DA members of the Gauteng legislature are fuming after being denied access to the Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa Centre in Pretoria.

On Monday‚ DA members of the Gauteng legislature paid an unannounced visit to the centre following media reports that money had gone missing and the facility was struggling to provide for children.

DA MPL Justus de Goede said members of the legislature arrived at the centre accompanied by the media.

“After a long consultation by the management with the MEC‚ they decided that they had no mandate to allow the visit. We were told that the visit is not allowed by the legislation. We argued that we have been doing site visits for many years now and this is accepted function of the public representatives. As you know there were newspaper reports that there is money missing from this particular institution‚ which is financed by social development in Gauteng‚” said De Goede.

“We were very keen to find out whether this was true and we were not given the opportunity to get answers or inspect the facility at all. Apparently‚ at the MEC’s instruction we were told that it would not be possible [for us to get inside].”

He said the issue would be taken up with the Gauteng portfolio committee on social development‚ the legislature and also Parliament. The Sunday Independent reported recently that the centre was in a dire state after R7-million allegedly disappeared from its coffers.

Workers at the centre told the paper that there was allegedly serious mismanagement of funds. Unhappy workers told the newspaper that children were allegedly going to school without shoes‚ and were forced to share a packet of Marie biscuits as their lunch.

But the Gauteng department of social development dismissed the DA’s views.

In his reply to this publication‚ the department’s spokesperson Mbangwa Xaba said the move by the DA was “once again to maliciously drag the good name of Gauteng social development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza in the mud”.

He said the visit by the DA was without a hint to the centre‚ the legislature “or any authority in government”. Xaba said the DA was informed that their visit should have been duly arranged on the scene through the correct channels. This‚ he said‚ they ignored.

“This is extremely irresponsible and unfortunate indeed. The DA knows that secure centres house vulnerable children whose spaces are highly regulated in terms of the law. These spaces are legally prescribed processes under which they are managed‚ especially where exposure of these children to the media is concerned‚” Xaba said.

He dismissed the allegations that the department had misappropriated funds from the SA Social Security Agency‚ which funds the centre.

“The DA‚ like the rest of the country‚ is fully aware that there are challenges with SASSA payment and these matters are receiving attention at the national government level. For the record no amount of money was reported stolen from the centre. It appears the DA is too desperate to tarnish the good image of the MEC and the Department‚ even blatant lies and irresponsible conduct have now become part of the strategy‚” he said.