Note to Editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Solly Msimanga MPL.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng calls on Premier Panyaza Lesufi to make public the performance agreements signed by all members of his executive (MECs) to promote transparency and public monitoring of service delivery commitments and outcomes.
Premier Lesufi has been boasting about MECs signing the performance agreements; however, to date, they have not yet been made public.
We tend to wonder what the Premier is hiding. We suspect that, as a norm, he is protecting incompetent MECs, particularly cadres that are failing to deliver on the performance agreements. He might also be protecting the minority government’s coalition partners to preserve his position as the Premier and bolster his campaign for re-election as the Gauteng ANC chairperson. This is being done at the expense of Gauteng residents.
We cannot continue to have a situation where departments fail to provide basic services to the residents of this province, and MECs face no consequences.
According to the Gauteng Executive Accountability Framework, the Premier should publicly disclose performance agreements annually, the disclosure should be made through avenues that make it possible for members of the public to access them without difficulty, including through publication on the website of the Gauteng Provincial Government. It also states that the performance agreements must be made public in full, with regular updates on progress against targets, to strengthen transparency and public trust.
Premier Lesufi has failed to disclose performance agreements as they have not been uploaded to the provincial website, and no regular updates have been made.
During a recent engagement with the Gauteng Ethics Advisory Council, it was recommended that all MECs in the province sign a performance agreement.
The DA will write to the Speaker and Chair of Chairs in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to demand the immediate publication of these performance agreements on the provincial website. These performance agreements should indicate clear timelines and deliverables. We will also write to the Chairperson of the Gauteng Ethics Advisory Committee to ascertain why the performance agreements have not been signed and published as recommended by the committee.
A DA-led provincial government would ensure transparency while promoting ethical leadership and good governance.