POLOKWANE – The Polokwane Municipality has for the fourth consecutive year received a qualified audit from the auditor-general. A number of issues were cited, some of which have been prevalent for a number of financial years without any progress having been made.
Polokwane Observer spoke to the various political parties in Polokwane to weigh in on the audit outcome:
We call on the ANC to remove the Mayor of Polokwane, Thembi Nkadimeng and her municipal manager for consistent failure to do oversight and provide political
leadership and management of the municipality. The municipality has recorded its fourth qualified audit report with matters of emphasis not being attended to in all reports. Furthermore, part of the problem is the failure by the municipality to prepare financial statements in accordance with section 122(1) of the Municipal Financial Management Act. The municipality which continues to fail to provide services to Polokwane residents excels in mismanagement, ignoring of accounting and management systems for the revenue in the municipality. Failure to provide accurate information on useful lives of assets and non-calculation of fair value
of investment properties is unacceptable, and speaks to administrative incapacity of the municipal manager and since this is occurring for the fourth time, if the mayor was playing oversight role she could have picked this long time ago. The failure by the municipal manager and the mayor warrants no less consequence
management than withdrawal from office. Polokwane Municipality is known for punishing residents with high rates, false billing and nonstop disconnection of services, whilst the municipality does not have proper systems. This is the same municipality which always run a job for pals and give RDP houses to ANC
members only like it happened in Seshego next zone 5. Unauthorised and irregular expenditure is the order of the day and allegedly payments of service providers depend of proximity to the mayor and municipal manager. Allegedly the majority of contractors who are working at the municipality have a history of working in every municipality which the municipal manager has worked. This is strange and it warrants immediate thorough investigation on how they are related and the flow of monies among them.
A recurring item on every annual report is the lack of a proper filing system or proper record management system to maintain information to support their reported performance in the annual performance report. What lies at the heart of all the yearly inadequacies of the administration is the lack of proper consequence management. The DA in Polokwane has been advocating for a proper consequence management policy for the past four years and a draft version has been approved for further scrutiny. We will continue to champion for the implementation of good corporate governance that is transparent and fair to all who live within the borders of our beautiful city. We therefore urge the public to make their voices and dissatisfaction heard at the upcoming municipal elections by voting for the only party with a proven track-record of proper corporate governance. It is not by chance that the top five municipalities in South Africa are DA-led. Where we govern, we govern well.
This is quite a worrying situation for Polokwane. This report does not look good for the future and there are no plans in place to make it better. The worst issue for me is the violation of the municipal supply chain management regulations. The municipality wrote off irregular expenditure without conducting an investigation to see if the money could be recovered or if someone could be held accountable. The other issue was the inadequate accounting information system to balance the revenue and expenses in place. Tenders were just awarded to service providers who were already employed by other state institutions or whose directors and
major shareholders were employed by state institutions. As a result, we have all these projects that are not up to standard and money keeps running out of council. When you ask questions about the contracts they just keep making excuses. No investigations are made into the awarding of these contracts and the FF+ is worried about the future of the municipality. Another big concern would be the officials‘ relatives that have business interests with the municipality and in most cases, they all failed to disclose their interests. So we are calling for the mayor‘s removal as this is the fourth consecutive year the report indicates this.
We have always reported and submitted the bad, mismanaged and uncaring Polokwane Municipality to the office of the Presidency, Salga and the premier of Limpopo through open letters, statements and addresses. Thembi Nkadimeng and her municipality keep on failing the same people they exist for, the same people that should ensure sustainable and necessary change and development. A municipality that does not put the advancement of its own people abreast. Instead, they would rather live lavishly while not paying creditors their dues, hiring and funding their friends and families, while other families lack water and service delivery. It is quite clear that these leaders do not and have never put the best interests of the people of Polokwane Municipality at heart. It is clear that expensive looks and corruption are the orders of the day. We urge young people and the rest of Polokwane residents to do away with the ANC-led Polokwane Municipality and ensure a better future for Polokwane Municipality when the elections take place. Polokwane Municipality needs a leadership of young people willing and capable to get it to greater heights. To the poorest of the poor. To the biggest and smallest pothole. To employing the right and best people of service who will advance the people of Polokwane Municipality.
