Note to Broadcasters: Please find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Chris Hattingh
The search and seizure raid of the HAWKS and Specialised Investigating Unit (SIU) on the JB Marks Municipality Offices is not only welcomed but long overdue.
The embedded protectionism synonymous with the ANC’s factionalised cadre deployment, which is rife in the JB Marks Municipality, forced the SIU to resort to the extreme measure of obtaining a search warrant to seize evidence, which officials of the municipality under the apparent protection of persons in management failed to provide voluntarily after multiple requests from the SIU.
The refusal of cooperation and to provide documentation and the loss of documentation, almost exclusively relating to supply chain procedures, have also become an annual feature in the Auditor General’s (AG) Report. Accumulated Irregular Expenditure in the JB Marks Municipality, that have not been investigated and for which there was no consequence management, as was reported by the AG, ballooned to R3,5 billion at the end of June 2023.
The current focus of the SIU relates to an irregular contract awarded in November 2016 to construct a flood line canal next to the N12 and Imaging extension 11. The municipality did not adequately plan and budget for the project, as the contractor was appointed before funding was secured and the budget finalized and even though municipal infrastructure grant (MIG) funds were not confirmed for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 financial years.
The municipality stopped the project in July 2017 due to insufficient funds to complete the project with no construction activity for a period of almost three years between July 2017 and June 2020. During the period when the project was effectively abandoned, the work which was done up to July 2017 deteriorated to a state that required all of the work to be redone from 2022 when the construction on the project resumed. This had adverse consequences posed health risks for residents within the proximity of what can only called a mess.
The Municipal Manager agreed to investigate this Material Irregularity declared by the AG on the 29th March 2022 but failed to do so by the agreed date on the 31st July 2022.
The Democratic Alliance has repeatedly raised its concern about the escalating lack of accountability in the JB Marks Council. The deliberate and apparently orchestrated refusal to provide evidence to Investigative Authorities cannot be tolerated and can be regarded as acts amounting to the defeating the arms of justice. The Constitution of South Africa prescribes that the business and affairs of municipalities must be transparent and accountable.
The DA will table a motion in the JB Marks Council to have the refusal to provide the requested evidence to the SIU independently scrutinised as to hold those responsible accountable.