South Africa P.I.G.: MISMANAGEMENT

Showing posts with label MISMANAGEMENT. Show all posts

SA Govt repeating past mistakes...Again, Still, Whatever!

Govt's <strike>TOP-10</strike> TOP-15 serious blunders that caused extreme alarm in 2010 <ol><li>The water crisis,<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZdguT7C2IEhpOcuMhTZM-JkOa5CzZX5etWtx12zwtksfhi3ZTd1FTB6Z_VOBsCIOEK_PXlZMP2e7E5mdH1k6_IQ4sCUtjbA4gALNAZRZF1x_M09U6DcisZg18Iu8-YeylPRATyo5Oh86/s1600/anc-logo.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556269021058784578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZdguT7C2IEhpOcuMhTZM-JkOa5CzZX5etWtx12zwtksfhi3ZTd1FTB6Z_VOBsCIOEK_PXlZMP2e7E5mdH1k6_IQ4sCUtjbA4gALNAZRZF1x_M09U6DcisZg18Iu8-YeylPRATyo5Oh86/s320/anc-logo.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 256px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGGWfVaUkOdaDCWdD3_Zm5sJgnwnLGMkmD1KxE6zUp5T95x3tQf5X54TzfZI3Q4Qu70WxQCUe0qauHutgMF8fVDHEGeAXWBf9ocW0aFsXaxUOeB28Yug8FLAPyASciTKV4hKlWiifR99g/s1600/anc-logo.jpg"></a></li><li>Misappropriation of state funds, </li><li>Efforts to gag the media,</li><li>The ongoing fiascos at semi-government institutions, </li><li>The government's handling of youth matters, </li><li>Road maintenance and potholes, </li><li>South Africa's military readiness, </li><li>CRIME, </li><li>The widespread housing scandal </li><li>Labour problems, </li><li>Hosting of the R69m World Youth Festival by the NYDA; </li><li>Poor service delivery from parastatals; </li><li>The failure to create sufficient jobs; </li><li>A housing scandal involving 2 000 government officials, </li><li>The failure to crush South Africa's "internationally feared" criminals.</li></ol>***Corruption is present in most of the aboveWater crisis state's worst blunder 1. Water crisis Government's denial of the worsening water problems in South Africa in 2010 must rate as one of its more serious blunders. In the same year that Trevor Manuel, minister in the presidency, shrugged off as "ridiculous" predictions that toxic mine water could seep out at various locations in Gauteng before long, government for the first time ever acknowledged its failure to maintain municipal sewerage plants all over the country. The latter issue is a matter of grave concern. According to government's so-called Green Drop report for 2009, only 32 of the 449 plants tested managed Green Drop status. (Only 449 of the country's 852 plants were tested.) This means that millions of litres of insufficiently purified water daily find its way into our rivers. In a country afflicted by a scarcity of water, a fast-growing population and ageing infrastructure, our water predicament has now become a ticking timebomb. 2. Youth One of the most expensive government blunders without a doubt was the 17th World Youth Festival presented by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) in December. The festival cost almost R69 million, of which R29 million was funded by the treasury. In view of the current unemployment rate of 35,8% among South Africans in the age group 15 to 34 (according to the narrow definition of unemployment), such extravagance flies right in the face of our youth's aspirations. However, a critical 2010 blunder with more far-reaching consequences flows from government's continuing inability to solve our nation's education woes. The matric pass rate for 2009 was 60,6%. Owing to the prolonged teachers' strike in particular, the 2010 figure could hardly be an improvement on last year. Still failing to prepare our youth for the labour market, the education system generally produces merely mediocre school-leavers. 3. Misappropriation Here are just some of this year's shocking blunders regarding state spending: <ul><li>The disclosure in November that the bodyguards of the leader of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema, had already cost the taxpayer more than R880 000. </li><li>In October it was divulged that R3,7 million had been transferred from the South African Police Service (SAPS) budget to pay for the residence of police chief General Bheki Cele. </li><li>Some R130 million was spent by government and several semi-government institutions on tickets for various matches in the Soccer World Cup Tournament. </li><li>In November the auditor-general revealed numerous government departments' "irregular" spending of approximately R2,3 billion (i.e. spending incurred outside stipulated guidelines). </li></ul>As to the management of municipal funds the picture is bleak indeed. Financial statements of South African municipalities published by the treasury disclosed that consumers of municipal services were overdue by more than R62 billion at the end of September 2010 - with close to R3,4 billion due by the state itself. 4. Potholes keep government stumbling While South African roads face a construction backlog of almost R100 billion, motorists are spending some R50 billion annually to have pothole-related damage to their vehicles repaired. The maintenance of our secondary roads in particular has become a veritable nightmare thanks to the fact that, to a large extent, road maintenance has simply stopped. The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) issued a warning in October that our roads were fast becoming irreparable. The AA conducted a study in 2008 by measuring road conditions on a scale of zero (worst condition) to 100 (best condition), according to the so-called visible-condition index (VCI). The index dropped to 46 in 2008, as against 65 in 1998. Minister of transport, S'bu Ndebele, admitted in October that bad roads increase the risk of accidents. 5. Media tribunal It would seem that a transparent society, investigative journalism and media freedom are to make way for more corruption and deeper murkiness. This scenario, among others, awaits South Africa if the proposed media tribunal and the Protection of Information Bill were to be adopted. Already experts are describing eventual state control of the media as a disaster. The proposed legislation is aimed at, among others, empowering the authorities to classify information and to prosecute contravening opinionmakers such as journalists and editors. It is highly ironical that the ruling party who clamoured so vociferously for the freedom of speech during apartheid should now be trying to convince South Africans that a free press was indeed a threat to democracy! 6. SANDF Disturbing rumours were again doing the rounds this year that the defence force was nowhere near fighting trim. The low morale in the SANDF is alleged to be very serious; in fact, in November an MP warned that it could even endanger state security. The publishing of a comprehensive report on the combat status of the SANDF is awaited with apprehension. 7. Semi-government institutions Many semi-government institutions are continuing their negative tendencies. Some of these institutions are hampered by thousands of vacancies, weakening their service delivery. In May 2010 Transnet had some 4 500 vacancies, Eskom had 1 200, while SAA lacked 600 workers. Solidarity cited affirmative action as a probable contributing factor behind the vacancies, with service delivery its ultimate victim. 8. Labour Government's target of creating five million new jobs in the next decade is commendable; however, if this initiative was not left to the private sector, it cannot succeed. The failure of the Essa project (Employment Services South Africa) seems inevitable. Essa is a centralised database which is supposed to match jobseekers and employers. Since its inception four years ago, only 2% of the more than 1,2 million jobseekers have been placed successfully. Close to 170 000 jobseekers were registered in 2007/08, of whom only 3% were successful. More than 420 000 people were registered in 2008/09 - the lucky ones came to only 3,5%. And a meagre 1% of the more than 630 000 people registered in 2009/10 are now employed. 9. Housing scandal The housing corruption involving some 2 000 government officials is one of the most disgraceful public sins of 2010. Minister of human settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, said in August this year that syndicates selling and leasing government housing were to be investigated. Numerous government officials, notably in Gauteng, North West and KwaZulu-Natal, are allegedly benefiting underhand from these deals. The authorities' housing promises pose another fiasco. Sexwale announced in April this year that the housing backlog even exceeded the backlog in 1994: the figure has swelled from 1,5 million in 1994 to 2,1 million at present. Meanwhile the need for housing is growing daily; the number of informal settlements has already reached the 2 700-mark, of which at least 70 are inhabited by white people in shanty towns. 10. Crime and law enforcement The authorities are still failing to crush South Africa's internationally feared criminals, despite a growing police force. According to data released by SAPS in September, 16 849 murders, 68 332 sex-related crimes and 64 670 muggings (robberies with violence) were recorded as at 31 March 2010 when the 2009/10 financial year ended. Residential and business burglaries increased by 1,9% and 4,4% respectively. Experts are moreover concerned that a growing percentage of crime victims no longer even bother to report the misdeeds they have suffered. And in March it was revealed that one out of three police stations lacked suitable victim support facilities. Successful policing by police members with a sense of duty is further hindered by affirmative action as well as poor law enforcement and ill-considered strategic planning. Solidarity emphasised the gravity of the crisis, saying that extensive and permanent damage had already been done and that merely pulling up its socks is not good enough for 2011.

SA Govt repeating past mistakes...Again, Still, Whatever!

Govt's TOP-10 TOP-15 serious blunders that caused extreme alarm in 2010 The water crisis, Misappropriation of state funds, Efforts to ...

3:03 PM

R370m Youth fest blunders on as delegates kiss, sing, dance and sleep

One can only wonder how the Pikanin boss of the ANC kindergarten, Chairman of the all important NYDA, Andile Lungisa, managed to convince the tight fisted bastards of the National Lottery (NLDTF) to part so speedily with R40million for the Atteridgeville piss-up. ANC Youth League linked to botched events tender. Will taxpayers foot the R370m bill? <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnvpe6nuca6v5nFho_E_REmZ_Tbb0VyH1u10Y8OX3ZGsNXVMaZvBAKf5BySteSRlws7__rxJd2qKmPkPG2P2QBYsPpU9k1JVxdMCWQ52yPEuGCZw4giBRrgb7Ooma5VXi1QKUkMlsJCma/s1600/lotto.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551736028684694194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnvpe6nuca6v5nFho_E_REmZ_Tbb0VyH1u10Y8OX3ZGsNXVMaZvBAKf5BySteSRlws7__rxJd2qKmPkPG2P2QBYsPpU9k1JVxdMCWQ52yPEuGCZw4giBRrgb7Ooma5VXi1QKUkMlsJCma/s400/lotto.bmp" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 306px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>THE MULTIMILLION rand <strike>totalitarian talk shop</strike> World Youth Festival was not being run by an unregistered tender company owned by ANC Youth League members, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) said yesterday. This followed reports of tender irregularities within the events management company which allegedly won the tender to run the event, Global Interface Consulting. “I’m the convener,” NYDA chairman Andile Lungisa told journalists in Pretoria when questioned about the controversy. “I’m running the event with Tiago Vieira, the president of the World Federation of Democratic Youth. “I don’t know whether I’ve been sold now to be a company. I’m not an Ltd.” He said NYDA had been approached by the company but that it had failed to deliver and so was not assisting in any way in the 10-day festival. Lungisa said the company, owned by members of the ANC Youth League’s national provincial council, did not have enough capacity. It has also emerged that Global Interface Consulting was not registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office. But Lungisa said it was not his responsibility to see to it that the company was registered. “We support people who start initiatives. It doesn’t necessarily mean that if you’re not registered then you can’t work with us because we… must empower the youth.” NYDA reportedly had advertised a contract for an events management company only on August 30, giving interested bidders just 10 days to put in proposals. The contract was on October 29. The "Let's defeat imperialism" festival got off to a slow start with some teething problems on Monday. Many delegates were not attending sessions but rather playing games in Pretoria. The major problem was food, then transport. Some people complained that they were being mistreated and had gone for days without food. Awarded Lungisa, however, hit back. “This is not called a wine and food festival. People will not get a three-course meal. There’s food for people to eat, but no one is going to die after this festival,” he said. In addition, at least four Moroccan delegates were injured in what is believed to be political infighting between them and delegates from Western Sahara. A camera belonging to a delegate from Iraq was allegedly stolen yesterday. But Lungisa defended the anti-imperialism-themed festival, particularly with regard to apparent widespread kissing among delegates. “The kissing game is going to continue,” he said. “They are not in a prison. They are part of this festival. We need to provide an opportunity for exchange.” The number of people attending workshops grew yesterday, in contrast to the scene outside, where groups of mostly South Africans were singing and dancing. Lungisa defended this behaviour, saying South Africa was a nation of song and dance. Meanwhile, the R40 million granted by the National Lotteries Board to the festival was double the amount it gave to the opening and closing ceremonies of the World Cup. And an amount "greater than the entire annual budget for the Cotlands orphanage" According to the Lotto's website it is required to distribute 45% of its funds to charities; 22% to arts, culture and national heritage and 5% for miscellaneous purposes. Wasting taxpayers' money - again, still, whatever! The presidency promised R29m to host the nine-day left-wing youth festival themed "Let's defeat imperialism" but this appeared to be far too little. NYDA Chairman, Andile Lungisa, had been reported as saying they need closer to R370m to cover their costs. And Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has revealed that his department also pledged R300 000 towards the festival budget and paid R190 288 for an exhibition stand. Cosatu and the DA both called for an investigation into the grant and a full audit of how the people’s money from the National Lotteries Board and the government was spent. It issued a statement yesterday deploring the reported shambles at the festival in which speakers were not confirmed and did not arrive, seven out of 18 seminars on Tuesday were cancelled and visitors complained of “bad food, a lack of transport and poor co-ordination of accommodation arrangements”. Several dodgy regimes were included in the participants list - North Korea and Zimbabwe is among them.

R370m Youth fest blunders on as delegates kiss, sing, dance and sleep

One can only wonder how the Pikanin boss of the ANC kindergarten, Chairman of the all important NYDA, Andile Lungisa, managed to convince th...

10:33 AM

Fat-cat parastatal bosses come and go, but they get the cream

Seven of the top-10-earning executives at SA's parastatals have either left or are leaving. And a number of them left under a cloud. Moreover, eight of the top-paid heads of parastatals would have ranked among SA's 150 biggest earners in private companies. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547320646424532418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9HPqtBDJ54Ow53tM-ev4HUYvI47-xmukVm7r5sRWXwGBxGKRwsD8vW2uAzzTVebJ1Wku4bmU8C1sFeF4M3zaJJOg4D_Q_2mi1UeGdUXg5Cg2ORWd02d9Mb8nAiXP6q2hOLoNaW5OItjm/s400/corruption-theft.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 360px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 305px; CURSOR: hand" />Research into parastatal pay, carried out by Who Owns Whom, is done on a selected number of parastatals, so it does not capture the pay of all directors of state-owned entities. Pay at entities such as Eskom, SAA, Denel, and the SABC should be seen in the context of regular news about failure, controversy and financial bail-outs. Khaya Ngqula, the former head of SAA, tops the rankings, having earned R13.7-million in 2009. This included his controversial R9.35-million "termination benefit" - the amount he was paid to go away. Behind was Geoffrey Qhena of the Industrial Development Corporation, one of the few who still has his job. Qhena earned R10.3-million last year. This included a performance bonus of almost R7-million. The IDC and Transnet were among the biggest payers, with numerous directors earning big packages. Jacob Maroga, who ranked 10th, was sacked from Eskom in late 2009 with no official golden handshake, but R9-million in previously awarded shares will be transferred to him through 2010 and up to March 2011. Universally acknowledged to have managed Eskom poorly, Maroga enjoyed a salary of more than R5-million in 2009. The court has since reserved judgment in his subsequent bid for a payout for unlawful dismissal. Maroga is suing for benefits he would have accrued into 2011 - to a total of R85-million. Eskom CEO Brian Dames faces a huge task if he is to alter the organisation's trajectory and justify the recent rate hikes and requests for funding, but the pain will be eased by his own hefty pay packet: a salary of R3.3-million, a short-term bonus of R1.22-million, another of R946000 and a payment of R230000, listed as "other". Over at poorly performing Telkom, CEO Reuben September, who has since left, pulled in a performance bonus of R1.84-million, with other benefits of R7.43-million on top of a salary of R3.6-million to rake in a total income of R12.8-million (down from a hefty R19.1-million the year before). In October 2009 new SAA board chairman Cheryl Carolus famously took action against Ngqula (the new SAA board apparently paid R20-million for a forensic report) for cash spent outside of his financial mandate that needed to be paid back, announcing a suit against Ngqula for R30.8-million, with further thinking required on how to recoup R141-million in misspent sponsorship money. SAA paid bonuses of R60.7-million to 153 managers over three years, at an average of R400000 per employee, as part of a retention scheme that Ngqula introduced. The pending court action will eat up yet more taxpayers' money. Similarly, Dali Mpofu was paid R12-million when he left the SABC, even though the broadcaster was R800-million in the red at the time. Siyabonga Gama, the CEO of Transnet freight rail, was dismissed for breach of governance requirements in respect of two procurement contracts before he could lead the running in the race to fill the position of Transnet CEO. The position has been vacant for over a year since Maria Ramos stepped down. Gama's pay for his last year was more than R4-million. Executive directors and senior managers at three parastatals - Transnet, Eskom and the IDC - were paid an average salary of R3.7-million per year for the past three financial years to the end of March. Eskom posted the worst performance of the three, but its directors were the most highly paid. In all, Transnet's three-year wage bill amounted to R245.6-million for 23 directors and senior managers, while Eskom was estimated to have paid R139-million in the same period, an average annual remuneration of R5.8-million for eight directors and senior managers. The IDC paid its 20 directors (including those at subsidiary Foskor) and senior managers R170.6-million over the three years, at an average of R2.8-million each.

Fat-cat parastatal bosses come and go, but they get the cream

Seven of the top-10-earning executives at SA's parastatals have either left or are leaving. And a number of them left under a cloud. Mor...

12:37 PM

Self-delusion and denialism within SA’s ruling and BEE classes

It is dawning on South Africa that there are two very separate and distinct mindsets at work in the country, and it seems never the twain will meet. Newspaper columns and letter pages, as well as talk shows and phone-ins, are replete with what “should be done” and ”why is this not done?” and the now over-used word “unbelievable”, from citizens aghast at the unfathomable behaviour of the ruling classes. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWSiqc_Vkja2A8XUCS2__cSyJQoNlzG4TZ8n5H_QwdoVPCEAEIwfRrPcsNMVBD3hYxyt3Y33oVsTNOodr_4gpegsFSIaOLZz2ppRJ4jrEg1x-23Pzth8C8gVv5Q1HGLZYy54CF-uQ48xw/s1600/incompetence01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538844529326576226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWSiqc_Vkja2A8XUCS2__cSyJQoNlzG4TZ8n5H_QwdoVPCEAEIwfRrPcsNMVBD3hYxyt3Y33oVsTNOodr_4gpegsFSIaOLZz2ppRJ4jrEg1x-23Pzth8C8gVv5Q1HGLZYy54CF-uQ48xw/s400/incompetence01.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 115px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 115px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>The logic of one mindset is not the logic of the other. Who would think that after the abysmal failure of the South African land redistribution programme, the government would continue with it, albeit under different guises? Who would believe that after wantonly destroying Zimbabwe and rendering his people to grinding penury, the South African government would ask the United Nations to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe’s president, a perpetrator of human rights atrocities? Who can fathom a government that month after month - indeed year after year - places advertisements for desperately-needed municipal staff, stipulating that they are “equal opportunity employers”, meaning skilled whites need not apply? <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvENGzy20c2PemX-p2ZqdK3nqdQqfzecIac-ndgjZhHnQ8z3010hSXQk9NHJwOOBiISFKr4gI5kUMI2yVNvS1ZacLCyfBXJEBauoZ9OmithsM9TF7JVj2W8H_SwLZyUavuSGT5pLt3ht6/s1600/incompetence02.jpg"></a>How is it that despite embarrassing service delivery failures, the wholesale plunder of taxpayers’ money by tenderpreneurs and government employees, the nepotism, the lowering of standards in health and education, the failing feeding schemes and the abuse of the social welfare system, the miscreants simply carry on as if nothing happened. There is no shame, no sense of accountability to those who pay them and indeed to South Africa as a nation. Indeed, when many are fired for incompetence, mismanagement or fraud, or all three, they go to court to demand huge payouts that they believe are their due! Denialism is at work here, and this brings us to an interesting explanation of this phenomenon now doing the Wikipedia rounds: the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect">Dunning-Kruger effect</a>. THE D K EFFECT <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538849613055124050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9wqjPYscBsBra90QiVogpW9sfqYkB_fWGdiJwwSC8kIyocCdBA7Vkux54JWEqxIaTRrqShEf-bY8Fyw1NX0sUmv2KFtHQ8Kl5_4V-XX5RQHR-bcr_sasc5VC7u1rpoudR1ms9REwtZp8e/s400/dunning-krugereffectwikipedia.png" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 372px; CURSOR: hand" /> The Dunning-Kruger effect is the phenomenon wherein people who have little knowledge (or skill) tend to think they know more (or have more skill) than they do. Wikipedia reports that Justin Kruger and David Dunning of the USA’s Cornell University first performed a series of experiments in 1999 which suggested that ignorance of standards of performance is behind a great deal of incompetence. One of their 2000 reports was entitled “<a href="http://www.damninteresting.com/unskilled-and-unaware-of-it">Unskilled and Unaware of it</a> : How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments”. They say that, <ul><li>Incompetent individuals tend to overestimate their own level of skill. </li><li>Incompetent individuals fail to recognize genuine skill in others. </li><li>Incompetent individuals fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy. </li></ul>They conclude that poor performers do not learn from feedback that suggests a need to improve. Wikipedia gives numerous examples of others who have completed works in this field, including Bertrand Russell’s “The Triumph of Stupidity” (1933) and other more current academic writings about “the absence of self-insight among the incompetent” (Ehrlinger) and “among the inept, researchers discover ignorance is bliss” (Goode). Many of these findings have been widely published in the US national media, including the New York Times. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538845405602465522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqLB5AJySz4kDsvK9X4AjDd8AfFbWT557IAZfRHRWJ7UDVOFIIAqjMnbB5KnsWZCor3vLn55pLHgFopeNb9RVDCQBW3OkcYB4qJLfv0bEnKwXHrvPmHbx9w-I6Un62puI56KQsz9Y9wkkH/s400/incompetence02.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" />These syndromes of denialism and self-delusion are pervasive within SA’s ruling and BEE classes. People blithely take on a job that everyone knows they cannot do, but which they themselves don’t seem to realize they cannot do! We see this in the land redistribution policy where beneficiaries agree to run productive farms when they know they are incapable of doing so. They then blame the government, or mentors, or each other. We see someone in an expensive suit perched on the corner of an expensive desk being photographed as the new CEO, or the incoming “human resources manager”, or the new chairman of an organization. In many cases, this person is a token, it is well known that he is a token, but the subject himself seems to think he’s entitled to be there! Self-delusion and denialism are not new in South Africa. A report in the magazine YOU of 12 October 1995 revealed the degradation of small towns that had once thrived in the erstwhile Transkei. After the ANC took over in 1994, the decay set in and the town of Butterworth, for example, was described as “a wreck, with littered garbage in the streets and potholed roads. The century old town hall is neglected and the parks are overrun with weeds and rubbish.” Corruption, bad management and political infighting had taken their toll, said the article. Municipal management was “abysmal” and a debt of R50 million had already accrued. Nobody was paying for municipal services. Shortly after he arrived, the town clerk gave himself a salary raise R126,000 a year - from R20 000. (This pattern of deterioration repeated itself all over the old Transkei, and has been replayed all over South Africa since then). SHAME AND APOLOGIES? Was there any public acknowledgement by the ANC that it was not on top of the job, any requests for help, any promises to mend its corrupt ways? <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyGyzTrCOnhop7mcZuZLQiFMU4Ljd9pxQhjqzq6IZ-nlZuHrrdEw4BwZ2Y3FbtCLJ14EEb9f_yqQtGFu_y4BG0U5wuK38an8s-LZtZxylZcVMY2qTPU1NwmtZBpTBXkkvuP8G4W9Z0yQh/s1600/denial-eyes-pants.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538846866618249186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyGyzTrCOnhop7mcZuZLQiFMU4Ljd9pxQhjqzq6IZ-nlZuHrrdEw4BwZ2Y3FbtCLJ14EEb9f_yqQtGFu_y4BG0U5wuK38an8s-LZtZxylZcVMY2qTPU1NwmtZBpTBXkkvuP8G4W9Z0yQh/s400/denial-eyes-pants.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 256px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>On the contrary, denialism was the aggrieved reaction. Then President Nelson Mandela declared there was “no crisis” in the Eastern Cape. After a two-hour meeting with officials on 10 September 1995, Mandela declared there was “no crisis” and that in fact the problems of civil servants “were not discussed”, nor was a report to the parliamentary finance committee on the situation in the former Transkei. Provincial premier Raymond Mhlaba was “totally trustworthy”, declared Mandela - “Mahlaba had been involved in the struggle for more than 40 years”. So that was that! Problems in the Transkei were due to “untrained staff”, said another provincial report, despite evidence that there was wholesale theft of funds. (How do you train someone not to steal?) This was the mindset then, and this is the mindset now! (Interestingly, the Eastern Cape from where the ANC’s chosen emanates, is the most decrepit, corrupt and incompetent province in the country. They even steal from their own children – from the budget to feed 1,42 million E.Cape children, the government department involved cannot account for more than R180 million of this budget!) Even the most accommodating liberal supporter of the ANC’s South Africa has turned, and they have turned with a vengeance. Noseweek’s editor says SA’s leadership is “corrupt and delusional and irrational”. Others say the government is “out of touch” and a “bunch of mental midgets”. CABINET RESHUFFLE President Jacob Zuma’s recent cabinet reshuffle was simply a ploy to enhance his chances of being re-elected in 2012 by removing political antagonists and replacing them with acolytes. (Citizen editorial 2.11.10) His administration has now been further bloated by extra appointments, and really incompetent persons such as Lulu Xingwana have remained as they are loyalists. Zuma is simply re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic! The implications of this denialism are far-reaching. Erstwhile honest taxpayers are now finding ways to avoid paying tax for more wives, more overseas trips, higher salaries, larger luxury vehicles and summits at Sun City! Our farmers are under siege, farmland is being destroyed by coal mining because top-level ANC friends have shares in coal companies, BEE has resulted in nothing more than the self-enrichment of a few, our health services will be destroyed by delusional dreams of a national health service underpinned by a shrinking tax base, threats to nationalize mining are taken seriously by investors, school and university certificates are in many cases not worth the paper they’re written on, farmers are accused of shooting labour inspectors without a shred of evidence, our water is polluted, our police force is corrupt and untrustworthy, our defence force a shadow of its former self, but the denialism is so entrenched that no advice is taken by government to alleviate the problems, and none is sought.. On the contrary, those who speak up are racists who don’t want to see blacks succeed! If present-day South Africa is an ANC success, then their failures are too terrible to contemplate!Source:- <a href="http://www.tlu.co.za/">http://www.tlu.co.za/</a>

Self-delusion and denialism within SA’s ruling and BEE classes

It is dawning on South Africa that there are two very separate and distinct mindsets at work in the country, and it seems never the twain wi...

2:20 PM

SAPS-SITA EXPOSED

R1.3m a month paid to Mr and Mrs SAPS director and deputy director's child A consultant employed by the South African Police Service (SAPS), whose highest qualification was matric, was paid R1.3 million a month. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lzhxR2h4dWSAU2HlOLhRspikBKYse4pY40cO1MV_0CaZmK0Ok2CmtA7EByY05sdDo0vGIiw9TD3Il4IpqEOr0Y0lB0D0lpMp7CKhYTWKMcimwh0WTo8NLD4w9Wdm_4xKdny3Hfuu_Wp2/s1600/SAPS.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534326071871256690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lzhxR2h4dWSAU2HlOLhRspikBKYse4pY40cO1MV_0CaZmK0Ok2CmtA7EByY05sdDo0vGIiw9TD3Il4IpqEOr0Y0lB0D0lpMp7CKhYTWKMcimwh0WTo8NLD4w9Wdm_4xKdny3Hfuu_Wp2/s400/SAPS.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>This was revealed by Sindi Chikunga, chairwoman of the National Assembly police oversight committee, during a hearing with the SAPS and the State Information Technology Agency (Sita) yesterday. The consultant’s mother had been working as a director and her father as a deputy director at the SAPS, Chikunga said. Police national commissioner General Bheki Cele had on a previous occasion confirmed this. Cele did not answer repeated calls made to him about the matter. But, appearing before the committee a few months ago, he mentioned that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) was investigating a married couple who had been employed by the SAPS, the wife being a director and the husband a deputy-director. The couple owned a company that received tenders for services provided to the SAPS. The couple’s daughter, who was apparently still in school, did work for the SAPS through the company on behalf of the family. Police spokesman Vish Naidoo said he could not confirm that the consultant mentioned in yesterday’s meeting and the daughter referred to by Cele was the same person. Chikunga said the case was alarming and indicated the serious problems the SAPS faced. “If a matriculant earns R1.3m per month… there are serious problems. “What special services are you going to get from a matriculant that you cannot get from someone in the SAPS? It’s concerning and shows the issues that are there and what’s going on in the department,” said Chikunga. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBwNGHmFX3aR8Z-BZKl6r1vVVZg4BaP8alPm0rGe2fb6GgqJ-WfXowVy3olTLgnjjrcUH7OJO7OLVbjm0nkUV2sbW9K8nzKfZybMaxqQdNxtA1S35isIKCFNONmXnAYadqDVL3Sxsv8Hg/s1600/SITA.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534325857301578018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBwNGHmFX3aR8Z-BZKl6r1vVVZg4BaP8alPm0rGe2fb6GgqJ-WfXowVy3olTLgnjjrcUH7OJO7OLVbjm0nkUV2sbW9K8nzKfZybMaxqQdNxtA1S35isIKCFNONmXnAYadqDVL3Sxsv8Hg/s400/SITA.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 250px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>MPs accused the SAPS of handing over blank cheques to Sita without properly planning the use of the money. “They get allocated the money and then they say, ‘Oh, what do we need to do with it’,” said ANC MP Greg Schneemann. Police commander Laytoa Tshabalala, the head of SAPS’s technology unit, agreed with Schneemann’s sentiment. He said he had addressed with the SAPS and Sita the “tell us how much you earn and we’ll help you spend it” tendencies. MPs questioned the business relationship between the SAPS and Sita, which provides technological services. ANC MP Annelise van Wyk said: “This is absolutely ridiculous. SAPS is Sita’s biggest client. There are serious concerns in the way SAPS determines priorities. I wonder whether this relationship is unhealthy.” Tshabalala said the SAPS had had serious doubts about renewing its contract with Sita this year. “The management of SAPS resisted giving the money to Sita. We were seriously toying with the idea to not go into business with them.” Tshabalala, who only recently started working for the unit, said that on his arrival he was shocked at the state of the business practices. “I was saying, it can’t be that Sita is the only (service provider). There were people who were working for Sita that came from SAPS. How is it that we allowed this mafia to run amok for so long?” He said almost half of the consultants used by Sita were employed by the SAPS. “It’s no point cleaning on one side and not the other. You must clean both sides,” he added. - Pretoria News See:- <a href="http://www.iweek.co.za/ViewStory.asp?StoryID=201351">Report exposes Sita</a> ITWEB Report - <a href="http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26250:sita-exposed">SITA exposed</a>

SAPS-SITA EXPOSED

R1.3m a month paid to Mr and Mrs SAPS director and deputy director's child A consultant employed by the South African Police Service (S...

12:42 PM

Where is the liberation?

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLk6n8otTaUvK3o0clscFk-f_9Pqgf4UjUAR4NU0AtD6u5FCU8tbADcrfOJWBTdEjPKKLqg_XG1ZkyRL0emojdEr8T7XPHXDLpHudVasK4poWrLENGWAe-HeBCzkomF0ThjZ2mkhDe81Ms/s1600/apartheid-info-scandal-south-africa.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533197907795254114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLk6n8otTaUvK3o0clscFk-f_9Pqgf4UjUAR4NU0AtD6u5FCU8tbADcrfOJWBTdEjPKKLqg_XG1ZkyRL0emojdEr8T7XPHXDLpHudVasK4poWrLENGWAe-HeBCzkomF0ThjZ2mkhDe81Ms/s320/apartheid-info-scandal-south-africa.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 298px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>by Peter I recently read a full speech by a Member of Parliament detailing the reasons why the new media bill was required. Very convincing stuff – all of which we have heard repeatedly over the last couple of months. The alarming thing though, is that this was the speech given by Connie Mulder in 1977 when the Nats implemented exactly what the ANC is doing now. If we analyse critically the issues that have risen since 1994, the only conclusion is that the struggle for liberation and freedom was a farce. It was nothing more than a power struggle to change the base of wealth from an elite few whites, to an elite few blacks at the expense and sacrifice of the masses. We should hang our heads in shame. The real acid test is to take all current employment, social, university and institutions (like the Black management Forum) and replace the word “black” with “white”. Imagine the outcry if there was a white management forum, postings of job adverts with whites only need apply tag lines, university entrance requirements with lower standards for whites, sports teams requiring a certain percentage of whites in each team..., that was apartheid and yet are all current situations save for the word white being replaced with black. So one segregation system has been brazenly replaced by another and the base of power has simply transferred to another inept, corrupt and incompetent set of individuals who then have the audacity to proclaim that the masses have been liberated by them. The poor are arguably worse off than during apartheid. The fact is that the Nats still built houses for the blacks at a greater rate than the current government! Blacks are still being abused and exploited; it’s just that their masters are no longer white. Maids are still black, gardeners, construction workers, miners, heavy duty labourers are still black. What has changed? Where is the liberation? What has the current ANC government done since 1994? What are the excuses? The incredulous part for me is that black people will still consider themselves as liberated, simply because there is a black government. Zimbabwe has the grossest of human violations – far worse than during white rule and yet Mugabe still reigns supreme raping the once bread basket of the world. If we are going to truly become a liberated country, we have to actually liberate the masses. Change has to occur materially in their lives. We need to stop making this a black/white issue and concentrate on making it an accountability issue. It seems Africa has not learnt any lessons whatsoever and wherever “liberation” has occurred, decline on an unprecedented scale has occurred soon after because the so-called liberators had only one real agenda: power. The current activities of the ANC are case in point. People will continue to flog the apartheid horse (which is beyond dead) as their excuse for what is going on. If only we could be mature enough to realise that the problem is that this country is being mismanaged by people who have no motive other than to enrich themselves. To quote Oscar Wilde: Democracy is the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people.

Where is the liberation?

by Peter I recently read a full speech by a Member of Parliament detailing the reasons why the new media bill was required. Very convincing...

12:42 PM

Teetering on the brink of collapse

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpDq5DbNe0SMnS4uhFMTtnOiX2_bP95JJZFoougfJmKHywxmUx0_sdOH_7lwI-uV-MQRT7wKvgTGtligVn44RfWUqsBw3NVpB81dw7YHzaaCeRQn9HzBH0_kmIGn-NdmW5VDSp-sy0Zl8/s1600-h/nw-province-sanitation-humanwaste.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfIQ-HdPR-ktqwQ1WxzHqQXHGtALmRDlAza0sWRUKB-mHKbR4u4dszp7CrTNHGA4iaWzkBDzlIgbGqPggTad46e8bKV1cHaGn3Jbc7BPfClCZKbqi29UrhVaU50B3cYUavNFVQm7wL54U/s1600-h/zuma-black-jesus.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373287472519892722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfIQ-HdPR-ktqwQ1WxzHqQXHGtALmRDlAza0sWRUKB-mHKbR4u4dszp7CrTNHGA4iaWzkBDzlIgbGqPggTad46e8bKV1cHaGn3Jbc7BPfClCZKbqi29UrhVaU50B3cYUavNFVQm7wL54U/s400/zuma-black-jesus.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 275px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 326px" /></a>All 25 municipalities in North West - most now teetering on the brink of collapse - will have to be rebuilt from scratch because of ANC infighting, fraud and corruption and a general flouting of the law. This is the assessment of a confidential report by an ANC national executive committee task team sent to investigate political and administrative chaos in the province. "The financial status of many of the local and district municipalities is so serious that a number are on the verge of bankruptcy and non-viability," the report, leaked to The Sunday Independent, says. These include Ventersdorp, which the Auditor-General has said is "not a going concern". The party sacked and suspended Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality mayor Themba Gwabeni last week, and more heads would roll, said task team leader Saki Mofokeng, adding that politicians would be forced to account for what had gone wrong. The detailed account of how political power struggles in the past 15 years had affected the functioning of the province led to the disbanding of the party's provincial executive committee (PEC) last month. "Most of the corruption, negative political interference and looting of state resources in the province can be traced to the PEC, directly or indirectly," the report says. North West residents were paying a high price for "successive bitter and highly unethical battles" fought for political and economic dominance by different factions. This had led to municipalities breaking down. The task team found that the "total disregard for the law" shown by councillors had been "aggravated by the fact that no action is taken by the ANC to discipline (them)". A "deliberate blurring" of roles and responsibilities of politicians and officials had led to many instances of mayors irregularly appointing staff, overseeing procurement committees and assigning their preferred service providers - in direct contravention of the laws governing municipalities. The report warns that unhappiness in communities - expressed in violent service delivery protests - will escalate unless there is urgent intervention from the ANC and the government. "Communities are suffering the consequences of corruption in tendering that has little to do with providing essential services... councillor behaviour amounts to the 'looting' of state resources, which precipitates into financial mismanagement, and a municipality's inability to budget for... basic service delivery," it says. Mass action would "result in the further implosion of governance and service delivery in the province". Councillors' illegal actions included: nepotism and irregular staff appointments; inflating tenders for personal profit; awarding tenders to companies that funded political campaigns; accepting bribes and kickbacks from service providers; abusing council credit cards, vehicles and property; and selling council property. In one instance, a R5m roads tender in Greater Taung Local Municipality was awarded to a consultant who was paid even though the work was not done, because the consultant had given money to the ANC "for some political activities". "These are just some examples from a long list," the report says, noting that these municipalities suffered "massive service backlogs" as a result, mostly in providing water and sanitation.

Teetering on the brink of collapse

All 25 municipalities in North West - most now teetering on the brink of collapse - will have to be rebuilt from scratch because of ANC infi...

11:40 AM

SA hospitals in crisis again, still, whatever

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kCs7bgAHSuBCg8Nr1nd3HP6c7VGLlejOT2v0Kd91aj_HVD85EBc_sS_kC00Po6Gzh9T04CATiSPpwQOOZEz_o5ZhXKUEh9IwWnkupBW7QuLHdPUp6x-3VzeVAvWF-xphnKDq9W10vpvC/s1600-h/hospitals-sa-01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339163145868342594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kCs7bgAHSuBCg8Nr1nd3HP6c7VGLlejOT2v0Kd91aj_HVD85EBc_sS_kC00Po6Gzh9T04CATiSPpwQOOZEz_o5ZhXKUEh9IwWnkupBW7QuLHdPUp6x-3VzeVAvWF-xphnKDq9W10vpvC/s400/hospitals-sa-01.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 390px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 253px" /></a>South Africa’s state hospitals are in crisis — and at risk of collapse. Underpaid doctors are working up to 36-hour shifts without pay, operating theatres and trauma units are summarily shut down because of a lack of basic supplies, and patients are routinely turned away because of a lack of ventilators, beds and medicine. The shocking state of the country’s public health sector was revealed this week by hundreds of underpaid and demoralised doctors who are at loggerheads with the government over their shocking working conditions and paltry pay. South Africa currently has just over 18000 doctors in the public sector, which works out at one doctor to every 3800 citizens without medical aid. The World Health Organisation recommends an average ratio of eight doctors to every 10000 people — about three times more doctors than we currently have. Doctors and health experts blame the shambles of public health on mismanagement. But the minister of health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, says : “I would not use the word crisis; I would say very serious challenges.” Dr Tina Ingratta, a senior doctor at Johannesburg’s major hospitals, lists poor management and misallocation of resources among the primary reasons why the healthcare system is in disarray. Dr Clarence Mini, who headed a committee to test the standards of Gauteng’s 33 public hospitals, said only 11 met basic standards when they were first measured in 2005. Since then, even some of the successful hospitals had dropped their standards, chiefly “owing to staff shortages and management issues”. As the doctors prepare to take to the streets on Friday and threaten to down tools during next month’s Confederations Cup soccer showpiece, they revealed that: <ul><li>All surgery was cancelled at Boitumelo Hospital in the Free State from Thursday this week because there was no life-saving oxygen and no surgical gloves that fitted surgeons’ hands; </li><li>A patient died of renal failure while stuck in a lift at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital ( Joburg hospital ). A “colony of flies” lived inside the hospital’s Caesarean-section operating theatre and some patients had to be carried up stairs from operating theatres to ICU on stretchers or in wheelchairs owing to lifts that have been defective for more than a year; </li><li>All life-saving equipment was defective in the emergency room at South Rand Hospital in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, since Thursday this week — including ventilators and a basic heart-restarting “defibrillator” machine that even many gyms stock for their members; </li><li>Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto is regularly forced to “close” on weekends when it runs out of ventilators and space in its trauma wards and experiences frequent critical shortages of life-saving drugs ; </li><li>Only three “or a maximum of four” of Ngwelezane Hospital’s six operating theatres were working owing to a “chronic staff shortage”, with doctors working shifts of up to 36 hours without pay. The hospital is the major trauma centre for northern KwaZulu-Natal ; </li><li>Staff at Tara Hospital in Johannesburg were forced to use petty cash to buy bread and milk this week when “essential foodstuffs” ran out, while food was also not delivered to Sterkfontein Hospital in the past month; </li><li>There were no diagnostic services (procedures used to determine the cause of an illness) “at all” in the critical Nuclear Medicine departments at Bara-gwanath or Charlotte Maxeke hospitals “because the supplier has not been paid”; </li><li>Charlotte Maxeke has adopted a “first 500” rule whereby all patients are turned away after the first 500 have drawn their medicines from the pharmacy, because 15 of the pharmacy’s 20 posts have been “frozen”; and </li><li>East London Hospital Complex, one of the Eastern Cape’s referral hospitals, has only two full-time psychiatrists attending to about 12455 outpatients a year, excluding in-patients, outreach and community services. </li><li>The province has only 14 state-employed psychiatrists. </li></ul>Dr June Fabian, a senior specialist at Charlotte Maxeke, said there was sufficient money in the health system for functional hospitals, but “poor leadership and mismanagement of funds” had created “a crisis of care”. She said the Western Cape was the only province in which state hospital care was not yet in crisis. “The Western Cape health (department) has focused on developing their primary and secondary health-care systems and has a very tight referral system to the academic centres. This reduces the influx of primary-level care patients to big centres. The chaos at Bara exists because the primary-care centres in Soweto are poorly functional (and) there is no intermediate care facility in Soweto,” she said. An audit commissioned in 2007 by the Association of Surgeons shows that mid-level public-sector doctors earned 65% of equivalent-level magistrates and engineers in government employment. Senior surgeons and specialists earn almost half (52%) that of judges and senior pilots of state-owned airlines. Intern doctors this week showed the Sunday Times pay slips that indicated that they took home less than R10000 a month, although some earned up to R14500 with 80 hours of monthly overtime pay. said that, as of Thursday this week, there was no life-saving oxygen at all in the hospital and no surgical gloves that fit surgeons hands, causing all surgery to be cancelled; <ul><li>Dr Tina Ingratta, a senior doctor at Johannesburg’s major hospitals, told the Sunday Times that one of her patients died of renal failure while stuck inside one of the many faulty lifts at the hospital Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (“Joburg General”) as doctors waited to receive him at the renal unit on the 9th floor. A panel of 33 junior doctors here said that “a colony of flies” lived inside the hospital’s caesarean section operating theatre, and that some patients had to be carried up stairs from operating theatres to ICU on stretchers or in wheelchairs due to lifts which have been defective for over a year; </li><li>Dr Jack Thomson, an intern at various Johannesburg hospitals, said all life saving equipment was defective in the emergency room at South Rand Hospital in Rosettenville as of Thursday this week -including both ventilators and a basic, heart-restarting “defibrulator” machine which even many gyms stock for their members. Thomson said premature babies died “very, very often” at Joburg General because there were only 8 to 10 ICU beds for babies; </li><li>The panel of junior doctors confirmed that Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto is regularly forced to “close” on weekends when it runs out of ventilators and space in its trauma wards; that it is so short of equipment that some doctors have been forced to use Biohazard Waste boxes as desks to write their scripts; and that it has frequent critical shortages of life-saving drugs like adrenaline and heparin; </li><li>Dr Thomas Hilton, a senior medical officer at Ngwelezane Hospital -the major trauma centre for northern KwaZuluNatal -said only three “or maximum four” of the hospital’s six operating theatres were working due to a “chronic staff shortage”. He said some foreign doctors worked shifts of up to 36 hours without pay -treating over 100 patients per shift -to keep the institution open, because the provincial Department of Health refused to appoint the needed more doctors; </li></ul> <ul><li>Professor Chris Szabo, head of clinical psychiatry at Wits, said staff at Tara Hospital were forced to use petty cash to buy bread and milk this week when "essential foodstuffs" ran out, while food was also not delivered to Sterkfontein Hospital in the past month; </li></ul>Motsoaledi told the Sunday Times yesterday that he would “not try to dispute what doctors have been telling you. Unfortunately, I know those serious problems are possible.” He said he had listed “financial management” as the first of his department’s four priority areas for urgent action. He said there was no need for some doctors to strike or leave the service because “we acknowledge their remuneration is not satisfactory. I apologise for the delay of almost 12 months with this problem, and there is a willingness and a determination on government’s part to resolve this issue as speedily as possible.” Fidel Hadebe, a spokesman for the department, said an offer of improved pay and conditions was currently “on the table” with the SA Medical Association, but refused to discuss the details. However, Ingratta said: “Ten to 15% of my fellow registrars will definitely leave the sector this year if anything like that deal is accepted. It’s a total joke — it actually represents a net cut in our salary.” The government is offering doctors a one-off payment and to phase in increases over a period of time. But, in essence, what government is offering would still be far less then what the SA Medical Association is demanding — an effective 50% increase. Professor Mac Luhkele, chief negotiator for the Sama, said independent studies showed that there were “big differences” between the two parties. He warned that conditions were not improving and “we are going to lose a lot of doctors if this isn’t solved soon”. The Sama and other unions are now hoping for political intervention in the negotiations and, together with Cosatu, will meet with the ministers of health, public service and administration and the treasury on Wednesday to come up with a proposal that will hopefully resolve the matter. Lukhele said industrial action was a last resort, as government would not be the ones suffering, but the poor and sick who cannot afford medical aid. “We are not unreasonable. Legally or not legally, what do we do when we are being ignored? ” said Lukhele. The CEO of National Hospital Network, Otto Wypkema, said: “Unless we have more doctors, both the private sector and the public-sector health services will crumble to the point of no return. “It is appalling that doctors, dentists and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel should be kept waiting for nine months since June 2008 for promised salary adjustments.

SA hospitals in crisis again, still, whatever

South Africa’s state hospitals are in crisis — and at risk of collapse. Underpaid doctors are working up to 36-hour shifts without pay, oper...

3:04 PM

R10m paid to suspended education staff

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBls4IeTV6b9ijryyhlHD4m2IDU_g6x8JK6YlU3jd6FXetfWL6yx0hzAtd_nv4Yv7CcZKa9caU6ekwAsgS-UhvFWiuO0bwXXh5iNPVHgFZUO8v5mn9uMF9b4a2FUUSmPkmrK4Zq4VCBb0/s1600-h/Teachers_sa.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313448242539190882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBls4IeTV6b9ijryyhlHD4m2IDU_g6x8JK6YlU3jd6FXetfWL6yx0hzAtd_nv4Yv7CcZKa9caU6ekwAsgS-UhvFWiuO0bwXXh5iNPVHgFZUO8v5mn9uMF9b4a2FUUSmPkmrK4Zq4VCBb0/s400/Teachers_sa.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" /></a>School principals, teachers and education officials suspended for misconduct have been paid out more than R10.4-million to sit at home, in some cases for nearly two years, as a result of red tape. <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/SpecialReports/HIV_Aids/Article.aspx?id=890425">Wanted: 94000 teachers, urgently</a> And these are only figures from four of the country’s nine provinces, with the other provinces either refusing to provide statistics or saying they require more time to respond. The Eastern Cape Department of Education paid out over R7-million over the past two years to 39 employees, including 26 officials, 10 teachers and three principals, after suspending them from duty on full pay — one for as long as 22 months. Some of the charges they are facing relate to the sexual abuse of pupils, financial mismanagement, failing to carry out orders, carrying dangerous weapons at school and the theft of funds from a school nutrition programme. The Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Western Cape, North West, Gauteng, Free State and Mpumalanga education departments suspended a total of 175 officials, teachers and principals between April 2007 and last month. Between April 2007 and last month, the Western Cape paid out R2.6-million to suspended education officials, the Northern Cape R543 665 and Gauteng R27 666. The North West and Free State did not disclose figures, saying they needed time to compile these statistics. Between April last year and last month, the five provinces also dismissed 85 employees, including officials, teachers and principals. KwaZulu-Natal failed to provide statistics on suspensions, despite promising to do so. Limpopo education spokesman Ndo Mangala referred the Sunday Times to the national office for comment. Western Cape education spokesman Paddy Attwell said only one suspended employee’s case had dragged on for 21 months because of postponements and the need for further investigation. “On average, a case is dealt with within three months,” he said. KwaZulu-Natal headmaster Siva Naidoo, 47, who was suspended three years ago for allegedly being drunk on duty, has been paid more than R720 000 while sitting at home. His appeal hearing is still under way. According to the Employment of Educators’ Act, an employer may suspend a teacher on full pay for a maximum period of three months in cases of serious misconduct. A month before Naidoo was suspended, he admitted attending counselling sessions for his drinking problem, but denied going to school drunk. KwaZulu-Natal education spokesman Mbali Thusi said the case had been postponed several times because Naidoo’s attorney was unavailable.

R10m paid to suspended education staff

School principals, teachers and education officials suspended for misconduct have been paid out more than R10.4-million to sit at home, in s...

7:53 AM

SABC in the red for a staggering R784-million

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIDjPERrsuOGALGhmHEz5uGH9h2beKkrxzzG_6dhy2Gxhioq9HcMY8YKB3mHcIhkk7RqC7nvOHNo2RchdKWX-p3VXLeq7y-E5TI6WGofA-fCPawVnCDh4UBjbfcrCGPzgtSKbmNzz7Tg/s1600-h/sabcbig.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313425604517060674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIDjPERrsuOGALGhmHEz5uGH9h2beKkrxzzG_6dhy2Gxhioq9HcMY8YKB3mHcIhkk7RqC7nvOHNo2RchdKWX-p3VXLeq7y-E5TI6WGofA-fCPawVnCDh4UBjbfcrCGPzgtSKbmNzz7Tg/s400/sabcbig.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 288px" /></a>The SABC doled out R11.3-million to take its senior managers, staff, board members, some of their partners and 12 guests to last year’s Beijing Olympics. <ul><li><a href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=956100">Minister blasts SABC management</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/Business/BusinessTimes/Article1.aspx?id=953376">SABC’s lost millions ‘not our fault’</a></li></ul>And its bitter legal battle with axed chief executive Dali Mpofu has cost a staggering R8-million thus far. Since last year the broadcaster has repeatedly dodged questions — from parliament and the media — over the two issues. And just last week it admitted that it was in the red for a staggering R784-million Business Times can today reveal that R5.5-million was spent on technical staff, R2.01-million on senior executives, R683 739 on board members and R2.2-million on guests on the Olympics trip. An additional R854 948 is also believed to have been spent on taking along the spouses of board members and executives. The amounts include flights, accommodation, entry tickets to the Olympic Games as well as daily financial stipends. The total cost of the trip contradicts statements made by acting CEO Gab Mampone that it had cost the financially strapped broadcaster just R4.5-million. Speaking to journalist John Perlman on Gauteng station Kaya FM on Monday, Mampone said R6-million had initially been budgeted but “we ended up paying R4.5-million, somewhere around there”. Asked what was the amount spent on taking executives and board members, Mampone replied: “Let me just explain something. It was not only board members or staff or executives — included in that we had key stakeholders that we invited as well, who accompanied us.” Responding to a parliamentary question in October, communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said the cost for nine executives and three board members — “who were not directly involved in the operational elements of broadcasting ” —- was R2.7-million. “I am advised by SABC that SABC Sport had budgeted for the trip to the Beijing Olympics and therefore the expenditure was justified in the circumstances,” she said at the time, without revealing the real financial costs involved. Strangely, the SABC’s spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said late on Friday that four board members and just three senior executives attended the games. Regarding how much it cost to take the board members along and whether any spouses attended, he said they were “still sourcing this information”. In early February the Freedom Front Plus again grilled Matsepe- Casaburri by asking her, among other things, why each official went, how clients taken along were selected and whether relatives and friends went along and at what cost to the taxpayer. The minister has yet to respond despite a parliamentary deadline of February 27. Ironically, Mampone this week suspended two senior executives — his general manager of radio and TV sales, Strini Naicker, and the general manager of human resources, Lene Chamberlaine. The duo were placed on “special leave” after allegations of nepotism, mismanagement and abuse of funds were levelled against them by the Communications Workers Union. Mampone appointed a committee to probe the allegations after more than 70 staffers had petitioned him to remove the two executives.

SABC in the red for a staggering R784-million

The SABC doled out R11.3-million to take its senior managers, staff, board members, some of their partners and 12 guests to last year’s Beij...

7:36 AM

South Africa P.I.G.