NELSPRUIT – The department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) took six months to respond to parliamentary questions posed by the DA regarding the minimum competency levels required of senior municipal officers. The party requested information on municipal officials in January, but when Cogta responded – Mr Simon Skhosana signed the reply on July 31 – it listed officials incorrectly.
Mr S Siboza, the chief operating officer (COO) was listed as the acting chief financial officer (CFO), a position occupied by Mr EC Mgwenya, who is listed as the senior manager of supply chain management (SCM).
At the time of going to print, Mr Simphiwe Kunene, senior manager of communications at Cogta, had not indicated why the information is incorrect, whether the municipalities supplied the inaccurate information, why it was not verified and whether there are any other inaccuracies in the responses.
The requirements for the different positions vary. A CFO needs to tertiary qualification on NQF level seven or be a registered chartered accountant as well as seven years experience in middle management of which two should be in senior management. A senior manager of SCM on the other hand needs a qualification at NQF level six or a certificate in municipal financial management with five years experience of which two should be in middle management.
Aside from that, the qualifications of the municipal manager (MM) Mr Xolani Mzobe Mbombela were deemed compliant. Yet, he was placed on a precautionary suspension from council last week regarding alleged irregularities with tenders, procurement and spending during the Afcon tournament earlier this year.
In total, in the province, 15 officials met the minimum requirements for their positions. This was out of 75 managers in the three district municipalities in Mpumalanga.
According to the Municipal Finance Management Act, subsection 83 and 119, the accounting officer, senior managers, the chief financial officer and other financial officials of a municipality as well as the accounting officer and all other officials involved in implementing supply chain management policy must meet the prescribed competency levels. A municipality must also provide resources or opportunities for the training of officials to meet the prescribed competency levels.
According to the report, neither the MM nor CFO are compliant in Ehlanzeni District Municipality, Bushbuckridge, and Umjindi. In Nkomzai , the MM and CFO are not compliant, but are enrolled in programmes with Deloitte and Touché to ensure they attain it, according to the response.
In the Lowveld, Ehlanzeni, Umnjindi and Nkomazi’s applications for extensions on the deadline to become compliant have been approved, while Bushbuckridge’s application is in progress and Thaba Chweu Municipality’s has not been considered.
Mr James Masango, chief whip of the DA in the legislature, said it undermined capable governance. “With such a small number of competent individuals at the helm of our municipalities, it comes as no surprise that poor service delivery, corruption and a lack of accountability is a common occurrence in most municipalities,” he said.
