The Mayor of the ANC-led Lesedi Local Municipality in Heidelberg, Lerato Francina Maloka, has become a tyrant and a law unto herself. This is the words of Mirna Mulder (DA councillor) of LLM.
Mulder said on November 27 in a voice clip that since Maloka has become the mayor of LLM, the administration is in a complete disarray, corruption is rife, the supply chain is interfered with and her management as executive mayor fails largly.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Caucus in the Lesedi Local Municipality therefor calls on the ANC to remove the mayor from office after the party blocked several motions brought against her.
Maloka is alleged to be interfering in supply chain management processes and being disruptive.
Currently, she is involved in a dispute with the acting municipal manager, Advocate Gugu Thimane. She falsely implicated Thimane in a R50 million security tender fraud, which proved to be a false accusation.
It has subsequently been reported that Maloka wanted a different company to provide security services to the municipality other than the one that was appointed by the acting municipal manager.
The Municipal Finance Management Act forbids political interference in tenders due to it being an administrative function that falls under the municipal manager.
Tender 39/2018 for rendering security services for 36 months in the municipality was advertised on September 26 and closed a month later on 29 October 2018 with 28 bids received in total.
According to a report from the Bid Evaluation Committee, 26 bidders failed to meet the compliance requirements by not submitting letters of good standing, directors utility accounts and firearm licences.
The only two bids which were found to be responsive were Mafoko Security for the bid amount of R67 488 487 and Mabotwane Security Services for the bid amount of R63 284 612.
The prices of the two bidders exceeded the threshold prescribed in the specifications under tender No 39/2018 and led to the cancellation of the tender.
The acting municipal manager (Thimane) then consulted widely and procured a contract secured by another municipality in line with Regulation 32 of the Municipal Finance Management Act: Supply Chain Management, MFMA:SCM.
After Thimane appointed Bravo Security Company as an alternative, a series of strange things started to unfold at the municipality.
Death threats and hijackings
Thimane received death threats and a decision was taken at a special council meeting in June this year to hire a private security company to protect her at R100 000 per month. To date, the municipality has spent R575 575 on the municipal manager’s protectors.
This was after the Acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO) was hijacked and the Supply Chain Manager was shot at. The Media Liaison Officer Arthur Thokoane was also shot at during a hijacking and died two weeks later.
Previously, Mayor Maloka failed to inform the municipality about non-compliance letters from the then Gauteng Local Government MEC regarding the appointments of former senior officials including Paul Mpele (the former chief financial officer who was then promoted by the mayor to municipal manager and then back to being the CFO). It was determined that he was not qualified to hold either of these positions and got fired.
“She has also brought the Municipality into disrepute by delaying a corruption investigation by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) into unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred in respect of several services,” Mulder concluded.
Mulder’s letter was supported by acting DA Gauteng communications manager Charity McCord who said the DA is committed to transparent and clean governance that offers quality services to the people.
