DA says mayor is dragging her feet
Yet in the midst of it all, it is alleged that R3-million was made available for a traffic officer programme which was not budgeted for
The traffic scandal is far from resolved.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is indicating that they will be tabling a motion of no confidence in the Executive Mayor of Emalahleni, Cllr Linah Malatjie and the members of her mayoral committee (MMC) in the next council meeting.
“Cllr Malatjie has yet again failed to address the large scale of corruption and moral degeneration in the municipality by providing vague answers on the traffic officer scandal that saw spouses, girlfriends and children of MMCs favoured for position,” said DA councillor Lizelle Steyn.
Cllr Steyn said the municipality is balancing itself on the brink of collapse and is currently technical insolvent with close to R3.5- billion owed to Eskom.
Yet in the midst of it all, it is alleged that R3-million was made available for a traffic officer programme which was not budgeted for.
In a previous meeting, Cllr Malatjie said the R3-million was sourced from outside to fund this project.
According to the DA Cllr Malatjie included several items on a council meeting agenda on January 30 and when the time arrived for tabling those items, at the last minute, they were withdrawn.
“There is no political will from her office to root out corruption, not in a dysfunctional institution such as Emalahleni as the report does not indicate what action steps will be taken,” Cllr Steyn said.
The council has resolved on having a financial disciplinary board but to date, no one has been referred to this board and no reports have been tabled.
“The mayor’s lacklustre approach to corruption and nepotism within the institution has projected her loyalty towards her comrades within the ANC instead of the residents of Emalahleni. She cannot investigate or hold accountability on her MMCs who have been fingered and those employed through the back door in the traffic officer scandal,” Cllr Steyn said.
By the time going to press there was no comment from the municipality.
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