North West Legislature SCOPA Concerned About Complete Collapse of Service Delivery at Ditsobotla Local Municipality

The North West Provincial Legislature Standing Committee on Provincial Public Accounts chaired by Hon. Job Dliso raised serious concerns about the complete collapse on service delivery and operations at Ditsobotla Local Municipality. This follows the Municipal Finance Management Act public hearings with the municipality together with Mamusa and Kgetleng Local Municipalities over the 2019/20 audit reports and to seek clarity from responses on questions emanating from the Auditor General’s reports.

Hon. Dliso said it is worrying that the municipality continues to deteriorate despite the bi-elections that occurred in December 2022 to elect the new municipal council. “Unfortunately as things stand, employees will not be paid their salaries in May and June 2023 as there is no money in the municipality including to deliver basic services. With the creditors bill standing at R4,4 billion against the budget of over R500 million which is also non-existent, it simply means that the municipality is dormant. We have observed a deep rooted culture of corruption and maladministration that emanated from many years of lack of accountability and it is still rearing its ugly head to this day,” said Hon. Dliso.

The Ditsobotla Municipal Mayor, Councillor Itumeleng Lethoko admitted before the Committee that the municipality will not be able to pay salaries, statutory payments and creditors from the month of May 2023 until end of municipal financial year on 30 June 2023 as there are no funds on the municipal bank accounts. “The balance in our account is zero, therefore there is a total collapse of services in the municipality. The situation is so dire, we cannot even buy a simple thing as a toilet paper. Workers have abandoned the municipal offices but we are trying to pursue the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Provincial Treasury for financial assistance as we will only receive our equitable share in July 2023,” said Cllr. Lethoko.

According to the 2016/17 to 2019/20 audit reports, the municipality incurred disclaimer audit opinions due to lack of consequences for poor performance and repeated non-compliance findings with supply chain management regulations reported without any consequence management. On the 2019/20 financial year, the municipality incurred irregular expenditure of R159, 9million, unauthorised expenditure of R133,9 million and fruitless expenditure of R209 million. Senior management vacancy rate increased to 53 percent during the year under review. There are no experienced personnel to implement the recommendations of the audit reports. There is lack of stability from junior staff to senior management and political leadership.

The Intervention team led by the Provincial EXCO Representative, Mr. Muthotho Sigidi, informed the Provincial Standing Committee that the municipality was placed under mandatory intervention for financial recovery in April 2023. “When we arrived at the municipality, we discovered massive administrative failures that affected the political component of the municipality. The municipality does not have senior managers or capacitated staff to implement the recovery plan let alone provide any service to the community due to the continuing instability. The institutional culture needs a complete overhaul as nothing is happening and creditors are owed millions of Rands and some have taken the municipality to courts but we cannot even defend the cases as we do not have money to pay lawyers.

“Due to millions of Rands owed to creditors, some went to court to ask for attachment of about 32 municipal vehicles as a form of payments. The vehicles will be auctioned towards the end of this week. There is no records management to even verify certain contracts with creditor owed.

“There are no policies, standard operating procedures or any bylaws that can be implemented to recover revenue from our debtors such as businesses who are not paying municipal services. Furthermore, there are no tools of trade as over 760 workers including Councillors cannot work,” said Mr. Sigidi.

He also informed SCOPA that municipal Portfolio Committees or management cannot hold any formal meeting as everything has collapsed. “These committees cannot hold the administration accountable on collapse of basic services,” said Mr. Sigidi.

Committee Member, Hon. Aaron Motswana said the Provincial Intervention team should submit a comprehensive report on the status quo of the municipality together with a detailed recovery plan with timelines. “The Cooperative Governance Department and Provincial Treasury should urgently develop a plan that will ensure that salaries for May and June are paid. The Committee further noted the report of the Public Protector which exposed how the girlfriends and boyfriends of municipal employees and Councillors where hired thus breaching human resource practices and had direct impact on the operations of the municipality,” Hon. Motswana.

Hon. Dliso said the Committee will recommend for a Presidential Proclamation on the Special Investigative Unit to investigate maladministration and corruption at the municipality dating back from 2016. “The investigations must include all the past Councillors and employees who contributed to the derailment of the municipality that was once thriving in an agricultural town of Lichtenburg. The intervention team must also submit a comprehensive report on security and other contracts; revenue management plan, status of staff components and whether there are any ghost employees and a list of litigations and companies or individuals involved.

“The team must also submit a plan on how it will introduce internal controls or municipal systems and whether any criminal cases have been opened as there are allegations that a separate municipal bank account was opened to syphon funds, and a report on the Auditor General employees that were allegedly assaulted at the municipal offices. We also need a report on the status of Municipal Infrastructure Grand projects; progress on cases of rate payers association against the municipality, and close-out report of the former administrators who were seconded under Section 139 (1)(b),” said Hon. Dliso.

Mamusa Local Municipality
Mamusa Local Municipality was encouraged to table before the Legislature its three (3) outstanding oversight reports to ensure the municipality account on usage of public funds. “The municipality should further submit a comprehensive report on use of R12 million for refurbishment of Water Treatment plant, litigation register and a close out report of all intervention period from 2019,” said Hon. Dliso.

Kgetleng Local Municipality
The audit outcome of municipality remained stagnant with a disclaimer for the past three financial year. Hon. Dliso said the community of Kgetleng is deprived right for service delivery as there is water crises and capital projects have not being completed and bore hole drilled with huge amounts do not function. “The Budget and Treasury unit of the municipality has unskilled staff personnel,” said Hon. Dliso.

“There are allegations that the Municipality Manager has financial management cases where he was employed before employed at Kgetleng. The Committee have requested report on process followed to appoint him from both Cooperative Governance department. We also requested report of all capital projects and bore holes drilled with amount paid to service providers and we must also get a report on rate payers association’s case and amount of court settlement,” said Hon. Dliso.

The Committee agreed that Kgetleng must be called back to account to all issues raised by the committee.

Ends

Issued by: North West Provincial Legislature: Media & Communications Unit on behalf of the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Provincial Public Accounts – Hon. Job Dliso.