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Msimanga says R20bn in irregular expenditure identified in Gauteng

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Msimanga says R20bn in irregular expenditure identified in Gauteng

Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga
Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga

14th February 2019

By: African News Agency

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Former Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga, who is the now the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng premier candidate, on Thursday said that under Premier David Makhura, the Auditor-General had identified over R20-billions of irregular, unauthorised, and wasteful expenditure.

"If this money had been spent on health, education, and housing it could have built five new hospitals, 20 clinics, 30 schools, and 70 000 houses," Msimanga said in a statement.

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Msimanga said Gauteng was the old economic powerhouse that drove South Africa. 

"It is the ‘province of opportunity’ with the potential to be a revived centre of economic growth and prosperity for our people. And it can be revived! As difficult as it was to turn the Joburg and Tshwane metros around after decades of mismanagement, through sheer political will and commitment to serving the people who voted for us, we have managed to make significant inroads," he said.

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"This is my goal for Gauteng. It is crucial, if this province is to prosper and we are to lift the millions of people who live here out of poverty, that we bring on a DA government."

He said that access to jobs and support for small businesses under the African National Congress (ANC) was largely restricted to their friends and family, or wasted on corruption and bloated agencies. 

"These agencies serve the interests of politicians, not the people of Gauteng. Despite the opportunities inherent in manufacturing, the sector is on the decline and tourism is underdeveloped."

Msimanga said the Western Cape had provided 75 percent of all new jobs in South Africa in the past year. 

"More than two million people in this province are now unemployed, denying them the opportunity to earn an honest living. If given the chance, the DA in Gauteng will introduce a Voluntary Provincial Service which would entail one year of income and skills development for school-leavers, and create job centres throughout Gauteng that provide information, advice and free internet to job-seekers."

He said over the last year, Makhura had focused much of his energy on attempting to ride on the coattails of ANC leader and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's ‘New Dawn’ and that he was not serious about rooting out corruption. 

"Last February, he made a pledge to subject himself and his [members of the executive council] MECs lifestyle audits, but has since shifted the responsibility to President Cyril Ramaphosa and his recently established parliamentary task team. In fact, Makhura waited four years into his premiership before declaring that he would institute lifestyle audits for politicians and senior officials, and it is extremely unlikely that any will be done before his term of office ends in May."

Msimanga said that the change needed in Gauteng would only be achieved under a DA government. 

"Change can only come when we deal with corruption first. In the DA-run metros, we are starting to address the infrastructure backlog inherited by the ANC by cancelling corrupt tenders and directing money to infrastructure upgrades."

He made an example that in Midvaal, that is DA-lead, they had directed R54-million for upgrades to the bulk electrical supply to Sicelo; R40-million for a new reservoir in Sicelo; R24-million for the resurfacing of roads; and R23-million for the replacement of bulk water pipes," Msimanga said. 

"This approach is starting to pay dividends, for example, the rating agency Moody’s has upgraded Tshwane's long-term rating by one notch on the global scale with a stable outlook. The upgrade means those who want to do business with Tshwane, particularly local and international investors who buy debt instruments, will begin to offer discounted interest rates and better terms."

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