The Auditor-General’s findings and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs’ (CoGTA) forensic investigation, has the Lekwa Municipality in a tight corner.
These two documents cover allegations, observations, conclusions and recommendations and the forensic report focuses on allegations relating to financial discipline, citing the deficit, over-indebtedness and the Sars- and Eskom account.
The outstanding Eskom-debt saw Standerton being subjected to load shedding on two fronts these past months.
Residents had to contend with electricity interruptions after the municipal, notified, maximum demand of 55MVA was exceeded.
Lekwa Ratepayers Association took Eskom to court about load shedding, the High Court in Gauteng ruled in favour of them and Eskom was to increase, alternatively restore the maximum load supply to Lekwa to the level supplied before the introduction of 55MVA.
They charged the power utility with contempt of court on 3 September and the power utility has since appealed the court decision. A Supreme Court date is waited on.
On national level, Eskom introduced Phase 3 load shedding, followed by Phase 2 and Phase 1, all in one weekend in September.
According to information from the CoGTA spokesman of the DA in Mpumalanga, Ms Trudie Grové-Morgan, Lekwa owed R910 752 811 in October last year.
The forensic report reviewed Eskom statements from 2015 to 2017 and the interest paid on arrears amounted to R67 043 021, 89.
In conclusion the forensic report said that paragraph 65 (1) (2) (e) of the Municipal Finance Management Act was not complied to, where the accounting officer must inter alia take all reasonable steps to ensure that outstanding money is paid within 30 days of receiving the relevant invoice/statement.
It was recommended that an arrangement be made with Eskom, controls for paying accounts within 30 days be implemented and it be considered to appoint a consultant to perform a VAT-review.
Allegations relating to unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure were found to be substantial and it was recommended that council take steps to recover and/or condone such expenditure.
Council had already certified it as irrecoverable and to be written off.
The appointment of an external service provider to help with implementing control was recommended and the Auditor-General said reasonable steps were not taken to prevent such expenditure, citing the MFMA where unauthorised expenditure was not investigated.
The Standerton Advertiser contacted the communications manager of the municipality, Ms Thobeka Mtshiselwa, via WhatsApp, on Thursday, 8 October, requesting the exact figure of the outstanding debt.
No reply was received at the time of going to press.
