The IFP, as the Official Opposition in the KZN Legislature, calls upon the KZN Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, to release to the public the findings of the investigation into the R2.1 billion KZN Schools Nutrition tender, which collapsed after it was awarded to Pacina Retail, which failed to deliver the bulk of items to pick-up points.
We have been waiting for this Report to be released for almost seven months. In May, while addressing members of the KZN Provincial Legislature during a special sitting to mark Africa Day, Premier Dube-Ncube said the government had instituted an investigation into the matter, after schoolchildren went without food for days in April.
She must break her silence.
The IFP challenges her to release the Report. The IFP continues to maintain that there must be consequence management and that the KZN MEC for Education, Mbali Frazer, must be held accountable for this debacle.
The IFP and the public want to know what really transpired during the school nutrition saga. The blunder impacted the lives of more than two million pupils, many from impoverished families who rely on the feeding scheme.
Further, we also call upon the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, to release her findings on the same matter, after she allegedly dispatched a team led by the Director General to KZN, as part of her investigation into the province’s school nutrition programme.
We expect heads to roll in this matter.
The Premier cannot sweep the KZN School Nutrition Investigation Report under the carpet, like so many other investigation reports, which have been kept under wraps for many years. Since the tenure of the former KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala, who left a trail of destruction, we have been calling for the release of various forensic investigation reports. These reports have been concealed since the tenure of the former KZN Premier, Willies Mchunu, and speak to rampant corruption in the Office of the Premier.
These reports include:
- The report of a forensic investigation launched into how more than R200 million allocated towards drought relief was squandered.
- A forensic report commissioned in 2012, by late former Agriculture MEC Meshack Radebe, after R60 million in taxpayers’ money – meant to assist emerging farmers in rural areas around the province – could not be accounted for. This investigation, which cost R10 million, was completed in February 2014.
- A report into alleged irregularities and corruption in the uMzimkhulu Local Municipality in KZN, relating to the renovation of uMzimkhulu Memorial Hall.
The KZN Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, must come out from the shadows and release these outstanding investigation reports. Withholding these reports raises serious suspicions that there are senior politicians being protected.
The culture of embezzling public funds must stop. All those implicated in corruption must be punished.
—
Contact
Mr Blessed Gwala MPL
Leader of the Official Opposition in KZN Legislature
078 290 5842
