ANC in denial over Free State institutional collapse

17 July 2019

The Democratic Alliance would like to wish Hon. Gadija Brown the very best for her term as newly appointed MEC for Finance. Hon Brown has a mammoth task in trying to turn around the financial disaster this province is experiencing and this task is no walk in the park, because it has almost reached a point of no return.

Suid Afrika is seker een van die mees diverse lande in die wêreld as ons kyk na die verskillende rasse, kulture, gelowe en tale maar seer sekerlik een van die mooiste en belowendste lande as in aggeneem word hoe ryk die land is in kundigheid en minerale.

But unfortunately this beloved country was captured to such an extent that we sit with a projected economic growth of less than 1%, a total collapse of service delivery, a threatening credit downgrade, abuse and mismanagement of state owned enterprises, dysfunctional municipalities, and so the list goes on.

Throughout the debates over the past fortnight there was a couple of things made very clear by all the ANC speakers. Firstly, the Premier started by acknowledging that there are problems, she even listed some of the major concerns raised by the communities in the Free State.

Then almost all the ANC speakers said that we should not mention these problems anymore because they are going to address all of them. MEC Koloi even made it clear that she is not going to repeat herself because she mentioned how the problems will be addressed in her budget speech. Unfortunately we have heard this story before and it never had a good ending, it is actually more like a horror story.

What I find very strange is that for the past 25 years the ANC was like an alcoholic, they denied everything, they denied that they have a problem in delivering services and managing the finances in terms of the relevant legislation.

They denied that there has been an increase in unemployment. They denied the thought of corruption. They denied.

This after the Democratic Alliance has year in and year out highlighted the danger areas and made proposals, we advised and warned the departments and MEC’s that a total collapse is eminent and cannot be avoided if you continuously guide the Free State on this collision course.

By trying to ignore a problem does not make it go away.

After the denial faze, suddenly in these budget debates, the ANC changes its stance towards acknowledging that there are problems within their party, as the ANC speakers made it very clear that opposition parties should not keep on repeating the ANC’s shortcomings because they are working on it and have solutions as mentioned in their previous budget speeches.

Talk is cheap, money buys the whiskey. The fact that the MEC’s have plans to address problems means nothing, if you cannot implement it.

Just look at the water crisis in the Free State, especially in Mangaung which is not caused by drought but by poor financial management.

This Metro is struggling to collect its outstanding debt of more than R5 billion. If you cannot collect money, you cannot provide municipal services. Because of their poor financial management Mangaung now owes Bloemwater more than R400 million and is subsequently getting threatened every day of a cut in water supply.

The Free State has lost confidence in the ruling party and all their empty promises, which was evident in the election outcomes that led to the ANC losing three seats in this Legislature.

The ANC is a bit like an ostrich, they believe that if they put their heads in the sand nobody will notice them and all the problems will just go away. No, the people of the Free State are taking note of everything.

Erik Pervernagie said and I quote - “When politicians bury their head in the sand, ignorance rules the country”.
Hon MEC, your department is directly involved in all the departments and municipalities and is supposed to play a critical role in guiding the relevant institutions towards acts of good financial management and regulatory standards.

We have already been branded by the Auditor General, Kimi Makwetu, as the worst performing province in the recent Municipal Audit Outcomes. In the Legislature and all the portfolio committees the DA has stressed that there is little to no consequence management when it comes to transgressions of the MFMA and PFMA.

The AG also mentioned that there are not enough qualified and experienced senior managers in Local Government and Provincial Departments. MEC Brown asked what contribution opposition parties will make, but the question should rather be asked what the MEC will do with the influential position she occupies.

Hon MEC Nxangisa in his speech said that there will be consequences and that heads will roll. Perhaps the first investigation should start with the corruption that Hon Tshabalala spoke about in the Department of Public Works which he knows about and show us how serious you are in upholding this promise.

Money is the root of all evil - the province has a multitude of challenges, but I believe at the forefront of it all is corruption. If we do not protect and manage the little money that is allocated to the province we will never be in a position to stop the regression currently experienced in the province. In the now DA-run City of Johannesburg, investigations into corruption uncovered more than R23,6 billion of corruption activities that was committed under the previous ANC government.

Hon MEC Brown will you be able to do the same? The fact that we sit with corrupt officials and politicians cannot be blamed on ‘apartheid’ or anything other than the ANC’s incompetence. There is nowhere to hide anymore. Man-up and acknowledge that you have not got what it takes to rid the ANC government of corruption. It is difficult to get rid of corruption when your own moral compass has been compromised by acts of corruption.

The Democratic Alliance welcomes the signing off by President Ramaposa to give the Special Investigative Unit authority to investigate two contracts. The first one is the controversial Free State ‘Asbestos Contract’ worth at least R250 million.

This came a day after the speech delivered by Hon Kleynhans where she reiterated the concern by the Democratic Alliance that no meaningful action is being taken in this matter to stop corruption and hold guilty parties to account.

The second investigation will be into the contract with Buthelezi emergency services and the Department of Health. I am a God fearing man and I pray that the people who stole from this province and the people of the Free State will get their day in court and go to jail.

The wheel is turning and due to the infighting and disgruntled ANC members more and more information is coming to the fore that will help put politicians behind bars. Again, beware your day is coming.

The Premier in her reply on the State of the Province Debate said the only thing that we should focus on is how we will grow the economy and jobs for the youth, and nothing else. It is impossible to grow an economy if we cannot deliver services.

Hon Brown stressed that economic growth starts at municipal level and we agree 100% with her. The Premier referred in her speech to the 4th industrial revolution but we cannot even get passed the 2nd industrial revolution and that is to provide sustainable electricity to our communities.

Service delivery is not merely about taps, light switches and toilets. Without water, electricity, sanitation and accessible roads, which starts at local government level, we will never be able to grow the economy and address issues such as unemployment.

The ANC has failed the people of the Free State.

Please allow me to compare the Free State to a DA governed province and municipalities. I know the ANC likes it if we do that because it helps to educate them:

- If we look at the population growth of people between the ages of 15 – 64 years in the Free State, there was a growth of less than 200 000 people from 1.78 million in 2009 to 1.91 million in 2019, in the Western Cape the population grew with almost 1 million people from 3.64 million in 2009 to 4.61 million people in 2019;

- Unemployment over the same period grew in the Free State from 31.4% in 2009 to 40.1% in 2019 in the Western Cape with a population growth of 5 times that of the Free State only grew from 21.5% in 2009 to 22.7% in 2019. The Free State had an unemployment increase of almost 10% where the Western Cape only had a 1% increase;

- Out of the 18 municipalities in the country that received clean audits, 12 of them are in the Western Cape. Free State – None!; and

- Hon MEC Brown, according to the Auditor General’s report Treasury has regressed in the latest audit outcomes, together with 6 other departments, with no department receiving a clean audit in the Free State. This compared to the Western Cape, where more than 83% of the departments received clean audits.

The Democratic Alliance will never be apologetic about our success and we shall continue to emphasise the fact that where we govern we govern well. The DA shall continue in our pursuit of excellent governance and take active strides to achieve the best outcomes throughout all levels of performance.

Hon MEC, we would like to give you the benefit of the doubt that you will be able to improve the departments and municipalities through your guidance and leadership, but unfortunately we believe that you are set up for failure by a very corrupt system created by your party.

We wish you all the best and look forward to seeing how, after a year you and all the other MEC’s have delivered on all the many dreams you have sold the people of the Free State.

I thank you.

Issued by David van Vuuren, DA MPL Free State Spokesperson on Social Development and Chief Whip, 17 July 2019