Floods: Trust deficit in government
Political parties have not given money to the Solidarity Fund for relief in Kwazulu-natal
If ever there was a chance for the ANC to right its wrongs in proving it is fighting corruption in its ranks, it is now. But the odds are stacked against the governing party, whose track record of graft and theft outweighs trust and transparency.
Millions of rands have been channelled to disaster relief efforts in parts of Kwazulu-natal, where flooding and mudslides have left more than 448 people dead and about 40000 displaced.
Roads, schools and businesses have been damaged or destroyed by the flooding and need to be rebuilt or repaired.
After assessing the extent of the destruction, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a national state of disaster and R1-billion was immediately made available from the treasury to implement support measures.
The Solidarity Fund, stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic, established the Solidarity Fund Floods Response to augment efforts from government for disaster relief.
Kwazulu-natal’s MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Sipho Hlomuka, also announced the establishment of a provincial disaster fund account, into which donations could be made.
But opposition parties, civil rights organisations, businesses and members of the public resorted to alternative measures to aid disaster relief efforts.
The Inkatha Freedom Party has donated money — R250 000 — to the humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers. “You listen to the president, you listen to the minister of finance, all are expressing a concern that this [flood relief] money should not go into [the] wrong hands,” said IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa.
“That is not just out of the blue, [it] is because there is a trust deficit between the government and the public, and anyone is very reluctant to give whatever.”
Also sceptical of the ANC’S ability to manage funds, Musa Kubheka, chairperson of Actionsa in Kwazulunatal, said: “Government has proven on numerous occasions in recent times that it does not have the necessary control measure in place that would safeguard disaster funds and ensure punitive measure[s] are put in place for officials who misuse the funds”.
Supporting Kubheka’s stance, the party’s leader, Herman Mashaba tweeted: “One thing we [Actionsa] are not going to do is be silent and pretend as though we trust the government to administer the funds in a manner that will ensure that it reaches the flood victims.”
Opting for a more “practical response” Actionsa chose to assist affected people through on-theground efforts, particularly in ethekwini “where water, blankets, mattresses and food parcels have been distributed”, according to Kubheka, who added that “clean-up campaigns have also been conducted in ethekwini and Kwadukuza to alleviate pressure on the government”.
Taking a similar hands-on position in, Democratic Alliance leader in Kwazulu-natal, Francois Rodgers, said the party has “not made any formal cash donation … and if we do, it wouldn’t be through the government. It would be through one of the NGOS.”
The reason is “quite simple”, said Rodgers. “[The government has] a very poor track record when it comes to expenditure ... we’ve seen how they operate and we’re not prepared to trust them with our money.”
Rodgers referenced the R22-million Covid-19 blanket scandal involving the Kwazulu-natal department of social development, which prompted the treasury to centralise all Covid-19 emergency spending in 2020.
Commenting on the residents affected by the floods that he had visited, Rodgers said: “There’s a feeling of absolute hopelessness because some communities have not had water for eight days ... So there’s just a general mood of despair in those communities that have been the hardest hit.”
Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald said party members were personally assisting people who had been affected by the floods.
“We will never give donations where it will be handled by the government,” he said. “We have not made any donations to Cyril Ramaphosa’s Solidarity Fund because of corruption.”
The Kwazulu-natal government’s call on social media to support its disaster fund was met with derision. Most of the more than 900 comments on Twitter expressed clear distrust. Responses included: “You must be joking. I wouldn’t trust R1 of mine with the government” and “Donate so the ANC can steal? Tsek wena.”
Amanda Gouws, professor of political science at Stellenbosch University, said that “confidence in political parties is at an all time low”.
Citing the results of the Afrobarometer public opinion data gathered in 2021 by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Gouws said that “56% of respondents think police officials are involved in corruption, 53% think people in the president’s office are corrupt, 51% for local government councillors, 50% for members of parliament, 42% for government officials and 24% for traditional leaders”.
Karam Singh, the executive director of Corruption Watch, said: “Experience has clearly shown the vulnerability of our procurement systems to corruption in times of crisis,” noting the “rampant corruption” experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The immediacy of the situation and the precarious position of so many Kwazulu-natal residents require fast and efficient use of resources to meet the most basic needs of water, food, shelter,” he said. There must be absolute transparency and full disclosure of how these funds are being distributed, ensuring that they reach the communities for whom they are intended.”
‘Experience has clearly shown the vulnerability of our procurement systems to corruption in times of crisis’