The FF Plus is shocked by the statement of North West's MEC for Finance, Ms Motlalepula Rosho, that the provincial government will proceed with the hiring of private companies to sanitise government buildings and schools during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This comes after the FF Plus proposed and insisted that the province's current employees, who were specifically appointed to deliver professional sanitising and cleaning services, must perform these tasks.
After all, these employees have been delivering these services for years as part of their normal duties and are familiar with the layouts and health related challenges of their workplaces.
Millions of rand have already been spent on sanitising agents and personal protective equipment to enable these workers to perform these tasks effectively while protecting them against the virus.
The MEC's insistence on using private companies creates the impression that she has no faith in these employees' competence, professionalism, work ethics and ability to deliver this simple service.
The head of the Department of Treasury, Ndlela Kunene, took it even further by saying, in response to a question by the FF Plus, that these workers are too 'anxious' about the pandemic to do the work.
That is preposterous. The FF Plus's proposals and questions were purely aimed at ensuring that the allocated Covid-19 funds are used effectively and, as far as possible, in conjunction with the other available resources to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the people of the North West.
The MEC's response and her refusal to let officials do the work that they were hired to do while instead putting out tenders are setting alarm bells ringing.
North West residents have had to endure the disastrous effects of tenderpreneurs, state capture and corruption for a long time already. Even the North West Premier, Job Mokgoro, has now admitted that there are serious corruption problems in the province.
Any misappropriation of or corruption involving the funds allocated to Covid-19 will constitute the highest form of greed and must be prevented at all costs. The funds were allocated with the sole aim of protecting the people against Covid-19.
The FF Plus is urgently calling on the Premier to take the necessary steps to prevent the looting of these funds and to ensure that the people are provided with the best possible protection against the pandemic.
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