BY
HON MB GWALA MPL
KZN LEGISLATURE
Honourable Speaker,
The Inkatha Freedom Party acknowledges the allocation of R787.1 million to the Office of the Premier for the 2018/2019 financial year. The IFP appreciates that a long last the Premier’s office has finally employed the Director General, because without a fully employed senior technocrat makes the Office of the Premier dysfunctional. We hope that the incumbent will be able to steer the ship to the right direction.
The ultimate challenge of the Office of the Premier and the Hon. Premier, who is its public face, is to provide leadership in the province where fiscal discipline and frugality were deliberately neglected in the past. We expect nothing less from the Hon. Premier than to lead by example. The Office of the Premier is the hub of the provincial government and its role is to ensure coordination, monitoring, evaluation and accountability of individual departments. This government’s intentions are generally good, but the wheels always fall off along the way due to cadre deployments and maladministration.
It is unfortunate to see that the Deputy Premier and ANC members have decided to boycott the Premier’s debate to focus on the march taking place outside this building.
The KZN Premier announced that they will conduct lifestyle audits of officials in high-risk positions starting with supply chain management units. The IFP would like to know from the Premier whether he has subjected himself to this audit? If not why? He must further tell us how many officials in his office that have been subjected to this lifestyle audit so far including those in other provincial departments and what was the outcome? The IFP expect the Premier to lead by example and start with his cabinet members and heads of departments.
The Office of the Premier must take the fight against corruption further and assist this Legislature as well as the wider public with opening access to the many outstanding forensic investigations which we have long been calling for. We expect to see the Premier being vocal and taking action even against his comrades without fear or favour whenever the allegations of corruption arises. We would not like to see thousands of people taking to the streets and calling for the Hon Premier to go, as we have seen with regard to the former President of our country and now the Premier of North West.
We demand action from the Premier to fight corruption because officials from his office were alleged to have deliberately manipulated the SCM processes. The report stated that there was no segregation of duties and that the personal assistant to the manager took charge of supply chain issues even though there was no shortage of staff to handle such matters. There was also the allegation that the same service provider, Phumalanga Communications cc was used in all the events of the previous financial year. The informant also alleged that officials of the Department and a supplier known as Mgobo Trading Investments are involved in cover quoting and price manipulation. The Premier must tell us what action has been taken against these officials and other officials in all provincial departments accused of corruption?
Ethical leadership and vigilance are critical to combating corruption. Conversely, when leaders fail to embrace compliance, it will send a contradictory message within the government about whether the commitment to ethical governance practices is truly important.
A leader who exhibits a “win at all cost” mentality may intentionally or unintentionally communicate to employees that compliance takes a back seat to profits and weaken government’s core function of serving the people. Our well-meant advice doesn’t end there. The Premier has to be responsive and responsible; he must understand that we are living in a world marked by uncertainty, volatility and deep transformational changes. Many people are living in precarious situations and searching for identity and meaning in a fast-changing world. They want to regain their sense of purpose. More than ever, leadership means taking responsibility. It requires courage and commitment to listen and honestly explain the breadth and complexity of issues, to proactively generate solutions and to take action based on core values.
The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial government has an Integrity Management Unit charged with overseeing measures to battle corruption. This unit comprises the police commercial crime unit, Special Investigating Unit, Specialised Commercial Crime Court, organised crime unit, assets forfeiture unit and provincial Treasury. But we question the effectiveness of this unit as there are many outstanding forensic investigations conducted in most provincial departments but up to now no report is forth coming. We are convinced that there is a lack in monitoring the performance of all provincial government departments. The Premier must take a stand against his incompetent cabinet MECs and officials. Kukhona nje ongqongqoshe abaziwayo ukuthi sebehluke bancama ukwenza umsebenzi ngendlela efanele kodwa bafukanyelwe uNdunankulu ngoba nakhu nje bedla ogqokweni olulodwa nabo.
I say this because time and time again the Honourable Premier is let down by poor performance in the departments.
I thank you
