Forensic report slams Polokwane Municipality

POLOKWANE – Gross irregularities uncovered by the report by forensic investigators Bowman Gilfillan caused an uproar among opposition parties during a closed meeting of the Polokwane municipal council last Tuesday.

During the meeting, councillors were required to surrender their cell phones for safekeeping until proceedings concluded.

After the meeting, Mayor John Mpe briefed the media, revealing that the municipality had initiated forensic investigations in October 2023, prompted by concerns from the Auditor General and internal audits.

The three key areas investigated were the construction of the Mankweng Sports Complex, verification of employees and contractors and an investigation into overtime paid to full-time and Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees.

Mankweng Sports Complex:

Mpe stated that the investigation into the Mankweng Sports Complex revealed significant irregularities and non-compliance with procurement procedures.

The project was initiated in 2014 with a budget of R69m and has seen an escalation to R126m and is still not completed.

“The main complex, including plumbing and electrical work, were found to be incomplete. The stadium building is in a state of disrepair, requiring extensive repairs and renovations. The tender process for the project was marred by irregularities, including the approval of the bid specification and the unauthorised increase in project costs,” Mpe said.

He added that Ditlou Engineering Consultants, appointed to oversee the project, was found to have been paid excessively for their services. The main contractor, Phumi and its subcontractor, Ebony and Ivory, are suspected of fronting, a practice where a company is used as a façade to conceal the involvement of another party.

The stadium is also built on pieces of land not belonging to the municipality, building plans were not approved and completion certificates were signed by the consultants instead of the municipal manager, the report revealed.

Verification of employees and contractors:

According to the report, the investigation into employee verification revealed several discrepancies and irregularities, including that the payroll system was found to contain fictitious employees, several employees were found to be on extended sick leave without proper documentation, some employees were found to be holding multiple positions, such as both EPWP and permanent employment and human resources and legal services were found to be lacking in oversight, allowing employees to remain on the payroll for extended periods without being verified.

The report also indicated that a senior manager, who has been in his position for nearly 10 years, had been using someone else’s personal information and matric and degree certificate, and a certain employee who had been on leave for five years was discovered.

Overtime paid to employees:

The investigation into overtime payments revealed excessive claims, a lack of justification and potential abuse, Mpe said.

More than R128m in overtime was paid over a 14-month period and 307 employees were found to have worked more than 60 hours of overtime per month, in violation of the law.

It was furthermore found that many employees were unable to provide adequate justification for their overtime claims and there were allegations that contractors were using materials from the municipality and later billing the municipality for the same materials.

Some employees were found to be working overtime during their annual and sick leave periods.

The mayor highlighted that investigations are not an end in themselves.

“The municipality is committed to take immediate action to address these issues and ensure accountability. We will be working closely with law enforcement agencies and other relevant authorities to recover any losses and implement measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

“Good governance and accountability are the cornerstone of our municipality and we will continue on our drive to deliver quality services to our residents,” he concluded.

DA whip in the council, Jacques Joubert welcomed the release of the Bowman Gilfillan reports.

“To this date, we await a follow-up report to return to council regarding the previous Bowman’s report submitted to council in April 2023 showing updates and action taken against officials. A forensic investigation is only as good as the action taken from it and the DA will continue to monitor the progress on these investigations and see that the full recommendations in the Bowman’s report be implemented as we believe the findings highlight systematic, institutional wide degeneration of improper corporate governance,” Joubert said.

Susan Clarke, Freedom Front Plus councillor in the municipality, said the report clearly indicates that directors and managers are not being properly monitored and that the mismanaged human resource department has greatly contributed to the alarming state of municipal finances.

“Any outstanding investigations should also be disclosed, enabling the party to apply the pressure needed for swift action,” Clarke said and added that the FF Plus will monitor the disciplinary actions and criminal cases lodged in this regard, and will keep up the pressure as these processes have been dragging on for too long and irregularities are often covered up.