Premier’s off ice ‘shows lack of professionalism’
THE levels of professionalism in the Eastern Cape administration are below the accepted standards.
This is according to an annual report by the legislature’s portfolio committee on the office of the premier (OTP).
The report, tabled in the house this week, also says some departments do not have functional governance structures, internal audit units or risk management arrangements in place.
The committee found that as a result of the OTP’s shortcomings:
The province is weak in leveraging information and communications technology (ICT) to enhance service delivery as there is no integrated planning on ICT projects and the provincial video conference is non-functional;
The HR management effectiveness in the province is weak as its compliance rate is just above 70% while the accepted norm should stand at 80%; and
The province is lagging behind in integrity management as municipalities do not have anti-corruption policies and plans and lack capacity to deal with fraud and corruption.
The UDM’s Thando Mpulu said all the problems engulfing the provincial administration were because “the office of the premier is a dumping place for comrades who have not succeeded in their previous political deployments”.
He said there was a willy-nilly placement of people in the provincial government, even in positions that did not exist in the organogram.
“A case in point is the former chief financial officer in the OTP [Nomawethu Ngcakani], who was dumped at the executive and later found herself wandering in the province and all this happens at the expense of the public purse.”
Ngcakani was suspended last year over payments to a service provider before services were rendered. However, she was cleared of any wrongdoing following an internal probe.
Instead of getting her job back, provincial administration head Marion Mbina-Mthembu told Ngcakani to report for duty at the Department of Education. Ngcakani refused the offer and opted to quit.
Premier Phumulo Masualle denied that his office was a dumping place of politicians, saying he was the only politician in that office.
Mpulu launched another attack on Masualle, accusing him of incorrectly stating that all was well in the provincial Department of Education.
The DA’s Edmund van Vuuren slammed the provincial government for ignoring ordinary people, saying this could be blamed on a level of professionalism that was at an alltime low.
Leadership effectiveness was also in a shambles because four provincial departments did not have functional governance structures, as was the case with seven with dysfunctional audit units.
“The lack of these most important structures within our government is indicative of low outcomes in relation to effective service delivery and effective leadership,” he said.
Masualle said he noted the concerns but that there were improvements in the OTP.