The Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration (Cogta) has welcomed the decision to dissolve the malfunctioning and corruption-racked Thabazimbi local municipality.
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) approved after it was placed under administration by the Limpopo leadership due to political maladministration.
All nine provinces voted in favour of the motion to approve the intervention.
The municipality has been rocked by allegations of fraud and corruption resulting in an ongoing court litigation that has left the municipality unable to function properly and provide adequate services.
It is alleged that the municipality has blown over R13 million on legal fees to lawyers during political battles that lasted for nearly two years.
This money was meant for service delivery purposes in the area. This included basic services such as water, sanitation, roads and community lighting.
Some of the municipal workers could not receive their monthly salary at some point.
On Tuesday, the committee had a meeting with the external and internal stakeholders for a way forward on the matter.
According to the committee, the municipality owes R304 million to Eskom and R198 million to Magalies Water.
The municipality has proposed a payment arrangement with Magalies Water; however the deal was deemed unacceptable as it does not address the critical issue of the escalation of debt.
Thabazimbi is one of the many malfunctioning municipalities across the country.
Ditsobotla municipality in the North West and Emfuleni municipality in Gauteng are some of the embattled ones.
On Thursday, committee Mxolisi Kaunda convinced that the municipality is unable to achieve the objectives of local government as set out in Section 152 of the Constitution.
“These and many other reasons are behind the committee’s recommendations, now adopted by the house, that the municipality is dysfunctional and requires a reset that will ensure better and quality service delivery than what they are getting currently,” Kaunda emphasised.
To ensure accountability, the committee has also recommended that the MEC must consider instituting a full forensic investigation in terms of Section 106 of the Municipal Systems Act to investigate all allegations of financial mismanagement, fraud and corruption within the municipality.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
IOL Politics