Poor spending has cost Makana Municipality millions in lost funding and officials don't care.
Mayor Zamuxolo Peter has slammed the failure of the municipality's various directorates to spend funds allocated to them. He was tabling the midyear budget and performance report, together with the adjustments budget for the current financial year, in a special council meeting on Thursday 6 February.
Poor spending has cost Makana Municipality millions in lost funding and officials don't care.
Mayor Zamuxolo Peter has slammed the failure of the municipality's various directorates to spend funds allocated to them. He was tabling the midyear budget and performance report, together with the adjustments budget for the current financial year, in a special council meeting on Thursday 6 February.
“We lost a lot of funds because of poor spending and this is affecting service delivery," Peter said. "There must be consequences for directors who are not performing; we are not friends here, politicians must play an oversight role because the institution is suffering.”
Reports showed that the municipality lost more than R6 million of Equitable Share funding last November, because funding from previous financial years was returned unspent.
And Makana's Municipal InfrastructureGrant, intended for upgrading the city's crumbling systems, had been diverted to operational expenses.
The mayor said it was clear officials did not care.
“It is clear there seems to be looseness," Peter lamented. "We expect all of you to be at work in good time. This is not your uncle’s house.”
Agreeing with the Mayor, Councillor Les Reynolds said what was reflected in the performance report was what could currently be seen in the streets of Makana.
“Makana is a mess. Nobody does anything," Reynolds said.
"As councillors we are sick and tired of having to answer to the ratepayers and the community. You cannot walk around and smile and not be accountable…
"None of the directors should even smell a bonus. They don’t deserve it,” Reynolds said.
The mayor also slammed the performance report.
“If this report is true, then it is pathetic. We can’t continue like this. There must be a sense of commitment,” he said.
The councillors approved the performance report, with the rider that it goes to the portfolio committees for discussion.
Acting municipal manager Mandisi Planga told Council that the Municipal Infrastructure Grant spending was at 28%.
“There is no MIG funding left because the rest of the funding was used on operational issues. As we read the report we must read it in the context that the municipality is facing serious financial difficulties. That has impacted on the performance of directorates,” said Planga.
He made it clear that he was not defending the directors with that statement.
In his remarks, Planga told the council that the municipality had taken a moratorium on attending training sessions, travelling and catering in meetings.
“Currently we are spending R1 million on fuel for municipal vehicles every month. We are planning to reduce that and there must be strict supervision to curtail that,” he said.
The Mayor’s report to Council on the adjustment budget states that the municipality is spending R200 000 a week on fuel.
“There are various verbal reports that are received about vehicles being used for private purposes… staff members use them as taxis to get to and from their place of work,” The mayor said.
