A strapping 17-page report diligently listing gross inconsistencies in the Matjhabeng Local Municipality’s legal service department has surfaced.
So far, there are already allegations of R50 million being squandered in lost litigations in 2024. The report highlights the municipality’s habit of using external legal firms from outside of the province to fight their lost causes.
This was highlighted when a Port Elizabeth firm lost its bid to obtain an interdict to stop the legal strike in Matjhabeng.
This precise and clinical dissection of the inconsistencies and transgressions are laid bare in this report.
Piet Botha, Matjhabeng DA caucus leader, says there are serious allegations which warrant further investigation.
“The mayor also plays a big role in this. He is not advised properly. I have it on good authority that one of the law firms referred to in the report is related to a national minister and that the mayor and the municipal manager (MM) concocted a plan to have them appointed.
The writer, a senior manager in the legal department, says the powers of the department have been systematically eroded to cater to political and personal gain.
“This department had tried and tested litigation processes in place before political interference. We were able to avoid getting its assets attached and the bank account was never frozen until recently,” he says.
The intimidation and bullying mafia tactics exercised against officials who had fallen from grace because of their affiliation with the deceased former MM of Matjhabeng, Thabiso Tsoaeli, are also highlighted. He writes that appointments have been made despite the incumbents not being adequately qualified.
Two criminal cases that were brought against senior officials were nothing but a subterfuge. and the writer finds incidents like the now infamous salary blunder of 2020, incomprehensible.
“Over R3 million was diverted to fictitious bank accounts. This caused affected officials to be paid a day late. Three years on, nobody has been arrested.”
Again questions are asked about the missing mayoral chains, and again no arrests have been done.
The report claims that the department is maladministered, which is costing Matjhabeng millions of rands.
He writes that a further investigation by an independent external body led by a senior counsel, must be done.
Tshediso Tlali, Matjhabeng spokesperson, says there are civil cases that are sub judice. They are also being criminally investigated by the Hawks and its Special Investigation unit, and he is unable to comment at this stage.
