WEEKS after Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane told the Provincial Crack Team to speed up service delivery, the Public Protector came out guns blazing for the province.
Acting Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka released a 501-page report on October 20 about the dire situation in the Eastern Cape rural areas.
Her investigation revealed a range of service delivery failures that often put the lives of residents in certain villages at risk.
Investigations were conducted at schools, healthcare facilities, police stations, and areas where RDP houses were to be built or left incomplete.
Some of the municipalities were also the subject of an investigation by the Gcaleka investigating team.
The investigation revealed that due to poor infrastructure and inadequate resources within certain police stations in the province, cops are not placed in sufficient measures to ensure effective, equitable, and reliable delivery of their obligations. Some of the police stations in the province were not connected to electricity.
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"Basic education was at risk of being compromised at two schools, Loyiso Senior Secondary and Cancele Primary, in KwaBhaca (formerly Mount Frere) after the report found poor conditions such as inappropriate ablution facilities. The investigation team concludes that challenges relating to the lack of providing basic services pose a serious risk to the well-being and lives of the learners and educators at the schools," reads the report.
The Public Protector acknowledged the significant efforts made by the Department of Health in renovating and upgrading healthcare facilities.
Gcaleka said the current backlog in new infrastructure, repairing structural defects, and upgrading physical infrastructure hinders the proper delivery of healthcare services.
The implicated departments and municipalities within the province were given 60 days to provide a report to the Public Protector on the implementation of the remedial action.
Mabuyane said the issues raised in the report were already being attended to.
"The crack team is tasked with strengthening Investment Coordination, supporting local government, and driving education and health turnaround strategies, among other things.
"We also noted the proposed remedial action as stated in the report and will engage with MECs and HoDs to abide by the remedial action and to respond to the Public Protector as stipulated in the report," said the premier.
