Kinross residents blame Councillor for corruption

KINROSS – Residents are displeased with Ms Rose Nkabinde, Ward Councillor, who did not pitch up for a meeting that was called by residents.

It was held at the Ext 25 municipal yard on Sunday, 19 February.

A copy of the letter that was sent to the councillor requesting her to attend the meeting, was shown to the Ridge Times and the councillor signed it on 15 February to acknowledge receipt of the letter.

Residents elected people to meet with the councillor over issues affecting the community.

It was alleged at the meeting that Ms Nkabinde is enriching her family and is forgetting the people who voted for her, namely the community.

They allege her brother got a subcontract for work at the Kinross Dam and Park that are being revamped by Sasol.

The same brother also allegedly got another subcontract for the building of the mall in Ext 25.

Residents said a company was hiring Leandra and Kinross residents, but only three people were hired from Kinross of who one is Ms Nkabinde’s brother.

Her other brother is also allegedly receiving two salaries, one as a ward committee member and the other as the community liaison officer (CLO) for a project that is installing metered standpipes and the conversion of VIP toilets into flushing ones.

Residents said they did not elect the councillor’s brother to be on the ward committee and the procedure for appointing him as a CLO was not followed.

They said when there are new projects in Kinross, ward committee members should be properly informed and be involved in the hiring of locals.

Residents said if companies do not want to hire locals, they will have no choice but to stop them from continuing their projects in Kinross.

Some want the district and the provincial ANC office to intervene.

“They always impose councillors on us and ignore residents when we want our own candidates.”

The newspaper asked the office of the executive mayor of Gert Sibande District Municipality, Mr Muzi Chirwa, and Govan Mbeki Municipality for comment.

The newspaper received the same response from Govan Mbeki Municipality that they provided on 15 November last year.

“The office of the speaker has scheduled a meeting with Councillor Rose Nkabinde for Ward 16 to hear her side of the story regarding the allegations levelled against her.

“The councillor is denying that she hired her brother just after being elected a ward councillor.

“According to her knowledge, the contractor was appointed during the term of the previous ward councillor.

“Secondly, the issue of the CLO was discussed at the ward committee meeting when the previous CLO was nominated and forwarded to the contractor as the project CLO.

“The previous CLO was then tasked with finding 10 general workers to be employed by the contractor.

“The 10 people are from various areas of the ward.

“The councillor’s brother was among the 10 general workers employed.

“The project began without any glitches, but as it progresses, the CLO began to raise suspicions that the contractor might not complete the project as envisaged.

“The previous CLO became concerned as she felt that the contractor should have begun with toilet connections instead of installing taps, thus the contractor wanted residents to sign for taps while the project was not complete.

“A project steering committee was convened to address the previous CLO’s concerns, however she was uncooperative at the meeting and resigned with immediate effect.

“The project halted for two weeks while the previous CLO was not reporting for duty.

“In the third week, the contractor appointed the councillor’s brother as the CLO, because he was already an employee and familiar with the project.

“A ward committee meeting was convened on 1 October 2016 where the entire community was invited to take part so the community could elect their representatives (ward committees).

“The brother was duly nominated and elected by the community as a ward committee member of Ward 16.”

Govan Mbeki Municipality did not comment on the allegations that Ms Nkabinde’s brother got subcontracts for the building of the mall and the revamping of the dam and park.

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