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- Oscar Mabuyane claims gangsters and underworld cartels have infiltrated municipalities.
- According to Mabuyane, corruption is one of the "greatest crimes" committed against South Africans.
- He addressed Salga's Eastern Cape conference on Wednesday.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane says safeguarding municipal resources won't be easy - because "gangsters and underworld cartels" have infiltrated local councils.
On Wednesday, Mabuyane addressed the South African Local Government Association's (Salga) Eastern Cape conference.
Mabuyane said poor municipal audit outcomes needed to be addressed and required political will.
He said:
Mabuyane said corruption was one of the "greatest crimes" committed against South Africans.
"It is no longer perceived. It is real. You will not only be selling the state to cartels, but you will also be selling the revolution. When they are done using you, they will destroy you, and your families will suffer greatly. We have seen many capable people in our country ruining their careers and integrities by participating in the state capture project. Now they are out in the cold, with clouds of reputational damage hanging over their heads," Mabuyane said.
Although he may have spoken out, Mabuyane is also implicated in corruption.
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane released a report into the misuse of funds intended for the memorial service of struggle stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
The report into "allegations of corruption, maladministration or misuse of public funds by senior and executive Eastern Cape government officials and the Mbizana Local Municipality" found that Mabuyane allegedly pocketed R450 000 of the money set aside for the memorial service in Mbizana in 2018.
Former president Jacob Zuma was a willing enabler of the plunder of Transnet and helped set in motion the Gupta family’s seizure of the parastatal as part of their grand project of state capture, the Zondo Commission has found. https://t.co/nil6aD2R0K
— News24 (@News24) February 2, 2022
Mabuyane is fighting for a second term as ANC provincial leader.
It is rumoured that Eastern Cape Public Works MEC Babalo Madikizela will be going up against Mabuyane.
Furthermore, Mabuyane told councillors that challenges in municipalities were systemic and needed bold interventions.
"The issue of fixing funding for local government should be our collective fight. All of us agree that local government is the sphere closest to the people, but the funnel approach to budgeting says something else. We still have a system that allocates 50% of the equitable share to the national government, 41% to the provincial government, leaving a mere 9% for local government. This must change if we are serious about making local government a capable sphere for development," he said.
Mabuyane called on departments and households, that owe municipalities for services rendered, to pay up.
"It is crippling municipal reserves and makes it difficult for municipalities to improve the services they provide to communities. Government must lead by example in paying for municipal services, and as the province, we are trying our best to pay our debts, despite our fiscal challenges," he said.
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