Coalition gov face and uphill battle ‘to fix the ANC mess’
The Sheriff of the Court last week attached the Thabazimbi Municipality's assets, leaving the municipality with virtually nothing on the first day of work for the DA, EFF, VF Plus and TRA coalition government.
LIMPOPO – Thabazimbi Municipality Municipal Speaker, Dr Bertie Joubert said the coalition government, having taken control of the municipality from the ANC, now faces an uphill battle “to fix the mess the ANC left behind”.
He said they were shocked to find the Sheriff of the Court removing office equipment and other assets from the building. He said computers, furniture and even water trucks have been seized. According to Joubert, the Sheriff said that this action was as a result of outstanding debt of R160 million to Eskom and R30 million for service delivery contractors.
“Despite many warnings over the last year, the bills had not been paid by the ANC-run administration. I was told the assets being removed did not even cover half of the outstanding amount owed. The municipality was placed under Section 139(1)(b) administration due to tender irregularities, corruption, fraud and mismanagement last year,” he said.
“Despite the appointment of the independent administrator, the financial mismanagement has deteriorated after failing to implement the turnaround strategy to improve the financial catastrophe in the municipality. This action is highly suspicious and the administrator, together with the provincial government should be held responsibility for the current situation,” he said.
The co-governance leadership has discovered that several senior officials deliberately ignored court orders to pay all the service providers and failure to do that led to all the municipal assets being seized, Joubert continued, these officials contravened Public Finance Management Act regulations.
“The appointed administrator further disregarded Section 102(2) of the MFMA which clearly states that cases of irregular or fraudulent expenditure must be reported to SAPS but not even a single case was reported,” he said.
According to Joubert, the DA leadership managed to obtain a full list of debtors and reports on all outstanding debt and seeking legal advice.
“We established an investigation to probe these officials and will further meet with all debtors to discuss their cases and negotiate with the sheriff to return all the municipal assets. The DA assures the residents of Thabazimbi that it will do everything in its power to get the municipality up and running as soon as possible. We are committed to creating opportunities, rooting out corruption and delivering better survives for all”.
This is not the first time sheriff attached Thambazimbi’s properties.
In September 2015, after failing to pay the service provider, Quantibuild (Pty) Ltd R11,8 million on time, the North Gauteng High Court ordered the Sheriff to attach Thabazimbi the municipality’s properties of up to R5 million, including the mayor’s vehicles.
Meanwhile, the South African Municipal Workers Union’s Limpopo Provincial Secretary, Lindo Radebe said even though the new dispensation’s inherited debt played a role in the recent week’s event, they now have the responsibility of finding their own solutions.
“Yes, there have been financial issues for many years in the municipality, but we hope the current political team will stop blaming the ANC.
“They must find better ways to deal with the challenges they face. When parties campaigned, they promised when they take over, they will solve all the problems. When you move in to any position, you can’t start blaming the outgoing person,” said Radebe.
