– DA will write to the AG in Limpopo to report ongoing abuse of processes following the arrest of 12 officials
– During a Special Council sitting the suspended Municipal Manager and Community Services Manager was questionably absolved of all corruption allegations and their suspension lifted in a 250 -page report
– The DA calls on the AG to issue certificates of debt to all officials found guilty
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Molemole will write to the Office of the Auditor General (AG) in Limpopo to report the continued material irregularities masterminded by Mayor Mashilo Edward Paya and the ANC-led council.
Since April 2026,12 officials were arrested by the HAWKS for corruption and subsequently suspended by council.
During a Special Council meeting on 19 June 2026, Mayor Paya presented a 250 page report by Mohale Incorporated Attorneys on the allegations of fraud and corruptions involving the R38 million botched Morebeng landfill site project.
The report cleared the two officials of corruption allegations and lifted the suspension of Municipal Manager, Emmanuel Makgatho, and Community Services Manager, Timothy Molopa, and both report ed to work the next day.
Despite the highly irregular and arbitrary process, the majority of councillors adopted the report, but the DA objected as only a magistrate or judge can acquit a suspect of charges after an arrest.
This process was fundamentally flawed; Mohale Incorporated is not an independent service provider, it has done work for the municipality in the past and their costs to draft the “absolving report” was not disclosed and councillors were given only 2 hours to peruse hard copies of a 250- page report before the item was bulldozed though council.
With Makgatho and Molopo back at work, there is a risk of evidence tampering and intimidation of witnesses which is in direct conflict of their bail conditions.
The DA will not stand idly by and will use all legal ways at our disposal to expose this long standing crime racket at the expense of the taxpayer. We call on the AG to issue binding remedial directives following their investigation including a certificate of debt to guilty officials to repay the financial loss personally. Municipal officials must know that there will be consequences and that crime does not pay.