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In an attempt to deal with consecutive disclaimer audit opinions from the auditor-general, the Mopani district municipality in Limpopo has appointed its own professional staff to do its books, rather than outsourcing this critical function to expensive consultants.
Last year, cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs MEC Basikopo Makamu and the province’s former premier, Stan Mathabatha, threatened to place the council under administration after it did not improve its financial bookkeeping.
Executive mayor Pule Shayi said they were tackling the accounting problem and progress was being made.
“We have now appointed 15 personnel to deal with financial reporting.
“These are young men and women who will work with the office of the chief financial officer and the municipal manager to ensure our books are intact.”
Mopani, Sekhukhune, Ba-Phalaborwa and the Vhembe district municipalities were among those identified as failing to pay for the water they used and sold to their clients last year.
Shayi said the district had signed a repayment deal with the department of water and sanitation and Lepelle, a stateowned water utility in Limpopo responsible for bulk water provision on behalf of the national department.
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The official opposition in Limpopo, the EFF, which is led by its provincial chair Lawrence Mapoulo, said Shayi’s biggest problem should be how to deal with unskilled cadre deployment instead of qualified personnel being recruited to fill senior positions.
“The problem is when councils appoint their concubines, friends, relatives and neighbours to run the system,” said Mapoulo.
“Shayi must know that the office of the auditor-general is very unfriendly when it comes to councils using consultants to do what their staff is expected to do.
“If Shayi wants to win the battle against overspending on the salaries of consultants to duplicate what is supposed to be done by staff, he must get skilled and qualified personnel, not his girlfriends, not his family, not his relatives and not his political clique to do the job,” said Mapoulo.
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