ANC questions DA's jumping the gun to cover itself

The ANC says the DA is pre-empting the probe and finding of the Public Protector into the Western Cape Provincial Government's multi-million Rand communication contract that is flawed every step of the process. The ANC asked for the investigation into the sorry story and possible corrupt activities.

In the latest attempt Western Cape Premier Helen Zille in a letter to newspapers (Cape Argus 12 September) admitted "some mistakes were made," and that there were "administrative problems". In the same breath she denies anything improper, corrupt or unlawful.

In a previous weekly newsletter called Reading Between the Lines she stated: "the Treasury analysis which confirmed the short-comings in the supply chain management process..." and also: "the Provincial Treasury's assessment concluded that we fell short of best practise when awarding the tender..."

TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris who may collect about R20 million commission, said in a tender declaration it had no contracts with the state and later at the pitch indicated it is involved in three state contracts. This was overlooked and not verified. It should have been disqualified for making a false statement.

This shows that the premier including her government has a lot to answer for. Especially about this contract, which shows she does not trust qualified officials, but had the process driven by DA deployed politicians. It was concluded with the Department of the Premier shortly before the local government election. And it was extended shortly thereafter to include all other departments.

"The ANC says the premier should stop jumping the gun by making public concessions in order to mitigate a ruling against her. Zille and the DA must wait for the Public Protector to do its job and not try to influence the outcome or prescribe to the media how this saga should be covered. Zille can't have her cake and eat it!

"The ANC is concerned about real and serious issues of wasteful and fruitless expenditure. The DA's desperate attempts to cover its trail, is dreadful. The ANC awaits the investigation's outcome. In the meantime, the premier should be advised to do the same," says the ANC.

Statement issued by Songezo Mjongile ANC Western Cape Provincial secretary, September 13 2011

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