Plans in place to rescue Limpopo municipalities
Some municipal managers, chief finance officers and supply chain management managers from VBS tainted Limpopo municipalities continue to receive salaries, while others received golden handshakes worth millions.
LIMPOPO – On Thursday some of the municipalities appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance, led by Faith Mutambi at The Ranch Hotel outside Polokwane.
The committee was shocked to learn that in some municipalities, officials working at the municipalities have been doing business with the municipalities, while others awarded tenders to service providers without following the correct procedures.
The committee also learnt that some tenders were awarded to friends and family, while several service providers were paid for work not even done.
The Vhembe District and Collins Chabane Local Municipalities, are the two municipalities where the extent of the VBS investment is evident. Projects in the municipalities are incomplete or haven’t even started due to lack of money. One municipal manager, received a R1 million golden handshake, after he was reprimanded for investing R300 million. P rovincial Leader, Jacque Smalle said the golden handshake was to keep the municipal manager from spilling the beans about more rot in the VBS investment saga.
In Mogalakwena and Fetakgomo/Tubatse Local Municipalities, the committee heard that internal political fights, irregular awarding of tenders and appointment of unqualified personnel were some of the issues that had a negative impact on the municipal audits.
Some of the municipalities which appeared before the committee were: Mopani, Mogalakwena, Elias Motsoaledi, Giyani, Makhado, Vhembe, Thabazimbi, Fetakgomo, Ephraim Mogale and Lepelle-Nkumbi.
MEC for Cooperative Governance, Basikopo Makamu said his department has put plans in place to redeem the municipalities from the brink of collapse. He said all mayors who invested in VBS, disregarding the Municipal Financial Management Act were fired.
In response to the poor audit outcomes, Senior Manager from the office of the Auditor General, Victor Bakali said the biggest problems which faces municipalities from performing well was Consequence Management.
Committee Chairperson, Faith Mutambi said according to the reports from different municipalities, it was clear that heads are going to roll.
