Note to Broadcasters: Please find linked soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Cllr Johannes le Grange.
The ANC-governed City of Matlosana recorded a financial loss of almost R1 billion as revealed by the Auditor-General’s (AG) annual report for the financial year 2022/23 tabled at a Council meeting last week.
The DA has for years consistently raised concerns over the administration’s reluctance to rationalise the budget in line with Treasury guidelines. For several years, the ANC majority has steamrolled successive unfunded budgets through Council.
This report comes only two weeks after the municipality’s CFO, Mercy Phetla, and her accomplices, employees of GMHM Construction and Projects, Nomthandazo Mokasule and Matshepiso Mothelesane, were arrested on charges of corruption. Incidentally, a R50 million payment to GMHM Construction and Projects was identified as irregular by the AG.
The AG highlighted that Matlosana’s liabilities exceed its assets by R2,682 billion. The municipality recorded R369 million in unauthorised expenditure, R273 million in irregular expenditure, and R233 million lost to fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The AG did identify a risk that put the viability of the municipality as a going concern.
The municipality recorded almost 60% revenue loss through water losses and almost 40% financial losses were incurred because of electricity theft through illegal connections.
Poor financial management, corruption, fraud and the adoption of unfunded budgets in Matlosana severely hamper the ability of the municipality to deliver services and to maintain and/or expand on infrastructure. A reality known to every single resident who cannot depend on the ANC-led municipality to deliver the most basic of services.
Matlosana also incurred a loss of R43 million from the Fresh Produce Market, which will increase, because of the municipality’s failure to collect the 5% fees required to pay the market’s agents.
The DA will, through our caucus leader in the North West Legislature, Freddy Sonakile MPL, write to the MEC of Finance, Motlalepula Rosho, to request an intervention to put an end to the continued financial mismanagement of Matlosana.