Note to Broadcaster: Please find linked soundbites in English and Setswana by Cllr Mduduzi Maphanga.
The DA in the Kgetlengrivier Local Municipality objected to yesterday’s appointment of the Municipal Manager (MM), Mr Clement Letswalo, as Council was kept in the dark regarding a Samba Forensic Report on Mr Letswalo.
The Executive Mayor, Cllr Thabo Jacobs, stated yesterday during a Council Meeting that Mr Letswalo was the preferred candidate from a list of 31 applicants.
The entire recruitment process has been cloaked in secrecy. Not a single representative from opposition parties in Council was represented on the interview panel nor were we afforded observer status despite the undertaking Mayor Jacobs made during a strategic working session late last year to allow for a multi-party representation.
The ANC abused its majority to steamroll Mr Letswalo’s appointment through Council yesterday despite our objection and those of other opposition parties.
Mayor Jacobs failed to disclose to Council findings in the Samba Forensic Report implicating Mr Letswalo in financial mismanagement and irregularities during his time as the Chief Financial Officer at the Dipalesing Local Municipality in Mpumalanga.
The report revealed:
1. At least R53 million irregularly paid to seven companies;
2. R1,6 million was spent on underfunded wage increases and benefits for officials;
3. R20 million paid in unauthorized increases service providers; and,
4. R126,4 million irregular expenditure incurred.
This appointment is the latest disregard for good and accountable governance by the ANC despite the lip service the party pays to reform. The ANC continues with its destructive cadre deployment policy, appointing questionable individuals to positions of authority.
The DA will write to North West MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nono Maloyi, requesting that Mr Letswalo’s appointment be reversed and that a new recruitment process for a suitable Municipal Manager is initiated.
The DA will not sit by and do nothing as the ANC continues to break the law in order to benefit themselves and their fellow cadres at the expense of residents in Kgetlengrivier.