MEC Mxolisi Dukwana’s spokesperson, Sello Dithebe, says the MEC wants to reassure residents that he will not be blindsided when dealing with corruption and maleficence at municipalities in the province.

Dukwana was replying to allegations made by the EFF's newly elected Free State Provincial Secretary, Malefane Msimanga, that Dukwana is ignorant of the alleged embezzlement of R70 million in conditional grants by the Zastron-based Mohokare Local Municipality, meant to pay Centlec debt.

“MEC Mxolisi Dukwana is deliberately sitting on a section 106 investigation report of the Mohokare Local Municipality. We are calling on MEC Dukwana to release an investigation report of Mohokare, so that consequence management can be applied to his caders who are found to be on the wrong side of the law in Mohokare. We are also calling for concomitant action against those who continue to confuse their personal purse with a public purse in Mohokare," Msimanga said to OFM News earlier this week.

ALSO READ: Free State municipality accused of embezzling over R70 million

Dithebe, however, brushes off these allegations by explaining that the AuditorGeneral (AG), Tsakani Maluleke, would have then made findings against such if the allegations peddled by Msimanga had any substance of truth to them.

ALSO READ: Only two Free State departments received clean audits – VIDEO

“The MEC for Cooperative Governance and Human Settlements in the Free State, Mxolisi Dukwana, would like to state very clearly that allegations of the embezzlement of R70 million in the Mohokare Local Municipality - made in reference to the Section 106 report of the municipal system’s act - is without any factual basis. If these were true, the Auditor-General (AG) would have stated this in the management report. MEC Dukwana will work actively with all concerned to ensure that communities are not robbed of sorely needed resources to provide services that they deserve. MEC Dukwana remains irrevocably committed to the idea of a capable, ethical and developmental local government and state in general,” Dithebe adds.

OFM News previously reported that according to Msimanga, the municipality in question was meant to pay the Bloemfontein-based Mangaung power utility Centlec over R70 million earlier this year in June. He said, however, that it is yet to make such a payment and as a result, residents of the Leratong Section in Rouxville, and Extension 10 in Zastron, have been left in limbo.

In June this year, Maluleke revealed that the Free State municipalities continued their wasteful spending of taxpayers' money with irregular expenditure increasing by almost R2 billion.

ALSO READ: Free State municipalities' irregular spending grows by R2 billion

Maluleke also told Members of Parliament (MPs) that three cash-strapped municipalities, including the Qwaqwa-based Maluti-A-Phofung, the Theunissen-based Masilonyana, and the Boshof-based Tokologo Local Municipalities failed to trace the trail of money spent by the municipalities.

ALSO READ: Free State municipalities fail to trace taxpayers' money

Only six municipalities in the Free State managed to obtain unqualified opinions but with findings, the rest obtained outstanding audits. MEC Dukwana previously said his department wants to look into ethical leadership, to best serve residents across municipalities in the province.

OFM News