (TRP); the Strategy for Lifting of the Moratorium
and Turnaround Strategy for Operating Licensing Boards; The Regulatory
Framework for the Taxi Industry and the Taxi Recapitalisation Project Policy.
The Department of Transport will hold consultative discussions with the
relevant stakeholders on these documents before they are finalised.
The establishment of the Co-operatives Banks Development Agency was
approved.
The proposed design changes for various coins were approved. The new designs
will be gazetted shortly.
The draft National Framework for Implementation of Ward Funding Model was
approved and will be published for public comment before it is finalised.
The Division of Revenue Bill was noted and approved and will be tabled in
Parliament when the Minister of Finance delivers the Budget Speech on 11
February 2009.
The updated Child Labour Programme of Action was approved.
The following appointments were approved:
* Mr SIS Ntombela was appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) in the
Department of Agriculture (DoA).
* Ms P Mabasa was appointed as the Executive Director of the Board of Directors
of the South African Special Risk Insurance Association (SASRIA). The
appointment will be effective from 1 December 2008 to 30 November 2011.
* Ms S Naidoo was appointed as the Managing Director of the newly established
Co-operative Banks Development Agency.
* Mr A Sithole and Ms H Wilton were appointed as the Chairperson and Deputy
Chairperson (respectively) of the Financial Services Board (FSB) for a three
year period.
Questions and answers
Journalist: Well thank you, Sir. I have two questions. Firstly on Deputy
Minister Hajaig, does she love Jewish South Africans and would she let her
child marry one? And just secondly on these coins, can you tell us a bit more
about these designs. Will they become even smaller? Is it possible and just
anything that you can basically tell us on your coin redesign?
Themba Maseko: I've looked at the coin designs. They're quite exciting and
hip. I can't tell you about whether they will be smaller or bigger, but I can
tell you that they will be very modern coins. The one that I've seen for
instance will also be commemorating the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosting in the
country. A whole list of them will be gazetted so you'll see the details
there.
Let's go back to the anti-Semitic comments made by the deputy minister. I
can state after also having a session with her after she met with the
President, she's made it very clear that in fact she as a person will never
harbour anti-Semitic views.
She indicated to me that in fact she herself is married to a Semite, and her
kids are also half Semite. So it's actually unfortunate that she ended up
making these comments, she profusely apologises, and they were unfortunate. And
the reason why she has come out publicly to apologise is a clear indication
that in fact it's something that may have been an error of judgement on her
part and that's why she has come out not to deny or even claim that she's been
misquoted, she has said she's made the comments, she apologises and she
withdraws them without any qualifications whatsoever.
Journalist: Themba, are you in a position to tell us what the President said
in perhaps hauling the minister over the coals?
Themba Maseko: Well, look, I can't unfortunately divulge the details of a
conversation between the President and the Deputy Minister, safe to say that
the President would have reiterated government policy that in fact
anti-Semitism we equate to racism in this country. And this government and even
in our Constitution it is very clear that this country will not support any
form of racism. So I would imagine that those are some of the issues that would
have been made very clear, and the statement enjoys the full support of the
President who said we must make it very clear what the government position
is.
Journalist: I have two questions. The subsidy framework and funding strategy
for the taxi recapitalisation, is this new funding in addition to the allocated
seven billion rands and did Cabinet take into account the difficulties that DoT
has run into with regards to bus subsidy before approving this strategy? And
then secondly can you tell us a bit more about this Co-operative Banks
Development Agency to which Ms Naidoo has been appointed MD (Managing
Director).
Themba Maseko: Well, on the taxi recap subsidy framework, basically what has
been happening is that government has been implementing this taxi
recapitalisation program without a very clear policy framework, without any
norms and standards, and so there's been lack of clarity on the part of the
industry in this regard. So this framework is an attempt to bring greater
certainty about where we are going with this policy. So it was looked at in
that context. The current taxi or bus subsidy issue was not discussed in detail
largely because government is satisfied that the Departments of Transport and
the National Treasury, together with the provinces, are actually on top of the
situation to make sure that the current challenges are addressed as a matter of
absolute urgency.
So as far as the Co-operative Banks Development Agency is concerned, there
are quite a number of co-op banks that are in place. But a lot of them have not
been properly monitored, properly regulated to make sure that they fulfil their
mandates. So what this agency will basically do is to try and make sure that in
fact a framework is set up and that all of them can fulfil the mandate that
they're set up to establish.
Journalist: According to the Jewish Board of Deputies the deputy minister
did not withdraw her comments and only apologised for them. Is this the end of
the matter now or is there still going to be any dialogue between the Board of
Deputies and Cabinet? And does it mean that the deputy minister merely got a
slap on the wrist or a tongue-lashing from the President?
Themba Maseko: If needs be government will interact with the Jewish Board of
Deputies to just clarify firstly the government position on the matter and
secondly to confirm that the deputy minister has not only apologised but has
withdrawn these comments unreservedly. So that's what needs to happen. So if
needs be government will indeed communicate with the South African Jewish Board
of Deputies.
Journalist: Does this just mean that the deputy minister received a slap on
the wrist from the President, or is there any other form of censure from the
executive on the deputy minister?
Themba Maseko: Well, the statement makes it very clear that after the
discussion at Cabinet where the position was made very clear the matter was
taken up by the President and discussed with the deputy minister in some
detail, and there is an apology, there is a withdrawal. And as far as we're
concerned this should be the end of this matter because if Cabinet and the
President was sitting here and denying that statements were made, it will be
something totally different. But in this case we are saying yes, a mistake has
been committed, there's been an acknowledgement, there's an apology, there is a
withdrawal. And the deputy minister owns up to the mistake that she has
committed and government is satisfied that this should be the end of the
matter.
Enquiries:
Themba Maseko
Cell: 083 645 0810
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
5 February 2009
