The following is the full text of the petition delivered to a representative of COGTA on Wednesday:
We, the undersigned mass-based organizations of Makana municipality, demand the immediate removal of the Mayor and the Speaker from our municipality.
For too long Makana Municipality has been experiencing political instability, maladministration, fraud and corruption and service delivery collapse. Notwithstanding the fact that there was an unsuccessful attempt through litigation to dissolve the municipal council, the municipality continues to be a dysfunctional and law-breaking municipality. This is a municipality that cannot fulfil its constitutional and legislative obligations as set out in the constitution and local government laws. Makana is a municipality that has been politically and administratively mismanaged by the Executive Mayor, Speaker and a cohort of conflicted officials.
At Makana Municipality, the gross abuse of public office and public resources has become a norm. It is a situation that can no longer be tolerated. It is well documented in several media sources that the state of governance at Makana municipality and public service delivery has rapidly deteriorated to intolerable and unacceptable levels. The infringement of almost every basic constitutional right in the Bill of Rights has also become a norm. In this regard, we are referring to:
- The right to human dignity;
- The right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being;
- The right to sufficient water, etc. The evidence of the violation of people’s basic human rights is visible in our townships and town areas.
The ANC councillors who are in the majority on the municipal council have shown no interest in decisively complying with the constitution. Instead of respecting and complying with the law, the Executive Mayor and the Speaker preside and encourage the passing of unlawful resolutions and have ensured that the oversight structures are deliberately and intentionally weakened.
Evidence of gross financial mismanagement is comprehensively documented in successive disclaimer audit reports. For the period 2020 to 2024, the Auditor-General has issued five consecutive disclaimer audit reports. Regretfully, the Auditor-General issued reports without recommending any decisive measures
to hold officials responsible for the gross financial mismanagement.
Makana Municipality has spent millions of Rands without a paper trail, as reported in successive disclaimer Auditor General reports. This is an indication of gross corruption or theft of public funds for personal enrichment. The theft of public funds at Makana Municipality must be stopped, and all implicated Councillors and officials must be investigated and subjected to criminal prosecution.
These consecutive disclaimer reports demonstrate that the Executive Mayor, who is the political head of the
Makana municipal council does not have the requisite educational and technical capacity to lead the municipal council. In 2019 CoGTA correctly categorised the Makana municipality as a dysfunctional municipality. Subsequently, the municipality was placed under long-term administration for failing to fulfil its legislative and constitutional responsibilities. Regretfully, the intervention has not yielded any meaningful and impactful outcomes. Instead, the situation has deteriorated to untenable levels.
Although the municipality was placed under Section 139(1) things have deteriorated instead of improving. In Nov 2021, the Eskom debt was reduced to a mere R15m from a staggering R85m in 2019. Now the Eskom debt has crept up again.
In 2019, the municipality received 6000 geysers from the Department of Minerals and Energy for the benefit of the poor. Only 5 were installed by the previous Mayor as a pilot. Certain parts of the rest were stolen at a municipal warehouse despite a security company being appointed to guard them. Consequently, they were all taken back to the disadvantage of the poor. To date no one has been held to account by Makana municipality.
In 2019, 5 notches were given to all municipal workers, totalling R11m, on the advice of former MM despite strong advice by Salga. We now understand that Salga is calling for this money to be paid back.
The looting of overtime by municipal workers, assisted by some managers, has been taking place for a
very long time.
Two municipal buildings namely traffic office and LED buildings were recently condemned by the department of Labour as being unfit for occupation. We have also been reliably informed that the current Mayor has crashed two hired vehicles but has not been held to account. Instead, there was a coverup by the municipal officials.
In 2019, a report was presented to the former Chairperson of Scopa, Hon. Hlengwa, by the Makhanda legends detailing the gross maladministration in this municipality. Since then, things have gotten worse. Due to large-scale corruption taking place in this municipality, last year, the SIU was authorised by the President to investigate alleged corrupt activities, particularly at the municipality’s supply chain management offices.
It is for these reasons that we, the undersigned organizations, have decided to take this extraordinary step to ask for your intervention.
Issues to be addressed:
- The source of corruption at the supply chain management office;
- Council endorsed the employment of a conflicted Chief Financial Officer without any proper due
diligence; - A relative of the Chief Financial Officer was employed at the supply chain management office
without proper due diligence; - ANC councillors supported the unlawful and irregular awarding of questionable procurement contracts without complying with relevant procurement law;
- The council adopted unfunded budgets with non-compliant IDPs;
- The municipality is operating without disaster management plan, water services development plan, spatial development plan, etc.
- Service delivery contracts between the municipality and service providers, performance agreements, minutes of council and committee meetings are not published on the municipality’s website;
- Millions of Rands in unauthorised, wasteful and fruitless and irregular expenditure have been written off without the consent of the MEC for Finance, Minister of Finance and without holding any official or Councillor accountable for having failed to recover the unlawful expenditure.
- Some of the municipal buildings are not safe and is in a state of dilapidation;
- There is no enforcement of municipal by-laws because many of the by-laws are outdated and not
consistent with our laws and Constitution; - Streets and roads are potholed and breaking up (i.e., ongoing risk to motorists and public
transport); - Access to potable water remains a serious problem; (i.e., ongoing pipe bursts, massive water leaks
and water losses); - Blocked sewer drains and sewer overspills are an ongoing problem (i.e., serious environmental
health problem); - Community halls and sports fields have been neglected (i.e., state of dilapidation);
- For the last 10 years, cemeteries have not been cleaned and kept in a dignified state;
- There are no street lights to deter criminality in communities;
- The communities are dirty and not attractive for attracting business opportunities, etc.
This above demonstrates the rot in which the municipality finds itself.
Through this petition, we, the undersigned stakeholders, are seeking an urgent impactful Ministerial
and departmental intervention at Makana Municipality.
Importantly, as the stakeholders, we want an opportunity to engage the Minister on the state of Makana
Municipality to discuss the way forward out of this mess.
