Letters: Israel must be held accountable, and unethical reporting – do something about it!

Please correct unethical reporting

I am writing to formally raise a concern about reporter, Zainul Dawood’s deliberate dissemination of misinformation that not only violates journalistic ethics but also contravenes the principles enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, particularly the right to freedom of expression and access to truthful information.

It is deeply concerning that the article in the edition of the Daily News published on June 26, 2025, published on the front page titled: “Ratepayers face big losses due to delays” included claims that were factually incorrect and presented in a misleading manner. This report by Dawood appears to be intentionally skewed, lacking proper context, or balance, thus compromising the public’s right to accurate and fair information.

The article falsely reported that ongoing delays by a contractor to improve the infrastructure at the Hammarsdale Wastewater Treatment Works has cost eThekwini ratepayers R60 million.

The article is misleading and has distorted the facts from the Executive Committee (Exco) meeting, where the eThekwini Water and Sanitation Directorate tabled a report seeking approval to amend the contract of the consultant responsible for the Hammarsdale Wastewater Treatment Works project.

This is a major project that has two main contractors, one being a consultant, JG Afrika (Pty) Ltd, whose contract is being extended in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act since being appointed in February 2020. The other is a contractor, Stefanutti Stocks-WPCP JV, which was appointed in November 2023 for the implementation of the necessary upgrades, and whose contract is still in progress.

The function of the consultant is the execution and completion of multi-disciplinary engineering design work and construction supervision required for the functional upgrade of the Hammarsdale Wastewater Treatment Works. It must be noted that the required improvements to this facility are critical to industrial and commercial growth in the Hammersdale area.It is important to first point out that the delays reflected in the Exco report were not the result of the contractor’s conduct or the municipality’s fault.

The reasons are explicitly stated in the report, including the Covid-19 challenge in 2020-2021 as there was a national lockdown prohibiting construction work to take place, associated budgetary constraints, technical issues arising during construction, and general project delays due to the complex nature of the engineering work being undertaken.

Delays are normal in a project of this magnitude and complexity especially because of the explanation stated above and such unforeseen delays are often taken into consideration for budgeting purposes.

This project has always been budgeted at R260m for construction, taking into account contingencies and escalation.

Six months prior to tender, the cost of construction was estimated at R200m, which at the time did not include contingencies and escalation. However, your article creates an incorrect perception that the City is incurring “additional costs of R60 million” which will be paid for by ratepayers due to delays caused by the contractor, which is not true. The cost of this project currently remains within budget, despite extending the contract for the consultant.

The media was part of the project launch on January 26, 2024 and the project is well on track, and construction is in progress. The project includes a 30% CPG component amounting to R58m and local contractors have already benefited by over R15m. As per the Exco report, the reason for amending the contract of the consultant is to extend their term to attend to the project until its completion and commissioning, currently estimated to be in November 2026.

Additionally, it is unethical for your reporter to quote the mayor, Councillor Cyril Xaba, on this matter in his article as if the mayor’s comments were directly related to the Hammarsdale Wastewater Treatment Works project. Dawood attended the Exco meeting and knows that the Mayor’s remarks about contract management were made in general and prior to the deliberation of all agenda items.

The mayor’s comments and the agenda report on the Hammarsdale Wastewater Treatment Works are therefore completely unrelated.

Furthermore, Asad Gaffar from the eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement who was also quoted in this incorrect article was not at the Exco meeting where the Hammarsdale Wastewater Treatment Works report was discussed.

This therefore means that Dawood deliberately gave Mr Gaffar false information for him to respond and react in the manner that he did in order to give his unethical and incorrect article credibility.

According to Section 16 of the Constitution, all South Africans have the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom of the press and other media. This right comes with the expectation that journalistic conduct must be responsible, ethical, and accountable. Spreading misinformation undermines public trust, inflames divisions, and endangers the democratic values our media is supposed to protect.

I respectfully request that Dawood’s unethical conduct be investigated and that appropriate action be taken to uphold professional journalistic standards.

We request your publication to issue a public retraction and an apology to correct the misleading article. | Mandla Nsele Director, Communications and Marketing Directorate eThekwini Municipality

When Convenience Trumps Conviction

The DA has once again shown South Africans that political survival – not principle – is at the core of its decisions. The recent sacking of its Deputy Minister by President Ramaphosa has exposed the glaring contradictions and moral gymnastics the DA is willing to perform to remain in power.

Let’s be clear: cabinet ministers and deputy ministers are appointed by the president. This is not up for debate; it is a constitutional fact. They serve at the president’s pleasure and are ultimately accountable to him. Yet, under this loose, hastily stitched-together arrangement called the so-called Government of National Unity (GNU), we have seen members from different political parties, including the DA, acting as if they are accountable to their party first, and to the president second.

The case of the Basic Education Minister refusing to sign the Bela Bill – an ANC-driven policy – is a prime example.

That DA minister was quickly brought to order, reminding us all that no matter the party colour on your tie, the president holds the final say in Cabinet.

The DA, however, appears deeply uncomfortable with this arrangement. And rightfully so. They are there out of convenience, not conviction. The decision to join the GNU was done overnight, in back rooms, without consulting its own members or the broader electorate. John Steenhuisen and his inner circle pushed it through, offering a pathetic explanation – that it was done to “save the country from chaos.” Really?

This is not a coalition built on shared values. It is a coalition built on political desperation and opportunism. How can the DA sit in a Cabinet that implements ANC policies – policies fundamentally opposed to the DA’s own manifesto – and still pretend to be a credible opposition force?

The DA’s hypocrisy was further exposed during the budget debate, where John Steenhuisen unceremoniously replaced the scheduled speaker to grandstand about the firing of his deputy minister. Instead of using the debate to address the real economic crisis facing South Africans – rising unemployment, collapsing municipalities, rampant corruption – Steen­huisen chose to whine about a decision his party knew was constitutionally correct.

He told us things we already knew: That the ANC’s Cabinet is full of ministers implicated in various scandals. But this is nothing new. The DA knew this when they enthusiastically joined the GNU. They knew they would have to share a table with the same ministers they once labeled as enemies of progress. Yet they signed up anyway.

And now, as if to cement their hypocrisy, they suddenly oppose the R700 million “national dialogue” – a dialogue they quietly supported when their seat at the Cabinet table was still warm. Only after losing a member did they find their spine. Suddenly, the DA remembers that R700m could be used to build classrooms, fix hospitals, or fund job creation programs. Convenient timing, don’t you think?

The DA’s moral inconsistency does not stop here. They have criticized cadre deployment for years – yet they gleefully accepted Cabinet positions handed out by the very party they accused of state capture.

They lament state corruption – yet now they share in the spoils of power, feigning innocence when the same corruption machine spits out one of their own.

What we are witnessing is the death of principle in South African politics. The DA has shown that it will sacrifice its stated values at the altar of political expediency. It cannot claim to be an alternative to the ANC while propping up the very system it has spent years condemning.

The people of South Africa deserve honest leaders who do not shift their moral compass depending on what’s politically convenient. They deserve parties that stand on principle, not on opportunistic deals struck in smoke-filled back rooms.

The DA must decide: Is it an opposition party, holding the ruling party to account and presenting a real alternative? Or is it simply another cog in the ANC’s machinery, desperate to cling to whatever scraps of power it can get?

Until they answer this question truthfully, South Africans will continue to see the DA for what it truly is – a party of convenience, not conviction. | Visvin Reddy MP MK Party

Israel must be held accountable

US President Donald Trump claimed that the airstrikes on Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow, the crucial Iranian nuclear facilities have been destroyed, and were a “spectacular success”.

I believe, only time will tell if Trump’s statement that Tehran’s nuclear programme has actually been obliterated is correct.

Iran has consistently stated that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, such as energy production, medi­cal research and is purely of a civilian nature. In spite of this proclamation by Iran, a paranoid apartheid Israel, without evidence, consistently insisted that Iran plans to build nuclear bombs.

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu achieving his objective of getting the US to buy into his long-standing exaggerated claim and strike Iran’s nuclear facilities and emerge as the main recipient of this unlawful strike on Iran, now what? Will Israel stop the imposed starvation on the Palestinians, the ongoing weaponisation of aid and the genocide in Gaza, and agree to a permanent ceasefire?

The way forward and to bring about sanity, not only in the Middle East, but around the world is to support the different international campaigns to abolish nuclear weapons. It is more important than ever that we campaign to get rid of all nuclear weapons globally. Together with campaigning for a nuclear-free world, apartheid Israel, the occupying regime, that has illegally occupied Palestinian land must be accountable for breaches of international law. | MOHAMED SAEED Pietermaritzburg

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