Call for action against corrupt Msunduzi officials
OPPOSITION parties in Msunduzi Municipality have called for tougher measures to be taken against individuals fingered for wrongdoing, and almost bringing the KwaZulu-Natal capital to its knees.
The sentiment was expressed during a council sitting yesterday, where it was revealed that the municipality was set to remain under administration until next year.
The municipality was placed under administration in 2019, because of its failure to discharge some of its responsibilities and spend its conditional grants.
Councillors said yesterday that it was their understanding that the administration period was set to end at the end of October this year.
However, a representative from the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, said yesterday the municipality would remain under administration as there were issues that needed to be attended to.
DA councillor Ross Strachan decried the lack of action against officials who had been named in one of the reports that came out of the investigations into the problems at the municipality.
He hinted that the high-ranking officials had been protected because they were politically connected.
“The fact is that there has been no consequence management against people who brought the municipality to this position and that is why we will continue having such problems. More than anything political interference has worsened over time,” said the DA councillor.
Senior ANC councillor Jabu Ngubo said it was a painful experience to have been placed under administration on two occasions.
“What we need is to have a workshop for councillors so that they understand how we got into being under administration. This will enable us to check on the progress report to see whether there is any improvement in the municipality’s performance because it is not a nice thing to be under administration.”
In the same council sitting, chief financial officer (CFO) and acting city manager Nelly Ngcobo also revealed that eight staff members had been placed under suspension after they allegedly colluded with city customers who did not want to pay for services.
Ngcobo said the recent clampdown in which government departments, businesses and residents were disconnected for owing the municipality huge amounts of money had revealed the extent of the municipality’s financial problems.
The clampdown saw the municipality collecting almost R100 million from customers that included the National Prosecuting Authority and the South African Revenue Service.
She told the council sitting that four contractors had been appointed to recover the money owed to the municipality. She said that there was an ongoing probe into whether there were more staff members who were helping defaulting customers.
“In most cases it is a free-for-all with people making use of our services that they are not paying for, and it appears to have been something done for a long period of time with the assistance of some of our staff,” said the CFO.
The municipality is now set to roll out a new set of water and electricity meters to ensure that there is no tampering with the system.
Msunduzi deputy mayor Mxolisi Mkhize commended Ngcobo on embarking on a campaign to recover money owed to the municipality.
“We support the administration in disconnecting defaulting customers regardless of who they are.”
ACDP councillor Rienus Niemand commended the administration on its current clampdown against defaulters, adding that if it had been done earlier, the municipality’s financial woes would have eased.