In a judgment delivered electronically on Friday (12/6), acting judge president Martha Mbhele ruled that the appointment of Amos Makoae as CFO on 14 December 2023 was unlawful and set it aside. The ailing municipality was ordered to embark on a new and lawful recruitment process to fill the position.

The Theunissen-based municipality has long been plagued by tensions, where Mayor Dimakatso Modise had previously been accused of orchestrating a campaign to remove Makoae after he allegedly raised concerns about contracts, payments and unspent conditional grants.

According to the judgment, Makoae’s appointment violated Section 56 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act and the Local Government Regulations on Appointment and Conditions of Employment of Senior Managers of 2014. Mbhele ruled Makoae was disqualified from being re-employed in a senior municipal position because he had previously been dismissed from Mafube.

‘Makoae failed to disclose disciplinary processes instituted against him’

The gravamen of the applicant’s complaint was that Makoae failed to disclose disciplinary processes instituted against him during his tenure as CFO of Frankfort-based Mafube municipality, as well as the seriousness of those processes, the court found.

The application was brought by Zongezile Costen Ngcana, who argued Masilonyana municipal council failed to comply with the prescribed regulations when appointing Makoae. Despite concerns being raised before the appointment, a special council meeting held on 14 December 2023 resolved to appoint Makoae as CFO with effect from 3 January 2024. 

The judgment revealed that on 16 February 2024, cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Saki Mokoena wrote to Modise, indicating he regarded Makoae’s appointment as invalid because of his previous dismissal from another municipality.

Mokoena requested municipal manager Mojalefa Matlole and speaker Nkone Makata to convene a special council meeting to revoke the appointment. However, court papers indicated there was little evidence that the municipality acted on the MEC’s concerns.

Makoae’s troubles stem from his dismissal by Mafube on 22 January 2022 after he was found guilty of misconduct relating to financial management. Among the charges were: 

• Failing to inform the provincial treasury and auditor general in writing of the opening of the secondary bank account by Mafube municipality
• Participating in or allowing continued transactions outside Mafube municipality’s financial systems
• Making false and misleading statements in the execution of his duties
• Failing to act in terms of his responsibilities and duties as CFO and in the best interest of Mafube, and exposing Mafube municipality to prejudice, risk or possible fraud when he allowed transactions outside financial systems.

In his defence, Makoae reportedly claimed the charges were fabricated, although he provided no further details. A CCMA ruling issued on 5 January 2024 found his dismissal to be substantively fair. While Makoae later filed an application in the labour court to review the arbitration award, the judgment noted there was no indication that he had actively pursued the matter.

Masilonyana, which also serves Winburg and Brandfort, faces growing scrutiny over its financial management. Last month, officials of the cash-strapped municipality appeared before Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts, where they struggled to explain the movement of taxpayers’ money and failed to account for millions owed to third parties.

Committee members heard approximately R75m deducted from workers’ salaries for pension contributions could not be adequately accounted for. At the same time, concerns were raised that senior officials continued receiving their benefits while ordinary employees allegedly suffered delays in pension payments.

The committee was further told officials received bonuses ranging from R4,000 to more than R100,000 over two financial years despite the municipality’s deteriorating financial position. EFF MP Ntombovuyo Veronica Mente-Nkuna sharply criticised municipal officials during the hearing.

“This is a financial statement declared by your CFO, these are the monies we were asking for earlier to make up the R15m, which is not the R15m,” she said.

“It’s almost R18m that I’m calculating here a month. And above 50% of it goes to yourselves, not to the workers. Now we want to know, what is it that you pay yourselves?”

‘Makoae revealed municipal transactions had allegedly been 
processed manually for years’

During the same proceedings, Makoae revealed municipal transactions had allegedly been processed manually for years, bypassing the municipality’s financial management systems. 

The municipality’s annual salary bill currently stands at R168m, exceeding its equitable share allocation of R157m and highlighting its dependence on government grants to remain operational.

Masilonyana’s financial difficulties have repeatedly attracted attention from oversight bodies. In 2022, Tsakani Maluleke informed Parliament that three Free State municipalities were among ten sampled municipalities unable to properly account for taxpayers’ money.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi sm

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