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Gauteng businesses found guilty of criminal offences still allowed to do business with Gauteng government

This week I have tabled questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to the MEC for Finance Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, regarding blacklisted businesses who have been found guilty of a criminal offence to prevent them from doing business with government.

In a report released by Corruption Watch, it has come to light that there are no business names on the tender defaulter’s registry which is of extreme concern to the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the province.

When businesses are listed on this registry, government is by law prohibited from doing business with them.

This is very worrying to me, given the massive amount of corruption that was seen at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic when it was discovered that the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) tender was not awarded in an open and fair manner.

Our residents of Gauteng deserve to have their money spent in a proper manner that will ensure that only the best service providers are awarded government tenders and that there is value for money.

Furthermore, it is only the City of Cape Town that has listed suppliers on another database called, the Database for Restricted Suppliers. This database prevents companies who have not yet been convicted of an offence to not be able to do business in the public procurement market.

Both databases play an important role in ensuring that only companies who are committed to undergoing a transparent and open tender process are allowed to bid for government tenders. Thus, ensuring that there is proper value for money and that public funds are spent in the best possible way.

It is quite clear that only the DA-led Western Cape is committed to ensuring that businesses who are providing a service to the residents of the province are doing so within the confines of the law.

Through the mechanisms in place at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, I will continue to demand that all businesses who have been found guilty of a criminal offence or tender irregularities are put on the tender defaulter’s registry as a matter of urgency.

It is high time that corruption is rooted out within the ranks of government.

Our taxpayers’ hard-earned money cannot be abused by unscrupulous businesses and politicians who only care about lining their own pockets.

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Former Merafong Mayor rewarded with deployment to Gauteng Legislature, while residents continue to suffer

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng notes with deep concern the deployment of the disgraced former ANC Mayor of Merafong, Sara Madinge Letsie, to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).

Letsie was complicit in the illegal R50 million investment with VBS Mutual Bank, which will never be recovered.

The swearing-in of Letsie as a member of the GPL for the ANC is just another case of cadre deployment despite her not looking after the best interests of our ratepayers.

Letsie was ousted as Merafong Mayor by her own caucus on 1 April 2021 and replaced by acting Mayor Mogomotsi Sello. Since then, Merafong ratepayers have been short-changed as Letsie did not make any meaningful contribution in Council or work with residents to improve their lives.

It is clear that the ANC-led government in this province is only looking after their own interests and not that of the public at large.

Service delivery in Merafong has all but collapsed and instead of bringing those officials responsible to book, they are instead deployed to another position within government.

If Letsie’s track record and the work ethic she displayed in Merafong is anything to go by, the GPL will have gained nothing but another cadre who is not fit for purpose.

It is clear that the residents, not only of Merafong, but of Gauteng, in general, are in desperate need of a change in government. A government that will put their needs first and not their own.

Where the DA governs, we ensure that we do so in a transparent manner and make sure that every rand spent is done so in the interest of our people.

Local Government Elections are coming up! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

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DA terribly saddened at the passing of MPL Lebo More

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is totally heartbroken to learn of the passing of our colleague and friend, Lebo More, a DA Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.

Lebo had been serving the DA as the Shadow MEC for Sports, Arts, Recreation and Culture in the province – a role which saw him take on many issues, including the non-payment of Covid-19 relief funding for struggling artists and athletes.

Lebo first joined the DA in 2003, where he was shortly elected as the DA Youth Branch Chairperson at the Mogale City Branch. Between 2005 and 2013, Lebo continued his work in politics, where he became a member of the DA Gauteng Commission on Youth and then as a Councillor in Mogale City that saw him go on to serve as Deputy Chief Whip for the DA’s caucus in that municipality.

In 2013, Lebo was sworn in as a MPL in the Gauteng Legislature.

Lebo’s record of unconditional and dedicated public service was a demonstration of his commitment to fight against corruption and help build a South Africa for all. He leaves his DA colleagues, family and friends in mourning, while still honoured to have known and worked with him.

We hope his soul finds everlasting peace. He will never be forgotten.

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While DA in Tshwane proudly shows support for LGBTQIA+ community, ANC backtracks on raising pride flag

Despite the adoption of a Democratic Alliance (DA) motion in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) on 15th June 2021 to show support for the LGBTQIA+ community by raising the pride flag over the GPL, the ANC Speaker to date has still failed to ensure the flag has been raised over the province’s highest decision making body.

Further to this, the DA is also deeply disheartened by the attitude of the Speaker in the Johannesburg Council who disallowed a motion by DA Councillor Chris Avant-Smith to have the pride flag flown over the Johannesburg Council. The DA can only surmise that the office of the Speaker and the Mayor are innately opposed to this important issue based on personal prejudice and a lack of understanding of the inclusivity of the Constitution of South Africa which enshrines the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The lack of enthusiasm by both these ANC-led legislature bodies to show uncategorical support for LGBTQIA+ South Africans is horrifying, especially with many recent cases of homophobic-based violence in the province and across South Africa. Of these attacks, the recent murder of Anele Bhengu in KwaZulu-Natal comes to mind. Anele, who was a young lesbian, was stabbed to death and found in a ditch almost two weeks ago.

South Africans of the LGBTQIA+ community now more than ever, need to see solidarity from their public representatives across all spheres of government. While the ANC seems to drag their feet on demonstrating their support, the DA does not hesitate in advocating for the rights of all South Africans.

During a meeting of the Tshwane Council yesterday, DA Councillor Malcolm de Klerk called on the Council to raise the pride flag in the chamber. The Speaker of the Council allowed this, followed by a declaration of support from the Council for the LGBTQIA+ community, including positioning the City of Tshwane to fully realise programmes that will serve and protect its LGBTQIA+ citizens.

The DA remains committed to fighting against any form of injustice or attacks of any kind against any member of the LGBTQIA+ community. We will not stop until every member of the community is free and safe in their country, in their province, in their city, and in their home.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

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Gauteng 2021/22 budget is a missed opportunity but the priority is getting through this Covid Crisis

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has voted against the 2021/22 Budget that was tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) earlier today.

Despite a year of lockdowns, with many irrational, livelihood-damaging restrictions while thousands of lives lost to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has failed to learn from their mistakes and produce a budget that sufficiently equips the province’s health efforts in combating the virus, as well as providing suitable reforms for economic growth that can actually result in the opening of new job opportunities.

This was the opportunity for the GPG to produce a budget that could have really answered to the dismal health and Covid-19 response in the province.

The rising third wave in this province is claiming more innocent lives. Many residents have lost a loved one to Covid-19, often receiving news of their passing in a hospital ward all alone, other residents have faced retrenchment, forced to sell their homes or cars to keep their heads above water.

Unfortunately the third wave is upon us and it is too late to turn around. Together we can stop the rise in infections if we take the necessary precautions. We still have the power to stabilise the case numbers by taking the personal responsibility for our actions. If we can ensure our continuous mask wearing, hand sanitising, and limiting who we physically interact with outside of work, we can get out of the third wave a lot faster, and work towards economic recovery where new jobs can be created, and those that had to resort to extremes like selling their homes or cars, or did not even own anything of value before the pandemic, can have new opportunities to pursue and have financial stability.

We as residents can defeat this virus and deadly third wave. We got through the first and second wave and we will get through this again.

Let us all do our part and support the health department’s efforts. Once we are through the crisis, we will review and demand accountability. But right now it is about survival – life and death.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

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Gauteng residents need a government that will invest in infrastructure projects to improve service delivery

In the DA’s Vision, the government enables an economy that creates jobs, elevates people out of poverty and provides opportunity for all South Africans. A government can do this by investing heavily in infrastructure projects that improve service delivery, thereby uplifting the lives of our people through better schools, better health services and better transport systems.  

That’s why WesGro in the Western Cape has succeeded in raising more than R5billion in foreign direct investment through which 3000 new jobs were secured, far exceeding its targets.  

But if we compare this performance to that of the GIFA, the funding agency that is kept alive by part of budget vote 14, you can only but feel disappointed.  

Each year, the GIFA provides a list of its projects. Some disappear from one year to the next. Some projects re-appear a year or two later. Very seldom do projects reach the point where construction work begins, bringing hope of jobs and more capacity for service delivery. 

In our quarterly and annual reports, not only do we see missed targets but also losses like R4.69m due to fruitless and wasteful expenditure.  

The wage bill of this entity has skyrocketed and increased by R4 059 000 to R30 625 000.  

The Finance Committee recently engaged with clients of the agency. We heard about delays upon delays and the supportive voices could point out R5-6 million of sponsorship of feasibility studies here and there and the tabling of the odd spreadsheet every now and again.  

My impression was that those clients were grateful for the money, believing at some stage that there would be public-private partnerships that would give the headache of infrastructure financing and construction to someone else. But very little has been seen of these much-anticipated partnerships. GIFA ascribes this failure to “lack of appetite in the market”.   

Thus, they invariably turn to DBSA. Colleagues, the client departments could have just picked up the phone to DBSA themselves. Frankly, the GIFA’s resources could be better applied elsewhere.  

But where Gauteng fails Western Cape succeeds. I strongly urge that we follow their example and see that our people get jobs, better schools, health facilities, roads and housing.  

I thank you.  

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DA calls for urgent debate on failure to reopen Joburg hospital

I have today requested the Gauteng Legislature Speaker Ntombi Mekgwe for an urgent debate in the Gauteng Legislature on the failure to reopen the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (CMJH).

The hospital was closed after a fire on 16 April, but it has not reopened despite an assessment that most of the building is structurally sound, and the pressing need to save the lives of patients who require specialist care.

Senior doctors have called for safe sections of the hospital to be reopened as soon as possible, but it is unclear why this has not happened despite promises by the provincial government.

Patients who are most affected include cancer patients who need chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and kidney patients who require dialysis.

It is critical that the ICU beds at CMJH for Covid-19 patients are available for use as soon as possible as we face a devastating third wave of the epidemic.

The Gauteng public health system is in crisis as other hospitals are crowded with hundreds of CMJH patients.

There needs to be accountability for the failure to speedily reopen this 1000-bed hospital, as it is causing immense suffering to patients and will lead to deaths the longer it is closed.

The debate on this matter will go ahead at the sitting on Tuesday if Speaker Mekgwe grants my request that it be considered as a matter of urgent public importance.

This will hopefully pressurise Premier David Makhura to give a clear answer on the opening of the hospital.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

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e-Tolls an obstacle to economic growth in Gauteng

Speaker 

As the velocity of money creates economies, so does the velocity of people and goods feed economic growth. Anything that inhibits such growth must be opposed. e-Tolls is one of those obstacles in Gauteng. Given the fact that Gauteng is the largest contributor to South Africa’s GDP, we cannot afford any measure that inhibits the flow of people and goods, as well as our economy. 

The flow of people is not just to get to work but also to access work opportunities. e-Tolls increases the cost of transport in the province that inhibits work seekers to access job opportunities and causes an increase in basic goods, as logistics companies have to give the additional transport costs through to consumers. 

These are some of the main reasons why we oppose e-Tolls in an urban conurbation like Gauteng. Especially given our dominant role in the economy. 

The resolution is to remove e-Tolls to lower the cost of transport in the province, that will contribute to economic growth, which is now more needed than ever. Then a proper transport master plan with mode prioritisation needs to be put in place that will direct transport investment and move private vehicle users to public transport. There also needs to be incentives in place for the use of public transport and ride-sharing to promote mode-sharing. This can be done through tax incentives. One of the promoters of the use of private vehicles is the tax incentives for business use. If the tax incentive is restructured then this could promote the increased use of public transport. 

It is understood why e-Tolls was considered. The cost of continuously building, maintaining and expanding roads is very high. The growth of vehicles registered in Gauteng annually is not matched by the increase in the capacity of roads to accommodate the growth in vehicles. Thus, e-Tolls wanted to discourage private vehicle use and encourage public transport use. The reason why private vehicles are preferred is because of the bad quality, and in some instances the collapse of public transport in our province. An unattractive option. 

It was disingenuous to introduce e-Tolls in the hope that motorists in our province would be forced onto public transport when this provincial government has done basically nothing to expand and improve public transport. If we had access to reliable, safe, extensive, and affordable public transport, e-Tolls would not even have to be considered. 

We are here today to call on the Gauteng provincial government to place more pressure on national government to make a final decision on e-Tolls. The ANC in our province has flip flopped on e-Tolls so many times before and after the preceding three elections, that I am not sure whether they are indeed serious about their province by getting rid of e-Tolls. 

The Premier passing the buck to national government does not absolve him from responsibility to place even more pressure on national government to make a final decision on e-Tolls. He has not yet exhausted all options and the one option he still has available to him is to declare a dispute with national government on the matter. This will prove to us that he is serious about getting finality on the tolling system. 

Minister Mbalula has been stringing us along since 2019 promising to make an announcement on e-Tolls time and again. So far, he has failed 100% of the time on his promises. Mr Fix It has become Mr Broken Promises and it is difficult to believe him when he promises an imminent announcement on e-Tolls. We can no longer allow him to string our province along and not taking us seriously. 

Without pressure, the e-Tolls matter will remain hanging like a foul stench in Gauteng. The residents of this province want finality on the matter and not any further empty promises ahead of elections. Premier Makhura needs to act and act now! He needs to use the options available to him and he needs to declare an intergovernmental dispute with the national government so that we can finally see some action on e-Tolls. 

It is now time to recover the economy of this province.  This will be achieved by unblocking the movement of people and goods. Our province is in dire need of job creating economic growth and the first step to attaining this is by getting rid of e-Tolls for once and for all. 

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Gauteng Treasury develops payment monitoring tool for contractors following pressure from DA

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is pleased to note that the Gauteng Provincial Treasury (GPT) has developed a tool to monitor the performance of the main contractor when a tender has been awarded. In addition to this, this tool will also allow the department to track whether a sub-contractor has been paid on time. This monitoring tool will also ensure accurate reporting as the department acknowledged that they were under reporting on information regarding sub-contractors

The tool is active now and all departments have been trained to be able to use it effectively. The “Go live” date is set for 1 April 202. Any contract with a value of R30 million and bigger the main contractor must subcontract, therefore the sub-contractor info will be captured immediately after the tender has been awarded.

Last year, the DA raised concerns about the fact that the department currently had no system in place to track whether sub-contractors who are awarded part of a tender are paid on time, when it emerged that there was no system in place to track the payments of sub-contractors who were working on the construction of the Akasia Library in Tshwane.

Subsequent to this, the DA raised this concern during a Finance Portfolio Committee meeting that there was irregular or non-payment of sub-contractors by main contractors. At this committee meeting where the 4th quarter performance report for the 2018/2019 financial year was deliberated, a recommendation was adopted by the meeting that the GPT should develop a reporting model by main contractors to ensure that the payment of sub-contractors is regularised and that there is a transfer of skills.

The DA has been pushing for this initiative for a while, as no formal legislation is in place to track and monitor the payments of sub-contractors. We especially welcome the fact that it will be mostly SMMEs who previously struggled to get paid and sometimes lost their businesses due to non-payment, will benefit from the new system.

I will be closely monitoring the roll-out of this tool to ensure that sub-contractors are paid on time. This is critical if we want to grow the economy in Gauteng and create the correct environment for job creation as well as for SMMEs to flourish.

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#MakhuraNotFitToGovern: DA calls on Speaker to arrange Special Sitting for MONC

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has written to the Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), Ntombi Lentheng Mekgwe to request that a special sitting of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature be held as a matter of urgency to debate the Motion of No Confidence (MONC) in Premier Makhura that was submitted on Friday to the GPL.

The DA is calling for the immediate removal of Premier Makhura because he has been implicated in a number of PPE corruption scandals.

If this province is serious about the delivery of services to its residents in a clear and transparent manner, the Speaker of the GPL will adhere to the DA’s call for a special sitting to be held.

It cannot be business as usual when the public purse has been looted by government officials and when tenders for the supply of goods and services is not done in an open and transparent manner.

The DA cannot allow a Premier who has been implicated in corruption to continue to hold office any longer and he needs to be removed immediately.

The same vigor that was applied to the dismissal of MEC Masuku for his involvement in corruption must be applied to Premier Makhura.