Premier has to tackle the hard issues in government

4 March 2021

Note to Editors: The following is a debate on the State of the Province Address, that was delivered in the Chambers of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature this morning. Please find attached soundbites in English & Afrikaans from Andrew Louw, MPL. 

When the Hon. Premier Zamani Saul was sworn in as the leader of the Northern Cape, there was much excitement. His stance on cutting waste, stopping red carpet treatment, as well as clamping down on corruption and prioritising health, education and job creation inspired us all.

In some respects, the Hon. Premier has stuck to his guns, and we give credit where credit is due.

We appreciate the reduction of provincial debt and the streamlining of government departments. We welcome the freeing up of additional money for students and the conversion of study loans to bursaries, as well as achievements in skills development and the rollout of free internet to libraries. This is long overdue. Our young people need all the help they can get.

Investment-related advances, especially with reference to Namaqualand, are also good news, as is the R500 million secured for the economic recovery plan. We will monitor the allocation of this funding closely.

Then, Hon. Speaker, on the matter of corruption.

We applaud the Premier’s initiative to secure a provincial office for the Special Investigating Unit. We hope it will be put to good use.

I say this against the backdrop that the Northern Cape previously only submitted a single allegation of Covid-expenditure related corruption to the SIU, as compared with 188 cases submitted by other provinces.

You cannot tell me that the Northern Cape is immune to corruption - there is no vaccination against this debilitating disease.

Irregularities were picked up in the Northern Cape, according to the Office of the Auditor General. Incidents in other provinces were referred by the SIU to state institutions for disciplinary action and even to the National Prosecuting Authority for criminal prosecution. Yet, the Northern Cape simply withheld these cases from the SIU.

We cannot allow corruption to be protected in the Northern Cape.

It is most unfortunate that, as we fight a pandemic, it is actually the Health Department that has become the most hamstrung by corruption.

The web runs deep. There is thuggery within this department. Procurement goes hand in hand with threats, while spin doctors paint a pretty picture for the Premier and MEC. But the reality is very different.

There is undue political interference within this department.

The Deputy Speaker of the Legislature, Hon MangalisoMatika served as the chairperson of the Robert Mangaliso Hospital Board. Given his key role in oversight of government departments, surely this presents a serious conflict of interest?

I previously submitted a letter to the Hon. Premier questioning this matter. I have resubmitted it because we deserve to know – health care belongs to everyone, it is there to save lives, it is not intended to be used in political power struggles, or for personal enrichment.

Hon. Speaker, the once bright light of the province’s only tertiary health facility grows dimmer and dimmer as the staff component decreases, as stock levels fluctuate, as security ceases to exists, as hygiene levels drop and as waiting list backlogs balloon.

No wonder the medico-legal claims against this department will not go away.

Honourable Speaker, mismanagement of medico-legal claims continues to pose a serious threat to the delivery of quality medical care in the province. During this time of public health crisis, we cannot afford to spend more money on lawsuits than we do on medicines. And yet it seems that this is the case, when one considers the controversial establishment of a medico-legal structure at the Northern Cape Department of Health.

A case in point is a cost order awarded against the Northern Cape Department of Health in 2018. As of January this year, those costs had escalated to more than four hundred and twenty six thousand rand. This is just the money spent on the lawsuit and I have to ask myself – how many vaccines and face masks and PPEs could we have bought with this money?

This example is by no means an isolated incident, but rather symptomatic of a broader disease of financial management.

Keeping in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic cut our financial resources to the bone, I invite the Honourable Premier to take us into his confidence about the future plans for the management of medico-legal claims in the province. Like many other residents, I am particularly interested to know:

1. Is it the Honourable Premier’s intention to perpetuate this so-called medico-legal structure beyond its current term of operations?

2. Will it be included in the departmental organogram and, if not, will their decisions carry any real weight in law?

3. Can the Honourable Premier quantify the actual savings that had resulted from this structure’s work, especially if it is off-set against the costs paid to private law firms to do work that could and should be done by the Office of the State Attorney?

4. And can the Honourable Premier give feedback on the financial management of this structure, especially as it relates to the apparent lack of tender processes that were followed when more than 40 cases were awarded to one single law firm?

Hon. Speaker, the risks in the health service delivery environment are greater than ever before. I am therefore going to make an appointment to come and see you and submit information to you, just in case you haven’t seen what I have seen.

Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes to this problem. It requires a review of personnel, a forensic audit of all procurement and contracts. It requires vetting, separating the good from the bad and firing the connected clique that silently rules the health department.

Perhaps if the Hon. Premier had kept his desk, or at least a virtual desk, at Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe hospital, he might have seen this coming.

Laat my toe om vir ‘n oomblik op die onlangse departementele ouditverslae te fokus. Alhoewel die agbare premier die provinsiale regeringvir ‘n algemene verbetering geprys het, moet ons darem sekerlik in ag neem dat beide die onderwys- en gesondheids departemente gekwalifiseerde oudit verslae behaal het?

Dit is terselfdertyd kommerwekkend dat ‘n aantal departemente steeds nie permanente hoofde het nie. Dit sluit die onderwys- en gesondheids departemente in, selfs ten tye van die pandemie. Dit sluit ook die departement van paaieenopenbarewerke in, terwyl die provinsie enorme vloedskade gely het.

Waar is die bestuur en die nakoming van reëlsenregulasies? Hoe kan ons hierdie sleutel departemente met ons lewens en ons kinders se toekoms vertrou wanneer hulle, na soveel jare, steeds nie met hul eie finansies vertrou kan word nie?

Agbare Speaker, ons kan nie toesien dat ‘n ganseg enerasie se geleentheid om te werk, om geld te verdien, en om vir hul gesinne te sorg, verlore gaan nie. Maar die swak gehalte van onderrig en die hoë jeug werkloosheidsyfer, wat volgens die agbare Premier op vier-en-veertig persent trek, beteken dat ons op hierdie ramp afstuur.

Die agbare Premier het toegegee dat die provinsiale werkloosheidsyfer kommerwekkend is. Die kwartaallikse arbeids verslag wat verlede week bekendgemaak is, het aangedui dat die Noord-Kaap die grootste styging in die amptelike werkloosheidsyfer gehad het, wat nou op agt-en-twintig punt sewe persent staan.

Dit is nie ‘n verrassing nie, want ons sien hierdie wrede realiteit op ‘n daaglikse basis.

Dit is ook ‘n realiteitd at die voortsetting van die Sol Plaatje Skoonmaak projek nie ‘n blywende verskil sal maak of vaardighede sal ontwikkel nie, maar bloot sal dien om die werk  skeppings doelwitte van die departement van paaie en openbare werke te haal en bloot dien as stemwerwings foefie vir die regerende party.

Ek is dus stomgeslaan dat die premier hierdie projek in sy toespraak sou insluit!

In die tweede kwartaal verslag van die huidige boek jaar, het die departement van paaie en openbare werke aangedui dat die Sol Plaatje Skoonmaakprojek weens finansiële beperkingegestaak is. Ons moet vra waar die departement geld gekry het om hiermee voort tegaan, aangesien die departemen nie eers uitstaandse munisipale skuld kan vereffen nie  en dit skynbaar ook nie kan bekostig om vloedskade te herstel nie? Dit is veral kommerwekkend omdat die projek deur departementele fondse gedek word en nie hulp van enige voorwaardelike toelaag kry nie.

Die pad na die hel is dalk op goeie bedoelingsg ebou, maar die belasting betaler put geen voordeel uit enige goeiebedoelings nie. Trouens, as daar ‘n kompetisievir die vuilstedorp was, sou Kimberley skoonskipgemaak het!

I want to go as far as stating that you should stop this project and stop wasting money.

In closing Hon. Speaker, I want to remind the Premier of a statement that he made back in 2019. He said that he would not let Kimberley decline any further under his watch.

If I had to use a scorecard, on this, I am afraid that I have to give the Hon. Premier a big, fat “F”.

Kimberley has never looked and felt worse than what it is today. Its dirty, filled with potholes, soiled with sewerage, characterised by poor service delivery and even expensive to live in.

Sol Plaatje is a municipality in political, financial and operational crisis.

To live here, drive here and work here, has become unpleasant. There can be no pride for any of us living in this God forsaken town

If there is something that drives you, Hon. Premier, let it be the restoration of Kimberley, the capital city of our dear province. Start here and the rest will follow.

Like so many other municipalities, including Nama Khoi, Sol Plaatje is also experiencing an ongoing water crisis.

I have noted the Premier’s announcement on the development of a Water Services Master Plan but my concern is more about what is being done today, rather than what will be done tomorrow, if and when more money arrives.

Hon Premier, you can take the best person to be the mayor, you can even get Barack Obama, but unless you stop the cadre deployment of officials to municipalities, who are not fit for purpose and who are only there to collect a salary, then the status quo will remain.

Not everything needs a total overhaul to work better. Until funding is available there are a number of quick fixes that can be implemented to sustain water supply. They just require the necessary expertise, innovation and, in the case of Sol Plaatje, the willingness to procure openly and honestly, instead of from big city, connected cadres in Gauteng.

Hon. Premier, you have made an impact on certain fronts, but I would be lying if I don’t point out that I haven’t seen any consequences when it comes to officials in departments.

The AG herself pointed out that there is a continuous lack of accountability and consequences and that departments are complacent, "because they know there will be no consequences implemented even if they do not comply with key legislation".

In fact, internal control deficiencies and weaknesses in control environments "stagnated", because audit action plans "were not adequately implemented and the necessary consequence management was not forthcoming

This is not the skepticism of a doubting Thomas, who must see before he believes. Rather, it is the logical conclusion that can be drawn from inaction on certain critical aspects that are hampering the modernisation, the growth and the success of this province.

Address these issues, and you will take a big step in getting the province back on track.

Issued by Andrew Louw, DA Northern Cape Spokesperson of Office of the Premier, 4 March 2021