(Debate in parliament: Adjustment Budget for the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs)
In itself, money means nothing. Its value lies in what it can be used for and, thus, tax payers have good reason to feel dissatisfied about the way in which their hard-earned tax money is spent. Service delivery is basically non-existent while fraud and corruption are at the order of the day.
The deep-rooted corruption in the government, which continued unhindered through the period of lockdown, is clearly evident from the following:
The community work programme where claims were submitted by deceased people, the UIF scandal, the crisis in the North West province's Health Department, the motorcycle scandal in the Eastern Cape, fraud in the procurement of personal protective equipment, a loss of R32 billion due to fraud and corruption, only 20 out of 257 municipalities obtained clean audits, payments amounting to R1,2 billion to consultants while staff members are already being paid to do the work, fraudulent appointments, senior officials implicated in the VBS scandal and no action taken against them, councillors selling food parcels, power outages due to municipalities' non-payment, dilapidated municipal infrastructure, since 2002 only 32 out of 239 corruption investigations have been finalised with only 13 convictions, fraud with tenderpreneurship and much more.
And still, amid this time of crisis, the government decides to throw another R11 billion down the bottomless pit of municipal squandering while drought relief to farmers is taken away and the funds allocated to infrastructure are reduced. Every cent must now be used to plan and prepare for the long term, like infrastructure development to bring about economic growth and job creation.
And then the government expects tax payers to accept an increase in the rates and taxes while the money that they are paying is squandered and, in some cases, there is no service delivery.
A good example is the Mafube Local Municipality in the Free State (Frankfort, Tweeling, Villiers) which has been under administration for the last three years. Over the last four years, there has been no garbage disposal services and no maintenance was done on water infrastructure. Residents are forced to repair leaking waterpipes and dispose of the garbage themselves while they keep paying rates and taxes.
The goose laying the golden eggs can no longer do it. Tax payers will not keep paying to fund fraud and corruption while there is no service delivery. The rates and taxes levied on services must be earned.
People want value for money. Sadly, they are not getting it.
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