/ 5 April 2013

Editorial: ‘Time to eat’ in Limpopo?

'The ANC probably has the greatest potential to achieve the greatest good for the country at this given point in time.'
'The ANC probably has the greatest potential to achieve the greatest good for the country at this given point in time.'

The unconstitutional decision by the ANC's interim leadership in Limpopo to refer the allocation of all tenders to the party's provincial headquarters is a classic example of how the ANC fails to differentiate between state and party.

It is the job of state officials, properly qualified and acting in line with approved processes, to make the allocations. The process may have fallen apart in Limpopo – and fallen victim to corruption – but ANC party ­functionaries are unlikely to be properly qualified to make such decisions and they certainly aren't the legally constituted authority tasked to do so.

It is true that some ANC leaders like to interfere with government affairs from time to time. But it is a totally new development that the party should decide to take over the responsibilities of state bodies. What is more ­worrisome, though, is that the Limpopo interim leadership seems to be more concerned about the allocation of tenders than the pressing issue of service delivery in the impoverished province. This is where textbooks were delivered extremely late, causing countrywide outrage, and five government departments were put under administration as a result of financial mismanagement by the administration of Premier Cassel Mathale.

We agree that Mathale and some of his MECs, particularly provincial education MEC Dickson Masemola, should lose their jobs immediately. But we cannot condone a situation in which a political party interferes in the exercise of state functions. If the ANC feels so strongly that the Mathale administration cannot be trusted to manage the tendering process properly, why not give this responsibility to the national treasury?

What is even more shocking is that the decision was endorsed by senior ANC and government leaders, such as Ruth Bhengu, who heads the ANC national executive committee deployees to the province, and Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi.

We wonder how this unpopular decision is going to benefit the people of Limpopo, the vast majority of whom are still trapped in abject poverty. Or is this another case of "it is now our time to eat" – this time to the advantage of the anti-Mathale faction, most of whom were excluded by that provincial government from acquiring lucrative tenders?

Luthuli House has not uttered a word of caution about this unfortunate move, which could lead to another round of looting state resources.