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IEC releases inaugural quarterly report on party funding

Only three political parties made declarations of qualifying donations received from donors, the Electoral Commission revealed on Thursday.

Releasing the 2021/22 first quarter Party Funding Disclosures Report, IEC Deputy Commissioner Janet Love said the political parties funding regime makes it peremptory for all registered political parties to disclose to the Commission all donations above the R100 000 threshold in a year.

Love said the total value of these declared donations in the first quarter amount to R30 008 841.74.

“Two represented political parties and one unrepresented political party made declarations of qualifying direct donations. These are the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and ActionSA.

“The ANC and DA declared individual donations received of R10 720 000.00 and R15 983 751.48 respectively. ActionSA declared total direct donations amounting to R3 305 090.26,” Love said.

The Electoral Commission said of the submissions received, the two political parties, namely the DA and ActionSA, declared donations in-kind, with a total value of R855 685.41. This is made up of R499 595.15 for the DA and R356 090.26 for ActionSA.

In terms of donations from foreign sources, the Electoral Commission said two foreign entities made direct donations to the DA during this period.

“These donations were compliant with requirements set out in section 8 (4) of the Act, namely, that such donations must only be for the purposes of ‘training or skills development of a member of a political party or policy development by a political party’. There was no breach or contravention of the Act in this regard detected at this stage,” the Commission said.

As part of the Commission’s efforts to foster compliance with the Act, all registered political parties, both represented and unrepresented, were sent reminders to submit their declarations before the due date of 31 July 2021.

“Although not all political parties responded, a significant number of them, especially among the represented parties, reported in writing that they did not receive qualifying donations in the reporting period; qualifying donations being those above the threshold amount of R100 000,” the Commission said.

Meanwhile, two donors have failed to comply with the dual disclosure requirement, as stipulated in Section 9 of the Act, which requires that both the political party receiving donations and its juristic donors (corporates and entity) must declare such donations.

“The donations affected are in relation to the ANC. Although the political party has made the declaration and therefore complied from its end, the donors had not complied with the requirement to separately declare the donation made. This means that the record includes what is referred to as single-legged donation reports,” the Commission said.

Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF)

The Electoral Commission said in the first quarter of the 2021/22 financial year, the Fund received a single contribution from a member of the public, Paul Malcolm Graham, who made a contribution of R2 000.

“Mr Paul Graham was kind and proud enough of his support for multi-party democracy that he waived his right to anonymity. Regulation 5(3) of the Presidential Regulations, read with sections 6(7) and 26(2) of the Act, provides that money in the MPDF will only be due for distribution once the amount in the fund reaches a total of R1 million. The effect of this is that to date, there have not been any political party allocation from the Multi-Party Democracy Fund,” the Commission said.

The Commission has appealed to the South African public and corporates alike to open their purses and support multi-party democracy.

“The sustainability of the Multi-Party Democracy Fund is a critical step towards a healthy democracy, as envisaged in our Constitution,” the Commission said.

The Multi-Party Democracy Fund is intended to enhance multi-party democracy, whereby the Independent Electoral Commission is required to open an account for the fund with a registered bank, which will be administered by a Chief Executive Officer, appointed in terms of the Electoral Act.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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SIU granted R42 million preservation order against NHLS contractor

The Special Tribunal has granted the Special Investigating Unit and the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) an order to freeze R42 million worth of luxury properties and funds linked to Johannesburg businessman Hamilton Ndlovu.

This was hot on the heels of a similar preservation order obtained by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) seizing R60 million.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has over the past year investigated corruption allegations and the circumstances in which eight companies directly and indirectly linked to Ndlovu, obtained contracts worth a total of R172 million for the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from the NHLS.

In a statement on Thursday, the SIU said: “The properties and money are preserved pending a review application which will be brought by the SIU and the NHLS to set aside the procurement transactions and to require Mr. Ndlovu and the recipients of the funds to pay back the money.

“The SIU and NHLS have ascertained that the transactions were obtained by abusing the emergency procurement procedures that were adopted by the NHLS in order to respond to the COVID-19 disaster during the first half of 2020.”

In terms of the order, Ndlovu and other respondents are prohibited from dealing in any manner with the funds and properties (including selling or transferring or mortgaging the properties) pending the final resolution of review proceedings to be brought by the SIU and the NHLS.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Thumbs up for ambitious Cape Town housing project

A Cape Town human settlements development is demonstrating how government working with the private sector can improve people’s lives and grow the country’s economy.

This was the position of Public Works and Infrastructure Minister, Patricia De Lille, during an oversight visit to a Maitland housing project in the city on Thursday.

She visited the project as part of her oversight tour of integrated infrastructure projects across the country.

The Maitland Metro Precinct development is being privately developed and rejuvenated by BlueBuck Projects into a thriving mixed-income, mixed-use precinct predominantly through the development of inclusionary and integrated housing opportunities.

This rejuvenation project intends to develop at least 1 200 residential opportunities in the centrally located node.

The Minister emphasised that infrastructure projects are critical to the country’s development and job creation. “While government has various infrastructure projects underway… the private sector is also constructing a number of important projects across the country,” she said.

Construction on the project began in November 2020 and the first phase of rental units were progressing well.

The site is about 7km from the Cape Town CBD and close to other economic hubs in the city. It is also serviced by a range of public transport modes.

The project is valued at around R1.2 billion and to date approximately R178 million has already been invested into the project.

The development includes nine new mixed-use projects. These will include at least 1 200 new residential units split between the open rental market, Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP) buyers, and social housing renters; all targeting low to middle-income households. In addition, the intention is to create at least 5 000sqm of call centre space.

The units in the first project will be available for rental of between R5 000 and R7 500, and semi-furnished rooms in co-living apartments are available for R3 800.

Maitland Metro will provide housing opportunities for low to middle income households closer to working opportunities in Cape Town, and aims to be an example rejuvenation project that can be replicated in other urban suburbs.

“Hopefully this will encourage and expedite other human settlement developments. The rejuvenation and urban upgrades will have positive impacts on the surrounding suburbs and provide recreational opportunities for residents,” said BlueBuck Projects Chief Operating Officer Shaun Reznik.

De Lille said the project is “a prime example of how human settlements developments should be done in our democracy with affordable and well-located housing, close to work opportunities and transport”.

“By bringing people closer to transport and work opportunities we will achieve spatial justice and reverse the legacy of apartheid spatial planning. In doing so, we also lessen the travel time and costs for residents who will live in this development,” said the Minister.

Job creation and investment

To date, the project had created over 500 site jobs, with 40% of on-site workers being youth. In total 5 000 accumulative jobs are expected to be created during the various construction periods.

De Lille said the project demonstrated that efforts were underway by the private sector to rejuvenate the country’s economy, as envisioned by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP).

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure said the Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) team has been engaging the developer on how it can assist with any blockages and unlocking additional investment.

ISA’s involvement down the line will assist in expediting the necessary approvals, working in close collaboration with the City of Cape Town.

“The ISA team will also assist the developer to unlock more funding for bulk and road infrastructure upgrades and de-risk certain projects which will be shared with investors and the market at the upcoming Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium in October 2020,” it said in the statement.

The Minister was joined on her oversight visit by Deputy Minister Noxolo Kiviet and head of Infrastructure South Africa Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Anti-Corruption Hotline dominated by R350 grant complaints

At least 337 cases of alleged corruption in government departments have been reported to the National Anti-Corruption Hotline (NACH) in the period between April and the end of June this year.

This is according to a report released by the Public Service Commission (PSC) on Thursday.

The report noted that 133 of the 337 complaints called into the NACH related to the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) R350 Social Relief of Distress grant.

“According to SASSA, all the cases referred to the institution were closed after conducting the process of appeal. In this respect, some cases were approved and others were rejected with valid reasons. Cases of appointment and procurement irregularities were investigated by the PSC,” the report said.

Other cases related to issues such as procurement irregularities, corruption, fraud and bribery.

According to the report, in the same period last year, only 233 complaints had been recorded, indicating an increase of at least 104 cases.

“This may be due to increased awareness of legislation relating to the protection of whistle blowers, such as the Protected Disclosures Act, thus instilling confidence in the process and outcomes of blowing the whistle. This may also be due to the fact that whistle blowing is no longer viewed as a negative act, as it was under the previous dispensation, thus removing some of the stigma that is often associated with whistle blowing,” the report said.

The bulk of complaints (243) were related to national departments and public entities (including SASSA), with the rest related to provincial departments.

“The PSC noted from the feedback provided by departments on concluded investigation that the number of the complaints investigated… were unsubstantiated. To this end, the PSC encourages members of the public and whistle blowers to provide full, detailed information to enable investigators to make informed conclusions.

“All complaints, as long as there is substance in them, should be investigated, irrespective of how minor is the corruption allegation,” the report said.

Moreover, the report highlighted that inefficient investigations by government departments were causing undue prejudice to whistle blowers.

“The PSC is concerned that departments are taking an extended period of time in providing feedback, despite the fact that whistle blowers are requesting feedback on progress made with investigations.

“Generally, many investigations are prolonged due to variety of factors like complexity and retrieval of supporting information. The efficiency with which the departments investigate allegations of corrupt activities reported to them contribute towards the effectiveness of the NACH,” it said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Corruption a stumbling block to an improved public service

Public Service Commissioner Michael Seloane says that corruption still remains “widespread” in the public service.

He was speaking at the release of the commission’s Quarterly Bulletin titled: The Pulse of the Public Service for the first quarter of the financial year.

The commissioner said one of the biggest challenges breeding a culture of corruption in the public service is employees who conduct business with the state.

“South Africa continues to face the challenge of widespread corruption within its public service. Corruption scandals are precipitated by shady, widespread public sector patronage, crony capitalism, abuse of power and abuse of authority, corruption and unprofessional behaviour in government. [P]ublic servants who conduct business with the state…in many instances, service delivery is affected negatively because companies that are appointed to render services are not given on the basis of merit but are given to people that have close proximity to power,” he said.

Seloane said while collecting data for the quarterly bulletin, the commission found that employees who were alleged to have been involved in irregularities or corrupt activities complained that they were pressured to do so through instructions from senior managers and executive authorities.

“Employees are often too afraid to defy unlawful instructions and, in many cases, bear the brunt of unlawful conduct while the executive authorities and senior managers who issued the unlawful instructions claim ignorance and/or go scot free,” he said.

The commissioner warned, however, that lower ranking public servants still have the responsibility to report any wrongdoing to law enforcement authorities.

“There are several Acts and Laws applicable in the public service which place a duty on an employee to abide by the legislative framework and to report irregularities to a higher authority. Public servants are urged to ensure that irregularities and unlawful instructions are reported to the relevant authorities as required by the legislative framework,” Seloane said.

He highlighted the importance of ethical leadership in government.

“It is imperative to ensure that all instructions to public servants are within the parameters of the law. Through ethical leadership, we will be able to influence a positive culture change and improve the image of the government. Leaders need to demonstrate ethical leadership by making ethical decisions and taking disciplinary actions,” he said.

Non-payment of supplier invoices

Seloane urged the national Treasury to take action against national and provincial departments that repeatedly do not pay their suppliers within the stipulated time frame as this has a detrimental effect on businesses.

National departments accounted for 481 unpaid invoices with a cost of at least R491 million.

“The PSC is concerned with the lack of reporting on the consequences management approach adopted by the National Treasury to deal with the repeat default in departments and provinces. The reality…is that the non-payment of suppliers…negatively impacts the operations of suppliers, with many becoming bankrupt, and thus being counterproductive to government’s job creation problem,” he said.

The commissioner said these invoices were mainly from the departments of Public Works and Infrastructure and its property management entity, Water and Sanitation, Mineral Resources and Energy and Home Affairs.

“Of concern…is that some departments are still not submitting the required exception reports to the national treasury. Despite this being a compliance requirement, non-submission of these reports violates paragraph 4.6 of national treasury instruction note…which stipulates that such information should be submitted within seven days. This shows a serious disregard for accountability in the departments in these departments [and] no measures are in place to deal with this disregard of accountability by departments,” he said.

Provincially, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, North West, Northern Cape and Free State led the way in non-payment.

“Whilst the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng and North West are known repeat defaulting provinces, the Northern Cape is for the first time showing such a high number of invoices not paid…with the related cost of R 195 109 935,” he said.

The PSC said that it has recommended that compliance oversight for payment of suppliers be included in the performance contracts of ministers and MECs.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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President Ramaphosa to participate in BRICS Summit

President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead the South African delegation during his participation in the virtual 13th BRICS Summit scheduled for Thursday, 9 September 2021.

The summit will be chaired by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, as Chair of BRICS for 2021, under the theme, ‘BRICS@15: lntra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus’.

The programme will include opening remarks, which are open to the media, and the traditionally closed Leaders’ Session, reflecting on the future direction of BRICS.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – which collectively represent about 42% of the global population, 23% of GDP, 30% of the world’s territory and 18% of global trade.

“Leaders will be focused on strengthening intra-BRICS relations and mutually beneficial cooperation across the BRICS pillars of cooperation, namely, political and security, economic and finance, social, and people-to-people cooperation,” the Presidency said ahead of Thursday’s summit.

The summit will also receive reports from the BRICS National Security Advisors, the Chair of the BRICS Business Council, the Chair of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance, and the President of the New Development Bank.

The conference will also adopt the BRICS 2021 New Delhi Declaration, which emphasises the priorities of the Indian Chairship in 2021, namely reform of the multilateral system, counter-terrorism cooperation, the application of digital and technological solutions for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and enhancing people-to-people exchanges.

For this year’s summit, the Presidency said some of the cooperation outcomes include a revised Action Plan for Agricultural Cooperation of BRICS Countries, Counter-Terrorism Strategy Action Plan, Action Plan for implementing the Strategy on BRICS Economic Partnership, and revised BRICS Action Plan for Innovation Cooperation.

“South Africa’s membership of BRICS enables the country to employ additional and powerful tools in its fight to address its domestic triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality through increased trade, investment, tourism, capacity building, skills and technology transfers, particularly to address its post-pandemic economic recovery,” said the Presidency.

South Africa has made concerted efforts to place the African continent and the Global South on the agenda of BRICS and to harmonise policies adopted in regional and international fora, with those pursued in BRICS, particularly Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor; Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana; Trade, Industry and Competition Minister, Ebrahim Patel; Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, as well as the Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for State Security, Zizi Kodwa, will support the President.

Session I of the summit is scheduled for 2pm.

Source: South African Government News Agency