AS far back as March 2009 the former executive committee (Exco) of the Msunduzi Municipality raised alarm about the irregular awarding of contracts at City Hall.
They spoke about the costly and controversial R240 million smart meter contract that had been awarded without the Exco’s knowledge.
With former deputy mayor Mervyn Dirks breaking his silence on the shenanigans at the municipality and laying the blame at the door of the ANC’s regional leadership, The Witness has been receiving feedback from various quarters.
A copy of a letter signed by all Exco members and sent to then MEC for local government, Mike Mabuyakhulu, was brought to the attention of the newspaper.
The letter shows that Exco complained more than two years ago that then municipal manager, Rob Haswell, was bypassing the council leadership when it came to key decisions.
The letter stated, “There have been a number of contracts awarded by the municipal manager without the Exco being made aware of such awarded contracts for information purposes.
“However, some of the contracts that have been awarded have huge financial implications that require the executive committee to make budgetary provisions, for instance the meter reading contract.”
The letter goes on to say that no information was provided to Exco about the awarding of the contract and nor was any report submitted in order for Exco to make the necessary budgetary provisions, so there was no budget allocation for such a contract.
The letter lists a number of other complaints, including Haswell’s keeping Exco in the dark about court cases, investigations at the municipality and not carrying out the recommendations of a forensic investigation.
They complained that the municipal manager failed to implement an overtime reduction plan and introduce performance contracts for senior managers.
The Inkatha Freedom Party caucus leader in the municipality, Dolo Zondi, recalls the letter written to the MEC.
He also recalled that when the smart meter tender was awarded ANC regional secretary Supa Zuma was at the meeting, “which clearly shows that the ANC REC was controlling the awarding of contracts”.
Democratic Alliance caucus leader Bill Lambert recalled the letter and said that as far as he knew, the MEC never responded to the grievances. dodgy contracts: The exco letter that raised the alarm
thobani ngqulunga
AS far back as March 2009 the former executive committee (Exco) of the Msunduzi Municipality raised alarm about the irregular awarding of contracts at City Hall.
They spoke about the costly and controversial R240 million smart meter contract that had been awarded without the Exco’s knowledge.
With former deputy mayor Mervyn Dirks breaking his silence on the shenanigans at the municipality and laying the blame at the door of the ANC’s regional leadership, The Witness has been receiving feedback from various quarters.
A copy of a letter signed by all Exco members and sent to then MEC for local government, Mike Mabuyakhulu, was brought to the attention of the newspaper.
The letter shows that Exco complained more than two years ago that then municipal manager, Rob Haswell, was bypassing the council leadership when it came to key decisions.
The letter stated, “There have been a number of contracts awarded by the municipal manager without the Exco being made aware of such awarded contracts for information purposes.
“However, some of the contracts that have been awarded have huge financial implications that require the executive committee to make budgetary provisions, for instance the meter reading contract.”
The letter goes on to say that no information was provided to Exco about the awarding of the contract and nor was any report submitted in order for Exco to make the necessary budgetary provisions, so there was no budget allocation for such a contract.
The letter lists a number of other complaints, including Haswell’s keeping Exco in the dark about court cases, investigations at the municipality and not carrying out the recommendations of a forensic investigation.
They complained that the municipal manager failed to implement an overtime reduction plan and introduce performance contracts for senior managers.
The Inkatha Freedom Party caucus leader in the municipality, Dolo Zondi, recalls the letter written to the MEC.
He also recalled that when the smart meter tender was awarded ANC regional secretary Supa Zuma was at the meeting, “which clearly shows that the ANC REC was controlling the awarding of contracts”.
Democratic Alliance caucus leader Bill Lambert recalled the letter and said that as far as he knew, the MEC never responded to the grievances.
