- North West Premier Job Mokgoro has lashed out at a parliamentary committee overseeing the national government's intervention in the province.
- Mokgoro was upset when a community group aired their views about problems in the office.
- According to Mokgoro, he and his officials should have been informed that communities would also address the committee.
North West Premier Job Mokgoro has lashed out at a parliamentary committee overseeing the central government's intervention in the province after a community group was allowed to air their views on the difficulties in the troubled province.
On Monday, Mokgoro, his MECs, and officials briefed the ad-hoc committee on the Section 100 intervention in the North West on the current status of intervention.
Mokgoro took aim at committee chairperson China Dodovu, also from the North West, due to communities airing their problems.
But matters took a sour turn after a community group from Madibogo Pan were allowed to address the committee.
Mokgoro said he had received the committee's invitation at short notice, but "difficult" as it was, he prepared for the meeting.
"If you look at the questions [in your letter], we have responded to four of it [sic]. But the community members are talking about something quite different from [the contents in the letter].
"So before you pass judgement on us, we need to see that memo. And let me ask you very politely, don't incite communities because your comments are tantamount to incite [sic]. You may be doing that inadvertently, but with the greatest of respect, we are leaders; you cannot be sitting here and say things that give justification for members of the community to get incited and bring about (the) instability of 2018," he said.
Mokgoro described the meeting as "the most unfair oversight" he has ever experienced.
He said:
Cabinet invoked Section 100(1) of the Constitution on the North West health department on 25 April 2018, placing it under the national government's administration.
In May 2018, the entire provincial government was placed under administration after major financial, governance, and capacity challenges were recorded at provincial departments.
Section 100 allowes the national executive to intervene in a provincial government, if it has been established the provincial authority can not fulfil its Constitutional obligations.
Mokgoro told Dodovu that he, in all decency, should have alerted him and his team that members of the community would also be present.
Leaders
"Chair, I need to register my concerns, that firstly you invite us to this meeting… you don't tell us that here will be community leaders. I think in all fairness, it is in the interest of transparency we must verify the people that you brought here in terms of whose leaders they are and whether the community would actually recognise them as leaders," Mokgoro said.
"We keep on hearing of a memorandum [from this community]. It appears that it is only [the committee] and community who have seen this memorandum. We have not."
READ ALSO | Mokgoro saga: those who want North West premier out now want his job
In response, Dodovu said the committee was in the province in March, where the communities raised issues in the presence of government officials.
"We engaged them. They gave us this memorandum with all the issues that were raised. The provincial government needed to attend to this. This community has consistently approached us to say we are not attending to their issues as we should. It is not for the first time that we brought these issues to the door of the provincial government," he said.
Dodovu said when he had spoken to Mokgoro, he failed to indicate that he would have a problem providing an update.
ANC MP Maurencia Gillion said it's not the first time such serious allegations have been levelled against Dodovu.
"We are not here to score political points. We are here to oversee a very serious investigation in our oversight role. It is unfortunate that the chairperson of this committee is from the North West. Please see his role as independent," she said.