Public Protector Adv. Thuli Madonsela is shocked by a
lack of national outrage on bribery and price inflation
revelation done by some contractors who have done and
continue to do business with organs state
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Public Protector Adv. Thuli Madonsela is shocked by a lack
of national outrage on bribery and price inflation
revelation done by some contractors who have done and
continue to do business with organs state.
Adv. Thuli Madonsela said this on Thursday when interacting
with interests groups in Cape Town. Her remarks came after a
group of business people admitted in a story ran by a
national daily that they have paid bribes and at times
inflated prices when doing business with organs of state.
�Maladministration was stealing a constitutional promise of
a better life for all,� she said.
The Stakeholder Consultative Dialogue meeting in the Mother
City was a part of her office�s nationwide roadshow which
focuses on problems surrounding RDP houses and the alleged
illegal conversion of panel vans into taxis.
It followed the Public Protector�s meeting with members of
the provincial executive council chaired by the Premier
Helen Zille on Wednesday where she heard about housing
challenges in the province. Key RDP houses issues that
dominated discussions revolved around long waits for RDP
houses, allocation problems where one person said he had
been on the waiting list since 1962 when council houses were
issued for rental, irregular management of Provincial
Housing Programme (PHP) with complaints centred mainly
around irregular approvals, discrimination in allocation of
houses with lists manipulated by councillors and defective
houses. There were also allegations of corruption, choice of
construction service providers and problems with
prioritisation of housing projects also featured
significantly.
The plight of farm dwellers featured strongly with
allegations that people in informal settlements appeared to
be given priority over backyard dweller irrespective of the
time they have been on the waiting lists. People living with
disability also raised a number of complaints including
house that are not accessible, toilets that are not disable
friendly, lack of welfare, health care, disable facilities
in courts including professionally trained and certified
sign language interpreters.
On the question of illegal conversion of panel vans, the
Public Protector heard from South African National Taxi
Council (SANTACO) Western Cape that indeed in illegally
converted panel vans endangered commuters� lives where seats
and seatbelt were bolted on thin floors with side not fitted
with rollover protection. They advised of the need for
public education on panel vans. The complainants also spoke
of lose of income and blamed government for regulatory
failure. MEC of Transport and Public Works in the Western
Cape Mr Carlisle reported that in the province, they have
managed to get rid of most converted taxis and the
Provincial Legislature had appointed a committee to
investigate this conversion.
Community representatives also complained about lack of
access to health care and raised issues about bad conduct of
some health officials, inadequacy of medical supplies and
ambulances not arriving on time to attend to patients.
They also complained about social development, schools,
sanitation and arrogance by some government officials.
The City of Cape Town through Executive Mayor Patricia de
Lille expressed appreciation of the Public Protector�s
interest on housing problems in the country and called for
all complaints to be forwarded to the city to be attended
to.
The Public Protector will by end of next month issue a
report on the issues people raised and her observations with
a view to give affected municipalities and government
departments opportunity to immediately address urgent issues
while she investigates complex issues. She reiterated her
call upon municipalities to improve communications with the
people.
The Public Protector will conclude the public hearings
during an outreach event at Diazville Community Centre in
Saldanha Bay on Friday.
Issued by: Kgalalelo Masibi
Spokesperson
Public Protector South Africa
Tel: (012) 366 7006
Cell: 079 507 0399
E-mail: [email protected]
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