Report Back – Madhun Singh April 8 2016

The DA has various comments and concerns on the 2014/2015 annual report:

Electricity Losses: Technical and non-Technical.

A jump by R10 m more compared to the previous financial year from R61m in the 2013/2014 financial year to R71m in the 2014/2015 year is unacceptable and leads to direct revenue losses.

It is clear the strategy of council is not working despite putting measures in place. The net must be thrown wider to include ALL illegal users regardless of their status and act with out fear or favour.

This trend cannot continue and must be stopped. Regular updates on progress must be reported to council for further direction and interventions. Political and administrative leadership is required before the situation gets out of control.

Underspending on capital projects

Council underspent by R179m, which has direct impact on service delivery and we have already seen protest marches. Realistic allocation towards capital projects, given the capacity constraints and finalising procurement of goods and services timeously, must be addressed urgently.

These are key target areas we cannot fail and it has negative impact on performance. There was slight improvement on spending compared to the previous year.

Internal Controls

This is an area that cuts across all departments with weak internal controls. Compliance and legislation must be enforced if we are to get clean audit outcomes. The internal audit department must be fully resourced with the audit committee further assisting and putting corrective measures in place and advising council on compliance matters. We must be committed to advance transparency and accountability.

Irregular Expenditure

Increased to R86m in 2014/2015 from R46m in 2013/2014. Fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounted to R433 610. We must be prudent in spending public funds and put systems in place to mitigate irregular and wasteful expenditure. Not enough is done.

Why was fruitless and wasteful expenditure the year before not investigated to determine if a person was liable for the expenditure amounting to R3.7m?

Allegation of possible fraud in the supply chain management amounting to R600 000 was not reported to the SAPS. Why?

Tender awards to state employees

Eleven rogue officials have done business with the municipality amounting to R3,4m. They must be named and shamed. They deliberately did not declare interest (false declaration).

Investigations

Collusion between prepaid electricity vendor and former employee involving an amount of about R500 000 is still not finalised, despite the employee now being in the employ of another municipality. They must be blacklisted and even jailed.

Another case is also pending, I assume in the region of R500 000 was paid to a rogue supplier where no work was performed. The question arises is this the only case or has this supplier also taken the municipality for a ride previously as well? We have a right to know.

In conclusion, I believe we cannot change the direction of the ship, BUT we can adjust the sails as we move forward in achieving clean audit outcomes.