Extracts from my speech in the National Assembly Debate on Budget Vote no 1: The Presidency ============================ … We have taken note of Government’s decision to name and shame people who are found guilty of corruption. I would like to join this campaign by sharing with the Nation the negative effect of political directives on government tenders, which create a breeding ground for corruption. You will recall that political directives gave birth to the controversial Arms Deal and other related transactions. For instance, in January this year, Minister Pule received and together with her senior officials from the Department of Communications and Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA), approved a half a billion Rand application from Cell C for the rollout of broadband infrastructure at eMalahleni Local Municipality. Shockingly, this application was approved without being subjected to the normal adjudication process as required by Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005. … Close scrutiny of the first phase of the project reveals an interesting statistic, that is, 23 out of these 33 sites are in KwaZulu-Natal, while only 8 are in Mpumalanga and 2 in the North West Province. … Conspicuous in this broadband infrastructure rollout programme is the absence of plans for other Provinces. This leaves the children of other Provinces have to fend for themselves in order to get access to computer laboratories with internet connection. We therefore demand that your Government publishes the infrastructure map - with identified areas, kinds of infrastructure (especially broadband) and timelines - so that South Africans can see where this infrastructure development is happening. I thank you. Full speech available on udm.org.za
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:10:53 +0000
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