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As senior officials try to run from scrutiny, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape will continue to demand greater accountability and enhanced efforts to eliminate corruption from in the public sector.

Premier Zamani Saul acknowledged during the presentation of the Office of the Premier’s Annual Report for the 2024/25 financial year that 33 officials in the provincial administration resigned rather than undergo lifestyle audits. We asked for a full report, including the names and positions held by these 33 officials who could not run the risk of a lifestyle audit.

Resignations cannot erase accountability. The Northern Cape has a sordid history of senior managers who enrich themselves at the cost of the provincial purse. We cannot allow resignations to become an escape route for accountability. Officials have simply resigned to avoid legal scrutiny. This creates dangerous loopholes in our government framework. We cannot afford to shield such unscrupulous characters. We therefore proposed that the Office of the Premier must adopt a legally compliant framework to restrict reappointment, to blacklist individuals who run from lifestyle audits, and to prevent them from securing further jobs, tenders, or contracts from the provincial government.

We also challenge the Member of the Executive Council for Finance, Economic Development & Tourism, Venus Blennies-Mogage, to use the tabling of the provincial budget as an opportunity to deal decisively with the scourge of corruption within the provincial administration.

Issued by Harold McGluwa