Win people away from the EFF by doing the right thing

Imraan Buccus, in “The EFF represents a clear and urgent danger to democracy” (December 2) is spot on. Julius Malema reminds me of Yahya Jammeh, presently exiled in Equatorial Guinea after refusing to vacate office as president of The Gambia until ejected by military force. He robbed his country blind, leaving empty coffers when he, like a rat, scurried into exile.

A Malema victory would force SA to declare a state of emergency. That is better avoided by leading the masses away from Malema’s rhetoric by fighting corruption, to genuinely stamp it out along with all those associated with it. The National Prosecuting Authority must be empowered to bring culprits to book. This is the only way of ensuring the restoration of the government’s integrity and the credibility of a new dawn. Doing the right thing now will turn heads away from the EFF.

Floyd Shivambu once assaulted a journalist. Why was he not arrested and prosecuted? Is he above the law? This is not the democracy — of all being equal before the law — for which we fought and for which many died.

MB Seitisho, Phuthaditjhaba

Bosasa facts are on the table

In her opinion piece, “DA is hardly the party to lecture on party funding” (December 2), President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko, attempted to spin the gratuitous

“donation” he received from embattled Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson as above board, cunningly framing the DA’s exposure of the Ramaphosa-Bosasa scandal as “alternative facts”. The reason for the president’s spokesperson coming out guns blazing in defence of No 1 is that this inconvenient truth shatters the well-orchestrated myth that Ramaphosa is somehow different to the ANC: a squeaky-clean president.

Ramaphosa received R500,000 towards his election campaign from the CEO of a company that has been embroiled in allegations of corruption for the past decade, with NPA charges looming. Bosasa not only receives billions of rands in government tenders, but the president admitted to parliament that his son,

Andile, has at least one contract for consulting services with it.

Ramaphosa publicly admitted that he received the “donation”. The transaction was administered by Edelstein, Farber and Grobler (EFG) Attorneys. EFG confirmed that “the trust account was created for the purposes of collecting funds in respect of the CR17 campaign”. In 2016 a director at EFG Attorneys served as one of three directors of Gupta-linked Trillian Capital.

The rot runs deep, and the facts cannot be imagined away. The president should waste no time in appointing an independent inquiry into Bosasa, which must include the company’s relationship with the Ramaphosa family. Anything less, and Ramaphosa would confirm he is cut from the same cloth as his predecessors and only appears to be tough on corruption when it involves his enemies.

Graham Charters, deputy chief of staff in Mmusi Maimane’s office

Only we can defend our children

The continued killing of children indicates that the message of zero tolerance for these heinous acts is not reaching the right ears. A change in the nation’s attitude has to start at community level.

More often than not children are abused and killed by people they know and people who are known within the community.

There has to be a change to a more proactive approach to childcare and protection by the entire community, an attitude of collective care and responsibility.

In close-knit communities, someone knows when and how a crime against a child has been perpetrated. Empowering these individuals to speak out is critical in our efforts to stem the wave of violence against children.

Our children should not be victims of violence when we can prevent their abuse and murder.

The state of numbness we have reached where we dismiss child murder as just another horrible news item is a very worrying one that we must shake ourselves out of. The escalating cruelty against children should move us not only to tears, but to action too.

Nilofar Dawood, Durban

Recession recedes, we hope

It looks like SA is finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. The recent report about 2.2% growth in GDP is something worth celebrating after the disastrous months we have had.

We hope this will soon lead to positive economic growth that will open doors for job creation.

We need this now more than ever because life has become more difficult for the poor. We finally have hope that we are going somewhere as a country and will not go back to recession in the near future.

Together we can!

Tom Mhlanga, Braamfontein

DA presides over a dust bowl

Having lived in Lenasia in the late 1960s, when our shopping hub was referred to as “the dust bowl”, I was dismayed that Eloff Street, once the jewel in Joburg’s crown, has deteriorated into a dust bowl.

Large swathes of city block sidewalks are unpaved, resembling dusty township streets. There are sites where piles of rubble and soil have been left behind. Apart from being an eyesore, surely this negatively impacts pedestrians, workers and businesses located in this busiest of shopping areas?

The “chief offal officer”, Herman Mashaba, needs to allocate resources to stem the deterioration of the city centre’s infrastructure. As a concerned citizen I am deeply disturbed that Joburg is being allowed to crumble with no discernible action being taken by the incumbent DA city council.

Terrance Jeevanantham, Killarney

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