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Sedibeng fresh produce market has the potential to create over 4000 jobs if properly managed

Despite falling into disrepair, the Sedibeng fresh produce market has the potential of ensuring that Gauteng residents are given an extra boost in food security.

During a recent oversight visit to the market with the Gauteng Portfolio Committee on Finance, I had the opportunity to see the first-hand difference this market can make to the economy of this province when it is fully restored.

The Gauteng Infrastructure Finance Agency (GIFA) is responsible for taking government projects from initiation to the financial close stages and we are confident that this agency can make a success of the Sedibeng fresh produce market.

While we are yet to see the value GIFA has added to projects, this project might be the one where they can finally prove that they have a place in building new infrastructure and attracting private investors to fund and participate in projects in Gauteng.

This project can be regarded as low hanging fruit, but it is the perfect opportunity for GIFA to win back the trust of the DA and the residents of Gauteng.

If GIFA is successful, then this market, which was once the goose that laid the golden egg, but had no money for regular maintenance and upgrades, can be restored to its former glory.

This also means that farmers who drive to the Johannesburg fresh produce market but have their farms located closer to the Sedibeng area will no longer have to drive a long distance, which in turn means that the price of their goods may now be a bit lower.

In addition, it means that the embattled Emfuleni Local Municipality can potentially earn 8% per annum from the concessionaire.

Furthermore, more than 4000 jobs can potentially be created which will assist in reducing the unemployment rate in our province.

While we support this project which is being run by GIFA, we will be closely monitoring the progress made. Projects like the Kopanong precinct and the Jewellery Hub which have not fully gotten off the ground, despite being in the works for years, have led us to question whether GIFA should still be in existence.

This Sedibeng fresh produce market project is an opportunity for this entity to restore our faith in it. Should it not be making progress on the project as it should, we will ask through the committee that all the officials involved be held to account.

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Sedibeng spends R3.9 million on catering while residents suffer a lack of basic services

Instead of spending money to ensure that its residents have access to uninterrupted basic services such as water, electricity and refuse removal, Sedibeng District Municipality has spent R3.9 million on catering services in the last five financial years.

It is extremely concerning that the Sedibeng District Municipality which constantly presents an unfunded budget and is in financial crisis is failing to prioritise service delivery for its residents.

This information was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Lebogang Maile in a written reply to my questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).

According to MEC Maile, Sedibeng has spent R3 909 676.57 on catering services from July 2017 to January 2022 during workshops, committee meetings, and council meetings.

This is ridiculous as this municipality is in a financial crisis and does not have money to ensure that its residents have access to adequate service delivery.

The DA will continue to hold the Sedibeng Mayor, Cllr Lerato Maloka to account for the millions spent on catering instead of ensuring that basic services are rendered to the residents. We will also engage the DA councillors in Sedibeng to use all the mechanisms at their disposal to curb the misuse of the municipality’s coffers.

It is high time that taxpayers’ money is spent wisely to benefit our people who are in dire need of proper service delivery.

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Sedibeng spends R250 000 on one event, money that could have been spent to improve service delivery

Sedibeng District Municipality spent R250 000 on the state of the district address which was attended by less than 40 people instead of redirecting the money towards the improvement of service delivery within the city.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) wrote to Sedibeng District Municipality’s Acting Municipal Manager, Makgutle Motswaledi, requesting a complete breakdown of all expenditures incurred during the event.

The Municipal Manager’s response revealed that the City spent at least R79 000 on catering, décor and snacks. R2350 was spent on accreditation for the address.

An additional R159 000 was spent on leasing out a generator, projector, carpet, stage for the parade and pictures of municipal work which was flighted on the projector. The municipality has a video system, public address (PA) systems with microphones, cameras and a sound system and yet chose to waste money on hiring out this equipment.

It is clear that the ANC is not concerned with addressing the real plight of residents, instead, they choose to window dress through frivolous events that do not benefit ordinary citizens of the district.

Sedibeng District Municipality’s overriding mission is to implement prudent and cost-effective financial management and to ensure effective service delivery, the decision to splurge over R250 000 on a single event was neither cost-effective nor in the interest of implementing service delivery.

Despite the election of a new Executive Mayor, Lerato Maloka, the ANC-led municipality is proving to residents that they are more interested in hosting parties and fanfare than serving the residents of Sedibeng.

A DA government in Sedibeng would redirect money and resources towards improving service delivery and uplifting the lives of the poor.

Local Government Elections are coming up! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status. 

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DA calls for urgent investigation into allegations of Sedibeng top officials soliciting R1 million bribe

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling on the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Lebogang Maile to urgently investigate allegations that Sedibeng top officials solicited a R1million bribe from Mafoko Security Patrols PTY (LTD).

The DA is in possession of a letter written by the Mafoko Security Patrol Regional Manager, Kgalaleo Frank Machete, dated 24th September 2020 addressed to the late Sedibeng District Municipal Manager, Stanley Khanyile.

The letter states that they are reporting the following Sedibeng officials; Motsoaledi Makhutle, who is now the Acting Municipal Manager, Kajal Wiese who is now the Acting Chief Financial Officer for Sedibeng District Municipality, as well as Motsomi Mathe and Thomas Mkaza who are no longer working at the Sedibeng District Municipality and are now working for a certain municipality in Free State.

It is alleged that on 20th April 2017 these officials held a meeting with members of Mafoko Security Patrols at Vereeniging Airport and then solicited a bribe of R1 million from Mafoko Security Patrols.

The officials entered into an agreement with Mafoko Security Patrols that the money will be paid back during the existence of the contract that Mafoko Security Patrols had with Sedibeng District Municipality.

Mafoko Security Patrols allegedly paid R800 000, 00 to Motsoaledi Makhutle and Kajal Wiese, the money delivered in two tranches of R500 000.00 and R300 000.00 in cash on two different dates.

Mafoko Security Patrols reported the matter to the late Municipal Manager, Stanley Khanyile after the contract had ended because they did not receive any payment from the officials as per their agreement.

A meeting was held with all the parties involved, including the Municipal Manager in November 2018, to find ways on how the money would be paid back to Mafoko Security Patrols.

The letter was a follow-up on the meeting requesting the Municipal Manager to intervene and ensure that Mafoko Security Patrols are paid back their money.

This is one of many examples of gross corruption that has been occurring and continue to occur in the Sedibeng District Municipality under the ANC-led administration.

This clearly indicates that Mafoko Security Patrol did not win all tenders in an open and transparent manner. Therefore, it is important that all tenders awarded by the Gauteng Provincial Government to this company be investigated to ensure that everything was done within the proper supply chain management process and that all treasury regulations were followed.

Should it be found that these allegations are true, all the officials involved must face severe consequences of their actions and Mafoko Security Patrols should be blacklisted from doing any business with government.

We will also be tabling questions to MEC Maile to ascertain what exactly transpired based on the allegations.

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DA calls for the immediate suspension of the Sedibeng Municipal Manager pending court case

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling for the immediate suspension of the Sedibeng Municipal Manager, Stanley Khanyile pending the outcome of his court case.

The DA notes that Khanyile was arrested last week Thursday for fraud, theft, and money laundering worth more than R29 million which was allegedly committed in the Eastern Cape where he was the Head of Department for the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development.

Khanyile and his accomplices appeared at King William Town’s Magistrate Court last week Friday. He has been charged with two counts of contravening the Public Finance Management Act and two counts of fraud. Khanyile was released on R50 000 bail and the case was postponed to 16 October.

It is worrying that the Sedibeng District Municipality hired Khanyile while knowing that there were investigations initiated against him by his previous employers.

According to the former Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Uhuru Moiloa, the Sedibeng District Municipality was aware of the following investigations against Khanyile:

  • Investigation against Khanyile in 2002 when he was employed at the City of Ekurhuleni
  • Allegations of sexual harassment against Khanyile when he was employed in the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

However, MEC Moiloa stated that both the Sedibeng District Municipality and Khanyile were not aware of any investigations of fraud and corruption by the Hawks against him.

MEC Moiloa was responding to the DA’s written questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in 2018.

This clearly indicates that the municipality did not do a background check before appointing Khanyile or they were aware of these investigations and decided to shield their comrade.

It is also concerning that Khanyile managed to move between different municipalities and provinces governed by the ANC despite all these investigations and serious allegations against him, yet he remains the preferred candidate for top senior positions.

The allegations against Khanyile are serious and he must not continue as an accounting officer for this municipality until all the charges against him are cleared.

The DA calls on the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Lebogang Maile to intervene and ensure that Khanyile is suspended pending the outcome of his court case.

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Former Sedibeng CFO appointment questioned

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is deeply concerned that no consequence management has taken place after the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) failed to produce the necessary documents to prove that his appointment followed the proper procedures. This CFO has now resigned.

The DA did not support the appointment of the CFO when it became evident that not all procedures were followed.

In a written reply to the DA’s questions tabled in the Sedibeng District Municipality they claim that the proper procedures were followed. This reply is misleading as the municipality had been warned the official opposition that proper procedure was not followed in the appointment of the CFO.

According to the municipality the only money that the council will attempt to recover after the CFO resigned is for a course in Municipal Development that was paid for by the council.

Furthermore, it is also concerning that the only report that will be made available to council is that of the progress that has been made in recovering the fees for the Municipal Development course and not of the procedures followed when appointing the former CFO.

If the municipality has nothing to hide and they had followed proper procedure in appointing the former CFO then they must make the appointment report available to council for scrutiny.

The DA will continue to put pressure on the Sedibeng Municipality to investigate the appointment of the former CFO and to recover the salary he received while employed by the municipality as the CFO.

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DA calls for independent investigation into corruption at Sedibeng Municipality

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will table questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) on the continuous flouting of supply chain management processes at the ANC-led Sedibeng District Municipality, which is riddled with corruption, maladministration, the misappropriation of funds and unlawful appointments.

During a recent council meeting where the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) investigation reports were presented, both the African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) voted in favour of the condonation of irregular and unauthorised expenditure incurred where services were rendered.

The parties certified the irregular expenditure of R 9.040.322 and unauthorised expenditure of R12.512.574, R 5.927.088 and R 6.585.486, respectively as irrecoverable and written off by council.

It is unacceptable for the municipality to write off such a large amount of taxpayers money without a single consequence and a detailed report to council.

The Auditor General found that the appointment of Prince Mudau Attorneys to investigate its audit findings in 2017/18 was irregular as they had not been listed on the municipal database as a service provider.

But the Municipal Manager reappointed Prince Mudau Attorneys in 2018/19 to investigate the auditor general’s findings without following supply chain management processes.

The contestation of audit findings in which lawyers are brought in when municipalities contest some findings around the procurement of services is an unnecessary misuse of taxpayers money, as the auditor general is a reputable structure.

The DA will also write to the Public Protector to request an investigation into:

  • The irregular, wasteful and unauthorised expenditure incurred by the municipality during 2019
  • The irregular appointment of G. Modise to do a forensic report which the DA has never seen for R 3 909.375.00 in 2018/19
  • The appointment of the Director in the office of the Municipal Manager and all supporting documents confirming that she was not expelled from her previous employer
  • The sudden resignation of the Chief Financial Executive after a 6-month employment stint
  • The R1 800.000 annual salary the Municipal Manager paid himself without a waiver from the Cooperative Governance Minister
  • The salaries of Executive Directors who earn above their threshold.

It is time for residents to hold the leadership of these failing municipalities to account.

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ANC Gauteng municipalities’ R500-million financial crunch

by Ashor Sarupen MPL – DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Finance

ANC-run local municipalities in Gauteng (Sedibeng, Lesedi, Mogale City and Merafong) are engaged in rampant financial mismanagement and are running on unfunded budgets until the end of the 2017/18 financial year.

The DA previously revealed that ANC mismanagement in Mogale City, Merafong and Emfuleni saw these municipalities failing to meet their financial obligations to Eskom and Rand Water which has run into hundreds of millions of Rands.

As a result, they have had to enter into payment arrangements to keep the lights on and the taps running.

The trend of financial mismanagement by the ANC where it governs in Gauteng appears to be pervasive and persistent.

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene recently revealed in parliament that the Sedibeng, Lesedi, Mogale City and Merafong City local municipalities collectively only have R343-million in cash to meet the financial obligations of R806-million by the end of the second quarter of the 2017/18 municipal financial year.

All four of these municipalities have adopted unfunded budgets – intending on spending money they do not have and cannot raise. The financial situation in Mogale City, where the ANC dubiously ousted a DA-led coalition, is already so dire that the municipality has a cash balance of negative R16-million.

More disturbingly, none of these financially distressed ANC municipalities have tabled approved financial recovery plans to get out of the mess they have put themselves in.

It appears that the ANC in Gauteng are totally disinterested in good governance, as they are not holding their mayors, finance MMCs and cadre deployed officials to account for this dire situation.

Continued ANC rule in both the province and these municipalities will lead them down the road to total financial ruin. Only Total Change in Gauteng will allow the province to have a fiscally sustainable future.

The DA will be tabling questions to Gauteng Finance MEC Barbara Creecy as to how she allows this to persist, and if necessary, we will call on her to implement section 139(5) of the Constitution to stabilize the finances of these municipalities for the benefit of residents who have been forgotten by the ANC.

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Twist In The Tail Of EPWP Ghost Worker Investigation

EPWP Ghost Workers at Johan Heyns Clinic

The DA has been reliably informed that an internal investigation into Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) ghost workers at the Johan Heyns Clinic in Vanderbijlpark was launched, however the very same person implicated in allegedly selling jobs to the ANC is doing the verification of the ghost workers.

The DA had called for the suspension of the project coordinator until the investigation was completed but this has fallen on deaf ears.

Gauteng Health MEC

Sources have indicated that the ANC regional office in Sedibeng has already set up lists of workers for the new six month contracts within the EPWP.

It is unacceptable that the ANC is buying support through promising jobs to only their members.

The DA awaits the response from the Gauteng Health MEC, Gwen Ramokgopa, following our request to have an external departmental investigation into the matter.

 

 

 

Media Enquiries
 
 
 
Kingsol Chabalala MPL
DA Gauteng Constituency Head – Emfuleni North
060 558 8299
 
Yaseen Carelse
Social Development Cluster Manager
076 721 8613
 
 
 
[Image source]

 

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DA Calls For Investigation Into Johan Heyns Clinic EPWP Ghost Workers

Johan Heyns Clinic EPWP

The DA has written to the new Gauteng Health MEC, Gwen Ramokgopa, requesting an urgent investigation into allegations of ghost workers and political interference regarding the appointment of ANC members in the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) at Johan Heyns Clinic in Vanderbijlpark.

As the current EPWP contracts at the clinic will come to an end at the close of this financial year, the DA has it on good authority that ANC members have been earmarked to take up all vacant EPWP positions at the Johan Heyns Clinic.

It is also understood that workers who resigned from the project are still receiving their salaries and are paying the project coordinator a cut of their money.

MEC Ramokgopa

Sources have indicated that the ANC regional office in Sedibeng has already set up lists of workers for the new six-month contracts within the EPWP.

It is unacceptable that the ANC is buying support through promising jobs to only their members.

Non-ANC members have no hope in getting a contract through the EPWP as jobs are being secured for the ANC members only.

It is alleged that four current EPWP workers and the project coordinator are at the helm of these corrupt activities.

MEC Ramokgopa must not turn a blind eye to this alleged corruption. In our letter to the MEC, I have requested that she suspend the project coordinator until the investigation is completed.

The newly appointed MEC has the opportunity to show that she will take a zero tolerance stance on corruption and is seen to be working with the community to get to the bottom of this matter.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Kingsol Chabalala MPL

DA Gauteng Constituency Head – Emfuleni

060 558 8299

[Image source]