Questions about municipal manager’s qualifications after R927 000 spent on 22 laptops – report

Questions are being asked how a municipal manger in the North West was appointed – despite him failing matric – after he approved the purchase of 22 laptops for R927 000.

It equates to around R42 000 being spent on each laptop.

Officials in the Ratlou Local Municipality are now asking how Lloyd Leoko got the job of municipal manager, according to a report in City Press.

His appointment was reportedly supported by the ANC’s provincial chairperson Nono Maloyi and the town’s mayor Matlhomola Jafta.

Municipal manager failed matric

According to documents that were submitted with Leoko’s CV, his matric results in 1995 were as follows: higher grade English (F), standard grade Afrikaans (F), standard grade geography (F), lower grade biology (F), standard grade biblical studies (C), and Setswana (D).

His CV also stated he had a degree and honours from Regent Business School and Mancosa, however the municipality failed to verify of these qualifications. There are also questions of how he would have been accepted to study at a tertiary education institution if his matric marks were so poor.

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Officials in the municipality are claiming Leoko is unqualified for the municipal manager job and only appointed through cadre deployment.

“This has come back to haunt both the party and government in the province because Leoko doesn’t know what he’s doing. How can you buy 22 laptops for R927 000 when the community doesn’t have basic service delivery?” a source told City Press.

They also questioned how a person that did not study maths, accounting or economics in school can become an accounting officer.

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In the auditor-general’s latest report on municipalities, Ratlou received its sixth consecutive disclaimer audit opinion. According to the Auditor-General’s office, this is the worst audit opinion a municipality can get. It means the municipality did not provide evidence for most of the information in its financial statements.

Ratlou Local Municipality is regarded as one of the poorest in the North West and has seen its bad service delivery get even worse in recent years.

Other candidates more qualified

Adding to the confusion over Leoko’s appointment, sources say there were far more qualified candidates for the municipal manager job.

The job advertisement said candidates needed a postgraduate degree and at least five years’ experience in a senior managerial position. There were reportedly 36 other candidates for the job that had master’s and honours degrees in commerce and economics. They also had experience in senior management.

A source told the publication that Leoka’s experience was not up to scratch.

“He was a supervisor of cleaners at the legislature when he was deployed as municipal manager last year. Before that, he was the municipal coordinator in the municipality between 2005 and 2011,” they said.

Despite this, before Leoka was hired, Maloyi reportedly sent a letter to the municipality asking it to ignore his poor matric results and unverified qualifications.

In reply to City Press’s questions, Leoko insists he has the necessary qualifications. He added that the job post did not state that candidates who failed four subjects in matric could not apply.

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