Date yet to be set for Bobani’s meeting with auditor-general

A date has yet to be scheduled for mayor Mongameli Bobani to meet officials from the auditor-general after a team from Kimi Makwetu’s office fled Nelson Mandela Bay last week.

Bobani’s spokesperson, George Geleba, said on Monday the mayor was waiting for the auditor-general to confirm a date.

“We are still corresponding with their office and we hope the meeting will sit this week,” he said.

The contents of an envelope slipped under the door of an office occupied by AG officials at the Lillian Diedericks building on Monday last week was perceived as a threat, prompting the team to withdraw

Inside, was a copy of the front page of the Weekend Post newspaper.

The newspaper’s front page, dated October 19, had two stories — one detailing how the National Treasury planned to recall billions of rand spent on the Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS) and the other on the killing of four people in the Bay in one day, including an SMME owner and his teacher friend.

In a letter sent to Bobani on Tuesday last week, auditor-general business executive Shereen Noble said the team had been withdrawn because its safety had been compromised.

“When reading the content of the articles, it was clear that there was a message being communicated to the audit team associating them the content of the said article,” Noble wrote.

She did not highlight which of the two articles she had referred to.

“We take all perceived and real threats to our audit team very seriously,” Noble said.

“We hereby request an urgent meeting to discuss a way forward on how an environment that facilitates a smooth audit environment could be expedited.

“Your urgent intervention and response to ensuring the safety of our staff would be greatly appreciated.”

Premier Oscar Mabuyane, who was copied on the e-mail from Noble, said the audit team leaving showed the degeneration of the municipality.

“It’s an open secret that the municipality is being captured for wrong reason and to undermine  the constitutional mandate of the municipality to serve its people.

“We won’t allow that anarchy to go on unabating.”

He said Bobani must ensure the municipal books were audited. 

“SA is not a banana republic, we won’t allow lawlessness  there.”

Auditor-general spokesperson Africa Boso declined to comment, referring the newspaper to a previous statement.

Meanwhile, Treasury’s deputy director-general of intergovernment relations, Malijeng Ngqaleni, gave the municipality two weeks from October 16 to prepare for the recall of about R3bn spent on the IPTS.

The reason for the recall was that little had been done to implement recommendations contained in a forensic investigation report that detailed large-scale corruption and how hundreds of millions of rand in public funds were wasted.

A portion of this money was squandered by a politically connected syndicate.

Asked for an update on the recall last week, the Treasury said the department was still in the process of consulting all role players, including getting legal advice.

"[This is] to ensure all the correct processes as articulated in the legislative framework applicable to local government, which includes the MFMA [Municipal Finance Management Act] and DORA [Division of Revenue Act] have been followed.

“Once all of these processes have been concluded and the minister has made a final determination, we will provide an update.”

In her response on October 30, acting city manager Nobuntu Mpongwana detailed  how she believed the municipality had dealt with the recommendations in the report.