Gauteng Provincial Government Not Serious About The War On Drugs

Drug Crisis in Rosettenville

The sluggish response by Gauteng MEC for Community Safety, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, to attend to the drug crisis in Rosettenville, which this weekend saw the community go to war with itself, is indicative of a government that does not care about the plight of residents.

Today, the MEC will be accompanied by Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Deliwe De Lange and Minister for Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, to assess the damage caused by infuriated residents over the weekend. Property was destroyed during the vigilante action – with many residents having to hide in fear.

DA run City of Johannesburg

The DA run City of Johannesburg has tried to contact the MEC as well as the Minister for Home Affairs to run joint operations to assist residents who have fallen victim to the ever increasing drug problem in the area. These requests have fallen on deaf ears.

Gauteng Premier, David Makhura must also shoulder blame for his failure to act on the matter, as his office established a drug unit in 2016 – which could have gathered intelligence through the Ntirhisano outreach programme to handle this long standing issue.

Ntirihisano

It is clear that the scourge of drugs will not be rooted out of communities by this ANC administration, as it takes a reactive, rather than pro-active stance on dealing with major issues.

The DA will pose questions to the Premier to ascertain the success rate his drug unit has had since its inception, and how the Ntirihisano outreach programme will address the socio-economic challenges faced by communities plagued by substance abuse.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Michele Clarke MPL

DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Community Safety

060 558 8299

[Image source]

ANC Councillor And Police General Implicated In Unlicensed Premises For Psychiatric Patients

Police Major-General Sandra Malebe-Themba

I have established that a ANC councillor and a police general are involved in a NGO which looked after more than 100 psychiatric patients transferred from Life Healthcare Esidimeni at two unlicensed premises in Tshwane.

Police Major-General Sandra Malebe-Themba is the Executive Chairperson of the Re-Bafenyi Victim Empowerment Centre (RVEC) which is a NGO based in Atteridgeville that was established in 2011. Its primary purpose is to provide a safety net to all victims of domestic violence and abuse.

But Rebafenyi Mental Health is a recent programme added by RVEC which says in a presentation had two 24-hour operational centers:

– At Hennops River with 59 beneficiaries
– At Phelindaba (Schuverberg) with 60 beneficiaries

Tshwane ANC councillor Nosipho Makeke-Tyobeka

Tshwane ANC councillor Nosipho Makeke-Tyobeka is listed as a committee member of Rebafenyi Mental Health. At the time she was the MMC for Sports, Recreation and Arts
and Culture and states in her profile that she is a member of the ANC Women’s League.

Last year in November I pointed out that the Rebafenyi facility in Hennops River was blatantly contravening municipal by-laws. This was according to a report by the Tshwane Health and Social Development Department which investigated the NGO after complaints received by DA Councillor Kingsley Wakelin that people living there were jumping the fences and disturbing the neighborhood.

The Health Ombudsman found that neither of the two Rebafenyi facilities were operating with legal licenses and the patients have since been transferred elsewhere.

Christopher Mogwarane

Christopher Mogwarane (56) was one of the patients transferred to Rebafenyi in Hennops River from Esidimeni and died there. According to his brother Lucas, he was not happy there and he did not appear to be getting proper nutrition and medication.

There were fortunately no deaths at the Phelindaba facility, but the patients were unexpectedly placed there in June last year by Rebafenyi and the owners placed signs saying they were not legally liable for anything that happened to them.

I suspect that money was the motivation for certain NGOs taking psychiatric patients that they could not care for properly.

Refanyeni was paid R2700 per patient per month, so it got about R270 000 a month for patients.

Investigation into Money Flow

It is shocking that a senior ANC Councillor and a police general are involved in a dodgy NGO with unlicensed premises in which one patient died, possibly from neglect.

General Malebe-Themba resigned from the police in 2013 after a misconduct probe but was re-employed after acting commissioner Kgomotso Phahlane took office in 2015. She is currently facing a complaint of racism.

There should be an investigation into the money flows and who personally benefited at all the NGOs where Esidimeni patients were placed.

Criminal charges should be pursued in cases where money was diverted into private pockets while patients were neglected and their lives placed at risk.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222

ANC continue to defend corrupt practices

The DA will continue to support Mayor Herman Mashaba’s drive to lead a clean and transparent government in Johannesburg.

Mayor Mashaba has no intention to purge any employee in the City of Johannesburg, contrary to ANC assertions that the Mayor is purging senior staff.

The ANC must understand that Mayor Mashaba has an obligation to act on all allegations raised against any employee in the City.

If the ANC previously ran a clean government, they should welcome any investigation of maladministration and corruption to be instituted by the city. The reaction to the City Power investigation paints a clear picture of ANC defending their doggy deals.

The DA has committed to run an open and transparent government. Early this month, the Council passed policy to open the tender process – something the ANC refused to do during its tenure in office.

All residents and employees in Johannesburg are encouraged to report any corrupt practices which the Mayor will act on without delay. Under the DA, the city has embarked on a zero tolerance policy toward corruption.

Mayor Mashaba has declared corruption as enemy number one, as corruption robs residents of opportunities and compromises service delivery.

Media Enquiries:

Khume Ramulifho MPL
DA Johannesburg Regional Chairperson
082 398 7375

ANC continue to destabilise Mogale City by using invalid Council Rules

The ANC continues to destabilise the Mogale City Municipality by applying rules of council that have not been correctly promulgated and therefore hold no legal status.

It is the view of the majority that the rules debated and ‘accepted’ by the council in December 2016 are not valid as they were not promulgated in the Government Gazette and that the previous rules of 2001 were not rescinded. In addition, no public participation took place in terms of deriving the 2016 rules, which is contrary to a legislated requirement.

The ANC Speaker of the council has been insistent on using the 2016 rules because they give him the latitude to make decisions not provided for in the 2001 rules. Thus the request for a meeting to debate a motion of no-confidence was turned down by the Speaker on this basis.

There is little doubt that it is part of the strategy to frustrate the wishes of the majority of councillors and the ruling multi-party government by taking advantage of the uncertainty as to which rules apply. These invalid rules inhibit the Executive Mayor and his team from performing their constitutional and legislated duties.

Questions have been asked about the motivation of Paul Mashatile, Gauteng MEC for COGTA, in this matter. His office promised to provide legal advice by the 31st January to resolve the uncertainty. He has not done so and the suggestion has been made that it suits him and the ANC that the uncertainty persists.

The ANC need to understand that their on-going attempts to frustrate the wishes of the majority of councillors will not fall on fertile ground. Democracy will prevail.

Media Enquiries:

Alan Fuchs MPL
DA Constituency Head: Mogale City
060 558 8313

Gauteng Traffic Police and motorbikes flown down for SONA

The DA in Gauteng has been reliably informed that the Gauteng Provincial Traffic Police will be sending 20 officers and 18 motorbikes to strengthen the state authority presence at the 2017 State of the Nation Address (SONA) tomorrow.

This comes at a time in which President Jacob Zuma has requested 441 SANDF officers to assist in maintaining “law and order”.

It begs the question as to why these provincial traffic police, which should be serving on Gauteng’s many freeways, have been moved out of the province to assist with the SONA.

The Western Cape and the City of Cape Town are fully capacitated to manage SONA with their provincial traffic police and metro police officers.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura must explain this sudden and bizarre move, which is not only a waste of valuable public money but denies residents the safety and security they are entitled to on our provincial roads.

Once again, Premier Makhura has shown himself to be no more than a servant of Luthuli House – and not one to the people of Gauteng.

Media Enquiries:

John Moodey MPL
DA Gauteng Provincial Leader
082 960 3743

image source: http://bit.ly/2kMOLxk

Merafong’s overtime fraud claims continuing to climb into the millions

A damning forensic report, which the DA has seen, implicating 283 Merafong municipal employees for overtime fraud has been quietly swept under the carpet while the abuse of overtime in the municipality continues to thrive.

The report shows how employees for the period January to March 2016 in the Water Section earned overtime pay in the region of between R37 000 – R58 000 per month, employees in the Refuse Removal Section earned between R21 000 – R26 000 per month, and those in the Electricity Distribution Section between R30 000 and R63 000 per month.

Despite Merafong having a strict overtime policy in place, stipulating that employees may not work more than three hours overtime a day or 10 hours a week, employees still racked up huge sums in overtime compensation.

Overtime needs to be approved, before and not after the fact, and it is the responsibility of the Executive Director for Corporate Services or his/her delegate to do so. The inability of the Executive Director to effectively manage overtime is placing the municipality in a precarious financial position.

The Council’s budget for overtime for the 2016/17 financial year was set at R R9, 897 million, however, as at the end of January 2017 the Council had already paid out R12, 278 million in overtime.

This speaks volumes to the lack of managerial and fiscal control in the municipality under the ANC.

Just last week, employees of the municipality shut down the council building as they were protesting about the lack of payment for overtime that they had worked.

The DA will submit a request in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to receive the report and decide on the appropriate action to take.

Media Enquiries:

Ina Cilliers MPL
DA Gauteng Constituency Head: Merafong
060 556 4344

 

On-going destabilisation campaign by ANC in Mogale City impacting on residents

The campaign of destabilisation by the ANC against the opposition-controlled Mogale City Local Municipality continues unabated hampering service delivery to residents of the municipality.

Comments made by Gauteng ANC Provincial Chairperson, Paul Mashatile, over the weekend to the Gauteng ANC Provincial Executive proposed and supported the strategy that the ANC needs to take advantage of differences between coalition partners and supporters of opposition multi-party governments in the province.

In his capacity as the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mashatile recently met with Mogale City politicians and officials, where an agreement was reached that the motion of no-confidence in the ANC Speaker and Chief Whip – debated and supported by a majority of councillors on Friday 13th January 2017, not be implemented. In addition, it was agreed that no action would be taken against councillors or officials as a result of this meeting.

Contrary to the letter and spirit of the agreement, the office of the MEC then disseminated misleading information by suggesting that the council agreed to the fact that the meeting of the 13 January 2017 was unlawful. This was not the case.

Subsequent to the agreement with MEC Mashatile, the ANC Mogale Speaker has instituted disciplinary action against the councillors who attended the meeting of the 13th January 2017.

Now, ANC officials in Mogale City are attempting to sabotage the interaction of the council with the public in terms of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP). The IDP process is a legislated requirement in order to receive input from residents regarding their service delivery needs and budget requirements.

Uncut grass and unanswered emergency calls after hours also forms part of the destabilisation strategy that the ANC has put into place.

The DA will not be intimidated by these undemocratic and underhanded tactics and will continue to oppose them. In the interest of the residents of Mogale City, we will do whatever we can to prevent the former government of Mogale City from regaining what they democratically lost in August 2016.

Media Enquiries:

Alan Fuchs MPL
DA Constituency Head: Mogale City
060 558 8313

DA barred from visiting psychiatric patients at Lenasia South Hospital

I was barred yesterday, 7 February 2017, from inspecting the facilities at the Lenasia South Hospital where 34 psychiatric patients were recently transferred from an unlicensed NGO.

The Sub-district Manager, Ms Zay Suliman, told me and local DA Ward councillor, Vinay Choonie, that her instructions from the National Health Department and the Premier’s Office were that no outsiders, including politicians, were to visit without permission from the MEC for Health.

I tried to contact the MEC’s office but was not able to get through.

It is most unfortunate that my right and duty of oversight was violated on the burning issue of psychiatric patient care where there has been so much abuse.

Why is there still secrecy in this matter and why am I still barred from a public health facility despite the fact that my right to unannounced visits has been repeatedly endorsed by the Gauteng Legislature?

This is also in violation of the new Legislature standing rules that guarantee access to MPLs to provincial government facilities to exercise oversight.

I did manage to establish that 34 male patients from the Rebafenyi NGO in Hennops River in north Gauteng were transferred to the Lenasia South Hospital on Friday evening on 27 January this year.

They are stable patients who were placed four per room in a ward staffed by one professional nurse and four enrolled nurses per shift. Professor of Psychiatry Yusuf Moosa visits once a week.

The windows are barred and there are two security guards.

I was told that the relatives had been informed and could visit during the regular visiting hours.

I would like to think that the 34 patients are receiving decent care, but I cannot establish this without seeing the actual facilities and talking to the ordinary staff.

Health Ombudsman Professor Malegapuru has noted that the 94 deaths were “silent” because nobody was there to witness their pain and help them.

If there is nothing to hide, why was I barred?

The DA will take up this issue with the Speaker of the Gauteng Legislature to ensure that access is never denied to public representatives exercising their right to oversight in the public interest.

(Photos of the outside of the Ward available on request)

Media Enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health
082 333 4222

Human Rights Commission failed to act on Esidimeni patient transfers

Lives could have been saved if the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) had acted seriously on a complaint laid in March last year concerning the transfer of mental health patients from Life Healthcare Esidimeni to unlicensed NGOs.

Annie Robb of the Ubuntu Centre, an organization of people with psychosocial disabilities, wrote to SAHRC Commissioner Bokankatla Malatji on 15 March 2016 requesting “immediate urgent attention” concerning the potential violation of the rights of those affected by the Gauteng Health Department’s cancellation of the Esidimeni contract.

Ms Robb says that the SAHRC did nothing and that Malatji, who chairs the SAHRC’s Section 11 Disability Committee, barely remembered the issue at a July meeting of this committee.

It was only on 24 August that she was phoned by a SAHRC legal officer to say they would assign a number to her complaint, and she told him “people are going to die if you do nothing”.

In September the SAHRC joined her complaint with a complaint concerning the Precious Angels NGO in Pretoria which it visited and found abandoned. But this was only after the Health MEC had disclosed 36 deaths and the Health Ombudsman had been appointed to investigate.

Professor Michael Stein, the Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, resigned in protest from the Section 11 Disability Committee.

He wrote in an angry email to Ms Robb in October that “The SAHRC was put on advance notice by you and your group in March and even by me in person in March 2016, about the deadly and inevitable results that would happen if they stood by and did not act, and yet they chose to do nothing.”

It is hugely disappointing that the SAHRC and Commissioner Malatji in particular failed to act speedily to save the lives of the most vulnerable patients imperiled by the reckless transfer to unsuitable NGOs.

The human rights of the 94 dead patients were ignored by too many people, including the Human Rights Commission which could have prevented the deaths if they had acted determinedly in March last year.

This calls into question the SAHRC’s competence to conduct a country-wide investigation into human rights compliance in mental health treatment, as recommended by the Health Ombudsman.

The DA will insist that the SAHRC account for its inexcusable inaction to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services.

Media Enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health
082 333 4222

DA gets oversight committee to probe Premier’s role in 94 deaths

 

A proposal by the Democratic Alliance has been accepted by the Gauteng Legislature’s Oversight Committee on the Premier’s Office and Legislature (OCPOL) to probe the role of Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s office in the deaths of 94 mental health patients after they were transferred to unlicensed NGOs.

At the OCPOL meeting last week on Friday I pointed out that on page 30 of the Health Ombud’s report on the matter the following claim is made by Dr Barney Selebano, the Head of the Gauteng Health Department:

” … the decision to start deinstitutionalization of mental health care users from Life Healthcare Esidimeni was undertaken in the Office of the Premier of Gauteng, the Honourable David Makhura, together with the HoD”.

This claim needs to be investigated as well as the failure of the Premier’s Office and the Premier himself to effectively monitor the disastrous transfer of patients that led to the deaths.

Premier Makhura prides himself on the Ntirhisano Rapid Response War Room but this failed to respond to the concerns of relatives of mental health patients who demonstrated on two occasions outside the headquarters of the Gauteng Health Department.

Furthermore, there was a plethora of media reports on the plight of the patients and complaints by the relatives, as well as two court applications where the Premier was cited as a respondent.

It is simply not credible that the Premier and his office were unaware of the problems and the need for swift intervention.

The Premier also needs to account why he did not fire Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu after she disclosed in response to my questions in the Legislature on 13 September 2016 that 36 patients had died.

I have requested in my letter to OCPOL Chairperson Godfrey Tsotetsi (see below) that a report is requested from the Premier’s office that includes a time-line of the whole decision-making process with regard to the decision to transfer patients from Esidimeni to the NGOs.

Click here to view letter.

I have also requested that the Premier and senior officials should appear before the committee for questions.

Makhura can expect tough questioning at the next OCPOL meeting which should be held within the next two weeks.

Media Enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL
DA Member of the Oversight Committee on the Premier’s Office and Legislature (OCPOL)
082 333 4222