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25 Jun, 2020
Holomisa: Allegations of millions of Rands in irregular expenditure for critical OR Tambo District Municipality water and sanitation projects Edit | Live Builder | Gutenberg
Mr TK Makwetu Auditor-General of South Africa PO Box 446 Pretoria 0001 Mr Dondo Mogajane, Director-General: National Treasury Private Bag X115 Pretoria 0001 Mr Mbulelo Tshangana Acting Director-General: National Treasury Private Bag X313 Pretoria 0001 Dear Gentlemen ALLEGATIONS OF MILLIONS OF RANDS IN IRREGULAR EXPENDITURE FOR CRITICAL OR TAMBO DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY WATER AND SANITATION PROJECTS Serious allegations of financial mismanagement and misconduct have been made against the municipal manager of the OR Tambo District Municipality that involves millions of Rands in water and sanitation projects (see attached memo). Most disconcerting of these allegations is that this R170 million were allegedly paid in advance of these water and sanitation projects and not a single jot of work has allegedly been done, whilst R134,004,193 (the bulk) of that amount was paid to Amatola without any explanation. To make matters worse, apparently the municipality’s chief financial officer’s life has been threatened because of his refusal to process illegal payment and has had to hire bodyguards to keep him safe. I would suggest that immediate investigation be done to find out what is going on with these projects. Aside from the need to have accountability in place for municipalities, one should keep in mind that hundreds of thousands of South Africans living in the villages of Mthatha, right up to Coffee Bay are adversely affected. Keeping this in mind, I would also suggest that in this particular case that these water and sanitation projects be removed from the municipality’s management and it be taken over by the national department as it is too important and affects the people of that area’s basic human rights and survival. Yours sincerely Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP UDM President
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14 Feb, 2017
Address by Lennox Gaehler in Parliament: UDM reply on the State of the Nation Address(SONA) 2017
Honourable Speaker, Honourable President and Members The task of creating a developmental state where the primary mandate is to build an inclusive economy by fundamentally changing the status quo in favour of the poor majority, who find themselves in the rural hinterland, is now more urgent than ever before. Further and any unnecessary delay will have grave consequences for our hard-won freedom and the governability of state. In this regard, South Africa must indeed review the many agreements entered into before, and at, the Codesa negotiations. Such an exercise will identify the bugbears which makes it difficult to ensure that all citizens enjoy equal economic freedom. Whilst our welfare system has helped millions, who would have gone to bed with empty stomachs, the painful truth is that the super-exploitative economic system the new South Africa inherited, continues to produce structural inequality and remains enemy number one. The United Democratic Movement suggests that radical economic transformation should not just be mere rhetoric and we believe that: • Patronage and corruption must fall, and that prudence and good governance must rise; • Free education must not be “free of quality”; but it must produce young adults, and especially black young adults, who are ready to operate new enterprises and be job-creators rather than being job-seekers; • Whilst progress has been made with housing delivery; the minister should have clear, achievable timeframes for the correction of the defects in some of the existing buildings and act decisively against those found to be on the wrong side of the law; • Recent reports on alleged maladministration, and possible corruption in the department of water affairs, is worrying. If true, it flies in the face of the spirit of the announced radical economic transformation. Speedy action must be taken, especially given the current drought. • In agriculture, we need to train more agronomists with practical skills to utilise and manage the land once it is returned to the people. Indeed, and in the words of OR Tambo whose centenary we are commemorating, liberation has no meaning without the return of the country’s wealth to the people and therefore the existing economic arrangement must be radically changed to the equal benefit of ALL South Africans. I thank you
