‘It’s endemic’: Eastern Cape premier vows to tackle corruption

Fresh off of controversy surrounding the infamous R10 million scooter contract, The Eastern Cape’s Premier Oscar Mabuyane has come out swinging against corruption, particularly emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mabuyane gave an update on his province’s response to the coronavirus on Tuesday, 28 July 2020.

“The system must be transparent. We are in a constitutional democracy and it’s important that we appreciate transparency. We appreciate accountability, we appreciate responsibility. Everyone who does something wrong must know that down the line, you will be held accountable”, Mabuyane said.

Mabuyane: ‘People must be held accountable’

“I’ve said that to all HODs (Head of Departments) and accounting officers, that they must look at blind spots. No one must leave anything to chance because they will be held accountable”

Corruption has become a common theme recently, as the country navigates the economic hurdles spurred by the lockdown and more allegations surfacing.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Sunday, 26 July 2020, that he had signed a proclamation to empower the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to look into the extent of allegations of fraud and corruption, in the wake of the pandemic.

It also comes as his own spokesperson, Khusela Diko, opted to take a leave of absence after being ironically implicated in a tender scandal over the provision of PPEs.

The province’s health MEC Sindiswa Gomba came under fire for the controversial project, which health minister Zweli Mkhize said do not meet the basic criteria for patient transport as an ambulance.

“We need those motorbikes for distribution of medicine for our people in the rural areas, but it cannot be done if the tender is wrong. That is why we are looking at that”

‘We’ve witnessed steady increases’

The Eastern Cape has recorded 74 231 cases of the coronavirus, making it the province with the third highest number of cases, as of Tuesday, 28 July 2020.

7,096 infections have also been recorded in a 24 hour cycle – the lowest in weeks – bringing the total number of cases to 452 529.

The premier said July had been a mixed bag of successes and setbacks in our fight against the pandemic.

“It is a month where we had a steady increase of 2000 cases per day. But we also had a slow burn rate in the last two weeks of this month”, he said.

Mabuyane said they had invested more than R2 billion from their adjusted budget to the Department of Health.