An ANC councillor is currently under investigation after it was reported that his company secured a tender worth millions.
The explosive details were contained in a leading online publication.
A company allegedly owned by a Matatiele Local Municipality councillor allegedly earned R3.5 million since 2022 from tenders awarded by the same municipality he was elected to serve, according to a whistleblower and the DA.
The ANC councillor has been named as Mzwamandla Nyembezi and it is alleged that his company, Thathe electrical, is the one that benefitted.
Eastern Cape MEC for cooperative governance Zolile Williams is reportedly the owner who is investigating the issue.
Meanwhile, Williams, during a recent meeting of the SA Local Government Association (Salga), announced that the province’s municipalities are owed more than R15bn by their customers, which include businesses, residents and government departments.
Speaking to the media last week, Williams emphasised that municipalities needed to be creative to collect revenue owed to them.
“We need to develop strategies on how we can address the issue of debt owed to municipalities by businesses and residents. This would require us to do data cleansing.
“In BCM, for example, there are complaints about incorrect billing of ratepayers.
“We need data cleansing to check who owes what, because without that the consumers and businesses will continue to complain that the bills they receive do not reflect their consumption,” Williams said.
Williams said it was important to work towards trustworthy relations with residents and businesses.
King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality spokesperson Sonwabo Mampoza said the municipality was owed more than R1bn for property rates and taxes, refuse removal, fire levies and electricity provision.
One particular business owed more than R5.3m.
To recoup the money and improve cash flow, Mampoza said the municipality was enforcing its credit control and debt management policy.
Source: https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/anc-councillor-allegedly-scored-r35m-in-tenders-from-the-very-municipality-he-works-at-20230823
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