Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Riëtte Dell and Sesotho soundbite by Jafta Mokoena MPL.
The DA in Setsoto Municipality will request a full investigation by the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) after the municipality spent over R10 million through irregular contracts, bypassing proper procurement rules 132 times in the past year. This was revealed in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Policy Implementation Report tabled at the Council meeting on 30 July 2025.
According to the official report, Setsoto recorded 132 procurement deviations during the 2024/2025 financial year, valued at more than R10.4 million. These deviations reflect a dangerous pattern of bypassing normal competitive bidding processes, raising concerns around transparency, fairness, and possible corruption.
The report further reveals R1.39 million in irregular expenditure, primarily due to non-compliance with procurement processes. In contrast, fruitless and wasteful expenditure was limited to R4,522.68, a relatively small figure, but a symptom of internal control failures that should not be ignored. This is a municipality under financial strain, and yet millions are being diverted through questionable deviations and irregularities. Even if fruitless spending is minimal, it’s still unacceptable when every cent should be going to service delivery.
This points to the abuse of deviations under the pretext of “emergencies, even for large-scale projects.
Security and fleet hire contracts continue to be issued via short-term quotations, often to the same service providers. The report lists security firms among those benefiting from repeat short-term appointments. This points to a strategy of avoiding long-term contracts; suppliers can be handpicked without oversight.
We also highlighted concerns regarding the appointment of debt collectors who earn a commission of up to 9.2%. We will write to the council to confirm the performance metrics and how collection success rates are reported, to evaluate the value-for-money for residents.
The DA will move for further investigation into all significant deviations and high-value tenders, as well as Disciplinary processes against officials responsible for irregular procurement. We also call for the immediate halt to all unjustified short-term awards.