Ficksburg activist Andries Tatane died fighting a municipality that wasted money on calendars and overseas trips, while others got backhanders for looting its resources.
And the community leaders who led the march that ultimately led to Tatane’s death did so for personal gain.
A confidential report by the Free State provincial government has, among others, revealed rampant corruption, maladministration, fraud, looting, nepotism and wasteful expenditure.
The report was commissioned by Free State MEC for co-operative governance Mamiki Qabathe after Tatane’s killing at the hands of the police on April 13.
The report, which was brought to Setsoto local council members only last Thursday, paints a picture of an inept municipality that did little to improve service delivery, instead awarding tenders to friends, appointing relatives to official positions and hugely inflating costs in order to secure backhanders from service providers.
And the people at the forefront of the battle to secure service delivery, the Meqheleng Concerned Citizens (mcc), instigated the protests to secure jobs for their “comrades”.
The Setsoto council has adopted the report and will follow all the advice, including the suspension and disciplinary proceedings against executive members, said council spokesman Thabo Mokoena.
In March, the Setsoto council advertised for 37 posts. Two days after the first march on the municipal offices, on March 25, the MCC wrote a letter to “the accounting officer”, acting municipal manager Thato Khoase, in which they “request for intervention and collaboration in the filling of the vacant advertised posts”.
The letter goes on to say that it would be “appropriate if you, as the accounting officer, would allow 18 of our people the opportunity to be employed at Setsoto.
All this will count in your favour as the municipality. We’ll provide you with the list of all our comrades today, March 25, 2011.”
According to the report: “The above is a clear indication that the MCC (the group) has a personal interest in Setsoto local municipality.”
“The fact that this letter was written two days after the first march, and the statement that it will be in the municipality’s favour to comply with this demand, suggests that there was a veiled threat in this ‘request for intervention and collaboration’.”
The eight-person commission found the municipality guilty of spending on non-core items, “which add little or no value to service delivery”, and include the purchase of calendars, promotional items, catering, sponsorships and expensive overseas trips.
The commission found director of corporate services Khoase central to a series of such occurrences.
A former taxi driver, commerce graduate and schoolteacher, Khoase was previously the municipal manager at Naledi municipality in Dewetsdorp, where he was suspended following allegations of irregularities.
He resigned from that post shortly thereafter.
The report claimed Khoase had made four controversial appointments, despite a resolution taken by the mayor and executive council, in what it described as a clear case of nepotism.
Khoase, with the knowledge of the municipal manager, also bought six GWM vehicles for R1.2 million in cash after allegedly being pressured by the Department of Human Settlements to spend the amount before the end of March this year.
But the human settlements department denied this, saying R1.2m was transferred to the municipality for houses.
Khoase and the municipality are facing a charge of fraud and corruption after he paid R25 000 into Cash and Carry’s account as part of a drive to fight crime and create HIV/Aids awareness while he was acting municipal manager.
Khoase has laid counter-fraud and corruption charges against Cash and Carry, and the case is still in court.
At the heart of the people of Meqheleng’s gripes was a lack of access to water, with many having to walk several kilometres to collect water at a stand pipe.
The commission found the eradication of the bucket system placed high demands on the water-treatment works, leaving certain residential areas without water.
In December 2007, the municipality chased former president Thabo Mbeki’s December 2007 deadline for the eradication of the bucket system.
All municipal infrastructure grant money was allocated to this, with the municipality neglecting to maintain or upgrade the source of water – the water-treatment plant.
In the meantime, the upgrading of the water-treatment plant, which a technical report advised in March 2006, got under way only last November. And despite these desperate efforts, the municipality has still not eradicated the bucket system.
A forensic audit is under way and the commission has recommended legal action against those found criminally liable.
The commission urged that Khoase be suspended until a disciplinary hearing had been conducted.
Khoase declined to comment as he had not seen the report.
The report points to a number of transgressions, including:
* Contractors who were appointed for building toilets, with some projects awarded without being put to tender and contractors not having the necessary certification.
* With no proper management of the contractors, there were instances of double payments.
* The municipality also did not have plans or project designs for the work done, which often overran in terms of budget and time taken to complete.
* The municipality leased 90 desktop computers over three years. With an actual lease value of about R7 000, the computers were given values of R47 000 each, totalling R4 230 000. Again, the purchases were made without following supply-chain management.
* In November last year, the chief financial officer appointed a service provider from Reitz, 150km away, to run the Cherry Festival. He admitted to the commission that the appointment had been made to impress the municipal manager, who is from the same area.
* A R200 000 payment was made to the Reitz service provider based on a proposal.
* The fiancé of the IT officer conducts IT business with the municipality, with her betrothed responsible for drafting specifications and inviting quotations. The service provider is a director of ERB Marketing and Business Solutions.
* The manager for roads, stormwater and electricity had “no relevant qualifications or previous technical experience before her appointment in 2007”.
* The director for economic and community service lacks the relevant expertise and knowledge in managing waste disposal and refuse removal, as well as local economic development.
* Two officials “connived” with a service provider to inflate the quotation for road paint. In return, they were paid a bribe.
* The municipality’s fleet of vehicles was completely obsolete.
* The CFO had produced an incredible budget, with proposed income and expenditure not realisable, resulting in poor service delivery. He had also allowed the municipality to use the municipal infrastructure grant for operational expenditure. - Daily News Reporters