Pretoria – The EFF in Gauteng on Monday amplified its calls for Premier David Makhura to “do the honourable thing” and resign from his position, in the wake of Covid-19 tender irregularities and previous scandals linked to his administration.
“Makhura stopped to be the premier of Gauteng the day criminals hijacked the procurement of personal protective equipment from right under his nose. Not only should Bandile Masuku be asked to step aside, but the premier must also resign because as the accounting officer of the province, the bug (buck) stops with him,” said EFF Gauteng acting provincial chairperson Itani Edwin Mukwevho.
“Makhura's failure to remove Dr Masuku from the legislature shows that he is protecting corruption that is happening in his office.”
On Friday Makhura announced that embattled Health MEC Bandile Masuku had been fired. Masuku has already indicated that he will be challenging the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report implicating him in wrongdoing in court.
Masuku has been on extended special leave since July 30 after allegations surfaced that he facilitated the granting of multimillion-rand PPE tenders to family friends.
On Monday, the Gauteng EFF said “Makhura is public enemy number one for allowing evictions and demolishing structures of homeless people” despite the backlog of over 1.2 million houses in Gauteng.
“All these are happening in contravention of lockdown regulations that prohibits evictions and demolishing of structures. Gauteng deserves a premier who will provide land to our people to build their own dignified houses. Unfortunately Makhura is not that person,” Mukwevho said.
He called on the ANC “to walk the talk and send a clear message” against corruption and corrupt politicians and officials by recalling Makhura, if he refuses to resign.
“Under Makhura's watch we have witnessed the Life Esidimeni tragedy that involved the deaths of over 143 people at illegal and unregistered NGOs in the province,” Mukwhevho said.
“The premier failed to act against the former MEC for health, Qedani Mahlangu, and the implicated officials. He protected Brian Hlongwa after it was found that the then MEC for health was implicated in bringing the Department of Health to its knees through corrupt activities.
“The amount of pain that his administration has inflicted on our people is too deep to be left unattended.”
The EFF also lambasted Makhura for the 2018 death of three firefighters at the Lisbon Building in central Johannesburg “which housed government departments, and which was declared non-compliant in terms of health and safety standards”.
“The premier failed to act against the MECs involved, especially the MEC for infrastructure development and officials. Makhura's administration has on numerous occasions failed to prevent corrupt activities from taking place.
“One activity we must never forget is the irregular awarding of a one-day R24 million IT tender by the department of e-Government to IN2IT Technologies.
“The premier again failed to act against the MEC after it emerged that she was involved in disregarding the supply chain management procedures,” Mukwevho said.
African News Agency (ANA)