Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has given the government of provincial unity (GPU) a pat on the back saying it has proven to be equal to the task of addressing the many socioeconomic challenges SA’s economic and financial hub is grappling with.
In a briefing in Midrand on Wednesday to reflect on the GPU’s first 100 days in office, Lesufi said more than 80% of the parties represented in the provincial legislature adopted the Gauteng Provincial Appropriation Bill on August 1, “amounting to R165bn”.
The bill provides for the appropriation of money from the Gauteng Provincial Revenue Fund to meet the province’s service delivery needs.
Gauteng, SA’s richest province that contributes nearly 40% to national GDP, is battling the provision of basic services such as housing, clinics, schools, water and electricity. It is also dogged by illegal immigration and mining, hijacked buildings, extortion syndicates, violent crime, ageing public infrastructure, hijackings and kidnappings.
Lesufi said the province and its three metropolitan municipalities had signed a co-operation agreement with police minister Senzo Mchunu aimed at enhancing crime-fighting efforts.
The premier said he was frustrated with crime. The “level of crime in our province keeps me awake at night”.
He gave his provincial cabinet a score of 2/10 in fighting crime, stressing: “We are not doing good”.
“Crime remains something that worries me big time,” the premier said. “On a weekly basis we meet all municipalities to enhance safety plans. All municipalities have now agreed to contribute the footage of their CCTV cameras to the Provincial Command Centre. This includes footage from private security agencies,” he said.
Lifestyle audits
The premier said 19 accounting officer-level lifestyle audits had been done, which include CEOs and heads of departments. “This process has been concluded and the Special Investigating Unit has presented the report to me. They found that 37% of the audited accounting officers were high risks or they failed the test. Sixteen (16%) were found to be medium risk while 47% were low risk,” Lesufi said.
“I have written to all affected accounting officers to rectify the situation before action is taken against them. The lifestyle audits of the three new MECs are being conducted by the State Security Agency (SSA). I have requested the SIU to prioritise the lifestyle audits of all officials within the supply chain management and finance.”
Regarding the water crisis, the premier said the province did not suffer from a water shortage, “but among the biggest challenges are illegal connections and water leakages”.
“We are putting together a team of law enforcement agencies that will assist us in disconnecting all illegal water connections in the province. We have arranged with all 11 municipalities in the province to enforce Level 1 restrictions, which will curb nonessential water usage, including filling swimming pools, washing cars with hoses and watering gardens during peak hours,” he said.
“Our water usage needs to reflect that we are now facing a crisis and therefore we call on all our residents to use water sparingly.”
Hospital refurbishment
Meanwhile, Lesufi said some of the notable achievements over the past 100 days included the R3.8bn payment on the e-toll debt, the revitalisation of the Johannesburg CBD, the awarding of court judgments to reclaim 12 hijacked buildings and the delivery of title deeds to more than 4,000 families.
The refurbishment of the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital after a fire that gutted parts of it in April 2021 was expected to be completed by 2025.
“We have completed the outsourcing of radiotherapy services to private healthcare providers. We are finalising the service level agreement (SLA) and expect treatments to commence soon,” the premier said.
On road network infrastructure, Lesufi said the provincial government had rehabilitated the K46 Road (Winnie Mandela Drive) in Diepsloot which would help improve traffic flow between the N1 and N14 in the north-south direction, while the K69 Road (Solomon Mahlangu Drive) — a 9km stretch — has been upgraded from a single to a dual carriageway.
On energy, some of the milestones include the installation of rooftop solar and energy storage at 28 health facilities and “five schools of specialisation have been equipped with alternative energy solutions to ensure uninterrupted service during power outages”.
On the Life Esidimeni tragedy, Lesufi said the GPU had paid about R159.4m to the 134 families who participated in the arbitration hearings. By September 30, about R348.7m had been paid to families and patients who did not participate in the arbitration process. “This is in line with the recommendations made by justice [Dikgang] Moseneke.”
Despite many warnings from healthcare professionals and civil society organisations, the Gauteng health department moved more than 1,700 stable state mental patients from private healthcare facilities managed by hospital group Life Healthcare to unlicensed and underresourced NGOs in 2015 and 2016.
At least 141 patients died after the transfer, according to an investigation by the health ombud, who described their neglect in harrowing detail in a report released in 2017. Patients were deprived of food, heating and medical care. Many of the those who died were emaciated and dehydrated.
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