DA challenges Supra to prove Forensic Reports are public

6 April 2017

The DA today challenges Premier Supra Mahumapelo to prove his ridiculous claims that the 15 forensic reports which the DA demands be made public, have already been tabled in the North West Legislature.

We make this challenge to the Premier because we know, without a doubt, that the Premier is wrong and that the forensic reports are being kept hidden.

Some reports have “summaries” which have been tabled, but the “summaries” ignore major details and findings and only show a fraction of the wrongdoing investigated. No action can be taken on a “summary report” – this is why we demand the full reports be released.

The blatant theft and mismanagement of billions of rands of public money has been a very pressing issue for some time. We have therefore been fighting for these reports for a number of years. The Premier knows that we want full access to the full reports that were paid for by our taxpayers, not cooked-up summaries.

It is clear that the lies dished up by the Premier are either intentional to protect those implicated or because his administration does not know the difference between a forensic report and a summary of a report; where often these summaries are compiled by ANC cadres who have no respect for transparency or the interest of our communities.

The last five forensic reports on the Department of Health are particularly concerning to the DA. The public has a right to know why they do not receive the proper medical care they are promised by our Constitution, yet with the reports hidden there can be no accountability and no improvements.

During my time in the Legislature, I have been reliably informed that a former top official of the North West health department "seems" to be mentioned in more than one of the forensic investigation reports. Instead of being held to account, this ANC cadre has been promoted to a very senior head of office position in the Government.

These reports are public documents, paid for by the public, and implicating public officials – but Premier Supra Mahumapelo seems intent on keeping them hidden.

We call on him to come clean: Prove that the FULL reports are already made public, and respect the processes to root out corruption and maladministration.

Issued by Chris Hattingh, Member of NCOP and former DA North West Leader, 6 April 2017