Thank you, House Chair. Minister, I am very disappointed at your response. It is very clear, even Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has said, this country; provincial, local and national loses over R200 billion a year in this country. Now the question is, what the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs is doing to mitigate or putting measures in place so that this corruption that is taking place particularly with fraud in tenders' not getting value for money in all spheres of government?
It is the responsibility of the Department of Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. I know that the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs is a toothless body nationally when it comes to issues dealing with the provinces and locally because you cannot do anything about it, Minister, provincial tell national, don't interfere, this is a provincial mandate.
Now the question is, what measures are you putting in place to mitigate, to stop this level of looting in all spheres of government so that we get value for money and take that extra R200 billion and put it into the delivery of services in the country? [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF CO-OPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL
AFFAIRS: Thank you. As the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, earlier I talk about how we are trying to work as a government, not as distinct spheres. I said that this way of working at a district level will also introduce transparency because if we all have one plan, one budget, and we know who is supposed to do what and when, that will introduce a level of accountability because everybody will know what the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs is supposed to do in these districts.
Everybody will know how much money is supposed to be spent on that project and when it is supposed to be done. So, obviously if there is a school or a bridge or municipal offices to be built and they are not built, the
money is disappearing, we will all know and we will take action in this one plan one budget.
But I am talking about as things stands today. That's why we have said, we have learned lessons from the past 25 years of working in an uncoordinated, non-integrated, non-cooperative way. That's why now we are introducing that. That's why we are piloting that so that indeed everyone can be accountable both for implementing but also for the resources that are being spent.
But it's also for the same reason that the Auditor- General introduce the amendment so that he can actually give a certificate of debts to the person who has done wrong and the debts be collected. So, there are measures. There are measures that we are taking in terms of co- operative governance so that we stop this thing of saying no this is national spheres, this is provincial sphere and this is local. That's precisely why the District Development Model is being piloted so that we can all have sight on what is supposed to happen in every district in this country by who and for how much. So, we
are doing that because we have recognised the weaknesses that were there. Thank you.