/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) was left unimpressed by the state of governance at the Masilonyana Local Municipality in the Free State today where it is on a two-day oversight visit. The committee was also joined by the Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Ms Thembisile Nkadimeng.
 
The oversight visit follows a petition by petitioners, acting on behalf of residents within the municipality who lodged a petition calling on Parliament to assist them when the municipality failed to deliver basic services. The municipality has received five consecutive disclaimed audit outcomes from the Auditor General.
 
The committee visited waste water treatment and purification stations as well as a refurbishment of two sewer pump stations that were neglected for years and the infrastructure which is minimally maintained. The committee found no work activity at the water treatment plant at Brandfort during the visit and no one from the municipality could say with certainty as to  when last was the contractor on site.
 
The committee expressed its shock and disappointment when visiting the Theunissen water treatment plant which had water pump equipment that was not working lying on the premises when the plant had already experienced a robbery including theft of equipment as well as a second attempted robbery.
 
The committee was also shocked that there seemed to be no effort towards disposing redundant assets and questioned the accuracy and maintenance of the municipal asset register. The committee noted that there was still no proper security measures in place despite repeated incidents of vandalism and burglaries which threatened state infrastructure and constrained water provision to the community.
 
The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said: “The question that fundamentally lingers is why is there a slow pace in consequence management in the face of glaring failures in the municipality.”  The committee was also not happy about the different picture which the municipal officials painted than what obtains on the ground where in some instances work was done because the committee was there to conduct oversight.  
 
The committee discovered the bad manner in which documents were kept in the office of the municipality’s Chief Financial Officer. It was not impressed with the record and file keeping in the finance offices.  Furthermore, it noted how documents were kept on top of desks which posed risks as some already contained signatures of approvers. According to the committee the manner in which records are kept can render auditors unable to find documents required for audit purposes.
 
The committee will tomorrow meet with the petitioners, Masilonyane Local municipality, the South African Local Government Association, SIU, AG and other interested stakeholders for further deliberations.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Mkhuleko Hlengwa