Note to Editors: The Alternative State of the Province (ASOPA) speech below was delivered by the DA’s Premier Candidate for Gauteng, Solly Msimanga, in Kempton Park, today.
Gauteng is the old economic powerhouse that drives South Africa. It is the ‘province of opportunity’ with the potential to be a revived centre of economic growth and prosperity for our people. And it can be revived! As difficult as it was to turn the Joburg and Tshwane metros around after decades of mismanagement, through sheer political will and commitment to serving the people who voted for us, we have managed to make significant inroads. This is my goal for Gauteng. It is crucial, if this province is to prosper and we are to lift the millions of people who live here out of poverty, that we bring on a DA government.
During my Listening Tour across the province, I engaged with residents on the challenges they face on a daily basis. I came to understand how difficult life is for the majority of our residents. I also heard what the people of Gauteng want and expect from their government. I visited companies in Germiston and Soweto, for example, and was disheartened to discover that these companies are being negatively impacted by cheap imports from other countries. As a result, they are forced to shut down production, as they cannot compete on an equal footing with these imports. Gauteng companies are in dire of need of Change that can attract investors and ensure that businesses strive.
Across Gauteng, communities live in fear because there has been a complete break-down between government and the people whom they are intended to serve. Our families live in constant fear as crime has spiralled out of control. In Tembisa I met with members of the local Community Police Forum who patrol with no means to defend themselves. These brave individuals have told me that they are constantly targeted by criminals, yet they continue to patrol with little assistance of law-enforcement agencies. When we govern Gauteng, we will fight corruption within the police; retrain police officers to serve and protect with pride; hire people with a passion for policing and institute an effective drug-busting force within the South African Police Service. We would ensure that law and order is maintained in our communities, and that there are effective arrests, prosecutions and convictions of criminals.
l also boarded commuter trains and heard first-hand from passengers their experience of public transport in this province. The trains are old and in dire need of maintenance; the windows are broken and the doors don’t close properly. All of these compromises the safety of passengers. Subsequently we have seen a number of train accidents leading to loss of life and a number of injuries. We will put pressure on national government to stop neglecting the rail system which is in a state of collapse.
Access to jobs and support for small businesses under the failing ANC is largely restricted to their friends and family, or wasted on corruption and bloated agencies. These agencies serve the interests of politicians, not the people of Gauteng. Despite the opportunities inherent in manufacturing, the sector is on the decline and tourism is underdeveloped. The Western Cape has provided 75% of all new jobs in South Africa in the past year. More than 2 million people in this province are now unemployed, denying them the opportunity to earn an honest living. If given the chance, the DA in Gauteng will introduce a Voluntary Provincial Service which would entail one year of income and skills development for school-leavers, and create job centres throughout Gauteng that provide information, advice and free internet to job-seekers.
This province cannot cope with the influx of undocumented individuals. We want immigration to be properly documented and managed through the proper processes. We will root out corruption and put the right systems in place so that we can start to get a handle on the situation and implement corrective measures once we have the full picture.
We have also seen large-scale infrastructure collapse, such as sewage and water-works in a number of our municipalities, due to mismanagement and corruption. A lack of infrastructure maintenance and upgrades prevents our people from receiving quality services and stops economic growth in the province. No wonder our people are unable to find jobs. We want consistent and fair access to basic services such as housing, water, electricity and sanitation. Our plan for Gauteng includes fighting corruption at all levels of provincial and local government so that public money meant for the people is spent on the people. We will also sign a contract with all municipalities to ensure speedier delivery of quality access to water, electricity and sanitation.
Year after year, election after election, we have been promised that this time will be different. But promises do not bring jobs to our people, promises cannot fix the health system, promises cannot eradicate corruption- action does. The failing ANC has been long on promises but short on results.
Today we are here at the dilapidated and empty Kempton Park Hospital which is a symbol of the failing ANC in Gauteng – full of promises but no delivery. For more than 15 years, promises were made to rebuild this hospital to address the need for public healthcare services in Ekurhuleni. But all that the ANC has to show for these promises is a ghost house. If we keep on believing the failing ANC’s promises, and continue giving them one more chance, then after another 15 years, Gauteng will look very much like this hospital.
Over the last year, the Premier has focused much of his energy on attempting to ride on the coattails of Ramaphosa ‘New Dawn’. He has used the post-Zuma euphoria to position the Gauteng ANC as being somehow different and separate from the ANC Mother Body. This re-branding strategy was however doomed from the start. The Premier has left just too many broken promises in his wake.
The Premier has promised jobs and revising the local economy through the Vaal River City, which would have unlocked waterfront opportunities in Emfuleni and Midvaal but is non-existent; a ‘prawn farm which the Premier said would create 6 512 jobs over three years that has failed; a new hospital in Soshanguve that would have provided much needed healthcare services to the community. All of these were promises made by the Premier in his 2015 State of the Province speech. In 2017, the Premier promised the revitalisation of Industrial Parks in Khutsong, Mohlakeng and Chamdor and the establishment of the Westonaria Hydroponic Agri-park. The latter now stands abandoned and in a bad state of disrepair. In 2018 the Premier promised that urgent steps were being taken to turn around the performance of the Gauteng Department of Health. The department is now teetering at the edge of collapse. Our plan for overhauling the healthcare system in Gauteng will include decentralising powers to hospital CEOs with strict accountability for quality health outcomes and make Primary Healthcare more accessible through the provision of more mobile clinics.
At the centre of the Premier’s failure to deliver on his promises is his inability to deal with corruption and the rotten apples in his own administration. These individuals have indulged at the trough of self-enrichment and have captured the province’s administration for their own personal interest. As is the modus operandi of the national ANC, Premier Makhura has cultivated a deeply entrenched culture of protecting these members at all costs – the Gauteng ANC refused to remove scandal ridden Qedani Mahlangu and Brian Hlongwa from their PEC until the ANC NWC requested that these individuals resign. The Premier in fact, seems determined to prop up and protect VBS mayors and dozens of dodgy ANC members in Gauteng in order to protect his own political capital, at the expense of the people of Gauteng.
In fact, the recent flooding disaster in Emfuleni could have been avoided had the Premier and his government prioritised service delivery and the maintenance of infrastructure like storm water drains instead of focusing on internal political battles and self-enriching exercises. Merafong Local Municipality and West District municipalities are now unable to provide basic services as they invested public funds illegally with VBS Mutual Bank, which was put under curatorship earlier this year. These ANC- led municipalities owe millions of Rands to both Eskom and Rand Water.
The Premier is clearly not serious about rooting out corruption. Last February he made a pledge to subject himself and his MECs lifestyle audits, but has since shifted the responsibility to President Cyril Ramaphosa and his recently established parliamentary task team. In fact, Makhura waited four years into his premiership before declaring that he would institute lifestyle audits for politicians and senior officials, and it is extremely unlikely that any will be done before his term of office ends in May. Under Premier Makhura, the Auditor-General has identified over R20 billions of irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure! If this money had been spent on health, education, and housing it could have built 5 new hospitals, 20 clinics, 30 schools, and 70 000 houses.
One of my first actions as Premier would be to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the extent and depth of state capture in Gauteng. There are too many people that have benefitted from corruption in the province and it is time that we put a stop to these networks and expose those involved and send them to jail. We will sentence anyone found guilty of corruption to 15 years in jail while protecting and encouraging ‘whistle blowers’ who identify and report on corrupt activities.
While the failing ANC wants us to dream about a better tomorrow and sell us more empty promises, the DA is starting to get things done, and bring change from the bottom up. While corruption has become endemic in the province, as seen in Emfuleni, Merafong and Rand West, we are slowly starting to turn the tide in our DA-run metros. In only two years, we have put a stop to dozens of dodgy tenders, arrested corrupt officials, and laid the foundation for clean governance, particularly in our cities’ supply chain management processes.
When we took over the cities of Joburg and Tshwane, we uncovered a well-established patronage network in the province which has undermined any progress in improving peoples’ lives. This network was built under the Premier’s watch, yet he chose to turn a blind eye to the wide scale looting of Joburg and Tshwane. After only one hundred days into the job as Tshwane mayor, I had already uncovered a series of get-rich-quick schemes led by officials in the previous ANC administration. In one scheme city officials hid waste removal trucks so as to award an illegal contract and then take a kick-back, in another scheme, sound police vehicles disappeared for “repairs” that were never required. My colleague, Mayor Herman Mashaba, has brought a number of corruption cases to the Hawks including the R1.7bn failed Johannesburg Broadband Network Project and the alleged corrupt relationship between Regiments Fund Managers and former MMC of Finance in the City and current leader of the ANC in Johannesburg, Geoff Makhubo. The DA-led administration inherited crippled and bankrupt metros from the ANC and is in the process of transforming them into world class cities from the ground up. This is only the beginning of our drive of putting our people first, and prioritising service delivery over patronage networks.
It is clear that the Change needed in Gauteng will only be achieved under a DA government. Change can only come when we deal with corruption first. In the DA-run metros, we are starting to address the infrastructure backlog inherited by the ANC by cancelling corrupt tenders and directing money to infrastructure upgrades. In Midvaal for example, we have directed R54 million for upgrades to the bulk electrical supply to Sicelo; R40 million for a new reservoir in Sicelo; R24 million for the resurfacing of roads and R23 million for the replacement of bulk water pipes. This approach is starting to pay dividends, for example, the rating agency Moody’s has upgraded Tshwane’s long-term rating by one notch on the global scale with a stable outlook. The upgrade means those who want to do business with Tshwane, particularly local and international investors who buy debt instruments, will begin to offer discounted interest rates and better terms.
The DA-led administrations in Tshwane and Joburg has turned around their inner cities. In the City of Joburg, the DiverCity Urban Property Fund is investing R2 billion into the inner city, as part of its strategy to create thriving mixed-use inner-city precincts. The investment will target the redevelopment of the ABSA Tower Main and Jewel City. It will include 520 affordable apartments, child-care facilities, a public park and integrated public transport facilities. The City of Tshwane also launched an inner-city rejuvenation project to improve, among other things, the cleanliness and viability of the City for entrepreneurship and further investment. The result of these efforts has been a R3.8 billion in investment with a potential 1850 new jobs being created soon. We mean it when we say ‘we want a job in every home’.
As part of our commitment to ensuring that those who occupy land where their businesses and churches are situated, become the owners of that land, we have handed over title deeds to business owners in Soweto who have been waiting for 30 years to become land owners. We believe that land ownership plays an important role in growing our province’s economy and by handing over these title deeds, we are ensuring that our people who previously did not have an opportunity to own land are now given this chance. The DA does not only pay lip service when talking about land ownership, but walks-the-talk by ensuring that businesses and churches operating from city-owned land are given title deeds.
Premier Makhura claims that the transfer of mental healthcare patients to ill-equipped and unlawfully operating NGOs was never approved by himself or the Gauteng Executive Council. This is very difficult to believe considering that the Premier was present during the sittings of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature when our shadow MEC for Health, Jack Bloom, asked questions, and more questions about this impending, and predictable, human tragedy. The Premier says he hangs his head in shame, but no amount of contrition can bring back deceased family members.
The Premier dedicated a great portion of his previous SOPA speech to the Esidimeni tragedy. In fact, he had subsequently ‘vowed’ that families of those who died in the Life Esidimeni tragedy would receive their settlements before the June 19 deadline. This was yet another empty, PR-driven promise made by the Premier. There have since been inexcusable delays in these pay-outs which have been blamed on ‘technical issues’. A further problem is that an inadequate amount had been budgeted for to pay out more than 200 claimants. While it is very clear that this is not a top priority for the current Premier, this would be a priority for me if elected, to ensure that the families receive their pay-outs with immediate effect. It is disturbing that we appear to have learnt nothing from the Esidimeni tragedy – as a province, we still have wholly inadequate healthcare services for the mentally ill. Yesterday I visited Thelle Mogerane Hospital; there is only one psychiatric ward at the hospital that can accommodate 10 males and 10 females, yet 163 psychiatric patients had to be placed in ordinary wards from March 2017 to July last year. There is also no full-time psychiatrist on duty at the hospital and three psychiatric patients have committed suicide at the hospital over the last three years. As Premier, I would launch an urgent inquiry into the state of the province’s mental healthcare facilities to ascertain the type of interventions which would ensure a rapid turnaround in the standard of care for our most vulnerable residents.
The Premier made all the right noises about e-tolls, however, as we have discovered, this tactic is intended to placate us until our attention shifts elsewhere. Premier Makhura, for example, established a Commission of Inquiry into the feasibility of e-tolls in the province, a great PR side-step to avoid accountability. This Commission then recommended that e-tolls be scrapped but no action was taken by the Premier. The same Premier made an announcement during his 2018 State of the Province that he would be meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss this issue. To date – a year later – we have not received any feedback. Yet the Premier states that e-tolls is something of the past and has no place in the future of Gauteng, but this is a blatant lie as the e-toll contract has already been extended until December 2019 with the possibility of a further extension until 2021. When we govern in Gauteng, one of the first things we will do is to lodge an intergovernmental dispute to have this widely rejected and unjust system removed. Failing this, we will take the same route that we did in the Western Cape when the ANC tried to force e-tolls on our people and dispute this matter in Court. This unjust taxation on the people of Gauteng – who are already at their financial breaking point – cannot be allowed to continue.
The Premier, in his State of the Province speech last year, stated that as part of addressing structural youth unemployment, he would be ‘aligning education and training to meet the needs of the new economy.’ But how exactly has he accomplished this? The national unemployment rate among young people aged 15–34 was 38,2%. This means that more than one in every three young people did not have a job in the first quarter of 2018, while only 23.8% of youth in Gauteng are employed. On my campaign trail across the province, I have heard from desperate, unemployed youth that EPWP jobs are only for ANC cardholders. That without political connections, there is no hope of accessing job opportunities. EPWP jobs are supposed to be allocated to residents of communities who desperately need jobs, to give them a chance to get practical work experience, which is difficult to obtain. Instead, the ANC uses this scheme to buy political favour and jobs. There is no hope of effectively dealing with unemployment without first tackling corruption and ending the ANC’s systems of ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. In Tshwane, we implemented much needed reforms to the City’s EPWP recruitment policy, making it a fairer process and giving everyone an equal opportunity to apply and benefit from the Programme. To date, the EPWP programme in Tshwane has created 24 463 job opportunities. While our Youth Development Programme has given over 200 young people skills for jobs.
One of our flagship programmes is the Kgatelopele Youth Development Programme in Midvaal; since its inception, more than 200 candidates have been recruited, 99 of which have successfully completed the programme. Another initiative is our partnership with the Molefi Oliphant Institute of Leadership, where over R2 million has been invested into the training of young people in Midvaal. This programme provides skills development to young people in the Vaal, to capacitate them and assist them in finding employment. Almost three hundred youth from Midvaal have passed through the programme, and 60% of them have subsequently been absorbed by the job market, with others now running their own successful businesses.
The City of Tshwane embarked on a programme to train chartered accountants from previously disadvantaged communities through the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants Programme; the first batch of 9 learners commenced in November 2017.The City has provided bursaries to 1800 students – to the total value of R34 million. Moreover 300 young people have already this year gone through learnerships in the City, to ensure that they have the requisite skills to provide them access to better jobs.
In the City of Joburg, the Opportunity Seekers Database (OSD) will be rolled out in phases from this month onwards. The OSD is designed to be a universal access online platform from which a range of opportunity seekers – including SMMEs, entrepreneurs and people seeking employment – can access opportunities provided by the City such as artisan training, SMME support, short-term work opportunities and learnerships. The database will also assist to ensure that opportunities are allocated in a fair and transparent manner, as well as on a rotational basis. The database will also allow opportunities to be allocated to those that reside in the wards where the work is being done in the interest of local labour empowerment. Additionally, a total of 100 artisans are currently being trained in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg with a target of 300 for the 2018/19 financial year. The Department of Economic Development is in the process of designing the second phase of the programme, which will target more training opportunities over the remaining council term of office.
Last year the Premier claimed that he would be exploring the feasibility of a provincial state bank. This bank would mobilise funding for SMMEs. Yet, the Gauteng Provincial Government is the worst performing province in South Africa when it comes to paying suppliers within 30 days, according to a report from the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA). Many of these are emerging township enterprises, yet the Premier and his MECs neglect to pay them, thereby strangling small business and destroying the cash flow of many firms. This is yet another example where the Premier’s words are not aligned with his actions. How can we believe in anything he promises? The DA advocates for the active support of small businesses and entrepreneurs through funding, innovation hubs and partnerships, and of course paying suppliers on time, within 30 days. We want to grow the local economy but we do not support our local entrepreneurs. While the Premier promises to invest in industrial parks in Khutsong, Mohlakeng and Chamdor, the DA in Midvaal is attracting new business investment because of its enabling environment and continuous infrastructure development.
Despite its size, Midvaal has consistently punched above its weight in attracting significant investment, for example Heineken, Ferrero Rocher, Paramount Trailers, New Hope, BSI Steel and Twin Boats which have chosen to establish and grow their businesses within the Midvaal municipality. Sedibeng Brewery alone has made a R3.5 billion investment, creating 3500 construction jobs, and is currently looking to expand its supply chain locally, through purchasing barley from 32 local farmers.
The Premier is adept at painting rosy pictures, while the reality is far, far from the perception he creates. A case in point is Gauteng’s education system. While Gauteng’s matric pass rate of 87.9% for the 2018 academic year was released with much fanfare, the figure hardly reflects reality. What, for example, about the learners who did not reach Grade 10 in the expected time or have dropped out of the failing education system? I have seen first-hand the effects of the constant downward shifts in the subject pass rates, the lack of monitoring and evaluation systems for teacher performance, the lack of clear policy direction, union interference, sex and cash for jobs scandals and the absence of leadership in our schools. For every school which ‘defies the odds’ there are many more that have failed in providing our learners with access to education, and hope for a better future. What I want is for our province to provide our learners with a quality, world class education which gives them the required level of verbal and numerical literacy demanded by Gauteng’s fast-paced and dynamic economy. But how is this possible when only 33% of schools have laboratory facilities, 40% have computer facilities and less than 30% have libraries. The greatest failing by the Premier and his government has been to allow teachers to enter poorly equipped classrooms with no support and further training.
As the Premier admitted in his 2018 SOPA, there are deep institutional problems within our public health system and it cannot be business as usual. Yet, what has changed in a year? The Premier’s health department is still beset by poor management and widespread corruption. We are desperately short of health officials, and yet more than 200 newly qualified nurses who recently finished their community service at Gauteng state hospitals now face unemployment as they are not being absorbed into permanent posts as has happened previously. Another waste of money and scarce skills.
We have heard the calls of our people that they are in desperate need of better services. The ANC in Gauteng has been given second, third and fourth chances. We can no longer afford to hope that what the Premier promises will come to fruition; we have simply been let down too many times. Now is our opportunity to vote in Change that builds One South Africa for All by putting the people of Gauteng first and speeding up the delivery of quality services. Where we govern, we are accountable to all our citizens. In Joburg, Tshwane and Midvaal, we have created environments for people to prosper by rooting out corruption, building investor confidence and accelerating service delivery. But our job is not yet done. We need to take control of the province so that we will be able to affect more drastic change in the lives of our people. This is only the beginning and I will not stop until all our people can experience the change that only the DA can bring through our commitment to fostering a people-centred government.
Gauteng should be the Golden Opportunity Province – a place alive with possibility, where people can realise their dreams in a thriving economy. We will build on DA success in local government to ensure integrated, city-led growth that reverses the legacy of apartheid planning, with improved public transport and jobs closer to where people live. Property ownership will be promoted, including title deeds, and the release of well-located state land to deserving applicants for housing and businesses.
The DA will use provincial powers of oversight to the full extent to ensure police provide a professional service to effectively fight the scourge of crime. There is, after all, no true freedom if people do not feel safe in their homes, where they work, and in the streets. We will ensure decisive intervention in Gauteng’s failing health system so that everyone can access person-centred quality healthcare with reduced queues and waiting times.
When we govern Gauteng, we will prepare our children to develop their talents and skills for an advanced economy. As a caring government will provide social services to those who need them most.
We will keep our promises.
In 2016, the DA embarked on a mission to bring Change to Gauteng. That mission will only be complete once we take over provincial government. Give us one chance to govern Gauteng and build One South Africa for All, and we will not disappoint you. This I pledge to you all, as the Premier-in-waiting. I can, and will, turn this ship around.