ANC Gauteng Government has no appetite for accountability

The ANC-run Gauteng Government has no appetite to stamp out corruption and stem financial mismanagement, nor does it have stomach to prosecute individuals found guilty of mismanaging public funds.

According to the Public Service Commission (PSC) of the 87 cases reported to it in the 2016/17 financial year, 78 individuals were found guilty of financial mismanagement yet no criminal action for violation of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) was take in 89% of cases.

Similarly, only 5% of guilty individuals were dismissed from their positions – the lowest rate in four years.

The PSC also noted that departments are negligent in recovering monies that have gone missing. The total amount of money involved in cases relating to financial misconduct in 2016/17 amounted to R198 312 821.71, yet the total amount recovered only came in at R282 428.80.

Gross negligence, 17 cases and theft, 52 cases account for the most types of cases reported.

High on the PSC’s radar are the Departments of Economic Development and Sports, Arts, Recreation and Culture who completely failed to submit any finalised cases to the body in contravention of Section 85 of the PFMA.

The lack of willpower by departments to prosecute and recover stolen money is a disservice to the people of Gauteng who will now go without much needed services as a result.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura announced that he has established an ethics and corruption committee to tackle the challenges faced by his administration, but until there is political will to act, this committee will be another toothless grouping of individuals with more bark than bite.

Gauteng Health Budget Crisis – another Esidimeni?

The following was delivered in the form of a Member Statement in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature:

I wish to express concern about the financial mismanagement and budget crisis in the Gauteng Department of Health.

Alarm bells should be ringing when the Sheriff of the Court has to remove furniture from the Gauteng Health Head Office to force payment for medical negligence, but the Department still does not pay.

The telephone lines are cut at head office and at the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital, but the Department still does not pay.

Vital equipment at hospitals is not repaired because suppliers are not paid.

Increasingly, companies do not want to do business with the Department because they are not paid in reasonable time, which is supposed to be 30 days.

And now the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital is struggling because agency nurses have been withdrawn because of non-payment.

I shudder to think what is next.

Urgent intervention is needed to fix the finances of this Department, otherwise we will face another Esidimeni, with increasing avoidable deaths because of deteriorating health services.

You have been warned. Please do something about it.

Rahima Moosa Hospital struggles without agency nurses

The Rahima Moosa Maternity Hospital in west Johannesburg is struggling as nurses have been withdrawn by a nursing agency that has not been paid.

This is yet another ill-effect of the Gauteng Health Department’s financial mismanagement.

Last week was grueling for staff trying to cope without the agency nurses in an extremely busy hospital which delivers about 14 000 babies a year.

There are two emergency operating theatres but only one is being used because of the nursing shortage.

This could put lives at risk if there is a surge in the need for emergency caesarean operations.

The financial woes of the Department has led to telephone cuts, machines not repaired and now a hospital trying to ensure safe births without enough nurses.

We need to know urgently what is being done to rectify the finances of the department so that it can pay all its suppliers on time.

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

[Image source]

Carletonville Testing Centre Turning Motorists Away

The Merafong municipality’s failure to maintain equipment at the Carletonville Testing Centre is forcing motorists to travel 40 km to the next nearest centre in Randfontein.

The machine used to test brakes at the centre needs to be re-calibrated, but the municipality has stonewalled the approval of the R15 000 payment required to do so.

Amid the already tumultuous financial situation the municipality finds itself in – it is now losing an estimated R50 000 to R100 000 a month in unperformed roadworthy tests.

The DA is particularly concerned over the impact this would have on road safety in the area, as well the local economy.

Not every vehicle owner will be able to travel to Randfontein due to cost constraints and limited time off from work, potentially increasing the number of unroadworthy vehicles on the roads.

Quality service delivery should not be curtailed because a municipality refuses to acknowledge the long-term income benefit from a short term outlay.

The DA will engage with Gauteng Roads and Transport MEC Ismail Vadi and request that he ensure Merafong fast track this payment.

 

Media Enquiries:

Ina Cilliers MPL

DA Gauteng Constituency Head – Merafong

060 556 4344

West Rand Metro: Debt Burden will Strangle Service Delivery

Proposed West Rand Metropolitan Municipality

The proposed West Rand Metropolitan municipality will be saddled with a combined debt of over R1,5 billion – which will severely compromise quality service delivery.

According to the latest Government Gazette on Gauteng’s municipal statements, West Rand municipalities carry a massive debt burden outstanding more than 90 days.

  • Merafong – R588,95 million;
  • Mogale City – R629,89 million;
  • Randfontein – R199,01 million; and
  • West Rand District – R1,146 million.

Financial Mismanagement

Due to continuous financial mismanagement, Westonaria was unable to report on its debtors, but that would only add to an already unmanageable debt burden for the proposed metro.

While mayors and municipal officials claim that the merger would assist individual municipalities struggling with service delivery issues, the fact is that streamlining service delivery mechanisms and practices will have massive cost implications.

Furthermore, claims that sharing and redistribution of financial resources would improve service delivery standards and efficiency are completely misguided as the metro inherits more debt than income.

The formation of a West Rand Metro will severely affect the quality of life of almost a million of Gauteng’s residents, and government must heed the lessons learnt from the Tshwane experience – where after four years, it still struggles with a debt burden of over R1 billion, and only received R20 million from national government.

The people of the West Rand deserve local government that is close to them and in tune with their service delivery needs.

#NoToWRMetro

 

Media enquiries:

Solly Msimanga MPL

DA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson

060 558 8308

Audit Outcomes: West Rand Municipalities on a Continued Decline

Audit Performances of Municipalities

The DA in Gauteng welcomes the improved audit performances of municipalities across the province as it is an indication of improved financial management.

Although improved audit outcomes do not automatically imply financial stability, they are a good gauge of improved financial sustainability.

Unfortunately the complete picture of audit outcomes in the province is not so rosy – particularly the negative audit outcomes among various West Rand municipalities and their entities.

The West Rand District Municipality, Randfontein Municipality and the West Rand Development Agency all deteriorated in their audit outcomes, while Westonaria failed to submit financial statements for auditing.

Gauteng Provincial Department for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA)

A major concern is that this occurred despite the Gauteng Provincial Department for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) taking extensive measures to assist these municipalities in improving their audit outcomes.

MEC for COGTA in Gauteng, Jacob Mamabolo, must explain how his department failed to improve the financial standing of these municipalities.

Proposed West Rand Merger

These municipalities have been identified to be merged into a West Rand metropolitan municipality – a move the DA vehemently opposes.

Municipalities should not even be considered for mergers unless all the constituents are financially and managerially sound.

Lumping failing municipalities together will only cause financial mismanagement on a grander scale. The proposed West Rand Metro is destined to fail before it gets off the ground putting the lives of residents at serious risk.

Even if the proposed metro merger does not take place, the two most dysfunctional municipalities, Westonaria and Randfontein, will be merged after the 2016 local government elections.

MEC Jacob Mamabolo

MEC Mamabolo should step up and take responsibility for his department’s failure in dealing with the managerial woes of West Rand municipalities.

He should also show leadership and halt the current attempted formation of a West Rand Metro until all its constituents have sorted out their financial affairs – failure to do so would be irresponsible.

 

Media enquiries:

Fred Nel MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

083 263 2427

[Image source]

Financial mismanagement by Gauteng Health puts patients at risk

Financial Strain

Financial mismanagement by the Gauteng Health Department puts patients’ health at serious risk.

In a written response to a DA question MEC Qedani Mahlangu alluded to non-availability of medicines being a result of national suppliers failing to build up necessary stock to meet the province’s needs.

Yet, the Department’s third quarterly report noted that shortages in medicine supply are partly as a result of non-payment to smaller suppliers in the province. The report further noted delays in payment due to shortages of funds.

MEC Mahlangu must stop pointing fingers at medical suppliers and get her house in order.

Medicine Shortages

The DA has on numerous occasions pointed out the financial strain stock-outs have placed on patients at state owned hospitals.

In February my colleague and DA Gauteng Health Shadow MEC Jack Bloom was contacted by a pensioner who’s had to spend R6000 due to medicine shortages at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital.

In March the DA also had reports from an unemployed mother who had to pay R450 for medicine for her brain-damaged child, after being told by Daveyton Hospital staff that they had no supplies.

The Department’s non-payment has seen a decreased production in essential medicines leading to the use of more expensive ones, increasing costs. Treating simple medical infections with more expensive and potent drugs will not only see an increase in drug resistance, but an unsustainable financial burden on the Department.

MEC Mahlangu Must Get the Job Done

To this end the DA calls on MEC Mahlangu to make use of the current management model and get the job done. Basic economics based on supply and demand can only be achieved through proper financial management, meaning that suppliers have to be paid on time so demand can be met.

Administrative management from primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare is essential to ensuring that right to accessible and quality health care.

 

Media enquiries:

Mike Moriarty MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Finance

082 492 4410

[Image source]