Dying diggers of Namaqualand need saving
| by Adv Boitumelo Babuseng, MPL – DA Provincial Spokesperson for Economic Development |
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| Date: 18 July 2019 |
| Release: Immediate |
| Note to editors: The following is an extract of the press briefing done this morning by the DA’s provincial spokesperson for Finance, Economic Development & Tourism, Adv. Boitumelo Babuseng. He was accompanied by the DA’s Provincial Leader, Andrew Louw MPL. Find attached photographs here and here, and a soundbite in English from Adv. Babuseng here.The Democratic Alliance in the Northern Cape agrees with Premier, Dr. Zamani Saul, that new brooms must sweep clean the dust of corruption from the Northern Cape. We want to help him honour his commitment that public funds will be spent to benefit the public, not the politicians.We therefore urge him to appoint independent forensic investigators to investigate the latest scandal surrounding the Kimberley Diamond Cup. Instead of shining bright with opportunities, the Kimberley Diamond Cup has now been reduced to the coal dust of dirty deals. Killing the corruption that has skated out of control with the Kimberley Diamond Cup is one of the fastest ways to ramp up economic growth in the Northern Cape and will send a very strong message that, this time around, government will walk the talk on its promises.As was announced by the Northern Cape Department of Economic Development & Tourism a few hours after we sent our media advisory about the Kimberley Diamond Cup yesterday, we know that the premier is set to launch the festival this weekend. But he can only go ahead with this launch if he is willing to be a blesser of the corrupt, a lord of the looters and a protector of the predators who prey on the public purse at the expense of the poorest of the poor.The latest service providers appointed by the Department of Economic Development & Tourism for the management of this mega-event are merely part of an ongoing conveyer belt of corrupt cadres deployed to build a patronage network for the political elite. Serious violation of tender processes shows the desire to benefit only pre-identified people from a select circle of political tenderpreneurs through an event meant to build the brand of the Northern Cape and destined to expand opportunities for local entrepreneurs in the broader community. This is the latest repetition of a pattern of non-compliance from the department, where events have become nothing more than an excuse to loot and where true economic growth is lost.Firstly, the company which will supposedly “power” the Kimberley Diamond Cup, namely FISE Africa, has only been registered with CIPC since the 30th of May 2019. Its sole director is Komalin Packirisamy, who is the brother of the department’s chief financial officer, Kuberin Packirisamy. In his capacity as CFO, Kuberin Packirisamy is the chairperson of the department’s bid adjudication committee. To have his brother’s company “power” one of the provincial high impact projects goes against the grain of all ethics and common sense. And we have attached hereto screenshots from the CIPC database here, here and here, because we too could not believe the extent of the rot that has set in.The rot deepens when comparing physical addresses on the CIPC database. FISE Africa shares the same address with the successful bidder, HRA Trading (Pty) Ltd, which creates the undeniable impression of corruptive collusion in the tender processes. We were reliably informed that the directors of HRA Trading are also close associates of the department’s CFO, which would come as no surprise if one considers his past behaviour in connection with the Kimberley Diamond Cup.Neither company qualifies on merits to host this mega-event. In terms of the department’s eligibility requirements stated in its Terms of Reference for the Kimberley Diamond Cup Skateboarding Project and Event Management Services, HRA Trading is ineligible as it does not have “verifiable experience of managing mega events and action sports development programmes to promote tourism and economic development for the benefit of communities”. They lack the experience in events management, branding and event logistics, facilities management, skills development as well as sports development which will ensure that the department, and by extension the government, meet its mandates of creating jobs and opportunities for the local youth, artists, and SMMEs.To the contrary, it is clear that FISE Africa, HRA Trading and co. will benefit only due to a different type of experience. As the accompanying photograph shows, for example, HRA Trading trucks were parked next to ANC trailers at their communal address in Kimdustria earlier this week. The branded materials clearly calls voters to cast their votes for the ANC on the 8th of May 2019. We can draw our own conclusions from the fact that the winning bid for HRA Trading was announced just 9 days later on the 17th of May 2019, with FISE Africa being registered only at the end of May 2019.HRA Trading, in turn, has only been registered with CIPC since 2015 and also has no strong record of events management. It received little over R3.7 million from the Education, Training & Development Practices SETA in 2017 for the hosting of a one-day event. But R3.7 million for an event lasting a single day is a far cry from a multi-year commitment stretching the provincial budget beyond R90 million and which must include, as per the department’s bidding documents, a welcome function, musical concerts and fan competitions.It is also a far cry from being able to ensure that the Kimberley Diamond Cup becomes a qualifying event for the Olympics, as required by the department’s call for proposals.Indeed, HRA Trading (Pty) Ltd does not even have a website of its own and its digital footprint is so small as to be non-existent! Why then would such a small, insignificant entity possibly be appointed to manage one of the high impact projects of the province?We can also draw our own conclusions from the fact that it is no longer the service provider who does the media arrangements for the launch of the event, but instead the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development & Tourism. Government, not HRA Trading, announced in the hours after our press conference was announced that Dr. Saul would be launching the Kimberley Diamond Cup this weekend. Government invited the media, not the service provider it appointed to undertake this work.The more one looks at the manner in which laws and regulations were broken to promote a corruptive collusion, the more questions arise which must be answered by an independent forensic investigation.Aside from the fact that neither FISE Africa nor HRA Trading have verifiable records, the tender process itself broke supply chain management laws.While the bid was first gazetted in January 2018, with a closing date in June 2018, the bid itself was only awarded a full 336 days after the closing of the tender validity period. When a tender validity period lapses, the tender should be re-advertised for the transparency and fairness required by the Constitution, the Public Finance Management Act and departmental policies. This was not done.While the investigation into this latest scandal unfolds, Kuberin Packirisamy must be suspended so that he cannot interfere with the investigation.We are not seeking to cast aspersions on individuals, but we cannot ignore the fact that the Kimberley Diamond Cup in all its forms has always been under clouds of corruption. Nor can we allow that a corruptive collusion simply skates away with taxpayers’ money stuffed in their back pockets. |
| Media Enquiries |
| Adv Boitumelo Babuseng, MPLDA Provincial Spokesperson for Economic Development082 302 2117 Tharina WhittakerResearcher071 251 5558 |
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