Managers get the big bucks

ACTION: TWO BOSSES PAID R300 000 BETWEEN THEM

Mayor defends pay packet in one country’s poorest municipalities.

The Collins Chabane local municipality in Limpopo has allegedly spent over R8 million in nearly three years paying for the salaries of two municipal managers – while some residents live in abject poverty.

Named after late minister in the presidency Collins Chabane, the council is allegedly paying more than R300 000 every month for two municipal managers.

The municipality, which is one of the smallest and the poorest in the country, had a total annual budget of R654 million this financial year from the provincial treasury.

The brouhaha started in 2018 after premier Stan Mathabatha and ANC provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane fired seven mayors for illegal investment in the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank.

Matters came to head after the ANC’s provincial executive committee (PEC) ordered councils to take action against officials who invested funds in the bank.

It was at that time that the municipal council took a decision to suspend and fire some of its officials, fingered in the wayward VBS investment.

Among them, was the chief finance officer Eric Makamu and municipal manager Charlotte Ngobeni.

A decision to suspend them was taken in October 2018.

The payment debacle has since raised more dust for the council, with opposition parties accusing the ANC-led council of being negligent.

“We have since written a letter to register our dissatisfaction to the MEC for cooperative governance human settlement and traditional affairs to probe a possible irregular expenditure regarding the salaries of the two municipal managers,” said DA councillor in the municipality, Samson Muavha yesterday.

“We have been dealing with Ngobeni’s suspension for years now. One big fuss is that the suspended manager was cleared by investigations into any wrong doing... It was found that the municipal manager was forced by those in high places to authorise the investment,” added Muavha.

Collins Chabane mayor Moses Maluleke said the matter was receiving the necessary attention.

He said the salary for the acting municipal manager was a combination of two salaries, one for his former post as senior manager and a small amount from the municipal manager’s position. –