Tzaneen muni hires bouncers for protection after ‘attacks by riff-raff’
A Limpopo municipality has been widely criticised for appointing a security company after a spate of attacks and disruptions by angry service providers and angered residents.
LIMPOPO- The Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality in the Mopani region appointed a security company that uses bouncers to try and stop the ongoing disruptions at the embattled municipality week in and week out.
The company, Ulwazi Security Group was appointed to the tune of R700 000, to provide high level security at the municipal offices for a period of a month.
The company was appointed while the municipality already has another security company, MBS Security Company, providing the same kind of service.
According to municipal records, this contract is costing a R1 million a month.
“The municipality is paying these amounts despite the huge service delivery backlog,” one angry councillor said, on condition of anonymity. The appointment of the second company comes after the municipality experienced a hail of attacks by riff-raff in recent weeks, he said.
“Between this and last week, our municipality has been attacked thrice by unruly people,” said Municipal Spokesperson, Nevil Ndlala last week.
Ndlala said the appointment came after their council sittings had been turned into a “boxing match”. “That is why the municipality saw the need to appoint another company to restore the peace during our meetings and within our premises before more damage is done, ” he said.
CV can reveal that last week a group of service providers forcefully entered the municipal buildings and disrupted a Special Council Sitting in a move to force the municipality to pay unpaid invoices. During the scuffle, some senior managers were called names and were spat at while others were assaulted.
On Friday, a high level meeting consisting of a delegation of the National Council of Provinces, highly placed ANC officials, and mayors and managers was disrupted by the same service providers, demanding payment for the work they have done on a road project. The meeting was later diverted to the project by the service providers instead of concentrating on the actual NCOP visit.
The appointment of the new security company has, however been referred to by the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) as unconstitutional and a contravention of the Supply Chain Management Policies.
“How does the municipality appoint a second security company while there is another company doing the work? Who is going to pay the second company because there is no budget? How was the company appointed in the first place because there was no council resolution, ” asked Samwu Municipal Secretary, Peter Modika.
Samwu Sub-regional Chairperson, Moses Malaltji said it was shocking that a NCOP meeting could be disrupted. “How do people pass by the bouncers and disrupt such a high level meeting? ” he asked.
Both the EFF and the DA in the province branded the appointments in Tzaneen as a waste of taxpayers money.
