South Africa P.I.G.: WASTEFUL SPENDING

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R800m for VIP jets when millions do not have housing, health and basic services

<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGBrcL2yjIyRHLoEPPNHYqnuQlOCg8Ih1biO0OTmi1Gwt7v1z21U17DqMG6Ad2UBBTaFzson84n01QtUbIHSZ-DFeqmAKQ9pVsj_wzdgPr1DQwsNyT0k7Q0DrISzmQPJpIoORMsTh6xJnL/s1600/anc-greed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGBrcL2yjIyRHLoEPPNHYqnuQlOCg8Ih1biO0OTmi1Gwt7v1z21U17DqMG6Ad2UBBTaFzson84n01QtUbIHSZ-DFeqmAKQ9pVsj_wzdgPr1DQwsNyT0k7Q0DrISzmQPJpIoORMsTh6xJnL/s320/anc-greed.jpg" width="320" /></a>Why are we spending R800m on aircraft for VIPs when millions of people do not have housing, health and basic services?</div> Government VIPs will soon be jetting around the country in two luxury jets complete with sleeping quarters, computer and satellite communication services and a conference cabin with space for six people. The department of defence has leased the jets on a five-year contract to supplement its VIP squadron. According to a report in Beeld newspaper, the contract with AdoAir, a small Lanseria-based company, is worth R808m. The company belongs to the Adonai Group, founded by Nigerian businessman Adegboyega Olulade. AdoAir “came out top” out of five competing tenders, the department spokesperson Ndivhuwo wa ha Mabaya said yesterday. He said an ageing air transport fleet had made it necessary for the South African Air Force to charter flights for VIP air transport, and this had been expensive. Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu revealed in December that chartered flights for VIPs spiked from R3.6m in 2009 to R16.9m last year. Mabaya added that the lease agreement also included the maintenance of the luxury jets over the five-year period. He said: “The two jets will be used by the VIP squadron. Our current fleet of VIP planes are very old and we don’t have the money to buy new planes.” These jets will also be used when the presidential jet, Inkwazi, is undergoing maintenance. - City Press Readers comments fandash1 - R808m over 5 years equates to R161,6m per year yet the cost which had spiked was only R16.9m and that over 5 years equates to R84.5m. Maybe the honourable Minister sholuld ask for a refund on her school fees as basic sums (no not maths) were not mastered. What a rip off for the tax payer. 9 1/2 times the cost dear Minister, who gets the rest. SHOCKING EXPENDITURE. Apache - Have I got this right? R808m over 5 years = R161.6m per year, but they only spent R16.9m on chartered flights last year! So we, the taxpayers, will be forking out 10 times more per annum than we have been...no wonder this country is in the mess it is. What clown did the maths on this decision? And yet the masses will again vote for these clowns in the upcoming elections, despite the fact that they still don't have the houses or services they are repeatedly promised. Funny thing that... marc - US$ 115 million? You could get two very exceptional jets, that fulfill the mandate, for a 3rd of that price. ADO AIR is a Nigerian company......Look it doenst take an rocket scientist to work out there is something very, very fishy about this deal. Daylight Robbery! Check out controller.com for jet prices. <div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://www.blogger.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Benzo</a> -  <div class="clr"></div>Why sleeping facilities for "flying around the country"? How many conferences with not more than 6 people? Why computers? We all have our own laptops with our own data and software on hand!!</div><div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://www.blogger.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bill Xhosa</a> -  </div><div class="clr"></div><div class="comment_text">She either wants a piece of the action or doesn't have good people to guarantee return on investment. We can't have SAPS getting all the shady deals. I thought SAPS did VIP transport? Hence the purchase of the R150 million Citation jet two years ago. Google ADOAIR. They own one Hawker 800XP. Used price between R35 to R50 million. Google pre-owned gulfstream. You will find used top of the line G550 at about R350 million. So the defense department wants to lease two planes for over twice the price of purchasing two G550.</div><div class="comment_text"><div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://www.blogger.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gen</a> - </div><div class="clr"></div><div class="comment_text">It must have been the bantu education that the present elite had that helped them calculate that R16,9million times 5 is greater than 808 million. PS When chartering an aircraft , the maintenance is already added. The money the ANC plan to spend will not remain in South Africa, if you say I'm wrong, check the ownership of charter company.</div><div class="comment_text"></div><div class="comment_text"><div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://twitter.com/ev_ert" target="_blank">Embee Diamonds</a> - </div><div class="clr"></div><div class="comment_text">Assuming it is the Hawker 800XPi's- these sell for around $8m dollars pre-owned in the first world. To the math...someone is lining someone's pockets somewhere...</div><div class="comment_text"></div><div class="comment_text"><div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://www.blogger.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">marc</a> -  </div><div class="clr"></div><div class="comment_text">US$ 115 million? You could get two very exceptional jets, that fulfill the mandate, for a 3rd of that price. ADO AIR is a Nigerian company......Look it doenst take an rocket scientist to work out there is something very, very fishy about this deal. Daylight Robbery! Check out controller.com for jet prices.</div></div></div></div><div class="comment_text"></div><div class="comment_text"><div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=557575807" target="_blank">Ralph</a> - </div><div class="clr"></div><div class="comment_text">In 1994 the ANC took over the goose that laid the golden egg, but I am afraid that they are forgetting to feed the goose and pretty soon it will die and then they will have nothing. </div></div><div align="justify"> Source:<a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Luxury-VIP-jets-for-SA-elite-20110403">http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Luxury-VIP-jets-for-SA-elite-20110403</a></div>

R800m for VIP jets when millions do not have housing, health and basic services

Why are we spending R800m on aircraft for VIPs when millions of people do not have housing, health and basic services? Government VIPs will ...

12:14 AM

Damning corruption report

State departments failed to respond to 90% of government corruption cases reported by the public on hotlines during the past financial year, according to the Public Service Commission's (PSC) 2010 report on the state of the public service. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHyqgKZSD_W0F7_um3Ct_nl0r5P7IMYyJi70TDZXwat5AS-jRg-3bVId2-j_vfj1Ft7GIBSw4v3psRdfc2lth7Cz-P4VgSNGvRLOvNojVLolDO1h6CFjrXJ_ctJQUPeL-sm_zmpsIwurla/s1600/corruption-iceberg.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4G4cTdbqYvwbKg1AiIwom13yWI0Ys2qjrUcjAXNrGZR2fRoEKiIoXiP3hqK0wot716-NV9_rX0EHjVSN7VKl4qvHtE0vYMFLfyq-HyQdD3xWG3tpG7MGuZ2HWiVweYeIyhLETggLOlgS/s1600/anc-greed.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535345405137287106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4G4cTdbqYvwbKg1AiIwom13yWI0Ys2qjrUcjAXNrGZR2fRoEKiIoXiP3hqK0wot716-NV9_rX0EHjVSN7VKl4qvHtE0vYMFLfyq-HyQdD3xWG3tpG7MGuZ2HWiVweYeIyhLETggLOlgS/s400/anc-greed.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 334px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 226px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>The report, released on Thursday, also points to a twelvefold rise in fruitless and wasteful expenditure by the government in 2008/09 compared with the previous year -- from R2,8-million to R35,2-million. Noting a "sharp decline" in the government's responsiveness to corruption cases, the commission said that 1 430 cases were reported in 2009/10 but there was feedback on only 150, compared with 507 responses (25%) to 1 857 cases in 2008/09. The commission evaluated the government and public service on a range of issues, including transparency, service delivery and the creation of a more egalitarian society, according to the implementation of policies and programmes. The report also evaluated the average feedback from the government on reported corruption cases from the 2004/05 financial year to 2009/10, finding that of every 100 cases reported, whistle-blowers or the commission received no feedback to 64. Corruption is an increasingly insidious problem in South Africa, as reflected in the latest Transparency International corruption perception index report, also released this week. South Africa scored 4,5 out of 10 on the index and was placed 54 out of 146 countries. In 2007 it was placed 43 out of 170 countries, with a score of 5,1. It scored 4,9 in 2008 and 4,7 in 2009. The commission's report found that "capacity to follow up on these cases and investigate them is lacking" in departments. It painted a bleak picture of the effectiveness of structures created to fight corruption. It said the Anti-Corruption Coordinating Committee (ACCC), formed in 2002 and convened by the public service department with representatives from 18 key departments and agencies, including the National Intelligence Agency, National Treasury and revenue service, still had to prioritise the coordination of "measures to build the minimum anti-corruption capacity of departments. This is a pressing priority for the government, which will undoubtedly require resources and close monitoring." The report found that the "synergy" between structures such as the ACCC and the National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF) "needs improvement". The NACF, established in 2001 to facilitate a national consensus on combating corruption, had been debilitated by "not always having its own budget and capacity", low levels of attendance and participation by government representatives and departments and poor recording of meetings. The commission said 1 024 cases of financial misconduct were reported to it in 2008/09, compared with 868 in 2007/08. A "key challenge", it said, is "that some public servants … implicated in acts of financial misconduct resign before disciplinary hearings can be concluded and then accept appointments in other departments". The report found that this was often difficult to detect because departments operated "in silos". It said that of the 868 officials reported to the commission in 2007/08, 50 (or 6%) left the public service before disciplinary hearings could be held. In 2008/09, 17 implicated employees resigned after charges of misconduct were levelled against them. The report blamed "highly unsatisfactory" evaluation of the performances of government heads of departments for the sharp rise in wasteful and fruitless government expenditure. As of March this year just half (51%) of these had undergone performance evaluation, a drop from 56% in the previous year. "In financial terms this means that roughly half of the national budget [including transfers to provinces and municipalities], which was in the order of R500-billion [excluding state debt costs] in the 2007/08 financial year, was controlled by accounting officers who were not subjected to a proper evaluation," the report said. The report is forthright on what the government needs to do to improve service delivery -- communicate with itself. It called for greater coherence within the government and between departments and spheres of government in the planning and implementation of projects and policies. "Planning at departmental level is on its own challenging and to integrate plans across departments or spheres of government exacerbates the challenge even further," it said. National planning at the departmental cluster level is a "collection of special projects pursuing the joint objectives of a cluster" rather an integrated process, it said. Only 32% of directors general attended cluster meetings, no planning decisions were taken there and there was no holistic planning around outcomes. At provincial level "there is very limited evidence of actual implementation of projects and budget items directly flowing out of the provincial growth and development strategies". The report also found that integrated development plans (IDPs) in municipalities were "drawn up for compliance reasons and municipal activities carried on in spite of, and not on the basis of, the IDP". Forty-five percent of the municipal IDPs "lacked financial strategies" and "most lacked budgets". The PSC's report rates the state sector "relatively low" with regard to transparency and says that its response to applications for government information under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) is "generally not adequate". The Constitution mandates the commission to evaluate government transparency, especially with regard to the Act, which allows any citizen to request government information. The PSC found that compliance with the Act was "generally not adequate in the public service". Public opposition to proposed legislation that could limit the access of the media and ordinary citizens to state information has gathered momentum in recent weeks, especially with regard to the Protection of Information Bill. The report also noted that government departments are required by law to report to the South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) on the number of requests for information it receives from the public through PAIA and how these requests are handled. According to the 2008/09 HRC report, 10 national departments and 71 provincial departments did not submit reports as required. The PSC noted that the manner in which these requests were handled requires "serious attention". Source: <a href="http://www.mg.co.za/">http://www.mg.co.za/</a>

Damning corruption report

State departments failed to respond to 90% of government corruption cases reported by the public on hotlines during the past financial year,...

12:28 PM

The R4m luxury home Cele made you pay for

Official residence not good enough for top cop The government spent R4.2-million buying and furnishing a plush home for police commissioner General Bheki Cele in an exclusive Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof after he turned his nose up at the official residence he was offered. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UP0zeimjPrB7DvGZuucDd6RcyAVpgWqGx7EwqNaZAYIG3oi7V-QsDwynMjagEgAMgEzEWbMPzLGOXzS42fEfGHSH8cCGQGZjiY9Sk9R9GVUVEi4-z3omgwQM3u5XLozltJj2Lx8aZfYS/s1600/bheki+cele+house.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516121213338373746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UP0zeimjPrB7DvGZuucDd6RcyAVpgWqGx7EwqNaZAYIG3oi7V-QsDwynMjagEgAMgEzEWbMPzLGOXzS42fEfGHSH8cCGQGZjiY9Sk9R9GVUVEi4-z3omgwQM3u5XLozltJj2Lx8aZfYS/s400/bheki+cele+house.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" /></a>The house cost R3-million with transfer costs, and the SAPS forked out a staggering R1.2-million for luxury furnishings, including a R500000 home gym that is under construction. Cele's new house in Waterkloof Ridge, Pretoria The SAPS appears to have kept the costs of decorating Cele's house just below the R500000 level that would require a tender by splitting the invoices between goods and services. Lavish furnishings came to R499800, and the interior decorator was paid another R249900 for her services. Documents show that while Cele was approving scaling back on services to poor communities in KwaZulu-Natal, his Waterkloof house was being fitted with every imaginable luxury. An approved Mirisa Interior quote includes: <ul><li>R8000 for upholstered queen chairs at the ends of an eight-seater wooden table; </li><li>R12500 for a braai-area day bed; </li><li>R5000 for a vase with artificial flowers; </li><li>R11000 for a Mombasa King headboard and base set in the master bedroom; </li><li>R27500 for three flat-screen TV sets, for the lounge and two bedrooms. </li></ul>This extravagance is at odds with the image Cele presented in parliament last week. He told MPs he was determined to root out consultants who are "there to milk - that money is huge", and vowed to ensure his department's scarce resources were spent on fighting crime, especially in poorly serviced rural areas. The home was bought - and paid for out of the SAPS budget - after Cele rejected a spacious house previously occupied by Asset Forfeiture Unit and Special Investigating Unit head, Willie Hofmeyr, in a secure police compound that would have cost taxpayers nothing. This makes Cele South Africa's first police chief since the end of apartheid - and possibly the only civil servant at director-general level - for whom a new house has been bought. Cele's predecessors, Jackie Selebi and George Fivaz, lived in privately owned homes. Government policy does allow officials in the security forces to be provided with housing. But a senior official in the Department of Public Service and Administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this typically meant existing official accommodation, such as on a military base or police compound. "If a DG comes to live here (in Pretoria) from another province he must buy a property on his own," the official said. "To the best of my knowledge there are no other DGs who have had houses bought for them." This week, Cele said his procurement staff had to take the blame if there were any irregularities in buying and equipping his house. He stressed he did not own the house, and paid "rental" in the form of housing benefit deductions totalling R8968 a month. But this rental payment would account for roughly only R800000 of the purchase price. Cele argued that a plush interior was needed to entertain important guests. "If the head of Interpol visits me I don't want him to find me living in a shack or a house with one pot," he said. Cele's legal adviser, Lieutenant-General Julius Molefe, said the free house previously occupied by Hofmeyr, which is inside a guarded police compound occupied by its elite unit, the Hawks, was not deemed suitable because of "serious security concerns". It was also unfair to compare Cele with other top government officials. "He's not the DG of water affairs," said Molefe. Cele also came under fire this week for approving a 10-year lease for more than R500-million at inflated rentals without going out tender to house the new police headquarters in a building owned by a friend of President Jacob Zuma's, Roux Shabangu. The deal forms part of an SIU investigation also covering two leases signed before Cele was appointed. Today the Sunday Times can reveal the details of how Cele allegedly tried to strong-arm his generals into approving the Shabangu deals worth R1-billion. (see full story here) <a class="l" href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article653424.ece/We-were-forced-out-because-we-questioned-deals---generals" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','','1','6t6MmMPxr_VHB8p8CdpWcQ','0CAgQFjAA')" resultindex="1">We were forced out because we questioned deals - generals - Times LIVE</a>

The R4m luxury home Cele made you pay for

Official residence not good enough for top cop The government spent R4.2-million buying and furnishing a plush home for police commissioner ...

12:11 PM

Fire the Johannesburg Mayor, tar & feather him

Just months before the Soccer World Cup, the country's biggest city looks like a minefield, with potholes around just about every corner, accompanied by ditches that lie open like graves waiting for fresh loads. Street signs are either wrong, missing (stolen) or in disrepair; streetlights everywhere need attention; stormwater drains lie blocked and choked, and traffic lights seize up and back up traffic for 10km and more. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4Tsy_2OkzQyc3AVTaiw84fJoLl2odwEbaMVmIU1gOzXiiwysjjfHwwSej7O8kF1pNpHJj6s2AcmTqFdqqYn0kUjoxnFU__nN5heyAg5aR9_v7HvUZtIxo3XXeit8orJpqGMwlx_W1tsc/s1600-h/pothole-4ways.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZBkIXrjfdtvBzG1-jMd2Xbnhy02eVAzVnm8jX426dBOt0CQ3jBuReFtvNNLcx1gUvV_LO8i6JefF0Sjk6aNSfND02Vb-X9TDmL9drmzU-g8SK6JUCHUBRJZtYg64eXJOdhWLAZOe9JaG/s1600-h/road-accidents-positivity.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448672838772757378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZBkIXrjfdtvBzG1-jMd2Xbnhy02eVAzVnm8jX426dBOt0CQ3jBuReFtvNNLcx1gUvV_LO8i6JefF0Sjk6aNSfND02Vb-X9TDmL9drmzU-g8SK6JUCHUBRJZtYg64eXJOdhWLAZOe9JaG/s400/road-accidents-positivity.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>There are funny smells everywhere and rats are breeding like flies. Flies are breeding like rats. Residents of Johannesburg, which <a href="http://www.joburg.org.za/">advertises</a> itself as "A world class African host city" are sick and tired of the Masondo's of this world; the ex-Robben Islanders, ANC cadres who were automatically given licences to torture their fellow South Africans for a minimum of a century. Masondo and his cronies were quick enough to slash the 2009/2010 Johannesburg operational and expenditure budgets by R1.1bn to fund completion of the Soccer City stadium, yet another overblown FIFA knickknack. Masondo and his fellow vampires were quick to write off R2.8bn in bad debts, and just as quick to splash out R45m on the "Miss World" pageant, an apoplectic load of schlock. If Masondo and the ANC were vaguely aligned with reality, their focus would be job creation, 24/7. Among the numbers from the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, published on Tuesday, comes the news that during 2009 as a whole, the South African economy shed 870 000 jobs. That was the year when Zuma was promising . . . the creation of 500 000 jobs. What was he thinking? And if Amos Masondo is still thinking, what is he doing? It's time to go cadre; do yourself a favour and hand over the reins to a professional. Masondo's Mess <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_F6dk3OJYgXeF_IckmFgdu2tQxyqs6MHR-o4L-EraBGVEEuZqmWgmHPue9QhsgPPmvFBhgiIOpkEvr0yznPr2JVZxaJtCkSLQmNI5E2j3pOGEfcJZXWo3eUUh_z8UAAM5g2U67HA8HiR7/s1600-h/melville-7th+ave.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrCYqz4uEziOdmWQ4z6OyHVdutnTSCgzWQ0lrrMohiFyRnw0J_JTgSeQUMqnJQcmMCwXrD9gyTLS15i7k8uuPfEM1h1TQGgerm_jvh8DBZfxxPVEWhDhhylZrpBNlid2Ar2d4ruShJsgp/s1600-h/moron-index-lge3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448663189672769266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrCYqz4uEziOdmWQ4z6OyHVdutnTSCgzWQ0lrrMohiFyRnw0J_JTgSeQUMqnJQcmMCwXrD9gyTLS15i7k8uuPfEM1h1TQGgerm_jvh8DBZfxxPVEWhDhhylZrpBNlid2Ar2d4ruShJsgp/s400/moron-index-lge3.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 217px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>JOHANNESBURG is in a dreadful state. With potholes now so numerous they are a threat to life and limb, street lights and traffic lights broken for weeks on end, roadworks and pavement diggings started and abandoned, SA's biggest metro is looking about as beaten up as a modern city could be. Nothing illustrates better its decrepitude than the hole dug many months ago on the corner of 7th Avenue and 6th Street in the suburb of Melville -- it has been so comprehensively abandoned that for nearly a month it has been home to a TV set. It is a common story. There are literally thousands of unattended holes all over Joburg's pavements and roads. It is an absolute disgrace to SA and to Joburg's own citizens. It is not that Melville is some upmarket, spoilt, white place. Its homes are modest, and its inhabitants mixed. There would have been a time when the city's black inhabitants would have cheered the tarring of a road in Soweto at the expense of one in salubrious Hyde Park, but if any are still cheering they would be badly misguided. Joburg is increasingly one city. Joburg's problems are about leadership, starting with the mayor, Amos Masondo. His most striking political characteristic has been to be absent during Joburg's moments of crisis. Given the job by former president Thabo Mbeki as a reward for running Mbeki's first (1999) election campaign, Masondo has distinguished himself primarily as a cutter of ribbons and a deliverer of projects. Not for him the drudgery of also maintaining what he was given. But a contributing factor in Masondo's failure must surely be the way the municipal machine around him is structured. In Joburg, the municipality has been corporatised into fragments that enable Masondo to deflect direct responsibility for things like killer holes in the roads. The roads (and traffic lights and street lights and drains) are all the responsibility of the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA). There are other agencies for water, garbage, electricity, buses, development and the like. Their effect is to create a distance between the city's leader and its problems that would take a person much, much more engaged than Masondo to overcome. But while water shortages, power outages and untidy rubbish collection are common, the JRA is a special problem. The JRA manages more than 9000km of roads and bridges and 3500km of stormwater drains. That would be a nightmare for the most experienced manager. For JRA MD Dudu Maseko, who made her way to the top as a human resources specialist, it has clearly been an unfair burden. The JRA's own "Stakeholder" booklet is a clear measure of the problem. It is a result of endless "workshops" building up through the "Customer Charter", the "internal controls being put in place", the Mission Statement ("to provide a sound transit infrastructure management system in support of enhanced mobility"), which must be settled before we get to the all-important Vision Statement. Here is part of the JRA's: "The JRA's vision is 'the vehicle that makes the City work'. The JRA regards itself as the ultimate catalyst that makes other services in the City realisable ... the means to a better quality of life for all." So much blather. It costs R100000 to maintain a kilometre of road, a year after it has been built, R1,8m for the same stretch if it hasn't been maintained for five years. Assuming 9000km of roads and that they are all just one year old, Joburg would need a maintenance budget just for roads of R900m a year. Yet the entire JRA budget is less than that. That mayor Masondo can argue that there is money to do the job is beyond belief. We hope the mayor is replaced at the next local elections. But that doesn't mean he still doesn't have a real job ahead of him. He does. It is to find the money to fix the roads. That's easy, unless you're Amos Masondo, deliverer of projects. Joburg collects just over 60% of the rates and taxes owing to it. Collect the other 38% and you'd have enough money to make this a world-class city in reality and not just in advertisements. But that money is largely owed by the ANC's poorer constituency, and collecting it would take political courage and will way beyond anything Masondo has demonstrated in office. President Zuma has made much of ending poor municipal governance. While it is understandable he should care about the backwaters where people struggle for a lifetime against municipal indifference, he ignores large cities at his and our peril. It's about the hole on the pavement that contains a TV set. The will to collect the money to fill the hole doesn't exist.

Fire the Johannesburg Mayor, tar & feather him

Just months before the Soccer World Cup, the country's biggest city looks like a minefield, with potholes around just about every corner...

11:19 AM

SA government's excessive indulgence - R158m per month spent on luxuries

The ANC government has spent R158-million a month, or R5.3-million per day, on travel, restaurant expenses and accommodation, the Democratic Alliance said on their website. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBZFaUJmsw5TikHMZLm6VmWEFLLO3LlbTM8QpzjKL9WaS-dwMxghXjEoFYuJ0NDTHN8nfIDJrB_YQY9mAIFK2n6pjln5-S_bHN5wzwxXwcrfqrxCj3sVefjVGylcg0s9ngXu8YO1y9tLE/s1600-h/anc-greed.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443286698763805554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBZFaUJmsw5TikHMZLm6VmWEFLLO3LlbTM8QpzjKL9WaS-dwMxghXjEoFYuJ0NDTHN8nfIDJrB_YQY9mAIFK2n6pjln5-S_bHN5wzwxXwcrfqrxCj3sVefjVGylcg0s9ngXu8YO1y9tLE/s400/anc-greed.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 334px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 226px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Last year the Democratic Alliance set out in some detail the amount of money an ANC executive was spending on luxury cars. They also detailed the huge amounts being wasted on conferences and advertising. Across the board it appears that, wherever there is room for indulgence, it has been excessive and unnecessary, the DA said. The DA revealed that the problem extends to the amount government is spending on travel, restaurant expenses and accommodation. The DA asked a generic question to each national department and, of the 19 departments to have responded to date, between March 2008 and September 2009, a total cost of R1.7-billion has been incurred. The 19 departments represent roughly half of the national government. The DA estimates that the full cost, between all departments, runs in excess of R3-billion. This means that the ANC administration is spending about R158-million every month, or R5.3 million-per day, on travel, restaurant expenses and accommodation, the DA concluded. The five departments that have been identified as the biggest food spenders were: •International Relations: R426-million •Justice and Constitutional Development: R292-million •Labour: R159-million •Public Works: R134-million •Rural Development and Land Reform: R134-million The DA also found that the Department of Finance was making extensive use of first class travel and could have saved a significant amount of money had it used economy class. Good relations cost R426m Hundreds of millions in accommodation and travelling expenses The international relations and co-operation department has confirmed spending R426-million on travelling, accommodation and catering from March 2008 to September 2009. The Business Day reported last Friday that national government departments ran up bills of more than R3-billion on luxury travel, restaurants and accommodation over 19 months.

SA government's excessive indulgence - R158m per month spent on luxuries

The ANC government has spent R158-million a month, or R5.3-million per day, on travel, restaurant expenses and accommodation, the Democratic...

5:12 AM

Big cars for correctional services

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVfTKAvvj_bxMo8IIlckq7jJwQTUj9rw8Rh9ABqNI3Tv3MHZatOB1skcN6TVAwKCsf6CtyUu5hMG9OhnV_DjhukohX-kXBshlVQbJJll-R2nO444TKNov9-zojk72gy3rAsx7cQ-pYtzp/s1600-h/mapisa-nqakula_large.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414468257090039986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVfTKAvvj_bxMo8IIlckq7jJwQTUj9rw8Rh9ABqNI3Tv3MHZatOB1skcN6TVAwKCsf6CtyUu5hMG9OhnV_DjhukohX-kXBshlVQbJJll-R2nO444TKNov9-zojk72gy3rAsx7cQ-pYtzp/s400/mapisa-nqakula_large.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 310px" /></a>Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has bought herself a R960 000 Lexus, while her deputy, Hlengiwe Mkhize, chose to get a Porsche Cayenne, worth more than R750,000. The Star newspaper reported on Friday that the combined cost of the two vehicles to the department was R1.73 million. (Right) Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula This while it overspent its budget by R500 million in the last financial year. The information was contained in a series of replies to questions raised by the Democratic Alliance in parliament. The minister's Lexus LS460 cost R968,821, while the deputy minister's Porsche Cayenne's purchase price was R650,000, but accessories took the costs to R750,070. DA correctional services spokesman James Selfe said this was an "example of gross self-indulgence from the ANC administration, which has now spent R47.8 million on motor vehicles since April".

Big cars for correctional services

Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has bought herself a R960 000 Lexus, while her deputy, Hlengiwe Mkhize, chose to get ...

1:11 PM

R40k on welcome drinks

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOf0CIV6_Pf8Yfkf6R2ZU2SYTn89YsynTKTz7LCzYRONjO2SG-cefrC76Nz1DviLQicpmAKlehag1n28t4YHTKpYt8ItdsWkdWDKTcPB65RB_FznJ8NTgisa23RF7Gh1KKYztzW2OboBgw/s1600-h/train_surfing.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411122616234948306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOf0CIV6_Pf8Yfkf6R2ZU2SYTn89YsynTKTz7LCzYRONjO2SG-cefrC76Nz1DviLQicpmAKlehag1n28t4YHTKpYt8ItdsWkdWDKTcPB65RB_FznJ8NTgisa23RF7Gh1KKYztzW2OboBgw/s400/train_surfing.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" /></a>The DA has called on Minister of Transport Sbusiso Ndebele to investigate what it called unnecessary expenditure by rail agency Prasa during its Women's Day celebration in August. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa spent R584 810.92 during the Soweto function which did not benefit commuters, said DA shadow deputy minister of transport, Manny de Freitas in a statement on Thursday. He said R345 000 was spent on catering and R37 500 on welcoming drinks. The party's wasteful expenditure monitor currently stood at R570-million, he said. "Commuters have benefited in absolute no way from the event. This is an unacceptable state of affairs, particularly given that the quality of services provided by Prasa continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate." The DA intended asking Ndebele to intervene and stop the wasteful expenditure. Prasa's spokesman Sbusiso Ngomane was not immediately available to comment. Sapa

R40k on welcome drinks

The DA has called on Minister of Transport Sbusiso Ndebele to investigate what it called unnecessary expenditure by rail agency Prasa during...

12:08 PM

Government ’living large’ while citizens feel the pain

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERDGfH89FKcRlleLn0T6Xw_zbzsPrr46p-vuGpO_F0gTghwfU7uXwjLxpXQNRCUKEl-FIliilNa_d_0Ztgiwy1zX_8sIRy4tQbOygcDA-GdRu6AfzJfSgiJd6TUuY67O6GCNTEvwcX1s/s1600-h/day-spa-pta.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369847189623143922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERDGfH89FKcRlleLn0T6Xw_zbzsPrr46p-vuGpO_F0gTghwfU7uXwjLxpXQNRCUKEl-FIliilNa_d_0Ztgiwy1zX_8sIRy4tQbOygcDA-GdRu6AfzJfSgiJd6TUuY67O6GCNTEvwcX1s/s400/day-spa-pta.bmp" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 350px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 236px" /></a>Government ‘wasted R79m since July’The government has wasted R79 million since the DA set up a wasteful expenditure monitor in mid-July. See here <a href="http://www.da.org.za/campaigns.htm?action=view-page&category=7034&sub-page=7036">http://www.da.org.za/campaigns.htm?action=view-page&category=7034&sub-page=7036</a> DA MP Lindiwe Mazibuko said a further R3 million had been wasted in recent weeks. "The DA has identified an additional four examples of the ANC government’s culture of unnecessary spending," Mazibuko said today. "We will today update our Wasteful Expenditure Monitor by R3 million, bringing the total amount wasted by the new ANC administration to approximately R79 million." Mazibuko said in one case the North West education department had spent around R90,000 on "pampering" 43 directors and chief directors at a day spa outside Pretoria. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtxkWKTJUJOliYcO1Rj_mrRHZX9gQyEZUcM9Uo3HG0bnQ82tnxsCy9k53SSErvfFv4Ph2FkSV5-BEqMCJR9zBdNFpu2WpeTm9JL8zcLSfHW2Y6g2sTJW1toVXSY-SAjoyNQrgWNe7BlrA/s1600-h/day-spa-04.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369847199880747202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtxkWKTJUJOliYcO1Rj_mrRHZX9gQyEZUcM9Uo3HG0bnQ82tnxsCy9k53SSErvfFv4Ph2FkSV5-BEqMCJR9zBdNFpu2WpeTm9JL8zcLSfHW2Y6g2sTJW1toVXSY-SAjoyNQrgWNe7BlrA/s400/day-spa-04.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" /></a>"They chose the spa’s exotic full day package which cost R2099 per person," she said. The DA had counted R242,242 in wasteful expenditure by Parliamentary committees, which held meetings and workshops at luxury hotels, rather than in Parliament. The participating MPs were lodged at luxury hotels. The department of science and technology had spent R1.4 million on two Mercedes Benz ML350s for Minister Naledi Pandor at a cost of R1.4 million. The department of police spent R1.3 million on two new BMWs. Mazibuko however, welcomed an announcement by the Cabinet earlier this week that the minister of finance had tabled a draft report with proposals aimed at reducing wasteful spending. "The objectives of the proposals include addressing public concerns that government is ’living large’ while citizens are feeling the pain caused by the economic downturn," government spokesman Themba Maseko said.

Government ’living large’ while citizens feel the pain

Government ‘wasted R79m since July’ The government has wasted R79 million since the DA set up a wasteful expenditure monitor in mid-July. S...

8:27 AM

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