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ANC and DA in spat over smart meter contract cancellation – again

While the auditor-general report for the City of Tshwane has not yet been made public, the DA alleges that it is has possession of a leaked copy which shows R4 billion in irregular spending.

The report itself will not be released to the public by the auditor-general until the 31st January, which raised questions as to where exactly the opposition party acquired the report.

City of Tshwane’s Selby Bokaba said in statement following the leak, “As far as we are concerned, whatever report was released to the public by the DA has no status, standing and is not credible”.

According to IOL a large chunk of this expenditure is attributed to a cancelled contract the City of Tshwane almost entered into to install prepaid smart meters.

The contract was intitally awarded to Peu Capital Partners but drew the attention of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who advised the Tshwane municipality not to pursue it.

The Peu contract was cancelled in May 2015 but continues to sow tension between the DA and the ANC municipality.

Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa had previously had a spat with the DA when it distributed termination terms for the contract which included a R1.2 billion penalty clause.

While the City of Tshwane denied this, an investigation into the contract has since been launched by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, the findings of which are expected in March.

Despite the City of Tshwane’s financial reports being presented fairly the DA believes the auditor-general should give the City a qualified report since it did not comply with generally accepted accounting practices.

Mayoral candidate for the DA, Solly Msimanga said to IOL, “One-sixth of the city’s operating budget is spent on contracts illegally entered into. This indicates the pervasiveness of corruption, lack of internal controls and ineffective leadership throughout the city’s administration”.

[Via – IOL] [Image CC by 2.0 – Hühnerauge]

 

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