The acting executive mayor, Gregory Nthatisi, said the budget that the metro had allocated to the construction was R43 million, however, they have exhausted this budget as they still owe various contractors. “We owe Raubex, for instance, around R2 million. The previous company which was here is also owed around R2 million and a few thousands, and the one that completed the construction has been paid in full.” Nthatisi added that there are also other outstanding balances that are not that significant.

With regards to the timeline for the payment of the debt, Nthatisi said the municipality has entered into a repayment agreement with the contractors. “We will be paying Raubex in the course of next week. We are still waiting for certificates from others as we would like to settle these amounts before the closing of the financial year,” he concluded.

It was previously alleged by Councillor David McKay that the metro hasn’t paid subcontractors at least R12 million during August 2022. It remains unclear if the money that is outstanding to the contractors forms part of the reason for the postponements of the opening of the bridge.

ALSO READ: Mangaung’s financial woes worsen, even after intervention

Even after national intervention, the metro incurred a loss of R1.8 billion in the previous financial year. The metro further failed to investigate unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to R1.4 billion. These figures were made known in the Auditor-General’s report during the week. The report also indicated that the metro has received a qualified audit outcome with findings.

It was explained that the abovementioned might be a cause of the frequent changes within the metro’s top structure, which has further resulted in the insecurity of other officials. Mangaung’s management has failed to investigate unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to R1.4 billion, R186 million, and R93 million – three times more than the previous financial year.

OFM News