Monthly Archives: September 2011


Government keeping nation in dark

Wednesday, September 28, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

Fewer than half of government departments comply with the constitutional right of citizens to access information, the SA Human Rights Commission said on Wednesday.

Local governments and municipalities in particular were erring by not being transparent, deputy CEO Naledzani Mukwevho told a national information officers’ forum in Johannesburg.

Of the 282 municipalities, only 20 had complied with legislation.

“Under 50 percent [of all government departments] are not complying with the Promotion of Access to Information Act [Paia],” he said.

“We are convinced that if ordinary people have access to information… they can participate. They have the means to hold government accountable.”

Section 32 of the Constitution gives everyone the right of access to any information held by the state.

This could include information on where a person featured on the RDP housing list or statistics on HIV/Aids prevalence.

ANC MP Luwellyn Landers, who chairs Parliament’s justice and constitutional development portfolio committee, questioned how effective the Paia was.

“Has Paia, with your [information officers'] help succeeded in achieving the rights set out in section 32?” he asked.

An Open Democracy Advance Centre survey had found that government departments and business often used delaying tactics or stonewalling to avoid meeting requests for access to information, he said.

“Mute refusals are still too common. Clearly, we have passed the point when Paia’s effectiveness should have been reviewed. Particularly issues around enforcement, timeframes, and the need or desirability for an information commissioner are among the issues requiring review.”

The commission’s Jenny Love said people needed to understand their right to equality and how this could be achieved.

In order to give weight to these rights, the government needed to be transparent about and accountable and responsible for the problems which caused inequality in the country.

“Johannesburg has the greatest income and equality disparity in the whole world. We are not giving the people of this country the kind of information that makes them act [on their right to better their circumstances],” she said.

“We need confidence to depend on our citizenry and not simply hope for some degree of blind patience.”

Love said one of the hurdles in providing for the right to access information was that some officials denied it on the grounds that disclosure could see them being thrown in front of a “kangaroo court”.

While it was accepted that some information was classified and not in the public interest, the definition was not always clear cut.

“I am concerned about the absence of the notion of public interest… there’s a lot of information that can get cloaked in the shading of security.”

High Court Judge Jody Kollapen echoed Love’s concern, saying a lack of accountability, openness and responsiveness by the government about inequalities was a “recipe for social disaster”.

“It’s a denial of whatever this Constitution stands for.”

Credit to: Times Live

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Taxpayers fleeced of R2bn

Monday, September 19, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

The provincial departments of health and education have wasted more than R2 billion of taxpayers’ money by awarding out tenders to shoddy contractors who could not deliver quality work on time.

Most of the contracts were terminated by the departments and handed over to other contractors, which had to be paid more to fix the shoddy workmanship and complete the projects.

These are some of the findings contained in an explosive report on a performance audit of the delivery of infrastructure by the provincial departments of health and education across all nine provinces, submitted last week to parliament by Auditor General Terence Nombembe.

The Auditor General audited 247 projects with a combined value of more than R6.6bn.

The planning of both departments is lambasted in the report.

Bad communication, reveals the report, led to the construction of the Cyril Clarke Secondary School outside Nelspruit in Mpumalanga, on the site of the Mbombela Soccer Stadium.

On January 19 2006, 89% of the contract value had already been paid to the contractor. However, construction was suspended and the school was demolished as it was on the stadium site.

“The budget increased from R508 953 to R8.5 million, including the temporary structures that were built for the school.

“However, these structures also had to be demolished as they were constructed on a railway site. A new site was identified and the school was finally handed over to the education department on May 14 2011, six years after the start of the initial construction.”

About 70% of the 247 projects selected for auditing were not completed on time, or were still under construction although the contractual completion dates had long passed.

According to the report, poor quality of construction was identified in 58% of the projects audited in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and the Western Cape.

Themba Godi, chairman of parliament’s standing committee on public accounts, said: “This is a very, very serious and damning report. We will most definitely want accountability.

“It is very heartbreaking when you look at the amount allocated for infrastructure and the physical infrastructure delivered – there is a big contradiction.

“So much has been spent and very little has been delivered.”

Godi said the committee has seen the report, but has not decided when to tackle it.

Spokesman for the Department of Health Fidel Hadebe said the AG’s findings reflected a situation that could not be allowed to continue.

“We express the need for a hospital and somebody takes over and builds. When we take occupation we find that the hospital is not according to specifications.”

To address some of these issues, Hadebe said Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi had appointed a resident engineer to ensure that all construction projects proceeded according to plan.

“We are getting to a stage where we are taking matters into our own hands. The engineers will make sure designs are according to specification. The provinces should also follow suit and have their own engineers.”

The Department of Education has not yet responded to the report.

However, officials had told Nombembe that, in order to address some of the issues raised, the department had developed a “national policy for the equitable provision of an enabling school, physical teaching and learning environment”.

Credit to: Times Live

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Madonsela, Shiceka in public skirmish

Friday, September 16, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

A public spat erupted yesterday between Public Protector Thuli Madonsela and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka over the investigation of the minister’s alleged misuse of taxpayer money.

Yesterday Madonsela accused Shiceka of delaying her investigation but the minister hit back, accusing her of acting in an “unethical and unprofessional manner” by communicating details of the probe to the media.

Madonsela’s investigation was prompted by a complaint lodged by African National Congress MP Ben Turok following allegations that Shiceka spent R355000 of state resources to visit a girlfriend in a Swiss jail, R640000 to stay in a luxury hotel in Cape Town, and more than R160000 on aircraft tickets for his family.

Shiceka has shifted the blame, accusing officials in his department of using his name and family details in booking flights and hotels.

This week Shiceka gave interviews to several media organisations in what could have been an attempt to push Madonsela to pre-empt her findings. Earlier, Presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said President Jacob Zuma would not decide Shiceka’s fate before the investigation was completed.

Since the startling allegations against Shiceka first surfaced, Zuma has been under pressure, including from within the ruling alliance, to remove him.

Shiceka has been on sick leave since February. However, he has repeatedly said he is fit to resume his duties and reportedly blamed Madonsela for delaying his return.

Madonsela responded to the accusations yesterday, saying that in several instances Shiceka had turned down requests to be interviewed by her office. According to Madonsela, Shiceka was first approached on August 1.

“On August 3 an unsigned letter was received in response to the public protector’s request ostensibly on behalf of Shiceka, notifying her that Shiceka was on sick leave and was not in a position to meet with her until he was declared medically fit to resume duties by a registered medical practitioner,” read the statement from Madonsela’s office.

“This is despite information provided to the public protector, at the time of the investigation, by witnesses who gave an impression that Shiceka’s health had apparently improved.”

According to the statement, two more attempts were made to arrange an interview with Shiceka, but he maintained he was sick and not fit to be interviewed. Shiceka subsequently responded to written questions but failed to respond to follow-up questions.

Yesterday Shiceka reacted angrily to the revelations by the public protector and accused her of dealing with the matter “in a clandestine manner”.

“There is no request for further information by the public protector’s office that has not been responded to promptly,” he said through his spokesman, Botshelo Rakate.

“Furthermore, it is regrettable that the office of the public protector has acted in an unethical and unprofessional manner by communicating official information shared with her office and the minister to the media.”

Rakate said Madonsela’s actions were a breach of confidentiality. However, Shiceka remained committed to working with Madonsela, he said.

Speaking to Business Day yesterday, Shiceka confirmed he was ready to go back to work.

Madonsela said a provisional report would be submitted to Zuma, Turok and Shiceka next week.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions, meanwhile, yesterday repeated its calls for Zuma to act against Shiceka.

The labour federation said: “Evenhandedness in dealing with corruption is absolutely essential if we are to restore the confidence of South Africans in the government.

“Public representatives who betray citizens’ trust and utilise state resources to line their pockets must be brought to book.”

Credit to: Business Day

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Rate boycotts ‘totally unacceptable’: Gordhan

Thursday, September 15, 2011 2 Comments by Zelda

It is “totally unacceptable” for ratepayer groups to refuse to pay their rates and place their money in trust accounts, says Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

“This is totally unacceptable behaviour,” Gordhan told media on Wednesday in a briefing on the local government budgets and expenditure review.

“It is something we want to engage with Salga (the SA Local Government Association) on and get a clear message through that if you live in South Africa you are a South African citizen, you are using municipal services – you pay for them.”

Gordhan said the emerging “trend” shown by ratepayer groups was something that required “very strong discussions”.

“This kind of non-compliance with the law is not acceptable at all.”

He said many of the issues ratepayers had with their municipalities could be resolved “the South African way”.

“We sit around the table, we say what our challenges are and we find practical solutions to them. Creating tension and antagonism doesn’t help.”

Gordhan said the Treasury would be working with Salga and “bigger municipalities” to get more assertive debt collection processes and to write off debt that was “uncollectable”.

He said given the fiscal constraints faced by the government, political and administrative leaders had to do more to cut down on “improper” procurement practices and on fraud and corruption.

“There is no doubt much more could be done in this area than is being done,” he said.

The Treasury “looked forward” to working with the auditor-general and accountant-general on putting “more stringent requirements in place” and getting better cooperation from officials and political leaders to ensure that taxpayers’ and ratepayers’ money was not “frittered away” without proper justification.

Municipalities, he said, had to do more to ensure they took decisions that ensured better quality spending,

“Municipalities need to focus on delivering services, on building their capacity, on building economic infrastructure, on investing the right amount in capital infrastructure and on both maintenance on infrastructure and the development of new infrastructure.”

They also had to “forget the frills” such as buying a “brand-new Mercedes or anything else like that”.

“That will make a significant contribution to enabling municipalities to enable the national fiscus to cope with some of the stresses and strains of the very uncertain economic environment in which we are living.”

Credit to: Times Live

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New move to jack up municipal finances

Monday, September 12, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

The government is preparing tough regulations that will force municipalities to hire only qualified chartered accountants as chief financial officers – and those that cannot afford to might be dissolved.

Deputy Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Yunus Carrim told parliament’s select committee on finance that auditor-general Terrence Nombembe and the Institute of Chartered Accountants supported the move.

Nombembe had told Carrim there were enough black chartered accountants to fill the country’s municipal CFO posts.

Carrim said there would be no extra cost to the fiscus, because municipal CFOs are already paid market-related salaries.

“It is not as if the gap between what is currently being paid and what would have to be paid is necessarily so great,” he told the Sunday Times.

“There are municipalities that are not viable anyway, and we are exploring the possibility of merging those into adjoining municipalities. If a municipality cannot appoint a CFO who is suitably qualified, then it means that municipality may have to be questioned for its relevance and viability.”

The move has been prompted by the government’s growing frustration over financial mismanagement in a number of municipalities where infighting, deployment of unqualified cadres and corruption have brought many towns to their knees.

Carrim’s department has been hard pressed to make good on its promise of achieving clean municipal audits by 2014.

But the deputy minister admitted that they may have to “tweak” the target, as it appears unlikely to be attained. “We must consider a phased 10-year programme to turn things around. Large numbers of people simply cannot pay. It is the failure of our (previous) economic growth path.”

So far, only seven of the country’s 237 municipalities have achieved clean audits.

Meanwhile, Mangaung’s municipal manager, Sandile Msibi, told the committee that the municipality owed Eskom R143million, needed R2.3 billion just to upgrade its stormwater drainage system and had received negative audit opinions for the past three years.

Six of the city’s 14 water reservoirs could not hold enough water, and the municipality had bought new garbage trucks that had mechanical faults, leaving fewer than half of them in action at any time. The municipality had over 1100km of untarred roads, and 367 of its tarred roads were in a poor condition.

He said the municipality had a turnaround plan, but was likely to get a negative audit opinion for the next two years.

Free State’s Masilonyana municipality, covering Brandfort, Soutpan, and Theunissen, presented a document saying that infrastructure “has all but reached the end of its lifespan and will have to be replaced to avoid a complete collapse”.

Committee chairman Charel de Beer said a recent visit by MPs to Free State had shown a province in financial chaos, where forensic reports into irregularities were never tabled in council meetings.

Credit to: Times Live

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SA’s murder rate drops 6.5%

Thursday, September 8, 2011 1 Comment by Zelda

South Africa’s murder rate dropped by 6.5% to 15 940 murders in 2010/11, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said on Thursday.

“It is perhaps worth mentioning that during the 1994/95 period our murder ratio as a country stood at 27 000,” he said in Pretoria on the release of the annual crime statistics.

The figures were drawn from April 2010 to March 2011.

“Murder is one of the most reliable forms of crime statistics,” the minister said.

Attempted murder decreased by 12.2%.

Though there was a decrease in sexual offences by three percent, Mthethwa said this was “an area that still required focused attention”.

“We are mainly concerned about the number of rapes that occur in the country… the number of reported cases of rapes still remains unacceptably high,” he said.

The number of rape cases reported rose from 55 097 to 56 272.

Mthethwa said rape, based on international trends, was often under-reported.

Credit to: Sapa

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Taxpayers pay millions for golden handshakes

Tuesday, September 6, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

Political interference in municipalities is costing taxpayers millions of rands in golden handshakes and severance packages to the detriment of service delivery.

According to the The Times very few of the country’s 278 municipal managers complete their terms of office as they often fall victim to political meddling.

Many municipal managers are either suspended or fired and are eventually bought out of their contracts through golden handshakes and severance packages, often after launching legal challenges.

One of the worst-offending councils is the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in Port Elizabeth.
The council has not had a single manager serve for the entire duration of his or her contract since the metropolitan municipality was established in 2000.

Former municipal manager Graham Richards has received two golden handshakes worth a combined R6 million after he was fired twice.

Richards received a R3m payout in 2002 and a R3m handshake last year.

Ironically, Richards was rehired by the council in 2006 to replace Mzimasi Mangcotywa, who was appointed to replace him.

Mangcotywa received a R2.2m payout when he, too, was fired.

The situation is similar in the Tshwane and Mangaung metros.

Some municipal managers claim they are purged by new administrations or when they “don’t play ball” with politicians who want access to tenders and government resources.

Some municipal managers this week attributed the high turnover and other ills, such as corruption, in local government to meddling by their political bosses.

ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said he was not aware of the purging of managers by politicians.

“The local government sphere is operating under the Municipal Finance Management Act that defines the relationship between the administration and politicians. The act was introduced to define the roles of managers,” Khoza said.

He added that the act made provisions for recourse should managers feel their powers were being interfered with.

Former Tshwane manager Kiba Kekana, who last year received a R2.3m payout from the municipality after being placed on suspension on allegations of misconduct, said “the fight to change administration structures in government is just for resources”.

“It impacts highly, highly negatively on service delivery. The high turnover of managers cripples government. Naturally, once the head of administration leaves, there is a gap in continuity.”

Kekana’s sentiments were echoed by former Govan Mbeki municipal manager Thabo Mafihla, another recipient of a golden handshake.

“Unfortunately when people take political office they misuse power. They want to do their own thing. That’s the beginning of contradictions between the head of administration and politicians,” he said.

“What drives this whole thing is that people want to loot. Corruption is a disease; it’s a cancer. We’re going to be a banana republic. This has killed local government,” he said.

Mafihla said he was forced to stay at home for two years – earning a full salary – because he had refused to reinstate an official he had suspended because of corruption. “Our government must be serious about corruption,” Mafihla said.

Nico Steytler, director of the University of Cape Town’s Community Law Centre and a local government law expert, said: “It is very difficult to be a municipal manager in South Africa because of political interference.”

Though there were no statistics, Steytler said the practice of politicians suspending and firing managers and then offering them settlements in the form of golden handshakes and severance packages was “reasonably prevalent”.

“There are statements made by the Auditor-General [in which] he mentioned the unacceptability of political interference, particularly in supply chain.”

He said when managers were pushed out, municipalities lost continuity, experience and institutional memory.

The co-operative governance ministry condemned the practice of giving golden handshakes.

The South African Local Government Association’s governance, intergovernmental relations and international relations executive director, Johann Mettler, said golden handshakes were a concern to the association.

“The sustainable delivery of services to residents and communities is an imperative for local government if it is to be truly developmental.”

He said recent amendments to the Municipal Systems Act sought to address the high turnover of managers and other problems in the sector.

Credit to: Times Live

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Councils ‘need help from other state spheres’

Monday, September 5, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

Local government is suffering a reputational crisis as it is perceived to be incompetent, disorganised and riddled with corruption — perceptions which “at best we will be naive, and at worst, arrogant to simply brush off”, acting Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nathi Mthethwa recently said.

Faltering service, crumbling infrastructure, maladministration and corruption were among the issues highlighted as problems by communities, and prompting service delivery protests. Local government also always scored the lowest in research surveys on public perceptions about the spheres of government.

He recently told delegates at the South African Local Government Association (Salga) conference in Durban that some municipalities were functioning well, and many councillors were performing efficiently, but “bold leadership” and support from other spheres of government were required to ensure municipalities delivered on their constitutional mandate.

Mthethwa said “drastic action” was required for the third tier of government to become more responsive and accountable and to turn around the negative perceptions — local government is often viewed as the coal- face of service delivery.

He said the local government turnaround strategy adopted in 2009, which becomes the municipal turnaround strategy at municipal level, needed to be integrated with municipal budgets and integrated development plans (IDPs).

Plans to target areas where service delivery backlogs were the highest needed to be completed by municipalities by the end of next month. Provinces and municipalities would be required to establish human settlements committees to oversee housing development in municipalities.

A concept document on the revised ward committee framework had been developed to deepen democracy. Community work programmes should be further supported, Mthethwa said. He said all 278 municipalities would also have to establish municipal public accounts committees by November 30 to promote good governance and help achieve clean audits.

Planning Minister Trevor Manuel said IDPs needed to include a broader range of developmental needs such as the provision of healthcare and rest and relaxation facilities.

He said municipalities needed to receive more funding and other government resources. When local governments built houses, they did not receive a concurrent increase in funding and this “puts local government in stress”.

Questioned about the performance of municipalities over the past five years, Salga chairman Amos Masondo said service delivery such as electrification, housing and road construction, was continuing, but “much more needs to be done”.

Credit to: Business Day

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ANC finalises info bill

Friday, September 2, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

MPs finalised the Protection of Information Bill on Friday, with the ANC using its majority muscle to vote down opposition amendments to protect whistleblowers and the media.

Civil rights groups said this would see them seek legal advice on launching a constitutional review of the new state secrets legislation.

“We are deeply disappointed that a public interest defence was not included,” Open Democracy Advice Centre director Alison Tilley said.

“It means that journalists and others are not protected for disclosing evidence of state malpractice. We will be taking opinion from counsel.”

Voting on the bill clause-by-clause began after a year of fractious debate in and outside the drafting committee, where the ruling party eventually agreed to restrict the instances in which information can be kept secret by the state.

It agreed to limit the power to classify information to the intelligence and security services, with other departments having to seek special permission to keep secret files.

The opposition and civil society organisations said this was an important victory.

Said the Democratic Alliance’s Dene Smuts: “We have rewritten this bill as a decent piece of intelligence and classification law.

“It is only in the offences clauses that it has gone wrong, to our enormous regret,” she added.

“We tried hard to get a public interest defence for our media and anybody else.”

Credit to: Times Live

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