Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Marius Marais and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Thamsanqa Msimanga.
The DA in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality (TMDM) has strongly rejected the Council resolution to adopt the five-year handover report as the baseline document for the incoming council term.
The DA cannot and will not support a recommendation that binds the incoming administration to an incomplete, deficient, and legally non-compliant document as its official starting point.
The report tabled before Council fails to provide a true or transparent reflection of the municipality’s current state. It omits crucial statutory information and administrative records.
The report lacks the following vital components:
- The Municipal Organogram and institutional structure.
- Audited Financial Statements and the Auditor-General (AG) Annual Report.
- The Internal Audit Opinion and the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) Report.
- An updated and verified Asset Register.
- Full disclosure of active litigation against TMDM and the municipality’s legal interventions to mitigate these risks.
- A comprehensive list of outstanding projects and incomplete capital works.
- A formal list of service providers currently registered with the municipality.
- A register of outstanding council matters left unresolved by the outgoing administration.
By demanding that the incoming council adopt this report as its “baseline,” the current leadership is asking councillors to accept blind accountability for unknown liabilities, unverified assets, and hidden legal battles. This violates the spirit of transparency required by both the Municipal Systems Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
The DA stands firm that a true baseline document must be flawless, transparent, and accurate.
We will not allow the new Council term to be compromised from Day 1 by a rushed report that glosses over critical administrative and financial realities.
The DA demands that this report be referred back immediately for full completion before any formal adoption is considered.