DA to continue with its fight to ensure that a motion of no confidence in Premier Makhura is tabled

Gauteng residents continue to suffer poor basic service delivery from the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) under the leadership of Premier David Makhura.

Under his leadership, Gauteng residents have only been made promise after promise with no tangible solution to their basic needs being met.

Since taking office, Premier Makhura has promised to ensure that job opportunities are created, that the township economy is revitalised and that the current housing backlog which is over a million is addressed. However, none of the above promises has materialised.

Therefore, we will continue to put pressure on the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s (GPL) programming committee to put our motion of no confidence (MONC) in Premier Makhura on the agenda of the next GPL sitting.

Makhura has become known as the no-action Premier. Full of promises but lacking in delivery. The DA has built a very strong case as to why Makhura is unfit to continue as Premier of Gauteng as he continues failing to arrest corruption in his administration, curb crime and stimulate economic growth in the province.

The DA remains committed to seeing our MONC in Makhura despite speculation that he may be removed. We believe that Makhura needs to answer to the people of Gauteng for his underperformance which he must do during the MONC debate.

Furthermore, the DA does not expect a better performance from MEC Lesufi who is mooted to replace Makhura. Gauteng residents can expect more of the same from him as he will be a hamstrung Premier who will not be allowed by his party to act against corruption. He would ultimately have to answer to a PEC controlled by his rival, MEC Lebogang Maile, rendering Lesufi a lame duck premier.

The only way to deal with constant failing ANC premiers is by voting the ANC out of power in Gauteng in 2024 and replacing it with a capable DA government.

Makhura prioritised party over province, at the expense of service delivery

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng looks forward to the debate and vote on our motion of no confidence (MONC) against Premier, David Makhura in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature tomorrow, 2nd March 2021.

As the Official Opposition, it is critical for the DA to represent the residents of Gauteng who have been negatively affected by Makhura’s failed government. Further to this, the DA has a duty to hold those in government to account when they do not deliver on their promises.

Over half of the promises Makhura made in his first 100 days in office, remain unfulfilled. These include failing to lease land and unutilised buildings to businesses that would result in job creation; failing to build a partnership with the Taxi industry and municipalities to transform taxi rank facilities to become vibrant economic nodes in all townships and CBDs; and failing to fill all hospital CEO posts.

This clearly demonstrates that Makhura was a man of all talk, but no action. Instead of delivering on his promises to the people of Gauteng, Makhura and his government delivered scandal after scandal.

Years after the horrible tragedy at Life Esidimeni, 81 claimants had still not been paid their compensation by November 2020; over 18 months since the Bank of Lisbon Fire, the Premier has still failed to release the investigation report; and last year alone saw widescale Personal Protective Equipment tender corruption, wasteful school deep cleaning expenditure, and the continuous systemic collapse of municipalities like Emfuleni and Merafong.

The only tangible explanation that one can draw from this disaster of a term for Makhura is that governing for the people of Gauteng was never his primary objective.

The evident case in point was the illegal dissolution of the Tshwane Municipal Council last year. Never before have we seen a Provincial Executive move so quickly to illegally remove an opposition party from government. All the while, this government continued to work at a snail’s pace in addressing failing municipalities where the ANC governed. The worst of this is that Makhura did not act in accordance with spirit of the Constitution or for the residents of Tshwane by stopping the dissolution, but instead encouraged it. This resulted in more wasteful expenditure by section 139 administrators, who left the municipality in a worse state compared to when they seized control. It took a High Court ruling to prove how government compromised the Constitution by instituting an illegal intervention.

Makhura’s only objective since the start of his term, was to serve his party over the province. Every decision and action has been considered with the ANC first in mind. The residents cannot have a Premier who operates as such. This is why the DA’s MONC is critical. It is the first democratic step in holding this failing Premier to account.

DA calls on Speaker to allow secret ballot for motion of no confidence in Makhura

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the decision by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Programming Committee to schedule the DA’s motion of no confidence (MONC) in Premier, David Makhura, for Tuesday, 2nd March 2021.

This follows an initial attempt by the ANC to refuse the scheduling, which clearly exposed them for protecting Makhura from accountability.

We are pleased that the ANC finally came to their senses and allowed constitutional democracy to be exercised by the Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs).

The DA however, calls on the Speaker of the Legislature, Ntombi Lentheng Mekgwe to allow for a secret ballot in this very critical motion.

It is concerning that ANC MPLs might not feel safe enough to vote with their conscience if they are not protected by anonymity.

The DA believes there are many ANC MPLs who are not pleased with Makhura’s performance as Premier, and would like to vote in the best interest of the residents of Gauteng, as opposed to voting in the best interest of their party. The ANC only has 37 out of 73 seats in the Legislature, while the combined opposition stands at 36.  The 37th seat of the ANC belongs to the Speaker who only has a tie-breaking vote. If just one ANC MPL sides with the opposition, the motion will succeed.

In the spirit of accountable democracy, the DA’s request for a secret ballot should be unconditionally granted.

The time is now for MPLs across party lines to come together and act in the best interest for the people of the province. David Makhura has shown no remorse for his administration’s failures and scandals, and has proven beyond doubt, that he is no longer fit to govern.

 

#NotFitToGovern: Premier Makhura’s office failed to implement investigation recommendations

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is dismayed that the Office of the Premier, David Makhura has failed to implement 86% of the forensic investigation recommendations from the 2019/20 financial year.

This was revealed during a presentation to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on Friday, 5th February.

Included in the presentation was a breakdown of each department’s recommendations that had been implemented, were in progress, or not implemented.

The other offending departments include Transport with 54% of their recommendations not implemented, the Department of Health with 34%, and the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs with 59% unimplemented.

39% of the total forensic investigation recommendations across all provincial departments for the 2019/20 financial year remained unimplemented.

These figures are indicative of Premier Makhura’s inability to govern, and lead by true example for other MECs to follow. The worst is that these investigations were made in the financial year before the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. Since then, Covid-19 related corruption has exploded in the province, with the Premier’s office now accused of interfering in the appointment of service providers for Personal Protective Equipment.

This just simply demonstrates Makhura’s poor track record since the beginning of the term and why he is no longer fit to govern. If the Office of the Premier cannot implement at the very least, the bulk of recommendations from a previous financial year, how can the residents of Gauteng trust him to govern effectively in the current and future years?

This is all the more reason for Makhura to go. The stakes are higher than ever before for Gauteng with the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. The residents of this province deserve a Premier who is serious about cleaning up government.

#MakhuraNotFitToGovern: 28 months and still no report on the Bank of Lisbon fire fiasco

28 Months after the Bank of Lisbon fire fiasco, Premier David Makhura is yet to release the report on the criminal investigation into the matter.

There have been unnecessary delays in releasing this report despite the DA laying a charge against three Gauteng MECs and the heads of four provincial government departments for the neglectful actions that led to the death of three firefighters and numerous injuries suffered by others in the fire that broke out.

This is yet another reason why Premier Makhura is not fit to govern Gauteng.

The Premier clearly does not want to govern this province in a clear and transparent manner.

If there is nothing to hide, then the Premier must release the findings of the criminal investigation into the Bank of Lisbon fire. At the time of the Bank of Lisbon fire, then MEC Jacob Mamabolo indicated that the building was only 21% compliant.

The reason for lack of safety standards in Gauteng’s building assets is that the Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) does not possess the skills nor resources to implement the legislation required to maintain the conditional integrity of the infrastructure.

Premier Makhura is well aware of this and in terms of his oversight role, he should have taken cognizance and proposed remedial action. Instead, he denies his own oversight responsibility, as he has done in the case of the Life Esidimeni deaths and the Gauteng PPE corruption scandal.

Who is running the show? With whom does the buck stop? The Premier’s lack of accountability and oversight has caused death and misery. It is time for him to go and hand the baton to someone who can be trusted by the people of Gauteng.

Premier Makhura not fit to govern Gauteng: DA asks Hawks to urgently investigate Makhura’s corruption scandals

Today, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has submitted a letter to the Hawks calling for an urgent investigation into the full extent of the corruption scandals that have occurred under Premier Makhura’s watch.

Since the inception of the national lockdown as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic Gauteng has been plagued with corruption scandals.

Following the recent revelations by the former Gauteng Health Department chief financial officer, Kabelo Lehloenya that Premier Makhura gave her the names of the companies to appoint to supply and deliver PPEs in the province there is an urgent need for action to be taken against Premier Makhura.

The following are some of the corruption scandals that have happened while the people of Gauteng suffer under the Covid pandemic:

  • R2,2 billion was spent by the Gauteng Department of Health on fishy PPE suppliers in three months last year. The department paid inflated prices above the National Treasury’s regulated PPE price list and the husband of the President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khuselo Diko reportedly scored part of this contract to supply PPE’s for the Covid-19 pandemic,
  • Premier Makhura has been implicated in the Gauteng Department of Health PPE scandals by the former Gauteng Health Department chief financial officer, Kabelo Lehloenya who stated in her affidavit to the special tribunal that Premier Makhura gave her the names of the companies to appoint to supply and deliver PPEs in the province,
  • AngloGold Ashanti hospital on the far West Rand received R500 million worth of funding in order to equip it with extra beds and facilities to treat Covid-19 patients. The wards are still incomplete and are under construction. The completed areas have no equipment and there is no indication that the hospital will be ready for use anytime soon,

The Gauteng Department of Education has spent more than R431 million on sanitising schools in three months between June and August last year.

It is critical now more than ever that the standard that was set with the dismissal of MEC Masuku is also applied to Premier Makhura and that Premier Makhura is investigated to determine the extent of his involvement in these corruption scandals.

As the Premier of Gauteng, Makhura has failed in his oversight duty to safeguard our coffers and he must be held accountable for failing to prevent corruption in this province.

It is sad and disgraceful that the heads of the province are tainted by corruption scandals with the money meant to save lives during this critical period of Covid-19 pandemic.

The DA will be calling for an urgent sitting in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) and we will be tabling a motion of no confidence in Makhura as he has shown that he is not fit to govern Gauteng.

We will also be exploring other mechanisms to ensure that Makhura is held to account.

While awaiting a full investigation by the Hawks, I will also be writing to President Ramaphosa to act against Makhura as a matter of urgency.