By Tselane Moiloa
Free State Premier Ace Magashule
BLOEMFONTEIN – Free State premier and ANC chairperson Ace Magashule was put under the spotlight on Tuesday, July 31 on SABC 2’s Morning Live Business Breakfast, where the politics of the province were scrutinised by the country in the hour long session.Public Eye has compiled some of the themes Magashule discussed.
No tolerance to corruption and irregular spending
A few weeks back, the media reported that six senior officials in the department of Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements had been suspended pending investigations on irregularities and alleged corruption and maladministration.
The department said investigations would continue until October, with the premier adding at the business briefing that they“cannot say someone is guilty [of corruption] without proving it”.
The department has been in the spotlight for failure to complete houses and toilets in parts of the province, while communities have cried foul about contractors who just leave without word. The department has said it will complete unfinished houses this year. Magashule added that councillors in every ward should verify the number of houses which need to be completed.
Asked about the incomplete houses which are currently under investigation by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, Magashule said none of the houses were built during his administration, but were the legacy of premiers before him.
“We must recover money from contractors who said they have completed the houses when they had not,” he added. Many communities have complained about work which has been abandoned mid-way by contractors, while the road infrastructure of the province is in a state of disrepair in some districts.
The province was thrust in the limelight again for failing to pay contractors an approximate R60 million for working on roads, forcing the Sanyati Business Group into liquidation and loss of jobs for many people.
Service delivery to be speeded up
Magashule said the provincial government has responded to service delivery concerns, admitting that “there are towns in this province where there is no water”.
He said apartheid was one of the explanations for the disparaging service delivery in Free State, saying that 18 years is not enough time to root out 300 years of colonialism and apartheid.
“We are not just thinking about today hence we have the vision 2030 [for the province]; but people are still going to say 2030 is too far,” he said.
Political parties and analysts have added their voices to the idea that the service delivery protests are politically fuelled, following the recent power struggle within the provincial ANC structure between Magashule and the Mxolisi Dukwana led faction.
“All those who are not happy will try and destabilise the party. Sometimes we make people leaders, without them having proper leadership skills,” he said.
The auditor-general Terence Nombembe (pictured left) released a report on municipalities last week, painting a picture of a system dogged by incompetences and misusage of over a billion rands. Magashule said that the persisting problem in many Free State municipalities is the lack of skills and the historical legacy of grouping poor areas together, making it hard for them to survive.
“You can put me there; put a minister there, a director general in Xhariep. Some municipalities are not viable. There is no tax base, no revenue. What can they do? You can bring the best and we can be compliant, but they are not supported,” Magashule posed.
Outsourcing in government
The provincial government has also committed to curtailing outsourcing of security from the private sector, and would rather opt for in-house personnel. In this regard, 700 security personnel are expected to start work at different government departments in August. While this was met with applause from the audience, a security officer employed by a private firm asked about the repercussions this had for him and his peers as it could mean unemployment. However, Magashule said the important factor in this case is the creation of permanent employment.
“I sympathise with our companies, but remember that the trade union movement says no to outsourcing… and most of these people are not employed permanently anyway…As government, we need to make a choice,” he said.
Approached with the claim that private companies are more efficient than government employed security personnel, Magashule countered that “not every private company is professional”.
More outsourcing measures had been put on the table by different departments during the respective budget speeches earlier this year in the form of cooperatives.
The department of social development would in future purchase school uniform and shoes from cooperatives; while Magashule said similar efforts should be exploited for government officials’ uniforms. While statistics released on Tuesday, July 31, indicate that unemployment in the country has decreased just below 25 percent, job creation is still a big issue in provinces. Concern has also been raised over the number of youth leaving the province for better opportunities.
However, the premier said about 98 percent of contractors working on projects in the province are local; but also that there was nothing wrong with people who come to seek opportunities in Free State.
Cadre deployment and tenders
Magashule echoed similar ideas as the party’s general-secretary Gwede Mantashe that there is no problem with cadre deployment, if skills are and qualifications are not overlooked.
“There is nothing wrong with cadre deployment as long as we look at skills,” Magashule said.
He also rebuked claims that tenders were centralised in the premier’s office, adding that people must “come out and say which tenders have been centralised” in the department.
“Tenders are dealt with by the various departments.
“But I believe in centralizing some of the transversal services like anti-retro virals. Millions of rands have been saved when the ARVs are bought by central government,” Magashule said.
On her visit to the province on Monday and Tuesday, July 30 and 31 respectively, Madonsela said allegations that officials were being suspended for refusing to follow instructions that contracts be awarded unlawfully, and without proper procedures being followed, would be investigated.