The Democratic Alliance (DA) is demanding that Sol Plaatje municipality urgently and transparently addresses the six-month long absence of Mr Winston Mohayi, Manager for the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI), which is placing Kimberley’s R2,5 billion water infrastructure project at risk.
According to a media statement issued by Sol Plaatje on 29 May 2025, Mohayi requested special leave following a court appearance on 28 May. This was in relation to his involvement with an engineering firm more than 22 years ago. Before his suspension, Municipal Manager, Thapelo Matlala, was quoted as saying that it was in the best interests of the municipality, considering the reputational risk and that BFI is the municipality’s biggest water infrastructure project.
To date, Council has been left entirely in the dark regarding the special leave arrangement. We have not been informed of the period for which leave was granted or who authorized it. We have no idea whether Mohayi is utilizing vacation leave, holiday leave, or if his leave takes the form of a precautionary suspension, and whether he is still being paid.
We also don’t know who is doing Mohayi’s work and if an acting appointment was made to fill the post.
The DA is deeply concerned about the financial ramifications of the special leave arrangement in relation to remuneration matters, as well as the impact that this could have on the effective use of the BFI grant.
Last year, Sol Plaatje municipality had to forfeit more than R54 million in unspent grant funding meant for the upgrading of water infrastructure.
The DA has resubmitted our unanswered questions regarding the special leave and BFI project management, to the office of the Municipal Manager and the Speaker. We will continue to insist on transparency to guard against financial wastage and ensure that arrangements are in place to properly manage and monitor progress of current BFI projects that Moyahi was involved in.
Sol Plaatje desperately needs to upgrade, replace, and expand water infrastructure and cannot afford for the BFI projects to get behind, or to lose any more funding intended for this purpose.