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R7 Million In 7 Years Allegedly Spent On Upgrading Wattville Hostels

Gauteng Human Settlements MEC, Paul Mashatile, revealed in a reply to a DA question that the Wattville Hostel in Wattville, Ekurhuleni has been refurbished at a cost of R7 million since 2010.

It is alarming that R7 million was spent in 7 years with absolutely nothing to show for it.

Click here to view the response.

The DA visited the Wattville Hostels last week as part of an oversight tour aiming at addressing and highlighting the plight of Gauteng’s most vulnerable residents living in horrific conditions.

According to the reply, plans for refurbishment were placed on hold by the National Department of Human Settlements due to cost escalation.

The Ekurhuleni Metro and the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements has failed in championing the basic human rights and dignity of the residents of Wattville.

Click here, here, here, here and here to view the images.

Ekurhuleni Mayor, Mzwandile Masina laid a wreath at the gravesite of the late OR Tambo in remembrance of his selfless service to the people of South Africa in Wattville on Friday, however, he chose to ignore the inhumane living conditions at the Wattville Hostels. OR Tambo would be ashamed.

The ANC have for far too long forgotten the people of South Africa.

The DA will ensure that the living conditions at Wattville Hostels are improved and that the city delivers services to all its residents.
 

 

Media Enquiries
 
 
 
Michele Clarke MPL
DA Gauteng Constituency Head – Benoni
060 558 8299
 
Yaseen Carelse
Social Cluster Manager
076 721 8613
 
 
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No Sport Facilities Built For The Poor Over The Past 3 Years

In reply to a DA question, Gauteng Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR) MEC, Faith Mazibuko, revealed that no rugby, cricket and swimming facilities were built over the past three years in previously disadvantaged communities.

It is shocking that despite ANC rhetoric on grassroots sporting development, no facilities were built by the department.

Transformation in sport is always lamented by the ANC yet their administration is doing nothing to develop this.

Young people in poor communities are the ones most affected as their development is stymied and they are left to be influenced by drugs and crime.

Further to this, SACR MEC revealed in another response to the DA that the department has budgeted R3.5 million for the Gauteng Sports Awards.

Last year, the department spent over R10 million on these awards, money that could have been better spent on sport facilities to benefit the poor.

It is disingenuous that the department would splurge money on a lavish event when the bare minimum in poor communities for developing sporting codes have not been met.

The DA will hold MEC Mazibuko accountable on her promise to have two new sport facilities built in Sedibeng and the West Rand in the new financial year.

Click here to view the two replies.

 

 

 

Media Enquiries
 
 
 
Kingsol Chabalala MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts, Culture and Heritage
060 558 8299
 
Yaseen Carelse
DA Social Cluster Manager
076 721 8613
 
 
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Gauteng Liquor Board Toothless Without New Licensing Legislation

The Gauteng Liquor Board (GLB) has revealed that it does not have the power to revoke existing liquor licenses, nor does it have the ability to take seriously any objections which are raised as to the renewal of existing licenses without new legislation.

This was revealed to the Gauteng Economic Development Portfolio Committee after the DA had requested that GLB be summoned to appear before the committee to provide an explanation as to why there has been an increasing number of complaints about licensing and the growing number of illegal operators across the province.

The GLB explained to the committee that almost half of all liquor traders in Gauteng do not possess legal liquor licenses, and in some areas – such as Cosmo City, only 1 in 4 premises actually have a license.

The board expressed concern that unless the current Liquor Act is replaced by legislation that has been mooted for a number of years already, the situation will continue to spiral out of control.

Delays in the processing of new applications, fake licenses, and illegal establishments mushrooming across the province will remain the order of the day if Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Lebogang Maile continues to wring his hands on the matter.

MEC Maile must expedite the process of ensuring that this legislation be brought before the Gauteng Legislature to resolve these issues, not only to ensure that illegal operators are brought to book, but to ensure that legal businesses can begin to trade sooner rather than later.

 

 

 

Media Enquiries
 
 
 
Janet Semple MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Economic Development
082 462 8239
 
Warren Gwilt
DA Economic Cluster Manager
073 601 6144
[Image source]
 
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Another Gun To The Public’s Head: First CPS Now Tasima

Tasima, the company responsible for the development of the e-Natis system, is now refusing to hand over the system to the Department of Transport, despite a Constitutional Court order, unless an exorbitant payment is made.

For the second time in a few short months, government has been painted into a corner by organisations rendering essential services to the public, both of whom have been found to have obtained contracts illegally by the Constitutional Court.

Like the chaotic situation at the Department of Social Development, which threatened the payment of grants to millions of beneficiaries, Tasima’s brazen defiance of a court order threatens the entire vehicle registration system. Although a last minute payment to Telkom has temporarily avoided licencing chaos, a permanent solution is essential.

Gauteng which has the largest number of vehicles of any Province, will be plunged into chaos with far reaching consequences.

South Africans have had enough of blackmail by service providers who have been given space by lax and corrupt officials.

 

 

 

Media Enquiries
 
 
 
Justus de Goede MPL
DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Social Development
060 558 8305
 
Warren Gwilt
DA Economic Cluster Manager
073 601 6144
 
 
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Victims Of Crime Should Not Be Treated As Second Class Citizens

The dreadful taxi-rape saga, which has emboldened more and more victims of this ghastly crime to come forward, has highlighted the horrendous treatment of victims of rape by members of the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Most of the victims of these crimes have expressed how they were pushed from pillar to post by members of the SAPS when trying to report what had happened to them. Often they were told to go to different police stations as they had arrived at the “wrong” station.

This is absolutely unacceptable as a crime can, and should, be reported at any station. Once a case number is issued, the matter can be transferred to any station for investigation.

This lack of concern was reiterated by the MEC for Community Safety, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, who admitted that the SAPS had not acted in the victim’s best interests.

MEC Nkosi-Malobane, as the head of community safety in Gauteng must ensure that SAPS members treat all victims of crime with the respect that they deserve.

Secondary victimisation by SAPS officers prevents many cases from being reported and inflicts further trauma on victims of crime.

The DA has called on the MEC to work with the Department of Social Development to send SAPS members on sensitivity training. The MEC must take this call to heart, as victims of crime are our families and loved ones – they are humans, not just statistics.

 

 

Media Enquiries
 
 
 
John Moodey MPL
DA Gauteng Provincial Leader
082 960 3743
 
Warren Gwilt
DA Economic Cluster Manager
073 601 6144
 
 
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Laudium Clinic Needs Expansion And Upgrading

The Laudium Community Health Centre needs to be upgraded and expanded to cope with the huge increase in population growth in this part of Tshwane.

This is my conclusion after my visit there today with local councillors Zwele Khumalo and Mohammed Essop.

According to the clinic management, the clinic services a population of 356 000, including patients from Laudium, Valhalla, Claudius, Erasmia, Lyttelton, Olivienhoutbosch, Mooiplaas, Itireleng, Atteridgeville and even Diepsloot in Johannesburg.

Close to half the patients are foreign nationals without any papers, which means they cannot be put on the chronic medicine dispensing programme to collect their medicines at other locations, which is more convenient for patients and decreases the pressure on the clinic.

The facility was originally opened as a hospital in 1982, and then downgraded to a community health center in 1998.

The average waiting time for patients is three hours, which management admitted was not satisfactory and they are working to get it down.

Parts of the building are in severe disrepair, including a gaping ceiling hole in the maternity section.

The maternity and other sections are very overcrowded, with patients crowded into small rooms or corridors without proper ventilation, which increases the risk of cross-infection.

The chronic diseases section has been upgraded and will open in April this year which is good news.

We were told that the maternity and the medical-legal section would be upgraded by the same contractor, but no time-line was given.

The grass needs to be cut urgently as snakes and rats have been seen.

The clinic is run by the Gauteng Health Department, but maintenance and repairs are done by the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development which results in delays to fix even small things.

I noticed that lights in corridors were broken and I was told that the tractor to cut the grass had been broken for five years.

I will push the provincial departments to meet their commitments to upgrade the clinic to meet the needs of an increased population.

The clinic management should also be given control of maintenance and repairs as this will be more efficient than the present system whereby requests are put through to another department.

Media Enquiries
Jack Bloom MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health
082 333 4222
[Image source]
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MEC Creecy Must Come Clean About GP Money Laundering Scheme

Gauteng Finance MEC, Barbara Creecy must come clean about the provincial government’s money laundering scheme which involves tranches of taxpayers money being transferred to registered NGO’s – only for these funds to be siphoned off to non-accredited NGO’s.

This practice, brought to the attention of the DA by the A Re Ageng NGO, has seen the provincial government shift millions of rands through “conduit” NGO’s to organisations that are not accredited – and who may not be performing the work which they claim to be doing.

This exercise was used by the provincial government to transfer funds to NGO’s during the Esidimeni tragedy which claimed the lives of more than 100 mentally ill patients.

This practice is a violation of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), and needs to be investigated as a matter of priority so as to safeguard the public purse from abuse and theft.

Recently, one such “conduit payment” to the tune of R5 million was intercepted by fraudsters who used the money to make off with 40 000 litres of diesel. This R5 million was part of a R42 million tranche to be transferred via this “conduit” scheme.

The Gauteng ANC-led provincial government is often heard preaching about transparent and open governance, but time and time again, they prove themselves to be nothing more than hypocrites.

Vulnerable residents of Gauteng are placed at risk by non-accredited and non-compliant NGO’s who do not have the skills nor the capacity to provide them with the assistance they require. This is exacerbated when these NGO’s are aided and abetted by the provincial government’s underhanded tactics.

The DA will write to Finance MEC Creecy demanding that National Treasury be allowed to scrutinise the provincial governments’ practices and rule on what steps must be taken to safeguard Gauteng’s finances.

 

 

Media Enquiries

Adriana Randall MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Finance
060 556 4342
 
Warren Gwilt
DA Economic Cluster Manager
073 601 6144

[Image source]

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Soweto Taxi Rape Demands Inquiry In Gauteng Legislature

I am shocked and disturbed by news today that a female passenger in a Soweto taxi was raped over an extended period of time on Sunday, in full view of her young child.

It is more alarming though, that reports of similar incidents recently have not resulted in action from the SAPS. Some victims have complained of little interest from the Police, which is a shocking failure of the SAPS to protect our residents.

I will therefore write to the Chairperson of the Gauteng Community Safety committee to summon Provincial Police Commissioner Major General Deliwe Suzan De Lange to come and account before the Legislature under oath.

We just cannot accept that people continue to be raped, in captive situations like locked taxis, and that the police are not acting. The SAPS must protect and serve us.

It is not up to taxi associations alone to root out these criminals, and the MEC has today misdirected her demand to the taxi association to solve this crime. It is up to the SAPS to fight crime, and the DA will ensure that the SAPS acts.

 

 

Media Enquiries

Kate Lorimer MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC of Safety and Security
083 642 2727
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Calls For SANDF In Wake Of Baby Singalakha’s Death An Indictment Of MEC Mayathula-Khoza

The death of six month old baby Singalakha Sonamazi, an avoidable tragedy, highlights the inability of Gauteng Social Development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza to do her job.

The strike emphasised that MEC Mayathula-Khoza had not adequately prepared to ensure that the elderly, disabled and young placed in her care would be looked after while social workers were not on hand.

Calls by the MEC to resort to deploying the South African Defence Force to mitigate the damage caused by the strike shows that the MEC is completely out of touch with the needs of those who are in the care of her department. The department has the budget and the resources to deal with a crisis of this nature – calls for the SANDF to be deployed are beyond ludicrous.

Reports that children had been hurriedly moved to NGO’s from Child and Youth Care Centre’s is reminiscent of the Esidimeni tragedy which cost more than 100 patients their lives.

The death of baby Singalakha is the result of such a rushed decision by the MEC who must be held accountable for this needless loss of life.

The DA will visit Bethany Trust Home in Krugersdorp to ascertain what happened to baby Singalakha and her siblings, and to gauge what assistance the home received from the Department of Social Development.

 

 

 

Media Enquiries

Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development
060 558 8297
 
Warren Gwilt
DA Economic Cluster Manager
073 601 6144

[Image source]

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Cancer Patients At Risk At Steve Biko Hospital Because Of Broken Aircon

More than a hundred cancer patients are at risk at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital because a brand new radiation machine has been out of action for most of this year because of a broken air-conditioning system.

The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (GDID) has struggled to fix the air-conditioning which is needed as radiation machines get very hot.

There are two smaller radiation machines which are being used for cancer patients, but the backlog for radiation treatment has grown alarmingly. This is very serious as delays decrease the survival chances of cancer patients.

This week Siemens was called in to fix the air-conditioning in the radiotherapy bunker as GDID has proved incapable of doing the job.

GDID has also bungled the repair of water pipes at this hospital. Last week they released water in repaired pipes too quickly, which damaged the pipes again and led to flooding of three floors and ceiling leaks elsewhere.

Other hospitals have also suffered from GDID incompetence, including Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital where a roof collapsed, leaks abound and the air-conditioning is broken as well.

The solution is to take hospital maintenance and repair away from GDID and put it in the hands of hospital management.

The DA will push for this change otherwise there will be more maintenance problems and possible disasters in our hospitals.

 

 

Media Enquiries

Jack Bloom MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC
082 333 4222

[Image source]