Nokeng council ‘wastes’ money

THE Nokeng Tsa Taemane municipality has been rocked by allegations of wasteful expenditure and tender irregularities.

Mayor Anna Digoro, municipal manager Mpho Mogale and the director of service delivery, Mpoti Machaba, have been accused of, among other things, awarding tenders that were never advertised.

The municipality has also been accused of paying a whopping R176 000 to a company that was hired to investigate the theft of R10 000.

Sources in the council said the municipality gave two companies, Limpopo Access Solutions and Maloka Security Services, tenders that were never advertised. The two companies are owned by Lucas Maloka, who is linked to a high-ranking municipal official.

One of the tenders was for R22 000 to change locks at the council’s offices and the other for R16 000 for drafting a security assessment report.

It is also alleged that Ulwazi Protection Services was being paid a substantial monthly amount for services that were never put out to tender.

Sources said the municipality was also turning a blind eye to the wasteful expenditure allegedly incurred by Digoro and Mogale when they attended an Institute of Municipal Finance Officers (IMFO) conference in Durban last year.

An internal memorandum leaked to City Press Gauteng shows that Digoro and Mogale made the council cancel bookings of R4 672 at the Garden Court South Beach hotel.

According to the memo, Digoro and Mogale were dissatisfied with the hotel accommodation. Another booking was made at Elangeni Southern Sun at an additional cost of R7 000.

The council also paid an R800 cancellation fee after Digoro cancelled a flight. A new booking was made at a cost of R1 854.

Mogale denied the allegations, saying that LMD Forensic Company had been duly appointed and had completed its investigations.

He said the report had been sent to the chief financial officer for implementation. Mogale said the appointment of Ulwazi Protection Services had been done in terms of the supply chain policy.

On wasteful expenditure allegations, Mogale declined to comment and only said: “The contents of all issues raised will be given to the auditor-general.”