Pretoria - Gauteng Premier David Makhura said the planned tabling of a motion of no confidence against him by the DA in the Gauteng provincial legislature was a desperate move for relevance and an attempt to remove the spotlight from the instability in the opposition party.
Makhura said the Gauteng provincial government under his leadership over the last eight years has spent considerable time and effort in introducing reforms aimed at institutionalising integrity and an ethical culture within the government system, one which promotes good governance, transparency and accountability.
“The reports that the party alleges to have not seen were tabled in the legislature and to the broader public. Some of the reforms made to date include the establishment of the Open Tender System in 2014, the appointment of the civil society-led Gauteng Ethics Advisory Council chaired by Dr Terence Nombembe in 2017,” Makhura’s spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga said.
He said the Makhura-led Gauteng provincial government has established the integrity management unit in the premier’s office, as well as the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in 2018.
“The memorandum allows for the office of the premier to refer serious allegations relating to the affairs of any institution in the provincial government to the SIU for investigation,” said Mhaga.
“However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, these efforts were disregarded, which opened the emergency procurement regulations to abuse, and corruption in personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement and infrastructure projects.”
Mhaga said the SIU investigation revealed serious irregularities in the health and infrastructure development departments in the awarding of the refurbishment tender of the AngloGold Ashanti Hospital to various service providers.
“The Gauteng provincial government, acting on the recommendations of the SIU, placed nine senior officials on precautionary suspension in December 2021 for contravening various legislations regulating public procurement,” said Mhaga.
Today, the Gauteng DA caucus leader, Solly Msimanga, and chief whip Fred Nel will be briefing the media on the motion of no confidence that will be tabled in the Gauteng legislature against Makhura.
“For more than five years, Premier David Makhura has been stringing along the residents of this province by making promises that to date have still not been fulfilled. Under Premier Makhura’s watch the Special Investigating Unit reports into various allegations of corruption have still not been made public,” the DA said in a media advisory.
“No steps have been taken to recover some of the money that was lost to the PPE tender scandal which took place at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Premier Makhura has failed dismally as the leader of this province and should be removed as a matter of urgency.”
IOL