By Libuseng Nyaka
BETHELEHEM – A probe is underway to unearth unknown people who were paid by government officials in the name of small business enterprises and cooperatives, Free State Premier Ace Magashule has said.
Speaking at a two-day Provincial business summit which was held in Bethlehem in the Thabo Mofutsanyana district Magashule said some of these cooperatives and small businesses which had been consuming public funds do not even exist, while some school feeding schemes are owned by teachers.
Magashule also complained about the manner in which tenders were issued to communities.
“Some tenders are reserved for certain individuals not because they qualify. I have seen a tender advert running in a newspaper for four days and that alone showed that it was meant for someone.
“I approached he concerned Department. We are investigating issues like this and I am going to be unpopular because people do not want to be reprimanded.” Magashule also warned citizens against giving government officials bribes in exchange for services or tenders.
“Individuals also contribute to corruption. When you give an official some money for work, you are taking part in corruption. We can only win the fight against corruption if citizens can join us in the fight.
They must stop contributing to this crime and must also report such activities,” he said. Speaking on behalf of entrepreneurs, Tirhani Marun said the issue of bribes had demoralised his colleagues.
“We do not even bother to apply for tenders knowing that they are designed for certain individuals who would have paid bribes to government officials in the tender department. I am happy that
Premier has mentioned it and promised that at least something will be done.” Magashule said he would make sure that tenders were phased out. “We have already started with the security sector. We do not need a security company to guard government buildings when we can train people and absorb them as government employees who are entitled to benefits and salaries.”
However, Magashule said he was aware that this could “kill” some genuine entrepreneurs. “We know that when we abolished tendering for security companies it affected some business people negatively. But we need to come up with a plan on how people can be empowered to stop depending on tenders but be able to run businesses which can generate profit,” the premier said.
During the summit Dihlabeng Municipality was used as a pilot project targeting small businesses and cooperatives.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Executive Mayor of Thabo Mofutsanyana Balekile Mzangwa and Dr Moon on behalf of Seta which will fund and assist with the training of members of communities in the area.
Seta is going to finance the training of small business people and cooperatives. This will be monitored monthly and later on quarterly.