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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the North West welcomes the decision to withdraw privileges reserved for a sitting Premier for former Premier Supra Mahumapelo. Until recently, Mahumapelo was still using official vehicles and VIP protection.

By allowing Mahumapelo to enjoy these privileges the ANC government once again proved that they are not concerned with serving the people of North West but more interested in protecting a man who was responsible for the collapse of governance and service delivery in this province.

On Tuesday 7 August 2018 Parliament support staff and researchers briefed the ad hoc committee on national government interventions in the North West that it would take 18 months to fix the damage in the province.

The task team has reported that there were seven project management units that entered into illegal contracts in the Premier’s office alone, which was under Mahumapelo’s leadership.

For too long Mahumapelo has milked the resources and bank accounts of this province, while the people of North West suffered without services and continued to live in poverty, without jobs.

The DA will work hard to ensure that the ANC government is held accountable for allowing Mahumapelo to enjoy the benefits reserved for a sitting Premier. The DA has written to the Legislature Speaker, Susan Dantjie, asking for clarity and transparency regarding the following:

• Whether the benefits granted to Supra Mahumapelo after his early retirement is in compliance with the Executive Handbook;
• Whether the former Premier has handed in his official passport and whether he undertook any trips after his early retirement using the official passport;
• What the discussion was between Premier Job Mokgoro, the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, and the former Premier regarding the handing in of the vehicles and whether it can be confirmed that the security threats against the former Premier have subsided;
• What were the costs of security and vehicles provided to the former premier since his early retirement to date;
• How many security guards were withdrawn from service to the former premier since he went on early retirement;
• What is the condition of the vehicles that have been handed in what are the details, i.e. models, descriptions, and trade-in value of the vehicles;
• How many kilometres has the former premier travelled since his early retirement to date; and
• When and where exactly were the vehicles handed in?

The people of North West will no longer tolerate the waste and theft of state resources. It is time for real change in the province and for service delivery that will restore people's dignity.

Only the DA can provide this change and we will continue to keep the ANC accountable.

Issued by DA