 Beemers tools to deliver on mandate - Nyanda AS Cosatu and its communist ally kiss and make up over the car wars, Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda maintains that his two BMWs are "tools" to help him "deliver on his mandate". Nyanda said Cosatu's demand that he, SACP leader Blade Nzimande and other ministers return their expensive cars was "absurd". The minister, who recently bought two identical BMW 750i models at a combined cost of R2.4 million, yesterday called Cosatu's "opportunistic" criticism of excessive spending on cars "a tirade in a bid to cast aspersions over the minister of communications' conscience". He said Cosatu had turned a blind eye to the fact that he had done everything by the ministerial handbook - which he denied was a relic from the apartheid era, as Cosatu has alleged. "For the record, the current ministerial handbook was reviewed and approved by the cabinet on February 7, 2007 - 13 years into freedom and democracy," he said. Nyanda also said the suggestion that ministers should return the vehicles was "absurd" because these were "the tools with which (I am) supposed to deliver on (my) mandate and meet the expectations of the public". In a veiled reference to the DA, which first started the campaign against excessive government spending, Nyanda said: "It is unfortunate that Cosatu finds itself joining the bandwagon of those who are hell-bent on distracting this new administration from delivering on its commitments to the electorate. "Cosatu fails to understand that these vehicles are not personal possessions of the minister, but have been secured only to aid him in meeting his obligations to the Republic." Meanwhile, Cosatu and the SACP issued a joint statement denying "reports of a supposed rift between our two organisations". Cosatu did not mention SACP general secretary and Higher Education Minister Nzimande by name, but its statement was issued soon after details about Nzimande's R1.1m splurge on a BMW 750i, similar to Nyanda's, came to light. Cosatu said in its original statement that the buying of expensive cars at taxpayers' expense "gives an impression that they do not care about the message this opulence gives to the poor". Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven last night said the trade union federation stood by its original statement. In yesterday's joint press statement, Cosatu and the SACP said Nzimande had admitted he should have "taken a more hands-on approach to ensure a more cost-effective procurement". However, they reiterated that "VIP protection security requirements" also had to be kept in mind. The two allies also said "the strength of our relationship allows for open engagement and the holding of different views from time to time". From: http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5157369 (Subscription) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- |
