by Rene Pohl Cllr – DA Councillor in Tzaneen Municipality
| Date: 05 March 2020 |
| Release: Immediate |
| The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Tzaneen will call on the MEC for Cooperate Governance, Basikopo Makamu to establish a forensic investigation into the financial affairs of Greater Tzaneen Municipality after it spent over R259 million on legal fees between 2014 and 2020. The DA can confirm that the money was used for legal fees , executions, litigation, special consultations, settlements, arbitration, disciplinary hearings, legal opinions and costs. According to the Legal Expenditure Report for the 2019/2020 financial year, which is in the possession of the DA, the municipality spent over R175 million of their normal budget to pay legal fees between 2014 and 2020 financial years. The report indicates that the main contributors towards these exorbitant amounts of legal fees were overspending and extremely expensive settlements of cases. The report confirms that the amount of R84.3 million was spent on legal settlements. This while the residents continue to suffer due to lack of services in their villages. The following settlement agreements caused the bulk of the expenditure: Quality Plant Hire – R25 million Expectra – R17 million Makgetsi Constructions – R15 million MAC P Constructions – R12 million Phadima Phadima – R6 million Bad Rock – R3.5 million Telegenix – R2.5 million Hlimbyi Security – R2.3 million SLM Projects – R1 million The DA can confirm that these settlements were not budgeted for and were paid in full single payments which had an extremely negative effect on the cash flow of the municipality and therefore affected service delivery in general. It is clear that non-adherence to legislation and financial regulations caused the municipality to face endless litigation and arbitration which resulted in extremely expensive settlements. The DA urges MEC Makamu to establish the investigation and hold all Section 56 and 57 managers accountable for their roll in this. It is pertinent that disciplinary action be taken against all those who were responsible for money being wasted. Finally, we demand that money be recouped from individuals who are to blame for the poor decisions which resulted in legal action. |
| Media Enquiries |
| Rene Pohl Cllr DA Councillor in Tzaneen Municipality 079 707 1955 |