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KZN Prime Minister Sihle Zikalala and Finance MEC Ravi Pillay on Thursday’s release of the province’s Covid-19 spending tracking report. (Photo: Des Erasmus)
Emphasizing that the KwaZulu-Natal government “ had not been pressured ” to do so, Prime Minister Sihle Zikalala, who has shown enthusiasm for tackling the Covid-19 looting scandal that has affected almost every province The country released details of business owners who received contracts from the province to supply equipment or services as part of the Covid-19 response on Thursday.
The 16-page report, which included identification numbers, was a “follow-up” to the KZN Covid-19 Acquisition Disclosure Report released on August 13, he told a handful of journalists at a news conference in Durban.
The province had spent R2,108,124,944.28 on its Covid-19 response and management as of Aug. 28, Zikalala said.
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In a week dominated by racial issues, when the Democratic Alliance announced that it had chosen to stop using race or gender as a determining factor in its economic policies, Zikalala broke down the province’s Covid-19 spending providers by race, gender and those. that were owned by young people.
According to the report, Black-owned companies accounted for 38.43% (R810,226,863.37) of Covid-19 spending.
Indian-owned companies accounted for 29.52% (R622,257,433.22).
The report said 26.95% was spent “on service providers listed in the Central Provider Database as owned by companies whose details were not immediately available.” Many of these were well established, Zikalala said. Others were “recognized institutions” such as the SABC and the “Independent Newspapers.”
White-owned businesses accounted for 1.80% (R37,920,307.86) of spending; Color companies for 0.51% (R10,802,091.29) and Asian-owned companies for 0.46% (R9,778,600.20)
Companies with mixed racial profiles represented 1.49% (R31,362,118.74). Companies without ownership data registered in the Central Database of Suppliers represented 0.84% (R17 701 937.02).
The report said that 33% of the total spending went to providers that are 50% or more owned by women. Fifteen percent was spent on businesses 50% or more owned by youth.
Those hoping for a “name and shame” report are sure to be disappointed with the latest release from Zikalala, which boasts of increasing transparency in the province.
The prime minister did not mention any company that is being investigated by his office, the provincial treasury or any provincial department, on possible irregularities in spending, including the provision of personal protective equipment and carrying out construction works, such as improvements in hospitals.
However, the SIU has previously confirmed with Daily maverick which is investigating PPE contracts from the provincial education department valued at R492.6 million. It is also investigating the purchase of blankets from KZN’s Social Development Department (DSD) for R 22.4 million, and another 18 contracts at DSD for PPE, valued at R 21.2 million.
Zikalala did not mention them.
However, it did provide some trivia: Four companies could not be found in the Central Supply Database: Bellanova (R3,875,000.00), Contichem Stanger (awarded R2,520), Dr. Mohamed (R720), and Dischem (R480).
As KZN Finance MEC Ravi Pillay explained in the briefing, in Dischem’s case, it was probably a petty cash purchase, whereas Dr Mohamed could have been a doctor’s visit.
Three companies registered in March had been identified, according to the report: Aramaya (R82,380), Khanyisele Agency (R1.7 million) and Ntandoyenkosi Holdings (R67,448), and were being investigated.
Zikalala said she did not want to “mention the companies (state their names),” even though they are listed in the reports.
He and Pillay both played cautiously, saying they didn’t want to “get ahead” or make accusations against those listed. Pillay called the report “part of the first stage of a transparency exercise.”
Zikalala said her office so far could not provide the same details for municipalities as for provincial contracts. This is because “the reporting format and applicable IT systems are different.” It was a work in progress, he added.
KZN municipalities incurred R925,271,000 in Covid-19 expenses.
Zikalala said that if something was found to be “unfavorable” in the award of any of the contracts, the province “would not hesitate to act decisively.”
Pillay disagreed with Daily maverick asking Zikalala about previous reports on corruption – the Ngubane and Manase reports – that had fallen by the wayside, and what commitments there would be to ensure this did not happen with the Covid-19 reports.
The Ngubane and Manase reports were based on investigations in the province’s only metro: eThekwini.
While these would not be strictly within the purview of the prime minister’s office, Zikalala is aware of them and, as part of the ANC’s provincial leadership for years, would have contributed to any action by the cadres involved in it.
Animated Pillay Daily maverick Be “fair” and “reasonable” with your questions, and focus on the “particular” report being submitted. Pillay said it was the Cogta MEC’s responsibility to answer questions about older reports, but said “action has been taken there.”
In 2017, this journalist asked the then-new mayor of eThekwini, Zandile Gumede, if, for the sake of transparency, he would consider reviving and taking action on the recommendations made in the 7,050-page Manase report.
The report revealed serious allegations of fraud and corruption within the city that included illegal staff appointments, fraud within the metro police, irregularities in supply chain management, non-disclosure by councilors and officials of their interests. commercial, abuse of overtime and expense claims, abuse of statutes to promote emergency bids and irregularities in the planning office.
Gumede said it was not part of what he wanted to leave as his “legacy”, that the report “was gone” and that he wanted to start his administration anew. The now-former mayor and MPL appeared in Durban’s Business Crimes Court on Thursday in her ongoing corruption case.
Zandile Gumede’s graft case postponed to accommodate 350,000 page audit report
Covid spending in South Africa has come under scrutiny across provinces since it was revealed that providers with political connections, and those with no experience in sourcing or supplying PPE and other needs, had been awarded multi-million dollar contracts to do just that, and in many cases it had failed. DM
