Mokonyane slams govt wastage

2009-11-12 20:06

Johannesburg - Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane on Thursday criticised a lack of service delivery and wastage in the province.

Mokonyane said that half of the province's R58bn budget was geared towards services such as education and health.

"What are we getting?" she asked, answering: "Long queues, people sleeping under trees, misdiagnosis, teachers missing class."

Mokonyane said that services had to be delivered efficiently and more accountability had to be expected.

"It's not an unfair dismissal for a teacher who is only spending three-and-a-half hours in a class," she said.

Attacking corruption, Mokonyane said businesses offering bribes should be held to account.

"When you talk of corruption, there is a corrupter and a corruptee. Lead us not into temptation."

During a media briefing, Mokonyane told reporters that the government was nearing complete payment to the service providers to which it had been in arrears.

She said R1.6bn had been paid to them in the past several months. This represented 92% of the payments that were late.
 

- SAPA