The North West Provincial Legislature has vowed to be indefatigable in playing its role of oversight and interventions to underperforming municipalities in the province.
This after a shocking and concerning state of dysfunction discovered by a parliament’s joint delegation comprising the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General in Mahikeng.
The three-day oversight laid bare shocking political interference, infightings amongst municipal leaders which led to political instability in most of the municipalities, failed service delivery, fraud and corruption, including mismanagement of municipal funds.
This was particularly highlighted at three local municipalities, i.e., Ramotshere Moiloa in Zeerust, Ditsobotla in Lichtenburg, and Ratlou in Setlagole.
Speaking on YOU FM Newshour, the Provincial Legislature speaker Dr. Desbo Mohono said they couldn’t believe their ears.
“It was an emotional three-days of torture, and it will take us time to recover from what we heard. When you hear about these stories you just listen because they are corridor talks, but when you hear this directly from the horse’s mouth, they turn to get to you,” said Mohono.
She said that they seek a relevant human resource that can help municipalities to move in the right direction, so that services can be delivered to the people who are missing.
“We have done a lot of intervention, we have done a lot of engagement as the province, we have done everything either politically or in government, we have done everything under the sun. Oversight from the legislature is intensified. But there’s this thing of a human element which is a very difficult thing to change, but I am telling you we will not give up because we owe it to our communities and we will continue to drive this to the right direction,” explained Mohono.
The speaker said that they were left surprised by the picture painted by some municipal leaders given the expertise and skills found in the province.
“You can’t believe the qualifications that our mayors, speakers and municipal managers have, there’s this myth that politicians don’t have qualifications. It’s maybe here and there but the majority of the mayors have qualifications, and they are professionals.
“But sometimes what our people don’t understand is that you can be a good politician but if you have a cartel of officials who are working and making sure that you don’t see the light of the day, if they have what it takes it’s a problem,” Mohono elaborated further.
She has however conceded that there could be a cartel operation aimed at sabotaging the functioning of municipalities in the province.
“Yes, if I were to be blunt with the truth, yes. Because how do you justify that municipalities will be allocated grants every financial year to deliver certain services but that they end up being used for something else.
“You know, sometimes we turn to blame mayors, speakers, our chief whips and councillors, remembering their role is to play oversight over what the municipality has undertaken to deliver.
“But there are key people in a municipality such as municipal managers, chief financial officers, directors of various units within municipalities, these senior managers are the ones who must ensure that services are delivered to communities.,” remarked the speaker.
