Treasury pays Nelson Mandela Bay’s equitable share — and vows to monitor the situation

The National Treasury confirmed on Thursday that it had paid the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s equitable share payment of R546-million for December.

In written answers to questions from Daily Maverick, the Treasury said it had paid the equitable share on 9 December.

The Treasury had threatened to withhold the payment in protest against the metro’s failure to deal with more than R30-billion in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. This amount is the highest in the country.

The chairperson of the Municipal Public Accounts Committee, Luxolo Namette, confirmed that the full amount as of Tuesday was R30.2-billion and that it remained the highest in the country.

Accountability

He said the committee would make holding officials to account a priority – next year it would sit every month and reduce the amount “as mandated by the National Treasury”. About R6-million in legal costs is among the items the committee must consider for possible write-off. Others include R42-million in goods and services, fuel-related expenditure and minor sewage repairs.

The Treasury said the metro’s attempts to deal with unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure were “ongoing” and there would be direct communication with the municipality in this regard to discuss “any remedial measures where applicable”.

In November, after what was described as a “horrid” meeting, the Treasury warned that it would withhold the equitable share payment for December to compel the metro to deal with its unauthorised financial waste.

But following this threat, Daily Maverick reported that acting city manager Lonwabo Nqoqo had indicated that progress was being made and that the Municipal Public Accounts Committee had approved R1.8-billion in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure (UIFWE) for write-offs.

“This shows we are doing what Treasury directed us to do for it to pay the December tranche,” said Ngoqo. He said he had told the Treasury “consequence management” was being implemented.

Alarm raised

However, Lance Grootboom from the ACDP raised the alarm on Wednesday that what had happened at the Municipal Public Accounts Committee was “nothing short of astonishing” and described unauthorised financial waste in the metro as “dangerous.”

He said the committee had considered R1.5-billion in unauthorised expenditure. “Our mandate is clear – determine accountability or write off the lost money and put systems in place to prevent it from happening again,” he said.

“One of the most concerning items involved the office of the speaker, which incurred R1.1-million in UIFWE where service providers had been appointed without authority,” he said. Grootboom pointed out that no approval for these expenses had been received from the chief financial officer’s office or the city manager.

Grootboom said the official responsible claimed that he had acted under political pressure. He said the ANC-led coalition, however, pushed through a recommendation not to recover the money, but to refer the official to the disciplinary board.

Grootboom said the intention was clear – to protect certain individuals and delay consequence management. DM