Mayor orders probe of alleged irregular waste tender
An auditing firm has been appointed to investigate a multimillion-rand irregular and wasteful expenditure relating to a waste disposal tender in Giyani, Limpopo.
This after the Greater Giyani Municipality failed in its court bid to stop Eternity Star Investments being paid almost R11m, arguing that the company had delivered substandard work.
Giyani Mayor Thandi Zitha appointed Bowman’s Forensic Audit on 12 May, reports City Press.
It will commence its investigation after the Municipal Public Accounts Committee recommended that an external body conduct the probe.
The committee had failed to conduct a proper analysis due to insufficient documentation submitted by the municipality’s finance department.
In October 2018, Eternity Star Investments approached the court after the municipality failed to pay it for the construction of a waste disposal site.
The court ordered the municipality to pay R2.3m and R5.8m at an interest rate of 10.25% per annum.
The municipality attempted to stay execution of the order last year in a bid to overturn the attachment. However, the Limpopo High Court (Polokwane) ruled that R10.9m from the municipality’s bank account be attached.
This figure included interest accumulated from May 2018.
The municipality wanted to stop the attachment of its bank account as this would amount to wasteful expenditure, which was in contravention of the Local Municipal Finance Act.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
