Note to Editors: Please find an English soundbite by Cllr Ofentse Madzebatela here
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is outraged at the state of oversight in the City of Tshwane.
Could it be that oversight in the City of Tshwane is a figment of our imagination, an illusion, fantasy, a pipe dream? The residents of the City need to know that the administration running the City is failing them in the most disappointing way ever.
Backtrack to 2024: The new administration took office on 18 October 2024. The Chairpersons of the Section 79 Standing and Oversight Committees of Council were appointed at the Council Meeting of 31 October 2024. Close to four (4) months later, only four (4) Section 79 committee meetings have taken place during the month of November 2024. The DA went public with this flouting of legislated processes in a media statement on 21 November 2024. To date, there has been no improvement.
Some of the meetings scheduled to take place this week, fall short of the legislated timeframe within which to provide notice of a council / committee meeting. Furthermore, a committee so paramount to conducting oversight over the City’s municipal financial accountability and the watchdog of financial mismanagement – the Municipal Public Accounts Committee – had its last meeting on 11 October 2024. This is appalling. This is the same committee, who very soon, will have to perform oversight over the City’s audited annual report and annual financial statements for the 2023/24 financial year. We ponder with grave concern as to how this will play out.
The Speaker of Council is complicit in failing committee members and councillors the opportunity to hold the Executive accountable. The current administration comprised of Action SA / ANC / EFF remains steadfast on evading accountability. The DA will not stand aside as the City is run into the ground. As the DA, we will fight for the residents of the City and hold this government accountable, more importantly ensure that the City’s purse, its coffers, are not squandered recklessly.
Running government does not grant a license to run amok with residents’ patronage.
We have written to the speaker expressing these concerns, and imparting the importance of oversight on him. Without oversight corruption seeps in, something that must be avoided at all costs if Tshwane is to stay the course.