Gauteng Medium Term Budget Policy Statement should focus on service delivery

Tomorrow, the MEC for Finance is expected to deliver the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement during a sitting of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).

In an unprecedented move, two budgets were tabled for the 2020/2021 financial year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The second special adjustment budget that was tabled mainly addressed the needs that arose because of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as the purchasing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

However, it is concerning to note that several cases of corruption were reported with regards to the process followed in awarding some of the PPE tenders, prompting President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Premier David Makhura to ask the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate tenders that were awarded for the procurement of goods and services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In order to fund the SAA bailout, it is expected that critical funding will be taken away from conditional grants to various departments, which in some instances may cause a delay in the implementation of critical capital infrastructure projects, which means that the completion of these projects will take place at a much slower rate.

According to National Treasury the provincial grants to provincial departments will be reduced as follows:

• R2.6 billion in 2021/22 financial year
• R3.4 billion in 2022/2023 financial year
• R6.1 billion 2023/2024 financial year

In addition, the amount of funds transferred by National Government to local government will also be reduced by R17.7 billion. This means that municipalities which are already struggling will have to provide services with even less money.

It is unacceptable that our residents have been negatively impacted by the rampant corruption during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as extensive job losses. Funding is now being taken away to aid an ailing state-owned entity that is in the state it is because of mismanagement and corruption.

This medium-term budget should also put more emphasis on ensuring that there is a more focussed approach to the delivery of services to the residents of Gauteng, otherwise they will again find themselves on the losing end, all because of rampant corruption and mismanagement of funds.

More stringent measures need to be put in place to ensure that our taxpayers’ money is spent in a transparent manner and that tender processes are conducted according to effective demand and procurement plans, and in line with existing legislation. There is no new money and the effective and productive spending of every rand becomes critical if government wants to survive financially and economically.

 

1407 police vehicles out of service in Gauteng

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is deeply concerned that 1407 police vehicles at Gauteng police stations are out of service.

This was revealed by the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele in a written reply to the DA’s questions tabled in the National Assembly.

According to Minister Cele, at all the police stations in Gauteng there are 498 vehicles for support services which are operational, 1957 vehicles for visible policing and 1919 vehicles for detectives which are operational.

In total there are 4374 vehicles at Gauteng police stations that are operational.

The Minister states that 95 vehicles from support services are non-functional , 802 vehicles from visible policing and 510 vehicles for detective services are out of service.

In total there are 1407 police vehicles in Gauteng police stations that are out of service.

Furthermore, the Minister states that the vehicles allocated to rural safety at rural police stations forms part of the category of vehicles that are allocated to visible policing.

It is worrying that Gauteng is a crime hot spot yet there are a number of police vehicles that are out service.

The lack of adequate police vehicles hampers police service delivery and puts the safety of the Gauteng residents at risk as police officers will not have enough vehicles to ensure police visibility and prevent crime.

The DA calls on both the Minister of Police and the Gauteng MEC for Community Safety, Faith Mazibuko to ensure that all the vehicles that are out of service are brought back to the police stations to render services to the residents of Gauteng.

We will table follow up questions in both the National Assembly and the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to ascertain what is meant with ‘ out of service vehicles’ and when will these vehicles be operational again.

How Gauteng subsistence farmers are paying for the SAA bailout

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has learnt that critical funding is being taken away from the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in order to fund the bailout of SAA.

This information was revealed in a presentation from Parliament to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill.

The following conditional grants will be affected:

• Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme Grant
• Ilima/Letsema Project
• Land Care Programme Grant: Poverty Relief and Infrastructure Grant

According to the presentation, reductions amounting to R1.3 billion have been made in support of the R10.5 billion required for SAA in terms of the Business Rescue Plan. Reductions in provincial conditional grants are made proportionately across provinces.

The Land Care Programme Grant: Poverty Relief and Infrastructure Grant are intended for a favourable and supportive agricultural services environment for the farming community, in particular subsistence and smallholder farmers within strategically identified grain, livestock and horticulture production areas.

The Ilima/Letsema Project provides assistance to vulnerable South African communities to achieve an increase in agricultural production within strategically identified grain, livestock, horticulture and aquaculture production areas.

The Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme Grant provides effective support services, and promotes and facilitates agriculture development by targeting beneficiaries of land reform, restitution and redistribution, and other black producers who have acquired land through private means and are engaged in value-adding enterprises domestically, or involved in export.

These programmes will have their funding cut by the following amounts:

• Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme Grant – a reduction of R911 000 from R82.6 million to R81.7 million for 2020/21;
• Ilima/Letsema Project Grant – a reduction of R306 000 from R25.7 million to R25.4 million for 2020/21;
• Land Care Programme Grant: Poverty Relief and Infrastructure Grant – a reduction of R57 000 from R4.8 million to R4.7 million for 2020/21;

It is worrying that subsistence farmers will now have to forego the opportunity to acquire piggery or poultry structures, plant crops and contributions to sustainable land care to the tune of nearly R1.4 million rand. This is a slap in the face of Gauteng farmers who are already struggling with climate change, food insecurity, crime and inequality.

These farmers will in all likelihood never be able to afford a plane ticket, yet they are helping to bail out SAA. It is clear that government is not thinking about how these bailouts will affect the lives of the poor and the vulnerable is South Africa- their lives are made a little harder so that the ANC can fund their vanity projects.

Farming contributes enormously to the GDP and there is a need to ensure that farmers are provided with the necessary funding they deserve. Choosing SAA over farming clearly means that the ANC government cares little about growing a sustainable economy.

I will be tabling further questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to ascertain exactly how government will be helping farmers considering the reduced funding in conditional grants.

Gauteng unemployment statistics shows Premier Makhura’s job creation plan is not working

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng notes the recent release of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey that indicates that the province’s unemployment rate has increased from 26.4% in the second quarter to 33.7% in the third quarter.

This is concerning given the fact that Gauteng is the economic hub of the country.

Premier David Makhura is always boasting about the job opportunities that will be created through the Tshepo 1 Million programme. It is clear that this programme is not working and that this is just a public relations exercise. Previously the DA highlighted that the Office of the Premier had failed to meet its target of training 200 000 economically excluded youth as part of the Pathways to Earning through the Tshepo 1 Million programme. Programmes like Tshepo 1 Million are important as its main aim is to assist the youth with skills training, job place and entrepreneurship development.

Furthermore, entities like the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller continually fails to provide support to small businesses on a quarterly basis. For the last financial year, this entity failed to meet its targets which were to provide support to small enterprises through the provision of loans, the youth accelerator programme and the acquisition of GEP automated business development support and investment management business.

The underperformance of this entity is having a negative impact on its core mandate which is to promote, foster and develop small enterprises in the province.

Entities like GEP and programmes like Tshepo 1 Million play an important role in boosting the economy and helping particularly the youth to establish their own businesses, which in turns allows them to create job opportunities in their own communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic can no longer be used as an excuse for government failing to create the right environment for businesses to create job opportunities for the unemployed in the province.  The country has been on alert Level 1 for some time now and most businesses are operating at normal capacity.

The DA is not convinced that there is a clear plan, but will continue to monitor the proposed mechanisms government is putting in place to assist the unemployed in finding sustainable job opportunities.

81 Esidimeni claimants still not paid out

Only R6.5 million (5%) of the R120 million budget for compensation to Life Esidimeni victims and their families has been paid out so far this year, and 81 verified claimants have not been paid at all.

This was revealed last week on Thursday in a presentation by the Premier’s Office at a meeting of the Gauteng Legislature’s Oversight Committee on the Premier’s Office and Legislature (OCPOL).

According to the Premier’s Office, the underspending is due to lockdown restrictions which resulted in delays in the verification process of claimants.

There were 451 claims received, of which 352 were verified, but 81 of these claimants have still not been paid.

Gauteng Director-General Phindile Baleni says that the remainder of the R120 million budget will be spent in December and January when the trust is set up by the Master of the Court for the 50% of the payout that is earmarked for the patients. The other 50% is supposed to go to the families of the patients.

A complicating factor is that aggrieved family members are going to court next week to ensure that their own lawyers administer the trust as they mistrust the lawyers that the provincial government will appoint.

It’s a sad situation that there are still unresolved compensation issues in this tragic matter in which so many people suffered because of government neglect.

 

Let us work together for true freedom

Note to Editors: The following remarks were delivered today by the newly elected DA Gauteng Provincial Leader, Solly Msimanga MP, at the Gauteng Provincial Congress in Johannesburg today.

Fellow Democrats, people of South Africa and more specifically people of our beautiful Province of Gauteng, I greet you all.

I remember the time when I joined the Democratic Alliance many years ago, a time when I decided that I wanted to contribute towards a positive trajectory for our beautiful country.

A time when I wanted to knock on every door, go to every taxi rank, shopping mall, township or suburb to say, ours is a land pregnant with possibilities, but those possibilities were not yet explored because we had leadership in this country that focused on self-enrichment and dividing the citizens on race for narrow political interests.

Today, listening to Mama Letta Mbulu’s song “Not yet Uhuru”, I’m reminded of the time I joined the party. The song aptly reminds us that freedom is not yet attained in our country. Yes, we have the right to vote, freedom of speech, freedom of association. But what does this mean when we:

Still have millions of our people living in conditions of squalor;

When half of our youth cannot find meaningful employment;

When state funds are used more to enrich the politically connected instead of uplifting the conditions of millions of its people;

Where farm and rural murders are the order of the day;

Gender-based violence that subjects women and children to unnecessary and humiliating abuse is rife, and

where there are still those that registered for state subsidized houses right at the dawn of democracy, are still waiting.

Where the state take funds from the police, from education and health to fund a never filling blackhole of an airline. When millions are paid for the removal of asbestos roofing, but there is little to show for it.

When billions are siphoned through Covid corruption intended to save the lives of our ill.

Indeed, it’s not yet Uhuru

True freedom is what all the people of this country and indeed this province yearn for.

They yearn for freedom to make their own choices about the life they want to live, they yearn for freedom that empowers them to improve their own lives.

They yearn for opportunities that are created and given in a fair manner, instead of through cronyism and political membership. The people yearn for fairness.

Democrats, we have to fight for this freedom, we have to be the champions of this freedom. The task ahead of us is huge.

Our country and our province needs us now, more than ever, to restore hope where there’s desperation and despair.

Our people are calling for us to stand up and fight for them. The beautiful, warm- hearted, hardworking, honest people of this province are calling for a united, focused and determined Democratic Alliance.

That is why I did not seek any endorsements during my campaign, as I feared it may promote divisions in our ranks. I want to be a leader for all our members, not for some or for a faction.

It is important that we unite as a party because that is what our members and voters want to see. Nobody wants to support a divided house. I hope this sets a trend for future internal elections.

Democrats,

Real change for our people will only happen when we as the Democratic Alliance stand firm and focused on our values, principles and policies. Real change will happen when we are part of people’s daily lives and experiences.

We have to connect with every resident of this province who shares our values, but are not yet voting for us.

To convince them that the DA is a home for them, we mustn’t just tell them, but we must show them. We must create opportunities for new leaders to emerge. We must be the true representation of the nation we want to lead.

We have to champion the building of a nonracial, non-sexist Gauteng, where there will be no barriers created by religion, culture, geography or economic status. We must champion the message of hope for our people.

While others push for illegal land invasions, we must champion land reform programmes.

While others want to push us into racial blocks, we must champion a nonracial South Africa.

While others enrich themselves at the expense of the people, we must expose wrongdoing in all its manifestations.

We must be champions of service delivery in all municipalities in Gauteng.

We will continue to do excellent work in Midvaal, reverse all the damage created by Maile and his administration in Tshwane, keep a close eye on Johannesburg, its ailing coalition and its lack of delivery, and ensure that people of Ekurhuleni, Emfuleni, Lesedi, Mogale, Merafong, Rand-West, West-Rand and Sedibeng have champions who will hold these executives to account.

Democrats, the 2021 Local Government Elections are just around the corner. Our campaign for these elections will require all of us to be on the ground, all of the time.

We will need to retrain and empower our activists to fight these elections. We will have to select the best to represent the DA as public representatives and ensure that they are equipped to be true champions of the people of Gauteng.

Let me take this opportunity to thank and pass my gratitude to James Lorimer for the spirit is which we contested for leader. Once again, we have proven that leaders are elected through democratic processes, and that we do not have anointed leaders.

We allow for debates, contestation of ideas and only choose leaders based on their ideas, content of their character and ability to lead us into a new and exciting future. I hope that this trend continues and becomes a principle we hold dear.

I would also like to thank all members of the Democratic Alliance, those who voted for me and those who didn’t. I thank you for exercising your democratic right in a manner that isn’t leaving the party fractured and factional.

Now that the internal elections are over, let us work as one and focus on the bouncing ball that is the upcoming Local Government Elections.

I commit myself to working with all structures of the party as we venture into this new and exciting chapter for the DA in Gauteng.

I commit to allowing true democracy, open communication, a culture of mutual respect, support and teamwork.

Like Mama Mbulu says, it’s not yet Uhuru, the work ahead of us is a lot and will take all of us to put our shoulders to the wheel. Together, we can and must do it, not for ourselves, but for those who come after us.

I thank you

Latest Gauteng Covid-19 figures make no sense

According to the latest figures released by the National Health Department there are now 1384 active COVID-19 cases in Gauteng, but according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) there are 1781 COVID-19 patients in Gauteng hospitals.

This is clearly not possible and the real figures need to be clarified urgently.

The Gauteng Health Department last reported on 4 November that there were 229 490 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 209 243 recoveries, 1730 patients in hospital and 4845 deaths. This works out to 15 402 active cases at that date.

How could active cases have gone done so dramatically while hospital cases have apparently increased slightly?

The NICD figures are taken from 128 health facilities in Gauteng, and record 349 COVID-19 cases in Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital alone.

Anecdotally I have not heard such high figures from hospitals, but the estimated total number of active cases seems far too low as well.

It is vitally important that we have accurate figures so that we can track this epidemic and intervene rapidly at hotspots.

MEC Hlophe spends R480 000 on installation of window security on only 15 windows at the Gauteng Archives Centre

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng notes with disappointment that the Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR) has spent R480 000 on the installation of window security on only 15 windows at the Gauteng Archives centre.

The DA is in possession of the approved and finalized requisition where R480 000 was requested and approved for the appointment of a contractor to supply and install window security on only 15 windows at the Gauteng Archives Centre.

In a written reply to my questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) with regards to the installation of window security at the Gauteng Archives Centre, the Gauteng MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation , Mbali Hlophe states that there is no amount attached to the supply and installation of the window security.

The MEC’s response is misleading and shocking because her department has spent a ridiculous amount of money on the installation of window security for only 15 windows, yet she claims no money was spent. 

The quality of the window security is questionable as the service provider mounted a low-quality fence on the windows.

The photos and the video of the window security installed at the Gauteng Archives Centre can be accessed here_ here_ here_ here

The other portions of this fence have been uninstalled, abandoned and hidden on the ground at the back of the centre while the MEC claims that the work was long completed on 15 September 2019.

Furthermore, the requisition and approval of the installation of window security at the Gauteng Archive Centre occurred on the eve of the end of the financial year, March 2019. 

This clearly indicates that this tender was aimed at reducing the department’s under expenditure by the end of the financial year. 

This level of corruption from this department can longer be tolerated.

The DA believes in a government that is committed to service delivery but will not condone attempts to steal public funds and the rendering of poor-quality services to our people.

We are calling for a detailed investigation of this irregular expenditure and for the MEC to explain to the integrity commissioner as to why she provided a misleading response.

We will also table follow-up questions in the GPL to determine the names of those that benefitted from this suspected looting of government funds.

 

Is Gauteng underestimating Covid-19 infections?

The recorded active COVID-19 infections in Gauteng have come down dramatically from 15 402 a week ago to 1984 cases now, but there are still 1858 patients in Gauteng hospitals with this disease according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

This can be compared to the Western Cape which has 4577 recorded active cases but only 625 COVID-19 patients in hospital.

It can normally be expected that 10-20% of COVID-19 cases would end up hospital, which is what we see in the Western Cape, but in Gauteng nearly all the recorded cases are hospitalized.

Previously in this epidemic the Gauteng hospital figures were in the range of 10-20% of total active cases, so there is evidence of a huge undercount of current infections.

According to the National Department of Health, there has been a total of 230 559 COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, with 4870 deaths and 223 705 recoveries, which means a recovery rate of 97%.

The Gauteng Health Department last gave figures for Thursday 5 November when it reported 1730 patients in hospital.

It is important that we have accurate figures about current infections in order to detect trends and intervene early in hotspots.

I suspect that we are not doing enough tests in the right places, and this needs to be fixed urgently.

 

 

Broken theatres delay cardiac ops at Steve Biko Hospital

Cardiac patients at the Steve Biko Hospital are waiting for weeks for surgery due to only 4 out of 11 theatres being functional.

It is unclear why so many theatres are unable to be used but the waiting time is three weeks for a simple angiogram procedure.

Both doctors and patients are frustrated by the delays in doing essential heart surgery. Some of the patients have spent weeks at the cardiac ward waiting for their operations.

This follows a problem of broken lifts at the hospital in September which was greatly inconvenient for sick people.

Broken machinery is unfortunately a common problem in state hospitals in Gauteng because of poor maintenance.

Last month more than 100 operations were cancelled at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital because of broken air-conditioning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to massive surgery backlogs that need to be cut as soon as possible, but this can only be done if all machinery is well-maintained and functional.