Lack of consequence management at City of Tshwane encourages impunity
14 October 2020
The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) is concerned by the lack of appetite to speedily and decisively deal with financial misconduct within the City of Tswane, which contributes to the culture of impunity.
“The committee raised concerns that oversight and accountability structures are not effective, leading to a lack of consequence management. For example, the recommendations made in the forensic investigation report into the GladAfrica infrastructure contract have not yet been implemented and consequence management has not been executed. This is a concern and requires urgent action,” said Ms Faith Muthambi, the Chairperson of the committee.
Also concerning are the many other reports about financial misconduct that have not been acted upon, with 16 reports being processed by the municipality’s Financial Disciplinary Board. The committee has called on the municipality’s senior management and the administrators to rectify the matter urgently. If the municipality does not act on these cases, malfeasance will continue and become a culture within the municipality.
The committee also raised concerns that in 2019 the Auditor-General reported 319 cases of alleged irregularities, financial misconduct, theft and non-compliance, which were still in progress then, and only 31 investigations were completed but not implemented.