Bhisho berated for returning unspent money
Tough-talking deputy president Paul Mashatile called out the Eastern Cape government over underspending, saying no money should be returned to the Treasury.
“Let’s get implementation right. You will see things happen, but if money is not being spent and is returned to the Treasury then you can’t complain about money.
“Let’s use the resources we have to achieve our goals.”
Mashatile criss-crossed the province, starting in Lusikisiki on Friday and finishing in East London on Saturday on a twoday visit to monitor the implementation of the district development model.
He was accompanied by a delegation of government officials, including labour minister Thulas Nxesi, social development minister Lindiwe Zulu and premier Oscar Mabuyane.
“I have not seen everything, but as far as I have seen, the Eastern Cape is on the right track and we would like to support you to move even faster,” Mashatile said, addressing a business stakeholder engagement session in East London.
Mashatile bemoaned underspending by the provincial government, saying it hindered community service delivery.
Last year, despite the appalling state of many Eastern Cape schools, the provincial education department returned R205m of unused funds meant for school construction, maintenance, upgrades and infrastructure rehabilitation.
“One of the things we are adding strongly here in the Eastern Cape is working with traditional leaders.”
The business sector raised grievances, with load-shedding top of the list.
Border Kei Chamber of Business head Lizelle Maurice said: “It really damages revenue. We have [also] lost millions if not billions on our machinery due to power surges.
“Insurance doesn’t cover anything lost due to load-shedding.”
Mashatile said the government was doing its best.
“When government says we want to fix Eskom, we are also happy when the private sector says we are coming with you to fix Eskom. We will give you some stake.”
“We are going to procure emergency power. That decision has been taken.
“We need to do that because we need to keep the lights on. We will use our coal. People say we must close down our power stations when we transition to clean energy ... but we are not going to close them now.
“We are going to close them slowly, at our own pace ... so that we get the necessary electricity we need to power our economy.
“We can’t be expected to transition in the dark. We have power stations that we can still use so let’s use them.”
In Lusikisiki, Mashatile pleaded with the business community to work with the government on infrastructure projects.
The OR Tambo district municipality was chosen as one of the pilot sites for the district development model, which was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2019.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the engagement with the deputy president, Ingquza Hill Business Council chair and Wild Coast Business Forum secretary Lwandile Gcume said they were extremely concerned at the state of the roads.
They wanted more focus on infrastructure development from the government.
Gcume said the area also battled with water shortages.
Ingquza Hill mayor Nonkosi Pepping begged Mashatile to ensure the government moved with speed to establish the firstever smart city in the province.
“We want it in our lifetime; we don’t want to wait for 20 years before it happens,” she said. She said her municipality, despite having been adversely affected by floods which damaged infrastructure, had been allocated only R4.1m.
OR Tambo district municipality deputy mayor Thokozile Sokanyile said, as the water service authority, they struggled with providing clean water.
Mashatile also visited the Hombe White Door Centre on the outskirts of Lusikisiki which is funded by the provincial social development department as a safe home for victims of gender-based violence.