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The Democratic Alliance in the Eastern Cape says Bhisho government is running a parallel civil service by spending billions on consultants.
DA leader in the provincial legislature, Bobby Stevenson, says in the past 3 financial years Bhisho had spent between R2.7b and R3b on consultancy services.
He says at a recent meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the superintendent general of the Department of Agriculture admitted that his top management did not have the skills to do the job.
Stevenson says these latest figures are a further sign of how governance is increasingly being outsourced due to a lack of internal capacity within Departments to deliver.
This is a direct result of the failed cadre deployment policy. The spending on consultants must be seen in the context of Departments paying for bloated administrations without prioritizing the skills to deliver. The Eastern Cape cannot afford a parallel civil service.
The Health Department was the biggest spender on consultants at R1.151b in 2011/12.
The other biggest spenders for 2011/2012 are Roads and Public Works (R1.007b), Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (R159m) and Education (R123m).
Premier Noxolo Kieviet's office is also failing to set the example by spending R63m on consultants in 2011/2012.
The DA will use upcoming committee meetings on government annual reports to probe Departments on the exact details of which companies were paid and for what service.
"To achieve effective governance in the Eastern Cape, we need a skilled public service that does not require us to waste billions on unnecessary consultant fees" Stevenson said.
