Heads start to roll at Vhembe over VBS

The VBS Mutual Bank scandal has started to claim its first municipal scalps. Last Friday, two senior officials departed from the Giyani Local Municipality. The same day, the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) opted to put their municipal manager and chief financial officer on “precautionary” suspension.

Last week ended with various political parties making threats and promises. The ANC’s provincial secretary, Soviet Lekganyane, announced that the provincial executive council (PEC) had decided on an “immediate course of action regarding the VBS matter.” The urgent action effectively only involved referring the VBS report to the National Integrity Commission. “The PEC resolved to await the report of the Integrity Commission and committed to fully implement its recommendations,” he said.

At the VDM, the municipal manager, Mr Reuben Rambado, and the municipality’s chief financial officer, Mr Nyiko Mchavi, were suspended during a special sitting of the council. Much to the disappointment of many, the mayor, Cllr Florence Radzilani, was not suspended. Radzilani’s name is mentioned in the forensic report about the VBS irregularities and the allegations are made that she received a R300 000 incentive for securing an investment at the controversial mutual bank. The VDM had invested more than R300 million at VBS, ignoring the instructions of the national treasury in the process. Radzilani is also the deputy chairperson of the ANC in Limpopo.

Before Friday’s announcement of the suspension, workers from the four local municipalities in Vhembe had gathered at the head office in Thohoyandou and demanded that all those implicated be suspended, pending an enquiry. They said that the continuous presence of the implicated at the municipality would hinder the investigations.

Two other councillors, Messrs Rudzani Ludere and Godfrey Mawela, have also been accused of having a hand in the misuse of the municipality’s monies. The workers demanded that they be suspended too.

Mr Timmy Tshililo of the South African Municipal Workers Union said the workers had decided to protest and “are against being led by crooks”. He said the workers would be reporting at head office and picketing every day “until all those implicated in the misuse of the municipality funds have been suspended”. He further indicated that the workers were of the view that the municipality be placed under administration as it has collapsed.

At the Giyani Municipality (GM) heads also started rolling last week. On Friday, the municipality’s chief financial officer (CFO), Hitler Maluleke, was fired during a special council meeting. Maluleke is also alleged to have authorized the VBS investment whereby the municipality stands to lose more than R160 million.

Another official who was allegedly identified in the investigation, Ms Precious Mathebula, resigned on the eve of the disciplinary hearings.

On Tuesday, tempers flared up at the VDM’s offices in Thohoyandou when the municipal manager, Mr Reuben Rambado, reported for work. Angry workers moved swiftly to his office and he was told to vacate the building, even though he was only on precautionary suspension. He left in a huff and when the angry workers moved to the mayor's office, they found it under lock and key, even though the mayor had apparently been seen there a few minutes before.

Workers protested in and around the office, saying that double standards were the order of the day at the municipality because some of them were simply suspended, while their seniors were put on precautionary suspension. They said this could have a negative impact on investigations as the implicated parties were given a chance to make evidence disappear.

The situation remained tense, with the police present all over the offices for security reasons. Rambado and Mchavi were given seven days to supply reasons why they should not be suspended.

At the Makhado Local Municipality (MLM), things were uncomfortably quiet. The ANC’s PEC gave municipalities until the end of this month to take action against those involved in the alleged looting. Finding a scapegoat at MLM is slightly more difficult as the positions of municipal manager (MM) and CFO were filled by various officials over the last year or two.

In December last year, Freddy Tshivhengwa was appointed as MM. His appointment followed a prolonged period of uncertainty, after Sakkie Mutshinyali was suspended. Mutshinyali, however, vacated his office at the end of 2016, when the situation apparently became unbearable. He later argued that he was the victim of a campaign by the newly appointed mayor to get rid of him.

Before Tshivengwa’s appointment, different officials acted as MM. On 17 October 2017, Chris Kharidzha was listed, but for most of 2017, Johannes Kanwendo’s name appeared next to the title of acting MM.

The position of CFO at the municipality is still vacant. Ms Mikateko Palesa Makhubela served in this position for most of 2017. She was re-appointed in October 2017, presumably when her previous contract ended. She resigned earlier this year and took up a position at the Tzaneen Municipality. Currently, the acting CFO is Godfrey Raliphada.

Date:26 October 2018

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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