The honourable Manny de Freitas states it as a categorical fact that where his DA governs in the municipality all is well. Of course he would never permit trivialities like the truth to interfere with his propaganda. But I have some shocking news for him.
On the whole while the DA in general does govern well in local governments there are some glaring exceptions. For instance, the DA-governed Tshwane metro, together with the ANC run Mangaung metro, is ranked last in terms of public financial accountability index. Tshwane and Mangaung scored a miserable 24, even though, I shall concede, the top-ranked Cape Town metro, a DA stronghold, scored a 72.
In the latest financial year the Tshwane metro got an adverse audit opinion from the auditor-general. It could not provide supporting documents for the awarding of four tenders that amounted to nearly R1bn. It was the worst financial performance in the history of the municipality.
This is not evidence of good governance, Manny. What is also atrocious is that Tshwane’s billing system is abysmal. Those bureaucrats in the capital city have no clue about how to bill rate payers. All that they know is how to make glaring power consumption estimates that simply fleece rate payers.
How can a resident pay a power bill of some R10,000? Yes, in a month saddled with a humongous loadshedding of 220 hours I was levied an estimated power bill of nearly R10,000 for the month when the usual monthly bill during non-loadshedding period averages between R3,000 and R3,500.
This is the same DA-led metro which is unable to pay Eskom arrears bill of R1,9bn despite its well established arbitrarily billing of rate payers with prodigious amounts amounting to what I had termed voodoo invoicing.
Good governance, my foot. The DA may legitimately claim to have dubious bureaucrats in place who have been appointed by the previous ANC administration, but is this the fault of the rate payers? Who supervises these thumb-sucking invoicing bureaucrats?
Prof Themba Sono, Tshwane
READER LETTER | No good governance at the DA-led Tshwane metro
Image: Thapelo Morebudi
The honourable Manny de Freitas states it as a categorical fact that where his DA governs in the municipality all is well. Of course he would never permit trivialities like the truth to interfere with his propaganda. But I have some shocking news for him.
On the whole while the DA in general does govern well in local governments there are some glaring exceptions. For instance, the DA-governed Tshwane metro, together with the ANC run Mangaung metro, is ranked last in terms of public financial accountability index. Tshwane and Mangaung scored a miserable 24, even though, I shall concede, the top-ranked Cape Town metro, a DA stronghold, scored a 72.
In the latest financial year the Tshwane metro got an adverse audit opinion from the auditor-general. It could not provide supporting documents for the awarding of four tenders that amounted to nearly R1bn. It was the worst financial performance in the history of the municipality.
This is not evidence of good governance, Manny. What is also atrocious is that Tshwane’s billing system is abysmal. Those bureaucrats in the capital city have no clue about how to bill rate payers. All that they know is how to make glaring power consumption estimates that simply fleece rate payers.
How can a resident pay a power bill of some R10,000? Yes, in a month saddled with a humongous loadshedding of 220 hours I was levied an estimated power bill of nearly R10,000 for the month when the usual monthly bill during non-loadshedding period averages between R3,000 and R3,500.
This is the same DA-led metro which is unable to pay Eskom arrears bill of R1,9bn despite its well established arbitrarily billing of rate payers with prodigious amounts amounting to what I had termed voodoo invoicing.
Good governance, my foot. The DA may legitimately claim to have dubious bureaucrats in place who have been appointed by the previous ANC administration, but is this the fault of the rate payers? Who supervises these thumb-sucking invoicing bureaucrats?
Prof Themba Sono, Tshwane
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