*Tshwane's security tender; A perfect tale of how BBBEE ruins South Africa*
_It's an odd location to meet a whistleblower.I wait next to my car. He approaches me, fear is on his face and body. I reach for my phone in my back pocket, his eyes following my hands closely. In an attempt to put him at ease, I explain that I am just taking my phone out. I ask if I can take notes, and his answer comes quickly; "No, notes will get me in trouble._
_As I put my phone away, he starts talking, softly, as he continues to scan our surroundings. "You must help us. Please help us. This company is not equipped to do the job. Look at me, I come from work like this." He has on worn pants, a button-up shirt, and shiny dress shoes. "This is my clothes, we don't get uniform, they don't give us weapons, we are unarmed, we don't even have a panic button to call for help. You must help us! Every night we patrol, if we stay on the move they won't come and tie our hands so they can get in the site. " Trauma is present with each word he speaks, as he explains how he and his shift partner has a system to protect themselves when the criminals come with their guns wanting to steal and vandalize city property; "we cannot protect ourselves if they come 10 with guns, our only defense is to stay on the move, 12 hours we don't sit, we move"._
_Something spooks him, he rushes off. I get in my car, his trauma and fear still hanging in the air._
The venue is exactly what you would expect the benificiary of big government tenders to choose. The conversation is dominated by stories of multiple luxury homes, designer furniture and afternoon shopping sprees in designer stores. Talks of a weekend away at a 5 star hotel - it is only R100k for two people for the weekend. The conversation flows freely, the atmosphere is relaxed, and the riches are unfathomable.
One can not find a more perfect example of how BBBEE only benefits a closed group of ANC crony elites and completely excludes the average hard-working South African than the City of Tshwane security tender.
The jury is still out whether the Tshwane Deputy Mayor is still benefitting from this tender, but it is an undisputed fact that for years, he was part of the system, capitalizing on government funds, supported by ANC cronies, while other normal South Africans put their lives at risk to make it possible.
The very same Tshwane ANC that announces from podiums how they are the ones caring for he poor, the very same ANC members that start foundations to support the poor with some freebies every now and again, co-insidentaly close go an election.
Tshwane’s EFF and ActionSA did at least try to show some solidarity with the plight of security guards, calling for better working conditions. But, at the first whiff of power, they abandoned this ideology, throwing their full weight behind the ANC’S model of feeding the fat cat BBBEE bosses, to the detriment of the security guard working class.
It was the DA, while in government, that stood up and called for an overhaul of the security model the city uses, proposing a model that moves away from unarmed physical guards, but rather proposed early warning systems, cameras, armed response and control rooms. A model that not only limits the risk to security guards but also yields better results in protecting assets. A model that will effectively prevent vandalism at substations and water treatment plants, often leaving communities without water and electricity for extended periods l, while draining the public purse in payment for repairs.
The DA's model would have improved service delivery in Tshwane, assisting to provide a fertile environment for economic growth leading to investment into the city that would have resulted in jobs and a better life for all Tshwane’s residents, no matter what their background or who they know.
A model that was abandoned as soon as the ANC/EFF/Actionsa government took office.
I often get asked why I am only bringing this information to the public eye now after the DA is no longer at the helm of the City of Tshwane. And I always have to remind those asking of exactly how Cilliers Brink was removed from office; a direct consequence of the DA starting to unravel the ANC’S networks of beniffitng from waste trucks contracted services.
Cilliers Brink was removed from office as a direct result of the DA loosening the ANC’S hands from the city's coffers. We started exposing the ANC crony networks then, and we are continuing now.
The DA will not sit silently and allow the ANC to continue to use BBBEE to run a syndicate of cadre networks that bleed the city coffers dry.
Written by Jacqui Uys, DA Tshwane Spokesperson for Finance
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