South Africa


Over R45m spent on suspended officials

Thursday, November 24, 2011 1 Comment by Zelda

More than R45m is being used to pay the salaries of suspended public servants who await disciplinary proceedings to be concluded, according to a report on Thursday.

A recent Public Service Commission report dated June 2011, was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, The Star newspaper reported.

It quoted an earlier study conducted by the public service and administration department which found that a number of officials investigated for financial misconduct increased from 434 in the 2001/02 financial year to 1 135 in 2009/10.

According to the study, 369 state employees were suspended between April 2009 and March last year at a cost of R45.7m, the newspaper reported.

The department of correctional services had the highest number of so called “precautionary suspensions” at 73, which cost taxpayers R7m. The department of justice followed with 41, costing about R6.4m.

However, the study did not include figures from the department of home affairs, which, according to the more recent PSC report, is among departments with the highest number of suspended officials.

Credit to: News 24 and Sapa

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Fact box: A look at SA’s secrecy bill

Wednesday, November 23, 2011 2 Comments by Zelda

South Africa’s parliament has passed legislation aimed at better protecting state secrets, but the measure has been widely criticised for provisions that could help the government hide corruption. The following are a few major provisions contained in the legislation known as the Protection of Information Bill.

* The bill is aimed at ensuring “a coherent approach to protection of state information and the classification and declassification of state information and will create a legislative framework for the state to respond to espionage and other associated hostile activities”.

* Foreign spies are required to register their status as agents with the government or face between three and five years in prison.

* The measure applies to all organs of the state, including municipalities, with the state security minister deciding what is a part of the government.

* The measure applies to all information regarded as ”valuable” to the state. The state security minister within 12 months of the commencement of the act can prescribe categories of information that are valuable and subject to protection.

* State agencies will set up procedures for managing sensitive information.

* Sensitive information includes matters “relating to the protection and preservation of all things owned or maintained for the public by the state”, state security, economic growth, scientific achievements and diplomacy.

* Any head of an organ of state may classify or reclassify information. The State Security Ministry is the gate keeper for the classification.

* Unauthorised possession of classified material is a criminal act.

* Material remains classified for no longer than 20 years, unless the state provided a compelling reason to keep it secret.

* The branch that classifies information can decide whether to grant requests for declassification.

* The unlawful delivery and distribution of “top secret” material can be punished by 15 to 25 years in jail.

* The unlawful delivery and distribution of “classified” material carries a three- to five-year prison term.

* Computer hacking of state records is a criminal offence punishable by five to 10 years in jail.

* Any person who publishes or discloses state secrets faces up to 10 years in prison and those conspiring with that person also face jail terms.

* Any government official who classifies information not considered as being valuable to the state faces up to three years in jail.

Credit to: Times Live

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Secrecy bill opposition reaching fever pitch

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 4 Comments by Zelda

Almost 14 years ago to the day, former president Nelson Mandela told journalists that press freedom would never be under threat in South Africa for as “long as the ANC is the majority party”.

That was on November 19 1997, but now all that looks set to change, with political parties, media organisations, civil society groups and trade unions saying the ANC’s feared Protection of State Information Bill will stifle the right of the media and whistle-blowers to expose corruption.

The ANC is expected to use its majority in the National Assembly today to pass the bill, which makes provision for the classification of state information and imposes stiff penalties, potentially of up to 20 years’ imprisonment, on journalists who divulge classified information.

Ahead of the vote this afternoon, opposition to the bill has reached fever pitch.

Editors from around the country are in Cape Town to join a picket by the Right2Know campaign – a nation-wide coalition of individuals and organisations opposed to the bill – outside parliament.

The National Press Club’s campaign calling on South Africans to wear black in protest at the bill had gone viral on social networks by last night.

The SA National Editors’ Forum sent a letter to all MPs this morning, urging them to vote against the legislation.

The letter stated that, despite important work on the bill in the past 18 months, there were still “serious remaining flaws” in it. Chief among these was the lack of a public interest defence. “In its current form, the bill represents an attack on principles of open democracy that are deeply embedded in our Constitution and our national life,” read the letter.

Prominent human rights activist Rhoda Kadalie lashed out at the ANC yesterday, saying it had confused what was in the best interests of the public with what was in the best interests of the party.

“When liberation democratic parties feel threatened, they go for the judiciary, they go for the media and they go for freedom of speech,” said Kadalie.

The SA Municipal Workers’ Union added its voice, saying the bill would “disadvantage whistle-blowers and workers who are fighting corruption”.

The union called on all unions “to ensure that the secrecy bill does not become law”.

The coalition had planned protests in Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria and Cape Town.

A joint statement, issued by activist groups Equal Education, the Treatment Action Campaign, Section27, the Social Justice Campaign and Ndifuna Ukwazi, said that they all oppose the bill, and if it became law “members of parliament will be saying to South Africans that it is okay to punish the people who disclose and write about corruption and mismanagement in government and the corporate sector”.

Dene Smuts, the DA spokesman for justice and constitutional development, said yesterday that she still hoped that there would be further discussions on, and amendments to, the bill.

The ANC has defended the bill in its current form, with chief whip Mathole Motshekga’s office yesterday saying that the lack of a public interest defence was in line with “international best practice” and that a “serious country” would not “compromise the security of its citizens for the sake of a scoop for the media”.

  • Sapa reports that Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu lashed out at the bill, which he described as ”flawed”. “It is insulting to all South Africans to be asked to stomach legislation that could be used to outlaw whistle-blowing and investigative journalism … and that makes the state answerable only to the state,” he said in a statement.

Credit to: Times Live (Charl du Plessis)

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Malema suspended for five years

Thursday, November 10, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema had to “vacate his position”, the party’s national disciplinary committee said on Thursday.

“The respondent shall vacate his position as the president of the ANC Youth League,” said chairman Derek Hanekom in Johannesburg.

Malema was suspended for an effective five years.

“Malema damaged the standing of the ANC and South Africa’s international reputation,” said Hanekom.

Discipline in the ANC was “non-negotiable”, he said.

“Discipline is non-negotiable and it must be enforced,” he told reporters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg, ahead of an announcement about the fate of African National Congress Youth League president Julius Malema.

He said the ANC’s National General Council (NGC) in September 2010 directed that it was crucial that its members were disciplined.

It was “incumbent” for the disciplinary committee to “observe” the NGC resolutions.

“There should be no confusing signals from leadership on matters of discipline,” said Hanekom, adding that the proper process was followed in the disciplinary hearing of ANC Youth League president Julius Malema.

“The disciplinary process was properly initiated and proper process was followed,” he said.

However, Hanekom said the start of the hearings in August was marred by “unprecedented violence” by Malema supporters. He continued to say the ANC Youth League’s autonomy was “qualified”.

Hanekom said the argument that the African National Congress Youth League was independent of the ANC was incorrect.

The ANCYL enjoyed a “degree of organisational autonomy”, but was not independent of the ANC.

The ANCYL existed for the sole benefit of the ANC.

The ANCYL’s constitution should not be in conflict with the ANC’s constitution, said Hanekom.

Credit to: Sapa and Independent Online

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Now Salga wants to tax businesses

Tuesday, October 18, 2011 1 Comment by Zelda

South African businesses could be burdened with an additional local business tax if the SA Local Government Association has its way.

Making a presentation to parliament’s select committee on finance last month, Salga called for parliament to consider introducing a “local business tax”.

Should Salga succeed in persuading parliament to impose the tax, the association will raise an additional R19 billion, for service delivery improvements in big cities.

The tax, said the association, was needed to:

  • Generate more revenue for economic infrastructure and services;
  • Strengthen fiscal governance arrangements; and
  • Improve economic and general urban efficiency.

“Salga proposes that steps be taken to implement a local business tax to increase municipal responsiveness to the local economy, and local accountability generally, and to increase municipal fiscal capacity so that municipalities are better able to provide the infrastructure services required for economic growth,” said the association’s presentation.

Mayur Maganlal, the association’s executive director of economic development and planning, was quick to point out that the tax would be minimal.

“Our calculations indicate that it will be about a third of 1% of turnover, so if your turnover were R100, your tax will be 30c.

“There is a need for an overall increase in revenue for the cities because their current revenues are not sufficient to meet their service delivery challenges, backlogs and new responsibilities like public transport,” Maganlal said.

He said the local business tax is aimed at creating a basis for a service delivery platform to enable economic growth to cultivate a sustainable tax base.

Metros, he said, could not depend solely on grants and equitable shares from treasury because they were not predictable. The SA Revenue Service, he said, would be responsible for collecting the taxes and distributing them to cities.

Municipalities used to charge businesses a regional levy, but this was stopped in 2006.

Salga’s move comes at a time when the ANC is considering new and innovative ways to finance local government, especially rural municipalities.

Michael Begraim of the Cape Chamber of Commerce said: “To add another tax is not sustainable. To add an additional tax might be the final nail in the coffin; it will force some companies into closure.”

Andrew Layman, CE of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, echoed the same sentiments.

“We are opposed to the concept of a business tax. Metros get a share of the fuel levy emanating from their cities. It’s beyond questioning that municipalities need money for services and development. Extra money is required. We’re just not sure if it should come from businesses.”

Municipalities, he said, could raise about R19 billion every year if they saved about 3% of their expenditure.

Credit to: Times Live

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Taxpayers money falls through the cracks

Monday, October 17, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

The Auditor-General (AG) and National Treasury clearly keep records of municipal financial affairs, but decline to say how much wasted money is recovered from those responsible – that while municipal regulations enforce recovery.

It would seem that neglect to do so is shrugged off.

In its recent report on municipal finances from 2006/07 to 2012/13 Treasury clearly set out how city councils should handle unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasted expenditure.

Unauthorised spending may be permitted under certain circumstances. Irregular, fruitless and wasted costs may under no circumstances be sanctioned.

Unauthorised spending that is not subsequently sanctioned, as well as irregular, fruitless and wasted expenditure must be recovered from those responsible unless, after an investigation by a council committee, the council should declare it irrecoverable.

In practice this means the following: in the 2009/10 financial year, for instance, municipalities spent R5bn without authorisation. Only R1.1bn was authorised or written off.

A total of R4.14bn was irregularly spent, R77m of which was written off.

There was a total R189m fruitless and wasted expenditure, only R1m of which was written off.

Municipalities should therefore have recovered the balance – more than R8bn – from the responsible parties. This equals about a quarter of the cost of the Gautrain project.

Enquiry has revealed that Treasury has no record of this R8bn being recovered. The AG failed to respond to Sake24’s enquiry, and in its voluminous consolidated report on municipal audit results for 2009/10 there is no mention of recoveries.

Anita Botha, a municipal consultant at Pro-Active Management Services, said that in all the years that she had been involved with municipalities she had never heard of such money being recovered from a politician, even when there had been clear grounds for doing so. She was aware of isolated cases where a municipal official had had to cough up.

Botha reckoned there was no reason for Treasury’s inability to insist on reporting on recoveries from local authorities. She said it was the task of the municipal manager, as accounting officer, to set the recovery process in motion. “But he could not succeed without political support from the mayor.”

Botha says it is important for politicians to be accountable because voters are becoming increasingly aware of the reasons for the lack of service delivery.

“We are sitting on a powder keg,” she warns.

Advocate Paul Hoffman from the Institute for Accountability says squandered money is not recovered owing to the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment. Officials’ party loyalty ranks above their dedication to service delivery. He said civil organisations should compel the recovery of these amounts by reporting them to the Public Protector.

From questions addressed to the Public Protector, the Special Investigations Unit and the Asset Forfeiture Unit, it would appear that investigations into misapplication of funds take place at municipalities, but the organisations could not say whether the money recovered had gone to the municipality or to the fiscus.

Afriforum legal representative Willie Spies said if the guilty party was a municipal official, the matter should be handled in terms of labour legislation. If a party outside the council was involved, the council should lodge a civil claim in court. If a municipal manager had neglected to recover the money, it could be recovered from him personally.

Spies said communities or opposition parties could also approach the court for an order to force the municipal manager to do his job of recovering the money.

If the municipalities should recover the money, it need not be lost to service delivery.

Credit to: Sake24

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Councillors demand huge salary hikes

Friday, October 7, 2011 1 Comment by Zelda

Municipal councillors have asked parliament to increase their salaries and benefits to R815000 a year – the same as members of provincial legislatures.

The SA Local Government Association has also recommended that councillors be paid by the national Treasury, like all other politicians.

If the association has its way, the wage bill for South Africa’s 9000 councillors will cost taxpayers an extra R7 billion a year.

During a presentation to parliament’s select committee on finance last month, the association called for an “urgent” review of how councillors are remunerated to bring them into line with the pay packages of politicians in provincial and national government.

Excluding car allowances, full-time councillors earn an annual package of between R280000 and R542000, depending on the type of municipality they serve.

Their part-time counterparts earn between R119000 and R253000 a year, excluding car allowances.

Members of provincial legislatures also receive free cellphones, airtime, and laptops, which many of their local government counterparts do not.

The association also wants:

  • All part-time councillors to be made full-time councillors;
  • Councillors to be entitled to, at government expense, risk benefits including death cover, disability and funeral benefits, and insurance for personal assets lost or damaged due to public violence;
  • Pension fund benefits such as those enjoyed by provincial and national politicians; and
  • Salary increases and benefits to be finalised and implemented by April.

Lance Joel, the association’s chief operating officer, said: “In the main, what we are saying is that clearly there is a lack of appreciation of the role of councillors. According to legislation, councillors are politicians, like MECs, ministers, MPs and MPLs.

“It’s councillors that lose lives and have property damaged. There are endless stories of councillors being shot dead.

“They have no recourse when houses are burned and they are out in the cold. Councillors are public officials and they should be recognised as such – and be remunerated as such.”

In July, angry residents of Chiawelo, Soweto, torched two houses and two cars belonging to councillor Johannes Nemaungani and his predecessor, Mirriam Ramafola, in a dispute about pre-paid electricity meters.

Joel criticised the public for calling for the abolition of part-time councillors without making corresponding calls for “proper pay” for them.

“Why are you calling for part-time councillors to quit their jobs if they are not going to be remunerated as such?”

But local government expert Kevin Allan said there was no justification for councillors to be paid more – let alone from the national fiscus.

“The current dispensation for councillor payment is adequate. I think the comparison of local and provincial is [misplaced] – they do fundamentally different jobs,” he said.

Allan questioned the basis on which councillors wanted to be paid more.

“If the motivation is that we should free funds for development and services, I think that should be stated clearly.”

The DA’s local government spokesman, James Lorimer, said the association’s demands were unreasonable.

“It’s a non-starter. When the proposal was originally made, the central government said it was not affordable. It’s a fantasy; it’s not going to happen.”

He accused councillors of demanding “vastly improved salaries without vast improvements in services. Councillors don’t understand that funds are scarce and should be spent carefully.”

Deputy Cooperative Governance Minister Yunus Carrim said: “Salga might want to consider phasing in some of their demands over time, rather than  all at once.

“We will be meeting them soon.

Credit to: Times Live

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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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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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