Helen Zille government flooded R10.3 billion via consultants

The SACP in the Western Cape has noted the findings of the Auditor General (AG) on the rampant looting of public funds in the Western Cape via consultants by the DA-led provincial administration. According to the AG, the Democratic Alliance (DA) government used approximately R10.3 billion on consultants within the period of three years. There is no shred of proof or evidence from the DA that the money was not rerouted back in the DA to finance its operations and campaigns. This would therefore require detailed and thoroughgoing investigations of the financial relationship between at least the consultants concerned on the one hand and the DA and its service providers on the other (see Sunday Independent report).    

The flooding of public funds through consultants by the DA demonstrates a clear lack of capacity, and its unwillingness to build internal capacity within government for sustainability and prudent use of state resources. It is worrying that while the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) require public funds to be used in the most efficient way, the DA chose to privatize the public sector in the Western Cape. This option erodes public funds through profit maximization schemes; money that could have been prioritized to social spending to improve the lives of the downtrodden.

The Western Cape excessively used consultants. This is not surprising since the DA's core constituency, "business" stands to benefit from DA's policies. This should not only be understood as an indication of DA's lack of capacity to deliver socio-economic rights and services, but as part of its ‘don't care attitude' towards the majority of hardworking public servants, the working class and the poor in the province generally.

The DA made its intentions very clear in the early days of office. It purged seasoned, well qualified and experienced senior public servants through the disguise of the re-engineering.  This led to inexperienced managers whose primary responsibility is not to manage but to serve as liaison officers with consultants who are procured to do the work.  

Thus the managers that were employed don't necessarily manage core service delivery portfolios but administer relationships with consultants in a broker-agent kind of setup.

Contrary to the claim of the so called "real jobs" by, the DA administration is also characterized by unsustainable short-term contract jobs at the lower levels in a "labour brokering" kind of an arrangement. These short-term contractors are subjected to extreme exploitation, as their labour rights are violated every day. These workers work under fear as their jobs are not "real" and result in fears of job insecurities.

It is regrettable that Helen Zille always targets the integrity of Chapter 9 institutions, thus posing a threat to their independence whenever her wide lies about self-proclaimed efficiency and well run administration are tested.

Not so long ago, she threatened the Public Protector when corrupt practices were identified in the public relations contract, and now she lambasts the AG's report. She needs to be reminded that these institutions are there to safeguard our democracy and follow systematic processes in reaching their conclusions. Instead of trying to avoid public scrutiny, Helen Zille must clarify why the public money is used in a manner that prioritized profit maximisation over service delivery.  This is a clear indication that the DA government is not committed to change inequalities in the Western Cape and to address the socio economic conditions of the people of the Western Cape.

Since the DA took office, it has done nothing to improve the lives of the downtrodden but rather engaged in the looting of the state resources. It is well known that DA's constituency is a white capital, which pledges funding for DA campaigns. It therefore cannot be ruled out that some of the R10.3 billion could have been rechanneled through these consultants to the DA coffers. It is within this understanding that we are of the view that should through scrutiny of this R10.3 billion be conducted, corrupt deals may be detected.

Hence as the SACP we have been arguing that this corrupt patriarchal government of Helen Zille has no programme to improve the lives of our people, rather its fundamental mission is to preserve the apartheid legacy.

We call upon the Public Accounts Committee in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature to investigate the use of consultants. The Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille should be held accountable and called to clarify her role in this misuse of public resources.

As the vanguard of the working class, we are running impatient of her many governance blunders, including the leaking of privileged information as she did with the election date.  She has been proven to be a risk to our young democracy and we are convinced that Western Cape will be a better place without her. It is within this understanding that we call on her to resign for the sake of bringing back dignity and integrity to the public office in the Western Cape. Her attack of our democratic institutions whenever her hands are found in the public till reflects a lack of respect to the constitution and extreme danger to our society.

Statement issued by Khaya Magaxa, SACP Western Cape Provincial Secretary, February 18 2014

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