Cape Town - The coalition parties governing the Theewaterskloof Municipality say they inherited a dysfunctional administration under DA control.
Theewaterskloof Municipality(TWK) is governed by a multi-party coalition between the ANC, Good Party and Patriotic Alliance.
DA Theewaterskloof constituency chairperson Martie Koegelenberg on Tuesday claimed the municipal council had spent more than R4.3 million on VIP security, claiming their lives had been threatened.
He said the unlawful expenditures were bleeding the municipality dry.
“This expenditure was not authorised by the council. We do note that the matter is on the council agenda, but it has not yet been served in any council sitting, because an investigation into the matter must still be concluded. The DA will submit an urgent motion to ensure that the investigation is concluded swiftly. Service delivery is severely compromised when taxpayers’ money is misspent and the DA in Theewaterskloof will not allow residents to pay for ANC corruption,” said Koegelenberg.
But ANC provincial spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said they would not be dragged into the DA’s cheap politics.
“The provincial leadership visited TWK the previous week, and we have received reports from the ANC caucus on the progress of the coalition government. We have also received a comprehensive report from the Speaker of Council on the status of forensic investigations ordered by Council and advanced by the ANC which gives the DA sleepless nights hence these theatrics. The head of governance will submit a full report to the provincial working committee from which we will engage on a thorough informed basis,” said Mtsweni.
GOOD Party’s general secretary Brett Herron said the administration was riddled with irregular appointments made by the DA, critical vacancies never filled, infrastructure backlogs leading to water and sanitation risks and critical term and panel tenders not in place.
“The appointment of an emergency security service provider was made in terms of the delegated powers and the Supply Chain Management policies that the DA in government also used. The reason for the expenditure being incurred was because of death threats made against five or six councillors.
“The expenditure is irregular because the DA failed to ensure that there was a security service provider tender issued when they were in government, thus an appointment had to be made to protect people’s lives using emergency powers.In line with the commitment to transparency, the irregular expenditure has been tabled in terms of Section 32 of the Municipal Finance Management Act with MPAC (Municipal Public Accounts Committee),” said Herron.
Wouter Kriel spokesperson to MEC for Local Government Anton Bredell said the office was aware of the allegations and they were awaiting the DA’s letter.
Cape Times