Note to Editors: Find attached soundbite in English by DA North West Spokesperson on Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Freddy Sonakile.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West will write to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA) in the Provincial Legislature, Aaron Motswana, to urgently summon the Ratlou Local Municipality before a Legislature Committee Enquiry to explain why no action has been taken against the Speaker, Moabi Seabelo, for his involvement in three car accidents with municipal vehicles over the past three years.
The latest car accident occurred in the early morning hours of 21 October 2020 when the Speaker hit a cow on the Dihatswane road. It is alleged that his driver was not with him and he was not on official duty, which is in contravention with the Municipal Fleet Policy that requires the appointed driver to drive the municipal vehicle at all times.
The Speaker was involved in another collision in January 2020 while driving through Mafikeng.
An investigation was launched by the Municipal Manager, Tebogo Chanda and an incident report was prepared for Council, but never tabled, as the Speaker allegedly refused to do so.
According to the report that the DA has in its possession, the Speaker was driving at the time of the accident and insisted on paying for the damages to the third party’s vehicle in his personal capacity. He was also reluctant to report the accident to the SAPS.
The report further stated that the SAPS accident report was completed by the Speaker’s driver, Kagiso Mobita even though he was not driving at the time of the incident.
The report also contains serious accusations including that the accident was not reported to the Fleet Officer within 24 hours, the Speaker falsified the accident report under oath, defeated the ends of justice and took the municipal vehicle to an unapproved panel beater for repairs to avoid standard procedures involving the Municipal Insurer.
Among the recommendations listed in the report, was that disciplinary action be instituted against the Driver and Speaker and for a case of fraud to be opened with the SAPS for falsifying the accident report. It was also recommended that the report be viewed in line with the Code of Conduct of Councillors as encapsulated in Schedule 1 of the Municipal Systems Act. None of these recommendations were adhered to.
Two months after his appointment in 2018, the Speaker hit four donkeys in Madibogo with the municipal vehicle after refusing to be driven around by the appointed driver. The then Municipal Manager, Jonas Molefe, undertook to investigate the matter following complaints by DA councillors, but this investigation is yet to be conducted.
All three accidents raise serious concerns about the Speaker’s tendency to disregard Municipal Policy by driving a state vehicle whilst a driver has been assigned for this task.
The proposed enquiry ought to get to the bottom of the causes of all three accidents and recommend suitable action as consequence management. The Speaker and driver should also be criminally charged for their alleged fraudulent statements made under oath.
The DA will also submit written questions to Council regarding the costs of the three accidents and the Municipality’s failure to act on the three occasions.