DA Gauteng government report card

The Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane gets a four out of ten for perfomance. This is down from the five out of ten she got previously and is based on the average score of the ten Members of the Executive Council as she is ultimately accountable for their performance.

 

Her most glaring failure is that there are 400 000 more people who are unemployed than when she took office in May 2009. More than 80% of suppliers are not paid within the required 30 days despite the premiers repeated promises.

 

The provincial governments performance is also undermined by the 26% senior management vacancy rate. Education MEC Barbara Creecy is the top scorer, with seven out of ten. She has consistently raised the matric pass rate, with effective interventions like the Secondary School Intervention Programme. She has increased the number of no fee schools, and taken effective action to improve school security.

 

Hope Papo gets 6/10, down one point as he struggles to fix the deep-seated rot in the Health Department. He has tightened up financial controls and vastly reduced more than R4 billion in outstanding payments to suppliers. Medicine distribution has improved after he took action taken against the disastrous Auckland Park Medical Depot, but one in five essential medicines are still not delivered timeously to clinics and hospitals.

 

Papo is let down badly by the Infrastructure Development Department under MEC Qedani Mahlangu, which failed to complete the Jabulani and New Natalspruit hospitals. Mahlangu gets 2/10 for her many failures, including the incomplete Asset Register, non-market related rentals still not charged and leases relating to provincial properties still not signed.

 

Worst performer is Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko, who gets 1/10 as she refuses to answer Legislature questions lucidly and still does not understand her essential oversight role in holding the police to account. She blundered in not vetting the proposed new Provincial Commissioner Mondli Bethuel Zuma, who was forced to withdraw after it was found that he was facing criminal charges. 

 

Finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe drops from 5/10 to 3/10 as he is completely ineffectual in getting other departments to adhere to strict financial discipline, including paying suppliers on time. He is also responsible for the Gauteng Online fiasco where R3 billion has been largely wasted on computers in a politically connected company. There is still underspending on infrastructure and the Gauteng Broadband Network has still not been implemented.

 

Other poor performers who get 4/10 include Local Government and Housing MEC Ntombi Mekgwe who shows little leadership in her department despite a record number of service delivery protests, and Agriculture, Rural and Social Development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza who does not give the necessary support to emerging farmers and neglects the welfare needs of the most vulnerable.

 

The drop-off in general performance is sad as Premier Mokonyane started off with much energy and grand promises that are largely unfulfilled.