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MINISTRY OF WORKS OR MINISTRY OF WORSE?

16/03/2017 07:20:00 By Vusi Kunene

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I am from the rural areas and I enjoy life there than in town. So what will appear in the article is what I experience with the majority of those living in rural areas.

The African Charter on the Human and People’s Rights, which my country is a signatory to and has ratified, states, through Article 13 (2), that; “Every citizen shall have the right of equal access to the public service of the country.” Article 13 (3) goes on to state that; “Every individual shall have the right to access to public property and services in strict equality of all persons before the law.”

My cry therefore is with the roads in rural areas. It is surprising that every community is complaining about the same thing, that the roads are in a very bad state. If most communities are complaining about roads, where is the Ministry of Public Works and Transport? Does it still exist? The last time I heard this portfolio was under Minister Lindiwe Dlamini. However, I doubt that there is still an incumbent minister in that office because the roads which fall under her ministry are so inaccessible that I was not surprised when there were reports that patients access certain health institutions using tractors because the vehicles are all broken down.

Is the minister aware of Section 75 of the Constitution which reads; “Where a minister has been charged with the responsibility for any department of government, the minister shall be responsible for the policy and general direction and control over such department.” It is based on that provision that I am wondering if she is aware that it is mandatory for her to be responsible for the control of the ministry. We have heard about a lot of the happenings at the ministry but the duty is upon the minister to make sure that such things, if they are true, do not happen in her ministry. Members of Parliament are complaining about her ministry and labelled it as the most corrupt ministry.

I am persuaded to agree with this as my community was recently told that the government machinery to fix the roads had no fuel and therefore if the community could provide fuel, they can have the roads fixed. This left me wondering because I pay exorbitant amounts in taxes to have such services provided. We are not supposed to be faced with such problems with the introduction of VAT because everyone is paying taxes every minute he or she uses money.

Members of Parliament did well by calling for the ministry to do something about this but they also have a role to play by making sure that the ministry is doing its job. We have not heard what they have done to make sure that the ministry performs its duties. In terms of Section 129 of the Constitution, each chamber of Parliament is supposed to appoint sessional committees and other committees for the effective discharge of the functions of that chamber. These “standing committees shall be charged with such functions, including the investigations and inquiry into the activities and administration of the ministries and departments as Parliament may determine and the investigations and enquiries may extend to proposals for legislation.” Such committees have powers, rights and privileges of the High Court or Justice of the High Court at trial when they do their work.

The question then is why is Parliament not exercising these powers? We have heard them complain about the ministry but what are they doing about it because clearly they have the power to do something? For the Members of Parliament to always lament about corruption and all other things at the ministry is egg on their faces because they have the power and mechanisms to deal with such. They are equally guilty with the failures of the ministry and they should stop complaining.

People are failing to access medical care because of poor and inaccessible roads. Pupils miss classes because the roads are bad and bridges are immersed in water on rainy days and teachers as well cannot access the schools. I am yet to hear of a member who has failed to get to Parliament because of the roads. Is it because they make sure that the roads to their homes are always cared for? Is this a ministry worth the name or rather we have it changed from the Ministry of Works to the Ministry of Worse?