NW Provincial Government splashed R14 million on Gupta Newspaper
24 June 2022
Note to Editors: Please find soundbites in English by Freddy Sonakile MPL
North West Premier Bushy Maape, in reply to a question for oral reply in the Legislature this week, revealed that the North West Provincial Government spent more than R14 million over 3 years on the Gupta-owned newspaper, The New Age.
It finally came to light 4 years down the line that these newspapers that were said to be distributed 'freely' across government institutions were never free. The newspapers came at a cost against actual service to the public.
This revelation could not have come at a better time when Chief Justice Raymond Zondo just released the last segment of the Report into State Capture, which has shown the deeply embedded corruption and theft that the Gupta-owned media company, The New Age and their associates, the ANC, facilitated through the abuse of public resources of government departments and state-owned enterprises to secure advertising and sponsorships that defied logic and legal requirements.
The agreement with the North West Government according to the Service Level Agreement (SLA) ran for a period of 3 years, from December 2014 to December 2017. The agreement indicates that TNA Media (a Gupta owned company) was to deliver and distribute 4 000 copies of The New Age newspaper throughout the province on weekdays, at R4 684 million per year.
It is no secret that the New Age was a newspaper with a very specific ANC party-political agenda, which was to punt the propaganda of convicted former president Jacob Zuma and his Premier League Premier of the North West, Supra Mahumapelo, the Free State, Ace Magashule and Mpumalanga, now deputy president David Mabuza.
In response to follow up questions from the DA, the Premier indicated that his office, 5 years later, is yet to do an appraisal exercise to check whether there was any value for money on the provision of these newspapers in the province. He also indicated that the SLA and evidence of transactions on this has been sent to law enforcement agencies to investigate any malfeasance.
The DA will be pursuing this matter further by enquiring with the relevant law enforcement agencies to check how far the investigations have progressed in the probe of the R14 million New Age corruption scam.
For a province like North West, R14 million is a lot of money that could have been utilized to improve the lives of the residents. These funds could have been used to erect at least 730 new streetlights, provide 113 clinics with stable solar power supply, or fill at least 20 000 m2 of potholes.
For years the DA has been fighting vigorously against the ANC’s corruption and fraud in North West. In a province where governance and service delivery has collapsed, R14 million spent to improve the lives of residents would go a very long way.
Issued by Freddy Sonakile, DA North West Spokesperson on Local Government, 24 June 2022
