Hilux 4x4 Forum

If you are not watching the state of the nation adres on TV NOW, you loosing out, it is the joke of the century.
I haven't laugh this much so far this week.

Dis n circus

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Ai. Het self nou gelag. Ons goverment is n joke. Ons leier is regtig rugraatloos

Dis 'n grap. Signal jammers....motor diewe gebruik ook signal jammers. Laat mens dink.

SWAMBO wil haar seepies kyk maar ek mis niks van die SONA nie.

Die man het n hele klomp planne, ek wonder net waar gaan al die geld vandaan kom, heigens! Al word ons ook hoe gemelk! Die land gaan in skuld verval, dat hy vir volgende 100jr sal moet betaal. Al hierdie geleenthede is net meer geleenthede vir korrupsie, en wanbestuur van hierdie projekte soos met medupi, gaan net verder die ekonomie vernietig.

I gave up after about 30 minutes of bumbling through it and decided to watch Comedy Channel on DSTV instead. Found that more enlightening than the comedy in parliament.


-F_D

Family_Dog wrote:I gave up after about 30 minutes of bumbling through it and decided to watch Comedy Channel on DSTV instead. Found that more enlightening than the comedy in parliament.


-F_D

ek het dit maar n mis gegee .... soos met WWE sal ek maar later net die "highlights" kyk ...


as dit nie so skandelik was nie, sou mens regtig kon lag .... maar dis ONS wat vir die sircus betaal !

Wonder maar net hoeveel vanaand se "After Party" ons gaan kos?

4x4BEES wrote:Wonder maar net hoeveel vanaand se "After Party" ons gaan kos?

getalle was vroer die week in die media.

30% MINDER as laas jaar. en omtrent 50% van twee jaar terug.

A chaotic State of the Nation


In a tumultuous State of the Nation (Sona) event, Parliament descended into chaos, as EFF Members of Parliament were forcibly removed from the National Assembly, the DA staged a walkout and President Jacob Zuma was left to address the mainly ANC benches on critical issues facing the country.

The President’s address to the nation was delayed by a full hour. The sitting got off to a disastrous start when MPs were outraged at a clampdown on freedom of speech, after cellphone signals were seemingly deliberately scrambled in the Parliamentary precinct.

Faced with sound and technical problems, due in part to hundreds of Parliamentary staff going on strike to protest for a thirteenth cheque, Zuma finally got going, only to be stopped a couple of minutes into his speech by the EFF.

EFF leader, Julius Malema and his fellow party MPs insisted that the president tell the House how he was going to ‘pay back the money’ for security upgrades to his Nkandla homestead. After refusing to leave the house, the EFF was escorted out. When the DA could not get answers as to whether armed police had ejected Malema from the house, its entire contingent walked out.

The speech

As expected, the energy crisis was a central feature of the president’s address.

He told Parliament that overcoming serious energy constraints was uppermost in the government’s programme. He urged individuals, households, industries and government departments to save electricity to reduce the need for load shedding.

“Energy constraints are an impediment to economic growth and a major inconvenience to everyone in the country. We are doing everything we can to resolve the energy challenge.” ???

Zuma said government would honour its commitment to give Eskom R23 billion in the next fiscal year to help stabilise its finances.

Given the high cost of diesel, the president said Eskom had been told to switch from diesel to gas as a source of energy for the utility’s generators. He encouraged households to switch from electricity to gas as well.

Zuma said the ‘War Room’ set up by Cabinet in December was working around the clock with Eskom to contain load shedding.

On plans for nuclear, Zuma said the government was exploring the procurement of the 9 600 megawatt nuclear build programme. It had signed inter-governmental agreements, while five countries – the US, South Korea, Russia, France and China – had presented their proposals on nuclear. Zuma promised a fair, transparent and competitive procurement process.
Land reform

On land ownership, Zuma said the government would set a ceiling of a maximum of 12 000 hectares on land ownership. Rights for people who live and work on farms will be introduced, while a new Property Valuation Act will stop the reliance on the Willing Buyer-Willing Seller method.

Zuma announced that foreign nationals would not be allowed to own land in South Africa, although they would be eligible for long-term leases. He also shared a nine-point plan aimed at igniting growth and creating jobs.

2015 will also be the year to further promote the rights of workers.

(Poor incentives for foreign investment!!)

The economy

The state of South Africa’s fragile economy made up a large slice of the president’s address. He said South Africa’s goal of achieving a growth target of 5% by 2019 was ‘at risk’ because of slow global growth and domestic constraints, including energy.

“Our economy needs a major push forward,” Zuma said while outlining his nine- point plan for boosting the economy.

Resolving the energy challenge came in at number one on the list.

Revitalising agriculture, advancing beneficiation of minerals, encouraging private sector investment and moderating workplace conflict were among the nine points.

R2 billion will be set aside for agri-parks in the country’s 27 poorest district municipalities, while 133 informal settlements will be upgraded in and around distressed mining towns.

Zuma also homed in on the spiraling protests in South Africa. He said police had successfully brought under control 13 575 recorded public order incidents, of which nearly 2 000 had been rocked by unrest.

Memorable for the wrong reasons

This year’s Sona will be remembered for the strictest security Parliament has ever imposed as well as unprecedented disruptions.

It also sparked division among the opposition parties, with COPE’s Mosiuoa Lekota and the UDM’s Bantu Holomisa, angered by the way the EFF had been treated, while IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi called the uproar in the House ‘disgusting’ and said the country was being ‘torn apart by a few people indulging in theatrics’.

The government has slammed the EFF conduct as ‘shameful and despicable’.

African Christian Democratic Party leader, Kenneth Meshoe, said he had been ‘uninspired’ by the president’s speech.

“I almost fell asleep for the first time. I had to go out to get fresh air.”

The usual focus on Sona fashion was toned down. DA members protested by wearing black and avoiding the red carpet. The traditional post-Sona gala dinner was scaled down to a cocktail party which was boycotted by several opposition parties.

Zuma: be a leader, not a reader


Things could not have gone worse for President Jacob Zuma last night. He will look into a mirror this morning and feel desperately embarrassed.

His lack of leadership skills has never been exposed to the extent that it was during the State of the Nation (Sona) speech. In fact, it reached an all-time low.

It was widely expected that Malema and his band of brothers would try to disrupt his address, but few people would have contemplated the fiasco that was set to unfold. It seemed as if Zuma and National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete were not prepared for a very obvious EFF strategy, and it was Mbete again who allowed the National Assembly to degenerate into chaos.

The controversy started even prior to this. The use of a signal jammer to disrupt communication within Parliament is a clear contravention of the Constitution. So is the apparent use of security forces to remove the EFF members from the chamber.

It is critical that these events are investigated and the names of those individuals who authorised it, are made public.

But the most notable event of the Sona 2015 was Zuma himself. The fact that he did absolutely nothing during the chaos is telling. It was the ideal opportunity for him to take the stage and to do what leaders do. But what did he do? He did nothing.

He had the ideal opportunity to have a massive go at the EFF to label them hooligans. He had the ideal opportunity to show that Malema was a cheap opportunist that has no disregard for parliamentary protocol.

But Zuma did not have the guts to do this. He chose to do nothing. (I am pretty sure this chaos would definitely not have happened under the late Nelson Mandela, nor under Thabo Mbeki.)

Believe it or not, Zuma made it even worse when he took the podium again.

Instead of acting like a head of state, he coughed his famous chuckle and nervously continued to read his prepared speech. It was very ironic that the first few paragraphs he read was the announcement that all schools will in future practice the national anthem of the African Union.

Boy, this is embarrassing.

The actual speech

The rest of Zuma’s address was pretty much as hollow as his handling of the EFF confrontation.

He did not announce any new project of any significance, but merely continued with the “South Africa has a good story to tell” rhetoric. He did identify the current Eskom crisis as the strongest headwind blowing, but he offered no major solution apart from “we are doing all we can” to solve the problem.

He also referred to the National Development Plan in passing. In fact, he referred on more than five occasions to “Operation Phakisa” as a key plan to improve economic growth in the country. I am pretty sure that many MPs would have Googled “Operation Phakisa” last night (I did) to see what this plan is all about. I can see the frowns as this plan largely focuses on the “ocean economy”, which in South Africa’s current economic environment is nothing more than a novelty plan.

The ramifications of the Sona 2015 will resound throughout the year. Zuma’s leadership has reached an all-time low. The only occasion when he looked up and deviated from his prepared speech, was when he mocked the poor performance of Bafana Bafana during the recent Africa Cup of Nations.

I hope Sona is a turning point for South African politics. It was not only a major embarrassment for South Africa, but also for the ANC.

The time is now for the ANC to recall Zuma and to replace him with Cyril Ramaphosa. It is as simple as that.

I decided not to waste electricity on such crap, and opted to watch the World Cup opening ceremony.
Think our boys are going to show us it can be done this time around.

Thunder02 wrote:I decided not to waste electricity on such crap, and opted to watch the World Cup opening ceremony.
Think our boys are going to show us it can be done this time around.

Says the one that does not follow cricket!! :roll: :evil:

Obelix and Dogmatix wrote:

Thunder02 wrote:I decided not to waste electricity on such crap, and opted to watch the World Cup opening ceremony.
Think our boys are going to show us it can be done this time around.

Says the one that does not follow cricket!! :roll: :evil:

I had to choose between cricket or SONA ..... decided to work until after midnight.

Zuma is really a disgrace for the nation. He mocked his Soccer team, I mean what leader will laugh at his own national team during a big event like SONA?

He also laughed his ass off while the EFF was taken out of parliament.
He his no leader.


Zuma laughing while EFF taken out of parliament.

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Kyk die 2 stoep poefers hier voor...groot honde doen die besigheid en hulle blaf saam...

Groot vraag is gaan hulle die mag oorhandig indien hulle in n verkiesing verslaan word of gaan hulle n Zimbabwe op ons trek??

Hulle gaan 'n Zim op ons trek

Toppie4x4 wrote:Groot vraag is gaan hulle die mag oorhandig indien hulle in n verkiesing verslaan word of gaan hulle n Zimbabwe op ons trek??

Tribal authority is waning in Africa and heavy handed rule is becoming less palateable as the masses begin to embrace the true principles of a democratic society. Kyk bietjie hierdie artikel ...........


Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Opinion
Down with the jammers

(Sasha Planting)


Africa may be a vast continent with 47 countries, thousands of ethnic groups and over 1 500 languages spoken. But social media and communication networks are making it a smaller, and hopefully better place.

Over 700 million people in Africa have access to a mobile phone, and increasing numbers of these are active communicators on social media.

Over the past decade cellular technology has had a dramatic impact on the lives of ordinary people. Rural farmers have access to markets for the first time, health workers are no longer cut off from information by virtue of geography and African innovators are as connected to Silicon Valley as students in New York are.

There is another impact. “As democracy takes root in Africa, governments are losing their monopoly over information, says Tara o’ Connor head of pan African advisory firm Africa Risk Consulting. “The post independence period - during which liberation parties dominated - is all but over and is giving way to a new era of political accountability. Citizens are gathering more information from more sources and governments are facing greater calls for transparency, openness and accountability for their promises and actions.”

Investors, already excited by the opportunities Africa holds, are watching these and other macro trends carefully.

So too are the remaining repressive governments, that cling to power and wealth, while fearing an ‘Arab Spring’ in their own countries.

When millions of people took to the streets of Kinshasa to protest against a law that would effectively delay national elections beyond 2016, the government of the DRC responded by ordering the suspension of internet and SMS services. “In a democracy such as that in Kenya, the government would not dare,” says O’ Connor.

However the protest shook Joseph Kabila’s government and it dropped the controversial amendment.

South African citizens, with five democratic elections under their belts, were shocked when the ANC-led government jammed the cellphone signal within Parliament on the eve of the State of the Nation (Sona) address last week.

In the face of outrage from the assembled media and some MPs, the signal was restored before the President began his Sona address. This small victory for democracy ensured that images of the State Security apparatus forcibly ejecting the EFF were transmitted across the world in real time.

The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef), the Human Rights Commission and Icasa, the telecoms regulatory authority, all condemned the act. Sanef called it a “shocking and illegal clampdown on freedom of expression.”

Sanef has consulted its lawyers and plans to approach the courts to prevent any future attempts by state security agencies to unlawfully block communications in the future.

One should not have been too surprised by the ANC’s heavy-handed approach, says O’Connor. It was “a predictable and typically 'liberation party' response to an emerging opposition threat.”

In fact, “the ANC acted as if it is bigger than the institutions that liberation brought into being,” she says. “The party seemed to care more about Zuma’s ‘dignity’ than the rights of people to communicate and to hold their politicians to account via social media and Parliament.”

The unintended consequence of the jamming will be a body blow to ANC's domestic and international credibility. The ANC’s actions against the media in particular provoked comparisons with the apartheid regime and with heavy-handed liberation-dictatorships.

There is a familiar pattern here. “Liberation parties all over SADC have lost their lustre and the ANC under Zuma’s rule is no exception,” she says. “#SONA15 will contribute further to the ANC's decline in popularity.”

As dire as it seems, this act and other encroachments on civil liberties does not have to spell the imminent demise of SA’s hard-won democracy. Instead O’Connor says, the opposition and civil society’s follow-up actions - taking Parliament to court, pressing charges against the security force violence - will serve to strengthen SA’s democratic institutions.

Following the disputed elections that saw 1 000 people killed in Kenya in 2007, entrepreneurs developed a technology tool that allowed Kenyans to report on violence. Ahead of the 2013 elections the tool was resurrected specifically to “put citizens back at the heart of the electoral process." The platform enabled citizens to monitor the electoral process by reporting issues such as intimidation, hate speech, and polling clerk bias.

“Constitutional rule backed by regular elections continues to wrest political power from the former ruling elite,” says O’Connor.

Even the government of Nigeria, which has controversially delayed elections by six weeks, ostensibly to stabilise the Boko Haram situation, would not dare defy the constitution. “According to the constitution they must hold the presidential inauguration by May 29, and the government will honour that.”

The spread of democracy across Africa has opened up opportunities for investment and generated strong economic growth, but it does not suggest a risk-free environment. Old risks have been replaced by new risks because regular elections can also encourage populist and short-sighted decision-making.

Invariably this has negative economic consequences and raises investor concerns.

Ghana’s current economic crisis demonstrates how populist policies can damage the reputation of a country with a long history of economic reform and success.

The government bought popular support using its newly minted petro-dollars by increasing civil servant wage bills and subsiding fuel. This pushed the current account deficit to 12% of GDP in 2013. It has risen further and in 2014, the Ghanian cedi was the worst performing currency against the dollar.

While high inflation and a weakening currency may deter some investors, the countries to tread cautiously in are those with major succession issues, O’Connor says.

For instance leaders in Uganda, Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Zimbabwe are striving to ensure family political dynasties, perpetuating political and business interests.

Other risks for investors include local content regulations and protectionist legislation which is increasingly frequent; the scourge of corruption and the rise of terrorism across the continent.

However, none of these threats are reasons to avoid the continent. “Overall the African story is a positive one.”

Even in South Africa where the mood in many quarters is dark, the status quo is unlikely to remain. What we saw in the run-up to Sona and thereafter fits a pattern that has happened all over Africa. “These small opposition victories gather momentum, whittle away liberation party pre-eminence and lead to what the French call ‘alternance’ - where one elected party or coalition of parties is replaced by another.”

Brace yourself South Africa.

Zuma under fire in Parliament

Kim Cloete


Opposition leaders have climbed into President Jacob Zuma following his State of the Nation (Sona) address last week and the debacle of signals jammed by the National Intelligence Agency and police tussles with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

In a debate spiked with sharp comments, opposition parties accused Zuma of being complicit to the chaos in Parliament.

United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa called for a judicial commission of enquiry into the manhandling of EFF MPs in Parliament while EFF leader, Julius Malema said Zuma should be known as the “hooligan President” because he had allowed “hooligan tactics” during the Sona event.

The harshest overall speech came from Democratic Alliance (DA) Parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane, who berated the president for laughing after the chaos in the House on Thursday and in so doing “trampling Madiba’s legacy”.

Maimane said the president was “a broken man overseeing a broken society” and “broken institutions” including Sars, and the National Prosecuting Authority. He said Sars should be investigating the fringe tax benefits from Nkandla - which he termed the “palace of corruption that was built with the people’s money.”

The EFF, DA and UDM in particular criticised the action by armed police officers when EFF members were removed from Parliament during the president’s Sona address.

“Police were assaulting women, breaking their jaws and fracturing their chins, and pulling us by our private parts," charged Malema.

The EFF leader warned that his party would not back down.

“However long it takes, by whatever revolutionary means, we will take over this country. No measure of violence and harassment will stop us from taking over this country. We are not scared. Neither are we scared of you or your factions,” he told Zuma. He also charged that white South Africans were still in control.

"It looks like South Africa belongs to white people only. They own everything and control our lives and the lives of politicians of the ruling party."

The ANC sprung to Zuma's defence, with Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Pravin Gordhan accusing the opposition of “rank opportunism and brinkmanship.” He conceded that change in a country was a “messy, unpredictable” process.

The president smiled every now and then during the debate, but stifled his customary chuckle, which had landed him in deep water on Thursday.

The atmosphere was tense around the Parliament precinct for the debate on Sona. Nine police vehicles hovered directly outside Parliament, with another four in the nearby street. Security officers were also spotted in the corridors of Parliament, prepared for any fallout in the House during the debate.

Members of Parliament were clearly bristling for action during the marathon debate, but there were no major incidents. Frequent heckling punctuated the proceedings which stretched into the night.

Notably absent from the proceedings was the Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, who has faced a barrage of criticism over the past few weeks.

In her absence, she was lashed for calling Malema a “cockroach” at an ANC provincial conference in North West last weekend. National Council of Provinces Chairperson, Thandi Modise, was left to face calls for Mbete to withdraw her statement. The speaker will no doubt be faced by MPs keen for responses to her comments when she returns to the National Assembly.

The land question and ban on foreigners owning property in particular was a hot issue during the debate, with the EFF and DA diametrically opposed in their positions.

The EFF took credit for the proposed ban on foreign land ownership, which it said it had campaigned for. It also criticised the government’s decision to limit private ownership of land to 12 000 hectares.

“With your formula, an arable land the size of Soweto will be given to two people….”

Maimane said the president’s proposal on foreign land ownership was a “populist” decision which would “kill investment and jobs”. It also called on government to break the Eskom monopoly and abandon the R1 trillion nuclear deal.

“Future generations will pay for this in electricity price hikes while we wait over a decade to see any power,” Maimane charged.

During the debate it was abundantly clear that the President is unlikely to escape the Nkandla cloud, while corruption charges leveled against him were raised by several parties and MPs.

“Scandals associated with our president have replaced the role of this House and divided the nation in the middle,” said Holomisa.

Zuma looked exhausted, but has a very long road ahead. He faces another day of debate on his speech and will have to face the music in March, with the crucial question time on Nkandla. The screws are tightening on the president, with criticism snowballing and calls for a new order. But his firm grip on the party and loyal following may see him step up his fight for survival.

Circus is in Town.