GOOD

GOOD

2/6/2025, 3:06:46 PM

GOOD Leader Patricia de Lille and GOOD Secretary-General Brett Herron arrive on the SONA 2025 red carpet. South Africa needs to hear from the president about, how his government intends to address poverty. We cannot have a government that ignores its own National Treasury's concession that there are 18 million South Africans who live below the food poverty line.

GOOD

2/6/2025, 11:37:15 AM

A busy day of media interviews ahead of SONA 2025. GOOD calls on government to implement a Basic Income Grant or Basic Income guarantee that the state has been talking about for almost two decades and thus give meaning to the “social safety net” that the GNU Statement of Intent commits.

GOOD

2/6/2025, 7:23:00 PM

GOOD Secretary-General Brett Herron conducting post #SONA2025 reaction

GOOD

2/6/2025, 3:54:38 PM

GOOD Leader and Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille conducts media interviews ahead of the State of the Nation Address. This SONA, arguably more than any other over the past 31 years, must be gritty and pragmatic with implementable and attainable short and medium-term interventions to begin to narrow inequality, address decades and centuries-old injustices, and create a sense of common purpose.

GOOD

2/6/2025, 4:38:11 AM

*CAPE TOWN SEA OF SEWAGE TAKES DOWN STORMERS PLAYER* *GOOD* Press Statement by *Suzette Little,* *GOOD* City of Cape Town Councillor & Caucus Chairperson 06 February 2025 The GOOD Party once again calls on the City of Cape Town to engage with industry experts, academics, medical doctors and marine conservationists regarding testing protocols at the City’s beaches. In January we wrote to Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis to request an urgent joint committee meeting of the following portfolios: Water and Sanitation; Community Services and Health; Planning and Environment. We are yet to hear back from the Mayor. Last month, a citizen-driven investigation, compiled by Dr. Jo Barnes, Senior Lecturer and Emeritus Epidemiologist at Stellenbosch University, and Prof. Leslie Petrik, Professor of Chemistry at the University of the Western Cape, revealed the presence of sewage pollution on certain Cape Town beaches on specific dates during November and December 2024. However instead of engaging with the scientists to discuss their methodology and explain their findings, the City ignored them and rather put their PR machine on overdrive. Now not even a month later, Netwerk24 is reporting that the provincial Rugby team, the Stormers is a man down, not because of injury but due to an E.Coli infection he allegedly contracted whilst swimming in Camps Bay. The City currently has no effluent quantity discharge limit after the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Dion George suspended the limit. The City cannot continue to pump raw sewage, that has passed through nothing more than a sieve, without doing further due diligence. They are taking a reckless gamble with public health and safety. As GOOD, we send our well wishes to the Stormers player. However we do hope this high profile case finally knocks some common sense into City officials. If the City has nothing to hide, they should willingly engage with the experts.

GOOD

2/6/2025, 7:16:53 PM

GOOD Secretary-General Brett Herron says it was disappointing not to hear about the Basic Income Grant in #SONA2025. However, he found the address to be the most detailed yet, clearly outlining how the government plans to turn the economy around. He also raised concerns that the 3% growth target is too low, with many economists saying 5% is needed. #Economy #GOODParty #EconomicJustice

GOOD

2/7/2025, 9:55:43 AM

*GEORGE: NEW DEPUTY MAYOR NEEDS TO FOSTER GOVERNANCE THAT TRULY SERVES THE PEOPLE OF GEORGE* *GOOD* Statement by *Chantelle Kyd* , *GOOD* George Councillor 07 February 2025 The GOOD Party in George calls on the Democratic Alliance not to repeat the mistakes of the past. In today’s special council sitting, Browen Johnson of the DA was nominated and voted in as the new Executive Deputy Mayor. An unsurprising development as the DA has a majority in the Council. The position of Deputy Mayor became vacant after the DA’s Raybin Figland chose to resign moments before a GOOD-led motion of no confidence. Figland was accused of forcing a schoolgirl to send him naked photographs of herself. The DA said they were unable to proceed with their internal investigation because the alleged victim was not willing to participate in the giving of evidence. As GOOD, we call on Johnson and the DA to put the people of George first and to prioritise service delivery. GOOD remains steadfast in our belief that councillors and the executive should be held to a higher standard and conduct themselves with integrity and accountability. Personal misconduct cannot be allowed to overshadow the work that needs to be done to improve the lives of the people in George.

GOOD

2/6/2025, 7:43:04 PM

*SONA 2025 STRADDLES COALITION AND GLOBAL TIGHTROPES* *GOOD* Statement by *Brett Herron,* *GOOD* Secretary-General 06 February 2025 President Cyril Ramaphosa walked a coalition tightrope in his State of the Nation Address tonight, balancing the urgent need to address abnormal rates of poverty and inequality with the needs of the business sector for a stable environment conducive to economic growth. The initiative he announced to send a South African delegation to engage world leaders on what South Africa stands for and has to offer – and dispel the false narrative that because we don’t always agree with the West we are a rogue state – is a very positive and proactive step. His steadfast references to the values of compassion, empathy and humanity was an excellent start. At home, his commitment to use the Social Release of Distress Grant as the basis for a more sustainable social relief mechanism was very important. This commitment must translate into the implementation of a Basic Income Grant of at least R999 a month in the next financial year. The President promised that the coming year would witness a wave of reform to unleash more rapid and inclusive growth. But aiming for 3% annual growth of the economy is not enough to meaningfully dent the unemployment and poverty rates. South Africa needs to grow at a minimum of 5% a year, for a number of consecutive years, if it is to grow itself out of the deep hole it’s in. He signaled that the pending reform would include privatizing elements in the electricity, freight, rail and port sectors. There was much in the President’s speech that was good, but the proof of the pudding will be in the implementation and delivery. There can be no argument against his vision to position South Africa as a leader in renewable energy and green manufacturing, for example. It makes sense. As does the President’s commitment to decelerate climate change and implement the just energy transition. But we must unblock bureaucratic and ideological impediments that have been holding us back. There’s no arguing, either, with the President’s vision of South Africa as a leader in the production of hemp and cannabis, adding modern value to a product produced for generations. But to get there the country needs to finalize regulations that continue to force the industry underground. The news of the country having spent R38 Billion through the infrastructure fund over the past year, with more to come, is very welcome, as was the promise to unlock opportunities for rural coastal communities through small harbours. We welcome the President’s recommitment to the progressive values and principles contained in the founding document of the Government of National Unity, the Statement of Intent – to reduce poverty, reduce the cost of living and address the indignity in which many of our people leave. The President’s commitment to spatial justice, one of the founding pillars of the GOOD Movement, also has our 100% support. He is quite correct that the State’s practice of building subsidized homes on the peripheries of town and cities perpetuates poverty and urban sprawl. By stressing the importance of integrating people forced apart by apartheid policy, and underlining the GNU’s commitment to transformatory legislation such as BELA and the NHI, the President positioned the GNU as giving expression to South Africa’s culture of cooperation. We welcome the President’s addressing foreign policy, and recommitting our nation, united in its diversity, to universal human rights. He is correct that South Africa has lessons to teach the world about cooperative problem-solving and nation building. His steady and diplomatic tone in the face of US provocation was commendable, as was his recommitment to peace for Ukrainians and Palestinians.

GOOD

2/6/2025, 10:40:24 AM

Live from a windy Cape Town, GOOD Secretary-General Brett Herron details the party's expectations ahead of SONA 2025. During the 2025 State of the Nation Address, the GOOD Party calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to explain HOW the government intends to implement the priorities that are contained in the statement of intent, signed by all 10 GNU parties.

GOOD

2/5/2025, 11:14:54 AM

*SWELLENDAM: NEW REPORT LIFTS LID ON HORNET’S NEST OF CORRUPTION IN DA-RUN MUNICIPALITY* *GOOD* Statement by *Brett Herron* , *GOOD* Secretary-General 05 February 2025 An investigation into alleged procurement irregularities at Swellendam Municipality lifts the lid on systemic corruption and recommends consideration be given to criminal charges against senior officials including the Municipal Manager and Supply Chain Manager. The investigative report provides crucial context to the dramatic suspension and reinstatement of the Southern Cape town’s Municipal Manager Anneleen Vorster late last year, as well as the recent ousting of the DA Mayor Francois du Rand in a motion of no confidence brought by the ANC and supported by the FF+. The FF+ councillor, who held the position of Speaker, resigned on principle last week after being instructed by his party to vote to reinstate the DA mayor – leaving the town with neither a Speaker or a Mayor. In his report, investigator Advocate Etienne Vermaak calls on the municipality to institute a broader investigation “into patterns of systemic bias across multiple tenders… to ensure compliance with legal and constitutional procurement standards”. The report reveals a litany of misconduct including brazen conflicts of interest leading to unauthorized and/or irregular expenditure by the municipality. Advocate Vermaak scrutinized the municipality’s management of six tenders in the fields of engineering services and IT. He recommended disciplinary action be taken against Municipal Manager Vorster in each case, as well as, against the municipality’s CFO, Supply Chain Manager and other senior officials in some of the cases. In respect of one of the tenders, the advocate found “there was clearly an intention by the Municipal Manager to reappoint a particular service provider for 7-8 continuous years by circumventing prescribed procurement processes.” That this service provider’s tax affairs weren’t in order, “did not deter the Municipal Manager”. On the final page of his report, dated 1 December 2024, Advocate Vermaak recommends that the Auditor General be informed of the alleged transgressions, and “that consideration be given to criminal charges against those employees mentioned in this regard in the various reports”. Advocate Vermaak additionally recommends that the municipality “address the conflict of interest” between a father and son, Francois and Jacques Ryke. The son works for an engineering company that receives tenders from the municipality, while the father advises the municipality on the award of the tenders. Their alleged deception extended to the son signing into tender briefings under a false name. After Vorster persuaded the High Court to order her reinstatement to the position of Municipal Manager last November, the DA Constituency Head in Swellendam Leon Van Wyk issued a statement condemning councillors for an “orchestrated attempt to destabilise and disrupt municipal services”. Vorster must go, and the DA attempt to reinstate a mayor who has presided over a municipality shot through with corruption must be called out for placing broederskap above municipal integrity. The Vermaak report triggers a legal obligation on the Mayor and the Council to follow the Regulations for Disciplinary Action against Senior Managers. A failure to do so constitutes maladministration which requires MEC Bredell to intervene in terms of Sec 106 of the Municipal Systems Act.