Johannesburg - The embattled Sedibeng District Municipality has been rocked by a personal protective equipment (PPE) scandal that has raised allegations of suppliers inflating prices.
A leaked report claims that the municipality splurged over R1 million on PPE between March and June, despite being allocated R119000 as its disaster relief fund.
Municipal spokesperson Saviour Kgaswane, however, said the municipality took a decision to dip into the internal operational budget which was in accordance with co-operative governance.
“A special Covid-19 adjustment budget, in line with the Cogta gazette, re-prioritisation from the internal municipal operational budget was approved on June 26, amounting to R1347113, inclusive of the disaster management grant to respond to the coronavirus,” he said.
The municipality’s PPE procurement expenditure list indicates that over R500000 was channelled towards training staff members on Covid-19 health protocols.
Asked to give a breakdown of what the training entailed and the number of employees who were trained, Kgaswane gave a brief description.
“To date, over 200 employees from various clusters have been trained on Covid-19,” he said.
The DA’s Kingsol Chabalala expressed concerns with the municipality’s decision to train its employees.
“Covid-19 health guidelines have been widely shared and communicated with the public.
“Was there a need to spend half-a-million rand on training elderly employees?”
Kgaswane maintained that procurement of PPE and the Covid-19 training was done in line with National Treasury regulations and circulars and not through deviations.
Chabalala called on provincial co-operative governance to act decisively against maladministration within the municipality.
“MEC Lebohang Maile needs to work with Sedibeng Council in ensuring that the municipal manager is suspended. Those who are found to be implicated in any wrongdoing need to be held accountable and face the full might of the law.”
Maile recently called on the municipal mayor to revert against corruption allegations within the municipality.
He said a task team notified them of serious allegations of misconduct and abuse of power by the municipal accounting officer.
The Star has uncovered that the municipality has informed Maile that no wrongdoing has occurred within the organisation.
Maile’s spokesperson, Castro Ngobese, has however confirmed that an investigation into the municipality’s dealings was on the cards.
“The MEC has deemed it necessary to instruct the state attorney to brief a senior advocate to conduct an investigation in terms of Section 106 (1) (b) of the Municipal Systems Act.
“Once the appointment of the senior advocate is confirmed, further details will be released into the investigation,” he said.
The Star