The R4m luxury home Cele made you pay for

<p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">Official residence not good enough for top cop<br /><br />The government spent R4.2-million buying and furnishing a plush home for police commissioner General Bheki Cele in an exclusive Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof after he turned his nose up at the official residence he was offered.</span></strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UP0zeimjPrB7DvGZuucDd6RcyAVpgWqGx7EwqNaZAYIG3oi7V-QsDwynMjagEgAMgEzEWbMPzLGOXzS42fEfGHSH8cCGQGZjiY9Sk9R9GVUVEi4-z3omgwQM3u5XLozltJj2Lx8aZfYS/s1600/bheki+cele+house.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516121213338373746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UP0zeimjPrB7DvGZuucDd6RcyAVpgWqGx7EwqNaZAYIG3oi7V-QsDwynMjagEgAMgEzEWbMPzLGOXzS42fEfGHSH8cCGQGZjiY9Sk9R9GVUVEi4-z3omgwQM3u5XLozltJj2Lx8aZfYS/s400/bheki+cele+house.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" /></a>The house cost R3-million with transfer costs, and the SAPS forked out a staggering R1.2-million for luxury furnishings, including a R500000 home gym that is under construction.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000099;">Cele's new house in Waterkloof Ridge, Pretoria</span></em><br /><br />The SAPS appears to have kept the costs of decorating Cele's house just below the R500000 level that would require a tender by splitting the invoices between goods and services. Lavish furnishings came to R499800, and the interior decorator was paid another R249900 for her services.<br /><br />Documents show that while Cele was approving scaling back on services to poor communities in KwaZulu-Natal, his Waterkloof house was being fitted with every imaginable luxury. An approved Mirisa Interior quote includes:<br /><br /></p></span><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">R8000 for upholstered queen chairs at the ends of an eight-seater wooden table;<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">R12500 for a braai-area day bed;<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">R5000 for a vase with artificial flowers;<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">R11000 for a Mombasa King headboard and base set in the master bedroom;<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">R27500 for three flat-screen TV sets, for the lounge and two bedrooms.</span><br /></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">This extravagance is at odds with the image Cele presented in parliament last week. He told MPs he was determined to root out consultants who are "there to milk - that money is huge", and vowed to ensure his department's scarce resources were spent on fighting crime, especially in poorly serviced rural areas.<br /><br />The home was bought - and paid for out of the SAPS budget - after Cele rejected a spacious house previously occupied by Asset Forfeiture Unit and Special Investigating Unit head, Willie Hofmeyr, in a secure police compound that would have cost taxpayers nothing.<br /><br />This makes Cele South Africa's first police chief since the end of apartheid - and possibly the only civil servant at director-general level - for whom a new house has been bought.<br /><br />Cele's predecessors, Jackie Selebi and George Fivaz, lived in privately owned homes.<br /><br />Government policy does allow officials in the security forces to be provided with housing.<br /><br />But a senior official in the Department of Public Service and Administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this typically meant existing official accommodation, such as on a military base or police compound. "If a DG comes to live here (in Pretoria) from another province he must buy a property on his own," the official said.<br /><br />"To the best of my knowledge there are no other DGs who have had houses bought for them."<br /><br />This week, Cele said his procurement staff had to take the blame if there were any irregularities in buying and equipping his house. He stressed he did not own the house, and paid "rental" in the form of housing benefit deductions totalling R8968 a month.<br /><br />But this rental payment would account for roughly only R800000 of the purchase price.<br /><br />Cele argued that a plush interior was needed to entertain important guests. "If the head of Interpol visits me I don't want him to find me living in a shack or a house with one pot," he said.<br /><br />Cele's legal adviser, Lieutenant-General Julius Molefe, said the free house previously occupied by Hofmeyr, which is inside a guarded police compound occupied by its elite unit, the Hawks, was not deemed suitable because of "serious security concerns".<br /><br />It was also unfair to compare Cele with other top government officials. "He's not the DG of water affairs," said Molefe.<br /><br />Cele also came under fire this week for approving a 10-year lease for more than R500-million at inflated rentals without going out tender to house the new police headquarters in a building owned by a friend of President Jacob Zuma's, Roux Shabangu. The deal forms part of an SIU investigation also covering two leases signed before Cele was appointed.<br /><br />Today the Sunday Times can reveal the details of how Cele allegedly tried to strong-arm his generals into approving the Shabangu deals worth R1-billion. <span style="font-size:85%;"><em><span style="color:#000099;">(see full story here)</span></em> </span><a class="l" href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article653424.ece/We-were-forced-out-because-we-questioned-deals---generals" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','','1','6t6MmMPxr_VHB8p8CdpWcQ','0CAgQFjAA')" resultindex="1"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">We were forced out because we questioned deals - generals - Times LIVE</span></em></a></span><br /><br /></p><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;"></span><p></p>

The R4m luxury home Cele made you pay for

Official residence not good enough for top cop The government spent R4.2-million buying and furnishing a plush home for police commissioner ...

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Good stats, bad stats

<p><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">by George Annandale</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /></em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">Seems we are really making progress in this great year that saw the great African event of the century, the Soccer World Cup, taking place right here in our country.</span></strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrGMTrMY-dmIm4isjuOyaMRCDi4JAb8K8VKniEHzkismE-AUihxbWtAjLbSz2d3NbrwUDozDrMwv9NsYrAw58YvT_Bn39Timo9RkBamecSbxUke4FddTGTlN_4NDiUMMxAt46hsU2Yn-X/s1600/crime-statistics.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515363438867978066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrGMTrMY-dmIm4isjuOyaMRCDi4JAb8K8VKniEHzkismE-AUihxbWtAjLbSz2d3NbrwUDozDrMwv9NsYrAw58YvT_Bn39Timo9RkBamecSbxUke4FddTGTlN_4NDiUMMxAt46hsU2Yn-X/s400/crime-statistics.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 385px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 296px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Hot on the heels of the World Cup, we are told that our murder rate is down. We now, collectively, murder only 46.3 people per day compared to 50.7 in the previous year.<br /><br />That is not all. According to the Minister, all but one of the top ten violent criminals are in prison, the only exception being one Msilikathsi WaAfrica, a violent man who, according to the Minister, fought off an army of policemen and was only subdued once the Hawks, Budgies and Parrots stepped in to lend a hand in subduing him, after which he was brought to court where, unfortunately the case collapsed, probably as a result of corruption in the National Prosecuting Authority and he was released.<br /><br />Happily it is not only the murder rate that is dropping; it seems life expectancy is also dropping rather sharply, from 65 years in 1995 to 47 years currently. It is no wonder then that health workers had to take a few days off, to celebrate this milestone and to demand a bit of monetary recognition for their efforts in controlling a rampant population growth rate.<br /><br />Talking about flagging fortunes, our Universities are putting in some stellar performances in the race to achieve African standards with the highest ranked SA university, The University of Cape Town, dropping in world rankings from number 146 to position 164. No wonder a local professor inferred that, given the current deterioration rate, we should soon have our universities competing with the top high schools of the world.<br /><br />Whilst the universities are making solid progress our basic education system has arrived. We are now officially ranked as the worst in Africa. No mean achievement I have you know.<br /><br />We should however not rest on our laurels. If we can stop the striking teachers from sending their children to functioning former Model-C schools, we can still aim lower. Let us however not deny these teachers their just deserved praise; without their dedication to cultural pursuits such as strikes and boycotts and the commitment of several education ministers and the ANC to transform to African standards, we would never have reached this great point in our history.<br /><br />However, like all great champions, this title should not be allowed to go to our heads. If we can get rid of the remaining Model-C dinosaurs and the private schools with their haughty teachers and all we can plunge depths never seen before.<br /><br />As in all things, everything revolves around money. Money obtained from selling and trading things; things that have to be manufactured and produced competitively. Well; we shall not be disappointed.<br /><br />Our efforts over the last 15 years are also being rewarded with the exhilarating, but not unexpected, news that South Africa has dropped nine places, from position 45 to 54, in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Ratings. For a few years now we have just seemed to have gotten ourselves stuck around 45; unable to achieve that critical break through.<br /><br />Now finally – thanks to our remarkable education system, the relaxed disposition of our workers and a shift away from old western styled business leadership, we have finally dropped through that barrier that, to some, must have what seemed like a solid wall of burning tyres.</span> <p><br /></p>

Good stats, bad stats

by George Annandale Seems we are really making progress in this great year that saw the great African event of the century, the Soccer World...

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The country’s most famous polygamist, father for the 22nd time - pregnant fiancée, wife N0.6, bride-in-waiting! Taxpayers (“suckers”) to foot the bill

<p><div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">South Africa's polygamous president, Jacob Zuma, is to become a father for the 22nd time following news that his fiancée is pregnant.</span></strong><br /><br /></div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513123496377770866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2hrjHmZ701o_lGjzHycyIF4xj80GerIlx6DvQJLWmNHk2RRt9kWqoI4YXPi0BvasSClxJJMJ3r1ryBoGWVSGrlHN6HuxKipiMfc7Ka3W9xPabydReS4s2LN1BHfPCnDztruRDFoL_6ETj/s400/nompumelelo-ntuli-jacob-zuma.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 354px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /> <p align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000099;">Jacob Zuma, Gloria Bongi Ngema.</span></em></p><p align="justify">Bongiwe Gloria Ngema, who recently accompanied Jacob Zuma on a state visit to China, is expecting a child early next year, according to media reports citing her close friends. The pair already have one child and are due to marry in December, which will bring to four the number of South Africa's First Ladies.<br /><br />Reports of the pregnancy comes only a fortnight after the arrival of Mr Zuma's 21st child, which was born to the second of his current wives.<br /><br />The boy, named Manqoba Kholwani which means "believe it", arrived amid claims that he could be the result of an affair between his mother and her bodyguard. The president has dismissed the claims as malicious rumours.<br /><br />Now aged 68, Zuma has faced repeated calls to live a quieter life and devote more of his energies to leading his country out of the griding poverty which confronts the majority of the population.<br /><br />Zuma's advisers insist that, as a proud Zulu, his culture permits him to have as many children as he wants with as many partners as he likes. However, the president was forced to make a humiliating apology earlier this year following the birth, out of wedlock, of his 20th child to the daughter of a family friend.<br /><br />While polygamy is accepted in South Africa, the spiralling cost to the taxpayer of Zuma's cultural observance has led to bitter clashes between the president's ruling African National Congress and the leading opposition party. News of yet another child and another marriage is bound to reignite the debate.<br /><br />Taxpayers are already spending more than R15.5m a year to support Zuma's current wives and some of his children. Generous friends are also known to help "sponsor" additional costs which do not have to be declared in public.<br /><br />The "presidential spousal budget", which had doubled in the space of a year, was condemned as "exorbitant" by the opposition leader, Helen Zille. This prompted a sharp riposte from the ANC which accused Zille of "cultural intolerance".<br /><br />The spousal office, which organises access to the president for his wives and fiancée, also pays for the women's personal support staff, such as secretaries and researchers, as well as domestic and international air travel and accommodation.<br /><br />Mobile phones for the consorts and their secretaries, laptops and printers and a special daily allowance for "incidental" expenses are also covered.<br /><br />"It is impossible for anyone, even on a president's salary, to look after a family of the size of Zuma's without relying extensively on private benefactors and the taxpayers' money," Zille said.</p><p align="justify"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#000099;">Source</span>: </span></em><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">www.telegraph.co.uk</span></em></a></p><p align="justify"></span></p>

The country’s most famous polygamist, father for the 22nd time - pregnant fiancée, wife N0.6, bride-in-waiting! Taxpayers (“suckers”) to foot the bill

South Africa's polygamous president, Jacob Zuma, is to become a father for the 22nd time following news that his fiancée is pregnant. J...

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