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Editorial:The truth will eventually come out

Nie Cele

It’s a given that, the highest office in the province, the Premier’s is supposed to lead by example when it comes to clean governance.

But it failed to escape the eagle eye of the Auditor-General (AG) and was given an unqualified audit report, with other matters outstanding. Quite simply this means its financial administration is not 100 percent clean. Not only was it accused of bad planning but was hauled before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for, among others, over-expenditure of R5.8-million.

The same office also deemed it fit to pay performance bonuses to senior officials totalling an astronomical R17-million.

Perhaps even more shocking is the feedback from one of the directors in the Premier’s office who said, “There is room for improvement.”

Is that so? Considering some of these directors have been in government for well over a decade, when might this happen?

The truth is clear. In government circles there are just no watchdogs hence incessant overspending and unauthorised expenditure.

A driving school owner is planning to sue me for what he calls ‘nonsense publishing’. This same man was exposed by this newspaper for accepting a fee to organise a driver’s licence test, and then failing to do so.

Now he, not even a citizen of this country, has the nerve to threaten to shoot me for telling the truth. Perhaps he doesn’t understand that the role of a journalist is to be the eyes and ears of the public, without fear or favour.

Report the facts, both good and bad. And that means, my friend, that if you defraud anyone it is my duty to name and shame you to protect the public.

You were offered the chance to state your side of the story but refused so take the consequences, finish and klaar.

citybeat@caxton.co.za

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Nie Cele