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An Mpumalanga municipality is on a knife edge as residents – who have demanded the release of a forensic audit report detailing how politicians and officials looted more than R300 million from the council’s coffers – have received death threats.
The ANC-led Thaba Chweu council in Mashishing (formerly Lydenburg) has been sitting on the report that cost the municipality R931 000.
The council has declined to hand copies of it even to opposition councillors.
When residents – some of whom are ANC branch officials – applied to march on the municipality in a bid to force the council to release the report, they received death threats on their cellphones.
City Press is aware of four residents who have been threatened.
Local ANC branch secretary Phindile Mziyako received a text message that reads: “Phindy for interfering in forensic report as ANC member in good standing consider yourself dead by two bullets.”
Mziyako said the municipality had been riddled with corruption but nothing was done.
“After we applied for the march we got threatening messages. This forensic audit report is meant to be public because our tax money was used to do it,” she said.
“The number they used to threaten us just rings unanswered when we call it. We’re concerned about corruption but politicians are doing their best to protect those implicated,” Mziyako said.
Resident Moward Mnisi, who received a similar text message, said: “We’re in a state of anarchy and this municipality has had 16 municipal managers within a period of five years. We can’t sleep at our homes because corrupt politicians have to be protected.”
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi confirmed that a case of intimidation, with statements from a few residents, was opened.
“We’re aware of an intimidation case being opened, but we’re not at liberty to discuss the details.”
Those who received the death threats believe the council does not want to release the forensic report because it implicates senior ANC politicians in the Bohlabela region in corruption.
The region has political authority over Thaba Chweu and the Bushbuckridge local municipalities, among the worst run in Mpumalanga.
Thaba Chweu is struggling to pay a hefty R430 million bill from Eskom.
The municipality is so poorly managed that it has received disclaimer audit opinions from the Auditor-General for the past eight years.
Despite this poor record, it has never been placed under administration and this has been attributed to allegations that the municipality is a cash cow for politicians.
Three weeks ago the municipality released an implementation plan from the report – not the report itself – which deals with how the fall-out would be handled.
Despite the cover-up, the implementation report failed to hide the fact that R300 million was lost to the council when procurement processes were flouted.
The plan revealed that officials stole and sold municipal land, paid for services that were not delivered, appointed companies without following procedures and paid for poorly constructed roads and one that did not exist.
Thaba Chweu municipal manager Patrick Kgoale insisted that the report could not be released yet.
“Council has resolved that the report be kept confidential until all appropriate processes are followed to inform all the officials and external parties implicated before such a report can be made public. The municipality is not aware of the death threats referred to,” Kgoale said.
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