Questions over relocation of Premier’s Office

PAKES Dikgetsi, who is still waiting for information relating to the relocation of the Premier’s Office through a Promotion to Access to Information application, regards the secrecy surrounding the move to the new offices at the DSC building in Memorial Road as highly suspicious.

He pointed out that the premier had missed the deadline of July 10 to provide oral and written responses to questions posed to him through the legislature.

“What does the premier have to hide in the Northern Cape’s second episode of controversial leases following the Trifecta scandal?” asked Dikgetsi.

“The decision to move his office to the most lavish and expensive office space in the entire Province is a serious betrayal of promises to prevent unauthorised expenditure. It must have been done for nefarious, ulterior motives, which will come to light during credible investigations as I will report the matter to the Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit.

“The secretive nature of the transaction appears to be in violation of the Public Finance Management Act’s requirements of transparency, accountability, competitiveness and economic procurement processes.”

Dikgetsi added that surrounding businesses and residents in the Royldene area would be disrupted in the event of protest action.

“The Premier’s Office is supposed to be accessible to the entire community. It is a constitutional right to protest, however, the safety of employees may be compromised as the offices are not fenced off.

“Complaints were also raised that confidential documents cannot be locked up at the open-plan offices at the new premises. Who will be held responsible if there is damage to property during protest action if tyres are set alight and rocks are thrown?”

Dikgetsi stated that an existing tenant at the DSC building was apparently refusing to vacate the offices as their lease only expires next year.

“If there is not sufficient space for the relocation of the entire Premier’s Office or if the lease for the JW Sauer building has not expired yet, rentals will have to be paid for the two buildings.”

The head of communications in the Office of the Premier, Monwabisi Nkompela, said they were in the process of moving to the new premises at the DSC building in Memorial Road opposite the North Cape Mall.

“The Office of the Premier is settling in very well in our new premises so that we can continue to render services to the people of the Northern Cape, as we have done in the past,” said Nkompela.

“The move was necessitated by a number of urgent factors, including issues of health and safety, effective operations and accessibility.

“As the apex office of the Northern Cape provincial administration, we had to endure and deal with dysfunctional ablution facilities. Continuous cable theft hampered our operations from time to time and we experienced non-functional lifts with people sometimes getting stuck.

“This situation forced us, as the Office of the Premier, to look for other premises that will meet the standard and stature of the office. This is the office that serves as the entry point to the provincial government, hosting ambassadors, ministers, the president and deputy president as well as high-level delegations of both private and public sector officials.”

He added that the Office of the Premier submitted a request to the Department of Public Works, as the custodian of government property, for alternative office accommodation for over 280 staff members.

“The building that we are now occupying is conducive to accommodate the staff, community members and the business community because it is easily accessible by taxi from all communities in and around Kimberley.”

Nkompela did not foresee any problems with the community being able to access the new building.

“The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa gives all citizens the right to march, protest and demonstrate. We cannot prevent them from doing so as long as they protest in a peaceful manner.

“The Office of the Premier has always welcomed these activities and responded to them accordingly. All these marches happened under strict security regulations enforced by the municipal traffic department and the South African Police Service.”

Nkompela added that there were no questions pertaining to the new building when a recent list of questions was received from the legislature for written response.

“The Office of the Premier invites the legislature to submit questions for clarity through the relevant channels and not through the media should they require responses.”