Durban - eThekwini’s metro police accounted for more than half of the staggering R22.6 million worth of ratepayers’ money going down the drain on lost or stolen city stock over a six-month period.
And R12.6 million lost from the city police stores was for 363 uniforms.
The city says implicated staff and department heads now face the prospect of disciplinary action and dismissal for the “poor supervisory controls and monitoring which contributed to the problem”.
Details of the millions in wastage between July and December last year were contained in a report from the city’s audit committee to the executive committee on Tuesday. Audit committee chairperson Londiwe Mthembu and council internal audit head Phillip Ntsimane presented the report.
In it the committee warned of “significant weaknesses” in stores and inventory management sites. It said stock was excessively purchased and some was surplus and was going to waste. Stock that could not be accounted for ranged from stationery to uniforms, diesel and fuel and toiletries.
The R12.6 million was for 363 metro police uniforms that “could not be verified”. It was not clear how a uniform could cost nearly R35 000.
“Stock holding as at the end of June 2015 was R89 million,” the report concluded. Dead stock was R2.5 million, excess stock R9 million and shortages R277 500.
The report said the council “must revisit its stores and inventory management controls to mitigate the risk of loss through pilferage”. There was also concern about thousands of litres of diesel and fuel found in what was listed as “closed fuel store sites”.
Poor supervisor controls and monitoring were identified as the source of the stores debacle.
The metro police’s management again came into question in the report after it emerged that the unit was contravening a traffic act by not auctioning certain vehicles in its pounds.
The city’s four pounds are full to capacity with vehicles, which should be disposed of after being impounded for 12 months, but that have not been auctioned since 2013.
Instead of being disposed of and revenue being collected, Mthembu said, vehicles were now being vandalised.
City manager S’bu Sithole told exco he had stopped the auctions because of suspected “cover bidding”. The sale of vehicles started again in January after “mechanisms were put in place”, he said.
Exco members decried the metro police’s state of affairs.
Sithole said “special attention” was given to inventory problems “in order to ascertain what causes it”.
“We are also looking at disciplinary action for culprits involved in the mismanagement including the head, if it has reached that level,” he said, adding that the amount was “very significant”.
Deputy mayor Nomvuzo Shabalala said there were “a whole lot of issues related to metro police and how they do things” that required serious attention.
DA councillor Heinz de Boer said the metro police were in tatters because there was no control over the unit.
“The only time we ever hear from metro police is when something goes wrong. There’s no oversight. We’ve had a lot of issues with stuff going missing.”
De Boer said the chaos was reflected in the unit’s vehicle pounds.
“We need to know how many vehicles we actually have in these pounds and who is effectively managing the pounds and who isn’t.
“I’m glad the committee has picked up on it.”
Councillor Mdu Nkosi of the IFP said the “employed management” needed to be hauled over the coals and held accountable for the millions lost.
“They need to tell us what exactly is happening. It isn’t fair on you for them to say stock couldn’t be verified. If they are failing to give answers, then they must tell us what needs to be done,” he said.
Mthembu said a combination of factors was hampering the city’s stores.
“It’s not just about stock loss but is also about proper record keeping. If records are not updated, it seems as if stock is lost when in fact it was not properly recorded. It’s not just about theft and disappearance,” she said.