Provincial and Local Government South Africa

Graft accused snaps up top post

2007-01-12T12:07:00.000-08:00

A senior Eastern Cape government official, suspended in 2005 for alleged corruption and bribery, has been hired to oversee all social-grant payments in the province, reported the Herald online on Thursday.

The January 1 appointment of Khaliphile Mabhentsela as Eastern Cape acting regional executive manager of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has been widely condemned.

Former superintendent-general of the province's social development department, Mabhentsela quit in 2005 after being suspended by MEC Thoko Xasa for alleged serious irregularities under his leadership.

Charges against Mabhentsela included irregular appointments, corrupt practices and bribery.

Resigned before his hearing

Also suspended were chief financial officer Jackson Mbawuli and corporate services chief director Welile Payi.

Mabhentsela resigned before his disciplinary hearing and his subsequent urgent application to be reinstated was dismissed by Bhisho High Court, said social development spokesperson Phumlani Mdolomba.

He emphasised that Mabhentsela was not forced to leave the department and would not comment on his new appointment.

He said that Sassa was an independent entity, even though it worked closed with the department in overseeing social-grant payments.

In his new post, Mabhentsela would be accountable to Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya and not the MEC.

Public Service Accountability Monitor researcher Chantelle de Nobrega said that legislation provided that officials were deemed to have been dismissed even if they resigned before hearings into disciplinary charges against them.

Sassa should explain its justification for appointing him, given his previous employment record, she said.

Democratic Alliance social development spokesperson Donald Smiles said it was disappointing that Sassa had appointed someone who had resigned under controversial circumstances.

Certain he is capable

However, Max Mhlathi of the United Democratic Movement said the party had no problem with the appointment as Mabhentsela had not been found guilty.

The suspension had been about holding him responsible for what Payi and Mbawuli had done.

"I have no doubt Mabhentsela has the capability to do the job," said Mhlathi.

Mufamadi Defends R10m Tender to Former Official

2007-01-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

A former senior government official in the public works department has benefited to the tune of R10m from Project Consolidate, the emergency plan to rescue the almost two-thirds of the country's municipalities that are in financial crisis.

This has raised fears that state tender regulations might not have been observed in the case.

Project Consolidate is being managed by the provincial and local government department.

Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi, in reply to a parliamentary question from Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Willem Doman, said that his department had appointed the Lulu Gwagwa Development Consultants Consortium to support the department with the implementation of Project Consolidate.

Doman also said that the contract amount was R10m over two years.

Lulu Gwagwa is chief operations officer of Lereko Investments, and runs the Lulu Gwagwa Development Consultants Consortium. From 1995 to 1999, Gwagwa was deputy director-general in the public works department.

She went from there to become CEO of the Independent Development Trust.

Gwagwa also serves as a nonexecutive director on the boards of FirstRand, Airports Company SA and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

Doman, commenting on Mufamadi's reply, said that the DA was concerned that Project Consolidate was not delivering the results expected of it.

It was intended to be a short-term, practical intervention.

"Did the Lulu Gwagwa consortium do the work they were contracted to do, or was the R10m wasted on work that could and should have been done within the department?" he asked.

Doman also said that he would follow up with more questions to Mufamadi, particularly about when the contract awarded to Gwagwa was put out to tender and who else had put in bids for the contract.

The DA MP asked originally whether a company had been appointed to "co-ordinate" Project Consolidate.

Mufamadi replied: "The consortium was contracted to establish and manage a national programme management unit; to align the national and provincial support programmes; to assist in the compilation of provincial action plans; to prepare progress reports for key meetings such as MinMec, the national advisory working group and the president's co-ordinating council; the compilation of a national high-level action plan; and to provide back office support to the provincial and local government department on key Project Consolidate activities."

Doman said that routine functions such as progress reports on meetings such as "MinMec" should be handled from within the department.

Mufamadi also said that the Lulu Gwagwa Development Consultants Consortium was connected to the Presidency and had participated in the presidential imbizo programme.

"In addition, the consortium developed and set up a monitoring and evaluation system for the imbizo programme; assisted in the development of the draft action plans, the uploading of the action plans on the departmental monitoring system, the administration of the monitoring and reporting system, the reporting on progress in relation to the action plan and the development of a guideline document for Presidential Izimbizo 2006."

Further questions that were put to the provincial and local government department had not been responded to at the time of going to press.

Debate wanted over future of provinces

2006-12-23T12:06:00.000-08:00

THE ANC in the Eastern Cape wants to initiate a debate on the future of the provinces with the newly elected provincial executive committee engaging the national leadership to conduct research on the viability of the provinces.

A resolution adopted at the fifth provincial conference comes against the background of a statement by Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi earlier this year that the future of the provinces was being considered, with one focus being whether there was a need to reduce the current number of nine.

The resolution points out that the debate on the provinces is being conducted in the media without ANC structures being engaged in it.

It notes that the provinces are the result of a compromise position taken during multiparty talks.

The question of the future of the provinces was raised as far back as 2000 during the local government elections campaign and taken further by then Eastern Cape premier Makhenkesi Stofile. However, the ANC did not discuss the issue at its national conference at the end of 2002 in Stellenbosch.

It is, however, expected to be on the agenda at the next national conference at the end of next year, when a decision is likely to be taken on whether the provinces will continue to exist, and if so whether they should retain the functions they currently exercise.

A decision could also be taken on the number of provinces and whether the legislatures should be part-time bodies.

Mbeki stresses importance of traditional leaders

2006-12-23T12:05:00.000-08:00

The institution of traditional leadership occupies a unique and important place in South Africa as it is a critical player in reconstruction and development of the country, President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday.

"The national Cabinet and I are inspired by the historic position taken by our traditional leaders to work together in harmony with our elected leaders to serve the people of South Africa," Mbeki said.

He was speaking at the annual conference of traditional healers in Pretoria, which was attended by, among others, Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Provincial and Local Government minister Sydney Mufamadi.

Mbeki said all structures of elected government are committed to working together with traditional healers to examine the progress and challenges facing them.

The finalisation and publication of the White Paper on traditional leadership in government and the coming into operation of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Act will ensure that traditional leaders become active participants in the system of democratic governance.

National government has set up a task team to work on a national programme to support traditional leaders.

The programme will ensure that legislation governing the institution is correctly implemented.

Main focus areas of the programme will include allocation of necessary resources, skills development and the formulation of partnerships between municipalities and traditional councils.

Ndebele king issues legal threat to Mbeki

2006-12-23T12:03:00.000-08:00

An amaNdebele king is threatening to take President Thabo Mbeki to court for failing to recognise him.

Mabhoko III, otherwise known as Mbusi Mahlangu of the Ndzunza-Mabhoko clan, was appointed king by the royal family following the death of his father, King Mayitjha III, who died of a stroke in June 2005.

But he has not yet received his recognition certificate from Mbeki's office, because the kingship of the clan is under dispute and is being investigated by the Nhlapo commission of inquiry.

Mabhoko III is a descendant of King Musi, the 16th century monarch who was the last king to lead the amaNdebele people as one nation. His appointment has been opposed by other Ndzunza royals.

The office of Mpumalanga premier Thabang Makwetla has confirmed that it received a note from Mabhoko III in which he said he intended suing to fast-track his appointment.

"The traditional leader intends taking President Mbeki, Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi and the premier to court to demand his recognition certificate," said Makwetla's spokesperson Ntime Skhosana.

He said the provincial government was concerned by Mabhoko III's legal threats, but would be guided by the findings of the Nhlapo Commission which handles matters relating to traditional disputes.

A senior department of local government official called on Mabhoko III to exercise patience. "There is no need for him to take it to court. The appointment is made following the normal procedures under the new Act. It stipulates that recognition certificates must be issued by the President," said Solly Masilela, the department's provincial director of traditional leadership.

"Whenever there are any objections and disputes, the commission must conduct an investigation, whose decision will influence the presidency in issuing a certificate of recognition," said Masilela.

Meanwhile, some members of the Ndzunza royal house want nothing to do with Mabhoko III's legal threats - even though they support his claim to the throne.

"We have distanced ourselves from this decision because Mabhoko III is doing things on his own accord without consulting the family," said royal family spokesperson Sipho Mahlangu. - African Eye News Service

Four seconds for a speech?

2006-11-27T12:54:00.000-08:00

MINORITY political parties in the city of Joburg may get as little as four seconds of speaking time in future meetings.

This is in terms of a proposal to allocate speaking time in accordance with the representation of each political party, which is being discussed at a meeting of the city’s Rules Committee this afternoon.

Sparks are expected to fly at the meeting as the DA and minority parties, that are known for routinely sucking up to the ANC, attempt to oppose the proposal.

The proposal states that no more than 15 minutes would be spent on any specific report at council meetings.

When calculated according to representation, the ruling ANC will have almost nine-and-a-half minutes with the opposition DA getting a little more than four minutes.

The ANC has 136 councillors in the City of Joburg, while the DA has 59.

The Inkatha Freedom Party, which has seven councillors, will have 28,8 seconds, while the Independent Democrats’ four members will only speak for 16 seconds.

The African Christian Democratic Party and Pan Africanist Congress, with their two councillors, will speak for eight seconds.

The biggest losers are representatives of the seven minority parties with one councillor each, among them the Christian Democratic Party, Azanian People’s Organisation, Operation Khanyisa Movement and Freedom Front Plus.

These parties will, should the proposal be adopted, speak for about four seconds, which is only enough time to address the Speaker of Council.

Members of the Mayoral Committee will speak for three minutes each and chairmen of the portfolio committees for only two minutes.

Policies to be reviewed

2006-11-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

Certain policies will be reviewed next year to ensure better service delivery. This was revealed by Pesident Thabo Mbeki on the second day of his two day visit to the North West province. The President also expressed confidence in next year's ANC National Conference.

The two day meeting discussed issues such as the state of the ANC in the province, unity, discipline and the general conduct of members. Mbeki says there is a need to re-evaluate some of the country's policies to make them more relevant to service delivery. His comments come just months before the ANC's policy conference in June next year. Mbeki says: “The policy conference will review policy to say what is it that we need to do to improve policy so that we speed up provision of better life for people."

There has been much speculation in recent months about the atmosphere that will prevail at the ANC's national conference at the end of next year. The man at the helm says this should not affect ANC members doing their duty to the people. He warned against the tendency to use party membership for personal gain.

Mbeki said: “The only thing that the membership means is to serve the people... it does not mean that you will be elected the mayor, the premier or the president." Mbeki, expressing his confidence ahead of the leadership election, says: “Having looked at the policy we need, projects and programmes, the national conference will decide who are the best people it would elect to ensure implementation."

The President says he is happy with the state of the ANC in the North West, and is diarised to visit the Free State next month.

Sloppy municipal management a time bomb

2006-11-13T09:01:00.000-08:00

South Africa could face a mass revolt that might undo its democratic gains if municipalities' sloppy record of service delivery did not improve, president Thabo Mbeki warned on Friday.

Mbeki told the National Council of Provinces that the weaknesses in municipalities were a serious threat to the country's democracy and if left unattended would fuel disenchantment, creating a gulf between councillors and the masses.

He again pointed to the lack of proper coordination among government departments and skills shortages and highlighted these as some of the key factors hampering development in the country.

His remarks at the special sitting of the NCOP at Parys in the Free State come shortly after parliament's joint budget committee noted in its report on Tuesday that there was a need for government clusters to strengthen their co-ordination as this would improve delivery.

The report added "that departments that provide the various basic services for the effective functioning of service delivery units, such as schools and clinics, were not effectively engaging with each other".

It said examples of schools without water and sanitation or clinics without electricity were a matter of concern and classical illustrations of the lack of co-ordination within departments.

Mbeki on Friday took on the same point, saying if government departments worked jointly as they should, "we will avoid the risk of schools being built without water provision and sanitation, without access roads or without electricity".

"Indeed, if we work as we should, jointly and in an integrated way, we will avoid clinics being built without medicines or health workers.

"We will ensure that communities that regain their ancestral lands through the restitution process receive the necessary support to engage in productive agricultural activities," he said.

Mbeki also reiterated that the lack of skills was affecting the government, especially municipalities.

"If this problem of lack of capacity in municipal governance is not given the necessary attention, it can undermine our efforts to deepen democracy at the local level.

"(It) may bring about an unintended consequence of the development of a gulf between our municipal governments and the people," warned Mbeki.

As part of efforts to co-ordinate the efforts of government departments and related systems, the cabinet and the president's Co-ordinating Council would over the next two months meet with the National House of Traditional Leaders to ensure traditional leaders also played a part in conception of development programmes.

In its report this week, the joint budget committee also raised similar concerns, urging the government to improve its human resources capacity. It noted that the high vacancy rate and staff turnover in departments was affecting service delivery.

NCOP chairperson, Mninwa Mahlangu, also raised the importance of co-operative governance and responsive municipalities in his speech.

"Our shared view is that the notion of co-operative governance is based on the principle that the three spheres working together or acting in concert are more likely to address challenges facing the country than if they were to act separately or in competition," said Mahlangu.

Hospital clerk fingered as fraud mastermind

2006-11-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

Celiwe Khumalo lived a simple life as a clerk in the human resources department of Vryheid Hospital in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Her job included doing paper work, handling queries and issuing notices on behalf of the department. She was paid a basic salary of R9294 a month.

But away from the eyes of her colleagues and authorities, the 48-year mother lived large: she treated herself to a R500000 suburban house in her home town of Newcastle, which she bought for cash, filled it with state-of-the- art furniture and splurged generously on cars.

Khumalo also bought a farm and a second house in Volksrust, Mpumalanga, about 60km north of Newcastle, where she raised chickens, goats and cattle .

It was the simple, yet meticulous nature of the operation that still baffles the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

“It was probably one of the most efficient schemes in the public sector,” said senior state advocate Knorx Molelle. “The operation went unnoticed for some time until a routine audit picked up inconsistences.”

Molelle said the auditors notified the NPA which launched an intensive, three-year investigation into the discrepancies.

The investigation first picked up the incompatibility between Khumalo’s salary and her opulent lifestyle, and eventually identified her as the mastermind behind an elaborate scheme that had defrauded the health department of over R6-million.

The investigation found that the syndicate enticed nurses and other employees to resign, get paid an inflated pension settlement, pay a portion of the money to Khumalo as commission for inflating their payouts and rejoin the department later.

Molelle said the scheme involved Khumalo, a national Treasury official who specialised in inflating the payouts, and 26 other people who recruited potential targets.

The “commission” was allegedly transferred to accounts belonging to Khumalo’s husband, Oscar, and her children, Samkelo, 22 and Simphiwe, 20.

It took three years to trace the paper trail. “The problems were not picked up because the same people who were trusted to guard the system were the ones defrauding it,” said Molele.

Khumalo herself resigned three weeks after she was transferred to the eDumbe Hospital in Paulpietersburg, promoted to the hospital’s chief human resources officer, and given an annual salary of R111528.

However, her estimated pension of R290000 mysteriously amplified to R618000 when she was eventually paid out.

The family appeared in the Durban Commercial Crime Court alongside 10 other members of the syndicate.

The NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit seized seven houses, six cars and a farm.

Boss vows to clean up

2006-11-10T03:23:00.000-08:00

The Eastern Cape Development Corporation’s new chief executive, Mxolisi Matshamba, vowed to pull the organisation back from financial disarray.

Speaking at the release of the ECDC’s annual report, Matshamba, in his first public statement as chief executive, said he would not sleep easy until the organisation delivered a clean audit report.

The ECDC annual report showed its operating loss rose from R60 million in the 2004/5 financial year to R80,8m last year.

It also raised a number of operational challenges. Furthermore, the ECDC was shown not to be aligned with other emerging development agencies and government departments.

The provincial legislature economic affairs portfolio committee has ordered the ECDC board and senior management to come up with a turnaround plan.

Matshamba joined the organisation on Monday after heading the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Trade and Investment South Africa (Tisa) division as acting chief executive for the past two-and-a-half years.

“The organisation has become internally focused and when this happens some stakeholders lose confidence in the organisation,” Mtshamba said.

The ECDC also experienced a high turnover in top management over the past two years. Its previous CEO, Kevin Wakeford, left earlier this year due to “frustrations”.

As major factors contributing to his resignation, Wakeford cited lack of skills and competencies in the organisation and uncertainty and instability created by the many acting management and staff positions.

Asked how he would ensure success, Matshamba said it was important to first stabilise the organisation, because “once the organisation has become unstable it is really vulnerable”.

“During my experience working with state organisations I’ve learnt that it is crucial to get the buy-in from political stakeholders and win their confidence. This can be done through regular briefings, but not by being a cry-baby and running to them with each problem,” he said.

Matshamba said the ECDC should also be aligned with government principals and other development institutions in the province.

“Once you have that, you will be able to reduce political interference. My intention is to serve my term, I’m passionate to be here,” he said.

He said that only three of the provinces – Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal – made use of the offerings provided by the DTI.

The organisation’s long-awaited restructuring process that started more than a year ago was put on ice until a new chief executive had been appointed.

ECDC chairperson Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, who joined the ECDC earlier this year, said the organisation would meet at the end of the month to find clear objectives and timeframes for the issues hindering the ECDC’s performance.

Nkuhlu said he had gained valuable background experience in ensuring the stability of organisations when on the board of the Development Bank of SA and the industrial Development Corporation.

Top job for sex pest envoy

2006-11-10T01:19:00.000-08:00

South Africa's former ambassador to Indonesia, Norman Mashabane, who still has charges of sexual harassment pending against him, is to start work next week as political adviser to Limpopo Premier Sello Moloto.

The premier's office has confirmed the new appointment, endings weeks of speculation and denials. It said Mashabane will begin work Monday 13 November.

His wife Maite Nkoana-Mashabane is the MEC for housing and local government in Limpopo.

In an internal inquiry held by the department of foreign affairs in 2004, Mashabane was found guilty of 22 counts of sexual harassment of embassy employees.

He was alleged to have stroked employees' buttocks, molested a worker in a lift and made lewd movements with his tongue.

His appeal against the findings was upheld by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and he left the department only after his contract had expired at the end of 2004.

The DA leader in Limpopo, Michael Holford, said it was outrageous that Moloto had appointed Mashabane.

"His appointment is a slap in the face for the women of Limpopo, whose rights the local government is trying to promote," Holford said.

Tshwane boss quits

2006-11-10T01:14:00.000-08:00

Tshwane municipal manager Blake Mosley-Lefatola has resigned. He handed his letter of resignation to Tshwane mayor Gwen Ramokgopa who had not yet responded.

Asked about rumours that he and Ramokgopa did not get along, Mosley-Lefatola said: "We had a good working relationship. There were differences in dealing with issues."

Mosley-Lefatola, whose contract was recently renewed by Ramokgopa, said he would now pursue "other plans in the corporate sector".

His resignation comes a month after the council denied that he had been suspended.

The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) said at the time that the council was "almost without top management" after Mosley-Lefatola's supposed suspension.

The FF+ also claimed that action against Mosley-Lefatola had triggered a spate of resignations, suspensions and non-renewal of contracts of several other senior managers.

Mosley-Lefatola was linked to one of the companies allegedly awarded contracts irregularly.

Mayoral spokesperson Richard Mkholo confirmed that Mosley-Lefatola had submitted his resignation letter.

The continuing Hollywood-style harassment

2006-11-09T02:54:00.000-08:00

A fuming Ngoako Ramatlhodi has demanded that the state also bankroll his legal fees - if he is charged.

He has been raided by the Scorpions and is the subject of a corruption investigation.

The former Limpopo premier's intention to seek state help if he is prosecuted comes after the Presidency's agreement to set aside R10-million for Jacob Zuma's defence costs.

Zuma had to sign an undertaking that he would pay the money back, if he was found guilty of corruption.

If the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) reinstates corruption charges against Zuma and decides to charge Ramatlhodi, the state could find itself flooded with demands from former politicians accused of criminal cases that allegedly happened during their term of office.

Ramatlhodi said on Tuesday: "Of course they will have to pay (my legal fees). Where will I get the money from? ... (As this) happened in my term, I am entitled to it, there is no question about it.

"My lawyers will advise ... (but that's only) if we reach the point (of being charged). I don't think we will."

Raids at his two houses relate to his alleged involvement in a multimillion-rand tender deal to distribute social security grants in Limpopo while he was premier.

Although chief state law adviser Enver Daniels stayed clear of commenting on the specifics of Zuma's case, he said: "You will notice that the acts committed by officials in the course and scope of their duties are covered even after they have left the employ of the state.

"The state provides assistance to employees because the state may be exposed to huge claims for damages if the officials have been found to be negligent or guilty.

"This assistance does serve to ensure that the public purse is protected against frivolous or unjust claims and that compensation is paid only in those cases where the officials involved have been found to be negligent or guilty through their acts or omissions," said Daniels.

However, head of executive and legal services in the Presidency Lindiwe Vilakazi said on Tuesday all applications would be considered on their own merits.

Ramatlhodi again blasted the Scorpions, referring to a group of individuals inside the unit who, he said, were on a witch-hunt to eliminate political threats.

"How do you come to any other conclusion when people come after you four years after being cleared? So there must be some pressure somewhere...

"There is a group of people who have been probing for the past 10 years and are very interested in defending their positions.

"I won't mention names (but) they are now in charge, some of them are... very new in the ANC... and that's why they are killing children of the ANC, one after the other. It will not work in the long term," he said.

"They are in for a very big shock. We can't afford a situation where the organisation is hijacked by anybody and we're sent to jail under false pretences...

"I never expected that they will do this (raid), given how weak (their case was), because the issue was closed as far as I am concerned."

His sympathisers said he was targeted after referring to President Thabo Mbeki as an autocrat. Ramatlhodi refused to respond regarding his Mbeki comment, but said he would always say how he felt.

"I speak my mind when I have to. I don't really care. My interest is the unity of the ANC... If I feel that the movement might be going a wrong way, I speak."

Ironically, two senior Scorpions officers, Geoffrey Ledwaba and Cornwell Tshavhungwa, who were in charge of his case, were themselves arrested for unrelated corruption charges.

"The abuse of power is frightening," Ramatlhodi said.

He was supported on Tuesday by Cosatu, which described the raids on him as "the continuing Hollywood-style harassment".

Both Cosatu and Ramatlhodi slammed the NPA for conducting a second round of raids on Ramatlhodi and some of his friends despite their legal challenges against the searches and seizures.

"Cosatu opposes all forms of arbitrary victimisation. The Scorpions/NPA are continuing to show contempt for due legal process and for court orders. It is not an agency that respects or can be trusted to defend the law," the union federation said.

"Nobody is safe when an agency with unlimited powers and resources is running wild in this way, and refusing any kind of restraint.

"Cosatu repeats its long-standing call for the reintegration of the Scorpions into the South African Police Service and a speedy end to the elective prosecutions of choice which have been the sole contribution of the regrettable Scorpions experiment."

NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said "we will do the talking in court".

Dissolve dysfunctional municipalities

2006-11-08T04:23:00.000-08:00

EASTERN Cape local government MEC Sam Kwelita has one week to dissolve the dysfunctional Mnquma municipality in Butterworth and appoint an administrator.

The provincial legislature has also given a week to intervene at the Nkonkobe municipality where criminal charges may be laid after former municipal manager Sphiwo Mdila was accused of alleged mismanagement of a housing project to the value of R7-million.

If Kwelita fails to comply with the resolutions, local government Minister Sydney Mufamadi may legally step in and the provincial legislature may also put pressure on Premier Nosimo Balindlela to sack Kwelita.

Mnquma municipality services Butterworth, Kentani and Nqamakwe and has a budget of R111-million, while Nkonkobe services Fort Beaufort, Alice, Hogsback, Middledrift and Seymour.

Chairman of the local government standing committee Lulamile Nazo – who led a “fact finding mission” in both the municipalities – said the legislature resolved that Kwelita should dissolve the Mnquma municipality as the Constitution requires this when a municipality cannot meet its financial obligations.

“We are expecting the MEC to comply. We have sent him a letter to remind him, but he is not obliged to answer us before then,” Nazo said.

“There is turmoil at that municipality because service delivery has collapsed.”

Mnquma mayor Mabona Duna is facing disciplinary action after he was appointed instead of Nomalindo Dyantyi, the ANC‘s choice.

Porn problem is national

2006-11-08T04:17:00.000-08:00

Council workers abusing the Internet and spending their days "porn surfing" is not just a Johannesburg problem, but a national one.

This was the response from opposition leaders after an expose on City of Joburg employees downloading, watching and distributing pornography during office hours.

"The government should introduce a mechanism whereby attempts to get to porn sites are blocked," said Independent Democrats Cape Town councillor Joe McGluwa.

"Perhaps the government could also start a support system for porn addicts, but blocking porn sites would take away the temptation and in one stroke save South Africa millions of rands every month."

McGluwa called on Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi to "employ IT specialists to introduce an effective blocking system for porn sites".

"At the end of the day, all these computers belong to the government and therefore the blocking would not represent an invasion of privacy. We cannot allow taxpayers' money to be wasted on surfing porn, which directly affects service delivery and must be stopped immediately."

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance has called for the guilty state employees to be named and shamed.

"We are asking questions as to why someone has sat on these reports and why there has not been full disclosure. We are tired of hearing excuses of 'constitutional rights to privacy'," said councillor Mike Moriarty, leader of the DA in the City of Johannesburg.

"People lose their rights when they break the law. Yes, a person is innocent until proven guilty, but in these cases there have been conclusive investigations already."

Moriarty added: "Citizens have a right to know how their money is being used or misused. The council must not hide these reports. The time has come to name and shame those responsible for deviant behaviour at the public's expense."

An alarming number of council workers, from secretaries to senior directors, were also committing other offences, ranging from downloading copyrighted music to surfing the Internet for Russian brides.

A department of housing director has been bust with almost 2 000 pornographic pictures and video clips.

Also, a formal letter was written to the then city manager, Pascal Moloi, by the head of the Independent Complaints Directorate asking him to stop his employees distributing "hard-core pornography". In a separate case, two managers resigned before they could be disciplined for being in possession of pornography.

Well-placed sources said that "almost every computer touched has pornography on it".

Attack on Pretoria mayor censored

2006-11-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

The official opposition in the Tshwane metro council has termed the disallowing of a motion of no confidence in Mayor Gwen Ramokgopa as a complete abomination to democracy.

DA chief whip Natasha Michael said it “smacked of apartheid censoring” after speaker Khorombi Dau had thrown out the motion, ruling that it had not been properly drafted and motivated.

“We have the right to air our reservations and if these are against the mayor, the political leader of council, we have even more right for our reservations to be heard,” said Michael.
“If the mayor cannot handle hearing the truth, it is even more reason for the motion of no confidence to be accepted by council.”

Michael is not going to let the matter rest and will be writing to both President Thabo Mbeki and Local and Provincial Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi regarding “the complete lack of democratic freedom” displayed in the council.

“This kind of behaviour by the mayor and her ANC caucus shows that they have lost all integrity, accountability and transparency in their style of governance,” Michael charged.

There are significant problems facing the metro. These include its massive and growing debtors’ list, extremely high crime levels, illegal squatting, deplorable customer service and allegations of corruption.

Provinces sit on sidelines

2006-11-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

The provinces have long been the bad boys of South Africa's fiscal regime.

The national treasury has done an admirable job in collecting revenue for distribution to departments and the other two tiers of the government.

However, these bodies, which are supposed to spend the money raised from taxes, have let the side down.

South Africa is in a position that many other emerging economies would love to be in.

A basic calculation shows that if economists are right that a budget deficit of 3 percent of gross domestic product is appropriate for a developing country, then the government could spend R60 billion more next year than it plans to without breaching this benchmark.

Obviously there are downsides to the government going on a spending spree, besides the fact that there are no guarantees that revenue collection levels will stay where they are.

Finance minister Trevor Manuel likened this to budgeting every month for a 13th cheque and getting into debt based on this assumption.

Increased government spending would also have a deleterious effect on inflation and imports would rise, putting pressure on the rand.

Nonetheless, the point can easily be made that the country has money to burn - the problem is that it does not have the capacity to spend it properly.

If we were a kleptocracy like some of our regional African neighbours, this would not be so much of a problem. The powers that be would ensure that they remained the powers that be by distributing largesse to friends and family.

However, South African bureaucrats are subject to a host of public finance management laws and the auditor-general has a nasty habit of peering over their shoulders and highlighting their shortcomings to parliament and the press.

This means that if blatant fraud is not seen as a viable option, departments have two options: spend the money or give it back to the national treasury.

In previous years, the spending performance by provinces was very poor. But going by the latest figures released by the national treasury last week, things might finally be looking up.

The report shows that in the first six months of the year, on aggregate together the provinces spent R82.7 billion, or 45.2 percent of their combined budgets of R183 billion.

According to consultancy firm Econometrix, this is a year-on-year spending increase of 11.4 percent, or R8.4 billion.

But while provincial education, health and welfare spending is substantially higher than in the first half of last year, only 38.2 percent, or R5.6 billion, of the R14.7 billion combined capital budgets was spent.

This is low, but nonetheless represents a 21.8 percent, or R1 billion, improvement on last year.

It is essential that the provinces complement the R410 billion that will be spent by Transnet and Eskom and the various spheres of the government to prepare for the 2010 soccer World Cup.

To fail to do this would be to miss out on a major opportunity.

What is needed, and for once this seems to be something that is actually happening, is for the government's spending capacity to increase so that everyone in the country can benefit.

Otherwise there is really no point in efficiently collecting taxes. The money should rather be left with us to redistribute through our consumption of goods and services.

Can Cape Town survive another change of guard?

2006-11-06T05:35:00.000-08:00

Another regime change and the Cape Town city administration will collapse: that is the judgement of many people who work there. Off the record, it's no less dire and compelling.

In the civic centre, a senior city-council official confides across his desk that the municipal administration cannot withstand another political transition. "The wheels had come off, we were driving on the rims," he says, having weathered the latest restructuring. "We are only working out now how much on the rims we are."

This view comes up frequently among past and present officials, mostly off the record. The repeated restructuring of the staff with its exodus of skilled employees over the past decade has ground the city down; morale is in freefall.

Since 1996, the city council has spent millions of rands exploring new city designs and ridding itself of senior civil servants to facilitate politically palatable bureaucracies for new incumbents.

The skill shedding comes at a time when challenges for the city have rapidly escalated, as it battles to accommodate an expanding population and huge demands on service delivery. It has also to gear up for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Yet its human resources policies have destabilised its workforce. It's been losing engineers, planners, firefighters, inspectors and electricians monthly for years.

The story of Cape Town's restructuring has never fully been told. Fragmented glimpses of hiring and firing, jumping and pushing, redeployment and realignment have been reported piecemeal. There are a number of reasons for this.

Firstly, the negotiations around the restructuring involved so many secret golden handshakes that few departing civil servants wanted to speak out. Confidentiality clauses hid the true extent of what was a massive and ongoing human resources bungle in an organisation of 23 000 people, tasked to utilise a budget of about R17-billion for the greater good of one of South Africa's most important cities.

Another reason is the complexity of the interrupted restructuring processes. An official observes that documents detailing city restructuring stand 1,5m high in his office, representing millions of rands of unfinished business.

The frequent changing of the political guard happened in parallel to structural changes in the city as it consolidated from 35 municipalities to seven administrations to a single centralised unicity over the past decade. National policy, including affirmative action, overlaid municipal transformation. The politics of Cape Town, reflecting its racially divided communities, added its own poison.

Each new political party in power wanted its own people on top. This is understandable because politicians need to choose managers who are inspired to implement their policies. But as the DA and the ANC have shuffled in and out of government, there have been far-reaching consequences to this drive, which has spiralled out of control. It started small but developed into a trend that destabilises service delivery.

When the ANC first won the city in 1996, the city manager of the formerly white administration, Keith Nicol, lost out on a job to ANC activist Andrew Boraine in the course of the municipal amalgamation. A frustrated Nicol continued to earn his salary for almost two years, while at home gardening, until he successfully agitated for a severance package through the courts.

While Boraine was city manager, Cape Town limbered up to becoming a unicity. But the newly formed DA won the city from the ANC and he was sent packing.

"There were no negotiations about whether you wanted to stay on. It was simply: you are out of here, and in fact, your whole team is out of here. It wasn't just me," Boraine recalls. The remaining 11 months of his contract was paid out to facilitate his departure.

Former businessman Robert Maydon took the reins and established a new team of 10 executive managers, nicknamed Maydon United. Maydon had had little experience in local government, but his mainly white, male team had. They started the unicity's first formal process of organisational design, which failed, and moved on to a second, cheaper version. But by October 2002, the DA was cracking and the New National Party walked over to the ANC, handing the unicity to its new political boss. The ANC was only too happy to ditch Maydon with a hefty retrenchment package and dismantle his legacy.

Advocate Wallace Mgoqi took over as city manager. He oversaw two more restructuring processes, which saw off more skills to facilitate transformation. Through this process he created his own dream team, nicknamed Ikhwezi.

The first process was driven by an Australian change expert, Susan Law. She laboured on a complex and, by all accounts, revolutionary new city design with 10 officials. Extraordinarily, they were instructed to draft in secret. By this time, many officials were working in "an acting capacity" and unsure of their future. But leaks to city employees caused dissension. Many senior directors saw the new structure as a serious threat to service delivery, and possibly their positions. By the time Law's team presented its strategy to the executive mayor, Nomaindia Mfeketo, in September 2004, it was dead in the water.

By then new consultants were at work. Mgoqi had seconded Makgane Thobejane from the Johannesburg city council to devise yet another new structure. While Thobejane says replacing white managers with black was only one element of the transformation plan, officials feared that it was the guiding principle.

During this time, Mfeketo was defining Cape Town as an "African city", and racial tension around the definition of who was really "black" was seeping through council corridors. The commentary by the mayor's strategic adviser, Blackman Ngoro, denigrating coloureds on his website, raised the temperature. Council staff became embroiled in the political tension in the Western Cape between black and coloured, with white insecurities added to the mix.

In January 2005, senior officials were asked to reapply for their jobs. Many white experienced officials were not shortlisted or interviewed. Thobejane's multimillion-rand restructuring yielded about 200 "displaced" people in top management. He said they did not fit into his design. Engineers were told that they were dispensable as managers.

Senior officials were dispatched to new offices with no jobs, on full pay, to sit it out until they were ready to resign. They were euphemistically referred to in official memoranda as "internally stranded resources". While some were emotionally broken by it, others saw the opportunity. Altogether 100 took voluntary packages costing the city, according to Thobejane, R45-million. New officials were parachuted in from other regions.

Mgoqi defends the process saying it was necessary to transform the council into an "African" administration, underpinned by values of ubuntu. Certainly affirmative action had been lagging behind.

"I think the people we brought in had a fair amount of skills. And what happened then was that there were guys below who could not just countenance reporting to a black executive director, and for that reason they left," he reflects. Although he acknowledges that productivity dropped, he anticipated that it would rise again, once the new staff were settled.

What happened after that is less clear: it appears that new managers then started restructuring their own divisions, making changes of staff in an ad hoc manner. Middle management left in droves, the worst exodus taking place between May and August last year.

"I was going to farewell parties every fortnight," says one long-serving official. According to him, 70 civil engineers worked for the metropolitan council of 1996. Now there are about 40 in total for double that area, with two or three leaving per month. The city has one transport engineer left.

By then the atmosphere was poisonous. Long years of insecurity and interventions by competing political parties had polarised staff and undermined the work ethic. Some officials testify to arriving at work daily to do nothing but build puzzles and play cards. Some shrunk into corners to avoid being labelled pro or against the bosses. Equity, patronage and politics became blurred.

"It was as we were in the Cold War," says one who is still fighting for compensation through her lawyers for the collapse of her career after a bruising clash with a councillor. "You were either perceived to be in or to be out, with or against." Her health has been compromised by the experience. She was "displaced" with no job on full pay in an empty office for more than a year.

"Since 2002, because of suspicion, fear, worry about political change, there has been extreme defensiveness, both politically and administratively. It's a mess. There are no firm boundaries between politicians and civil servants," says another veteran official.

It is with a sense of bitter irony that many of those officials watched Mgoqi's fight and subsequent failure to cling to his contract when the DA took power in March.

"He was destroying the organisation's capacity to deliver, like chopping off somebody's arms and legs at the same time … You can't have a restructuring process more than once in five years. It's an indictment against him that he had two under one government," says a highly qualified engineer who lost his job but not his salary, and then, after months of professional paralysis, left for greener pastures.

The DA has made much of the staffing disaster, partly because it is overwhelming and partly, no doubt, because it reflects poorly on the ANC.

Belinda Walker, DA councillor in charge of corporate services, complains that the administration is now bloated, in part with unqualified personnel.

"In the previous financial year, the council shed 1 000 staff members and yet the staff budget went up by R270-million, which gives you a feel for what we lost and what we replaced," she says.

"We know that the bottom is full of holes because people have left without being replaced, and we know that we have massive gaps in the system, and we know that we have total overload at the top, like having four lawyers when we only need one because they are all doing substantially the same work."

The DA calls its shake-out a realignment. Again officials are sceptical, calling it a fifth redesign. The ANC has already accused the DA of engaging in a racially motivated "purge" on the grounds that senior black managers are quitting in droves.

Now, with attempts by the provincial government to change the balance of power in the council, there are questions about what will happen if power shifts again, back to the ANC. The restructuring has left a legacy of wasted opportunities and collapsed idealism. The greatest irony of all is that as a result of all the political interruptions brought out by elections and floor-crossing, Cape Town has not concluded its internal amalgamation into a functioning unicity. Many officials are still receiving unequal pay for doing the same jobs in different suburban areas, a source of great unhappiness.

A former acting city manager, Dave Daniels, believes there is no point raging against too great a challenge. "I just think that people do not appreciate the magnitude of the unicity as a management challenge ... It's a form of government that has arrived before it's time; I don't think I ever believed that we were really ready for it," he says.

However, it is unlikely with so much invested in the unicity model that the government would want to reduce it. And while it is sustained, attention needs to be paid to find ways to create staff stability, regardless of politics. Charles Kadalie, a director in the electricity service, has warned that city workers are at breaking point.

"How tiresome are the references made by either ruling or opposition parties to wasteful use of ratepayers' money. Their protestations lose credibility when as public servants we see the hypocrisy ... and when faced with perfectly predictable challenges, logic and common sense give way to destructive power play," he wrote recently in an open letter.

Essentially, those who have kept the city running through the past tumultuous decade are now tempted to switch off the lights. Kadalie's outburst has not gone unnoticed; he too is now under investigation.

Procurement becomes a political football

2006-11-06T05:28:00.000-08:00

Could it be that the African National Congress's (ANC) scramble to reassert itself in Cape Town is because the spotlight is now trained on its tendering practices when it ran the council? The new Democratic Alliance-led (DA) coalition has been naming and shaming ANC appointed officials, including the former procurement chief, in dodgy deals, fuelling resentment in the party. Speculation is rife that concern about the results of this new transparency is motivating, in part at least, the drive to shift power away from the DA leadership.

The list of past city tenders deemed to be suspicious is long. The most significant is an R8-million contract awarded to TOM Consulting, the company of the former head of the South African Local Government Association, Thoko Mokoena, to establish a jewellery centre on the Foreshore. The DA may yet reclaim millions from TOM Consulting and the then city manager, advocate Wallace Mgoqi, putting them under significant pressure.The suspended head of Executive Management, Mthuthelezi Swartz, has been charged in connection with this scandal and has been subjected to a controversial disciplinary hearing.

Other top officials appointed by the ANC fled the scene soon after they were fingered by the council's new political bosses. The procurement director, Mabela Satekga, resigned as his disciplinary hearing was due to conclude. He was charged with forcing his subordinates to buy goods at higher prices than those offered by competitors. The former director of public engagement, Butembu Lugulwana, was charged with irregularly awarding R2-million-worth of entertainment contacts to his son from the mayoral budget. He quit the day before his hearing ended. The council is weighing up criminal and civil charges against both of them.

Tenders under scrutiny include multimillion-rand contracts for phones, parking and road building. The latter was awarded to a little-known company, BTH, with no real experience, which had to abandon the job. Then there is the controversial N2 Gateway housing project. These unresolved inquiries are fodder for political scrapping between the ruling coalition in the city and the ruling party in the province -- about who handed deals to whom.

Since the scandal around Big Bay early last year, where former mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo was obliged to scrap a flawed sale of prime municipal beachfront land to, among others, members of the ANC Youth League, rumours have been swirling around the city that the top management was manipulating procurement for personal gain and patronage, creating a sense of instability within and without the council. Council officials coined the term "Mr Ten Percent" for the official who is alleged to have orchestrated the irregularities. Depending on to whom you are speaking, "Mr Ten Percent" was acting on his own or as part of a conspiracy.

Clearly there was a loss of faith in tendering under the ANC-led council, and the business community's relationship with the city was faltering. Andrew Boraine, a former city manager, is chief executive of the Cape Town City Partnership, an organisation that plays a key role in connecting business with the city and its partners. He acknowledges that the city had not even stuck to its own criteria in awarding tenders.

"The procurement process was widely regarded to be in crisis and giving the city a bad name. It was reducing the confidence of business in general to do business with the city. Many firms were saying that they would not even bother to put in a bid for work," he says.

Council reports show a procurement department now recuperating from a restructuring drive that saw it lose 45% of its staff. Of the 349 contracts above R10-million awarded in the past financial year, there were appeals against 110. This constitutes about a third of the city's most significant awards, a serious indictment of the administration, given the complexity and cost to companies of tendering and the risk involved in lodging an appeal. The department is still so weak that it has reportedly cancelled 19 tenders in the past three months because of lack of capacity and funds.

"The officials were warning that services were getting near their limits of their capacity. Investment in services fell behind growth in demand. There was not adequate delivery and we see it in the expenditure of the capital budget," says DA councillor Ian Neilson, the mayoral committee member for finance. "For three years, only 60% of the capital budget was spent."

Because no other city council of this size has swung from one party to its opponents, there are no precedents for this retrospective inquiry into council spending. It is in the interests of the DA to show up its predecessors to justify its continued hold on the administration. Obviously spending budgets effectively is one of the major challenges in local government in South Africa, at a time when corruption and financial irregularities are commonplace in municipalities across the country.

On the other hand, some commentators perceive the DA's revelations as a political smear strategy, fuelled by racism. The National Prosecuting Authority, for example, has chosen not to prosecute ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha in a controversy around a security tender awarded by the city to a company, Jama, he founded. Skwatsha told the local media that he interpreted the city's flagging of this tender for investigation as a "deliberate campaign" against him, reflecting anti-ANC spite rather than concern for service delivery.

It's a view echoed by Simon Grindrod, leader of the Independent Democrats in the council. He sees much of the fuss around the investigations as political propaganda.

"The ANC in the city has not a particularly salubrious record; their last administration was not their finest. But let us not fall into the DA propaganda trap that says that all ANC is black, and that all black is corrupt, because subliminally that is the DA's only message," he says.

Grindrod says too much energy has been spent on forensics and audits, and too little time on service delivery, a charge the DA denies.

"It's become almost a joke in this country that when there is no defence the race card is played. In the end we have just got to stick to our guns; we don't have an option, really. Either we have clean government and we hold people to account, or we don't," says Neilson in his defence.

Neilson argues that the DA administration has made dramatic alterations to the tendering system to improve service delivery.

For example, previously all tenders above R10-million were sent to the city manager for approval, after recommendations made by the bid adjudication committee (BAC). The DA has scrapped that, channelling decisions on all awards of more than R200 000 to the BAC, and referring only appeals to the city manager. This, Neilson argues, relieves him of much work, so that he can get on with council business.

Under the ANC, tender adjudication happened behind closed doors. Under the DA administration, the BAC is open to the public. The DA has boosted the number of its members from seven to 11, and replaced all but one of the previous incumbents.

"We have put a lot of effort into our bid adjudication committee; we have restructured it. There are now good, capable, experienced city people we can trust to do the right thing, which is to award tenders correctly, not to our friends," says Neilson.

Until recently there had been no regular analysis of the procurement process by the city. Now the first reports are coming through, highlighting weaknesses in the system. These include difficulty in getting the BAC to meet or to get its members' signatures on important documents, and, on a more arbitrary level, the problem of getting translations of titles and recommendations. The city has also introduced a standing committee on public accounts to monitor spending. This is a first for a municipality. Altogether a whopping R8,5-billion of the council's R17-billion budget is spent on tendering for goods and services.

Most contentious has been the DA's scrapping of special preferential provisions for black contractors. The DA claimed the ANC's insistence on a minimum 30% black ownership for tendering firms was contrary to the existing Preferential Procurement Act, which already allocates points for equity, gender and disability in tendering.

"We had a notice from National Treasury in January which quoted the senior state law adviser saying that any tender system which precluded anybody from tendering was irregular and had to be removed," says Neilson.

Now seeking alternative employment, Mgoqi is critical of the DA's approach. He denies that his administration was inefficient, although he acknowledges that the restructuring of staff had taken its toll on the bureaucracy. He accuses the multiparty coalition of undoing his efforts to create business for black service providers.

"Clearly those who are privileged, who have been advantaged all the time, are now going to continue, all those firms who have been abusing the municipality as a honey pot. Those black firms we brought in will not touch city work now ... A process of marginalisation will take place and black businesses are going to go back to the wilderness," he says. This is a view echoed by former executive mayor Mfeketo.

One local entrepreneur, Zunade Loghdey, believes both administrations have failed on a particular tender. He bid for a lucrative parking contract in 2003, but was scooped by a newly created company, Numque, owned by a former Mpumalanga traffic cop and a relative of ANC Deputy Speaker Gwen Mahlangu, in an award that raised suspicions at the time.

He charged the council with irregularities and fought the tender award through the courts, eventually getting it overturned in the Supreme Court of Appeals in Bloemfontein in March 2006. During the time of his numerous appeals and court battles, Numque was allowed to operate on the streets of Cape Town.

Now, having retendered for the contract this year, he has been thwarted, he claims, by "a mixture of gross incompetence and a lack of understanding of certain officials". The council has sent him letters saying that the tender has been cancelled and suspended because of a lack of compliance. It will have to be advertised again, for the fourth time. The information in the correspondence is both contradictory and vague.

'What is most disconcerting is that the city does not care about how much money and time and effort gets spent doing demonstrations, preparing bids, investing in technology and the cost of putting together a good tender ... they are floundering around and they are wasting our money," he says.

"If it happens with this, I am sure it happens with other tenders. People are becoming immune to this in South Africa and accepting this malaise, but why should we?" he asks. "I am prepared to fight this all the way. I was always wary of being critical but now feel compelled to do what is right and proper."

Unlike Loghdey, the broader business community is notoriously shy to critique the government. The executive director of the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce, Albert Schuitmaker, was not the only one who turned down an interview. He said it was too early to draw comparisons between the current and previous city-council administrations.

Fanie Bekker, of the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut, is more outspoken. He said his organisation had received many complaints about tendering from its members. He had, in fact, battled and failed to get a meeting with the former mayor and city manager to discuss these issues.

But what is weighing most on his mind is the issue of political stability, at a time when the current administration is threatened. Already, floor-crossing has meant political and bureaucratic change has come more frequently than five-year elections would normally allow.

"There is a whole lot of uncertainty that comes to the fore when there is a political change in local government. Every time it begins, the new council replaces their senior officials. Those officials have just begun to understand the problems that business experiences, and then they go and we have to begin again with new people," he says.

"What the politicians don't realise is that the message of instability is carried to business across the world, which undermines foreign investment in the Western Cape, and causes damage. We have all made it our goal to get growth up by 6% to 7%, and that is not going to happen unless things settle down."

This brings the debate to the broader point of the city's role in developing Cape Town's economy. Boraine wants the council to start playing a leading role in developing the city's economy as a whole, making it attractive for foreign investment and developing black economic empowerment, in a transparent, legal way, within that.

"It must go way beyond procurement of goods and services for municipal use; you have to look at the city as a whole. My worry is that the city traditionally has only looked at this in terms of local economic development and not considered how black people can storm the commanding heights of the formal economy in Cape Town," he says.

For the city to prosper generally, Boraine argues that there needs to be longer-term strategic plans, facilitated by political leaders, that reach forward into the future by decades and hold firm, despite party-political shifts. What he sees now is a northwards drift of skills and investment as Gauteng and other metropolitan cities outshine a Cape Town embroiled in perpetual political drama. Boraine quotes a recent study showing that for every five jobs advertised in Johannesburg, Cape Town offers one.

"We are not in good economic shape; we are in a crisis and we need leadership to stand up and put forward a city-development strategy on how we are going to get out of the crisis," he says.

This becomes all the more crucial given the challenges, both in procurement and generally for Cape Town's economy, presented by preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. For Boraine, the work being done here presents some hope, in spite of the city's bitter party politics that he describes as "parochial" and "inward-looking". The city will be involved in upgrading transport systems, building stadiums and strengthening infrastructure on a level never contemplated in Cape Town before.

"For the first time teams from the provincial and city governments are beavering away together as they have not done before in the last 10 years. If the only thing that 2010 does is hold the right people together working on good projects, then it would have been worth every cent."

In the face of this level of national and international scrutiny, the city must swiftly build a robust tender system, without the slightest hint of corruption. It cannot allow the procurement process to become a strategic weapon wielded by its warring political factions, and put 2010 at risk. Beyond that, the relationship between the business community and the administration is crucial to service delivery, and so a fail-proof procurement system is essential in the rebuilding of trust between the city and its people.

This article was funded by the Open Society Foundation for South Africa through a

Almost every computer touched has porn on it

2006-11-06T03:42:00.000-08:00

The City of Johannesburg is investigating a number of its employees for downloading and emailing pornography.

Gabu Tugwana, director of communications for the city, confirmed the internal audit had investigated about 200 cases.

She said one of the employees - a director in the housing department - was "removed from his position and reassigned" after allegedly being found with about 2 000 pornographic pictures and movies on his computer.

A pair of managers resigned after investigators discovered they had deleted nearly 100 000 pictures, movies and music files from their computers.

A third manager who was investigated with them was caught and disciplined but remained employed by the city.

Said Tugwana: "It was only after completing six months of the disciplinary action that he (the director of housing) was allowed to work in the Metro Centre again."

In separate investigations, 10 managers' computers were scanned and only two came out clean.

It was discovered that the managers had been doing private work for the ANC Youth League.

"Almost every computer touched has porn on it. In one department investigated, 80% of computers had pornography on them," said a source.

DA walks off with the ultimate prize

2006-11-05T10:13:00.000-08:00

As political parties scrambled to claim credit for the compromise deal reached by the Minister of Provincial and Local Government, Sydney Mufamadi, the MEC for Local and Provincial Government Richard Dyantyi and executive mayor Helen Zille, a leading political analyst says it is the Democratic Alliance that has walked off with the "ultimate prize".

Mufamadi's announcement that Dyantyi would not proceed with the intended replacement of the mayoral system with the executive committee system ended weeks of political squabbling.

"The DA has come out without having to concede executive power and this is the ultimate prize. The agreement to revisit sub-councils and ward committees is not a huge concession," said Jonathan Faull of the Institute for a Democratic South Africa.

He said the ANC had been forced to concede its fight for the city because the dispute had "exacerbated existing divisions with the party in the Western Cape, and within the tripartite alliance".

"If the DA had taken the dispute to the Constitutional Court, and won, the ANC would have "risked abdicating the moral high ground to the DA".

"Whatever the ANC's motives were, the move was perceived by many as being a power grab."

He said the dispute had received considerable international media coverage, including the Washington Telegraph and CNN. He said the importance of the DA's decision to adjust the subcouncil boundaries should not be undermined.

Millions lost in exceptional spending loophole

2006-11-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

Officials may be wasting millions by side-stepping tender procedures and abusing an “exceptional spending” loophole.

Departments are taking the gap by applying treasury regulation 16(a)(6), says the Gauteng standing committee on public accounts (Scopa).

“This opens the procurement process to abuse,” says Scopa chairman Mike Seloane.

Scopa’s Professor Themba Sono says: “There is a serious problem with the regulation itself. The committee must come up with an answer to this.”

Scopa called on the Department of Finance and Economic Development to answer to R6,6 million of seemingly irregular expenditure.

The department said exceptional circumstances applied to each transaction. Scopa indicated it was not happy with the department’s answers.

This was not an isolated case. Gauteng transport MEC Ignatius Jacobs recently instituted an external investigation into his head of department for similarly allocating a multimillion-rand taxi recapitalisation contract to Sydney Mufamadi’s wife.

Sibusiso Buthelezi awarded the licence despite a recommendation to the contrary by his departmental acquisitions committee.

Buthelezi told Scopa the law allowed him to make such decisions in “urgent and emergency circumstances”.

In mandating PriceWaterhouseCooper to look into the incident, Jacobs said “even if you have to make an urgent decision, you have to follow the correct procedure”.

The Attorney-General said the approval of departmental acquisitions committees alone did not constitute full compliance with public finance regulations.

The will of the people?

2006-11-03T06:18:00.000-08:00

South Africa’s local government elections — held on March 1 — were neither an expression of the “will” of the people nor a sign that “our democracy is maturing” as President Thabo Mbeki, in collusion with the Independent Electoral commission (IEC), wants us to believe.

Instead, the elections should be viewed in the correct context: an unequivocal message to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) that the country’s poor masses are gatvol (have had enough). Despite the ANC’s victory, a substantial number of voters have rejected the top-down neoliberal policies that have exacerbated the country’s poverty.

The government’s apartheid era-style repressive response to organised election boycott campaigns needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Just two days before election day, the ANC-controlled Durban City Council and the police brutally attempted to prevent a legal march by Abahlali base Mjondolo, the ever-growing movement of the shack dwellers.

Mainstream institutions and “experts”, who are always quick to remind South Africans of how wonderful our “democracy” is, did not condemn this move to suppress freedom of expression, nor the police repression in Khutsong, another poor community that successfully boycotted the poll in protest at the ANC government’s anti-poor policies. These attacks were not condemned by the IEC and all those who have concluded that the March 1 election reflected “democracy in action”.
48% turnout

Despite the IEC’s ambitious and extravagant “Power of X” media campaign, less than 48% of South Africa’s registered 22 million voters cast their vote on March 1 (an estimated 6 million people did even not bother to register). Of those that did vote, around 66% voted for the ANC.

[In the strongholds of Abahlali base Mjondolo around Durban, voting stations recorded record lows, while in the rebel Khutsong township in Gauteng province only 232 of its 29,540 registered voters cast ballots. In Johannesburg, the treasurer of the militant Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee Joyce Mkhonza was elected under the banner of Operation Khanyisa (light) Movement.]

It is therefore puzzling that the ANC response to the outcome is to say it is “humbled” and “grateful”. What the ANC and the government should be asking is why is the South African electorate so disillusioned with the electoral process, only 12 years since the first democratic election in 1994.

The country’s “denialist in chief” Mbeki pronounced at the official announcement of the results that the elections were an “award-winning” expression of the will of the masses, which, like the much talked-about local movie Tsotsi and South African Charlize Theron’s lead role in the film North Country, were deserving of an Oscar.

At the ceremony IEC chairperson Brigalia Bam made the extraordinary assertion that the elections were a sign that “South African voters were satisfied about their new democracy”. The IEC’s chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula expressed gratitude to its big business sponsors Telkom and Johnnic for being “responsible corporate citizens”. However, Mbeki failed to acknowledge the ruling party’s corporate sponsors, whose generous financial contributions ensured that the ANC’s election promises appeared on every billboard and electricity pole.

In the days leading up to the election, the South African Broadcasting Corporation bombarded the public with numerous well-calculated news items describing how effectively the government was “delivering” on services. The evening news increasingly broadcast reports on government ministers and officials opening schools and clinics in indigent parts of the country.

The ANC’s “door to door” election campaign, with fat-cat ministers and parliamentarians arriving in their luxurious chauffeur-driven vehicles to meet and converse with ordinary people, was a desperate attempt to show that the ANC has not lost touch with its grassroots constituents and was willing to communicate its “plan to make local government work better for you”.

This “plan” came against the backdrop of numerous unfulfilled promises. The ANC’s 1994 slogan “A better life for all” remains enigmatic for the majority. The ruling party has also failed to live up to its 2004 promises to create jobs and fight poverty. Unemployment has reached unprecedented levels and despite South Africa’s steadily growing economy the poor continue to suffer.

Pro-rich cost-recovery policies demand service termination and evictions for those too poor to afford commodified basic services. Critics of these insensitive policies have been dismissed as unpatriotic pessimists and racists (where applicable) who want to take the country back to “Egypt” (an analogy between apartheid and slavery in Egypt as told in the bible).
Betrayal

The ANC’s technocratic capitalism dictates that the masses be shifted to the bottom of the government’s priority list. The government’s main priority is to please big business. In the process, the masses are reduced to being mere “rubber-stamps” of unpopular policies. They are never consulted in the formulation and implementation of the ANC’s market-friendly policies, but are expected to put a cross next to a giggling ruling politician’s face ever five years. This is a betrayal of the struggle against apartheid, which prioritised “participatory democracy” and public involvement in decision making.

The elections were also a further indictment to opposition parties. In the midst of electioneering, they portrayed themselves as an “alternative” to the ANC and pledged to fight corruption and poverty. Their failure to acknowledge that it is the top-down capitalist policies of the ruling party that breeds corruption and poverty grossly undermined their claims.

Also, most of their manifestos, like the ANC’s, promised “better” and “efficient” service delivery. The sad reality that the reason the majority of South Africans are denied access to basic services is due to their non-affordability was not mentioned in the manifestos.

While Mbeki has successfully managed to mislead the public by attributing poor service delivery within municipalities solely to “crooked” and “incapable” councillors, the reality is that neoliberalism the world over has not only failed to improve the lives of the poor, but has worsened underdevelopment. While some prefer to think the opposite, South Africa is no exception.

Compelling prospective councillors to take an oath will not solve the problem. What is urgently needed is a serious review of the current top-down structure that breeds, among other things, corruption and poverty. Taking a legally binding “oath” has never hindered thieving parliamentarians, implicated in numerous local scandals, from committing their evil deeds.

Moreover, it is increasingly becoming evident that the only crucial pledge within the ANC these days, is the pledge of loyalty to the “Party”, the “Leader” and his government’s neoliberal anti-poor project. In recent times, many who have dared question the “Leader” have regretted it, while those who have been accused of serious impropriety and corruption have been let off the hook with a “slap on the wrist”, because of their undying loyalty.

While South Africa’s progressive political formations, some of which called for a boycott while others stood against the ANC, might be discouraged by the ANC’s 66% victory in the March 1 local elections, there are certainly indications that the level of dissatisfaction with the ANC’s current “developmental” agenda is growing.

There is an urgent need to educate the poor on alternatives to neoliberalism. The masses need to be made aware that there are alternatives to the current criminal system that forces many to steal, lie, cheat and even sell their bodies to survive.

Indeed, a system that seeks to commodify every aspect of our lives, with dire consequences for the poorest of the poor, must be condemned and fought with the same amount of vigour and rage that characterised the struggle against apartheid.

Social movements and individuals who took a principled decision to boycott the elections have no desire to take the country back to “Egypt”. On the contrary, what is being demanded is radical change that will lift South Africa out of the ANC’s excruciating “Babylon”.

ANC's power grab warded off

2006-11-02T05:44:00.000-08:00

Cape Town mayor Helen Zille has warded off an attempt by the African National Congress (ANC) to strip her of her executive powers, after the provincial government dropped its threat to change the system of governance in the city.

In terms of a compromise agreement brokered by Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi, the multiparty government, led by Zille's Demo-cratic Alliance (DA), will retain control of the city in exchange for Zille giving the ANC two addit-ional sub-council posts.
Climate Change

Western Cape local government MEC Richard Dyantyi had accused Zille of failing to work with the ANC to help the poor and prepare for the 2010 World Cup.

He proposed to change the executive mayoral system to an executive committee system, which would have given the ANC three seats and the Independent Democrats two in a 10-member mayoral committee. The DA and its coalition partners currently control the entire executive mayoral committee.

Mufamadi said the agreement would "deepen democracy in the city" and see Cape Town rapidly establish ward committees in all wards to empower communities to participate in city government.

The deal means that while Zille continues in power, the ANC has had to swallow the "bitter pill" of being the opposition.

Mufamadi's intervention forestalled a legal battle over the issue, which Zille had threatened to take to the Constitutional Court.

Dyantyi said he would continue to "monitor" the city's progress towards service delivery to ensure it became a more inclusive government, a reason he gave originally for pursuing his action.

Zille said she "greatly appreciated" Mufamadi's call for all "to fully support her, the mayoral committee and the council in its entirety, as well as to the provincial government".

She also "appreciated" Mufamadi's assurance that every time the council did something that "perhaps the ANC in provincial or national government doesn't particularly like", the Cape Town council would not face the threat of being put under administration or face the threat of a change in the system of government.

The ANC's provincial secretariat welcomed the agreement, saying it was "delighted" that Zille had been forced to reconsider her "Verwoerdian-type sub-councils" and to implement ward committees and ward participatory mechanisms.

The issue has been placed on the back burner

2006-10-29T11:26:00.000-08:00

Cape Town's executive mayor Helen Zille says the African National Congress has the power to resolve the dispute between the city and provincial government "tomorrow", but instead "the issue has been placed on the back burner" by the postponement of critical, high-level meetings.

"The solution depends on the ANC. We can stop this thing on Wednesday if the ANC withdraws its intention," she said.

Flanked by members of the multi-party government, Zille announced that a public protest would be held to protest against the change.

"All of our parties have been inundated with calls from the public asking us to do something (about the proposed change).

"We are now at a point where we believe the general public need to make their voices clear. There can be no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Capetonians oppose the move."

While there are no signs yet that the provincial government intends to back down on its bid to replace the mayoral system with the executive committee system, the one-on-one meeting between Minister of Provincial and Local Government, Sydney Mufamadi and Zille, that was scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed.

"I am disappointed that this meeting was postponed. It is important (that we are not) left in a suspended state. For the city, this is the number one priority," said Zille.

Mufamadi's spokesperson, Zandile Nkuta, said: "The minister has urgent meetings that he has to attend.

"He recognises that this matter is also urgent but the earliest that he can meet is Thursday, when he will meet with Richard Dyantyi, MEC for local government and housing, and Friday, when he will meet with the mayor."

The Congress of South African Trade Unions also expressed "unhappiness" at the postponement of the weekend's tripartite alliance meeting by the ANC. The system change was one of the main items on the agenda.

Cosatu provincial chair Monroe Mkalip said the delay in "exclusive discussions" about a "negotiated settlement" had left the federation and its affiliates "wondering why the electorate is excluded from what future governance" in the city should look like.

ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha could not be reached for comment.

Zille said she would have been "polite and unequivocal" if she had met with Mufamadi.

Speaker Dirk Smit said he had formally invited Dyantyi to attended a full council meeting.

Smit said there would be no debate on the proposed change, but councillors would be able to ask the MEC questions. Again, Tshose said the MEC would be attending an imbizo and would not be at the council meeting.

Zille said she would present a status report to the council, although "there was not much to report".

Of the 14-day extension given by Dyantyi, Zille said: "We want a formal set of adequate reasons (for the change) otherwise he cannot consider the consultation process to have begun yet."

She added: "The possibility exists that we will ask for a (council) mandate to declare a dispute (against the province)."

She said she would ask for the council to delegate the authority needed to take whatever steps were necessary to stop the change.

Tender award to minister’s wife sparks row

2006-10-29T11:22:00.000-08:00

The Gauteng transport department has launched a forensic audit into procedures adopted by its controversial head, Sibusiso Buthelezi, after a query by the auditor-general into a R5m tender awarded to a company whose MD is the wife of Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi.

Calls have already been made for an investigation into Buthelezi’s role in R75m tender irregularities involving the housing department, of which he was the former head.

Yesterday, Gauteng transport MEC Ignatius Jacobs said that a forensic audit had been launched by PricewaterhouseCoopers into Buthelezi’s award of a R5m tender to Integrasol, of which Nomusa Mufamadi is MD.

The tender was to assist the department in converting taxi permits to operating licences.

The auditor-general had queried that the tender had been awarded “to a different contractor to that recommended and approved by the departmental acquisition committee”. There was no evidence that the committee had reversed its initial recommendation, said the auditorgeneral’s report.

Jacobs said the matter had been outsourced rather than handed to the Gauteng shared services centre because he wanted “a speedy resolution of the matter”.

He said an independent audit reassured the public there had been no government interference in the process. PricewaterhouseCoopers is expected to deliver its report in seven days.

There is a possibility the report could even implicate Jacobs, whom Buthelezi claims was aware of his decision to appoint Integrasol without following tender procedures because it was a “matter of urgency” .

The auditor-general also queried two other tenders to the value of R10m. The qualified audit report, which is to be officially released to the provincial standing committee on public accounts next week, found wasteful expenditure, tender irregularities and a lack of financial and management control. This has prompted the department to review its management systems.

It also confirmed a lack of proper reconciliation regarding vehicles belonging to the government garage, which made it difficult to establish how many vehicles the department had on its books.

Reports on the progress of a vehicle-tracking company hired to install units in all vehicles as a new control measure suggested that the missing vehicles were conservatively valued at about R90m.

Blow whistle on corrupt officials

2006-10-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

Provincial and local government minister Sydney Mufamadi has urged members of the public to become whistle-blowers in order to root out corruption.

Speaking at the launch of the local government anti-corruption strategy in Midrand, Mufamadi said it was important for communities to know their rights, especially when their basic needs were denied because of the actions of corrupt officials.

This new strategy would enable members of the public, as well as some employees within local governments, to report fraudulent or corrupt activities without fear of being victimised.

"This will encourage transparency and make elected representatives and appointed officers accountable to communities they serve," Mufamadi said.

"It will also encourage a culture … where all employees and members of the public continuously behave with, and promote, integrity within their municipalities." To achieve this, Mufamadi said, the public should participate in decision-making processes pertaining to development in their areas.

Has anyone seen 600 cars?

2006-10-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

The Gauteng department of transport, roads and works admitted it had "lost" 600 vehicles from the government vehicle pool.

The department is already under heavy criticism from the auditor-general (AG) about its financial state and is undergoing an external audit.

Sibusiso Buthelezi, head of the department, explained to the province's standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) that although the vehicles could not be found, he was sure not all of them were gone.

The vehicles belong to the state vehicle pool in Gauteng and are managed by this department.

All departments and agencies hire vehicles for official use from this department.

Buthelezi, who is being investigated by auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers over a tender to the value of R5m, explained to Scopa that most state vehicles were equipped with tracking devices.

Nearly 4 400 of about 5 500 state vehicles were already fitted, and the process would be completed by March next year, he said.

The vehicle account for the 2005/6 financial year received a qualified audit opinion from the AG, who in his report said several gaps in the department's records indicated a lack of proper control.

According to the report, the exact income from the rental of vehicles could not be determined, and no proof existed for an income of more than R79m.

MEC Ignatius Jacobs admitted at a media conference that the vehicles were missing, but added that it was the first year it could be determined how many vehicles belonged to the state pool.

According to Jacobs, the last inventory was done seven years ago. "Now we know exactly how many vehicles we own, and will do our best to find those of which the whereabouts are presently unknown," he said.

Michael Seloane, the chairperson of Scopa, said although the vehicles were valuable, he was satisfied with the measures put in place to find the missing vehicles and to exercise better control in future.

He was critical of the department's negligence in checking the travel slips and failing to accurately record them.

According to the AG a large number of travel slips for the period 2002 and 2005 were not recorded and these were still not on record at the end of the last book year.

"This is the result of ineffective control measures," said the AG's report.

The department also did not make enough provision for outstanding debt, did not record the previous year's expenses correctly, did not stick to the regulations of the treasury in the allocation of tenders, and did not properly keep record of its assets.

James Swart, DA member of the provincial legislator and transport spokesperson, said Jacobs must explain what had happened to the department's money and vehicles.

"MEC Jacobs is all spin and no wheels," he said.

Struggling to find credible reasons

2006-10-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

The African National Congress' efforts to change Cape Town's multi-party government was doing "incalculable harm" to South Africa, city mayor Helen Zille said.

"They are not damaging the multi-party government, they are doing incalculable harm to South Africa," she said in an opening speech at a full council meeting.

She said South Africa could not pretend to have a democracy if the ANC could not accept the results of an election in which they lost power. This would negatively impact on international investor confidence, economic growth and development.

While local government and housing MEC Richard Dyantyi was "struggling to find credible reasons" to justify changing Cape Town's government, there were some in his party trying artificially to manufacture those reasons, said Zille.

"In fact, I am reliably informed that a small group is going from place to place trying to make this city ungovernable in an attempt to justify the MEC's move to change the balance of power..."

Dyantyi had also still not provided "substantive formal reasons" for his proposal to change the system. The city would not be able to obtain a mandate from the council on whether to enter the formal legal process until it had these reasons.

On the city's preparations for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, Zille said while the design and blueprints for the 68 000-seat Green Point stadium were not yet finished, the environmental impact assessment had been completed.

She said rock below the surface of the site would require building a bigger structure, and raising the surrounding land surface slightly.

"This creates more costs due to the higher quantities of building materials and labour required."

The National Treasury, in a preliminary figure, said it would contribute R1.65bn towards the proposed stadium. Zille said the city was contributing R400m to the project. It had not received any significant financial commitment from the provincial government.

Zille said the city's financial situation was "looking good".

Too confidential to disclose

2006-10-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

Taxpayers had to fork out R11 700 for a six-hour stay in luxury accommodation for Health MEC Peggy Nkonyeni's son and members of her security team this month.

The travel company she dealt with, BBB Travel in Glenwood, Durban, said information about the minister's arrangements was "too confidential" to disclose."

The department merely confirmed that it was an official trip.

However, it has been established that R11 700 was the price paid for a stay at an upmarket Zululand lodge early this month, where the elegant, luxury rooms cost R2 340 a night.

Responding to questions about the reported visit, a member of the lodge's management confirmed that reservations had been made for five rooms for Nkonyeni and four other people.

Only three members of the department of health delegation had arrived at the lodge gates at 2am on Friday October 6. (The gates normally close at 6pm and reopen at 6am).

The three who checked in were Nkonyeni's son, Steve, 23, and security team members Yvonne Sibiya and Ephraim Mahlinza. The minister had decided not to stay at the hotel.

Department of health official Mtho Mlambo said the minister had stayed at a relative's home in northern Zululand.

Mlambo, the fifth member of the party booked into the lodge, said he had not gone on the trip to Zululand.

In fact, only three of the five beds booked were used, although The Mercury later established that the bill for the party's six-hour stay was R11 700, which was paid in full.

"I had to charge them the full amount," explained the lodge representative, "even though some members of the party did not arrive".

He said it was standard practice to ensure that the cost of booked rooms was covered, even though they were not all used.

It has also been established that there was suitable accommodation elsewhere at a lower cost.

Smiles all round

2006-10-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

It was smiles all round when Cape Town mayor Helen Zille, Western Cape local government MEC Richard Dyantyi and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi emerged from their meeting, called by Mufamadi to defuse growing tension between the two lower tiers of government in the province.

Zille and her Democratic Alliance-led coalition with a number of small parties, which has a slender majority on the council, have strongly opposed Dyantyi’s move to change Cape Town’s form of government from an executive mayor system to one in which the city would be run by an executive committee representing all of the major parties. Such a change would strip Zille of many of her executive powers and open the way for the African National Congress (ANC) to take control by forming an alliance with the third-biggest party in the council, the Independent Democrats.

Dyantyi, who represents the ANC on the provincial executive, is legally entitled to change the system of government used by municipalities in his jurisdiction but must follow a prescribed process, which includes justifying the need for change and ensuring that there has been meaningful consultation.

Zille’s ruling coalition claims to have received legal advice that the move is unconstitutional, since there is no compelling reason for the system of government to be changed, such as a complete breakdown of service delivery or political paralysis caused by stalemate in council meetings. It is also not satisfied that the only reason given by Dyantyi so far — that he feels the city would be better off with an “inclusive” form of government during the preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup — fulfills the legal requirement. Or that the consultation process he has started, but that the ruling coalition is boycotting, amounts to anything more than going through the motions to legitimise a blatant power grab.

With a prolonged and damaging court battle looming, Mufamadi’s offer to mediate was clearly opportune. Cape Town’s administration has been disrupted repeatedly over the years due to a series of political upheavals, to the detriment of service delivery. Regular purges of municipal employees perceived to be loyal to the previous regime have clearly taken their toll on morale and skills levels — another round of restructuring so soon after the last change of power could very well be the final straw. There were already indications during the local government election in March that many voters were becoming disillusioned and were withdrawing their participation in the democratic process as a result. A change of power that is perceived to be contrary to the outcome of a democratic poll would have severe implications both locally and nationally.

For these reasons, the broad smiles that were evident after Wednesday’s meeting are not necessarily a good sign, since they more than likely mean little of substance was achieved. Had Mufamadi taken a stance on the issue, one or the other party would surely have had little reason to look happy. Indeed, Zille made clear in comments afterwards that she considered it too soon to say there had been a meeting of minds. Nor could the initial ex-change be described as a discussion or negotiation, she said, just “the beginning of a process” that would hopefully lead to a better understanding of each other’s position.

While Mufamadi is right to give both parties the opportunity to present their case, the time will come when he will have to nail his colours to the mast. If he is persuaded that Dyantyi’s position can be justified — although on the evidence so far that would seem farfetched — Zille will surely seek relief from the courts. If he leans in the other direction, he risks widening existing divisions in the Western Cape ANC.

Either way, those smiles are surely going to become strained.

Eastern Cape cannot account for R30bn

2006-10-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Eastern Cape government is not able to account for 88,5% of its 2005-06 budget, the Public Service Accountability Monitor at Rhodes University said yesterday.

The group said the provincial administration was unable to account for R30,2bn out of R34,1bn it spent during the period.

The group’s researcher, Stacey-Leigh Joseph, said this was of particular concern because the cumulative figure disclaimed had almost doubled from the previous financial year, when the provincial auditor-general disclaimed R16,8bn or 54% of expenditure.

Five departments were issued with disclaimers for the financial year. They included health, education, social development and housing, which together received 86% of the total Eastern Cape budget for 2005-06.

Economic affairs was also issued with an audit disclaimer. In the 2004-05 budget, the housing, health and education departments were issued with disclaimers.

The auditor-general issues an audit disclaimer when he is unable to confirm the funds were used for their claimed purpose, often because departments cannot provide supporting documentation.

Joseph said the disclaimed amount for financial 2005-06 was the Eastern Cape government’s worst performance in five years.

600 state cars missing

2006-10-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

THE Gauteng transport department has launched a forensic audit to trace vehicles worth about R90m that have gone missing from the national government garage, which it manages.

The 600 missing vehicles, which range from Toyota Corollas to Mercedes-Benzes, have been in the use of 32 government departments, the bulk of them in Gauteng, a report has found.

The fraud was discovered when the transport department hired SMM Telematics to install a tracking system in the government garage’s fleet of cars as part of a cost-management exercise.

The system allows the garage to monitor vehicles online and the distances travelled through an electronic logbook.

According to a progress report submitted to the Gauteng transport department for the period December 2005 to September this year, only 4404 of the 5539 vehicles registered on the system could be traced.

About 400 more vehicles have since been traced, but according to transport department head Sibusiso Buthelezi, about 600 vehicles are still missing.

“There are still a lot of cars that have not been found and it’s a lot of money,” said Buthelezi.

The vehicle audit is to be completed by the end of the financial year in March.

Buthelezi said departments that were unable to produce the cars would be held accountable, and forced to pay the transport department back for the vehicles, which range in price from R50000 to R600000.

The garage, situated in Johannesburg, acts as the preferred service provider for all departments in Gauteng, the home affairs department, Statistics SA, the water affairs department, as well as departments in the other eight provinces.

According to senior department staff, the missing vehicles were all bought in the past three years, raising concerns that there are more vehicles unaccounted for from previous years.

Buthelezi was allegedly approached by officials from the government garage to write off the debt because they were unable to trace the missing cars, but he refused.

Buthelezi made headlines earlier this month after he was named in a leaked report alleging tender irregularities worth more than R100m in the Gauteng housing department, of which Buthelezi was then head.

The report found massive irregularities in tenders granted by the department’s former chief director, Eugene Perumal, to business consortium Enterprise Connection, of about R40m.

It found gross negligence on the part of Buthelezi, who allegedly signed the R75m contract with Enterprise Connection, when the housing department’s acquisition council had only agreed to a R44m contract.

Buthelezi acknowledged that he signed the contract, but said he had not seen the annexures to the contract, which contained much higher amounts.

Gauteng’s provincial government garage, also run by the transport department, received a qualified audit this week for the year to March with the report finding a lack of administrative controls.

Moves to oust Tshwane mayor

2006-10-20T03:07:00.000-07:00

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Tshwane metro council handed in a motion of no confidence against the city's executive mayor, Gwen Ramokgopa, calling for her immediate resignation.

Proposed by DA chief whip Natasha Michael, the motion puts forth a list of 20 issues that it claims the mayor failed to address, including billing chaos, alleged corruption in the housing and land department, failure to address illegal land invasions, chaos in the licensing department, and a lack of transparency in appointing senior officials.

"Effective service delivery and treating the clients who are, in fact, our residents to quality service is not a maybe; it is a must-have element that the council is seriously lacking," she said in a statement.

Council speaker Khorombi Dau said the motion will go before the 152-member council, which will decide whether it complies with council rules before a decision is made.

If the motion came under opposition from members of the council, which Michael said it probably would, the DA would have to motivate and defend its case against the mayor.

"We will not sit back and let our residents be abused. Our residents pay rates and taxes and, more importantly, our residents pay the executive mayor's salary, and when you pay for a service you expect delivery," Michael said in her statement.

Chris van der Heyde, spokesperson for the National Democratic Convention (Nadeco) based in Pretoria, said the party is "extremely dissatisfied with the levels of corruption in Tshwane".

Van der Heyde said Ramokgopa had failed to react swiftly when certain Tshwane councillors were arrested for selling property stands some months ago, and that she still has not issued any notice about it.

He added that even though Ramokgopa has not done anything to prove she is able to do her job, "at this point we [Nadeco] do not share the same feeling as the DA that she should be removed".

"When a person says they have all the executive powers, you expect them to show it … She should act swiftly and transparently … She has to show that she can work for the man on the street," Van der Heyde said.

Piet Uys, a Tshwane council member of the Freedom Front Plus, said the problems experienced under Ramokgopa's authority would not be solved by removing her from her position as executive mayor.

"These problems were inherited by us and by the current mayor … replacing her will not change anything," Uys told the M&G Online.

However, "Talk is cheap, and when you are in a position of leadership such as the executive mayor, the buck stops with you," Michael said in her statement. "Any failure that occurs within the Tshwane metro is ultimately the executive mayor's responsibility. As the political leader of the council, she has the ability to rectify situations."

But Uys feels that the problems materialised as a result of the African National Congress (ANC) government's plans to have everything in the municipality centrally managed. "We would like to find a situation where there is a mayoral committee and not an executive mayor in charge of everything," he said.

When asked for a comment regarding the proposed motion to dismiss the executive mayor, Richard Mkholo, chief director of communications in the Tshwane municipality, said "the answers to the issues raised … will be answered according to section 18 of the Rules and Orders of Council at its next seating due on November 2 2006".

"As you may know, our council meetings are opened to the public, therefore answers to these issues will be dealt with accordingly at that point," Mkholo said, declining to comment any further.

Tshwane residents are losing their faith in the local government's bureaucratic system, saying that the municipality is a mess and disorganised, reports Hila Bouzaglou.

The credibility of the Tshwane metro council, which is the local municipality for about two million residents, was under the spotlight a few weeks ago when an unlicensed vehicle was used to reconnect a Rietfontein resident's electricity power.

Henk van Heerden's electricity was cut in September after he did not receive an electricity bill for 15 months. Although he paid his monthly account, a contractor arrived at his house without warning to cut the power because he was R900 "in arrears".

After paying the R900 immediately, it took eight hours for a contractor to return to the house and switch the electricity on, leaving the Van Heerdens without electricity the whole day.

Van Heerden inspected the contractor's car while they were busy reconnecting the power. The licence disc had expired because the contractor (hired by the Tshwane metro council) "had outstanding tickets at the Tshwane metro police".

Like many of the licensing departments in Johannesburg (such as Marlboro and Edenvale), the Centurion licensing centre is, as the DA's motion stated, chaotic.

Nicholas de Villiers, a lecturer at Varsity College in Tshwane, said he recently waited at the Tshwane's central licensing department for four hours. "The thing is that they don't put you in the right queue and it becomes a bureaucratic mess where the red tape becomes more important than serving the citizens," he said.

De Villiers's car was also recently broken into outside his apartment building on Church Street, and he didn't receive his case number from the central police station in time to claim from insurance.

The roads are also not up to scratch, says Tshwane resident Gareth Coetzee. "Traffic here is ridiculous because road works take forever," he said, bringing to mind images of Johannesburg's notorious Rivonia Road, where cars stay put in traffic for hours.

Coetzee, who works for a community newspaper based in Pretoria, said people in Pretoria are losing hope and faith in the local government. But he added that apart from municipality billing being "a joke" and the frequent water and electricity cuts, "Pretoria is still pretty squeaky clean".

Zelda Potgieter, a resident in the northern suburbs of Tshwane, complained about electricity bills arriving six weeks late and negligence in the way the Tshwane metro operates its service call centre.

"When you phone the Tshwane metro to make a query you are put on hold for hours, or they just don't pick up the phone. It comes down to you just [not knowing] what's going on," she said.

But while poor municipality services and bad roads may be new to people in Tshwane, it's old news in Johannesburg. De Villiers said that having lived both in Tshwane and Johannesburg, the municipality in Tshwane is not "nearly as bad as in Johannesburg".

Safety MEC beefs up private fortress

2006-10-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

Community Safety MEC Leonard Ramatlakane has beefed up security at his private home to the tune of R347 716 - almost R250 000 more than the amount to which provincial ministers are entitled.

The over-expenditure was revealed in the 2005/06 annual report of the Department of Community Safety, which was discussed by the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa).

The expenditure covers the period 2002 until the last financial year.

Ramatlakane's security improvements, as well as other irregularities in the audit report, were questioned by members of the legislature on Tuesday.

In terms of provincial policy, each MEC is entitled to have the security at their private houses improved to the value of R100 000.

The DA has vowed to pursue the issue to the "highest level", and has accused Ramatlakane of having "no faith" in the police.

Ramatlakane said that the expenditure on his northern suburbs home had occurred after "elimination threats" had been directed at him and Premier Ebrahim Rasool by so-called high-flyers last year.

Govt suspensions cost us

2006-10-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

A total of 112 municipal officials are currently suspended at a cost of R12.5 million, said the Democratic Alliance (DA).

"Some cases have gone on for 34 months, a number of others for over two years," said DA MP Willem Doman, the party's spokesman on local government.

Doman said the information came from the response to a DA parliamentary question to Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi.

"The worst province in terms of cost is Gauteng where 20 officials have cost the state R3.5m," said Doman.

Excuses, excuses

2006-10-16T23:29:00.000-07:00

Project Consolidate has not made the expected impact within the Chris Hani District municipality in the Eastern Cape, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka heard today.

"Although there has been assistance, Project Consolidate has not been felt on the ground," Executive Mayor Mafuza Sigabi said, giving a presentation on the state of the district.

Project Consolidate provides hands-on support to struggling municipalities by either provincial or national government.

Mr Sigabi said there was poor co-ordination between the district and the province on the Project Consolidate intervention.

He said four out of a total of eight local municipalities in the district were under Project Consolidate, namely Intsika Yethu, Emalahleni, Engcobo and Sakhisizwe.

The mayor said the district faced challenges in dealing with, amongst others, performance management systems, free basic services, sanitation and staff training.

"Project Consolidate did not sufficiently address skills transfer," he said, indicating that this was another major challenge.

He called for a more "hands-on support" from the provincial local government, housing and traditional affairs department.

The district is home to approximately 187 000 households, constituting about 810 000 people.

About 98 000 of the people (59 percent of the total population) are unemployed. The majority of those employed are within the service industry and the public sector.

Just over 160 000 are economically active while more than 270 000 are not.

Mr Sigabi said a majority of the population there had access to water and sanitation.

He said however, the district municipality needed about R909 million to address the current water backlog.

He said a further R71.5 million was needed to eradicate about 7 949 remaining bucket toilets in the area.

"With lack of technical staff and dilapidated infrastructure, meeting national targets remain a challenge," the Executive Mayor said.

Government aims to eradicate the bucket system by 2007.

Mr Sigabi also said the electricity backlog in the area stood at nearly 78 000 households out of just about 190 000.

About R247.4 million and R287.4 million was needed to address the backlog in urban and rural areas respectively.

With regard to housing, over 37 000 units have been approved, more than 26 000 completed and the backlog stood at just over 10 000, Mr Sigabi said.

He said the district had budgeted about R9.5 million for Local Economic Development initiatives for the current financial year

Key facilities are constantly close to failure

2006-10-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

More South Africans than ever before have electricity, water and sanitation -- but local government is failing to run these services properly, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) said on Friday.

"Local government has proved to be a most unreliable custodian of existing infrastructure," said the IJR's 2006 transformation audit, Money and Morality, released in Johannesburg.

"Maintenance is neglected and planned capital expenditure is delayed to such an extent that expensive replacement of infrastructure becomes necessary.

"In areas with rapid growth in demand, key facilities are constantly close to failure."

The IJR said 3,5-million homes got electricity since 1994, water reached 90% of homes and the sanitation backlog was declining, but even the best-resourced municipalities could not keep up.

This was partly due to corruption, but mainly due to maladministration.

The report looked at two case studies in the country's wealthiest cities -- the sanitation crisis in Cape Town and the power failures in Johannesburg.

In Cape Town, the water treatment and sewerage system was showing signs of systemic failure by 2006. "When failures are regular and sustained they begin to affect people," said the IJR report.

It said officials had failed to provide "sufficiently forceful advice" to politicians, politicians had rejected technical reports and diverted funds elsewhere and political squabbling in the council blocked delivery.

In Johannesburg, there has been a cascading series of persistent power cuts for years, said the report. "City Power knew exactly what the problems in Johannesburg were, but failed to act with the speed and seriousness that the situation required."

The report said the network had deteriorated so badly by the time City Power took over that breakdowns were inevitable. This was because of the city's financial crisis of the late 1990s, which meant that maintenance was delayed and capital expenditure halted.

Parts of the network are now 70 years old. There was severe overloading from illegal connections and vandalism. IJR said the problems were made worse by mismanagement. The Johannesburg case showed how long it took for a city to recover from a lapse in maintenance spending.

Constitutional dispute could paralyse city

2006-10-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi is to intervene in the battle between the African National Congress (ANC) provincial government and Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor Helen Zille in a bid to head off a damaging constitutional dispute that could paralyse the city.

While Mufamadi’s move appears to be a reversal of the position adopted by the cabinet when it noted provinces had the power to decide on forms of city government, the minister insisted he was acting within the ambit of the Inter-Governmental Relations Framework Act.

The cabinet had said the matter should be dealt with through existing legislation.

Clearly Mufamadi wants to avoid the provincial ANC government and the city’s Democratic Alliance-multiparty government slugging it out all the way to the Constitutional Court, to the detriment of service delivery and preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

For more than a month, Western Cape local government MEC Richard Dyantyi and Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor Zille have been at each other’s throats over Dyantyi’s announced intention of changing the system of government in Cape Town.

Mufamadi said he would meet with Dyantyi and Zille on Wednesday to promote a “meeting of minds” and find a “harmonious solution” to the problem.

Zille runs the city through a mayoral executive committee consisting of the DA and a number of smaller coalition partners. The ANC, after having run the city in the same way for more than five years, now wants to force the creation of a multiparty executive committee with parties represented in proportion to the votes that they earned. This would effectively reduce Zille to a figurehead with a mayoral chain.

Dyantyi has also called for a meeting on Tuesday with Zille and all city councillors to discuss the issue as part of the process he has to follow, in terms of the Municipal Structures Act, to change the city’s government system.

Zille indicated she was awaiting legal opinion on whether to attend Tuesday’s meeting.

Despite numerous questions, Mufamadi would not be drawn on whether Dyantyi’s move was legal, and insisted that in terms of the law he was required to prevent the situation turning into a dispute that would harm service delivery and development in the city. He said if relations between the city and the province were not good, the chances of good delivery were zero.

Mufamadi also declined to speculate on what actions he might take or powers he might exercise should Dyantyi and Zille be unable to find common ground. His intention was to “find a meeting of minds” that would resolve the problems.

While avoiding passing judgment on either Dyantyi’s or Zille’s positions, the minister said Zille had concerns over Dyantyi’s proposals “that we consider legitimate”. He denied that national government was aware of Dyantyi’s intentions before the fact.

The ANC condemns all forms of crime

2006-10-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Political leaders in Limpopo are calling for the resignation of former ANC chief whip Matshike Thobejane from the provincial legislature. This follows his being found guilty of statutory rape.

The ANC said the law must first take its full course before steps against Thobejane would be considered. He has been given leave to appeal. Thobejane, still a member of the legislature, was found guilty of raping an under-aged relative two years ago in Lebowakgomo.

Larry Scott, provincial secretary for the United Independent Front (UIF), says his organisation is most disappointed at that kind of leadership. “Real men don’t rape. Young boys and girls are looking up to leadership, but leadership with no morals is disappointing,” said Scott.

DA provincial leader Michael Holford severely criticised the ANC for not taking disciplinary action against Thobejane. Holford said an appeal by Thobejane was ridiculous.

“This man must just resign, and there is nothing that can be done in his situation. This is highly unacceptable and Thobejane must resign from the legislature,” said Holford.

Cassel Mathale, provincial secretary for the ANC, said they would not act now. “The entire circle of the due process in terms of the law must first be completed. The ANC condemns all forms of crime,” said Mathale.

Mufamadi's wife wins R5m tender

2006-10-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

A senior Gauteng transport official has acknowledged that he failed to follow proper procedures in awarding a R5m tender to a cabinet minister's wife.

Provincial transport department head Sibusiso Buthelezi said that he did not advertise the tender "because it was a matter of urgency".

The contract was to help the department with the conversion of taxi permits to operating licences.

It was given to the company of Nomusa Mufamadi, wife of Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi.

Buthelezi said also he was impressed with Nomusa's qualifications.

Cape Town power grab

2006-10-11T23:35:00.000-07:00

A bid by the African National Congress (ANC) to wrest back power in Cape Town, a lone bastion of opposition to South Africa's ruling party, has triggered a fierce backlash across the political spectrum.

Western Cape minister of local government Richard Dyantyi, a senior ANC cadre, has summoned members of the city council to a meeting next Tuesday where he will flesh out plans announced last month to amend the system of government.

Dyantyi wants a slimmed-down executive committee, selected in proportion to the number of votes each party received in March's election, to replace the current mayoral committee headed by Helen Zille of the Democratic Alliance.

With no single party enjoying a majority in the 210-seat chamber, Zille has been heading a coalition for the last six months without ANC representatives. However, the complex new formula would effectively hand control to the ANC and its allies, the Independent Democrats (ID), which is the third largest party.

The ANC claims the move will ensure a more "inclusive" system of government.

"My reason for considering the change in the type of municipality is that the present type does not allow for inclusive political processes in respect of the present dictates and challenges," Dyantyi said in a letter to Zille on Tuesday.

Dyantyi and the ANC's arguments have convinced few and been widely condemned as a blatant power grab by a party that cannot abide by the will of the people.

"The ANC cannot handle the fact that it doesn't monopolise power across the country and at all levels of government," was the verdict of Cape Town's Afrikaans daily, Die Burger.

Even the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), an ally in the national government, has been moved to speak out, with its Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich saying it left "a bad taste in the mouth".

Since the end of apartheid and the first multi-racial elections 12 years ago, the ANC has dominated power in nearly every corner of the country.

Cape Town, however, has consistently bucked the trend, with voters stubbornly refusing to give the ANC a majority.

While backroom deals enabled it to run the city until March, Zille has since been able to cobble together a broad-based coalition without the ANC.

Dyantyi's move, widely seen to have President Thabo Mbeki's support, has led many to query the party's commitment to democracy.

Former president and Nobel laureate FW de Klerk, who now heads a think-tank called the Foundation Centre for Constitutional Rights, believes the change has far-reaching implications for democratic local governance.

"Any dispensation that would vest executive decision-making in the hands of parties that do not have majority support in the council would be inconsistent with democracy and would thus be unconstitutional," his office said in a statement.

Veteran campaigner Helen Suzman, who fought for the ANC's right to enter the democratic process during apartheid, said it was now failing to respect diversity of opinion.

"Respecting different views and opinions does not imply rejecting the decision of the electorate," she wrote in a newspaper letter.

The Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party described Dyantyi's plan as an "assault on democracy" and a "ruthless power grab".

Even the ID, while supporting the executive committee, have queried "the methods and motives behind Dyantyi's implementation of it".

Bolstered by cross-party opposition, Zille has vowed to challenge the move all the way to the Constitutional Court.

Adam Habib, director of the Human Sciences Research Council think-tank, said the ANC could end up shooting itself in the foot in Cape Town if the net result was to undermine confidence in the overall political system.

"This is perceived by large numbers of people as an attempt to get through the side door what it [the ANC] couldn't get through the front door -- that this is political opportunism."

Whistle-blower violated confidentiality

2006-10-11T05:05:00.000-07:00

The Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC), which was established to improve service delivery in the province, suspended 25 staff members in just more than a year for irregularities involving purchases for other departments and fraud.

Pascalis Mokupo, the whistle-blower who leaked a report he wrote for the GSSC exposing tender irregularities involving the housing department, was among the nine dismissed since June last year. He was fired for undisclosed “dishonesty”.

According to answers to questions posed in the Gauteng legislature, the dismissed staff included buyers, senior auditors and project managers.

The centre was set up in 2001 to provide Gauteng departments with support services for finance, IT, human resources and procurement but has been mired in controversy for most of its existence.

Staff have been accused of masterminding fraud running into billions of rands in the education department, and departments have complained about slow payment of contracts, leaving hospitals in the province without supplies.

The Democratic Alliance has posed questions in the legislature about the department’s performance and the qualifications of the senior staff concerned.

Top forensic staff, such as forensic audit senior manager Azwianewi Mulaudzi, were found to have diplomas, instead of the required degrees. The department’s explanation was that forensic experts were in short supply and that the idea behind affirmative action was to “correct imbalances of the past and to appoint people on their potential”.

The GSSC was unable to explain yesterday why it had not told the legislature about the forensic audit conducted by Mokupo into a R40m housing fraud, which it has denied resulted in a secret report. In a written reply to the legislature by finance MEC Paul Mashatile’s office dated October 24 2005, which is in Business Day’s possession, the GSSC lists 11 audits it carried out from 2004, but did not mention the report on contracts granted by Eugene Perumal to Enterprise Connections.

Spokesman Emmanuel Mdawu said yesterday that before he commented he needed to find out if such questions were in fact posed to the legislature.

The department has denied Mokupo’s claim that Mulaudzi told him to remove reference to “gross negligence” by former head of the housing department Sibusiso Buthelezi, who signed the R75m infrastructure contract with the company, saying the original document was submitted to the housing department last September.

The housing department is now involved in a legal battle with Enterprise Connections over R40m the company says it still owes. The department insists it approved tenders for R43,9m and the contract was fraudulently inflated to R75m.

Mokupo looks set to face criminal charges for revealing the tender fraud. Apparently he is going to be charged for violating the confidentiality provisions in his conditions of employment.

IFP warns against one-party state

2006-10-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Inkatha Freedom Party — which runs about half of the municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal and holds seats in the African National Congress led government in that province — has warned against "the peril of complacence" in face of the danger of South Africa descending into a one-party State.

The party — led by former Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi — warned in a resolution against "political thuggery" and criticized moves "within the (ruling) ANC alliance" to alter or remove the continuing legislative authority of the provinces "which constitute a direct assault on Chapter 6 of the constitution ... and an obvious attempt to direct debate towards the redefinition of the country's overall form of state".

Moves by Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi to reconfigure the provincial system — including the suggested merging of certain provinces has recently received the backing of the largest trade union federation in South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).

Meanwhile, the IFP also noted as evidence of the one party state trend "the elevation of the executive (cabinet) far beyond that of Members of Parliament whose dwindling role is now appallingly evident and whose ability to function effectively appears to be increasingly negligible with ruling party members in Parliament now acting as mere voting fodder for the unquestioned execution of the legislative mandates required by the executive and (ruling) African National Congress leadership".

The resolution — which noted the stealing of opposition party representatives through floor crossing legislation — called for "all patriots to be vigilant and to resist the constant and deliberate erosion of our constitutional order including many of the agreements reached prior to 1994" during the multiparty constitutional negotiations "some of which were translated immediately into law and others were included in the constitution and which are now subject to increasing amendment or repeal".

Jobs for comrades

2006-10-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

SEVENTEEN top directors employed at Limpopo’s municipalities are trained teachers with no management-related qualifications needed for mananging their underdeveloped areas.

At least four of the 17 directors hold positions as municipal managers and the rest occupy key positions as directors of finance, integrated development planning (IDP), corporate services, local economic development (LED), accounting and human resources.

This state of affairs came to light after questions were put forward by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the provincial legislature this week.

In response, the local government and housing department admitted that some individuals were given posts that were not compatible with their fields of study.

One municipality hired an IDP/LED director with only a secretarial diploma, while a chief finance officer has qualifications for an administrator’s position and another has only a matric certificate.

Limpopo DA leader Michael Holford said this affected service delivery.

“It is unacceptable how the system is being manipulated by the ANC, where jobs are obviously given to people with political connections,” Holford said.

“The advice these employees give to politicians is poor since they make decisions on things they do not understand. This is seriously affecting service delivery.”

Local government and housing department spokesperson Khuitsemang Diseko said the department was aware that most municipal employees were unable to perform because they lacked relevant qualifications.

“This is however, not a Limpopo problem.

“This issue has been discussed in relevant government structures and it is being dealt with.”

Greater Groblersdal Municipality has been in the spotlight for running a “jobs-for-comrades” scheme and giving senior posts to teachers.

Last month qualified applicants were overlooked and a primary school teacher was appointed IDP/LED director.

The candidate had served as a councillor before. Two unsuccessful applicants were qualified and had considerable experience.

In 2005 the council fired its top five management employees for incompetence and their failure to explain financial irregularities.

Before the dismissals, current municipal manager Langa Kabini – a former councillor who holds a secondary teacher’s diploma and has no managerial experience – was appointed IDP director.

Kabini was later promoted.

David Tshehla, a former councillor, was appointed community services director.

He has a primary school teacher’s diploma.

An ex-primary school principal is now corporate services director.

Nice work if you can get it

2006-10-07T03:55:00.000-07:00

The R96 000 that Gauteng Provincial Minister Paul Mashatile splurged on a taxpayer-funded dinner at a French restaurant has cast a spotlight on the abuse of government credit cards and is further evidence of the growing high life of our public representatives.

Mashatile's official credit has a limit of R400 000. He uses Auberge Michel and other top-end restaurants as his kitchen. He regularly dines out, with little evidence of any distinction made between legitimate entertainment and a life high on the hog.

The high life as well as the super-fortunes amassed by its leadership has political costs for the African National Congress’s identity as a mass grassroots movement.

Deputy president Jacob Zuma’s bid for the presidency is, in part, being fought on a grassroots ticket that casts President Thabo Mbeki’s ANC as a party of business.

The lust for the high life last weekend saw the party’s secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe attack the cult of the VIP in the ANC. Addressing the ANC Limpopo provincial general council, he warned that the trappings of power were alienating the grassroots, creating a “social gap”.

While government ministers justified their VIP status as necessary protocol, he warned, “It is that kind of protocol which has the potential to create a social gap between our public representatives and our people.” Because they used VIP lounges at airport, were corralled in VIP sections at functions and were whisked by convoy through traffic, politicians had very little opportunity to interact with the public.

In August Mbeki attacked conspicuous consumption when he delivered the Desmond Tutu lecture and this week it was the turn of ANC national executive committee member Saki Macozoma, who, in an address at the centenary celebrations of the Gandhi Satyagraha Passive Resistance Movement, said: “People often want all the power at all costs because they see that as the only opportunity for them to grab, for them to loot, for them to steal, and for them to create a system that actually tolerates all those kinds of behaviours.”

Mashatile’s whopping credit card bill is only the latest embarrassment the ANC has faced in relation to comrades, their credit cards and the uses of the public purse. Here are other examples:

Ekurhuleni mayor Bavumile Vilakazi bought a R560 000 armour-plated Mercedes-Benz because he needed protection against criminals on whom he was cracking down. Vilakazi also spent massive amounts renovating his office and was eventually removed by the ANC after he took friends and their spouses on a trip to China, which was financed from council coffers.

Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka spent R400 000 on a five-day crane-spotting trip to the United Arab Emirates accompanied by family members and friends.

Gauteng Health Minister Brian Hlongwa confirmed that he would spend R700 000 renovating his office

Gauteng Housing Minister Nomvula Mokonyane spent R360 000 on a cocktail function to celebrate her budget speech in June

The response to public unhappiness with the splurges has been technocratic, revealing that the gap Motlanthe spoke about was already in place.

Mokonyane, for example, said the money was well spent on “stakeholder management”. Mashatile also said there was nothing wrong with hosting people at one of Johannesburg’s most expensive restaurants, insisting that, as a host, he could choose where he wanted to dine.

They sent some guy from the council

2006-10-07T03:09:00.000-07:00

Disgruntled residents of Merafong on the West Rand handed in a memorandum of demands to a government official, the SA Communist Party said. Neither Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi nor Gauteng local government MEC Qedani Dorothy Mahlangu were there to receive the memorandum.

Residents were demonstrating against the incorporation of part of their municipality into the North West from Gauteng, said spokesperson Nkosiphendule Kolisile.

"We were also demanding that illegitimate councillors step down."

The "illegitimate councillors" Kolisile referred to were elected at the March local government polls, which were boycotted by Merafong residents.

"Although they sent some guy from the council, we are just glad that our march achieved its purpose... for residents to be heard," Kolisile said.

Only one engineer left in Cape Town

2006-10-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

Staff restructuring by the former ANC administration has left Cape Town with only one transport engineer, says Mayor Helen Zille, and if the province succeeds in dissolving the executive mayoral committee, steps to fill critical posts will be "on skids again".

Anxiety about the possible change of government could deter skilled professionals from returning to council to fill posts needed for core services.

Speaking at a members' meeting of the South African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with the bilateral chambers of commerce of France, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands on Monday, Zille said the city's staff organogram would be completed by the end of the year. "Then we will know which vacancies to fill."

The ANC's "political purge" had created chaos. This was compounded by an annual capital expenditure on infrastructure and services in the past three years of only 60 percent. This is disastrous for efficiency and disastrous for morale.

Other inherited problems included the city's lack of investment in infrastructure and maintenance. This resulted in power outages, sewage leaks, water shortages, traffic congestion and poor rail service. The city's housing backlog had spiked from 250 000 to 400 000 units.

This would be the fifth attempt by the ANC, which had never won an election in Cape Town, to topple the multi-party government in seven months.

The introduction of the collective system would unseat the multi-party government and replace it with a government controlled by the ANC and supported by the ID.

Abuse of power

2006-09-29T02:42:00.000-07:00

It is beyond doubt that an abuse of power is being planned in the Western Cape, where Richard Dyantyi, (MEC) for local government, has given notice of his intention to use the Municipal Structures Act to change the system of municipal government in Cape Town.

The key significance of the change will be that it will strip the city’s mayor, Helen Zille of the Democratic Alliance (DA), of her executive powers at the head of a coalition and reduce her to a figurehead. After some uncertainty, it is now obvious that the African National Congress (ANC) in Western Cape — and perhaps beyond — has never reconciled itself to its defeat in the Cape Town municipal election in March this year, when the DA won the most votes (though not an absolute majority) and secured Zille’s election as executive mayor.

Dyantyi says that what he is doing is “allowable and provided for in our law”.

That may be so, but the lawful exercise of power can also be the abusive exercise of power, in this case twice over. Once would be in using his power as an MEC for a party-political purpose. The second would be in using it to undermine the result of a democratic election.

Attempts to undermine Zille began within a fortnight of her taking office. Later, towards the end of April, she was the target of violent attack at a meeting in the Crossroads shantytown outside the city. The local ANC’s response to this was initially equivocal (as was that of the Independent Democrats).

But government spokesman (as he then was) Joel Netshitenzhe issued a forthright denunciation. President Thabo Mbeki also denounced public violence. There had earlier been a series of violent attacks against mayors and councillors in various parts of the country, and Mbeki spoke in general terms rather than about what had happened to Zille in particular.

The Crossroads attack, and other efforts to undermine Zille, were widely portrayed at the time as petulance and obstructionism on the part of “provincial mavericks”, as they were described in this newspaper.

Now we are faced with something more serious than local intolerance leading to thuggery at a political meeting. It is the use of the law to subvert an election result which is clearly anathema to many in the ruling party. Moreover, this abuse of the law has national backing.

ANC officials in the province have confirmed that Dyantyi is acting in concert with senior party officials at national level. It is not clear whether Mbeki was party to the decision on Dyantyi’s proposed course of action, although DA leader Tony Leon claims that he was “apparently instrumental” to it. It doesn’t matter: as party leader and head of government and state, Mbeki will in any event be responsible for both an abuse of power and an attack upon democracy if he allows Dyantyi to go ahead.

Zille has vowed to fight Dyantyi all the way to the Constitutional Court. She owes it to the country to do so, because this is an issue that goes beyond the interests of Zille, the DA, Cape Town, or Western Cape.

It raises two questions:

If the ANC finds it so difficult to accept the outcome of a municipal election it loses, will it be able to accept the outcome of a general election it might one day lose?

Will the constitution and the courts be able to protect democracy from assault at the hands of the ruling party?

Paid not to work

2006-09-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

One of those typically South African stories in which it is hard to tell the good guys fro the bad guys.

Gauteng public servant Crish Naidu has been paid R1,25-million in the past 27 months for doing nothing. Naidu says he was suspended after uncovering alleged fraud involving at least six members of staff.

He worked as director of management services in the department of finance and economic affairs, with a monthly salary of R46 000.

Naidu said he served during the tenure of former provincial finance minister Jabu Moleketi and current minister Paul Mashatile, but claimed neither had acted on his corruption allegations.

For two years, he said, he tried a number of avenues to have action taken about his corruption claims, but met with no success. Two years later, as a last resort, he gave his report to the Auditor General (AG), who then contacted the finance department to query it.

Naidu was suspended 27 months ago on the grounds that he had no right to hand over the information to the AG without permission.

Departmental spokesperson Percy Mthimkulu said Naidu was suspended because he used documentation he was not supposed to have for his fraud report.

"He was also charged with insubordination because employees are not allowed to approach the AG without permission."

Mthimkulu says the AG had since released two reports that did not mention any of Naidu's allegations of fraud -- thereby indicating he had found no substance to them.

On the length of time Naidu has been on full pay, Mthimkulu said this was because it had taken Mashatile some time for him to familiarise himself with the new department. -

Poor delivery by the high-spending Gauteng MEC for finance

2006-09-26T01:47:00.000-07:00

The corruptness of the ANC regime is shown up by a big-spending official who does not deliver, while involved in a coruption scandal.

The office of Paul Mashatile, the Gauteng MEC for finance, has dismissed suggestions that there is anything sinister about his R96 000 post-budget speech dinner bill.

"The expenditure was budgeted for; it is not an unusual expense. We invited 200 people but got more, including officials and staff members from three departments," said Percy Mthimkhulu, Mashatile's spokesperson.

Politicians criticised Mashatile for spending almost R100 000 on one dinner while there was a high incidence of poverty and starvation in the province.

Mashatile reportedly spent more than R250 000 on restaurant bills in the five months from February to June. He picked up a R96 000 bill at the posh Auberge Michel restaurant in Sandton on June 23, using his government credit card to entertain colleagues from the economics and treasury departments and Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC).

The high-spending Mashatile was embroiled in controversy several years ago after a report that he held share options in GSSC. "He [Mashatile] did not exercise those share options... he merely declared his interests and the matter is now with the integrity commission, which will be releasing a report on the findings of an investigation," Mthimkhulu said.

Regarding poor service delivery at GSSC, Mthimkhulu said that teething problems when the centre began operating in 2002 had been resolved. However, a forensic audit report conducted by the Gauteng education department into irregular appointments of contract staff at its 12 district offices accused the GSSC of making them.

Another report found that Gauteng schools, prisons, police stations and hospitals faced shortages of basic commodities such as coal, fresh vegetables and toilet paper because the GSSC was not paying its bills.

Mthimkhulu said the centre was scheduled to release its annual report shortly. "We are confident they will have turned the corner," he said.

Shut up and sit down, comrade

2006-09-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

It is a mystery why the South African regime's minister of Provincial and Local Government would address a labour union on economic policy. One can only wonder waht he knows about the subject. No wonder he was heckled and told to sit down.

THE battle for the soul of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) was evident on the last day of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) congress yesterday, when delegates and representatives of the ANC debated economic policy.

Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi was heckled off the stage by Cosatu delegates when he tried to account for perceptions that the political direction of the ruling ANC had changed.

He said the ANC was a “multi-class” organisation and “we will not encourage ANC members to adopt a closed-shop mentality”. He conceded, however, that more debate on economic policy was needed in the tripartite alliance.

Senior union leaders criticised Mufamadi, accusing him of speaking without a mandate, and Cosatu delegates lashed out at government’s “unilateral” adoption of the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear) economic policy in 1996.

Fikile Majola, general secretary of public-sector union Nehawu, accused Mufamadi of complicity in what he called “the 1996 class project” responsible for the adoption of Gear.

“The ANC’s input confirms there has been a rupture in our shared strategic assumptions.”

Randall Howard, general secretary of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, summed up the mood of the delegates when he rejected ANC claims that congress delegates were being unrealistic. “It is not in the spirit of good debate and it is antagonising us.”

He was responding to Mufamadi’s remarks on the “global balance of forces” that influenced the ANC’s decision to follow centrist rather than left-leaning economic policies.

The minister was accused of contradicting President Thabo Mbeki, who told the United Nations this week that richer countries should not determine the agenda of developing nations.

Delegates accused a “small clique” in the ANC of excluding workers from the process of policy formulation.

The discussion ranged over resolutions relating to Cosatu’s relationship with the ruling party, and delegates debated whether the SACP should contest elections independently of the ANC.

You've said enough

2006-09-22T04:55:00.000-07:00

Unionists at the Cosatu congress in Midrand stopped Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi from addressing them on the nature of the African National Congress led alliance.

"Okay, Comrade Sydney, go and enjoy your seat for now," Congress of SA Trade Unions president Willie Madisha told Mufamadi.

Mufamadi had been addressing the congress in Midrand on the political resolutions, but after he had been speaking for a while delegates protested that he was speaking about all the resolutions not just those under discussion.

Once Mufamadi sat down, delegates jumped up and started singing in support of the SA Communist Party. "We are going to take the land," they sang.

Underlying the congress has been anger at the perceived pro-capitalist stance of the ANC and its failure to take into account its alliance partners, Cosatu and the SACP, in policy matters.

Down with democracy, especially in Western Cape!

2006-09-22T04:47:00.000-07:00

PHANTSI democracy. Phantsi! Phantsi democracy, especially in Western Cape! Phantsi transparency, efficiency, integrity and hard work! Phantsi service delivery, economic growth and job creation!

Phantsi mayor Helen Zille, phantsi! Bring back former queen-bee mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo and her hive of secret affairs; bring back the master of mismanagement, former city manager Wallace Mgoqi and his Ikhwezi team of affirmees. Bring back bodyguards, fancy cars, advisers, lawyers, directors, managers, consultants who can’t do the job. Bring back the whole damned lot so that they can get on with the job of pilfering state resources.

Bring back fraudulent Jewellery City; bring back the Big Bay scandal; bring back the secret mayoral committee; dish out tenders to friends and family behind closed doors. What are friends for, after all? Bring back corruption; bring back incompetence; get rid of skilled technical expertise; down with organograms; down with human resource management; bring back deficits; bring back increased rates. Bring back retrenchments but increase the budget for salaries; decrease the budget for services. Get rid of the fire department; get rid of the hospitals; get rid of the metro police; get rid of everything and everyone that works.

Bring back comrades De Lille and Grindrod. Reward them for weakening opposition with ministries in the African National Congress (ANC) government. Squash the coalition, bring back “transformation”, bring back racial politics; destroy the infrastructure; use section 34 of the Municipal Structure Act and section 16 (11) of the Western Cape Determination of Types of Municipalities Act to get power at any cost; use any act that will cripple the coalition; bring back the executive mayoral system but use it only for the benefit of the ruling party.

Use MEC Richard Dyantyi; use premier Ebrahim Rasool, use minister Sydney Mufamadi, use all the useful idiots willing to do President Thabo Mbeki’s dirty work for him! And 2010 shall be a miracle and we shall all live happily ever after.

The best Cape Town mayor in decades

2006-09-22T01:59:00.000-07:00

Helen Zille is not what we expected. She had the reputation as a go-getting, demanding and respected provincial minister of education. When police didn't appear at a school when called out, she went to the police station to find out why... and found them watching The Bold & The Beautiful on TV. Teachers who arrived at school late would find her waiting for them.

Since her election as mayor of Cape Town in March, headlines have been been filled with how Zille "puts stadium plans on ice", "purges staff" and the anger from Western Cape Provincial Government (WCPG) and national government.

As soon as she arrived in the mayor's office, she had to deal with the collapsing Emergency Services branch. At the first meeting of the new mayoral committee (which meets in public, unlike the secrecy of her predecessor), Zille says that after the agenda was completed, staff asked for a presentation on the Green Point stadium because contracts needed to be signed immediately. "We were presented with three figures – the stadium cost is R1.5 billion; national government's contribution is R500 million; the City pays R1 billion."

"There was no business model or financial viability so I asked that we postpone decisions for a week until we see some figures. I still haven't seen any figures."

The DA-led multi-party coalition has a slim majority over the ANC and the ID (which has voted with the ANC so far in Cape Town). A year from now, Zille faces the infamous floor-crossing period when elected representatives can abandon the voters who chose them to join another party. So she has one year to show that her brand of government works and she's only too aware of how important her success is to the future of the DA.

Now that shouldn't be too difficult if she gets Council working. In the last financial year, the City only spent a reported 63% of it's capital budget. In the past year, Council's staff numbers dropped by 6.5% while the total salary bill rose 7.9%. One must wonder where that 14.4% or R231 million was spent.

With the Stadium story still raging on, the issue of political purges started. City manager Wallace Mgoqi knew his future was insecure if Zille was elected mayor because the validity of his extended contract was under question even before the election started. An interim city manager has been appointed and the outcome of Mgoqi's claims are likely to be resolved by the courts.

Zille started with the restructuring of the Mayor's office, where support staff have been reduced from 27 to 12, saving some R6 million a year. Was this a political purge? These advisors and aides were appointed to support the political realm, otherwise advice and aid should have been available from Council's staff of 22 000 people. Together with Mgoki, these people have more capacity to frustrate the new management team's plans than anyone else.

The past three administrations have run the City into the ground. (The last administration was an unfolding catastrophe, conducted in secrecy.) Zille is going to need to find people equal to the calibre of the globally-respected department heads that the old City of Cape Town had, to dig the City out of the mess it's in. Many, many really competent people left the Council in the past six years, not because of new policies (many were aligned to the current administration's party) but because of an unproductive environment and incompetent interference from the top.

In former times, the city engineer and the other department heads held the real power as professionals, although the town clerk (usually from a legal background) was the nominal CEO. Considerable power was vested in the executive committee (councillors) and Cape Town's exco always had a very strong chairman, usually a businessman, but the department heads really ran the city. The system worked well for 150 years.

Cape Town mayor under fire for exposing corruption

2006-09-15T03:21:00.000-07:00

THE ANC regime ran Cape Town for a while. After they lost out in the last round of South African municipal elections, a lot of skeletons were found in the closet by the incumbent mayor. In order to stop her from ratling those skeletons, the regime is now seeking for ways to boot her out.

The implications would be "grave" should the Western Cape provincial government succeed to alter Cape Town's mayoral system, incumbent mayor Helen Zille said on Wednesday. "It will undermine international confidence in the future of democracy," she said.

"This move by the African National Congress is confirmation that they are not prepared to accept the outcome of an election if they lose."

Zille was responding to speculation that provincial minister for local government, Richard Dyantyi, was set to strip her of her executive powers.

Local newspaper reports suggested that Dyantyi intended to replace the city's Democratic Alliance-controlled mayoral committee with a multiparty executive committee.

Dyantyi's spokesperson, Vusi Tshose, refused to comment, saying: "We can't dwell on speculation that is going around. Should there by anything that the minister wants to inform the public of, he will do it in due course."

Meanwhile, Zille said the ANC has lost four previous attempts to topple the current multiparty city government.

"And we are confident they will lose again ... We will fight the ANC's latest attempt to nullify the election outcome with everything we have," she said in a statement.

She intimated that should the province's move come to fruition it would lead to a constitutional crisis because local government was intended to be an independent sphere of government.

"It is also hypocritical because the ANC is not attempting to change the governance system in any other city -- only in the one where they lost the election," Zille said, adding that 62% of Capetonians voted for opposition parties in the March 1 elections.

Meanwhile, one of Zille's city coalition partners, the United Independent Front (UIF), has suggested that intended moves to change the mayoral system may be an attempt by the ANC to cover up corruption in the city.

"One wonders why the ANC is busy planning to strip Zille's power. Is it because the multiparty government has exposed lots of corruption, which could not be exposed by the ANC administration?" Vincent Jonas, the UIF's deputy provincial spokesperson, asked.

Overstating the blindingly obvious

2006-09-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

The bush conference has become a tradition amongst the ruling elite. It usually takes the form of a few days at a luxury resort. After spending tax money on rest and relaxation, the provincial government of Gauteng came up with the following profound insights: a bunch of lofty goals already stated elsewhere, with no details on how they are to be achieved. It reads like a homework assignment from a school kid.

Crime in Gauteng is unacceptably high, a recent provincial lekgotla (meeting) attended by premier Mbhazima Shilowa agreed.

It impacted negatively on quality of life and was a threat to development, Shilowa told reporters in Johannesburg on Monday.

"The retreat agreed that government and all law-enforcement agencies must adopt a zero-tolerance approach to crime, and that all peace-loving South Africans should be called upon to work together and harder to entrench a culture of respect for the law at all levels of society.

"In particular, it was agreed that effective crime prevention, policing and law enforcement should be complemented by improvements in the broader criminal justice system, so that those who commit crime feel the full might of the law and are effectively punished."

This was especially important for tourism and the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

"We can't guarantee the safety of spectators when we are not able to deal with the issue of our own crime," said Shilowa.

Levels of violent crime had to be drastically reduced by 2010, he said.

There had to be more visible policing and more police cars on the road.

The buck has to stop somewhere

2006-09-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

After being done in and bankrupted by corrupt provincial officials, a citizen gets justice after twelve years. Potentially revolutionary technology never came to see the light of day.

The Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday made a far-reaching judgment against government, ruling that the state must pay up when its officials are implicated in corruption — capping a 14-year crusade by businessman Melchior Rabie over a graft-ridden city of Cape Town tender.

Friday’s decision will send a jolt through government, as it lays the platform for companies jilted by corrupt government officials and departments to sue for their losses, which could easily cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions each year.

For Rabie, Friday’s verdict marked the culmination of a crusade against the powers-that-be that saw him brought to his knees, and the company that lost the tender, 3D-ID, put into liquidation. The Supreme Court decision marks the end of the case.

Although the quantum of damages has yet to be decided, the liquidator of 3D-ID wants R102m from government for the amount the company lost due to the dirty actions of a number of Cape Town government officials at the dawn of SA’s democracy.

The tender dates to the days immediately before the ANC government was voted into office in April 2004. 3D-ID was one of thirteen companies that bid for a lucrative tender in March 1994 to supply and run fingerprint identification for the payment of welfare grants in Cape Town, in order to combat fraud.

Ironically, as noted in Friday’s judgment, “before even the closing date, the tender process was poisoned at its very heart by fraud within the Cape Provincial Administration".

Just as 3D-ID was expected to win the tender, an unknown Port Elizabeth shelf company, Nisec, which led by businessman Michau Huisaman, surprised its rivals by getting the contract, worth well over R100m a year.

Although Rabie complained, the government of the day fought him vigorously, claiming the tender was above board. After Rabie lost various court challenges, Nisec eventually succeeded in having 3D-ID liquidated for the court costs. But as the Supreme Court noted on Friday , “time nevertheless vindicated Rabie’s indignant assertions."

In 1996, the Western Cape government cancelled the Nisec contract due to “improprieties”. It then transpired that two prominent Cape Town officials, Andre Louw and Anton Scholtz, who had played a key role in recommending that Nisec be awarded the tender in 1994, had taken bribes and organised themselves secret deals to take lucrative jobs with Nisec at a later stage.

Not only had Huisamen paid bribes into Louw and Scholtz’s wives’ bank accounts, but the government employees had “fraudulently conspired" with Nisec’s management to put together their tender bid at the Cape government’s offices after the tender had actually expired. Police investigated and found the “smoking gun", being evidence that Nisec’s winning tender was actually drawn-up on a government computer, before the tender was even announced.

In a manner reminiscent of Richard Young’s efforts to expose corruption in the arms deal, Rabie doggedly fought government to get details of the tender decisions, but was fought all the way by the Finance and Welfare ministries.

Rabie on Friday said the Supreme Court decision was an important statement that “our courts will not stand for this sort of corruption in government". He said the verdict marks the end of a 14-year chapter in his life that had “taken away a large part of my life, and cost me a huge amount of time and resources"

“The (corruption) meant that my company lost the opportunity to be one of the world leader’s in this type of technology. The system we proposed in 1995 would have been the first fingerprint system of its kind anywhere in the world, and we planned to take the technology worldwide after that, so who knows?," he said.

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The chickens come home to roost

2006-09-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Now municipalities are reckless lenders, but we've known that all along. The ANC started a so-called rent boycott campaign in the eighties, urging people not to pay their municipal rates and taxes as a form of civil disobedience. Unfortunately, non-payment for services has now become part of South African culture.

Many municipalities in South Africa are on the verge of meltdown and many are effectively bankrupt. This revelation was made by the CEO of a solutions company, Exponant, Marius Pels, yesterday. Pels said various municipalities in the country could lose an estimated R40 billion in debt owing to them in terms of the newly promulgated National Credit Act.

Through his company, Pels provides e-government and technology consulting solutions to all tiers of government. He said many municipalities might be compelled to write off most of the arrears debt owing to them because they could be considered reckless lenders in terms of the Act.
He said few municipalities were aware of the fact that they were considered credit grantors.
“Every municipality whose credit is in excess of R500 000 or who has more than 100 creditors qualifies as a credit grantor.

“In terms of the act, credit grantors may not allow accounts to run up willy nilly as is the case in most municipalities at the moment without realistic expectations of collecting on the outstanding debt.”

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Local Government Association owed R135 million

2006-09-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

AG audit shows Salga owed R135m
11 July 2006 05:34

A performance audit of the South African Local Government Association (Salga) by Auditor General Shauket Fakie has shown that it was owed 71% of its total levies by municipalities -- a total of R135,3-million -- by the end of the 2004/05 financial year.

At the same time, the organisation -- which the report notes is an association of municipalities "that is at the cutting edge of quality and sustainable services" -- hiked its salary budget between 2004/05 and 2005/06 from R39-million to R49,4-million, an increase of R10,4-million or 27%.

The report said that 6% of the latter represented the annual salary benchmark adjustment, which left an amount of about R8-million available for vacant positions.

"No information was obtained as to which vacant positions had been identified as priority," said the report.

The report, tabled at Parliament on Tuesday, noted that 39% of the approved positions were filled -- only 181 posts out of 295. It also reported that the remunerations and benefits policy was analysed from a sample of 40 employees and it was determined that 25 of them were being remunerated "outside the approved salary framework".

Fakie reported that the non-payment of levies "would have impacted negatively on the organisation's ability to fulfil its goals and objectives that had been set".

However, he reported that the Salga accounting officer had reported that the management of outstanding debt had "improved tremendously" since the introduction of a new management formula in 2005/06 and by December last year 95% of the budgeted membership levies were collected.

The AG reported that Salga operations were funded from three sources -- government grants, donor funding and levies from members (municipalities). The majority of the income was from the latter source (levies raised against its members).

The report noted that Salga reported gross revenue of R111,4-million in 2005, as at end of June -- up from R97,3-million the previous year. Operating expenses were R104,9-million in 2005 compared with R99,8-million in 2004. Operating income was R6,4-million in 2005 against a deficit of R2,4-million in 2004.

Interest received was R906 154 in 2005 compared with R1,1-million the previous year.

Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance MP Mpowele Swathe said in a statement on Tuesday that the DA had requested Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi "to urgently resolve the crisis" at Salga.

"In a letter sent to the minister, the DA has asked what steps he will take to sort out Salga's ongoing management and financial problems.”

The auditor general's latest findings on management deficiencies at Salga mirrored the AG's report on Salga's finances tabled in Parliament in May, said Swathe.

At that point, Swathe noted, the AG could not express an opinion on Salga's financial statements because, amongst other things, R74-million had not been disclosed in Salga's financial statements.

He said Salga was constitutionally mandated to enable local government to fulfil its developmental role, "yet Salga itself is failing to keep its head above water. What chance do municipalities have if one of the main drivers of municipal development can not function effectively?"

Swathe said he had asked the minister to initiate a recruitment drive to fill the vacancies, ensure that Salga employees were paid according to the approved salary framework and to hold back additional funding for Salga "until it sorts out its financial controls".

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