Why is it that the 'Department' or the individual is never 'available for comment at this time', when there has been a major cock up and somebody needs to be accountable?
The reality of the situation is that, like most of the politicians that we have put into positions of power, they enjoy the luxury of the big salary and all the other perks that comes with the job, but they don't seem to think or understand that they are also now accountable to the citizens of this country. They seem to think that they are above the law.
The reality of this is actually true. They are above the law. If we take Zuma's rape trial and then his corruption allegations (that have yet to go to court) and the farce of Yengeni's prison time - not to mention McBrides drunken drive fiasco, what other conclusion can we come to?
Our only hope is that the media, investigative journalism in particular, continues to point these transgressions out to us in the form of newspaper and news reports, and that the opposition parties take these reports and do something about them. If enough interest is shown and enough people make a noise about it, they have to do something! Even if that something is not being 'available for comment at this time'. All that means is that they are formulating a reason to get out of the dark brown smelly stuff - something that our erstwhile government and municipal officials seem to be getting deeper and deeper into on a daily basis!
April 09 2007 at 01:29PM
Withholding information on fraudster Tony Yengeni's parole conditions amounted to a breach of a promise made by Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour to the public of South Africa, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. "The rejection of the request [for information] is a breach of the promise that the Minister of Correctional Services made to the public of South Africa that he would ensure that the DCS was open, transparent and accountable in all its dealings," said the opposition party's spokesman on Correctional Services James Selfe. "In addition, DCS [correctional services] is always saying that correctional supervision is a societal responsibility. Society cannot understand its responsibility in respect to Tony Yengeni's conditions unless it knows what the conditions are."
Selfe's statement followed the rejection of an application by the DA to the department for Yengeni's parole conditions.
'A breach of the promise that the Minister of Correctional Services made to the public' The DA's application, through the Promotion of Access to Information Act, was declined by the department saying the request for "record[s] pertaining... to his sentence for fraud" was "too wide", according to the party. Selfe said the department had deliberately misunderstood the request. He said the request was "not a 'wide' concept" rather a "simple request which entails accessing a file".
Yengeni was convicted in 2003 of defrauding parliament by failing to disclose a 47 percent discount on a luxury 4X4 Mercedes-Benz. He failed to win an appeal against his four-year sentence and was sent to the Malmesbury prison in August last year. His time in prison, while brief, was characterised by controversy - he was investigated after he contravened the prisoner code of conduct by consuming alcohol and arriving late back at the prison during weekend parole. He was reportedly given preferential treatment over Christmas when he enjoyed a lavish private meal with his wife. The department was not immediately available for comment. - Sapa
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