Shiceka deployees 'made councils worse'

At least four of the men sent by sacked cooperative governance minister Sicelo Shiceka to fix bankrupt municipalities in North West have made matters worse.

Deployed in the past three years on salaries of R150 000 each, they were expected to rescue the municipalities from financial collapse and improve service delivery.

Instead, many of them piled on more debt, neglected service delivery and some are being accused of dipping into council coffers.

The latest example is Mpho Mofokeng - the suspended municipal manager of Greater Taung - who allegedly fired an employee when she refused to have sex with him. He has denied the allegations.

This and other damning allegations are contained in a provisional report by the provincial cooperative governance department.

Shiceka assigned Mofokeng to Taung in 2009 after it was placed under administration. But the provisional report found that Mofokeng:

• Had his personal car repaired at a cost of R39 000 using council money. Elmien Ferreira, of the municipality's insurance company, said she had been told that it was a council vehicle;
• Appointed JK Communication, a company reportedly belonging to his son, Thabang, to provide the council with branding material. Mofokeng paid his son's company R188 000 despite it not being listed in the municipality's supplier database as required by law. A local supplier had quoted about R90 000 for the same job;
• Sexually harassed an intern, whose name is known to The Times. "She was summoned to Taung Tusk [a local hotel] by Mofokeng where he requested her to have sex with her..."; and
• Created the impression among both administrators and councillors that he was politically connected to people in high places and was "untouchable".

"[The SA Municipal Workers' Union] explained how Mofokeng boasted about his political connections with prominent politicians such as minister Sicelo Shiceka, being a former neighbour of former president Nelson Mandela."

Mofokeng dismissed all the allegations as "rubbish".

"I haven't seen that report. That's a lot of rubbish. They didn't interview me and get my side of the story. I will write to the MEC and find out what this is all about. I will say my rights have been violated," he said yesterday.

Another of Shiceka's men, Tiro Mose, former municipal manager of Tswaing, which administers the towns of Sannieshof, Delareyville and Ottosdaal, was recently fired from his R150 000-a-month job.

DA councillor Carin Visser said Mose caused the municipality to exceed its salary bill by R3.3-million a month and it now owes Eskom R17-million.

"Sewage is leaking all over the town and the municipality doesn't empty our septic tanks. This municipality ought to be under administration. Nothing has changed," Visser said.

Mose did not respond to requests for comment.

In the Madibeng municipality, in the Brits area, the SA Municipal Workers' Union is accusing its former administrator, another Shiceka deployee, Eric Matlawe, of awarding tenders worth R150-million without advertising them.

"The municipality is worse off than it was before. Nothing has changed," said shop steward July Mahlangu, adding that Matlawe was also on a salary of R150 000.

Matlawe also did not respond to requests for comment.

The Naledi municipality, in Vryburg, also fired another deployee, George Mthimunye, two months ago. The union accused him of inflating a municipal traffic department tender by almost R200 000, and awarding a tender of over R200 000 without following procedure last year.

He was unavailable for comment.

Last week, The Times reported that Gobakwang Moatshe, municipal manager of the rural Moses Kotane municipality, near Rustenburg, was fingered in a Special Investigating Unit report for irregularly employing four people - including his son, Bakheng - who were not qualified for the senior jobs they were given.

The union's secretary in North West, Jacob Modimoeng, said things had not changed in Moses Kotane.

"In fact, things are still very bad. Corruption is entrenched here."