This is according to the MEC for Finance, Motlalepula Rosho, who delivered her provincial budget speech in the provincial legislature on Thursday 4 July 2019. Rosho says those who mismanage the conditional grants funding, amongst others, will be aggressively dealt with. Four municipalities in the province spent millions of taxpayers’ money and transgressed the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) by investing a whopping R314 million with the controversial VBS Mutual Bank. Rosho says the Provincial Treasury will work together with National Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to enforce general financial management compliance.

In 2018 former Public Accounts Committee (Scopa) chairperson, Mahlakeng Mahlakeng, told OFM News that three of the accounting officials who were authorised to invest with the bank at three of the four municipalities, had resigned before any action could be taken against them.

He emphasised that Scopa was on the path to make sure that the monies were recouped from those who were found to have decided to invest with the bank. All 22 municipalities failed to receive a clean audit opinion from the Auditor-General (AG), Kimi Makwetu. This is was mainly because they did not adequately follow up allegations of financial and supply chain management misconduct and fraud.

During her tabling of the provincial budget, Rosho said the Provincial Treasury has introduced programmes which promote monitoring and enforcement of Audit Actions Plans to ensure that Departments and Public Entities are held accountable. OFM News previously reported that Mokgoro announced in his State of the Province Address (Sopa) that the Hawks have also placed 10 cases on the court roll for trial while a further 15 were pending as a result of further investigations - all of which involves monies amounting to R2,497 billion.

OFM News