A number of readers reported that they were informed by relevant municipal officials that they can not make any changes on the system when residents ask them for assistance with faulty accounts.
Mounting problems with municipal accounts and irregular differences in property values of similar and duplicate properties in security complexes in Mogale City raise concerns that the municipal management system is not functioning properly.
This according to Amanda de Lange, Freedom Front Plus councillor after she started investigating some mistakes and discrepancies some time ago.
The news recently reported that Quill Associates, owner of the software system BIQ Management System that Mogale City and the West Rand District Municipalities use, is suing Mogale City for R15 million.
In October 2012, municipal lawyers wrote a letter to the owner of Quill stating that they no longer required Quill’s services and they did not have the right to remove the software from the municipality’s system because it belonged to the Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM). In the letter MCLM also made it clear that an interdict against Quill will be filed if they tried to remove the system software.
It was said that municipal manager Dan Moshatisho cancelled the BIQ contract without following proper procedures.
Also not following the proper tender process, Lefatshe was awarded the contract to replace the BIQ system.
Allegedly they were paid R23 million but could not deliver the services.
“This money has not been recovered yet and the council had to fall back on the BIQ system. As the BIQ system is a proprietary system owned by a private company, it seems that the only way the council could get access was to hack into the system. This was confirmed by the company.
“Therefore it is reasonable to believe that the system is compromised and the mounting problems and downtime are caused by the unlawful access that MCLM officials had to the system,” says De Lange.
“Unless proper forensic audits and risk assessments are performed and amends made, the information and records produced by the BIQ System in its current state cannot be trusted,” she adds.
“It is unjust of the council to subject its rates-and-taxes payers to inferior financial accounting while performing aggressive credit collection procedures.”
The Freedom Front Plus is said to be taking the matter up with the Provincial Legislature for urgent intervention.
