EFF thinks e-governance a bit sneak-e

26 August 2015 - 02:45 By Penwell Dlamini and Shenaaz Jamal

A war of words ensued yesterday when the ANC in the Gauteng legislature proposed to change the department of finance's function and name to "e-governance". Finance MEC Barbara Creecy defended the change and said it was proposed by Gauteng Premier David Makhura.She said: "At the end of the day it is the premier who decides."The core mandate of the department is to champion the mordernisation of government services in Gauteng through the Gauteng broadband network and its related e-governance application."The department has existing technical and administrative skills to implement this mandate. We also have tabled the e-government strategy which was passed by the executive council this year."The Gauteng department of finance operates separately from the provincial treasury, allowing it to focus on the efficiency of government expenditure.The department has introduced new systems such as open tendering, which allows the public to see how government officials award tenders.But EFF chief whip Mandidsa Mashego said: "The core mandate of finance is not what [Creecy] said. [The finance department is the] custodian of resources. You can't wake up and decide you are changing something without having a basis for doing it."He said the "willy-nilly" decision was "actually inspired by the eagerness of the ANC government to dish out tenders"...

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