Note to Broadcasters: Please find attached soundbite in English by Freddy Sonakile
Just over a month after the DA in North West lodged a case with the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and requested President Cyril Ramaphosa to fast-track a proclamation for an investigation into Ratlou Local Municipality’s incomplete and shoddy projects, the consequences of the rot are starting to show.
The project, paving the road from Garelang to Ramabesa, was completed in December 2023, but washed away after heavy rains last week. This is one of the many projects the DA requested the SIU to investigate.
The former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Ratlou, Tumelo Letlojane, flagged this project and refused to pay for it due to the shoddy work. However, Lotlojane was later fired by the municipality.
The R20 million project is one of many similar projects in Ratlou. Initially, the project was intended for the road between Setlhwatlhwe and Ramabes, but was later changed to Garelang without any Council resolution.
We will continue to pursue the President as well as the SIU to act with speed in Ratlou before there is nothing left in this already collapsed municipality.
The DA will today add further pressure by requesting Acting Premier, Nono Maloyi, to invoke Section 106 of the Municipal Systems Act, by lodging an investigation into all the incomplete and shoddy projects in Ratlou.
Ratlou Municipality is the poster child of the ANC’s misgovernance and poor service delivery track record. This municipality highlights how the ANC in government no longer cares. Voters have a chance to vote in a new DA-led government on 29 May 2024 that will improve governance that delivers services to all.