EXPERTS say Gauteng premier David Makhura should shoulder the blame for the looting of state funds in the Personal Protective Equipment scandal.
According to governance experts and political analysts, Makhura should resign for his failure to do his oversight responsibilities as the chairperson of the provincial Coronavirus Command Council.
This follows the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report on the PPE scandal that saw public funds looted when the Covid-19 pandemic broke in South Africa in 2020.
The experts accused Makhura of failing to protect state resources in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). The report showed that Gauteng had the most cases relating to PPE corruption. With more than R6 billion worth of contracts under investigation, the report showed irregularities in 93% of the contracts in the province.
The SIU investigated 1 906 contracts in the following departments:
– Department of Health
– Department of Education
– City of Johannesburg
– Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
– Johannesburg Property Company
– South African Police Services
Professor Pundy Pillay from Wits University School of Governance said Makhura should resign because of the scale of the theft under his watch.
"We can't expect politicians to resign over every misdemeanour on the part of colleagues or bureaucrats. However, the fact that this took place when the country was undergoing a pandemic crisis together with the scale of theft does suggest that he should do the right thing and resign," said Pillay.
DA leader in Gauteng Solly Msimanga has also made a call for Makhura to be held politically accountable for failing to act decisively against officials across all the departments in the province. Msimanga said Makhura must also be held responsible for failing on his oversight duties to ensure that the PPE funds were spent wisely for the benefit of Gauteng residents.
The call was echoed by Pillay, who said it was clear that Makhura has not been doing his job as head of the provincial command council.
"Accountability to the electorate must be the number one priority for elected leaders. Given his unblemished record up to now, he has badly let down his electorate. The scale of this is quite unbelievable, suggesting the thieves themselves knew of the incompetency of the political leadership," he said.
Public administration and governance specialist from the North-West University, Professor Barry Hanyane, said Makhura should have voluntarily resigned.
"But I am afraid that in this instance, seeing that the intensity for accountability and transparency are weakened, the premier in question might want to buy time," he said.
Hanyane added that this might be with the hope that the pressure for him to resign will die down, and in a sense, this will give him more space and time to continue to sit in the first office of the province.
Political analyst and governance expert Sandile Swana said in a proper democracy, the head of government should be held accountable for such large-scale corruption, especially during a disaster.
"Makhura found the Department of Health engulfed by previous corruption of Brian Hlongwa, followed by Qedani Mahlangu and Bandile Masuku. It was clear that his subordinates are prone to corruption, and he did not do enough in terms of the PFMA to protect state resources," said Swana.
Swana further added that because of the long history of corruption in the Gauteng government and the health department, all affected officials and politicians must be subjected to various sanctions, disciplinary procedures, criminal prosecution and recovery of stolen funds.
"The general corruption in Gauteng is fuelled by the fact that there is no decisive law and discipline enforcement against offenders. Most offenders are linked to the ruling party and to its fund-raising programmes," Swana said.
Political analyst Levy Ndou said Makhura was supposed to act immediately and swiftly when allegations of PPE corruption were reported.
"When people say ’Makhura, we blame you’, it is because they might have realised that within the system or political leaders do not act when they are required to do so. If you hear that there was corruption involving the PPEs and you don't show any political will by making statements, by investigating, and you keep quiet, people would feel that you don't care," Ndou said.
Another political analyst Sanusha Naidu said the report showed that provinces had been reckless in the PPE spending, with no accountability.
She added that all nine premiers need to account and be held responsible for what transpired under their watch.
"All premiers should be held accountable. This is not about one person in one province; this is about a serious rot in our political body of the state. It's not about whether one province is singled out. It's about the fact that people feel that they can steal our money, taxpayers money and get away with it," she said.
Makhura's spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga did not agree with the notion that he should vacate his office. He said Makhura was the one who had requested the SIU to investigate possible corruption with regards to PPE and that this was done after an internal investigation by Gauteng Audit Service (GAS).
"SIU produced the first preliminary report where former MEC Bandile Masuku was removed from his position as MEC of Health, the HOD Prof Lukhele was suspended and resigned, former CFO was suspended and also resigned. Premier David Makhura implemented all recommendations of the SIU with no exception. The premier is in support that those who stole the money must not only go to jail, but taxpayers money must be paid back," he said.
Sunday Independent