Corruption-busting official assaulted

A hit has allegedly been taken out on the life of a corruption-busting chief financial officer in a Free State municipality.

Three independent and highly placed sources said yesterday that the Ngwathe municipality financial officer, Tladi Mokoena, was beaten up on council premises on Wednesday morning.

The sources, who asked to remain anonymous, said that directly after Mokoena was attacked, they had heard that "hitmen" were to be brought from Sebokeng, Gauteng, to kill him.

"Mokoena switched off the taps of people who were stealing from the municipality and now they want to kill him," said one of the sources.

But Ngwathe mayor Jonas Ramokhoase, who took office in May, said he was not aware of a plot to kill Mokoena.

He denied that Mokoena had been attacked at work.

"It wasn't that he was beaten. I think they had a squabble," said Ramokhoase.

Mokoena said yesterday he was undaunted by the reported threats.

"Our financial report is a mess and our audit was bad and I want to change that. I am here to work, I will leave here only when I resign. This municipality will turn around."

Mokoena does not have anybody guarding him. "If something happens, then I might consider bodyguards."

He said he had twice been assaulted at his office.

"It seems like the second one was planned . The one guy pretended to be representing the union.

"He asked me to give him a reply for a meeting he had requested and about leave days. I told him I could not meet him, and they became aggressive."

It has been 10 days of high drama at the municipality that started with the council's new executive committee suspending the head of procurement, Makale Mogale, over financial irregularities identified in February this year by the Auditor-General.

Last week Mogale had to be marched off the premises by police after he refused to accept his suspension and tried to hang onto a municipal laptop.

But municipal manager Norman Selai overturned the exco decision three days later, asking Mogale to return to work.

Sources said this was done at the instruction of the ANC provincial working committee, which they accuse of protecting allegedly corrupt people in the council.

ANC Free State spokesman William Bulani confirmed that the working committee had become involved, but said they were "responding to the complaint that proper processes" had not been followed.

Bulani said he was not aware of a hit list in Free State.

"We are not even aware that Mokoena's life is in danger. We will investigate that. It is un-ANC to threaten one another. We call on all ANC members to work together," he said.

Ramokhoase confirmed that the working committee had "discussed" Mogale's suspension with him: "It was not an instruction, it was just a discussion about where the processes are at."

The working committee had told him a task team, led by Free State Premier Ace Magashule, was already probing the municipality's problems.