‘Izimbizo’ not a political stunt – Ramaphosa defends R44m gatherings

President Cyril Ramaphosa is defending the holding of izimbizo where public representatives, including Cabinet ministers, account to the people.

He said the gatherings were not a waste of taxpayers’ money and were an opportunity for the state to engage with the people.

Under the government of national unity, izimbizo had become more urgent to enable all citizens to understand how the new administration was working for them.

‘Chance to drive change’

“The izimbizo is more than just a feel-good or gig for the president and the Cabinet. It is about identifying a district in conjunction with the provincial governments.

“Once a district has been identified, the various spheres of government come together, different workstreams are established to drive the process that is coordinated by the political champion,” Ramaphosa said, through his spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya.

This week, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa defended the cost of the izimbizo in parliament.

Reacting to public criticism that Ramaphosa’s presidential izimbizo events were fruitless and wasteful expenditure, Hlabisa disclosed that the events cost taxpayers R44 million over four events in an 18-month period.

“The aim of these events was to address public service delivery concerns and provide a platform for citizens to voice their complaints and suggestions,” he said.

Answering a question from DA MP Frederik Badenhorst, Hlabisa stressed that the criticism was exaggerated.

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Briefing the media on the president’s programme for this month, Magwenya acknowledged that the gatherings would be costly at times, but all officials involved must ensure that procurement processes were conducted within the prescripts of the Public Finance Management Act.

“Where there are violations of the law, those must be fully investigated and the perpetrators must be duly punished,” Magwenya said.

He cited the example of a clinic that had become a white elephant in the Sedibeng district in Gauteng which the presidential izimbizo was able to ensure became fully operational.

The delayed clinic project, in Zone 17 Sebokeng, was built before the Covid lockdown and left unfinished before the presidential izimbizo intervened.

An inter-governmental task team and Eskom found that the clinic was not connected to the grid and there was a dispute between different spheres of government over costs.

‘Izimbizo helped in the past’

“The presidential izimbizo unlocked the bottlenecks. Eskom and the various government departments procured the transformer and finances to connect the clinic to the grid. Today, the community is benefiting,” Magwenya said.

He said the political champions were also held accountable by the president.

They are expected to submit quarterly reports to Cabinet about the district development model’s activities, progress, obstructions and possible interventions. They also indicate when the president should do a follow-up visit.

Magwenya said the presidential izimbizo and the public participation programmes were “not political gimmicks” by the government.

“Nor is it an extravagant exercise and wasteful expenditure of taxpayers’ money. It is a caring government engaging its citizens across the political divide.”

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Magwenya said the izimbizo programme was preceded by the deployment of ministers and deputy ministers to the affected district to inspect their respective programmes and identify new projects.

During the izimbizo, the president accompanies his entire Cabinet, premiers, MECs, mayors and councillors to engage with the community.

“Critics will point out the high cost of district development models and how the money could have been used elsewhere. Indeed, one cannot quantify the impact of the presidential izimbizo in monetary terms.

“It should be measured over the medium to long term in terms of what changes such events bring to communities,” Magwenya said.