The Makana Municipality annual report for 2008/2009 was severely criticised at a special council meeting on Wednesday.
A great deal of time was devoted to dissecting the report which was riddled with technical errors, spelling mistakes and incorrect information.
The Makana Municipality annual report for 2008/2009 was severely criticised at a special council meeting on Wednesday.
A great deal of time was devoted to dissecting the report which was riddled with technical errors, spelling mistakes and incorrect information.
Thabiso Klaas, Director of Corporate Services, who prepared the report, defended it throughout the meeting.
ANC councillor Zamuxolo Peter was the first on his feet to demand “more flesh on the matter” from a section on page 17 dealing with staff development initiatives.
Councillor Thuleka Ngeleza pointed out that on page 19, Makana Municipality had a vacant post available for an executive director, but that Makana was not a metropole and only has an ordinary director.
Councillor Xolani Simakuhle questioned where Makana needed an events co-ordinator as indicated on page 18, and said the council needed to review its organisational structure.
He also said more “expectations workshops” should be run for newly-established committees so that staff members know exactly what is expected from them.
DA Councillor Michael Whisson pointed out spelling errors and discrepancies in the report like the section dealing with the full-time staff complement in table form relying on simple mathematics, which was filled with mistakes.
Whisson also questioned the facts of item 8.2 which praised the municipality’s success in providing households with quality water.
He wondered drily whether the residents of Fingo village would agree with the findings. Makana Mayor Vumile Lwana conceded: “The quality of the information supplied is not 100%.”
He said the purpose of the annual report is to profile Makana as an organisation and that an institution of its size should have dedicated people who can edit reports.
The report makes “too many assumptions”, he said, and it needs to be specific about the facts and not assume that its readers understand what is meant.
