B‘worth silent on government takeover threat

Tabelo Timse Municipal Correspondent

THE Mnquma municipality in Butterworth is yet to respond to a series of concerns raised by the local government department, which threatened to put it under administration last month.

MEC Toko Xasa said the department had delivered the letter to the municipality this week.

“We have written to them to say which areas made us take the steps that we are taking and we are waiting for their response,” she said.

“Only after that can we move forward.”

She said the cabinet had given the department permission to put the municipality under administration last month, but the decision was reversed by a High Court order.

Xasa said this after a meeting yesterday in East London between mayors, municipal managers and senior officials from national and provincial departments responsible for local government and service delivery programmes in the province.

She said one of the objectives of the meeting had been to discuss and get an indication from the municipalities why the department had to intervene in some local authorities.

Minister Sicelo Shiceka reportedly announced that the Mnquma council had been dissolved with effect from February 12 and all powers now resided with an administrator.

It has had four different mayors recently, service delivery is close to total collapse, the municipal manager has resigned, the auditor-general has issued a disclaimer on the annual audit due to inadequacy in the financial statements of the last two reporting periods, and the SIU is investigating all tenders awarded since last July.

Xasa said the Koukamma municipality in Tsitsikamma would also be placed under administration.

“On December 12, the council resolved that it did not have confidence in the administration of the municipality.

“To us this was a clear indication of a cry for help.

“The area was hit by disaster some time ago and received an R88-million allocation.

“But without capacity, the money won‘t be spent, so we have to intervene.”

Xasa said the department was also awaiting the outcome of a forensic audit in the Sakhisizwe, Nkonkobe and Buffalo City municipalities.

Provincial department spokesman Mbulelo Linda said provincial auditor-general Singa Ngqwala had also revealed at yesterday‘s meeting in East London that 37 of the 45 municipalities in the Eastern Cape had submitted complete financial statements for the 2007-08 financial year.