Gauteng Budget: What MEC Creecy didn’t say on e-tolls

Gauteng Finance MEC, Barbara Creecy, stated in her budget speech that the Premier’s E-toll advisory panel had recommended a hybrid model of paying for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Plan (GFIP).

While this is true, what she neglected to mention was that the advisory panel report-back indicated discontent with the system across the board.

Public input on the whole idea of e-tolls as they are, or any hybrid scheme in which e-tolls  are included was overwhelmingly rejected by  civic organisations, public representatives and even the Gauteng ANC.

It is disingenuous of the MEC to deliberately mislead the public into believing that the hybrid method enjoyed any popularity, or that it is better in some way than the present model.

It was emphatically rejected.

The only sane way to pay for the GFIP is via a national, ring-fenced fuel levy which does away with the exorbitantly inflated collection costs that characterise e-tolls.

The persistence of the national ANC in pushing e-tolls, when the needed funds could be raised without burdening already taxed-to-the-hilt motorists with massive collection fees, only increases the perception that certain well connected individuals stand to rake in fortunes off the backs of the poor and working class.

Media enquiries:

Dr Neil Campbell MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Roads and Transport

082 387 2540

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Unacceptable 7 year wait for hip replacement at Bara hospital

I am shocked at the reported case of a man who was informed that he would have to wait 7 years for a hip operation at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

Mr Aubrey Moerane (53) was informed in a letter from Dr Frey, Head of Arthroplasty, that there is a joint replacement waiting list of 1200 people, and that he could only be treated in November 2021.

This is utterly unacceptable. The usual waiting period at other hospitals is up to three years, which is also bad, but not as ridiculous as asking a patient to endure pain for 7 years.

I am also disturbed that Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu did not disclose this long waiting time for hip operations in a written reply last year to my questions on surgery at the hospital. According to the reply, there were only 220 Orthopaedic patients who waited 10 months for surgery. Why was the true situation withheld from me?

According to Mahlangu, 3176 patients at Bara Hospital wait for operations, of which 2548 are for cataracts.

More than 300 operations were deferred last year at Bara mostly due to a lack of Intensive Care Unit  beds, and limited theatre and surgeon time.

Special measures are needed to cut down the huge backlog. Operating hours should be extended, including weekends, and the private health sector should be contracted in as well.

Better maintenance of equipment would also help prevent frequent cancellation of surgery due to equipment breakdowns.

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222

Gung-ho Orlando Cops Shooting Unacceptable

The Orlando SAPS members who ” mistakenly” shot Mduduzi Nkosi 3 times on Monday evening must be disciplined.

Two officers, dressed in plain clothes in an unmarked vehicle approached Mduduzi’s vehicle; who upon thinking he was being hijacked drove off. Following the arrival of a JMPD vehicle, Nkosi then climbed out of his car and told them his driver’s license was in his car, was then shot him 3 times by the police who were dressed plain clothes who failed to establish his identity or identifying themselves.

Shooting an unarmed, unidentified man, without identifying oneself as a police officer is unacceptable.  The SAPS alleged that a murder suspect with them had identified Nkosi’s car as a place where weapons were hidden.  One would assume this information should be verified in some way before shooting someone.  There should be procedures in place when handling a matter such as this.

This gung-ho attitude on the part of police cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.  IPID must be called in to investigate the matter and this should have been explained to Nkosi’s family by the Orlando Station Commander on trying to lay charges against the officers involved.

It is highly suspicious that cartridge casings were allegedly removed from the street and no crime scene analysis was conducted.  Are the SAPS protecting their own in this matter?

Sloppy police work and an abuse of power are evident in the way this matter was handled.  These officers must be held to the highest account for not following procedure.  It is only through luck that Mduduzi Nkosi survived.

 

Media enquiries:

Kate Lorimer MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Community Safety

083 642 2727

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Ekurhuleni’s R90 million music festival alienates residents

The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) would do well to take heed of the disastrous Dinokeng Tribe One music festival that failed to take place in Tshwane last year, before it commits to spending R90 million on the World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD).

The Tribe One festival, which was cancelled at the last minute, at a cost of Tshwane R70 million, was footed by residents of Tshwane.

This money would have been better used to uplift the lives of those in poor communities.

Similarly, the proposed R90 million spend on hosting WOMAD in Ekurhuleni would be more beneficial if it were to be directed at increasing service delivery.

Last year, Gauteng experienced catastrophic water shortages – with Ekurhuleni being one of the hardest hit areas.

R90 million would be better spent on repairing dilapidated infrastructure to ensure that residents of Ekurhuleni are not treated as second class citizens.

Wisely spent, this money would have a knock on effect – creating jobs in a Metro that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

It will be the act of an irresponsible administration that chooses to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a music festival while those in desperate need of services and jobs remain neglected.

 

Media Enquiries:

Fred Nel MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC of Co-operative Governance

083 263 2427

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E-tolls: Gauteng premier abandons the people

Colleagues, today we are here outside the office of Gauteng Premier David Makhura, calling on him to remember his promise to the people of this province, and to call for a provincial referendum on e-tolls.

 

On 30 September 2014, when asked about the review panel’s work whether the premier would scrap e-tolls, the premier told the Gauteng Legislature “If needs be, I am prepared to stick with the people of Gauteng”

 

Unfortunately the premier did not stick to his promise.

 

In the run-up to his State of the Province Address (SOPA), the premier’s office invited Gauteng’s people to send their ideas and suggestions to an email address especially created for that purpose.

 

The DA encouraged the public to use this opportunity to ask the premier for a referendum, and to copy their email to us. The response was overwhelming, and within a week, we received thousands of requests for a referendum.

 

Yet, despite this, and so many other calls to scrap e-tolls, the premier and the ANC insist that e-tolls stay, but promise to bring people relief with a complicated hybrid funding model.

 

The fact is, this hybrid model is a thin disguise to force motorists to pay in one way or another:

  • The model looks to collect funds from a number of sources, such as the fuel levy, vehicle licensing fees, and e-tolls. It will increase administration costs and opens the door for corruption;
  • Extra taxes and levies on tyres and vehicle licences will push up the cost of transport, goods and services – harming the poor;
  • Increased costs will slow down economic growth, harming job creation;
  • A reduced monthly cap on e-tolls, will not necessarily improve compliance, increasing the administrative burden; and
  • Motorists will be criminally charged and prosecuted for non-payment

 

And now, after all these promises, we still have to pay e-tolls while the premier and the intergovernmental team are yet to complete their work on how to ramp up enforcement and increase their options on how to make us pay.

 

It is obvious that that the premier is stalling and that he has abandoned the people of Gauteng. He made this quite clear in his response to the SOPA debate, when he said: “The ANC does not govern by referendum”.

 

And with those words the premier trampled on our democratic principles, because there is no purer form of democracy than a referendum, as it accurately gauges public sentiment on a specific issue.

 

Premier Makhura and the ANC cannot continue to ignore the pleas of Gauteng’s people. There must be a referendum on the future of e-tolls.

 

I thank you

 

Media enquiries

John Moodey MPL

DA Gauteng Provincial Leader

082 960 3743

 

 

Phansi nge E-tolls.

Friends and Fellow Democrats,

We are here today to voice our objection to the tolling of the existing Gauteng highways via the exorbitantly expensive e-toll method.

We agree that the highways have been improved so why are we not happy to pay these tolls?

Firstly, there remains uncertainty about exactly how much money will be generated by these tolls. It is also uncertain as to how much of that money will go overseas and who exactly will benefit from the profits. Is it only the Austrian company Kapsch or are ANC big-wigs also in line to augment their bank accounts?

Secondly, we are opposed to any government plan which requires the motorists of Gauteng to pay billions of Rands in collection costs when the alternative fuel levy route will cost nothing. We support the raising of funds via a national fuel levy which is ring-fenced solely for transport needs. Those in other provinces who state that they should not pay for Gauteng road upgrades must understand that Gauteng is the guinea pig regarding e-tolls and that should it succeed here e-tolls will soon ring all cities. At present their highways are paid for by the fiscus and we find it unfair that only Gauteng roads are not funded by national government.

Thirdly, we note with regret that the victims of apartheid spatial planning will pay relatively more in fuel levies because they cover greater distances. However this is also true for the proposed e-toll collection method as those in outlying areas will pass under more gantries. In fact, until the inequalities of apartheid are eradicated, those in former townships will pay more whichever method is used unless the e-tolls are paid for by national government or scrapped.

Fourthly, the alternative method proposed by the e-toll advisory panel, which was vehemently rejected by those who attended the consultative forum at Gallagher’s recently is based on:

  • A retained but reduced e-toll component which has been rejected by the majority of Gauteng motorists.
  • An increase in motor vehicle license fees. This suggestion must be rejected because licenses have been used to generate money for the fiscus which does not fund roads. Recent increase in licence fees have outstripped inflation by large percentages and although the DA is not married to a user pays principle the ANC is, and this stealth tax catches everyone with a vehicle in Gauteng. Strangely out of province and foreign vehicles escape this tax. Yesterday a provincial gazette was distributed which seeks to increase licence fees yet again.
  • Increased tyre tax. This is another stealth tax which can be increased at will and which defies the user pays principle.
  • Another suggestion that the South African Revenue Service and the electronic National Traffic Information service data bases should be combined must be rejected because eNatis is fatally corrupt and will contaminate the SARS system. It also infringes tax confidentiality which is unconstitutional.

The advisory panel states that it costs R6.25 billion per annum to run the e-tolls which cost R20 billion all-in to build. How is this possible? If we use the example of a 20 year house bond of R 1 million we would not be required to pay back R 312500 annually. Yet the government and its agent SANRAL, with superior bargaining and purchasing power is happy to force its citizens to pay this ridiculous amount annually. Are state lawyers useless or are connected cadres getting even richer?

Friends, SANRAL now admits that it paid more that it should have for the Gauteng Freeway upgrades. We told them this years ago but they denied it. SANRAL is making noises about reclaiming money for overpayment but why did it not question this when the cost was quoted.

SANRAL was chastised by the panel for not adequately informing the public. They are still not informing us.

We reject e-tolls because they are more costly than they need to be.

We reject e-tolls because we were inadequately consulted and then ignored before the system was introduced.

We reject e-tolls because they harm the Gauteng economy. 

We reject e-tolls because government does not practice cost containment but profligacy and thinks that citizens can just continue paying unfair taxes.

Phansi nge E-tolls.

Viva democracy.

Gauteng’s ineffective bus subsidy killing off public transport

Inefficiently utilised bus subsidies granted directly to Gauteng by the National Department of Transport (NDOT) have started to have a detrimental effect on bus operating companies – and ultimately bus commuters in the province.de-Goede-Justus

 

The situation, created by the Department’s system of using short-term funding, for monthly contracts and annual contracts, has made long-term planning by bus operators virtually impossible.

 

For years the DA has emphasised the point that has now created a huge problem for many of the 80 000 commuters who use buses every day.

 

Companies like PUTCO have been incurring losses and rising operating costs have now simply made operations on many routes unsustainable.

 

The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT)or even the municipalities should administer the subsidy grant ,  which, as international best practice has indicated , is a better targeted and much more efficient way of applying the subsidy.

 

PUTCO will be followed by other operators who cannot continue to operate at a loss.

 

NDOT and GDRT must now pay attention to representations by bus operators before a total breakdown of bus services occurs.

 

At a recent meeting of the Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Roads and Transport, bus operators, including PUTCO, voiced their frustration about the subsidy system and called on MEC  Ismail Vadi, to add his voice to the reasonable suggestions from these important players in the transport industry.

 

Gauteng is the first province to feel the backlash from an outdated and bureaucratic system and should be at the forefront of suggesting solutions to NDOT Minister Dipuo Peters.

 

While Minister Peters spends all her time and energy attempting to force e-tolls on residents of Gauteng, pressing public transport issues fall through the cracks to the detriment of the province’s residents.

 

Media enquiries:
Justus de Goede MPL
DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Transport
060 558 8305

 

Doctors protest alleged body parts stealer at Diepkloof mortuary

Doctors at the Diepkloof government mortuary in Soweto stopped work for two days this week in protest against the re-instatement of a doctor accused of stealing body parts.

 

Dr James Mwesigwa was suspended on November 2013 after he was accused of trying to take the brains and heart of a dead woman out of the mortuary in a bucket.

 

A criminal charge was laid with the police, but the case has yet to come to trial and the Gauteng Health Department’s disciplinary case against him has been hit by delays.

 

Mwesigwa pushed for a pre-disciplinary arbitration and was reinstated at the mortuary on Monday this week.

 

Doctors and other staff were appalled and stopped work, not releasing bodies to family members.

 

The impasse was resolved after the department transferred Mwesigwa to head office, and it appears that his disciplinary case will continue.

 

I am outraged that the department has taken so long with this sensitive case.

 

Dr Mwesigwa has received more than R1 million while being suspended on full pay for 16 months.

 

Desecrating the dead is a very serious matter, and Mwesigwa should not have been allowed to return to the mortuary unless he was found innocent.

 

This case must be speeded up and extra controls put in to prevent the stealing of body parts from state mortuaries.

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222

 

John Moodey to stage picket calling for provincial referendum on e-tolls

Today, 4 March, DA Gauteng Provincial Leader John Moodey MPL, accompanied by Neil Campbell MPL, Solly Msimanga MPL and Khume Ramulifho MPL will stage a picket outside the Office of Gauteng Premier David Makhura in response to the premier’s failure to call for a provincial referendum on e-tolls during his State of the Province Address.

 

Date: 04 March 2015

Time: 11:00

Address: Office of the Premier, 30 Simmonds Street, Johannesburg.

 

There will be ample opportunities for interviews and photographs. Members of the media are welcome to attend.

 

Media enquiries:

Tanya Heydenrych

Provincial Media Officer

0737016729

 

John Moodey to Stage Picket Calling for Provincial Referendum on e-tolls

Tomorrow, Wednesday, 4 March, DA Gauteng Provincial Leader John Moodey MPL, accompanied by Neil Campbell MPL, Solly Msimanga MPL and Khume Ramulifho MPL will stage a picket outside the Office of Gauteng Premier David Makhura in response to the premier’s failure to call for a provincial referendum on e-tolls during his State of the Province Address.

Moodey-John 200

Date: 04 March 2015

Time: 10:00

Address: Office of the Premier, 30 Simmonds Street, Johannesburg.

 

There will be ample opportunities for interviews and photographs. Members of the media are welcome to attend.

 

Media enquiries:

Tanya Heydenrych

Provincial Media Officer

0737016729