Note to Editors: Please see attached letter here and here
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Premier of the Free State, Sisi Ntombela, and the MEC of Cooperative Goveranance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Skully Nxangisa, to fight against the lifting of the administration in Maluti-a-Phofung. This comes after the MEC confirmed last Friday that he has lifted the Section 139 Constitutional intervention in Maluti-a-Phofung due to the “tremendous progress” that has been made to date.
We are demanding that the ANC Executive Council implement the compulsory Section 139(5) intervention within 14 days. We have cited several official reports which highlight the continuing financial crisis in the Municipality, and which clearly indicate that a financial intervention is compulsory in such circumstances. Section 139(5) places a duty upon the MEC to implement the intervention and enforce a strict financial recovery plan. Should the MEC fail to do this, the DA will approach the Minister of Finance to implement Section 139(7). The national executive must intervene where a provincial executive fails to do so.
MEC Skully Nxangisa has been undermining the Joint National Provincial Intervention team for months. The MEC oversaw the illegal appointment of a municipal manager (MM) and CFO by the Municipal Council in March, whilst fully aware that the Council did not have the requisite authority to appoint officials while under administration. This led to the competent administrator Mr Lefatola suddenly leaving the beleaguered Municipality. The illegally appointed MM and CFO, who awarded themselves a 40% salary increase before their appointment letters had even been signed, are now fully in charge of the municipal administration.
The MEC then appointed a new administrator, who on 12 June reported to an NCOP Select Committee on all the political interference, maladministration, interference with bank accounts, payment of illegally appointed contractors, and alleged corruption taking place in the Municipality, allegedly led by the troika of Speaker Tumelo Thebe, Mayor Masechaba Lekaje-Mosia, and Chief Whip Betsi Mofokeng.
In response to these shocking revelations, MEC Skully Nxangisa withdrew the administration team entirely, opening the door for the troika and the new MM and CFO to proceed with the resumption of the industrial scale looting which saw the devastation of the Municipality between 2013 and 2018.
The DA cannot and will not stand aside and tolerate this blatant political takeover of the already bankrupt Municipality for the purposes of further plundering the large amounts of Covid-19 disaster funding, and grant funding allocated to the Municipality for the development of water and sewage infrastructure. The people of Maluti-a-Phofung, and especially Qwa-Qwa, who have to battle daily to get water to stay alive, and who are struggling with a few hours of electricity now and then, cannot be abandoned to the whims of these inept officials. The DA will not allow the people of Maluti-a-Phofung to be led to the slaughter by the scheming Free State ANC.