The Free State Premier Ms MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae has acknowledged receipt of the Public Protector’s (PP) investigation report into the irregular appointment of C-Squared as service provider for the late MEC’s Tate Makgoe’s funeral.
In response to our inquiry, the Acting Head of Communication for the Office of the Premier Mr Setjhaba Maphalla said the Premier has seen the report and will study it thoroughly to understand its factual basis and legal implications to assist her to arrive at an informed decision.
“The Office of the Premier acknowledges receipt of the report on the Public Protector’s investigation into allegations of irregular appointment of Consumer Connectedness (Pty) Ltd, trading as C-Squared, for the events related to the memorial and funeral services of the late MEC for Education, Tate Makgoe and Warrant Officer Mdi,” said Maphalla.
Maphalla said Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae intends to comply with the timeframes set out by the Public Protector, and understands that she has 90 days to take action, if any, following a full study and analysis of the report.
The PP found that the Office of the Premier, led by former Premier Mr Mxolisi Dukwana appointed the controversial company C-Squared as the events coordinator and event service provider in a short space of time, and it is unclear whether competitive bidding processes were followed.
The Public Protector investigated the matter into irregular appointment of C-Squared and excessive expenditure. The PP found that an amount of R5.9 million was spent on the funeral and events leading up to the funeral.
“Even though the Funeral Policy does not define “reasonable costs”, cognisance must be taken that R 5.9 million Rand for a funeral could have never been the intention of the policy. Reasonable costs should be understood within the ambit of “funeral undertaker costs including the coffin and limited catering for the family and State/Official guests”. In this instance, the functionaries went beyond same,” said PP Adv. Kholeka Gcaleka.
The PP further gave the following remedial recommendations to the Premier:
‘Within ninety (90) calendar days from the date of this report, in terms of section 84 of the PFMA, take disciplinary action against Mr Ralikontsane for failure to execute his duties in terms of section 38 of the PFMA relating to the events leading up to and funerals of Mr Makgoe and Mr Mdi.
Within ninety (90) calendar days from the date of this report, in terms of section 84 of the PFMA, ensure that disciplinary action is taken by the Director General against the functionaries of the FSOP mentioned in paragraph 8.3.4 hereunder.’