Africa-Press – Eswatini. I don’t suppose that anyone within the royal circles sniffed around looking for Dave van Niekerk’s number, do you?
If he did, then we have a perfect example of why this country is struggling on the fight against corruption front.
Because, if anyone did, then they would have surely been soliciting some kind of favour or bribe, no doubt.
In any case, even to go out of your way to venture to be Dave’s lincusa to facilitate such a meeting is in itself a form of corruption.
So in this respect, I rule out anyone making this their mission to make sure that Dave ends up shaking His Majesty the King’s hand while someone happily photographs the moment. It is unthinkable from where I sit, and I may as well add that given how Dave’s issues are so complex – and he is such a controversial figure who has hogged the headlines, then it is next to incredible someone would sit down and say, ‘what if I took you to the king!’
Don’t get me wrong, these things happen in this beautiful country of ours. There are people who have made their name and fortune from it, it can be argued.
However, it is often from among us, locals. It is because we as a society are so interwoven you are bound to get one or two people coming to you and offering to help. Never mind, of course that our culture allows for it, and Percy Simelane was right when he gave a response on this controversial meeting, for the King is for all of us – including yena lo-Dave.
That for me, perhaps is the difference. Dave is in South Africa. He has been pulling the strings from that side while he works to defend himself in the courts.
He has been posturing that he is the good guy and pointing the accusing finger towards others. He has, as those at Status Capital Building Society say, been a disruptive influence despite his interest in the business.
In short, Dave is a serious pain in the neck. Full stop.
country
Which is to say then, Dave Van Niekerk has been in and around the country for a very long time, he knows the machinations of our business and politics. He knows how gullible we are. He knows how to work the strings to his advantage.
He knows people, generally, who know people.
That is where I thought, in as much as MP Welcome Dlamini makes a very valid point about gunning for the individual who took Dave to the King, we ought to keep it in mind too, that this is not an ordinary Dave.
Let me go back a bit. Dave Van Niekerk is alleged to be drawn into the Ecsponent saga where many Emaswati lost their savings.
There is a court case in which he is being challenged on several allegations regarding the Ecsponent collapse, and in which he has been issued with a red notice – which is, he has a case to answer (I am putting it mildly). In that case, therefore, Dave ought to sit down and work on his case – or wait for his day in court.
As part of his defence, I am certain, he ought to demonstrate that he is innocent of the allegations levelled against him – which therefore, speaks to him being, firstly, a law abiding citizen who respects the laws of this country.
He is after all, desperate to cut his teeth in business locally and the last thing he wants is to get the impression that our rule of law is ineffective, for the simple reason that he may seek the same courts’ intervention one day.
It would make sense that Dave respects this because he is interested in this economy and therefore, how he behaves towards the country as a whole is instructive.
Yet, Dave Van Niekerk has been busy. If he has not been flooding us with statements of his innocence, he has been harassing the executive of Status Building Society – to the extent that Wandile Mtshali found it too much to bear and walked away from his position as chairman.
I hear that the Executive Director Nomfundo Fakudze has found Dave’s intrusion into the affairs of the Scoiety a little too much too, so she may have already packed her bags.
investors
That on its own has a serious impact for Status and the local investors, whose investment is now at risk. It is a story for another day how anyone who has an investment in a business will act in such a manner as to jeopardise the very business.
But Dave isn’t to be bothered there. In fact, Status Capital required a court order to stop him from what they termed harassment. This brings me to the point then, that Dave knows how he got to access the King. It must have been one of his elaborate plans to do so.
He knew what he was doing when he sought the engagement and it is on him that he walked to the shores of the royal residence in his fine suit and reeking in strong cologne – armed with his charm offensive about how he cares about this country, which is utter hogwash if you ask me.
Dave Van Niekerk only cares about himself. He only cares about what he can get out of this country. He only cares about how he can run roughshod over anyone in his way, so he can get his way.
If he did care an ounce, then he would not have even initiated a meeting in this country, knowing full well there is still a red notice on him.
The fact that he landed at the airport, drove around and watched as the police ran over themselves not knowing what to do, says a lot about his respect for this country and its laws – perhaps even for the king.
warrant
For, how does a businessman who knows that he is subject of a warrant of arrest on arrival here, still have the audacity to ignore the threat of an arrest?
How does a person who claims they have the best interests for this country ignore the very basic tenets of respect for others, in that his meeting clearly drags the name of the authorities through the mud?
How dare he challenges us like this? How dare he shows us the middle finger, and still smile at us and tell us he wants to be part of us? Dave has just raped our mother justice, and done so with a smile, and is happy to tell the world about it.
I do not think that is a man who has the best interests for this country at all. This is a selfish individual looking to grab what’s there for him and then run off.
So, for me, the point is not to go after Dave Van Niekerk’s lincusa. The point is to be alive to the fragrant disregard Dave has for our King and country, coming to meet him when he is so tainted it beggars belief how he could have even thought this through.
In doing so, he can only be exposing who he really is, for all of us to see. It is a PR stunt that can only backfire.
In doing so, he exposes his arrogance and disrespect for this country.
What we should be saying among ourselves is this man must never be allowed to invest in this country – he is not worth it.
Slay the dragon, minister
All eyes were on the finance minister this past week, as he headed down to parliament to deliver on the Budget Speech.
This was the first budget of the 12th parliament, but more importantly, coming in the wake of the Sibaya submissions on a people-centred budget, this was one of the most important assignments for the minister.
He did not disappoint, to be honest. He played the balancing act very well, and has stuck to the script. The minister strikes as one of those people who can be very frugal, but since taking this responsibility of managing the country’s finances, he has not been afraid to spend where needed.
appropriate
So, this year, he has put together a budget of almost E30 billion, and in it, he has worked the trick to appropriate the finances where needed.
For this reason, the minister and his team have to be applauded for the tone and direction of this budget, because it was always going to be a delicate exercise coming up with one that fits all our needs, although of course it is another matter altogether how this is financed and of course, if it can be implemented.
But, the major task for the minister is in slaying the corruption dragon, as he put it in his Budget Speech; “as a country, we still have some real dragons to slay,” he stated on Monday.
And the minister is right, we have too many dragons to deal with, and these have stalled this country’s growth trajectory. Instead of slaying these dragons, we have tended to go to bed with them, and rubbed and brushed their stomachs in the hope that they can go to sleep and all will be well.
It is now clear that our patience has really worn thin, and we want action. The minister, therefore, needs to be a man of action, so too, the government, in slaying some real dragons. That is all we want.
Because if the real dragons, not the imaginary ones, are not slayed, then all of the efforts to create jobs and grow the economy become futile and costly exercises – because they will only be feeding the dragons.
This will feed into the cycle of growing poverty, in that the people will still remain hungry and desperate for food and jobs, while the dragons – wherever they are – feed on the money intended for them.
In fact, it is my view that the minister is right about the need to slay some dragons in order to improve the welfare of the people.
He is also right that we need to create a sustainable environment to fight poverty and not prolong it. He is also spot-on to want to grow the economy, by providing jobs and investing in capital projects. We have to invest in the right foundations to grow and for me, to give handouts takes us back to the analogy of feeding the dragons, as we all know that they are out there waiting for the tenders.
If this budget is to work, then it needs all our support. It also needs for us to be very deliberate about slaying these dragons, and that means the minister has got to go for it first. Slay it, minister – slay it!
Source: observer
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