* Brace yourselves for more “good news” announcements from our political leaders. These once-in-five-year political prostitutes will force the electorate to wear rose-tinted glasses.
* Alfred Duma Local Municipality is on Category 5 since the merger with Indakane Municipality. Our mayor and managers receive Category 5 salaries as per Section 56 and 54 respectively.
At a meeting on December 28, 2018, councillors were justified to reject a 4% increase backdated to July 1, 2018. They demanded an increase as per Category 5.
An urgent meeting with the MEC will help resolve the impasse.
* Did you know that our municipal manager lives in Newcastle? A car of security guards travels from Ladysmith to fetch her in the morning, brings her here, takes her back to Newcastle and returns in the evening. Every day! Guess who pays for these round trips.
* In terms of the Govt Gazette, councillors are not allowed to have more than TWO security guards. Our mayor and municipal manager are assigned many more than that. Why?
* Each electrical sub-station now has a security guard. It costs R30,000 a month to provide this security service.
Would it not have been more frugal to install sophisticated alarm systems linked to a central control point, plus a security fence?
* An amount of R3 million was budgeted for the 2018/2019 financial year. In the first four months of this financial year, an amount of R13 million was used up. R10 million was reprioritised from the salary budget to help pay for the shortfall. How will the rest of the eight months be paid for?
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the Ladysmith Gazette and / or its proprietors
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