By Craig Kotze
ELM’s Council Speaker has denied that political manipulation and protecting senior officials from scrutiny are behind her decision to cancel two special council sittings in a row – despite massive governance issues exposed by a corruption report and the ongoing smart meter crisis.
Hopes that Council would act decisively to hold acting Municipal Manager Dithaba Oupa Nkoane to account on both the Comperio forensics report into irregular contracts and the ongoing smart meter crisis were dashed after the Speaker abruptly cancelled a second special sitting for last week.
The cancellations were not in the public interest and directly undermined holding senior officials to account, said Klippies Kritzinger, CEO of the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC).
And the week before that, Speaker Maipato Tsokolibane also cancelled a special council meeting at which it was widely expected that Council would convene a disciplinary board to investigate Nkoane.
Another special sitting was not scheduled by the Speaker and with Council now in recess it is not known when another will be scheduled.
Nkoane is mentioned in the Comperio forensics report as having irregularly extended a R271 million security contract with Mafoko Security Services last year, leading to irregular expenditure of almost R40 million for which he should be held accountable.
Nkoane has also mismanaged the smart meter replacement programme in Emfuleni leading to losses estimated to already be in the region of R30 million in lost revenue, illegal connections and damaged infrastructure, amongst other causes.
Reasons given by Tsokolibane for the first cancellation were a last-minute visit by Deputy President David Mabuza to the Vaal on the same day as the first intended special council meeting. Then she blamed the “volatile” security situation at ELM head office in Vanderbijlpark for cancelling last Friday’s scheduled meeting only the evening before.
But Kritzinger asked how it was possible that a core democratic function such as a special council sitting could be cancelled on security grounds and that the Municipal Manager should also be held accountable to guarantee the safety of elected representatives.
“Whatever the reasons given by the Speaker for cancellation of these two sittings, it is clear she has placed the interests of the people, the business sector and ELM as an institution below other considerations,” said Kritzinger.
When asked to comment on specifically whether the second cancellation was linked to not holding a senior official to account and whether it was the Municipal Manager’s responsibility to guarantee security, Tsokolibane said:
“Not at all. There are rules and Orders of Council. We must always follow them. The volatile situation is causing us these problems. I wanted to take it to Vereeniging but all halls were fully booked. Our apologies.”