The Democratic Alliance in eThekwini has written to the Acting Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Councillor Belinda Scott, requesting that the final Covid-19 expenditure report is presented for consideration at the next Executive Committee meeting.
The tabling of the audited report was postponed three times last year because of lack of procurement information from senior management.
The audit report highlighted serious findings of procurement irregularities which management must respond to. It is in public interest that this report is presented without any delay so that action can be taken against those who may have dropped the ball.
The provincial government has identified eThekwini as the top Covid-19 spender. It is therefore important that the Executive Committee and subsequently Council is able to scrutinize and process the report accordingly. Action thereafter is critical to ensure accountability.
It is unacceptable that seven months after the Executive Committee gave instruction for this audit to be conducted there is still no finality on this matter. R468 million expenditure of public money was spent in eThekwini and the people of this municipality deserve to know exactly how this was done.
The DA will continue to apply pressure to both the municipal officials and politicians, who are ultimately in charge, until this report is tabled and will closely monitor consequence management thereafter.