MEC report a whitewash but does expose corruption

The long-awaited report from the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs’s findings on the beleaguered Endumeni Municipality was released under cloak and dagger, but is more of a damp squib than dynamite.
MEC Nomsa Dube had sent a ‘crack team’ to probe complaints of corruption and other misdemeanours, which led to an outbreak of protest marches, mini-rioting, and the petrol-bombing of the financial manager’s office.
In between, the mayoral vehicle was stolen under mysterious circumstances, followed swiftly by the suspension of Municipal Manager TP Biyela and the sacking of three senior managers at the municipality.
The turmoil virtually paralysed the municipality, with even the MEC herself being subject to ridicule during her many visits to Dundee.
The report was tabled in front of council by the MEC, but the press was promptly ushered out – this leading to the belief that the report contained some shocking revelations.
Now that that a copy has finally been secured by the Courier, it is evident that the report is a whitewash, with most recommendations ending with the comment ‘the municipality should review its policies’ and/or ‘the municipality’s internal audit committee should review this’.
The only definite recommendation is that council should take steps to recover the R2,5-million paid to former Technical Services Manager, Bart Maltman, following the pension fund saga.
The report does shed some light on the long-suspected money-wasting at the municipality – R331 000 was blown on a one-day Youth Day event in 2012, without any requisition order as per supply chain management requirements.
The report calls for disciplinary action to be taken against those responsible, but no one person is fingered in the report.
Another shocking indictment on how ratepayers’ money is wasted is the T-shirt saga – R108 250 was spent on an out-of-town supplier to purchase 1 000 golf shirts and 500 caps in October last year, even though there were only 411 Endumeni representatives at this particular provincial games event.
A ‘middle manager’ is quoted in the report by saying,”The municipality always purchases extra T-shirts and equipment to hand out to officials, support staff of participants, VIPs and organisers, and this has always been common practice at Endumeni Municipality.”
The report recommends that ‘the municipality should review its practice of ordering such paraphernalia and curb wasteful expenditure’, but, ironically, an objection to the support of an out-of-town company, by a local company, has been dismissed as being ‘out of time and invalid’.
The theft of the mayoral vehicle in February was referred to the police ‘for further investigation’. The long-standing catering saga (no council event is complete without a hearty meal) was fingered as being corrupt, as some service providers said that a certain councillor demanded a cut from their payment and, when they refused, payment was stopped or delayed.
The councillor is not named in the report, and the only comment is that the municipal administration should ‘ensure that a system of managing goods and services received at official events is implemented, which does not require a councillor’s signature or involvement in the process’.
Allegations that an ex-councillor ‘gained personally from the allocation of a RDP house, that was then leased out’, is met with a comment that the municipal internal audit unit should investigate further.
Suspicions of nepotism when hiring staff have been exposed, with allegations that an ex-councillor’s sister-in-law was absent without leave and then re-instated and back-paid. However no one is named and shamed, with the only comment being ‘the matter requires further investigation by Endumeni’s internal audit’.
It is unclear what council will do to conduct further investigations into these matters, as per the MEC’s recommendations.