Durban — Opposition parties in eThekwini have called on the ANC to remove mayor Mxolisi Kaunda after the City failed to spend R1.9 billion of a conditional grant from the National Treasury.
The Daily News has seen a letter from Treasury responding to city manager Musa Mbhele, turning down his request for the rollover of the funds which eThekwini Municipality failed to spend.
In the letter dated October 19 that was shared with the Daily News by ActionSA provincial leader Zwakele Mncwango, the City manager had written to the Treasury at the end of August asking for a rollover of the R1.9 billion.
However, the Treasury turned down the R1.9 billion rollover and instead approved only R720.9 million which it specifically ordered the City to spend on Human Settlements and coastal sewerage repairs. This meant the City lost R1.2 billion back to the Treasury because it failed to spend it.
In the letter, signed by Malijeng Ngqaleni, Deputy Director-General of Intergovernmental Relations, Treasury said: “The rejected amount of R1.2 billion is based on the following reasons: MDRG (R814.2 million):
- “The submissions were not easy to follow as some projects and amounts did not correspond with the request (717 projects vs 703 projects) and the budget cost is R40.2 million more than the request.
- “Supporting documents such as Annexure A2 are not readable as per the MFMA Circular 123 guidelines and therefore a favourable decision could not be made to support your request.
- “It is not clear how the City plans to implement all 700 plus projects with limited time left before the 12 months lapses … ”
Reacting to the news, opposition parties called for Kaunda’s removal.
Leading the charge, Mncwango said it was shocking that the City with a collapsing infrastructure would allow such a big amount of money to return to the Treasury. He called for the removal of Kaunda, arguing that he must be blamed as both the political head of the municipality and its finance committee chair. This was poor planning from Mbhele and Kaunda whom he accused of poor leadership.
“This is poor planning by Kaunda and his management. He has failed to run the City. The only thing he must do is voluntarily resign or the ANC must fire him. He doesn’t know what he is doing. How can the City – which is besieged by infrastructure problems – fail to spend the money? Kaunda must go,” said Mncwango.
Mncwango suspected that the matter was being swept under the carpet by the City since it was never reported in the finance committee meetings that had taken place.
Both the DA and the IFP concurred with ActionSA, calling on Kaunda to step down immediately.
IFP eThekwini leader Mdu Nkosi said Kaunda was worse than Zandile Gumede whom the ANC had fired.
If Gumede was fired because she was failing to run the City, he said, he would want to know why Kaunda could not be removed.
DA leader in the City, Thabani Mthethwa, said both Mbhele and Kaunda must just pack their bags and go. It was criminal that in a City where service delivery was almost non-existent such a big amount of money would be returned to the Treasury, he said.
African Democratic Change leader Visvin Reddy said he had been calling for the resignation of the city manager and the mayor and this was vindicating him, calling it an absolute shock. He called for an immediate takeover of the City by section 154 which was brought in by the national government.
In the letter, the Treasury also said there were insufficient documents to support the request as there were no appointment letters or progress reports. It advised the City to use correct grant names and not use words such as PEP (Presidential Employment Programme).
Other reasons cited were Mbhele’s failure to sign the cover letter – and where he signed in a separate submission the grant was reflected as fully spent.
The ANC in eThekwini said it was equally upset by the revelations, vowing there would be consequences for the blunder.
ANC eThekwini spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize said the party had long noticed administrative inefficiency in the City which prompted the National Treasury to bring in a team to assist. Those responsible for the return of such a large amount of money to the Treasury will face consequences, it said.
The eThekwini mayor’s spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa said: “By the look of the letter Treasury has granted a roll-over meaning they have extended the period in which the money can be used. No money has been returned back to Treasury. The call by Action SA is misleading.”
The Treasury had not responded to a request for comment by deadline.
The City had recently closed some beaches that were found not safe for swimming. The sewage problem has been a major problem in the City.
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