On 25 February 2020, the FF Plus requested the Premier of Mpumalanga, Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, to conduct lifestyle audits on officials in service of Mpumalanga municipalities and the province. In her state of the province address, she indicated that she intends to do this.
The FF Plus’s request is justified because the Local Municipalities of Dr JS Moroka (Mdala Nature Reserve), Lekwa (Morgenzon, Standerton) and Govan Mbeki (Bethal, Charl Cilliers, Embalenhle, Evander, Kinross, Leandra, Secunda, Trichardt) have already been placed under administration amid serious allegations of mismanagement and corruption.
The following municipalities have also been identified for forensic investigations (Section 106 in terms of the Municipal Systems Act) due to numerous allegations of mismanagement, maladministration and corruption:
• Nkomazi Local Municipality (Komatipoort, Malelane, Marloth Park)
• Pixley ke Seme Local Municipality (Amersfoort, Perdekop, Volksrust, Wakkerstroom)
• Bushbuckridge Local Municipality (Sabie Park), which had been placed under administration in the past as well
• Emalahleni Local Municipality (Witbank)
• Thembisile Hani Local Municipality (KwaMhlanga)
The FF Plus is of the view that the province’s strategies to combat corruption in municipalities must be reinforced by conducting lifestyle audits on all executive mayors, chief financial officers, municipal managers and their extended families. It will ensure that any irregularities are picked up before municipalities fall into financial ruin.
Lifestyle audits must immediately be conducted on all the executive officials of those municipalities that have already been placed under administration by the provincial government. In this way the guilty parties who brought about the municipalities’ downfall can be held accountable.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Werner Weber on FF Plus
South Africa Today – South Africa News
