Limpopo municipality fails to deal with officials fingered in corruption scandal

Officials at the Greater Letaba Local Municipality in Limpopo are at the centre of a corruption scandal over funds taken in by the Driving License Testing Centre. It is alleged that about R1.3-million collected between November 2021 and March 2023 has never been paid into the municipality’s bank account.

This has led provincial leaders at the Build One South Africa (BOSA) party to open a criminal case against the municipality at the Modjadjiskloof Police Station, calling for the swift prosecution of those involved.

On Wednesday, Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba confirmed that they are investigating a case of fraud related to the unbanked money.

“No arrest has been effected. As soon as the investigation is complete, necessary steps will be taken. The docket has been transferred to the Commercial Crime Unit for further investigation,” he said.

MISSING FUNDS

The funds come from payments for driving licences, renewals and related services. Irregularities were also flagged as other transactions were not captured on the system.

According to the Municipal Finance Management Act, all funds received by a municipality must be deposited into its official bank account promptly.

A preliminary report by the Municipal Misconduct Board, dated July 2023, had requested the receipt books for all cash payments made at the licence centre from management.

The board selected a sample of books to trace the transactions to the cashier’s report in order to assess if transactions had been captured and subsequently banked. It found that dozens of money bags had not been banked.

“It is our view that the allegations are founded and warrant a full investigation to determine: the extent of the misappropriation of funds and determine the officials involved,” the board stated. These findings were communicated to the acting chief financial officer at the time.

Then in April 2024, the municipality appointed a law firm, Mphoke P.K Magane Attorneys as recommended by the board. The firm’s forensic report found that “multiple clauses of the Bank and Cash Policy were contravened”.

The report also found that the delegated officials did not ensure that money collected by the municipality from the licence centre was deposited promptly into the official municipal bank account.

The report identified three officials to be disciplined: Mr Shai, the Chief Licencing Officer, Mr Kubay an accountant at the Greater Letaba Municipality and Ms Kgamedi, a former eNaTIS officer. We attempted to get comment from them via the municipality, but spokesperson, Lovers Mainetje told GroundUp that municipal employees are not allowed to speak to the media.

“The report is confidential … It was not supposed to be leaked to the media. If the people implicated speak to the media, the municipality will take action against them,” she said.

IGNORED RECOMMENDATIONS

When no action was taken by the municipality, BOSA Limpopo leader Timothy Maluleke said his party was compelled to open the criminal case. “We cannot allow corruption to thrive while residents suffer from poor infrastructure, irregular water supply, and crumbling roads,” he said.

Residents have expressed outrage, saying it reflects a broader pattern of financial mismanagement. “It’s always the same story – money disappears, and no one is held accountable. Meanwhile, our roads are full of potholes and basic services are collapsing,” said resident Donald Mohale.

Asked why the Greater Letaba Municipality has not yet acted on the reports’ recommendations, spokesperson Mainetje said the city council has been investigating the matter since 2023.

“We can’t preempt how long the investigation will take. We will issue a statement once the investigation is done.”

This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here.