The Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality, based in Vryburg, has expressed gratitude towards the North West provincial treasury for its financial intervention, which has significantly improved the municipality’s financial standing. The provincial treasury’s proactive measures began in September 2022 when Provincial Treasury MEC Kenetswe Mosenogi engaged municipal representatives to implement Financial Recovery Plans as advised by the National Treasury.
Executive Mayor Motseokae Maje shared insights during an interview with YOUFM Newshour about the municipality’s challenging yet progressive journey towards financial stability. “It’s true, we were among the eight municipalities placed under financial mandatory intervention in line with the Municipal Finance Management Act in September last year. We have been working closely with the team of experts from the treasury to stabilise our finances so that we become compliant, and so far, we are steadily improving,” Maje said.
He acknowledged that the initial phase of recovery was fraught with challenges but expressed optimism about their progress. “It’s a journey; although we need to move with speed, the provincial reports on our financial performance are encouraging, indicating that we are on a proper path to recovery. We started in a dire state, referred to as the rescue phase, but we have fortunately moved to the stability phase.” He remains hopeful that with continued collaboration, the municipality will achieve the final sustainability phase in its financial evolution.
One pressing concern raised by Maje was the municipality’s prior excessive reliance on external consultants for essential services, which has been flagged by the Auditor General. “It is true what the Auditor General has flagged about the municipality relying on consultants, particularly in financial management and technical services. We’ve recognised this issue and are developing a plan to eventually phase out consultants. We’ve employed a qualified manager who possesses the skills necessary to prepare our annual financial statements,” he explained. This manager has commenced training four team members to build internal capacity and prevent a regression into past practices.
The municipality has recently faced scrutiny over alleged irregular expenditures amounting to R38 million related to a so-called “shack call centre.” Maje vehemently rejected these claims, stating, “It is not true that the municipality has paid this exorbitant amount to build the call centre. The journalist who broke this story got his facts wrong, but I believe he achieved his malicious intent of spreading false reports about the municipality.”
He clarified that while the municipality had indeed entered into an agreement to operate and maintain a call centre for R38 million, there are concerns about being overcharged for the shack construction. “We have called in a structural engineer to evaluate the structure and identify any extra costs incurred, which we aim to recover,” Maje said. So far, they have managed to recoup just over R2 million.
Additionally, Maje confirmed that various officials identified by the law firm Motshabi, tasked with investigating the matter, are currently undergoing disciplinary hearings, illustrating the municipality’s commitment to accountability.
