The ailing Zastron-based Mohokare Local Municipality allegedly paid at least R5 million to service providers to install water meters but can’t produce traceable and tangible proof of it. 

AG Tsakani’s spokesperson, Africa Boso, tells OFM News that the AG’s office can confirm that the municipality’s assets line item received a qualified finding for the 2020-21 financial year, owing to a lack of supporting evidence relating to, among others, water meters. Boso says in this regard the audit team identified deficiencies in the acquisition of water meters and the related supporting documents submitted, hence the qualification.

A document shown to OFM News shows how the municipality in question, on two occasions, paid over R2 million to one service provider for the installation of water meters. The payment of thousands of rands further continues but without the names of the service providers being divulged by the municipality. The municipality is yet to comment on the OFM News enquiry. 

OFM News previously reported that the Local Municipality has been accused of embezzling R70 million from the National Conditional Grant meant to pay power supply debt. According to the newly elected EFF Provincial Secretary, Malefane Msimanga, the municipality was meant to pay the Bloemfontein-based Mangaung power utility Centlec over R70 million earlier this year in June but it is yet to make such payment. Msimanga says, as a result, residents of the Leratong Section in Rouxville and Extension 10 in Zastron, have been left in limbo.

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

Msimang has further accused the MEC for Cooperative Governance (Cogta), Mxolisi Dukwana, of being ignorant whilst all these are happening under his “watchful eyes“.

However, Dukwana has brushed off these allegations by explaining that AG Maluleke would have then made findings against such if the allegations peddled by Msimanga had any substance of truth to them.

ALSO READ: MEC Dukwana reacts to embezzlement allegations at municipality

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.

In June this year, Maluleke told Members of Parliament (MPs) that three Free State municipalities are part of a group of six out of ten sampled municipalities that could not account for or keep track of where taxpayers' money went.

Maluleke said in total ten municipalities across the country, including a few in the Free State, were spot-checked or sampled in order to properly process, amongst others, irregular expenditure. She said these three cash-strapped municipalities include the Qwaqwa-based Maluti-A-Phofung, the Theunissen-based Masilonyana, and the Boshof-based Tokologo Local Municipalities.

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

The other three municipalities that failed to track the trail of the money, include one in the North West, and also one in the Northern Cape, and one in Mpumalanga.

OFM News