News24.com | How 'dysfunctional' KZN municipality splurged R10m on bodyguards in 14 months

Mayor Inkosi Ntandoyenkosi Shabalala.

• Ntandoyenkosi Shabalala had up to 12 bodyguards, which is apparently in breach of a standing regulation.
• The law says a mayor and a Speaker are only entitled to two bodyguards.
• The closing balance of wasteful expenditure at the municipality stands at at R509.9 million.

The broke, IFP-led uThukela District Municipality forked out almost R10 million in 14 months for councillors' bodyguard protection, despite the municipality operating on an unfunded budget.

At different points, the mayor, Inkosi Ntandoyenkosi Shabalala, of the IFP, was assigned up to 12 bodyguards, while the Speaker Lihle Nqubuka, also of the IFP, had four.

This is according to a provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) report, compiled by its deputy director-general Madoda Khathide, who investigated the use of bodyguards in uThukela.

This is even though, according to guidelines gazetted in June 2022, a mayor and a Speaker are only entitled to two bodyguards - and any deviations from this standard may only be based on the recommendation of the SA Police Service (SAPS).

A coalition of partners, led by the ANC and EFF, are seeking to topple the IFP in uThukela on account of poor service delivery.

"Per the information received from uThukela, the following councillors (Shabalala, former EFF deputy mayor Mboneni Shange, Nqubuka and a councillor only identified as Khoza, who chaired the water portfolio) were allocated 12 bodyguards without obtaining SAPS threat and risk analysis reports for councillors," Khathide's report said.

READ | ANC-EFF alliance pushes to reconvene collapsed Uthukela special meeting to unseat IFP

"uThukela district municipality is not complying with the provisions of the councillors' upper limits notice. uThukela district municipality is not complying with the threat and risk analysis requirements as per the SAPS guidelines provided to the municipality."

According to the report, the councillors should know better as the police had workshopped the guidelines with municipalities at a meeting on 29 November 2022. 

The report said the municipality had paid R4.5 million in 2020/21, R5 million in 2021/22, and R5 million in 2022/23 for councillors' personal security. 

An investigation by the department flagged most of these payments as unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure - bar one that had not been paid yet, despite it being invoiced.

The investigation recommended: "It must be noted that the security arrangement is not sustainable due to financial constraints (unfunded budget) the municipality is faced with.  

"MEC intervenes with regards to delayed threat assessment reports, reports awaited for almost a year now [sic]."

The uThukela municipality's spokesperson, Nothile Zwane, did not respond to questions. She promised to reply to News24, but had not done so at the time of writing.

Khathide's report highlighted an Auditor-General finding of material uncertainty, which relates to a going concern where the municipality's current liabilities exceeded its current assets by R426.85 million.

"The 2022/2023 budget is unfunded and is projected to be funded in 10 years. The municipality has a funding plan approved by Provincial Treasury in place.

"Debtors outstanding (amount) is R941 million, of which R867 million is aged over 90 days."

READ | KZN municipalities 'run as spaza shops' while councillors openly defy Cogta MEC, MPLs hear

The municipality owed creditors R297 million, which has been outstanding for more than 30 days, as of 31 March 2023.

The municipality, which Cogta brands as "dysfunctional", owes another troubled entity, Umngeni Water, an undisclosed amount, for which there is a repayment agreement of R3.5 million per month.

uThukela has only been paying R2 million monthly.

The report said:

The report added that the department would engage the Speaker to table the matter to council, to deal with it in light of the threat  continuously cited as the reason to intensify the security provision. 

"The UIFW (unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure) closing balance was R277.3 million as at June 2021 and the municipality incurred R296.3 million in 2022, and wrote off R63.6 million during 2021/2022," the Khathide report said. 

However, the closing balance of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure as of June 2022 stood at R509.9 million - almost double from before 2021 - according to the report.

And this was partly because of the cost of security to the councillors. 

"There is no consequence management reported," the report said.