This was after a manager at legal service, identified by OFM News as Itumeleng Mogaecho, was suspended by the acting municipal manager (MM), Michello Sello, who was allegedly implicated by Mogaecho's drafted reports. 

A source in the upper echelons of the municipality told OFM News that the mayor, Dimakatso Modise, refused to take the two reports drafted by Mogaecho for council deliberations, and as a result, failed to execute her duties as outlined in terms of regulations. 

The source says mayor Modise, who is no stranger to controversy, then wrote two emails launching personal attacks on Mogaecho in response to the reports implicating Sello. The legal manager, who Sello has since suspended, was mandated to draft a report which dealt with allegations of misconduct against the acting MM (Sello), who is accused of failing to pay third-party contributions for the months of January, March and May 2021.  Sello was also accused of allowing an unauthorised payment to a bogus service provider who was paid close to R900 000 by the municipality.  

As a result of this unauthorised payment, the supposed or alleged actual company that was supposed to have been paid for services – which included the jet blasting that mainly deals with the unblocking of sewage drains in 2022 – dragged the cash-strapped municipality to the Free State High Court for close to R900 000. The municipality was forced to pay the actual service provider through a court order, meaning the municipality had now made two payments of R900 000 to service companies.

“So, in essence, the mayor should have allowed the council to deliberate on all the allegations contained in the report (legal advice) drafted by the manager at legal services – Itumeleng Mogaecho. But instead, she wrote two attacking emails to the manager at legal services. She refused to report to the council, contravening specific regulations. In terms of these regulations, which binds a political head of the municipality, she is forced to table the reports to the council within 7 days after receiving the reports,” the source added.

Meanwhile, the municipal spokesperson, Zongezile Ntjwabule, replied to the allegations and told OFM News that “after careful consideration with the questions that you have posed, the municipality elects not to comment at this present moment, understanding that these matters [are] sub judice and are yet to be ventilated on the correct platforms”.  

OFM News has since contacted Mogaecho but he refused to comment, citing the aforementioned reasons by the municipality.

The municipality has previously been struggling to pay its workers and also service providers due to cash flow issues.

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In June 2022 the Auditor-General (AG), Tsakani Maluleke, reported that Masilonyana was among three Free State municipalities which failed to account for money spent.

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

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