The office of the municipal manager of the Matlosana Local Municipality (Klerksdorp, Stilfontein, Orkney and Hartbeesfontein) on 7 April 2022, denied being in possession of a forensic report, which revealed irregular expenditure to the amount of R1,8 billion at the Municipality as far back as 2016.
North West’s provincial Department of Finance appointed the company Open Water Risk Solutions in 2015 to investigate financial irregularities in the Matlosana Municipality.
The denial follows an application by the FF Plus on Tuesday to obtain a copy of the final forensic report from the Municipality. The application was brought in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
The municipal manager, Roger Nkhumise, furthermore denies that any such progress report had ever been submitted to the Matlosana municipal council.
This is despite the fact that a summary of the forensic report was tabled in the council on 22 September 2016.
The FF Plus has since 2016 repeatedly requested that the final report must be disclosed to all stakeholders.
And the request was once again made to the Municipality during an oversight visit by the parliamentary Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) in 2021. To this day, no feedback on the report has been received.
The Municipality’s conduct clearly indicates that it is attempting to cover up the final forensic report’s revelation of irregularities with a veil of secrecy.
Meanwhile, no apparent action has been taken against any of the senior officials to hold them accountable for the enormous misappropriation in the Municipality.
The FF Plus is currently in the process of preparing a PAIA application to submit to the North West’s provincial Department of Finance so as to obtain the final forensic report.
The party will also ask the Minister of COGTA, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, in Parliament to see to it that the information is disclosed.
The FF Plus will continue to put pressure on all levels of government to ensure that corrupt officials and politicians are held accountable for their looting of taxpayers’ money.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Michal Groenewald on FF Plus
