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DBN city boss says ‘enough’

eThekwini city manager S’bu Sithole has called for Section 36 tender awards to be scrapped and only to be used in extraordinary circumstances. Councillors have complained that the Section 36 policy – used where the accounting officer deems it necessary to deviate from supply chain management regulations – is being abused and certain companies are getting the lion’s share of council tenders. Auditor-General Terence Nombembe’s latest report on eThekwini, released last week, revealed that R469 million had been used to award Section 36 tenders in the 2010/11 financial year, down from R1.049 billion the previous year.

Sithole told members of the executive committee on Tuesday that the council would no longer tolerate irregular expenditure. “Unless used in… exceptional circumstances, the use of Section 36 is something that will be stopped completely in the municipality… There are instances in which emergencies will be required, but we want to see new mechanisms put in place for project management,” he said. Officials fingered in the R1.3bn irregular expenditure incurred by the municipality in the 2010/11 financial year are likely to feel the wrath of mayor James Nxumalo if they do not clean up their act. Nxumalo told the executive committee that the amount linked to irregular expenditure was more than double the R532m incurred in the previous financial year.

“We need to take action against those responsible because if we don’t, we will not achieve a clean audit opinion by 2014,” he said. Sithole said “supply chain” had been identified as a critical weakest link in the municipality and called for the review of all irregular expenditures incurred between July 1 and December 30, last year. Co-operative Governance MEC Nomusa Dube commissioned the forensic investigation into allegations of fraud, maladministration and corruption in the city last March. The housing department, accounted for R577m of the irregular expenditure in 2010/11 financial year whereas in the previous year, of the R532m expenditure which had been queried by Nombembe, over R400m fell under the municipality’s housing department.

The housing target for the past financial year was 8 000, but only 4 500 houses were built. Derek Naidoo, the deputy city manager of procurement and infrastructure, said a detailed report containing the breakdown of the R1.3bn irregular expenditure would be presented to the committee soon.

Source: iol.co.za

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DBN city boss says ‘enough’

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