Modimolle bombshell
The provincial legislature placed the embattled municipality under administration, in terms of Section 139 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
In a nutshell, the Constitution empowers the province to act in the event that a municipality cannot and/or does not fulfil an executive obligation, among others.
The Limpopo provincial legislature said in a statement it had resolved to place the Modimolle-Mookgophong Local Municipality under administration.
“The Modimolle-Mookgophong Local Municipality is experiencing serious institutional, financial and governance challenges,” the statement charged.
The legislature further explained that the municipality was characterized by high vacancy rates at senior management level, “wherein only two out of seven positions are filled.”
The province said the municipality was technically “bankrupt”, and that it owed power utility Eskom more than R260 million, which the legislature noted was “the highest in the province”.
The debt towards Magalies Water Board exceeded R12-million, the statement explained.
Modimolle-Mookgophong Mayor, Marlene van Staden, welcomed the news of the placing of the municipality under administration.
“The decision comes after several appeals for help by the mayor, to various provincial and national departments, in light of the serious institutional, financial and governance challenges
faced by the municipality,” she said.
Van Staden said the challenges included, among others, various requests for help with regards to the validity and duration of the previous municipal manager’s employment contract.
She said the new council inherited a municipality with serious systemic challenges after years of alleged maladministration and financial mismanagement.
The mayor said since the election of council dating back to 2016, the ability of the council to conduct oversight over the financial affairs of the municipality was “severely hamstrung by the
inability or refusal” of senior officials to report to the mayor, executive committee and council on a regular basis.”
She said this was especially true with regards to the statutory obligation to account for “unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure”, and other crucial financial reports on the income and expenditure of the municipality.
With the assistance of an administrator and a support team, the mayor was confident the Modimolle-Mookgophong municipality would enter a new phase of financial stability, increased service delivery and infrastructure development.
– The BEAT
