Comments I've made

• By Helen on PADLAC smear campaign speech:

  2 years ago
  

  Please note – the court case on this matter will be heard in the Mitchell's Plain Magistrate's Court on 26 October 2007. HZ

• By Helen on Court case update:

  2 years ago
  

  Please note – the court case on this matter will be heard in the Mitchell's Plain Magistrate's Court on 26 October 2007. HZ

• By Helen on Helen discusses floor crossing:

  2 years ago
  

  Dear Ubuntu<br><br>
  Thank you for being forthright about your point of view.When it comes to us taking away sub-councils from the ANC, you should note the following facts.<br><br>1) The agreement with Minister Mufamadi covered the previous council as constituted after the elections up until the floor-crossing. After the floor-crossing, the council is reconstituted, and a new set of rules apply for the establishment of sub-councils. The ANC changed the law to allow this. The Municipal Structures Act says that after an election, sub-councils have to be made up of the same ratio of proportional representative (PR) councillors as the ward councillors included in a sub-council. So if there are 5 wards in a sub-council, and 3 of the ward councillors are DA, 1 ID, and 1 ANC, then there has to be 3 DA, 1 ID and 1 ANC PR councillor as well. However, the ANC introduced a new rule in the Municipal Structures Act which says that after a floor-crossing, PR councillors can be distributed much more freely around sub-councils. This enabled the ANC in 2002 to take 16 sub-councils held by the DA and re-arrange them into 20 all held by the ANC.<br><br>2) The ANC therefore needs to learn that when it makes laws, it must make these laws not simply to benefit itself in the short-term, but make them in such a way that when it is not in power, it will also be protected. Perhaps the ANC will now consider scrapping this law, and hopefully floor-crossing in its current form as well.The same applies with the Executive Mayoral system – the ANC introduced the Executive Mayoral system when they were in power. They were happy with it. But when they lost they wanted the Executive Committee system back. MEC Dyantyi tried to bring that system back in an effort to unseat the Multi-Party Government. The ANC also attacked the DA because we had stated our preference for the Executive Committee System ahead of the elections. However, this would have cost us our position. Our number 1 mandate from the voters is to provide an alternative to the ANC, and this must take precedence over the issue of the Executive Mayoral system versus the Executive Committee system. Finally, I would like to point out that the ANC is not excluded from government. The opposition is a critical part of the government in a democracy – both as a watchdog and as an alternative source of critical input. The DA fulfils this role in parliament, and we are proud of what we do. The ANC needs to learn to do the same in Cape Town.<br><br>HZ

• By Helen on Subcouncils reconstitute - Part 2:

  2 years ago
  

  Dear Ubuntu<br><br>
  Thank you for being forthright about your point of view.When it comes to us taking away sub-councils from the ANC, you should note the following facts.<br><br>1) The agreement with Minister Mufamadi covered the previous council as constituted after the elections up until the floor-crossing. After the floor-crossing, the council is reconstituted, and a new set of rules apply for the establishment of sub-councils. The ANC changed the law to allow this. The Municipal Structures Act says that after an election, sub-councils have to be made up of the same ratio of proportional representative (PR) councillors as the ward councillors included in a sub-council. So if there are 5 wards in a sub-council, and 3 of the ward councillors are DA, 1 ID, and 1 ANC, then there has to be 3 DA, 1 ID and 1 ANC PR councillor as well. However, the ANC introduced a new rule in the Municipal Structures Act which says that after a floor-crossing, PR councillors can be distributed much more freely around sub-councils. This enabled the ANC in 2002 to take 16 sub-councils held by the DA and re-arrange them into 20 all held by the ANC.<br><br>2) The ANC therefore needs to learn that when it makes laws, it must make these laws not simply to benefit itself in the short-term, but make them in such a way that when it is not in power, it will also be protected. Perhaps the ANC will now consider scrapping this law, and hopefully floor-crossing in its current form as well.The same applies with the Executive Mayoral system – the ANC introduced the Executive Mayoral system when they were in power. They were happy with it. But when they lost they wanted the Executive Committee system back. MEC Dyantyi tried to bring that system back in an effort to unseat the Multi-Party Government. The ANC also attacked the DA because we had stated our preference for the Executive Committee System ahead of the elections. However, this would have cost us our position. Our number 1 mandate from the voters is to provide an alternative to the ANC, and this must take precedence over the issue of the Executive Mayoral system versus the Executive Committee system. Finally, I would like to point out that the ANC is not excluded from government. The opposition is a critical part of the government in a democracy – both as a watchdog and as an alternative source of critical input. The DA fulfils this role in parliament, and we are proud of what we do. The ANC needs to learn to do the same in Cape Town.<br><br>HZ

• By Helen on Subcouncils reconstitute - Part 1:

  2 years ago
  

  Dear Ubuntu<br><br>
  Thank you for being forthright about your point of view.When it comes to us taking away sub-councils from the ANC, you should note the following facts.<br><br>1) The agreement with Minister Mufamadi covered the previous council as constituted after the elections up until the floor-crossing. After the floor-crossing, the council is reconstituted, and a new set of rules apply for the establishment of sub-councils. The ANC changed the law to allow this. The Municipal Structures Act says that after an election, sub-councils have to be made up of the same ratio of proportional representative (PR) councillors as the ward councillors included in a sub-council. So if there are 5 wards in a sub-council, and 3 of the ward councillors are DA, 1 ID, and 1 ANC, then there has to be 3 DA, 1 ID and 1 ANC PR councillor as well. However, the ANC introduced a new rule in the Municipal Structures Act which says that after a floor-crossing, PR councillors can be distributed much more freely around sub-councils. This enabled the ANC in 2002 to take 16 sub-councils held by the DA and re-arrange them into 20 all held by the ANC.<br><br>2) The ANC therefore needs to learn that when it makes laws, it must make these laws not simply to benefit itself in the short-term, but make them in such a way that when it is not in power, it will also be protected. Perhaps the ANC will now consider scrapping this law, and hopefully floor-crossing in its current form as well.The same applies with the Executive Mayoral system – the ANC introduced the Executive Mayoral system when they were in power. They were happy with it. But when they lost they wanted the Executive Committee system back. MEC Dyantyi tried to bring that system back in an effort to unseat the Multi-Party Government. The ANC also attacked the DA because we had stated our preference for the Executive Committee System ahead of the elections. However, this would have cost us our position. Our number 1 mandate from the voters is to provide an alternative to the ANC, and this must take precedence over the issue of the Executive Mayoral system versus the Executive Committee system. Finally, I would like to point out that the ANC is not excluded from government. The opposition is a critical part of the government in a democracy – both as a watchdog and as an alternative source of critical input. The DA fulfils this role in parliament, and we are proud of what we do. The ANC needs to learn to do the same in Cape Town.<br><br>HZ

• By Helen on FIFA and Green Point stadium visit:

  2 years ago
  

  Dear Kirland - Thank you for asking the hard questions. Here is the reason: Newlands can hold 50 000, but we need to host 68 000. Also, for the FIFA Soccer World Cup to work, there needs to be at least 500 metres clear in all directions around the stadium to manage crowds and media. Newlands is closed in by houses on all sides, so would not meet this requirement. What really clinches the deal for the City, though, is that for a relatively small investment, we will get R2 bn from Province and National Government for the Stadium, and another R7 bn for transport and other infrastructure. If we did not build a new stadium to accommodate a semi-final match, then Cape Town would have lost out on a lot of this money, which would have gone to other cities instead. HZ

• By Helen on FIFA and Green Point stadium visit:

  2 years ago
  

  Dear Buck- Thank you for your vote of confidence, it is always encouraging to hear from people who have faith in our city and country. It's great to see that 2010 is even inspiring our artists, not just sports fanatics! I am glad that you have chosen to stick with South Africa, it looks like your painting skills can be put to good use here. I'm also glad that you have realised that you don't have to be in London or Paris to access the overseas market – just get your paintings out there through Zoopy or Facebook. Who knows, maybe you can make art lovers out of the sports fans too. HZ

• By Helen on Nice to meet you 2.0 (Helen Zille):

  2 years ago
  

  Dear Lycanthrope: I am glad that you have enjoyed these video clips. As you can see they are very unprepared and the camera person, who is my spokesperson, is better on the other side of the camera or microphone. Still, the reason that I set this site up is to experiment with this medium, which is as much a standard form of communication now as radio and TV. I agree that we need to get round Telkom's monopoly. The City of Cape Town is embarking on an exciting project to make this Africa's first wireless city, so if you live here you may be able to benefit from this in a few years' time. HZ

• By Helen on On being mayor and leader of the DA:

  2 years ago
  

  Everyone else here: Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I'll reply individually via Zoopy Email :) HZ

• By Helen on On being mayor and leader of the DA:

  2 years ago
  

  Dear Mzakker: Thanks for being the first one on my profile, and thank you for your wishes! HZ