The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the finalisation of the Public Protector's report into various allegations leveled against the Midvaal municipality (see here - PDF).

We note that the Public Protector could find no evidence of fraud or corruption. We note further that the municipality was exonerated in three key areas. 

The Public Protector found:

• There were no irregularities in the awarding of the paving tender for Loch Street in Meyerton;
• There was no evidence of maladministration in respect of debt collection practices; and
• There was no evidence to support the allegation that the municipality paid performance bonuses irregularly.

However, the Public Protector did highlight instances of maladministration. In many of these instances, the municipality began taking remedial action as far back as 2006. In some cases, further remedial action is required. The municipality is fully committed to rectifying any mistakes that were made.

What follows is a summary of each finding, the remedial action already underway and the action that we intend to initiate at the Public Protector's request.

The appointment of Odendaal and Summerton Inc. to render legal services for the council

The Public Protector finds correctly that proper procurement processes were not in place when the council was formed after the first democratic local government elections in 2000. This was before the promulgation of the Municipal Finance Management Act in 2004.

The Public Protector acknowledges that by 2006 a "formally competitive" bidding process was initiated. Three firms competed for this tender. Out of the three, two did not tender for the full scope of the work and were therefore disqualified. The tender was duly awarded to Odendaal and Summerton Inc.

In 2009, the municipality appointed a panel of attorneys to spread the council's legal services among a number of firms. The Public Protector acknowledges that the municipality has already taken these corrective measures. 

The Public Protector has further requested that the accounting officer submit a report to the Council within 60 days to, inter alia, investigate the conduct of the former accounting officer, chief financial officer and other officials involved. We will begin work on this report and make the report public in accordance with the Municipal Systems Act.

The Public Protector raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest in respect of the service provider and has requested that we take appropriate steps to review this. We will do so.

Whether Mr Odendaal benefited improperly from the sale of property to the council

The Public Protector investigated a complaint that Mr Andre Odendaal allegedly benefited from the sale of property donated to the Council in 2003. 

The municipality will report on any deficiencies in internal controls related to this matter, as requested by the Public Protector. It will also cooperate with the relevant law society and investigating body in this regard. 

However, it is unfortunate that there are some factual inaccuracies in the Public Protector's findings on this matter - despite the comprehensive submission sent to her office during the course of the investigation. 

The facts are as follows:

The Executors of the late CCC Hennop wrote to the Council to offer the stand as a donation in lieu of outstanding rates. However, this offer did not meet the requirements of the donation policy of Council. 

At a later stage, the property was purchased by Mr Vaughn Summerton in the open market. The municipality had no involvement in this.

The fact is that the Municipality did have procedures and controls in place to monitor transferred and donated properties.  The internal auditors, CMS Incorporated, investigated this matter and confirmed that a separate register was kept and maintained for donated property.

Furthermore, the Auditor-General has audited the records of assets and liabilities of the Council for all the financial years and gave positive reports on these.

I have written to the Public Protector today to clarify the facts of this matter and to request that she adjusts her report accordingly.

The removal of palm trees to the former mayor's residence

The Public Protector investigated whether municipal equipment and resources were used to remove and transport palm trees to the house of the former mayor. 

It was found that, although the conduct of municipal officials was improper, the matter had been dealt with correctly in terms of the Code of Conduct for Councillors and that the investigation had correctly been reported to the then MEC for Local Government.

Furthemore, the municipality was reimbursed for the expenditure.

This matter has therefore been dealt with comprehensively in terms of the law.

The failure to collect debt owed to the municipality by a prepaid electricity service provider

The Public Protector investigated whether the municipality had failed to collect debt from a vendor contracted to sell pre-paid electricity on behalf of the municipality. It was found that the failure to collect this debt constituted maladministration.

This finding regrettably ignores the remedial steps taken by the municipality to recover the outstanding amount. The municipality obtained a legal opinion to the effect that it would be fruitless to pursue the debt as the vendor was insolvent and all its members sequestrated. In other words, the cost to the public would have been greater than the amount that could be recovered. On this basis, the municipality's audit committee agreed that the debt should be written off. Criminal charges were then laid against the vendor.

The Public Protector has requested that the municipality investigate allegations of misconduct against the officials involved. This will be duly complied with. We are confident it will reveal that the municipality acted in good faith based on legal advice.

Conclusion

No government is perfect. Good governments acknowledge this and strive towards the highest standards of financial management and service delivery. 

The Midvaal municipality has set the standard in Gauteng for good governance over the last ten years. This year, Midvaal received its 8th unqualified audit from the Auditor-General and increased rates collection to 100%.  

In 2010, Midvaal was ranked number one in Gauteng in the annual ‘Quality of Life Survey.' It was also the only municipality in Gauteng where more than half (68%) of all residents reported they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their local government.

We will continue setting the bar high in Midvaal. We will do this by taking the findings of the Public Protector seriously and implementing her recommendations. Doing so will help us to rectify any shortcomings and continue improving our systems to the benefit of every resident of Midvaal.

We trust that the same standards will be monitored in municipalities throughout South Africa.    

Statement issued by Timothy Nast, DA Mayor of Midvaal, November 8 2011

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