The Citizen (KZN)

Vhembe finances in disarray – DA

- Alex Matlala

The Limpopo DA wants the Vhembe District Municipali­ty placed under administra­tion following revelation­s by the auditor-general (AG) of irregular expenditur­e amounting to nearly R1.2 billion.

The party has written to Premier Stan Mathabatha to take action against the municipali­ty in a bid to alleviate the problem.

Last year, Cooperativ­e Governance and Traditiona­l Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize listed Vhembe among the 87 dysfunctio­nal and in distress municipali­ties which, he said, required urgent interven- tion by the provincial and national government.

Limpopo DA leader Jacques Smalle said that in the 2017-18 financial year, Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu discovered that among issues that fuelled the situation was that the municipali­ty had outstandin­g payments of R602 million that were processed in the general ledger, but not processed by the bank.

“As if that wasn’t enough, the AG’s report indicated that the municipali­ty understate­d a total amount of R54 million as cash and cash equivalent­s,” he said.

“The same institutio­n couldn’t produce records of leave pay balances for all employees; its meter readings were not consistent­ly done on a monthly basis; interest on long outstandin­g debtors was not charged; overpaymen­ts to the amount of R15 million was charged; and R14 million was also incurred as a result of a write-off on irrecovera­ble trade debts.”

Smalle added that the AG’s report indicated that the municipali­ty’s financial woes started when the institutio­n invested over R800 million in the defunct VBS Mutual Bank.

Kenny Mathiva, spokespers­on for the Limpopo provincial government, confirmed the district municipali­ty had pro0blems.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from South Africa