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Mashatile, Where Are The Evaton Renewal Project Documents?

Evaton Renewal Project

Gauteng Cooperative Governance and Human Settlements MEC, Paul Mashatile, has refused to respond to a letter from the DA requesting all documentation on projects rolled out through the Evaton Renewal Project (ERP) since its inception in 2004.

This letter was sent to the MEC more than 60 days ago.

Thirteen years on, at a cost of R470 million, this project has achieved very little.

The MECs silence on the project, which is intended to improve the lives of residents living in one of Gauteng’s oldest townships, is most disheartening.

PAIA

Evaton remains one of provinces most neglected townships and residents deserve better.

The DA will continue to pursue access to all documents relating to projects to the ERP, and if need be, we will not hesitate to submit a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request.

What does MEC Mashatile have to hide? It is high time he made the documents public, so that the people of Gauteng can know how their money has been spent.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Kingsol Chabalala MPL

DA Gauteng Constituency Head – Emfuleni

060 558 8299

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845 Gauteng Schools Without Functioning Libraries

Working Libraries

845 public ordinary schools in Gauteng do not have fully stocked and functional libraries, denying learners the opportunity to broaden their knowledge base in subjects outside the school curriculum.

This was revealed in a written reply to the DA in the Gauteng Legislature.

Click here to view the reply.

Most of the schools without working libraries are in poor areas, and the DA is particularly concerned over the effects on the poorest of the poor – who have no other way to get information and knowledge.

The current low education outcomes are not surprising. This is a disgrace and a travesty. Gauteng’s poor will continue to remain at a disadvantage and will continue to struggle to get jobs or some form of higher education.

Quintile 1-3 Schools

Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi claims a number of reasons for this shortfall, such as budgetary constraints, school budgets not being ring-fenced for libraries and that schools built before 1994 were built without libraries.

The DA believes that the MEC’s arguments hold no merit, as the department has had more than two decades to wipe out the backlog. If anything, libraries are simply not a departmental priority.

This is in stark contrast to the Western Cape, where more than 86% of all public ordinary schools have fully functional libraries or media centres.

The DA-led government’s position has been that libraries form part of our broader programme to ensure text-rich schools, and from 2007 to 2012 established libraries in all Quintile 1-3 schools in the province.

CAPS Curriculum

Over the past three years, around R600 million was invested to provide schools with textbooks and reading books to support the introduction of the CAPS curriculum, and grade-specific reading books were provided to every primary school classroom as part of this programme.

The department provides book wagons in smaller schools that do not have enough space for libraries, and has a fleet of mobile libraries in buses that cater for remote schools in rural areas.

Of particular interest is that Western Cape schools are responsible for stocking libraries using allocated funding in terms of national norms and standards, which implies that MEC Lesufi needs to insist that such funds are ring-fenced in Gauteng.

Gauteng, in its position as engine room of the South African economy must take the lead and provide quality education in our schools, and give young people a competitive advantage as they seek for jobs.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Mike Moriarty MPL

DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Finance 

082 492 4410

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Gauteng Health MEC Faces Axe After Patient Deaths Report

Health Ombudsman Professor Malegapuru Makgoba

Gauteng Premier David Makhura needs to act quickly in firing Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu should the leaked findings of the Health Ombudsman’s report into the deaths of psychiatric patients be confirmed when it is released publicly tomorrow.

According to a report in the Sowetan today, Health Ombudsman Professor Malegapuru Makgoba recommends that “The premier of the Gauteng province must, in light of the findings in this report, consider the suitability of MEC Qedani Dorothy Mahlangu to continue in her current role as MEC for health.”

Makgoba reportedly found that 71 patients had died after they were transferred from Life Healthcare Esidimeni to NGOs and other institutions. This figure is a lot higher than the 36 deaths Mahlangu revealed in September last year in response to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to the leaked report, 96% of the deaths occurred at incompetent and poorly resourced NGOs following “inadequate planning and a chaotic and ‘rushed or hurried’ implementation process.”

National Health Act and the Mental Health Care Act

Makgoba has reportedly further found that there was prima facie evidence of human rights violations by certain officials, certain NGOs and some activities including disregarding the constitution, National Health Act and the Mental Health Care Act.

It was abundantly clear from the start that the Health MEC had bungled the transfer of patients which led to avoidable deaths.

She should have resigned or been fired long ago for her inexcusable neglect.

I await the full details that will be revealed tomorrow by the Health Ombudsman, following which suitable action should be taken against all the implicated parties.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222

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ANC’s Parks Tau Left Johannesburg In A Disastrous State

City of Johannesburg Mismanagement

The Auditor-General’s findings into the blatant mismanagement of the City of Johannesburg under the leadership of former ANC Mayor, Parks Tau, speaks volumes to how residents of the city were short changed by the ANC.

Millions of rands worth of fruitless and wasteful expenditure which were incurred under the ANC could have been better spent on uplifting the lives of the city’s poor and marginalised. It is shameful that the systemic rot within the ANC denied millions of residents a better quality of life.

Municipal Financial Management Act

The lack of transparency and unwillingness to investigate the mismanagement of public funds, as well as the instances where there have been clear violations of the Municipal Financial Management Act, stand testament to the true legacy of Park’s Tau.

The DA will leave no stone unturned in Johannesburg to ensure that where public money can be recovered, it will be – and those who have broken the law will be brought to book.

It is our intention to ensure that every resident of this city is served with humility, respect and in the most transparent manner possible.

The days of waste, poor service delivery and dishonest governance walked out the door with Parks Tau.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Khume Ramulifho MPL

DA Johannesburg Regional Chairperson

082 398 7375

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DA Forces MEC Ismail Vadi To Take Action

Corrupt Activities by Officials

Gauteng Roads and Transport MEC, Ismail Vadi’s belated announcement that the Department of Roads and Transport will be taking steps against officials in the Department allegedly involved in corrupt activities has been brought about by DA action in the City of Johannesburg.

In the DA-run City of Johannesburg, 70 officials in licensing departments were arrested for being involved in corrupt activities.

The DA in the Provincial Legislature has for years warned MEC Vadi that corruption is not only endemic in the testing and licensing sections of the department.

Sworn affidavits by members of the public were provided to the MEC identifying officials in the department. Yet these were received by deafening silence from the MEC and members of his department.

A 2016 enquiry by the Transport Portfolio Committee on the taxi industry in Gauteng produced further startling evidence of corrupt activities by officials. MEC Vadi refers to almost a thousand officials fingered in the operation, a reflection of the extent of the rot.

There is little doubt that the initiative by Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba forced the MEC to take action. We hope that this belated action will not peter out without tangible results, as has often happened in the past.

 

 

Media Enquiries:

 

Justus de Goede MPL

DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Transportation

060 558 8305

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MEC Lesufi, Restore Power To Tshwane West Education District Office

Tshwane West Education District

The Tshwane West Education District office has no electricity supply, negatively impacting on the ability of schools in the area to carry out their duties.

The DA conducted an oversight visit to the office today, only to find that the office has been without electricity since Monday. There have been no assurances from the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) as to when power will be restored to the facility.

As the new school year has only just got underway, it is beyond belief that there are already challenges like this at the Tshwane West Education District office. This will have a substantial impact on teaching and learning.

Financial Shortfall

It is not clear whether the situation is due to a financial shortfall, as has been experienced in the case of teachers who marked 2016 grade 12 examination papers.

District offices must always be capacitated, so that quality services are rendered to schools. Staff at this office have been reporting to work yet cannot perform their duties.

Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, must urgently rectify this situation before another critical week of school support is lost.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Khume Ramulifho MPL

DA Gauteng Education Shadow MEC

082 398 7375

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DA To Inspect Schools In Tshwane West

Tomorrow, 26 January 2017, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho MPL, and DA Local Ward Councillor, Ridge Petersen, will conduct an oversight visit at Orchard Primary School and Amandasig Secondary School in Ward 4, Tshwane West.

Ramulifho and Petersen will also inspect a site of donated land to build a Primary School due to the shortage of schools in the ward.

Date: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Time: 10:00

Venues:

  • Orchard Primary School: 41 Fairwood Avenue, the Orchards, Akasia.
  • Amandasig Secondary School: 7473 Rachel de Beer Street, Tshwane West

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

 

 

Media enquiries:

Khume Ramulifho MPL

DA Gauteng Education Shadow MEC

082 398 7375

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Protest Action Rocks Unstable Merafong

Protest Action

Protest action has flared up in Merafong as municipal workers have blocked the council building with refuse removal trucks demanding payment for overtime work.

Workers at the protest claim that they have not been paid for the long hours of overtime that they have worked, citing that normal working hours are hampered by the unavailability of fuel and other tools they require to do their jobs.

Click here to view image.

Service delivery in the municipality has dropped to an all-time low with residents and businesses taking matters into their own hands by repairing potholes and cutting grass themselves.

Slow Service Delivery

Despite paying thousands of rands to the council to ensure that services are delivered, business in Carletonville have sent members of their own staff to repair damaged potholes in the area as the council refuses to do so.

Click here to view image.

These companies are also paying private security companies to guard substations to ensure that electricity is not disconnected.

Last year, a ring-feed cable was stolen, leaving some residents without power for up to seven months.

The cause of the slow delivery of services is due to the fact that the municipality claims that it does not have the resources to deliver on its mandate.

Municipal Public Accounts Committee

Merafong has one of the lowest collection rates in the province and instead of addressing its problems, it simply chooses to ignore them.

The financial mismanagement of this municipality has left its residents and businesses in a dire situation.

The DA insists that the Municipal Public Accounts Committee conduct an investigation into the financial mismanagement of this municipality. Residents of Merafong can no longer suffer under this uncaring ANC-led administration.

In DA governed municipalities, prudent financial management is executed to ensure that residents receive the services that they are constitutionally entitled to, but also that investors are attracted to the region to uplift and improve the quality of life for all.

 

 

Media Enquiries:

Ina Cilliers MPL

DA Gauteng Constituency Head – Merafong

060 556 4344

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Johannesburg Licensing Clean Up Ends ANC’s Era Of Corruption

Driver Licence Testing Centres

Recent arrests and disciplinary action taken by the DA-led Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality against corrupt officials in its Driver Licence Testing Centres (DLTC) is the first step in the battle against corruption.

Although this will lead to some delays in the short-term it will hopefully herald the end of corruption in our DLTC’s which are at this stage, a provincial competency.

This patent corruption has been allowed to fester under the eyes of Gauteng MEC, Ismail Vadi, for years with no substantive action being taken by him to stop the rot.

DA-led City of Johannesburg

The valiant start made by the DA-led City of Johannesburg should spur the MEC to action. He should emulate this initiative and purge corrupt activities rampant in stations run by the provincial government.

The ANC has for too long acted to protect corruption, instead of taking firm action to root it out. Where we govern, the DA is working hard to change this, so that the people come first again.

Let this sterling beginning by the City of Johannesburg be the catalyst that cleans up the fraud and corruption present in South African testing stations and on our roads.

 

 

Media Enquiries:

Neil Campbell MPL

DA Gauteng Spokesperon for Roads and Transport

082 387 2540

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Gauteng Matric Exam Markers Still Have Not Received Payment

National Senior Certificate Exam Papers

Teachers in Gauteng who marked 2016 National Senior Certificate exam papers have still not received full payment for their services.

This is despite the fact that R1.3 billion was approved by the legislature to fund examination and education related services in the 2016/17 financial year.

Disgruntled teachers have informed the DA that despite having being paid a portion of the money owed to them, there is no indication from the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) as to when they will receive the balance of their funds.

Gauteng Department of Education

It is unacceptable that the GDE cannot maintain prudent financial management to ensure that it pays for services rendered to it.

The DA urges the MEC to intervene and avoid protest action planned for Friday as it will disrupt learning and teaching.

The DA will submit written questions to establish why there is a shortfall, what has the money been used for and when will the full payment be made.

 

Media enquiries:

Khume Ramulifho MPL

DA Gauteng Education Shadow MEC

082 398 7375

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