Honourable Speaker 

This Official Opposition has always been searching for fresh and innovative ways to approach parliamentary oversight over the executive - particularly because the internal oversight mechanisms of this House have often failed - with deliberate calculation - to hold the provincial government to account. Believe me being fresh and innovative has been a difficult task, made more difficult by the fact that this government's sins remain essentially the same: corruption, mismanagement, fraud, lack of leadership, and secrecy. In short - sleaze. 

Always at stake is the government's capacity:

*        to identify and efficiently implement public investment projects,

*        to ensure the equitability of the distribution of the benefits of developmental and infrastructural spending, and

*        to adhere to adequate levels of transparency and accountability in the implementation and administration of infrastructural projects 

The truth is that this government's capacity to identify and efficiently implement public investment projects is uncertain at best and insufficient at worst. The truth is that this government's ability to ensure the equitability of the distribution of the benefits of developmental and infrastructural spending is too often motivated by political affiliation. The truth is that this government's commitment to adhere to adequate levels of transparency and accountability is virtually non-existent.

Honourable Speaker, last year, on this very occasion I summed up the dire state of affairs in the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs. Today, as a parliamentarian, I am demanding to see the forensic audit report into that very same dire state of affairs!  Why is the government withholding this document?  What are we to think other than that the government is covering up its own collective complicity with the colossal mismanagement and fraud at Agriculture? That is precisely what I think. 

We in the Official Opposition have repeatedly voiced our concerns about the provincial government's culture of secrecy that has enveloped a number of recent high profile departures from the civil service. This includes the provincial government's reluctance to publish audit reports - and not just the Agriculture report. This unfortunate habit leaves some officials suspended without them and the public knowing the exact reasons for the suspension and the ensuing disciplinary action.  

The Official Opposition is equally concerned about the Honourable Premier's frenetic attempts to privately negotiate smooth exit strategies with some suspended officials, as was the case most recently with former Head of Department at Health, Dr Busi Nyembezi, or last year with former Head of Department at Agriculture, Dr Jabulani Mjwara.

Others may include Mr EPM Radebe (former HOD: Department of Works), Mr Thabani Zulu (former HOD: Department of Social Development), and Mr Sipho Nyembezi (former CEO: Ithala).

To my mind these efforts seem focused on motivating some suspended officials to withhold crucial information from the public eye. The generosity of exit packages on offer also suggests that the Honourable Premier may have been attempting to buy some officials' silence. We in the Official Opposition fear that the methods of parting with potentially incriminated officials employed by the provincial government have resulted in a climate of non-transparency and secrecy which stand in the way of effective public scrutiny.  

The issues of concern in all the cases listed above are generally unclear circumstances of the officials' departure, routinely withheld (internal or forensic audit) reports behind their suspensions and often too generous exit packages including belated performance bonuses. In this last regard, we are naturally concerned about some considerable amounts of state funds exchanging hands through the Honourable Premier's "in-house" negotiations with some suspended officials. Most worryingly, this is happening against the backdrop of a lack of service delivery in most departments concerned. 

Luckily, we have already established that this government is not interested in service delivery. Sadly, its primary preoccupation continues to be the routine use of the state resources to improve its image and standing amongst the electorate. The most favourite numbers, apart from sod-turning, remain the enormously wasteful initiatives of Taking Parliament to the People and izimbizo - but do not let me repeat myself. 

In the response to this debate, I would expect the ANC not to give us banter and instead address some crucial implications of the budget. For example, how should the government act to contain the spiralling inflationary pressures in housing? Or how can the government relieve the persistent bottlenecks in service delivery? And speaking of misguided priorities, will the Honourable Premier use this opportunity to update us on latest developments regarding the new legislature complex in Pietermaritzburg? 

I thank you.
 

Contact: Dr Lionel Mtshali, 083 256 4902