A R499 million well being facility is shutting down in Carletonville, Gauteng. The price of the AngloGold Ashanti covid area hospital ballooned from the preliminary R50 million to R588 million after the refurbishment plan was became an improve for a 175-bed hospital.
After spending R499 million of the R588 million and treating solely 147 sufferers, the Gauteng well being division is shutting it down. And sure, the Particular Investigating Unit (SIU) has been trying into the matter and quite a few officers are being investigated.
The saddest a part of this corruption story will not be that it occurred through the Covid pandemic, it’s that South Africans are shocked that such issues nonetheless occur.
The floods which have brought about a lot destruction in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have prompted authorities, beginning with Treasury, to launch emergency funds to cope with the humanitarian disaster. In addition to meals and shelter, there are extra pressing wants for some households: getting ready to bury family members whereas they don’t actually have a roof over their heads.
Whereas coping with such fragility, the nation should additionally cope with the chance that the funds earmarked for this aid effort will certainly be focused by those that have made it their speciality to swindle authorities funds.
In an pointless drive to stay related, the general public protector’s workplace was among the many first respondents to be bodily on the bottom in KZN, ostensibly to “defend” the general public from actions that haven’t occurred but.
It’s tough to fault the protector, although, as a result of the blatant stealing of public funds Tuesday 12 19 April 2022 has reached such horrifying ranges it’s now an accepted a part of authorities service supply.
It has been advised {that a} non-public entity be set as much as deal particularly with authorities funds for a disaster. That’s commendable however not sufficient. The AngloGold Ashanti area hospital alleged looting of funds is a transparent indication that good intentions alone is not going to be sufficient to cease the vultures that loot amid folks’s ache.
The R499 million spent on the hospital that was inaccessible to communities occurred through the revelations in regards to the private protecting gear (PPE) scandal. The hyenas weren’t deterred by the small matter of the president declaring warfare on corruption.
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The “new daybreak” promised by President Cyril Ramaphosa should begin taking some form of form now, even when solely to discover a totally new means of disbursing public funds. It’s disappointing that even in the direction of the tip of his time period in workplace – probably one in every of two – the president has not impressed sufficient on his comrades that the cash misplaced to looting is a loss the general public suffers because it isn’t spent productively.
Proper now, the entire nation must be centered on the large humanitarian effort that KZN must get some semblance of normality again. However the focus has shifted to “how one can cease the theft of aid funds”, earlier than it even occurs.
The nation must be specializing in flood-proofing KZN to make sure minimal lack of life and property, ought to floods occur sooner or later.
The president bought the nation the dream of decreased corruption in authorities. It isn’t sufficient to prosecute a couple of after the cash is gone, the cash should get to these it’s meant for within the first place.