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Fresh irregular spending on stalled revenue system

The awarding of a R44-million tender for support and maintenance of the eThekwini municipality’s revenue management system – which has yet to go live – was irregular. The Manase report has found that when the contract was signed in July last year, the municipality’s supply chain management policy had not been adhered to. The half-a-billion rand system has been a contentious issue with councillors and city officials following constant delays in its go-live date. The system – which had cost R474m before the awarding of the July tender – is being developed by the city.

It was approved by the city’s executive committee in 2004 and was supposed to go live in March 2007; however, there is still a veil of uncertainty surrounding the implementation date. It will manage a number of systems, including billing and revenue collection, debt management and disconnection of services. Once it goes live, it will replace the existing Coin Billing System. Delays in developing the system and changes to the original specification have seen its cost balloon from R150m in 2003 to R408m in 2008 to R474m in 2011. City officials, including former city manager Michael Sutcliffe, have, however, defended the system, which had been developed specifically for local government, saying the city would own the system, and that there would be no exorbitant licensing fees.

The system would also be rolled out to other municipalities – a global first. The report found that this variation did not comply with sections of the municipal finance management act (MFMA), in that the local community was not given reasonable notice and invited to submit representations to the municipality. The report recommended that further investigation, with powers to subpoena third party individuals and documentation be performed on the system as the variation from the ini- tial amount to the current figure without compliance to the MFMA was irregular and material.

The report also warned of further cost being incurred by the municipality on the project. The constant postponement of the implementation date of the system has irked opposition parties, who have told the city to consider pulling the plug on the costly system.

Source: iol.co.za

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Fresh irregular spending on stalled revenue system

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