Under Premier Makhura’s leadership, unemployment and poverty has increased drastically

Ndza Khensa,

Honourable members, fellow South Africans, and the people of Gauteng

We have a Gauteng Premier that is full of empty promises, more plans and that has established several war rooms and tasks teams yet very little to show for how his government has improved the quality of lives of the people of Gauteng. 

On Monday, Premier David Makhura delivered the 8th edition of his theoretical plans full of empty promises.

Premier, I sat, watched, and listened to you deliver your 8th State of the Province Address. What I saw on Monday is an incapable and incompetent Premier who has no political will to lead and has lost leadership control for his executive members.

Perhaps what you delivered on Monday was your farewell speech, your last State of the Province Address as you prepare to leave office. 

What exactly has Premier Makhura done for the people of Gauteng since 2014, and what legacy will he leave behind?

Mr Premier, your legacy is the killing of mentally ill patients at Life Esidimeni; the stealing of public funds meant to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and the urbanisation of poverty.

Mr Premier, you have done very little for the people of this province. You sat and folded your hands when your friends and comrades were looting the PPE funds and then acted surprised. You did the same thing when your government killed Life Esidimeni patients, you pretended that you were not aware of what was happening within the Gauteng Department of Health.

Your biggest failure Mr Premier has been the management of the economy since you came into office in 2014. When you came into office, the unemployment rate in Gauteng was 24,6 percent and currently is sitting at 37 percent  by the time you leave this office, it would be approaching 50 percent.

There were 4,8 million employed people in the province in 2014, and now there are 4,4 million employed people. Under the leadership of Premier Makhura, more than 400 000 people have lost their jobs. The number of unemployed has increased by more than 1 million in the years that you have been in charge.

This is a shame, and no wonder even your comrades cannot wait to see you leave. You have failed the people of Gauteng, particularly the young people because under your leadership we have seen poverty and unemployment skyrocket in Gauteng.

Honourable members, the premier has been talking about the Gauteng Township Economic Bill as the panacea or the pill that will cure his failures over the last 8 years. As I listened to him on Monday, I remembered what the former President Kgalema Motlanthe once said in 2007:

This rot is across the board. It’s not confined to any level or any area of the country. Almost every project is conceived because it offers opportunities for certain people to make money. A great deal of the ANC’s problems are occasioned by this.”

Let the truth be told the Gauteng Township Economic Bill is not about assisting small businesses and entrepreneurs in Gauteng but primarily about the township development fund. The fund will only enable the connected elites to steal from the government coffers. This is the reason why the fund is designed to have its own board, employees, and offices.

If you were serious about the interests of the small business owners and entrepreneurs, you would have used the existing provincial development finance institutions without the need to create another government entity.

Mr Premier, you have indicated that you will be establishing a war room to unlock the potential in the province to reduce the number of unemployed people. Do you need to be reminded of the last time we had a war room in this province when people looted PPE funds right under your watch? The people of Gauteng do not need war rooms but deserve a government that will improve their living conditions without stealing their money. Your government has failed on both these scores.

As you prepare to leave the office, I wish you all the best, but the people of Gauteng will not miss you because under your government it has been eight wasted years. The people of our province are now poorer than when you took office.

Ndza Khensa,

Gauteng can only be great again if Premier has the political will to hold his government and officials to account

Madam Speaker,   

Honourable Premier David Makhura,  

Honourable Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature  

I am reminded of the poem written by Wally Serote For Don M. where he says the following:  

“it is a dry white season  

dark leaves don’t last, their brief lives dry out  

and with a broken heart they dive down gently headed for the earth,  

not even bleeding.  

it is a dry white season brother,  

only the trees know the pain as they still stand erect  

dry like steel, their branches dry like wire,  

indeed, it is a dry white season  

but seasons come to pass.”  

Gauteng is currently going through its own ‘dry white season’. How is this possible? Well, let’s take a look the current economic situation in our province.   

UNEMPLOYMENT AND REVILISATION OF THE TOWNSHIP ECONOMY  

The unemployment rate in our province is extremely high.   

Currently this figure stands at 37 percent and has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic which has seen numerous businesses close their doors during the hard lockdown period when the pandemic was at its height.   

To further add to the province’s woes in July last year, this province erupted with violence which saw many residents, particularly those living in the townships, take to the streets in protest and begin looting businesses located in various areas. 

While some may say that this had all the hallmarks of a coup and was not because of poverty, I beg to differ. Our residents are angry and hungry.   

They are fed up with this ‘dry white season’ they are going through.   

They are fed up with government and political promises that are only meant to get political parties votes on election day.   

They no longer just want promise after promise year in and year out.   

For the past eight years we have been hearing the same rhetoric from you Mr Premier about job creation in our province and stimulating our township economy.   

Our residents are tired of empty promises.   

In 2014 provincial government vowed to boost employment and economic inclusion by procuring 75 percent of all goods and services from South African producers, especially SMMEs, townships enterprises and black-owned, women and youth enterprises. This was not achieved.  

Again, a similar promise was made in 2019 that 30 percent of Gauteng’s budget will be spent on procuring goods and services from business in townships. This was also not achieved.   

Madam Speaker, Honourable Premier this is worrying given that if we go into townships like Soweto, you will find businesses owned by residents from the area who are more than capable of providing goods and services that may be needed by government.   

But the major complaint I had from some of these businesses is that they struggle to procure tenders from provincial government and in order for them to get a tiny piece of the pie they have to rely on bigger companies who will then subcontract to them.   

This is the sad reality for our township enterprises and in order for this ‘dry white season’ to come to pass, change is needed – not in two years as I’m afraid by then the damage will be too far gone – but change which you Mr Premier can enact now by doing rather than selling us pipe dreams of a flourishing township economy, job creation programmes for our youth and using a failing infrastructure department as a key driver of jobs in our province.   

We do not need a new bill like the Township Economic Development Bill. This is just creating another entity   

We need action.   

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT  

Infrastructure Development is a key driver of job creation in any economy.   

It is one of the essential arteries of our economy as the maintenance of our critical infrastructure like roads, hospitals, schools, libraries and substations are vital if we want an economy that is able to grow and for a conducive environment to be created for the private sector not just within the borders of our country but also internationally to attract investment to our province.   

But the sad reality is, and Honourable Premier you admitted this at the start of your State of the Province Address (SOPA), that the Department of Infrastructure Development Department has failed in this regard.   

They have failed the residents of Gauteng; they have failed our economy.   

Yet, Premier Makhura you do not want to get rid of this department.   

To this end we have opted to table a motion for the dissolution of the Department of Infrastructure Development and the removal of MEC Tasneem Motora.  Here are but a few examples of critical projects undertaken by the department that have not been completed on time and where it was eventually completed over budget and still have a number of issues that need to be resolved:  

  • The AngloGold Ashanti Hospital, donated to the Gauteng Provincial Government, under the custodianship of the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development in response to the COVID-19 pandemic saw costs balloon from a budgeted R50 million to R500 million while only 6 patients received treatment at this facility  

      
  • Mayibuye Primary School which was handed over to the appointed contractor in 2015 is to date still not complete. Construction took place illegally as building plans had not been approved, the budget of the project has ballooned to over R100 million while the school has been allegedly built on a sewerage line  

      
  • The Nokuthula LSEN School could not receive an occupancy certificate. This school was built on a wetland and the boarding school hostel could not be occupied until remedial work was done. In addition, water damage to the school was extensive.  

     

    This department should be dissolved and the services that this department is supposed to provide should be aligned to the departments, so that the current departments which are the customers/users of the services of infrastructure development should be able to roll out and complete their own projects directly.   

      

    CORRUPTION  

     

    Madam Speaker, Premier Makhura, we all know that corruption within the government departments exist, but the Covid-19 pandemic exposed just how deeply the rot of corruption runs in this province.   

     

    In 2015 a commitment was made by the Premier that the Integrity Management and Anti-Corruption Unit will be fully operational by the end of that year. Again, this did not happen. It is definitely a ‘dry white season’ for this province   

     

    Holding our government officials and public representatives to account is the only way in which we can ensure that the rot of corruption that runs so deep within our provincial government is removed.   

      

    It is the public money that is being looted by thieves masquerading as honourable politicians and officials who unashamedly steal our hard-earned taxes. This needs to end, and it needs to end now. Corruption cannot and should not be the norm in our government structures.    

      

    Under your watch, corruption has festered and has now turned into a cancerous blight on the province that is seemingly very difficult to get rid of because the political will does not exist to do so.    

      

    Furthermore, during last year’s SOPA a promise was made that following the finalisation of 73 forensic investigations and the 66 cases that were referred to law enforcement agencies for criminal investigation and civil recovery that we would see action, yet we do not know the current status of these investigations, and nothing has yet been made public on this.   

     

    Again, we heard the same during this year’s SOPA.   

     

    Madam Speaker, Honourable Premier, it is a ‘dry white season’, but seasons come to pass- in order for this season to pass we need firm political will.  

     

    We need a Premier who is prepared to do what is necessary to ensure that our residents are given proper basic service delivery. We do not need pipe dreams; we do not need any more committees or commissions to be established.   

     

    What we need is for you Premier to make sure that all your MECs do what is required of them and that is to see that our residents live in a province that works like a well-oiled machine, so that this season that we are in can come to pass.   

     

    If this does not happen, we will see more of the protest action that we saw in July as our residents particularly those who are unemployed become more and more disillusioned with your administration.  

      

    Be bold and hold those MECs whose departments are failing when it comes to service delivery to account. Remove them if need be.   
  • ​Over the last eight years Premier, you have either partially met or not met any of the 104 promises you have made during your SOPA speeches. 



    This ship will not continue to float if the rot continues to fester, and this ‘dry white season’ will not come to pass.   

     

    Show us and the residents of Gauteng that you have the political will to deliver basic services to our residents, to grow our economy so that our province can once again be known as the City of Gold that glimmers with hope.   

     

    Where a better life can be built for all who live in this province.   

     

    Let us work towards truly making Gauteng great again.   

      

    I thank you.   

Gauteng Cabinet Scorecard: More of the same complacency and failure

Last year continued to be a difficult year for the residents of Gauteng and the entire country battling with the Covid-19 pandemic that has taken thousands of lives and negatively impacted livelihoods. The role of government became critical as it was the only available hope to protect lives, curb the spread of the virus, and ensure that they sustain the livelihoods of our people. However, during this difficult time the Gauteng government has not stepped up to assist its residents instead, the complacency that existed long before the pandemic in managing public funds and ensuring service delivery has continued unabated.

The Covid-19 has exposed the rotten corruption within the Gauteng government departments and highlighted the severe lack of political leadership. The monies meant to buy life-saving resources were stolen by a few individuals who are tasked with the responsibility to ensure service delivery. The Special Investigative Unit (SIU) report into Gauteng PPE corruption has revealed the department’s failure to adhere to supply chain management processes, Public Finance Management Act and Treasury Regulations, and opening doors for corruption.

The covid-19 lockdown has been used by all the departments as an excuse for not meeting targets and failing to deliver services, yet money has been spent during the Covid-19 period.

After assessing the Gauteng departments response to the Covid-19 crisis and service delivery, here is a scorecard of the Gauteng Premier and his cabinet for 2021:

Premier David Makhura

Another year with Premier David Makhura leading our province, we still find that several departments in Gauteng are in shambles in operations. According to the SIU, Gauteng had the highest number of “reported allegations of corruption regarding PPE tenders”. Of the investigations conducted by the SIU, two-thirds have focused on Gauteng. While Gauteng and the rest of the country faced a once in a lifetime pandemic that devastated the lives and livelihoods of millions, there was wide-scale looting of public funds under the watch of Premier Makhura.

Whistle-blowers are not merely under threat, but these threats are actioned, as seen with the murder of Babita Deokaran, a former chief director of financial accounting at the Department of Health. Premier Makhura has shown no urgency to deal with these issues as he has sat on the reports by the SIU, refusing to release them to the public or the Gauteng legislature to ensure accountability. All this does is encourage the corrupt and ensure that there are no incentives for officials to do what is right in service to the public.

The PPE corruption scandal is ever more concerning when there are signs that the Office of the Premier is directly involved. This means that the office did not merely fail in its oversight role but participated in the looting. An individual in the Office of the Premier is implicated in the PPE saga. However, the Premier has not convinced us that he has done anything with this individual.

Makhura has also presided over a cabinet with one of the most destructive individuals in MEC, Lebogang Maile, who unlawfully put the city of Tshwane under administration. There has been no reprimand from the Premier for the actions of Maile, whose efforts in Tshwane were not merely problematic in terms of law but cost taxpayers millions of rands, which can be designated as a fruitless expenditure. Maile’s dismal failures also include the deterioration in local municipalities such as Emfuleni. Instead, Premier Makhura has sat by while MEC Maile has swung across the province like a wrecking ball.

Several municipalities that the Premier’s office is supposed to assist through Nthirisano have not improved.

The Office of the Premier received a clean audit, but we should ask what a clean audit means when there is a failure across departments and the state of the province is dire.

In summation, the Premier has presided over a cabinet that has failed in its mandate across most departments. The Premier does not appear to be in charge, as MECs continuously fail in their department. There is no accountability within the Gauteng Department, with the Auditor General reporting in several departments about the failure of implementing consequence management. There are no consequences for failing MEC, which leads to no consequences for failing senior managers, which permeates across the Gauteng Provincial government in terms of lack of accountability.

Ultimately the Premier must be held accountable for the state of the provincial departments. The score state reflects his failure as the leader of this province to ensure things are run as required and desperately needed by the residents of Gauteng.

Score: 3/10

Nomathemba Mokgethi – Health

Mokgethi was appointed in dire circumstances in December 2020 after the former MEC Bandile Masuku was fired for his involvement in the PPE corruption scandal. Nevertheless, MEC Mokgethi has been diligent in visiting health facilities and answering questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

Unfortunately, little progress has been made in fixing a department with deeply entrenched problems. This was highlighted most terribly with the assassination of senior official Babita Deokaran, a dedicated and honest official who was a threat to corrupt people in the department.

Under her purview, budgetary control is still poor, with vast underspends and overspends in the various departments under the health portfolio. For example, despite crumbling hospitals and a dire need for more beds, the Health Facilities programme underspent R201 million. Overall, the department failed to spend R1.1 billion of its total budget.

Another area of failure is the 7,000 vacancies in critical occupation posts, including a shortage of 2,550 Professional Nurses, 1,350 student nurses, 900 vacant posts for Emergency Care Practitioners, and 450 vacant posts for doctors. There is one in seven vacant critical posts (14%). This has hampered the treatment of Covid-19 patients and shortages of ICU beds at peak infection periods, which has led to lives being lost that could have been saved with better care.

There is a backlog of about 20,000 patients waiting for operations, some for as long as five years.

Many senior positions still have acting personnel, including the Head of Department and Chief Financial Officer, for more than a year.

The fire at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital was a devastating blow, but there is no clear indication of when it will return to full function.

The Covid-19 vaccination programme is lagging, with only 4.1 million adults fully vaccinated, which is way behind the 10 million targets. The leading provinces have close to 50% of all adults fully vaccinated, whereas Gauteng has only about 36%.

Score: 8/10 for diligence and responding to questions

1/10 for a department in a continuing crisis

Panyaza Lesufi – Education

There have been several issues of concern in the Education Department led by MEC Lesufi. These include the MEC failing to decisively act against senior officials implicated in the corrupt tender for decontamination of schools despite the preliminary report given to him by SIU. He has also refused to make public the SIU report, inexplicably claiming it is classified. Yet, at the same time, it is a document that contains evidence about the theft of taxpayers’ money, making it a public concern.

MEC Lesufi is battling to place learners who applied on time to start the academic year on the first day of schools opening. The DA has asked him to begin the process much earlier to conclude placements before beginning a new academic year. In addition, the department has not prepared the necessary resources to ensure that all primary school learners return to school, choosing instead to continue with rotational learning. This rotational process is ineffective and not conducive to learning. The rotational plan is also exacerbating inequality amongst learners in the province.

Another area of concern is funded vacancies that have not been filled, leading to unnecessary pressure on teachers who carry a greater load of work.

Considering the immense demand for schools and the construction of more classrooms in the province, it is astonishing that Lesufi’s department failed to spend R1.7 billion of its budget. The MEC is silent when the Department of Infrastructure Development dismally fails to deliver quality school infrastructure. This has led to many projects being on hold for many months while other schools have defects like Mayibuye Primary and Nokuthula LSEN school.

The MEC has failed to ensure school safety as there has been a significant loss of assets and damage to school facilities and infrastructure due to vandalism, theft and arson. There have been no consequences for these acts of terror against school assets, which will likely encourage a continuation of this behaviour.

Lastly, under the watch of MEC Panyaza Lesufi, the Department of Education has incurred R922,877 million in irregular expenditure.

Score: 5/10

Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko: Treasury and e-Government

Regarding the Gauteng Provincial Treasury, several issues of concern have been observed.

Despite numerous requests from the DA, the MEC has refused to publicise the PPE procurement expenditure disclosure report. This raises questions on whether the MEC has something to hide.

The MEC has been referring matters of consequence and accountability onto the “shoulders” of the relevant departments as if Gauteng Provincial Treasury does not have any mandate to act on them as the ultimate custodian of the province’s coffers.

Another issue has been how the MEC aggressively defends the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency (GIFA). MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko often refers to GIFA as her stepchild, and she has covered for the agency’s lack of performance and getting projects from initial to financial close-stage. The DA has called for this agency to be re-introduced to GDID, where it belongs and where we might see some value for money in its annual budget allocations.

Under the MEC, it seems the rest of the departments in Gauteng have lost respect for the provincial treasury with no expectation that they will face discipline in failing to follow National Treasury instructions and regulations and preventing irregular expenditure.

MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko has shifted responsibility by blaming accounting officers regarding companies still receiving government tenders.

As far as E-Government is concerned, under MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko’s watch, a loss of R6.8 million was suffered due to a transaction done in US dollars instead of South African Rands last year. The DA has persistently requested outcomes of forensic reports, but nothing has been received to date. Instead of delivering outcomes of the report, the MEC has referred us to the Office of Premier, where the investigations have been moved.

E-government has recorded an irregular expenditure of millions of rands, with SITA’s procurement processes a significant challenge. The DA’s request to get information has again been ignored. However, we now know that the MEC wrote a letter to the State Attorney and had a meeting with the Minister of Communications regarding the compulsory procurement of all information and communications technology through SITA.

A lack of funding may halt Gauteng Broadband Network (GBN) phase 2 in its tracks. A solution to this challenge for GBN would be for the MEC to bring in GIFA to try to leverage private investment to fund phase 2. The halting to GBN phase 2 will devastate residents, especially students and poor, who desperately need easy and affordable access to communications. Government services to the residents will also be affected.

It is also important to note that the Auditor-General of South Africa issued an unqualified audit opinion with findings on the financial statements of the Gauteng Department of e-Government. This does not reflect well on the MEC’s management of the department.

Score: 4/10

Lebogang Maile: Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements

The Department of Human Settlements entered the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic in a perpetual position of decline and accelerated organisational and political disarray.

The MEC, Lebogang Maile, continued failure to acknowledge nor deal with the fundamental incompetence and systemic lack of performance through an inability to ensure operational and political accountability. Stability has long been one of the causes that prevent the department from achieving its goals. This, together with institutionalised underspending, lack of capacity, inability to complete all projects timeously or at all, and a general state of denial, ensures a continued decline in service delivery.

The pandemic has merely exposed the fragile underbelly of a rudderless department headed by a MEC who is argumentative, antagonistic, defensive, uncooperative, uninspiring and incompetent. No cohesion within the department has been possible where senior staff repeatedly fail to carry out their mandates.

Projects which form part of the core mandate of the department, and which are fundamental to the turnaround strategy of the department, such as the temporary relocation programme, the hostel redevelopment plan, the formalisation of informal settlements, the Mega-city initiative, the provision of land parcels for self-development and the failure to provide land ownership through the provision of title deeds remain elusive, incomplete or abandoned.

The department has continued to deteriorate under MEC Maile’s leadership. None of the initiatives the MEC has undertaken has brought about improvement. The department has failed to achieve any of its targets and is unlikely to do so soon. The department remains in serious confusion.

The MEC has failed to express any vision or direction for his department verbally or in writing. The limited input he has articulated is vague confusing and provides little direction for the department’s planned outcomes. MEC Maile remains wholly overwhelmed with the complexities of his task and totally out of his depth when attempting to formulate or drive any programmes.

Many of the issues which should be dealt with and debated in the Human Settlements committee continue to be ventilated in the media bypassing the committee.

In the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), MEC Maile has overseen more lacklustre performance.

Instead of embarking on a programme of governance and service delivery, the MEC has overseen a department that has failed to have its organisational structure approved, was unable to launch the pilot of the District Development Model, failed to assess the progress of the Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), and a department which continues to underspend and incurs the irregular expenditure.

MEC Maile’s interference in the governance of Tshwane and his inability to provide any meaningful solutions to the cash flow crisis and lack of service delivery in Emfuleni is evidence that he is not suitable for his position. He is a MEC who is out of touch with his mandate, and unable to grasp the challenges of his political responsibilities.

As with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), the effect of the turnaround strategy has been minimal and primarily ineffective. Again, the failure to effectively consider and/or deal with the long-term consequences of such an initiative accentuates the shortcomings of the MEC and the department.

There is very little hope that any meaningful changes will occur in either department during the coming year, thus preventing the improved supply and implementation of housing opportunities and continued failure to deliver the required outcomes for governance and service excellence in our municipalities.

The score for MEC Maile reflects the severe shortcomings in his leadership and inability to account and be accountable.

Score: 1/10

Faith Mazibuko: Community Safety

The Department of Community Safety, MEC Faith Mazibuko has fallen short in several areas. Her responses on oral questions in the Gauteng Legislature convey an attitude of evading accountability and a lack of a desire to provide adequate answers to issues facing the people of Gauteng.

The department’s target for green doors has not been met year after year. Unfortunately, the MEC does not appear to have any desire to remedy this and ensure the delivery of facilities that will deal with matters such as gender-based violence.

The Gauteng Traffic Police is still not on a 24-hour service schedule despite the DA’s calls for this for consecutive terms of the Legislature. As the Gauteng Traffic Police is directly under the remit of Community Safety, it can be a tool within the department’s control to alleviate hijackings and cash in transit heists in the province.

The lack of SAPS resources such as vehicles and the Gauteng Air Wing is not controlled at the provincial level, but the MEC can do more to liaise with her national counterparts to push for more resources in Gauteng.

The department has planned to collect R37.6 million in the 2020/21 financial period, a five percent projected increase from the prior year. However, the actual collection decreased by R9.4 million compared to the preceding year.

We once again call for a proper costing of what it would take to make the Gauteng Traffic Police an essential service so that we can assess this against the departments under expenditure and failure to connect revenue. Up to R17,946,000 of the department’s budget remains unspent.

The department incurred material impairments of R460,406,000. In addition, the department wrote accrued departmental revenue amounting to R 5,248,000. The SCOPA Committee of the Legislature has expressed concern that the department failed to implement proactive measures to prevent material impairments.

The department is the defendant in various lawsuits and labour disputes amounting to R53,807,000. No provision for any liability that may result has been made in the financial statements, which may pose a significant risk in the future.

Writing off the prior year’s irregular expenditure amounting to R79,238,000 is underway as investigations have been conducted and a completed application for condonation has been submitted to the Treasury. This is a large amount of money that must be addressed by the department going forward. This year’s annual performance report discloses that the department failed to reduce irregular expenditure by 50% (which is the department’s target). However, the report does not disclose the reasons for this failure and the extent of the irregular expenditure.

The Auditor-General (AG) highlighted that risk was identified in terms of IT systems about the department’s management of user access. According to the AG, “There is currently no coordination between HR and IT as officials who the department no longer employs have unauthorised access as they have not been removed from the database.” This is the same department that is meant to keep the people of Gauteng safe and it is of the utmost concern that the department cannot protect its records from former employees.

The 15% vacancy rate in the department does not point to a serious approach to keeping people of the Gauteng province safe.

Finally, there are still deficiencies in paying suppliers within 30 days, which stands at 94% of invoices paid.

Score: 4/10

Parks Tau: Economic Development, Environmental, Agriculture and Rural Development

The MEC of Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development Parks Tau has brought stability to both departments, especially senior management appointments at the Department of Economic Development and the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP). In addition, the departments and entities overseen by the MEC received unqualified audit opinions. The MEC has also responded to all the written questions in time.

The areas of underperformance for the MEC include the increasing levels of unemployment in the province due to inadequate economic rebuilding plan. The MEC and GEP have also been slow in disbursing the funds set aside to assist small businesses affected by the looting and Covid-19. MEC Tau has also not resolved the outstanding issues at Suikerbosrand and The Cradle of Humankind. Going forward, the MEC should focus on filling vacant posts and appointing a CEO for the Gauteng Gambling Board.

Score: 5/10

Tasneem Motara: Infrastructure Development and Property Management

It is inexplicable that when the Premier of Gauteng appoints the political leadership of departments such as MECs, he does not match the appointee’s skill and experience to the department’s work. Thus, since its inception in 2009, the Department of Infrastructure has never had a MEC that has the expertise to make a discernible difference to the performance trajectory of the department.

The Department of Infrastructure Development and Property Management in Gauteng has never met its performance targets, has difficulty completing projects in time and within budget and does not have the resources or expertise to manage the substantial property portfolio under its custodianship. The result is wastage, inefficiency and additional costs that the long-suffering taxpayers of Gauteng are saddled with.

The administration is forcing departments like Health and Education to utilise the services of the Infrastructure Department despite them wishing to contract alternative third-party providers who can deliver better value for money infrastructure.

Both the political leadership in Tasneem Motara and technical leadership in the Head of Department and officials have had no impact on improving the situation. The department is mainly non-responsive to the queries of the public and not bothered by the fact that tax-payers foot the bill for their lack of expertise.

Score: 3/10

Morakane Mosupyoe: Social Development

In five years, the department has underspent by a collective amount of R1.38 billion. These past two years were when the department should have shown up as the Covid-19 tested the department, but the department didn’t stand up for the most vulnerable people in Gauteng.

The failure to spend the Presidential ECD Employment Stimulus Relief Fund and ECD budget are serious concerns. But unfortunately, there are also too many building and construction projects going on with no clear end in sight.

Overall, the main challenge facing this department is the lack of passion and commitment to serve the most vulnerable people of Gauteng. The MEC seems to have the passion, but some of her crucial senior staff don’t seem to.

There has been an increase in irregular expenditure from R336 million in the previous year to R682 million. There have been no steps taken to curb irregular expenditure, indicating a lack of accountability in the department.

Significant internal control deficiencies within the Department of Social Development led to non-compliance. Senior management has had poor controls with NPOs for the past five years. Under MEC Mosupyoe, the failure to pay NGOs on time is ongoing and remains a severe challenge.

Score: 3/10

Mbali Hlophe: Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture

The MEC has failed drastically as the political head of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture (SRAC). Under the tenure of MEC Hlophe, the department has a high vacancy rate which has led to the department not meeting its core mandate.

The department constantly underspends when it comes to infrastructure projects. There are regular failings to deliver projects on time in the face of high demand for libraries and sporting facilities, which will only increase as the province’s population grows.

MEC Hlophe’s department has substantial waste of funds due to prioritising insignificant virtual events that have not added value to the sectors of sports, arts and culture.

The department is in a state of disarray and cannot fulfil its mandate due to its failure to fill senior vacant positions. The department has also failed to support grassroots development within its area of responsibility while wasting time and money on virtual celebrations of commemorative days.

Score: 4/10

Jacob Mamabolo: Roads and Transport

MEC Mamabolo had a few positive moments during the past year. He has managed to sort out the department’s top management, which now has proper leadership. But unfortunately, his head of department (HOD) resigned, and this position needs to be filled as a matter of urgency.

The MEC has reacted quickly to issues reported to him and is always responsive when approached. He is also very approachable to engage in significant matters relating to his department. For example, he assisted in sorting out the driver licensing issues and made some progress in expanding capacity to improve the situation that developed because of the Covid-19 generated backlog. The department also launched a programme to increase its ability to maintain roads in the province which is sorely needed.

However, despite some good performance in the areas mentioned earlier, Mamabolo’s department had significant failings.

G-fleet remains leaderless with too many acting positions in senior positions. In addition, vehicle license renewal capacity has been reduced in the province with the closure of many post offices. Yet, no additional capacity was generated while this happened. More service providers should be brought onboard, possibly starting with private roadworthy centres in the province.

Procurement processes in the department have not been fixed properly, and this is a crucial element. Too many contractors are shutting down during construction projects, which indicates a problem with due diligence processes during procurement. The road-building programme is falling behind in the province due to the slow procurement processes.

Score 6.5/10

#MakhuraPPE: Premier Makhura must be politically accountable for the vast PPE corruption in Gauteng

Gauteng Premier David Makhura must be held politically accountable for the massive looting of taxpayer’s money meant for the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) and failing to act decisively against the implicated officials across all the departments in the province.

 

The damning SIU report on PPE corruption has exposed the rotten corruption within the Gauteng government departments. Gauteng has the largest amount of money wasted on corruption, all of which happened under the watch of the Premier who is still trying to vindicate himself while forgetting that he has a Constitutional responsibility to fight corruption in this province.

 

According to the SIU report, the Gauteng Department of Education irregularly awarded contracts to the value of R427 686 242.29 to 270 service providers for decontamination of Gauteng schools. The appointment process did not follow the procurement on an emergency delegation; the department did not obtain three quotes from service providers as listed on the central supplier database, and Supply Chain Management (SCM) was not involved in the sourcing and appointment of the service providers. The officials involved contravened Section 217(1) of the Constitution as the procurement processes were not fair, equitable, transparent, competitive, and cost-effective.

 

The same applies to the PPE contracts that were awarded to the service providers by the Department of Health. The service providers were not registered to supply PPE, were not PPE manufacturers and were not registered with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA). The quality of the goods and services delivered by most of the service providers were of poor quality and substandard.

 

The report also states that out of 87 service providers that were awarded PPE contracts by the Gauteng Department of Health that have been investigated thus far, only 16 service providers has their cases closed because the SIU investigation found no evidence in support of the allegation that the SCM process may have been irregular while 71 have been implicated in corruption.

 

This indicates that officials and the service providers whose cases were not closed took advantage of the plight of our people who are in desperate need of protection against the Covid-19 pandemic to enrich themselves. While all this was happening Premier Makhura did nothing in his capacity to conduct monitoring and oversight of all the departments particularly the Department of Health which was heavily hit by the pandemic.

 

Many department senior officials have been implicated in the PPE corruption while a handful of them have been dismissed and some have resigned thereby escaping accountability. The likes of Professor Mkhululi Lukhele, Acting Head of the Gauteng Department of Health; Ms Kabelo Lehloenya, who was the Chief Financial Officer and Mr A Gwabeni, who was Deputy Director for Human Resources for the Department of Health have been implicated and have resigned from the department.

 

We demand that Premier Makhura act against all the senior officials that have been implicated in this report even though they have resigned from their departments. All those implicated must be dealt with accordingly, criminal charges must be laid against them and those that have illegally benefited must pay back every cent to the state coffers. The companies that have been implicated in this corruption must be blacklisted and penalties imposed for companies that have provided substandard supplies and have made illegal excessive profits on PPE resources.

 

Additionally, Premier Makhura must provide a progress report with regards to disciplinary hearings against the Department of Education senior officials implicated in the PPE corruption which started on 09 November 2021. The proceedings were ongoing and postponed to early 2022.

 

Premier Makhura must also be held politically accountable for failing on his oversight duties to ensure that PPE funds are spent wisely for the benefit of the Gauteng residents. 

We will be using all mechanisms at the legislature to ensure that Premier Makhura accounts for this PPE corruption.

 

Premier’s role in Esidimeni deaths should also be probed

The legal representative for former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu has claimed at the inquest into the Life Esidimeni tragedy that Premier David Makhura took “the ultimate decision to transfer the mental health patients.”

This is in stark contrast to Makhura’s claim that he did not know that the patients were being moved to NGOs.

I have always maintained that Makhura knew what was happening as there were many media reports as well as Mahlangu’s oral reply in the Gauteng Legislature on 15 March 2016 when I asked whether NGOs were ready to receive the patients.

Mahlangu replied as follows: “Progress we have made with the NGOS: we have activated more than 2000 beds, including beds that are in the provincial facilities, as we speak now. The NGOs have hired the staff. They have also been given licenses.”

I hope that the inquest fully probes the premier’s involvement, but this should not exempt Mahlangu from her own culpability for the deaths of the 144 patients.

It is far-fetched to claim that she was not personally responsible as she was the driving force in closing down Life Esidimeni which was presented as a cost-saving measure.

I repeatedly warned in the Gauteng Legislature that it was likely to be a disaster, and so did other organisations on behalf of the patients’ families.

There is an important principle at stake here that politicians should not be able to escape responsibility by blaming officials.

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

DA requests Makhura motion of no confidence recount following voting irregularities

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Speaker in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) for the Rules Committee to review the original vote of the motion of no confidence (MONC) in Premier Makhura from earlier this week, and institute a recount.

The DA has raised concern regarding the total number of votes that were recorded, and how the voting process in a hybrid plenary structure takes place.

While the total number of seats in the GPL is 73 (which includes the Speaker), one MPL had abstained, and two other Members did not respond during the roll call.

Despite this, the Speaker had recorded a total of 70 votes for the MONC. This meant that the Speaker included a vote for herself, which is contravention of the rules as the Speaker only has a vote in the event of a tie.

While the Speaker announced a result of 33 votes for the motion and 37 against, this was not a correct reflection of the tally.

One Member of another opposition party who, according to the recording, clearly voted for the motion, was recorded as voting no. It has been alleged that this specific Member had changed their mind to vote against the motion. The DA has asked the Speaker to ensure the Rules Committee also review this and ascertain if the Member really did change their mind or whether there was coercion at play.

The DA believes, after removing the Speaker’s vote and including the Member of the other opposition party who voted in support of the motion, the final tally should be 34 votes for the motion, and 35 votes against.

Even though this final tally would still result in the defeat of the motion, the rules and integrity of voting in the GPL must be maintained and protected at all times.

Under Premier Makhura’s watch, jobless and poverty has gone unchecked

Honourable Members,

Fellow South Africans,

Residents of Gauteng. 

I stand here today to declare that Premier Makhura and his administration are not fit to govern Gauteng. It is a stand that one does not take lightly, but I am convinced that if we are to turn Gauteng for the better, the current administration needs to step aside.

If we all agree that Gauteng faces triple the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality, then we should judge an administration on what they have done to address these challenges. This administration has failed in addressing joblessness and poverty in Gauteng since 2014. 

Last week, Stats SA confirmed that unemployment and joblessness continues to increase in Gauteng. More people are without jobs and live in poverty in 2021 in Gauteng than there were in 2014 when this Premier came into office.  

In many instances when I deliver a speech in this House I say, “Mintirho ya vulavula”, your work should speak for itself. This should not mean that you climb on top of the house and claim to have done something, those that have experienced your good deeds must bear testimony and tell the good deeds you have done. Beating and dancing to your own drum is not how it is done. This administration has mastered the art of blowing its own trumpet when there is very little to see. 

Just this past Sunday, this administration chose to take a full-page advert in the Sunday Times in an effort to give a none existent picture. You see Premier, if you were doing a good job there would be no need to take a full-page advert in the Sunday Times – people would be singing your praises. We know what will follow is a series of billboards with smiling Premier and MECs claiming some easy victories. 

To show that this administration does not care about the economic plight of the people of Gauteng, we need to just look at the Economic Development Department. This department has agencies that are tasked with assisting in creating an environment for job creation, but they have more actors than Generations and Muvhango. In the last 20 months, the department has had three MECs while the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller has not had a CEO for over 5 years. Given the joblessness in Gauteng, the Economic Development Department should be the mainstay of the administration, but it one of the most unstable. Changes happen faster than how Msholozi used to reshuffle his cabinet. 

In 2018, the buzz word in the corridors of power was “nine wasted years” in reference to the Zuma administration. Looking closely to the unemployment, joblessness and poverty in Gauteng one can conclude that we have had seven wasted years in Gauteng.

Honorable Members, we have an opportunity today to avoid breaking the record of nine wasted years that Zuma had set. I ask you to vote in support of this motion. 

#MakhuraNotFitToGovern: ANC-led government’s vote of confidence in Premier Makhura shows their commitment to cadre deployment

It is no surprise that the ANC in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature today voted to keep Premier David Makhura in office. Today’s motion of no confidence brought by the DA comes after it became quite clear that Premier Makhura is not fit to govern.

The outcome of today’s vote does not change our view. Premier Makhura remains unfit to govern.

Under his watch:

  • Up to R125 million wasted on corrupt tenders for Personal Protect Equipment.
  • R431 million was spent on decontaminating schools between June and August last year.
  • 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 assist Covid-19 patients. These wards are still incomplete and remain under construction.
  • 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.
  • There has been a continuous systemic collapse of municipalities like Emfuleni and Merafong.
  • An illegal dissolution of the Tshwane Municipal Council last year.

It is clear that the ANC-led government in Gauteng remains committed to cadre deployment and will do anything in their power to ensure that Premier Makhura remains in office, despite his government failing to exercise proper fiscal control and governance.

The DA will not waiver in its duty as the Official Opposition in the province to hold Premier Makhura and his executive 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.

 

Premier Makhura’s SOPA wish list will not move Gauteng forward

Madam Speaker,

Good Morning.

Honourable Members,

Let me start by congratulating all the learners who sat for the 2020 end of year examinations, and especially to the Matric learners. To all teachers who rejected the call to postpone the future of our children, we salute you, well done! 

We are joining you in celebrating the outstanding performance of our learners, schools, districts, and the province during this difficult period of the national lockdown as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Honourable Premier, when Covid-19 first hit the country, it created so many uncertainties, however, South Africans gave all their trust to politicians who are the leaders in government to guide them and manage the pandemic. 

When the national lockdown was implemented in March last year, people had hoped that government was doing its absolute best to contain the virus and putting the nation’s interest first.  Little did they know that politicians were taking advantage of this pandemic to enrich themselves.

Honourable Premier, when you said there is no corruption in Gauteng, we almost believed you. Remember the first corruption allegations when Mr. Hamilton Mtshali bought luxurious vehicles which went viral on social media? 

There were also claims that you were blessed with one of the best Jeep cars from Hamilton as a reward for offering him a big Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) tender. You then corrected it and that was when the PPE tender scandals started to be exposed throughout the country. 

Some politicians could not resist the temptation but continued to break the trust. It was difficult for the opposition politicians to conduct robust oversight and to hold the executive to account because of the lockdown regulations. 

Many of these regulations did not even make sense or based on science, but South Africans were informed that it was part of government’s commitment to save lives. 

Many people failed to bid farewell to their beloved ones. Interprovincial travel was prohibited. 

Many have lost income as their companies could not conduct business as a result of the lockdown regulations. Many jobs were lost while some tenderpreneurs were busy at work. They were focused on looting the public coffers.

Real entrepreneurs lost out because they do not have the so-called good network with government. Unfortunately, the tenderprenuers are not creating employment opportunities but they are winning huge tenders. 

It is appalling to learn that the learning and teaching technology deployed in our schools in this province does not match the 4th industrial revolution needs. The Gauteng Broadband Network (GBN) is not ready to connect anyone in this province. 

Schools were closed as there were many organizations and parents advocating against the opening of schools during the pandemic. We are proud that the decision to continue with learning and teaching under difficult circumstances was taken. 

We have managed to navigate, and even though while some of us supported this decision, others saw an opportunity to loot from the Gauteng Department of Education and other departments.

The Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi told the members of the Education Portfolio Committee in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) and the residents of this province that he will give each school R15 000 to disinfect all schools and that they had also received free disinfect services from Bidvest to ensure that all schools are safe and sanitized.

Little did we know that R431 million was up for grabs and many schools did not benefit from this money. 

During my recent oversight inspections to different schools across the province, these schools were shocked to learn about R431 million that has been spent on sanitizing schools while they only received R15 000, and some were rendered the free services by Bidvest.

Corruption denies our poor people opportunities. As a province we will never win a fight against corruption until there are consequences. 

Enough with more investigations and hiding of the reports like many forensic audits which are kept inside the locked office shelves. 

Who is taking responsibility and who is being held accountable for all these corruption cases?

Certain officials will tell us that the term of office is five years and there will be a change of leadership. Are we witnessing officials revolting against the current administration knowing that it is your last term? 

We have seen ongoing irregular expenditures worth billions of rand. Every year, the Auditor-General will make findings, but still remains the government’s challenge to date. 

On the other hand, our provincial department consistently underspends on its allocated budget yet there are no consequences while communities are denied quality services they deserve. 

As we speak now, there are so many learners who are sitting at home who have not been allocated schools. 

The department has failed to effectively use the online admission system to plan for more intake in high demanding areas. 

The ANC-led Gauteng administration claims that they prioritize poor people and the working class while the children of those parents are sitting at home unplaced as they cannot afford independent schools. 

This is clearly widening the inequality and poverty gap in this province. There is no definite answer as of when these unplaced learners will be allocated schools. 

I have sent so many emails to MEC Lesufi yet there is no solution as to why these children are being subjected to such traumatic situations. 

These learners are losing contact lessons and are now forced to join those who have dropped out of the system.

While provincial government has returned billions of rand to the Treasury due to under expenditure, many schools across the province are in dire need of adequate infrastructure including eradicating asbestos schools.

For example, Diepsloot Secondary Schools does not have a fence, the school has been vandalized and valuable equipment stolen during the school holidays. This school has again achieved 100% pass rate and you promised to build a brick and mortar school but to date there are still using mobile classrooms.

Many schools have been burgled and vandalized several times, yet there are no measures being put in place to secure and safeguard the schools. There is no effective school safety strategy.

Government has failed to build new schools in areas where there are new developments as well as to eradicate asbestos schools, yet they continue to underspend on infrastructure budget with billions of rand. 

While we congratulate the Class of 2020, learner drop out still remains the biggest challenge facing the province. Gauteng enrolled 157 253 Grade 1 learners in 2009. In 2020, 92 285 wrote the Grade 12 matric examination. 

The percentage of learners who started grade 1 in 2009 and wrote the final exams in 2020 and passed is 58.68%.  This is worrying and there is a need for an urgent intervention to address learner dropouts in the province.

The introduction of schools of specialization is a great initiative, however the pace in which these schools are being built or transformed is slow.

The same day when the State of the Province Address (SOPA) was delivered, Stats SA also released unemployment statistics. Education must respond to the unemployment challenge; however, the main focus is on tenderpreneurs instead of entrepreneurs. 

Commitment to publish evaluation reports of all grades was made last year. When will this start? We are tired of empty promises. Honourable Premier, your SOPA failed to deal with unplaced learners. 

The department is failing to help parents to place learners for the inwards grades, yet these children are of school going age. It is the responsibility of the department to ensure that these children attend school. It also the right of these children to access basic education.

In all these years, you have exposed yourself as a Premier who never took accountability for the provincial government as a whole only your office, but your party always talk about collective leadership. 

The constitutional role of the provincial government has not been upheld, corruption has taken the centre stage because you have never actively set the example for your cabinet and senior officials to follow, which makes it even more obvious that you are not fit to continue governing this province.