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Despite the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) recommendation against the write-off of over R400 million in irregular, unauthorized, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure, Sol Plaatje municipality went ahead and prematurely wrote it off.

We are especially opposed to the fact that matters of serious concern have yet to be dealt with by the disciplinary committee. This is a case of putting the cart before the horse. It will make the challenge of recovering money from people found guilty nearly impossible.

Expenditure dates back to the 2017/2018 financial year, with random incidents thrown in between. It appears that the municipality is trying to blindside the Council by throwing in the old with the new, in the hope that we will not pick up on serious irregularities.

Amongst these include accommodation booked at a prominent hotel and catering in Kimberley by a previous Speaker’s Office, listed as expenditure on the 2022/23 Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure (UIFW) register. The DA questioned this expenditure at a meeting of the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) and was not satisfied with the response.

There are numerous cases of non-compliance with less than three quotes received, no valid contract in place with the service provider, and where the public invitation to tender ended before the legislated 30 days. These are just some of the many incidents of questionable expenditure that should be properly probed. Where irregularity has been uncovered, consequence management should be taken, including actions to recoup funds. Only thereafter can Sol Plaatje reasonably and ethically consider condoning a write-off of questionable expenditure.

During a recent oversight visit to Sol Plaatje by the parliamentary portfolio committee on COGTA, the Auditor General’s Office raised its concern that over the last five years, irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure has been growing exponentially. Sol Plaatje municipality is clearly not serious about cleaning up its finances and is more preoccupied with the prioritization of the protection of cadres above service delivery and the wellbeing of the residents of Sol Plaatje.

The DA has previously tabled a motion in council calling for an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into the expenditure that has been written off, in addition to other issues.

There must be accountability for the use of public funds. If Sol Plaatje fails to impose this accountability, then we will make sure that it gets enforced another way.

Issued by Chris Whittaker, Cllr - Sol Plaatje Municipality