Protector paints bleak picture of North West

● Officials at the public protector’s office in Mahikeng have been threatened with snakes and held at gunpoint.

The deputy public protector, Kevin Malunga, said the situation in the province was so dire he had to go there once a month since 2012 to try to resolve problems.

The Mahikeng office was the first to get full-time security guards because of the numbers of angry complainants.

Rioting in Mahikeng forced shops to close and caused major disruptions to healthcare and education. Protests spread to Taung, Wolmaransstad and Klerksdorp.

Provincial premier Supra Mahumapelo has been blamed for poor governance, the main reason for the riots.

Malunga said the province’s municipalities were on the verge of collapse.

“There was a time, around 2015, when almost all of the province’s municipalities were under administration,” he said.

“Nobody is prepared to answer to what is happening in the municipalities.”

Malunga said his office had been inundated with complaints about the conduct of public officials and the failings of government departments. These included billing issues and a lack of basic services, as well as nepotism, theft, wasteful spending and negligence that led to loss of life.

Submissions to the public protector included “a whole spreadsheet [of complaints] against the [Mahikeng] municipality”.

The departments of education and health in the province came under most fire, while the poor delivery of water was cited as another major problem.

“We are investigating the provision of water in Ngaka Modiri Molema district. The preliminary finding [is that] nothing has changed. They get a chunk of money every year in the district municipality but fail to provide water [adequately],” said Malunga. Mahikeng is the main town in the district.

“Education [at provincial level] is where we have the highest number of complaints, and where we get no co-operation,” he said. He also highlighted that:

In 2015 the province paid R15-million to charge three officials in a labour relations matter. “The report was very scathing.”

In Zeerust a disbarred lawyer was appointed to head corporate affairs; and

The Tswaing municipality [Delareyville] reinstated a municipal manager who did not qualify for the post.

But it was mostly “bread and butter” complaints, among them RDP housing, water and roads, that occupied Malunga’s time.

The province registered the second-highest number of complaints to the public protector’s office in the 2016-2017 financial year, after the Western Cape.

Mahumapelo, who has ignored two requests from the public protector to respond to questions, faces being subpoenaed if he does not respond by next week.

“Our latest request to him is not to let the chairperson of Northwest Transport Investments board — who laid a complaint [against the premier] — respond on his behalf,” said Malunga.

Mahumapelo has been asked to respond himself.

Malunga, who admits to having a “soft spot” for the North West, said he had visited the province less often since new councillors were elected in August 2016.

He was, however, unsure if this meant the municipalities had “turned over a new leaf”.

The South African Local Government Association did not respond to questions about the problems in the province.