Premier Lesufi and his executives fail to answer service delivery questions leaving residents in limbo

2 March 2023

It is profoundly worrying that Gauteng residents have to wait for a very long time to receive any formal response from the Premier of Gauteng and his executives regarding service delivery issues they raise through the Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPL).

A number of the questions submitted to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) regarding issues we pick up during our oversight inspections and interactions with various communities across this province.

According to a communication we received from the GPL, all the questions not answered in writing last year will need to be resubmitted. As the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng, we take our oversight role seriously; hence, we will resubmit our written questions as instructed. This is the only way in which we can get the government working and start delivering services to our residents.

In 2022 we submitted 967 questions for written reply to the Gauteng Executives. The following departments are the top offenders when it comes to not answering our questions on time:

Social Development

Community Safety

This means that the MECs mandated to deliver services to our residents are not performing and not committed hence they fail to respond to the legislature questions within the stipulated timeframe. The lack of responsiveness from these departments shows a disregard for not only the crucial role of the GPL for public participation but the rights of the residents of Gauteng to hold their government to account.

This is a clear indication that service delivery is not their top priority. If these MECs have nothing to hide and have indeed delivered on the promises made and targets set by their departments, they will be answering questions on time.

The DA will be resubmitting all unanswered written questions to ensure that our residents are informed about the service delivery issues in their areas. Furthermore, the DA will write to the Speaker in the GPL demanding that the Premier and his executives are held to account for failing to answer the written questions on time. The DA takes our mandate as public representatives seriously, so we will work to ensure that the role of the GPL in holding the executive accountable is fulfilled.

Gauteng residents deserve a government that is truly committed to making sure that quality services are delivered to our residents. Come 2024, a DA government will replicate the Western government by introducing something similar to First Thursday, where the Premier and Executives will be accessible to our residents in terms of responding to service delivery issues. This will fast-track service delivery and ensure that the Premier and Executives render adequate quality services to our people.

Issued by Adriana Randall, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Finance, 2 March 2023