As the bank account of the Renosterberg Local Municipality was once again attached, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape requested that the provincial treasury (NCPT) launches an urgent audit into the troubled municipality’s financial affairs.
Non-payment of pension fund contributions is a financial crime that robs elderly workers of dignified retirement. Municipal employees who have already reached retirement age are still forced to report for duty at Renosterberg because non-payment of pension fund contributions means that they cannot retire. Criminal charges against former and current employees are before the courts and the DA’s Court Monitoring Unit are following these proceedings closely.
As we await criminal justice for persistent non-payment of pension funds, we want the NCPT to investigate the implementation of provincial recovery plans, audit action plans, and appropriate consequence management processes by the municipality. We also asked for an assessment of senior management, including their qualifications and any conflicts of interest that may prevent the full implementation of plans aimed at improving municipal matters.
The current municipal manager has been in his post since September and we appreciate his commitment to investigate payments owed to pension funds. It is a chronic and longstanding symptom of financial mismanagement, evidenced in Renosterberg’s dissolution in 2020 and the attachment of municipal accounts by Eskom in 2022. National Treasury has also withheld equitable share payments. While the municipality stumbles from one challenge to another, it is ordinary residents who suffer as service delivery grinds to a halt. I will therefore take the municipal manager up on his offer to keep me updated about developments in this regard, as the DA has also taken up this matter in the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature.
We cannot afford more financial misconduct or mismanagement at Renosterberg.