Choir members axed after asking questions

Five senior citizens from Khutsong have been banned from the Tshirangwana choir after confronting the organisation about the alleged misuse of monetary donations from a mining company. The women apparently joined the organisation, which was founded by Mr Less Tumo, in 2014. According to them, the issue started when their food parcels were given to non-members at the end of 2015. They did not receive them in 2016, either, and even had to fund the Christmas party out of their own pockets. When they went to the mine to enquire about the food parcels on 14 February, an official told them that Tumo had received a sponsorship of R44 000 instead, after he said the senior citizens wanted cash and not food. He produced a statement of proof that the money had, indeed, been paid over. When they informed the other members of the choir about the donation, they were accused of meddling in the organisation’s functioning. One of the members close to Tumo said they were trying to destroy the organisation. The women complained that Tumo used their names, the names of nonmembers and even names of deceased people to ask for donations. They allege that companies like PicknPay have assisted the organisation with food donations that are not distributed to all members but to the favoured few. According to them, Tumo called a meeting at his shack in Batswaneng Section on 19 March. They allege that he was drunk and asked the members who were complaining to stand up. He allegedly chased them away but they refused to leave without answers. Tumo was apparently furious and started verbally assaulting the women. The first conflict between him and the women arose when he allegedly received an amount of R4 000 for T-shirts for the choir that they were not allowed to take home. Since then, there have been many. The women accuse him of hosting braais at his place over the festive season and then bragging that he was spending the grannies’ money. They also question his collecting money from senior citizens in the community for their funerals. They feel cheated. ‘We want him to be held accountable Z he must answer for what he has done. He has hurt us by disrespecting us in every way. According to Tumo, however, everything is okay and the allegations are false. He admitted, though, that the five are no longer welcome in the choir. ‘I chased them away from the choir, not the organisation, and I sent a bank statement to the mine proving that the money is still there,’ he said. This was denied by Ben Matela, the stakeholder engagement manager of AngloGold, who added that he had not submitted any report, either. ‘The man is coming up with all sorts of stories. We are still looking for him but he always claims to be somewhere else,’ he said. He tried to call Tumo over a loud hailer after speaking to the Herald, without success.