By OBAKENG MAJE
The embattled North West Premier, Bushy Maape allegedly failed to take drastic actions against government officials, who were implicated in COVID-19 relief funds. On Tuesday, the North West Provincial Government (NWPG) briefed the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) on the management of COVID-19 after the Auditor-General’s startling findings relating to real-time audits in 2021.
The AG highlighted recommendations to the NWPG departments and municipalities relating to adverse findings, including Ngaka Modiri Molema District and JB Marks Local Municipalities.
The provincial government’s delegation included MECs from the department of Finance, Motlalepula Rosho, Wendy Matsemela for Education, Boitumelo Moiloa for Social Development, and Madoda Sambatha for Health.
The chairperson of the committee, Fikile Xasa said: “We engaged the MECs on the implementation of the AG’s recommendations, as well as the consequence management following the real-time audits.
“The committee also wanted to hear about the provincial government’s response to the findings of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (The Hawks).”
Xasa said, however, the committee expressed its unhappiness with the presentations and the MECs’ responses to questions posed by committee members. He said the committee also wanted more details on the consequence management process, particularly as it relates to the four officials mentioned.
“In addition, the committee will invite the municipalities that were supposed to be in today’s meeting to appear before it on 20 September to answer the AG’s findings against them.
“We will collaborate with Chapter 9 institutions to sharpen its oversight responsibility over the use of public funds, including money used by municipalities, as some municipalities have disclaimers after every audit. The committee has also identified some municipalities for intensified oversight, starting in the Eastern Cape province,” said Xasa.
He said the provincial treasury departments can play an important role in reversing the culture in public institutions of no accountability for public money.
It is alleged that the MECs, whose portfolios were implicated in the SIU report over the COVID-19 relief funds saga, failed to submit their consequence management reports to Maape.
The SIU released a report with findings, where municipalities such as the embattled JB Marks, Ramotshere-Moiloa, and Ratlou allegedly flouted the procurement processes when awarding tenders to companies buying PPE- related equipment on their behalf.
The SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago said, whistle-blowers from various municipalities reported malfeasance and corruption to them.
“At JB Marks in Potchefstroom, the business chamber responsible for disaster hunger relief requested the municipality to provide them with a donation to enable them to buy food for the needy.
“Our investigation has revealed that the municipality paid the business chamber R1.2 million without any due diligence. There is no expenditure breakdown in the proof of receipt document for the relief funds that were paid to the business chamber,” he said.
Kganyago said their investigation further revealed that an official played a role in the awarding of the donation without following any proper procurement processes. He said the SIU made a referral for the executive action against an office bearer for misconduct in respect of the awarding of a donation without following proper municipal processes on 12 November 2020.
“On August 2020, we also received another allegation from the same municipality that there was a supplier, who overcharged the municipality when it provided COVID-19-related PPE. It is also alleged that other companies were overlooked when awarding the tender to the supplier.
“The supplier supplied the municipality with items such as sanitizers, face masks, dust masks, and disinfection chemicals to the value of R900 000. Our investigation revealed that the company charged R25 per mask, which was an inflated price and was way above the R15 set by the national treasury’s guide,” said Kganyago.
He further said the SIU also found no supporting information in the documents obtained, which proved that the company was registered on the CSD system before the tender was awarded. Kganyago added that the state attorney has been instructed and counsel briefed to initiate proceedings for setting aside the contract.
“In Ratlou local municipality, our investigation revealed that the supplier was appointed without following a proper procurement process and also that it was not tax-compliant according to the CSD report generated at the time it was awarded a tender.
“We recommended that disciplinary actions be taken against two officials who were implicated,” he said.
A few months ago, the North West Premier, Bushy Maape’ spokesperson, Sello Tatai said, the reports that were requested were submitted by all departments who have cases. However, he said it was premature to divulge further information in relation to this matter as it was at a sensitive stage.
Meanwhile, the DA’s MPL in North West, Freddy Sonakile said: “Expecting the Premier or any of his MECs to submit implementation plans of the SIU report on PPEs is dreaming big. The Premier does not want to lose favour or support with some of his comrades, who are implicated in the SIU report, hence his failure to act.
“The ANC-led government has never been serious about fighting corruption. That report will sit there until it gathers dust or until a new government comes in to implement it.”
The Guardian 