Note to Editors: Please find an English soundbite by Cllr Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku here
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg has formally requested National Treasury and the Auditor General to investigate the state of governance, a lack of governance processes and alleged financial maladministration within City Power.
This follows the bombshell report in News24 implicating the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of City Power in having direct knowledge of alleged corruption and maladministration, but failing to act in this regard.
We have requested these entities to intervene, as City Power has consistently ignored our Promotion of Access to Information (PAIA) requests. The extent to which they ignore these requests is so problematic and ingrained that we found out via the media that City Power would not answer them.
This is not the first time that we have requested national intervention, on the 9th of November 2024 the DA wrote to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), and the Attorney General requesting them to urgently investigate what we believe to be violations of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
This request follows as the information referred to in the exposé is precisely what we requested in our initial PAIA requests.
It is clear that the CEO allegedly being involved in corruption is just the tip of the iceberg. The rot in City Power runs deep, and while residents of Johannesburg remain in darkness, with businesses being forced to close on a regular basis because of a lack of electricity – cadres are feasting.
We demand national intervention – now