If ministers want to keep their jobs, they’ll support the state
Terrorist group Hamas: Jassat is way off the mark
THE EFF and DA have finally decided to allow the courts to adjudicate on the never-ending saga involving misuse of taxpayers’ money at Nkandla. Perhaps the courts will bring finality after all the facts are considered independently.
Although the tenacious Thuli Madonsela has stated in her report that the president needs to pay back some money on the non-security upgrades, her findings were dismissed.
This can be construed as a serious indictment on the independence of our Chapter 9 institutions. The Nhleko report has not been taken seriously by any party except the ANC.
Ministers in the government owe their allegiance to Jacob Zuma. He appoints them to the high-ranking positions they hold. Therefore, ministers Nathi Nhleko and Thulas Nxesi, among others, have to be pro-government – immediately compromising the independence of any investigation. If any minister deviates from the government’s rhetoric, he or she gets purged. It does not make sense to be a referee and player in a match.
Our courts and Chapter 9 institutions are the only hope to uphold our constitution. Recently the judiciary came under attack by Minister Blade Nzimande when he said too many cases were going against the government. Our courts need to put the Nkandla scandal to bed. The time and effort dedicated to a single person’s home has probably cost more the upgrades at Nkandla itself.
Phoenix, Durban
WRITE TO US
IQBAL Jassat’s letter “Saks has his head in the sand on apartheid state of Israel” (The Star, August 11) needs to be addressed.
His anti-Israel stance is to be expected, and reflects his usual hatefilled diatribe of “apartheid” and “colonial regime” among others.
But I have to vigorously defend David Saks’s original contention that to have glaringly omitted the role of Hamas in the Middle East conflict, Ronnie Kasrils’s piece (“Unite for an undivided land”, The Star, July 29) on the Israeli-Palestinian issue was grossly flawed.
How can one address the stalemate in the region when the one party that is responsible for igniting the conflagration time and time again in Gaza over the recent past, is conveniently excluded as if they do not exist?
It is clearly Ronnie Kasrils’s head which is in the sand.
However, it is the statements made by the writer regarding Hamas, in his scurrilous attempt to discredit Saks, that I must correct. And I need to do this because Jassat is very well aware that if you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. Let’s look at them: “Hamas is the dominant choice of the majority of Palestinians.” Not so! Maybe in Gaza but not throughout the West Bank. Furthermore, they may have been elected, but if claims about some of the dubious methods they employed to get elected are true, “choice” might be a selective term.
“Popularly elected, but denied the right to represent Palestinians…” I think he means all Palestinians. So one must ask who denied them this right if it wasn’t the bulk of the Palestinian people themselves.
“Hamas is a revered representative of its people.” From many sources close to the ground, this is certainly questionable as many Palestinians do not share this reverence. And it has been suggested that if there is another election, the result could turn out differently. Of course, they’re not in a hurry to have another vote.
“…so has Israel outlawed Palestinian liberation movements, notably Hamas.” You can continue ad nauseum to describe Hamas as a liberation movement, but when Hamas seeks Israel’s annihilation, what else can the Israeli government do to protect its citizens, but outlaw them. Any country throughout the world would do the same.
The writer is at odds with Israel in declaring Hamas to be “terrorist” (his quotations). Let me remind Jassat why this label is accurate. When Hamas fires thousands of rockets at Israel over many years with the intention to kill men, women and children i ndiscriminat e l y wherever the rocket explodes, this is terrorism. When Hamas digs tunnels beneath the border with Israel with the intention of murdering and abducting men, women and children, this is terrorism. When Hamas sends suicide bombers into Israel with the intention of killing men, women and children, this is terrorism. When the Hamas Charter explicitly states that its primary objective is to destroy the land of Israel and forever wipe it off the map, what term do you think is fitting, Mr Jassat?
I regret to say it, but the double standards, unsubstantiated bias and, dare I say, innate hatred shown by the writer towards Israel, the only truly democratic state in the region, is what will prevent any hope of peace in the region.
If you tell a lie often enough, it becomes truth
Benmore Gardens, Sandton