Health department ripped apart in Bhisho

The Eastern Cape Health department is being ripped apart in the Legislature today with the African People Convention’s Zingisa Mkabile saying that spending R1,5 million of the audio-visual promotion material is typical of MEC Nomsa Jajula.

“She has an appetite to spend on things that are not vital like the refurbishment of the whole floor where her office is – yet there is a shortage of everything in her department.”

And, he said: “The ruling party remains quiet”.

Earlier UDM leader Mhlati recalled the death of a child at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha saying the family could not access the file to find out why the child had died – “this was a black child who had suffered at the hands of a black government,” he said.

DA Health spokesman Athol Trollip also waded in saying with regard to the deaths of more than 100 babies at Ukhahlamba that his party would obtain the report handed to national minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang through the Promotion of Access to Information Act and lay “criminal charges of negligence” against those responsible.

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Six hours in Bhisho ...

Imagine – six hours of debate in the Bhisho Legislature this afternoon.

That, in theory means that Legislature will only complete the day’s work some time after 8pm tonight although the smart money says it will be sometime between 6 and 7pm as MPLs start to tire and cut down on the time spent delivering reports and making speeches.

First up is the debate on the Policy Speech of the Premier for which two hours and 26 minutes have been allocated with Premier Nosimo Balindlela accounting for 30 of those and other speakers from the ANC another 24.

Once that’s over then Agriculture, Economic Development and Environmental Affairs and Education each get 91 minutes and we’re off home.

Fortunately there’s grub on offer and tea and coffee - but none of the strong stuff that one would have thought a sine qua non for a six-hour stretch without the option of a fine!

Eastern Cape backs floor-crossing law repeal

All parties in the Bhisho Legislature this morning supported repeal of crossing-the floor legislation.

All the nine provincial legislatures must express their view on the matter ahead of the tabling of the Constitutional Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendment bills that scrap the legislation at national and provincial and municipal level respectively.

Deputy-Speaker Gloria Barry told the Legislature that the Rules Committee had met and discussed the proposed measures and supported them.

DA leader Athol Trollip said the crossing-the floor legislation had been “bad” especially as the electoral system in South Africa was that of proportional representation (PR) at national and provincial level, although he acknowledged that the DA had supported it at the time.

In doing so, he said, “we undermined the democratic wishes of the people of South Africa” and had led to greed and “massive opportunism” with people being offered financial inducements.

“Cheque book politics became the hallmark in South Africa”.

The United Democratic Movement’s Masiza Mhlati said that “at last” his party’s view had been respected saying the legislation had favoured those who “wanted to fill their stomachs at the benefit of the people”.

He said the ANC had been the main beneficiary.

He pointed out that the legislation had led to the creation of single-person parties that had disappeared at the next election.

The ANC’s Neela Hoosain noted that it was the then Democratic Party that had initiated the floor crossing legislation, adding that the ANC had wanted the provision that 10% of a party was required to support any crossing the floor in order to prevent the creation of a “plethora of small parties”.

What had actually happened, she said, was that “the identity of parties had been diluted”.

She said people should be encouraged to identify with the party of their choice but that this should be based on “ethics”.