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The Northern Cape Provincial Government has spent the past week assessing readiness in terms of the lockdown implementation plan as we observed the first week of the countrywide lockdown. Various Members of the Executive Council have visited communities to assess compliance with the lockdown protocols and that especially grant payments run in an efficient manner with adherence to social distancing and practising safe hygiene.

On Saturday I joined Premiers from all nine Provinces with the President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, the Deputy President, Mr David Mabuza and all Ministers in a virtual meeting of the President’s Coordinating Council to discuss progress and challenges on the implementation of the national and provincial responses to the Covid19 lockdown. As Premiers we stressed the need for greater coordination and communications around the national state of disaster regulations across all levels of Government and reaffirmed the regulations as gazetted as binding across the country. This structure will be meeting frequently to ensure that our efforts are aligned to the national response.

Security personnel have been deployed to all parts of the Province and these teams are made up of members of SAPS, SANDF and supported by the Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison (DTSL), Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) in all the roadblocks. For the period of the Lockdown, the cases reported so far are 1005. All border posts are manned by SAPS, SANDF & DHA, with the help of the District -Joints particularly Namakwa and ZF Mgcawu Districts. This past week the Province was also visited by the Deputy Minister for Police, Mr Cassel Matale and National Commissioner Mr Sithole on Wednesday. They visited a few roadblocks and SASSA pay-out points in the Kimberley area. They expressed satisfaction with the work conducted by the Province in ensuring the safety of the citizens and abiding by the lockdown regulations.

Visits were also conducted to taxi ranks in Kimberley, Springbok and Upington to ensure compliance with regards to regulations of social distancing, sanitizing of taxis and commuters’ hands, loading capacity and pricing issues. The Taxi Industry leaders were also engaged on regulations and challenges pertaining to Public Transport during Lockdown.

The Provincial Government also notes the results of the people that have tested positive for COVID19 in the Province. To date, there are eight (8) confirmed    coronavirus cases in the Province. Seven (7) of them are from the Phokwane municipal area. The first 2 cases that were confirmed are the couple that attended the church conference in Bloemfontein last month. The third and fourth cases are family friends to the couple. The fifth and sixth cases are working for the initial couple.

The latest case is from Jan Kempdorp and the patient is self-isolating at home.

One (1) case is in the Sol Plaatje local municipality who came in contact with a German resident who also tested positive for COVID – 19. None of these cases are admitted in hospital, they are self-isolating at home as they presented with mild symptoms. 

In addition to the eight cases being reported by the Northern Cape, there are also two positive patients in the province who work and were tested in the Free State. One of these is from Boshof and was admitted at Gariep Medi-Clinic. The patient has been discharged after recovery. The second one is being monitored in self-isolation in De Aar.

Tracer teams have traced contacts of confirmed cased to contain the spread of the virus in the province. All contacts that are close to confirmed cases have been traced and are monitored on a daily basis. Those who present with symptoms are referred for further medical intervention.

So far, Northern Cape has tested 223 people of which 160 are negative and we are still awaiting results of 55 suspected cases.

The massive screening campaign will be rolled out starting today in all Districts across the Province. Specific focus will be placed on the Phokwane Municipal area as most of the confirmed Covid19 cases come from this area.  In consultation with the National Department, the Province is in the process of sourcing mobile laboratory units to screen for the virus as soon as possible.

SASSA and Social Development

Last week started with preference being given to the elderly and disabled for their grant payments. The payment process was used as an opportunity to educate beneficiaries on social distancing. The Department of Health also visited the sites and did screening on the elderly and gave flu vaccines to over 75 year olds. The Department of Social Development and SASSA are working together with the Department of Health to ensure that the necessary health standards are maintained at all the pay-points during the payment of social grants. It is anticipated that the final grants will be paid latest 14th April 2020.

The Department of Social Development has started with the distribution of food parcels to our 47 700 beneficiaries across the Province.

An amount of Thirty Eight Million Rand has been made available for the procurement of food parcels to be distributed to qualifying beneficiaries.

Procurement at a Provincial level resulted in 134 service providers being contracted to deliver food parcels. The procurement has also been decentralized with 150 service providers appointed in the first week to deliver 1000 food parcels per week in each district.

Today we oversaw the rollout of the distribution of 200 food parcels in Platfontein as well as intensifying the COVID19 campaign in Platfontein. We encouraged leaders of the Xhu and Kwhe communities to work with Government to ensure that communities remain safe, to stay at home and help Government to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.

The five district shelters are operational providing shelter, food and hygiene products to the service users. At this stage we still find that homeless persons and street children are reluctant to be housed at shelters and this poses an immediate threat to the safety of our citizens.

A plea is extended to all citizens to report homeless persons and street children to the police for admission to a shelter.

Water and Sanitation

The distribution of storage tanks and water trucks to high- and medium density informal areas with unreliable or no water supply and soap, bleach and hand sanitizers are on track. Currently Sedibeng Water delivered 227 and installed 67 storage tanks in Sol Plaatje (Kimberley), one of the highest priority areas. In Phokwane, Sedibeng Water delivered 50 storage tanks. Rand Water has deliver 144 to date and 202 storage tanks are in transit. These tanks are being delivered to all hotspot areas in the Province. The Province requires 779 storage tanks and 84 water trucks. There is a daily increase in numbers. The Department of Water and Sanitation is working closely with municipalities to ensure that these tanks are filled regularly with water.

The Northern Cape Provincial Government wishes to express our heartfelt condolences to the family and colleagues of the late Sergeant Steven Damoense who sustained a serious head injury after conducting patrols in Ritchie on the 30 March 2020 as part of enforcing the lockdown regulations. We trust that the law will take its course and make an appeal to members of the community to abide by the lockdown regulations as prescribed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in order to avoid tragedies such as these.

The advent of the COVID-19 has plunged us into unchartered waters which have resulted in a steep learning curve. We are continuously assessing our regulations for society to effectively respond the COVID-19. South Africans have responded to government’s call in great numbers. The majority of our community members have been playing their part to limit the spread of the virus. We are, however, concerned about those who have not yet appreciated the seriousness of this disease. The disease is very real and it poses a great danger to every one of us and to our society. Every time you violate the regulations, you are putting yourself and others at risk, and helping the virus to spread. By observing the regulations, staying at home, observing good hygiene practices and by working together, we have a real chance of containing the spread of the Coronavirus Covid-19.

Released by the Provincial COVID19 Command Council
Enquiries:
Bronwyn Thomas-Abrahams, Spokesperson to the Premier, 083 447 6586, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Monwabisi Nkompela, Head of Provincial Communications, 071 109 2776, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Lebogang Majaha, Spokesperson to the MEC for Health, 071 883 6404, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Marius Nagel, Provincial Head of GCIS, 083 778 9179, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 

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3 August 2023
Kimberley

Programme Director
MEC for Youth, Women, Children, Persons with Disabilities, Communications and E-government, Ms Venus Blennies
Director General, Mr Justice Bekekbeke
Members of the media

Ladies and gentlemen

DEATH OF ILLEGAL MINERS

Allow me before I start with our official statement just to reflect on the death of illegal miners in the Namakwa District of the Province. We have noted with deep concern reports by SAPS into the death of thirteen males at the Tweepad Mining area near Kleinsee. Preliminary reports indicate that the deceased were trapped underground when the tunnels collapsed. We wish to extend our condolences to the families and friends of the deceased. We also wish to caution against illegal mining activities which are a serious challenge in our country and pose a big threat to the safety and security of the surrounding communities as well as to the illegal miners themselves. As Government, we will continue to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to address this challenge.

RELOCATION OF OFFICE OF THE PREMIER

The pedigree of the Sixth Administration to cut wastages and frills should by now be beyond question. Since we assumed office, we have committed to this agenda and despite Covid-19, the Provincial Administration is financially in a much better position for three consecutive financial years we closed the exchequer account with a positive bank balance of more than R200 million due to cuts in operational expenditures and there is also a significant improvement in audit outcomes of Departments; having completely migrated out of Disclaimers and Adverse findings. The move to the new office is in keeping with that commitment.

The Office of the Premier is currently in the process of relocating from the Transnet Building to the DSC Office Park located at 69 Memorial Road, Monument Heights. Of importance to note is that the Transnet Building was officially opened in 1964 and will soon be celebrating its 60th year in operation due to elements of nature and wear and tear the building requires intensive attention and renovation.

The OTP moved into the Transnet Office Building in 2008 and the contract expired in 2014; because of some disputes on the contractual terms a short-term nine months transitional contract was concluded between the Department of Roads and Public Works (acting on behalf of the Office of the Premier) and Transnet and that contract expired in May 2015. Since June 2015, the Office of the Premier has been occupying the Transnet building without any contract but continued to date with the payment of a rental amount of R1 082 702. 75. For every monthly rental paid, Transnet recorded a shortfall amount. This amount was due to annual escalation costs of 6.5% that Transnet billed us. Since 2015 the Office of the Premier refused to pay the 6.5% escalation costs which brought the current monthly rental at Transnet Building to R1 621 538. The refusal to pay the escalation costs was due to the failure by Transnet to do maintenance of the building, literally, the building was rapidly deteriorating.

In terms of the contractual arrangement, Transnet is responsible for the maintenance of the building but due to this failure, the Office of the Premier spent more than R4 million in maintaining the building.

Since 2008 we have paid a total of R132 million to Transnet and there is an amount of R64 million which Transnet recorded as arrears due to our refusal to pay the 6.5% annual escalations. This refusal was not driven by any form of malice but by the failures of Transnet to maintain the building. The failure to maintain the building exposed the Office of the Premier to quite several embarrassing moments as a result of the deterioration of office amenities.

These matters were consistently raised with Transnet Management since 2015. After not getting a positive response from Transnet they were elevated to both the Premier and the Minister. We can report that three meetings took place between the Premier and the former Minister of Transport, Mr. Fikile Mbalula,  to discuss amongst others the state of the building and the fast-escalating rental cost. The Premier appealed to the Minister for his intervention in an amicable resolution of the matter. There were no positive outcomes to these engagements. The issues raised with the Minister are the defects highlighted in the 2021 report of Consulting Engineers and Valuators (SAMEX Consulting) who were commissioned by the Department of Roads and Public Works to assess the state of the Transnet Building. Briefly, the report highlights the following key issues

• The asking price by Transnet was above the valuation of the building.
• The inspection of the building revealed many defects including amongst others defective amenities, lifts constantly being out of order, electricity problems and chief amongst all the mentioned defects is that the building was not fire compliant which is a huge risk to the safety of employees and a threat to the assets of Government housed in the building.
• The Transnet Building has since the initial interventions by the Office of the Premier in 2015 deteriorated to such an extent that it became not only impractical to continue occupying that space but also posed major health and occupational safety concerns. The constant failure of amenities, loss of electricity due to cable theft as well as the non-availability of backup electricity all impacted the optimal performance of staff.   Some of the other concerns and defects worth noting are the constant breakdown of the lifts, ablution facilities that are continuously out of order leading to serious health hazards, the parking that is not sufficient and safe for the employees as 90% of the staff used to park in the streets, air conditioners that are always malfunctioning and theft of air conditioners.

The report also highlights that should Provincial Government have acquired the building in 2021, it would have costed Government an additional Forty-Two Million Rand to ensure that it is compliant with building and safety standards.

As a result of complaints by the employees in the Office of the Premier, the Department of Labour conducted an assessment in 2020 of the health and safety conditions of the Transnet Building. The report highlighted that the building was non-compliant with quite many health and safety requirements due to poor maintenance. Some of the issues are the non-functioning of the security system, the ablution facilities, elevators, and the fire detection system.

Because of all these challenges, in 2021, the Premier requested the Minister of Transport and Transnet Management to donate the building in its defective state to the Provincial Government and would then justifiably spend the Forty-Two Million on repairs and renovations to make the building compliant with health and safety standards and regulations.

This request was rejected and instead, Transnet made a counter-proposal for the purchase of the building for Sixty Eight Million Rand. Added to this, were the estimated repair costs of Forty-Two million Rand (R 42m), and on top of that an amount of Sixty Four Million Rand Transnet claimed as arrears on rental and utilities. All-inclusive, the cost of bringing the building to an acceptable health and safety condition through ownership by the Provincial Government would have cost Hundred and Seventy-Four Million (purchase price, arrears, and maintenance). This is an amount that the Provincial Government does not have. It is important to note that we are still making that call to Transnet to donate the building to the Provincial Government for us to renovate it and use it to address our unending requirements for office space.

We firmly believe that this relocation enables us to resolve the stalemate between the Provincial Government and Transnet and also provides a safe and conducive work environment for our employees in the most cost-effective manner. The expected monthly rental at Transnet Building for 2023 is R1 621 539.00 as opposed to the current rental of R1 384 614. 00. The Transnet amount excludes rates and taxes. At the Transnet Building, the Provincial Government was responsible for rates and taxes, which averaged about R135 000 per month, and this took the monthly rental to R1 734 956.00. At the new DSC Building, the owner is responsible for rates and taxes. So moving to the new offices will save the Provincial Government about R350 000 per month.

We wish to express our gratitude to the team at the Department of Roads and Public Works for the manner in which they handled the matter by securing much lesser rates per square meter than the previous occupants.

We want to put it on record that there were no direct engagements between the owner of the DSC Office Park and the Office of the Premier for the lease of the new building. As per the report received from the Department of Roads and Public Works, the Department identified a total of three properties from the register of landlords that could accommodate the staff of the Office of the Premier. Upon inspection, it was discovered that only the DSC Office block was the most suitable, safe, and affordable accommodation. After all legal prescripts were followed, approval was granted to the Office of the Premier to occupy the new premises. 

Relocating to the new offices is by no means a deviation from the mandate by the Office of the Premier of serving and improving the lives of the people of this Province. I and the entire staff remain committed to the vision that has been set for this Province and to continue to serve the people of the Northern Cape. The OTP welcomes all members of the public and interested parties to visit us at our new office space, which is situated at 69 Memorial Road, DSC Office Block, Monument Heights, Kimberley.

Released by the Office of the Premier

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The Provincial Command Council met this past weekend to take stock and evaluate the impact of the measures undertaken by Provincial Government to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. Although COVID-19 is essentially a health pandemic, it has a significant social and economic impact that goes beyond the public health system. The Council also noted the latest announcements made by the President as the country prepares to enter a level four lockdown of fighting the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Covid-19 response plan of the Province is based on providing a Complete Health Response, ensuring Food Security, putting in place Enforcement and Compliance Measures and Mobilising Sectors so as to have a Social Solidarity Partnership as well as providing water, soap and sanitisers to hotspot areas.

The Province awaits plans from the National Command Council in order for the Provincial Command Council to adopt the Provincial Economic Response Plan. The detail thereof will be discussed in the next Provincial Command Council.
To this end, specific strategies are being implemented in each of these response areas.

Health

In response to Government’s call for mass screening, testing of those that show signs and symptoms of Covid-19, and tracing contacts of any positive patients, the province has to date screened over 388 076 people for Covid-19. This screening took the form of screening of people at health facilities and roadblocks during the first few weeks and has now progressed to a mass screening programme in the community, in all districts.

The province has sent over 895 swab samples for laboratory testing by the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS). These laboratory tests have currently resulted in a total of 17 Covid-19 positive cases being identified in the Northern Cape.

Food security Response

Since the lockdown, we have worked with various social partners to provide food relief to 25 555 households, reaching about 125 000 people. On average, we distribute food packages to approximately 1500 households per day. The distribution of food parcels will continue this week in all 5 Districts.
The following is the criteria for food relief:

• Zero income households, who are verified and confirmed by social workers;
• The homeless;
• The sickly;
• Child headed households
• Service users of Soup Kitchens and Nutrition Centres, and
• The Department of Social Development identied users informed by municipal indigent list.

Various donors have so far generously given food and other essential goods to ensure that we continue providing relief to the poor and vulnerable. We continue providing homeless people with temporary shelter, food and sanitizers.

We would like to thank all business people, NPO’s and NGO’s who are working with us to provide more food relief to needy families. We are calling for more donations to meet the growing food security needs of our communities.

Enforcement of compliance measures

The Northern Cape Provincial Government welcomes the arrest of over 6 000 people in the Province since the lockdown for contravening the National Disaster management Act regulations.  Non-compliance with the regulations ranged from failure to confine to places of residence, operating businesses without a permit, selling of cigarettes, liquor or transportation of liquor during the lockdown period to non-compliance by taxis in terms of operating hours.

I therefore wish to thank our law abiding citizens for providing invaluable information to law enforcers about defaulters of the regulations. I also wish to thank members of the SAPS, SANDF and Traffic officers for their commitment in ensuring that there is compliance with the regulations. Our law enforcement and security agencies continue to enforce regulations and undertake anti-crime operations.

We also applaud the SAPS for ensuring zero tolerance to all crimes during this time and commend them for the successful arrest of a suspect for the alleged rape of an 82 year old woman from Noupoort earlier this month. The suspect has already appeared in court.

Water and Sanitation

To date as Government we have delivered 668 and installed 379 storage tanks. There is a daily increase in the delivery numbers in terms of storage tanks as well as hygiene products such as soap and sanitisers.

On the 26th anniversary of our freedom, we want to call on our people to work together in the fight against COVID-19, just as we stood together in the fight against Apartheid and Colonial subjugation. We wish to thank all workers engaged in essential services, who continue to give their all since we started our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We wish to reiterate the call to all Northern Cape residents to play their part in the national efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

We urge everyone to abide by the golden rules:

• Wear a cloth face mask when in public places, especially crowded places.
• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for 20 seconds, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a flexed elbow or a tissue, then throw the tissue in the bin immediately
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
• Create a hygienic home, travel and work environment by cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Released by the Provincial COVID19 Command Council
Enquiries:
Bronwyn Thomas-Abrahams, Spokesperson to the Premier, 083 447 6586, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." ' + path + '\'' + prefix + ':' + addy7322 + '\'>'+addy_text7322+'<\/a>'; //-->
Monwabisi Nkompela, Head of Provincial Communications, 071 109 2776, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." ' + path + '\'' + prefix + ':' + addy69257 + '\'>'+addy_text69257+'<\/a>'; //-->
Lebogang Majaha, Spokesperson to the MEC for Health, 071 883 6404, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." ' + path + '\'' + prefix + ':' + addy81403 + '\'>'+addy_text81403+'<\/a>'; //-->
Marius Nagel, Provincial Head of GCIS, 083 778 9179, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." ' + path + '\'' + prefix + ':' + addy79767 + '\'>'+addy_text79767+'<\/a>'; //-->
 

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Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen

Background

As you are aware by now, the Department of Health, for the past two months has seen and experienced the most devastating protest action in recent times. This state of affairs is most unfortunate and regrettable and as we stated on numerous times we condemn these acts of violence and intimidation in the strongest of terms. We have also on several occasions stated that we acknowledge the right of labour to demonstrate and raise matters of concern to them. However these must be done in a safe, responsible and appropriate manner.

What we have seen - the reckless and dangerous manner in which grievances was and continue to be raised, has now escalated into violence, damage to property and reckless endangerment. This we cannot, and will not tolerate. All acts of criminality and intimidation will be dealt with accordingly. This is in no way a means to scare employees participating in these acts, but we as government, employees and civil society, have a responsibility to uphold the law and order and also to respect the rights of every citizen in this country.

I have said it before and I wish to reiterate, that the problems and issues raised cannot be solved overnight. We are committed to deal with all the issues and to do justice to the process; we need time to deal with the issues in a systematic and thorough manner. To resort to guerrilla tactics when things do not favour you is not creating an environment conducive for negotiation. If we share the same goals and if we are genuine in our collective concern for the wellbeing of the institution and the people we serve, we need to work together and in a spirit of cooperation and trust.

The situation at Health has a long history and I want to start off by giving you a brief background. The former MEC for Health, Mr Mac Jack had concerns, very serious concerns relating to maladministration, fraud and corruption at the Department of Health. This prompted him to establish an internal task team in 2015 to investigate these irregularities. The terms of reference of the task team were clear and the scope of their investigation was to investigate and report on their findings.

Reports and allegations of fraud and corruption were made by trade unions, employees, service providers and the general public. The seriousness to which MEC Jack viewed these allegations was demonstrated when he called in the Hawks to a meeting and agreed to ground rules for a collaborative approach. The process was kick-started with interviews with staff and company representatives. Written submissions were received from potential witnesses and a review of finance and supply chain documentation.

The team also reviewed all service providers through CIPRO to identify fraudulent and ghost companies. Site inspections were carried out to review progress on capital projects and the procurement of equipment. A summary of the findings were submitted to the Executive and handed over to Labour Relations for further action.

The Province collaborated with National Department of Health and forensic investigators and labour relations experts were deployed to assist with the investigations. Over a six month period the task team spent a number of hours on interviews, analysing evidence, researching information and travelling to health care facilities. A large amount of submissions, transactions, witness statements and invoices were analysed and similarly a large number of interviews were conducted.

Findings

Allegations have been made by the unions previously that officials are on suspension for months now without any action being taken against them and therefore they require these members to return to work. The opposite is however true.  I will now give you a brief run-down of the findings of the task team. Please bear in mind that these are the findings presented by the task team and covers only the scope of their mandate.

The team uncovered a web of fraud and corruption, including intentional and systematic flaunting of supply chain and procurement processes and prescripts.

Employees and service providers submitted testimonies of rampant kickbacks demanded by senior and junior personnel. The level of alleged fraud uncovered is estimated at a staggering Four Hundred Million Rand. More shocking is the announcement at a meeting last month with the Hawks and `National Treasury that the values in question were confirmed to be in excess of Five Hundred Million Rand.

Further findings of the team include and are not confined to amongst others:

• Falsification of documents
• Price fixing through collusive corruption.
• Quotation forgery, VAT and income tax fraud.
• Circumvention of Open Bid and Tender Processes. In many instances the contract value was just under Five Hundred Thousand Rand to avoid going on tender.
• Overriding Internal Controls.
• Exploitation of the Sundry Payment System.
• Extreme flouting of SCM Processes.
• Fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
• Unauthorized and/or irregular expenditure, and
• Conflicts of interest and non-declaration thereof.

Upon release of the findings the Head of Department was requested to issue precautionary suspensions to a number of staff implicated in alleged wrongdoing. These included:

• Three Chief Directors
• Two District Managers
• Two deputy Directors
• One Assistant Director
• Four Senior Administrative Officers, and
• One Administrative Officer.

Precautionary transfers of a Senior Administrative Officer, an Administrative Officer and a Clerk were also affected.

To demonstrate the seriousness with which the matter is being treated the following outcomes were affected after subjecting fingered employees to disciplinary processes:

• Human Resource Development Assistant Director was found guilty and dismissed.
• Deputy Director Finance: Guilty on 96 charges. Dismissed.
• One Chief Director found guilty on 26 charges and awaiting sanction. Another Chief Director who was on contract was relieved of his duties and the contract was terminated. A third Chief Director’s hearing was delayed due to a failed challenge of suspension and challenge with the appointed Chairperson of the Hearing. The matter is with the Labour Court.
• One District Manager has been found not guilty but found to be negligent in performing duties and is back at work. The matter has however been referred for external investigation. Another District Manager’ hearing is currently underway.
• A Senior Administrative Officer found guilty and we are awaiting sanction.
• All other matters not dealt with yet will be concluded once all processes have been finalised.

Intervention team

In June this year I deployed a group of officials to serve as an intervention team that would stabilise the Department and set it on course to function as an effective institution geared towards providing quality health services. This team has been met with challenges and resistance from the union formations.  In their short stay at the Department this intervention team has managed to a great degree to ensure efficiencies of resources and regularise especially the procurement processes and are looking at ways to reduce the contractual obligations in order to make for more cost saving expenditure. The current impasse however has warranted us to review the process and to this end we have resolved the following:

1. The intervention team was deployed to the Department of health with the specific and direct mandate as to their scope of work and will thus continue with their work.
2. As alluded, the verdicts and outcomes of some of the cases have been decided and officials that have been found not guilty have been advised to return to work. Other cases of officials still on suspension are in the process of being finalised.
3. The findings of the task team are compelling me as the Premier to instruct the Provincial Treasury to institute a section 18 intervention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). A Section 18 intervention of the PFMA requires the Provincial Treasury to exercise control over the implementation of provincial budgets and to assist departments in building their capacity for efficient, effective and transparent financial management.
4. Lastly, in consultation and in agreement with the current Head of Department, we have decided that we will redeploy her elsewhere in the administration and appoint a caretaker Head of Department that will work with the entire management team as well as a turnaround team until we are satisfied that the Department of Health is functioning the way it should.

We have made that concession and it’s a demonstration of our willingness to negotiate in good faith. This however is no reflection on the capabilities, character and leadership of the HOD. Like any responsible official and true leader, the HOD requested to be released in order for the work to continue and so ensure that we serve those we are constitutionally and morally obligated to serve. I wish to offer my thanks and gratitude to Ms. Botes for the work done in her very short stay at Health.

I want to conclude by stating that resolving the issues at the Department will depend on all stakeholders. Both the Department and the labour formations need to recommit themselves to mend relationships and work together for the greater good. We call on NEHAWU to act with restraint and with respect for the rights of their colleagues and those they serve. This Government remains focused on delivering on the mandate of health services and a normalised situation is needed now to ensure that all centres of health can be conducive for the provision of health services.

Thank you

Released jointly by the Northern Cape Provincial Government