KwaDukuza councillors demand progress on consequence management policy
KwaDukuza's audit report reveals deep cracks in governance, sparking cross-party outrage and renewed calls for immediate action against underperforming staff.
Delivered by internal audit committee chairperson Nosipho Mchunu last week, the report prompted a heated debate on council's ability to implement consequence management against underperforming staff. Mchunu flagged a series of familiar issues facing the KwaDukuza municipality (KDM), including fraud risk, electricity losses, non-submission of materials for auditors and poor service delivery.
'We are susceptible to fraudulent activities and the risk of no business continuity plan has been evidenced in our municipality,' she said, referencing the R35.7-million embezzlement of municipal funds in January and the temporary impact it had on municipal payment systems.
'We think there should be an impartial check of our IT systems.'
According to her report, an internal IT assessment was done last year, but only 57 percent of the mitigation strategies it recommended were completed.
Elsewhere in the report, the underspending of the capital budget and grants were cited as major issues affecting service delivery. In the same council meeting, it was revealed that underspending of the municipal infrastructure grant in the first three quarters of 2023/24 led to KDM losing R8.92-million of its initial R60.5-milllion allocation – directly impacting three planned projects.
In the wake of poor performance in several audit categories, ANC Ward 17 councillor Tarzan Naicker called for action to be taken to confirm the municipality's consequence management policy.
'We hear all about these action plans, but as a council we see neither action nor plans come to pass,' he said.
'Most of consequence management is already legislated; why do we need another policy that will delay everything?'
ActionSA caucus leader Nel Sewraj, councillor Halalalisani Ndlovu and ANC Ward 16 councillor Sanele Mthiyane echoed the sentiment. They raised the issue during the previous full sitting of council and pushed for KDM to research and adapt consequence management policies from other similarly-sized municipalities that had legal frameworks in place.
'It is my opinion that there is a deliberate attempt to circumvent the creation of the consequence management policy,' said Sewraj.
'This was birthed by council trying to implement consequence management on senior managers and the policy is now being written by those same managers.'
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