AN employee requested "cold drinks" equivalent to 10% of a R14-million tender awarded.

A former mayor's car worth R600,000 was purchased through questionable procedures.

These are some of the litany of irregularities uncovered by auditing firm KPMG, who were mandated to probe the the cash-strapped Nala local municipality in Free State.

The municipality serves Bothaville, Wesselsbron and surrounding farming areas in the province.

The KPMG findings are contained in a report related to the financial mismanagement.

Investigators uncovered a slew of fraud and corrupt activities which took place during this period and involve 51 companies that secured tenders.

It has been revealed that in 49% of the cases, the compulsory supply chain management policy was ignored.

The findings indicated that a total of 86% of contracts contravened the Municipal Finance Management Act, and that tenders were awarded without adhering to any procedures, while the tender evaluation committee was not properly constituted.

Contracted companies also did not complete their projects.

Many projects were also abandoned.

These actions resulted in a myriad of potential health risks, as some of the projects deal with sewerage and trenches, among other things.

In one instance, the municipality replaced one consultant with another at huge expense, and still settled with the previous consultant at a substantial cost to the municipality.

Documentations used in tender processes were allegedly amended unprocedurally.

It is alleged that some documents and records were deliberately destroyed in anticipation of the investigation.

Some staff members were paid in "duplicates", according to the audit report, as illustrated by one person receiving double salary.