This morning, the ANC government in Mpumalanga once again rejected the FF Plus's request for conducting lifestyle audits on provincial public officials in the local Legislature.
It runs contrary to the promises made by the Premier, Ms Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane. She previously undertook to conduct these audits and other investigations into officials and politicians in the province as part of a renewed attempt to eradicate corruption.
A recent skills survey in the Mbombela Local Municipality revealed that only one of the seven senior employees appointed by the Municipality meet the requirements for their position.
It underlines the FF Plus's constant demands for lifestyle and skills audits to be conducted on all provincial and municipal officials.
The skills survey indicated, for example, that one of the persons in question, Mr Joseph Ngala, was unable to provide any proof of his alleged qualifications.
These include a diploma or degree in Communications or Marketing, and a minimum of three years' experienced in a municipal setting.
Mr Ngala was initially appointed as a communications officer at the Mbombela Municipality in June 2006 and was promoted to operations manager later that same year.
The province's strategies to combat corruption in municipalities must be reinforced with lifestyle and skills audits of all executive mayors, chief financial officers, municipal managers and their extended families.
Such audits will expose any irregularities and prevent the respective municipalities from sinking even deeper into financial chaos.
These audits must first be conducted on the executive officials of municipalities that have already been placed under administration by the provincial government.
In this way the individuals responsible for the utter decay of the municipalities can be brought to book.
Furthermore, the audits must not only focus on officials who deal directly with the public, but also on all other officials, irrespective of the office they hold.
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