MBOMBELA – The board of the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA) has been disbanded. This follows a decision taken during a three-day executive council lekgotla, which ended in Skukuza on Saturday.
The provincial executive expressed dissatisfaction with the agency’s board “for its failure to focus and deliver on its mandates,” the Office of the Premier said in a statement.
Lowvelder reported earlier this year that following the resignation of three board members, the agency tasked with developing the province’s economy had only eight members by February 21. This was fewer than the nine required to form a quorum for the board to take any votes.
Mr Mohau Ramodibe, head of communications for economic development, which oversees the agency, said they had already started advertising the positions since members’ four-year contracts would have expired in September, and not because a decision to disband the board had been anticipated.
He indicated that this process would now be expedited for the MEC for finance, economic development and tourism, Mr Eric Kholwane to appoint 11 people.
According to the statement, the credibility of board members must be ensured and individuals with political motives should not be on the board, which was chaired by Mr Jerry Vilakazi.
Mr Zibonele Mncwango, spokesman for the premier said the board members resigned because they did not want their names associated with how the board was being run since the board outsourced tenders, infringing on the workings of the CEO, Adv Boyce Mkhize and his staff.
He added that the board’s members’ reduced numbers contributed to the premier’s decision to disband them.
Mabuza also promised a radical shift in the provincial government. Speaking at the start of the lekgotla, he said the provincial government would cut to the bone unnecessary spending by departments.
“They call us people who are on a gravy train, which means life is merely good for us only. It cannot therefore be business as usual. There will be no more luxury for government officials. We are going to trim the fat until there is none.”
Mabuza, who is due to deliver his state of the province address this coming Friday, said the ruling ANC must speedily respond to the needs of the people. “Their voices are still loud and clear in our ears. They are calling on us to do things a bit differently and a bit faster, and we are going to do just that. We are not going to fail them.”
He warned that the next five years were going to be difficult. “It is not going to be an easy term for some of us. We will have to do some radical thinking in a sense that things cannot be normal. There is going to be a belt-tightening process in a number of areas.”
He indicated that the provincial government would continue to prioritise education, double its efforts in terms of skills development, and increase assistance to farmers who have been given back their ancestral land.
