Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Leona Kleynhans and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Eric Motloung.
– Excessive spending on salaries and perks.
– Failure to prioritise core municipal functions.
– Bloated and unaccountable administration at the expense of service delivery.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality will continue to advocate for a budget that prioritises the municipality’s core functions, improves accountability, and ensures public funds are spent on services that directly benefit residents.
During the Council Meeting on 29 May, the DA highlighted several serious flaws in the budget tabled for adoption, warning that the current spending priorities risk undermining service delivery and failing the communities the municipality is meant to serve.
About 70% of available funds are spent on staff and councillor salaries, perks, and hidden benefits, leaving the municipality’s primary functions neglected.
Instead of focusing on a functional District Disaster Management Centre to prevent disasters and protect residents from catastrophic fires, floods, and hurricanes, R6.5 million is spent annually on the unfunded mandate of a water-testing laboratory that, after five years, has not produced a single full water-test result. This dysfunctional and unnecessary white elephant must be shut down.
Another neglected primary function of the municipality is the Environmental Health mandate to protect residents’ health and environmental safety. Only the water and milk sampling, and compliance inspections of formal businesses are taking place. While informal businesses, refuse sites, and environmental pollution continue unhindered.
The Council’s decision to conduct a staff skills audit has not happened, with the bloated staff complement enjoying all the benefits of sheltered employment, while many have no relevant expertise or job description. The gross overpayment of some staff has also been raised by SALGA during their master-list investigation.
Under 30% of the entire budget is allocated to actual operational expenses.
The DA made proposals to realign the budget to prioritise core functions and rationalise the staff complement, but these fell on deaf ears, with the Executive Mayor preferring to maintain the status quo.
When the DA controls the Thabo Mofutsanyana District municipality after the upcoming election, we will ensure that a zero-based budgeting approach is followed, with every line item justified by its relevance to the district’s primary functions.
This bloated and irrelevant administration cannot continue on the path of being merely a feeding scheme, where money is wasted internally while producing almost no results in improving our residents’ lives.