ANC REJECTS DA MOTION TO SPLIT GAUTENG HEALTH & SOC DEVELOPMENT DEPT
I am greatly disappointed that the ANC today rejected a motion by the Democratic Alliance in the Gauteng Legislature to split the Gauteng Health and Social Development Department (see motion below).
ANC Chief Whip Brian Hlongwa said that the Legislature should not dictate to the Executive in this matter and that the solution was to hold the administration to account if there were problems.
The motivation for the DA motion to have separate Health and Social Development Departments is that they both require full-time MECs to attend to complex problems.
The DA was supported in the debate by all the other opposition parties who concurred that social development has suffered because of the merger that was done in 2009 when Premier Nomvula Mokonyane took over.
The department itself admits in its Second Quarterly Report that "Health Department payments (are) crowding out those of the Social Development Branch due to the limited availability of funds."