DA 'darkies' always deputised - defectors

Johannesburg - Two DA councillors in Gauteng have defected to the ANC, the ruling party announced on Thursday.

"The two councillors joined the ANC voluntarily after a long soul-searching on the most viable political organisation in the country," provincial secretary David Makhura told reporters in Johannesburg.

Toni Molefe and Sipho Masigo arrived at the press conference dressed in bright yellow ANC regalia. Molefe wore an ANC T-shirt with a black beret and Masigo an ANC volunteer bib over a white shirt.

The two served as DA proportional representation councillors in the City of Johannesburg. Molefe was DA deputy chief whip and Masigo the party's deputy chairman in Gauteng.

Molefe said he was not expecting any perks from the ANC.

"We were willing to join. The DA must be worried of the Makhura train. It was in Tshwane. It went to Ekurhuleni and now is in Joburg," Molefe said.

He was referring to two DA councillors in Tshwane and another two from Ekurhuleni who had already joined the ANC this month.

The two said blacks in the DA were not given room to grow.

"Darkies are always deputising... Sipho is the deputy chair. I am the deputy chief whip. Why are darkies always deputies in the DA?"

Masigo said joining the ANC was like coming home.

"I was born in an ANC family. It had been difficult at home to explain why I joined the DA."

Induction

Makhura said the two would undergo a six-month induction.

"They will join the branches in their respective wards and participate to pursue the struggle with the same dedication," Makhura said.

He denied the ANC was poaching DA members. Makhura said the two, from Soweto, would be part of their election campaign in the area at the weekend.

He said Molefe and Masigo occupied key positions in wards and played a central role in the Johannesburg DA caucus.

"Their resignation from the DA is further triggered by continuous authoritarianism of the leadership in that organisation, and deep divisions in the DA party."

Welcoming them, ANC Johannesburg region chair Parks Tau said they would add value to the ANC.

"The time of negative messaging is gone. We are responsible to build this country," he said.

He said he knew the two from the council chamber where they contributed in council debates.

Julius Malema said the Economic Freedom Fighters was not a non-whites party but a vanguard for the working class.

PRETORIA - EFF leader Julius Malema on Saturday called on white people to join the party to get their hands on land.

"White people must join the struggle for land," he said.

"Only two percent of whites own land. If they want land, they must join EFF."

Malema was addressing residents of Stofel Park in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria, during the unveiling of the party's election truck.

He said the Economic Freedom Fighters was not a non-whites party but a vanguard for the working class.

"That includes the white workers," he said.

Malema then criticised the financial sector and banks, saying they are stealing from the poor.

"We must make sure the financial sector is accountable," he said.

"They [banks] are the ones stealing from us."

Malema said banks were allowed to steal from the poor because government officials were benefiting.

He said banks should not be allowed to repossess houses while an individual who was left with a year to go can't pay.

"There is no one who must lose a house. We must transform the financial sector and it must speak to the needs of our people," he said.

We need government-owned banks that would grant qualifying customers interest free loans, he said.

"We must deliver services. Why should government be worried about making a profit?"

Malema said people were charged exorbitant prices for the same house even after the bank had recovered its money.

Facebook CEO 'biggest US giver' of 2013

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Seattle - Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were the most generous American philanthropists in 2013, with a donation of 18 million shares of Facebook stock, valued at more than $970m, to a Silicon Valley non-profit in December.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported on Monday that Zuckerberg's donation was the largest charitable gift on the public record in 2013 and put the young couple at the top of the magazine's annual list of 50 most generous Americans in 2013.

The top 50 contributors made donations last year totalling $7.7bn, plus pledges of $2.9bn.

The Chronicle's editor said the most significant fact from the list was the amount of money coming from living donors, which totalled about the same amount as the two previous years combined.

"It's a sure sign that the economy is getting better and people are getting a lot less cautious," said Stacy Palmer, Chronicle editor.

Some of the nation's biggest givers do not appear on the 2013 list, not because they stopped being generous, but because their donations in 2013 were counted as pledges in previous years.

Malema placed under provisional sequestration

Pretoria - Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema was provisionally sequestrated by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday.

"I am satisfied that the applicant [SA Revenue Service] has established the requirements for the grant of a provisional sequestration," Judge Bill Prinsloo said in his judgment.

A draft order was signed and made an order of court.

Reading the order into the record Prinsloo said: "The estate of the respondent [Malema] is placed in provisional sequestration."

Malema and anyone else who did not want the order to be made final had until 10:00 on 26 May to give reasons as to why this should not happen.

ABSA PSL & CAF Football Update

Good Morning Football Fanatics

Results

Pirates 2-1 Wits

Chiefs 1-0 Supersport 

Sundowns 2-0 Arrows

ABSA PSL Log update 

1. Chiefs 17 games 39 pts

2. Downs 15 games 28 pts

6. Pirates 12 games 23 pts

8. Swallows 15 games 22 pts

Next tough games for giants

ABSA PSL League games

Pirates vs Sundowns "8th Feb"

Sundowns vs Pirates "25 Feb"

Swallows vs Pirates"12 Mar"

Pirates vs Chiefs "15 Mar"

Pirates vs Swallows "28 Mar"

Sundowns vs Chiefs "5 Apr"

Swallows vs Sundown "19 Apr"

CAF Champs League "8th Feb"

Chiefs (SA) vs Black A (Namib)

FNB Staduim - 20:00

ntlele.blogspot.com

#KCLoveIt 

#Khosi4Life 

#GoldBoldGlamour

Huge petrol price spike

Consumers were dealt another blow on Friday when the department of energy announced a huge spike in the petrol price.

The latest petrol price hike will see motorists paying 39c more for a litre of petrol, taking the price within an earshot of R14/litre.

Diesel will rise by 24 cents or 1.9% to R13.11, while illuminating paraffin will go up by between 12 and 16 cents, the department of energy said on Friday.

The latest blow to consumers will see them fork out R13.96/l and R13.59/l in Gauteng and the coast respectively.

Earlier this week the South African Reserve Bank announced a 50 basis-point hike in interest rates, which placed cash-strapped consumers under further strain.

Economists earlier warned that another petrol price hike will have profoundly negative consequences for deeply indebted consumers.

The ever-increasing petrol and food prices, higher interest rates and, for Gautengers, the additional burden of e-tolls will drive many people who have managed to claw their way out of debt back into poverty, warned Debt Rescue CEO Neil Roets.

The latest increase was mostly due to a sharp drop in the rand/dollar exchange rate. The rand slid to new five-year lows amid an emerging market sell-off as the US Federal Reserve decided to scale back on its massive stimulus programme. 

The rand was trading at R11.25/$, R18.52/£ and R15.18/€ shortly before the announcement.

Last month consumers had to bear the brunt of a 39c/l spike in the petrol price. 

The latest blow to consumers will see them fork out R13.96/l and R13.59/l in Gauteng and the coast respectively.

Earlier this week the South African Reserve Bank announced a 50 basis-point hike in interest rates, which placed cash-strapped consumers under further strain.

Economists earlier warned that another petrol price hike will have profoundly negative consequences for deeply indebted consumers.

The ever-increasing petrol and food prices, higher interest rates and, for Gautengers, the additional burden of e-tolls will drive many people who have managed to claw their way out of debt back into poverty, warned Debt Rescue CEO Neil Roets.

The latest increase was mostly due to a sharp drop in the rand/dollar exchange rate. The rand slid to new five-year lows amid an emerging market sell-off as the US Federal Reserve decided to scale back on its massive stimulus programme. 

The rand was trading at R11.25/$, R18.52/£ and R15.18/€ shortly before the announcement.

Last month consumers had to bear the brunt of a 39c/l spike in the petrol price.