Newcastle municipality could be in trouble after details of audit report emerge

Ratepayers will have sleepless nights when the details of a damning audit report tabled in a council meeting come to light.

The shocking revelations of this report will be unpacked in an in-depth series of articles over the next few weeks in the Newcastle Advertiser.

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Wasteful unauthorised expenditure to the tune of R140 million is merely the tip of the iceberg and to date, no one has been disciplined or held accountable for the imminent financial collapse of the municipality.

The ramifications of this report will do nothing to stem the growing dread which has prompted the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) to go as far as calling on the Department of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) to place the municipality under public administration before it is too late.

More of these maladministrative issues in the report will be revealed in detail soon, together with the political parties’ and stakeholders’ opinions on this state of affairs.

The mayor and municipal manager called for calm at this stage and will provide comment in due course.

This is a developing story. Updates to follow as more information is revealed to Newcastle Advertiser.

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