Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning
Question by:
Hon Ferlon Christians
Answered by:
Hon Anton Bredell
Question Number:
7
Question Body:
With regard to the redirection of R41 million in relief funds at the Theewaterskloof Municipality:
- Why were the funds not used for its intended purposes;
- Whether the municipality requested permission before redirecting the funds; if so, what are the relevant details;
- Whether there are steps in place to prevent a recurrence of fund redeployment from its intended purposes by municipalities; if so, what are the relevant details?
Answer Body:
- The Municipality received an allocation of approximately R41 million in February 2024 for the 2023/24 financial year towards roads and stormwater infrastructure due to the severe weather event of 24-25 September 2024. The Department of Local Government through the Western Cape Disaster Management Centre together with the Directorate: Municipal Infrastructure conducted quarterly site visits to determine the progress of all projects. In addition to the quarterly site visits, it is expected that monthly reporting is provided by the Municipality to the Provincial Centre, which is submitted to the National Disaster Management Centre. It should be noted, however, concerns were raised by the Western Cape Disaster Management Centre in their oversight role as well as the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) as the transferring officer regarding the disaster grant expenditure performance of the Theewaterskloof Municipality.
- No, the Municipality did not request permission to redirect the funds.
- The Department held multiple engagements with the Municipality to determine the progress on the spending of the R41million as per the conditional disaster management response grant. In the recent engagement held with the Municipality, it was indicated that the funds are no longer available whereby the Acting Municipal Manager was requested to indicate in writing the status of the funds. A reminder was submitted to the Acting Municipal Manager on
16 August 2024 and to date a response is awaited. The Head of Department requested that the Department carry out a diagnostic assessment of all grants allocated to the Municipality. In addition, based on a discussion between the Head of Department and the Mayor at the time, an agreement has been reached that the Municipality will provide a detailed report on the missing funds.
Date:
Friday, August 23, 2024
