Pretoria - Putting to bed the saga around the multimillion rand GladAfrica contract stood out as one of the key achievements by City of Tshwane mayor Stevens Mokgalapa during his first 100 days in office.
Mokgalapa highlighted the achievement during a media briefing in Centurion, where he gave feedback about the performance of the DA-led administration since he assumed office in February this year.
The contract came under fire after it emerged that the city procured it irregularly and the Auditor-General declared it irregular in January.
Mokgalapa announced that he terminated the contract within two weeks in office.
He said the irregular expenditure incurred on the GladAfrica contract has been referred to the Audit and Performance Committee (APC) for investigation.
"I am happy to also announce that The Financial Disciplinary Board held it’s first meeting last week and depending on the APC recommendation, they will act accordingly," he said.
He said his office would wait for the APC to conclude its investigation.
"It will be improper for me to pre-empt the findings. However, I can assure you we are ready for any recommendations," Mokgalapa said.
He said one of the key objectives to improve was consequence management in the city.
That, he said, would ensure that recommendations of forensic investigations and Auditor General (AG) reports are implemented in order to maximise accountability.
"When I came here I pronounced that I am not going to be an 'office mayor' but rather be a 'service delivery mayor'.
"I had to hit the ground running. To date I have been to all regions on the service delivery card. I visited the total number of wards and held 15 public meetings," he said.
Mokgalapa mentioned that among the things he did was to appoint MMCs and gave them orders to accelerate service delivery.
The design of the "I am Tshwane Campaign" enabled him to share his vision with the residents.
"This campaign commenced at the beginning of March 2019 and it was critical for me if we are to be serious about working for the residents of the city," he said.
He said the campaign had a purpose to ensure residents can identify with what the City's service delivery operations are.
Other things Mokgalapa achieved in 100 days:
- The purchase of 73 new emergency vehicles
- Distribution of nine new service delivery trucks to regions
- Increased the number of Wifi connection points
- Establishment of an in-house Asset Protection Unit for the Tshwane Metro Police Department to fight cable theft and City property vandalism