Boardroom Talk – Cronje lashes the ANC’s latest blunder, this time defending Hamas

By Alec Hogg.I've enjoyed the privilege of engaging with Dr. Frans Cronje for several years, during which time he has consistently been a rational beacon in South Africa's emotional political landscape. Cronje had a knack of offering sobering insights. Even though they angered those in powerful circles, both in Pretoria and corporate boardrooms..During an interview recorded at his IRR office in February 2018, the then CEO of SA's leading thinktank surprised me—and our audience—by expressing optimism about the country's future. The arch-bear on SA reasoned that we'd hit rock bottom and that the end of the Zuma era signalled better days ahead..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.Cronje never promised a quick rebound. But in our interview yesterday, the now head of the Social Research Foundation shared compelling data from a recent poll, reinforcing his assessment from five years ago. Back in 2018, there was no chance the ruinous ANC would lose its majority in KwaZulu-Natal or its control of the National Parliament. Now, the former is certain, and the latter a strong possibility..But it's the second part of yesterday's interview that demands your urgent attention. Cronje, who has spent considerable time in Israel and has walked inside the West Bank and along the Gaza fence, regards the attacks by Hamas as barbaric. He believes the world is now divided into those who condone evil and those who do not..Cronje is appalled by the ANC's public endorsement of Hamas, whose members celebrated heinous acts such as beheading dozens of infants. The ruling party's stance reflects poorly on what is purportedly a Christian nation. It's a far cry from the high moral ground SA once occupied. Mandela must be turning in his grave..Roll on 2024..Sterkte.Alec.Concerns expressed in Tuesday's newsletter about unintended consequences of the GEPF's support of ANC social engineering are shared by the pensioners themselves. Here's a letter to the editor of BizNews received yesterday from Zirk Gous from the Association for the Monitoring and Advocacy of Government Pensions (AMAGP):.The Government Employees Pension Fund revealed on 10 Oct 2023 a transformation policy 'marking a watershed move for economic transformation in South Africa'..Economic transformation is a lofty ideal – but it is a political ideal: not pension related.This policy is a brazen violation of the founding Government Employees Pension Law (GEPL): The object of the Fund shall be to provide the pensions and certain other related benefits as determined in this Law to members and pensioners and their beneficiaries..No matter how the policy is worded, it can never be supporting above object. It is a basic constitutional principle that any state official, no matter how well intended, can only do what the law allows him to do. It is called the principle of legality described by the Constitutional Court as 'the bedrock of our constitutional dispensation'. And the GEPL does not allow the chairperson of the GEPF Board of Trustees or the Board itself or GEPF senior management to pursue political goals with pension money..This renders the GEPF transformation Policy unlawful..It must be stated clearly: each and every member of the GEPF Board of Trustees and senior members of management of the GEPF will be held personally liable for any loss to the GEPF based on this policy..The approval of the policy in violation of the GEPL also raises the question of whether the members of the GEPF Board of Trustees indeed passes the 'fit and proper'-test prescribed in legislation for all trustees of pension funds..Read also:.South Africa's quiet revolution: The emergence of substitute governments and constitutional no-man's landsPREMIUM: Musk's vision for free speech on X tested by Israel-Hamas war misinformationPLEASE, DON'T HURT MY KID… Israeli mother's plea to Hamas terrorists who abducted her 12-year-old special needs daughter

Boardroom Talk – Cronje lashes the ANC’s latest blunder, this time defending Hamas

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