by Cllr Korny Dekker – DA Councillor in Mogalakwena Municipality
| Date: 18 March 2020
Release: Immediate The Democratic Alliance (DA) became aware of a letter from the Public Protector which confirms that the appointment of Jabu Mashamaite as the Deputy Manager: Corporate Services in Mogalakwena Municipality was irregular. The Public Protector’s preliminary findings indicate that Mashamaite was appointed while he did not meet the minimum requirements of the post. This post was advertised on 28 October 2016 with the minimum requirements being a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration, Law or equivalent. They also required a minimum of five years of relevant experience at minimum management.Mashamaite was shortlisted even though he did not meet the minimum requirements for the post and he did not event attached copies of his qualifications as required by the advert. What is even more shocking is that this letter confirms that the Municipality received 40 applications for this post and that 28 of these applicants had degrees in either Administration or Law. Mashamaite did not have a Bachelor’s Degree or the required 5 years of experience. He had a matric certificate, a certificate of attendance for a workshop in Fundamentals Property and Leasing Law Management and a short course certificate in Microsoft Excel 2010. The letter confirms that there were candidates that actually did meet the minimum requirements but who were prejudiced due to improper conduct by municipal officials. The Public Protector indicates that Ms Molala who was the Acting Municipal Manager during this shocking appointment was supposed to follow due process and appoint a suitable candidate. However, this did not happen. Instead of being held to account for the offence committed by her, she was promoted and is currently serving as the Mayor of Lepelle-Nkumpi Municipality. Molala allegedly contravened section 173(1) of the Municipal Finance Management Act by acting in a deliberate or grossly negligent way, by failing to take all reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised, irregular and wasteful expenditure. Section 32 of the Act also states that irregular expenditure can constitute a criminal offence and that this should be reported to the Police. It also indicates that money should be recovered from the person liable for the expenditure.Mashamaite’s tenure at the Mogalakwena Municipality has been marred with scandals and this shows the impact of incompetent people being parachuted into posts by corrupt officials. When council appointed Mashamaite all DA councillors vehemently objected to this and our objection was also set out in the council minutes. When the DA objection to the appointment in a motion in council our concerns were blatantly ignored and disregarded. The DA has written to the current Municipal Manager to request a plan of action in relation to this matter. Given the fact that the Municipality has already been placed under administration due to the inability of the ANC to fulfil its mandate and effectively running our town to the ground, we demand that the relevant stakeholders be consulted in this regard. We also demand that Mashaimate should vacate this position immediately and that those individuals who were responsible for his appointment be held accountable to pay back the money which was spent on his salary. The DA will also proceed to lay criminal charges should the Municipality fail to do so. This is yet another clear indication of the continued corruption, maladministration, nepotism and criminal behaviour in the Mogalakwena Municipality. The DA will continue to serve the community by exposing corruption, holding the corrupt to account and by putting the needs of the community first. Media Enquiries Cllr Korny Dekker DA Councillor in Mogalakwena Municipality |