CONGRESS OF THE PEOPLE NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE OFFICE OF THE LEADER OF THE OFFICIAL OPPOSITION DATE: 16 JULY 2013 PRESS RELEASE: PREMIER MUST INVESTIGATE TSANTSABANE SOCIAL AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM Statement by Fred Wyngaard, leader of COPE in the Northern Cape Cope has been vindicated by the reports on the Tsantsabane Social and Local Development Forum, which shows that R1.8 million was disbursed to the ANCWL-affiliated Helen Joseph Trust for the purchase of shoes and sanitary pads to children in impoverished areas. The project has been approved in November 2011, but it has now surfaced that items were only distributed in May 2012 after COPE raised the issue in the media and questioned the involvement of former acting premier Crizelda Cjiekella. When the announcement was made that Sylvia Lucas would be appointed as premier, COPE questioned if she would have the ability and courage to investigate wrongdoings by her ANCWL-colleagues. We asked if she would have the integrity to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by the former acting premier Grizelda Cjiekella, who is alleged to have absconded with more than R1 million that was earmarked for shoes and sanitary pads to school children in impoverished areas. Now that more allegations have surfaced that implicates members of the ANC in the Legislature, it is important for the premier to act if she wants to be seen as a serious premier. Until now, the premier has followed an ostrich approach when it comes to corruption, maladministration and mismanagement in the provincial administration. She simply sticks her head in the sand and refuses to acknowledge that corruption is taking a heavy toll on service delivery in the province. We have written a question to the premier in terms of Rule 212 of the Rules of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature today, insisting that the premier must investigate the matter and must provide answers to our questions. We want to know, firstly, why the money was channelled through the ANCWL-affiliated Helen Joseph Trust? The Helen Joseph Trust does not sell either shoes or sanitary pads. Why did the Tsantsabane Forum not go directly to a service provider like PicknPay or Pep Stores? We are sceptical about reports that shoes and sanitary pads have been distributed. We want to know which schools received shoes and sanitary pads and when the delivery was made. We also expect that the former acting premier Cjiekella will apologise for statements issued by her office following the request that premier Lucas must investigate the allegations. Now that the truth has come to light, we trust that she will do the decent thing and humbly apologise for the reckless statements made by her office. Issued by: Hon. F. Wyngaard (MPL) Leader of the Official Opposition Congress of the People Northern Cape Legislature 16 July 2013 Enq: F. Wyngaard Tel: 0847643802 END Distributed by COPE MEDIA Congress of the People 6th Floor, Metropolitan Building 108 Fox Street, Marshalltown Johannesburg Email: copemedia2014@gmail Facebook: https://facebook/CopeFB Twitter: @MyCOPE
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 12:48:42 +0000
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