During election season there is a temptation for parties to try tailor service delivery to win favour.
Now, in a newly emerged audio recording, Gauteng’s ANC MEC for sport, arts, culture and recreation, Faith Mazibuko, can be heard pressuring staff to deliver sporting facilities ahead of elections, with seemingly little regard for tender processes and legal prescripts.
In the recording a furious-sounding Mazibuko demands that planned “combi courts” (used for a combination of sporting activities) be rolled out before elections because, she says, referring to one such facility, “we want to use it to campaign and win elections”.
Her anger is sparked when her staff point out that there might be a rollover on the combi courts to the next financial year. One staffer says in the recording that the department has explored ways of expediting the combi courts but that due process may delay implementation.