THE SOPA FLOP
ANC, OPPOSITION SLAM MASUALLE’S SPEECH
JOBS: Multi-billion rand projects stalled EDUCATION: Still bottom of the class HEALTH: Hospitals need refurbishment CORRUPTION: Admission of problems ROADS: Billions needed to upgrade
AS PREMIER Phumulo Masualle’s term of office comes to an end, his ambitious plans to create thousands of jobs through multi-billion-rand projects such as the Mzimvubu water project, remain a pipe dream.
Masualle admitted this yesterday while addressing the media, saying he had omitted the Mzimvubu project in his State of the Province Address (Sopa) because the state had yet to source funding for the ambitious project.
He cited the country’s depressed economy as a contributing factor as Treasury tries to reduce its borrowing.
Masualle said the project was not moving due to lack of funding which had previously been identified via Brics (Britain, Russia, India, China) countries.
“The conditions attached to the release of those funds are in conflict with the laws of our country,” Masualle said – referring to the initial plan to bring in Chinese investors who wanted to bring in Chinese companies and labour to work on the project.
Former President Jacob Zuma launched the R12.45-billion water project in 2014 amid pomp and ceremony. It was going to involve the building of the Ntabelanga dam which would store about 490 million cubic metres of water, for domestic and agricultural water supply requirements, while the Laleni dam would be used for hydropower generation.
But Masualle yesterday said: “We have [said] nothing about it because [there is] nothing new we could have said in respect of it. We were very deliberate because only when there is something different that takes us [further] from where we have been (would) we actually highlight that,” Masualle told the media yesterday.
Political parties, including the ANC, were not impressed with the premier’s Sopa as it failed to give any updates on major projects such as Mzimvubu, Project uMthombo as well as the ambitious rail link which would link East London to provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, for the transportation of goods.
ANC provincial spokesman Oscar Mabuyane said: “Your key catalytic projects in the province that the ANC lekgotla has spoken about are projects such as Mzimvubu and uMthombo and we as the ANC would have loved to hear more about them.
Mabuyane, who was sworn in as a member of the provincial legislature this week, is expected to take over from Masualle in a forthcoming cabinet reshuffle. The two avoided each other yesterday.
On roads infrastructure, Masualle said R3.1-billion would be injected to maintain rural access roads in the next three financial years (Metef ). “These include the road to Hluleka nature reserve and the road to Canzibe Hospital (in Ngqeleni),” said the premier.
He said the government was also engaged in the revitalisation of a number of small towns in the province.
“Our main focus in this regard is improving the provision of water, sanitation, electrification, roads infrastructure as well as transport hubs,” Masualle said.
On education, the premier said, although it remained of concern that the province had been at the bottom of the matric class since 2015, last year’s results which saw the provincial average mark improve from 59.3% the previous year to 65% last year, had to be commended.
“It is a step in the right direction.” On health, he said the state would prioritise refurbishing 11 hospitals, four or which were in the O R Tambo region for the National Health Insurance scheme.
Masualle said he would act against corruption, saying in some instances there were some unscrupulous lawyers, in collaboration with some health officials, “whose purpose in the final analysis is to milk the state of these limited resources we have”.
These are claims which saw the health department forced to settle millions worth of legal claims due to negligence, especially in maternity wards across health centres in the province.
He said his office had been approached by the Special Investigation Unit to support further investigation into how taxpayers’ money had been used preparing for Nelson Mandela’s memorial services and funeral.
A report by public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane released last year fingered several senior public servants including director-general Marion Mbina-Mthembu, saying they had flouted procurement processes when sourcing services in preparation for the late statesman’s funeral.
Masualle said they had already committed to co-operate with such an investigation but had also identified loopholes in the report which they hoped would be clarified.
The political parties in their analysis of the address were rather scathing of Masualle, with the DA’s Bobby Stevenson saying when they heard the premier speak he sounded like a “dead man walking”.
“The speech has been overshadowed by two events. One is the impending ANC cabinet reshuffle that should have taken place before this address,” Stevenson said.
UDM’s Max Mhlati said the speech was flat. “Maybe it’s because he doesn’t know if he will be here next week...
“We would’ve expected him to deal with the issue of infrastructure development in rural areas.”