Alex Matlala

Alex Matlala

The municipal manager of Molemole local municipality in Limpopo is skating on hin ice.

The mayor, Monica Mohale, has been given less than 24 hours by staffers to suspend her manager Sudan Lethole and corporate services manager Isaac Mogashoa.

To demonstrate their anger, hundreds of municipal workers and some council members staged a sit-in yesterday.

The municipality came to a total standstill, leaving several hundreds of residents without services.

Disgruntled staffers want the mayor to put her signature on the suspension letters for the two section 57 managers.

Mohale was ordered by the council after a sitting a fortnight ago to suspend both Lethole and Mogashoa.

This was after the two were accused of gross misconduct and insubordination.

Lethole was accused of failing to implement council resolutions pertaining to two tenders - one relating to the purchasing of traffic vehicles and another for security services at the municipal offices.

Lethole was also accused of mishandling the forensic audit report relating to the dismissal of three municipal officials in June.

Mogashoa's suspension relates to R190000 for a strategic planning session that was held in Louis Trichardt at the beginning of the year. It is alleged that the amount was paid to a service provider, but that the council had later identified some irregularities in the payment.

"The two were suspended by council with full pay on September 30. Since the resolution, the mayor reneged on appending her signature for their suspension, a move that caused this brouhaha," municipal spokesman Timothy Molopa said yesterday.

South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) sub-regional chairman Sanny Mannya said this was affecting service delivery to the community.

He said residents had no water for three weeks because of the rift between council members.

Attempts to get comment from Mohale were unsuccessful as she in a meeting in a bid to resolve the impasse.