uMkhanyakude Mayor condemns IFP allegations

IN a scathing attack on the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), uMkhanyakude District Mayor Jeff Vilane accused the party of spreading untruths relating to the district’s service delivery record and ‘grasping at straws to revive their waning political fortunes’.

Blaming the opposition party for the district’s shortcomings, Vilane said, ‘The ANC-led uMkhanyakude has made tremendous strides… since 2011 when it took over its leadership and management from the IFP, which remains responsible for the last vestiges of past financial mismanagement, huge budgetary deficits and poor financial control measures.’

At a press conference convened by the IFP, district municipal EXCO member, Mandla Zungu, urged Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube to intervene in uMkhanyakude District Municipality and ‘stop the rot before it is too late’.

The conference sought to address such issues as uMkhanyakude’s alleged deficit of R95-million, the 2012 burning of the municipal offices, non-existent water tankers bought for R7.9-million, and an overpayment of R1-million to a contractor.

According to the municipality, political changes did not sit well with the ‘old guard’ and the fire, in which important documentation relating to alleged financial misconduct was burnt, hampered the forensic investigation.

Furthermore, the municipality refuted the IFP’s claims that boreholes, water pipes and tankers were procured at inflated prices and in contravention to supply chain management processes, saying such was procured in an above-board manner.

uMkhanyakude District was recently declared a disaster area, releasing emergency provincial funds to address the ongoing water crisis.

Proposed solutions to the water problem were published in a 2002 report commissioned by the district municipality but never implemented.