The municipal manager of the controversial Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality in North West has become the first public official to be held personally liable for financial losses.
This comes after auditor-general (AG) Tsakane Maluleke slapped the Ngaka Modiri Molema municipal manager with her first certificate of debt (CoD). The action stems from financial losses to the tune of R4.6m from his mismanagement of a water tanker service tender.
The district municipality includes the provincial capital Mahikeng.
This means Ngaka Modiri Molema mayor Khumalo Molefe will have to ensure Allan Losaba pays back the money lost in the “material irregularity” from his own pocket. He is instructed to provide an update in this regard to Maluleke by the end of December.
This is also the first time the AG has issued a CoD since the Public Audit Act gave her the strong powers when it was amended in April 2019.
Maluleke announced the “significant milestone” on Friday when she was accounting on the performance of her office before the parliamentary standing committee on the AG.
The CoD is issued as a “last resort” after all attempts have failed in addressing the material irregularity with the accounting officer and their executive authority.
Losaba’s municipality appointed a service provider in June 2018 to provide water tanker services as part of its drought relief programme.
The contract was to run between June 2018 and June 2020, but was extended in May 2020 for another three months, and again on August 2020 for yet another three months.
During an audit the AG’s office found the service provider was inflating the amounts claimed for kilometres travelled and hours worked when delivering water to communities.
The material irregularity, Maluleke said, was reported to Losaba in 2019 but he has failed to provide adequate responses to the AG, hence the decision to throw the CoD at him.
Her decision was also informed by the accounting officer’s failure “to recover the material financial loss suffered by the municipality after the remedial action that I issued against him, despite ample opportunity provided to him to implement the remedial action”.
“Furthermore, the accounting officer failed to provide justifiable reasons for his failure to implement the remedial action calling for him to recover the financial losses suffered. Having considered the written representation and advice from the advisory committee after the oral representation proceedings, I have decided to proceed with issuing a CoD against the accounting officer to the amount of R4,616,074.”
On issuing the CoD, Maluleke reminded the mayor of the municipality that in terms of the Public Audit Act it is the mayor’s “responsibility as the executive authority to collect the amount specified in the CoD from the accounting officer”.
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