Kannaland Municipality is once again facing the heat, this time over the awarding of an irregular multimillion-rand contract to a consulting firm whose reports have since been deemed “useless”.
The company, known to the Weekend Argus, was reportedly granted the contract in a “hurry” before the November 2021 local government elections and within weeks of striking the deal “massive amounts of money was paid out”.
The appointment letter was issued on September 15, 2021.
The contract, seen by the Weekend Argus, was signed by disgraced former Kannaland municipal manager Morne Hoogbaard. As per the contract, the firm was mandated to probe alleged irregularities such as fruitless and wasteful expenditure within the municipality.
Until today, no consequences flowed from the few reports it tabled.
A case of fraud has since been opened against Hoogbaard at the Ladismith police station.
“Kindly be advised that the mentioned case number is a fraud case investigation by the commercial crime unit. The docket was sent to the senior state prosecutor for a decision,” said police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg.
Hoogbaard’s successor Ian Avontuur said he opened the case because the municipality “did not receive any value for money”.
“The appointment of (the company) amounts to a sickening waste of scarce public funds. Those reports were useless,” said Avontuur.
Marred by scandals that have hacked away at the municipality’s credibility, the new municipal manager, Hendrik Barnard, said the matter was before their municipal public accounts committee (MPAC).
“The matter is with the MPAC, they still need to discuss this matter,” said Barnard.
“I don’t know when they will discuss the matter. The auditor-general flagged this as well. The report of the auditor-general will be discussed by MPAC.”
So greedy were those involved, that the municipality was invoiced more than half a million rand to “review and pursue documentations and interviews”. The company claimed VAT, which amounted to R67 312.50, but the VAT number was omitted from the invoice, which according to tax watchdog SARS, is unlawful.
“As from January 8 2016, the following information must be reflected on a tax invoice for it to be considered valid: contains the words ‘Tax Invoice’, ‘VAT Invoice” or ‘Invoice’, name, address and VAT registration number of the supplier, name, address and where the recipient is a vendor, the recipient’s VAT registration number and serial number and date of issue of invoice,“ said SARS.
In another invoice, also for reviewing and pursuing documentation and conducting of interviews, the company charged more than R1.2m.
In another document, the company asked for a payment of R1.5m.
When Avontuur stepped into the role of acting municipal manager, he suspended the services and payments to the firm “with immediate effect”.
“I pursued your appointment documentation, and at this stage must suspend all services and payments relating to your company,” read the letter that was issued to the company on February 11, 2022.
“You are instructed to inform your employees of my decision and ensure that all property and material are handed over to my office immediately,” said Avontuur.
According to the same documentation the company was situated in Klerksdorp but according to its website their offices were now in Pretoria. Their landline number also changed, but the logo remained unchanged.
DONSON HIRED A SPIN DOCTOR
Jeffrey Donson’s skeletons came back to haunt him after he won the mayoral chain in the 2021 local government elections, when it emerged that he had a prior conviction for the rape of a 15-year-old girl in 2004.
This revelation dominated news headlines for months and in an attempt to salvage his reputation, Donson allegedly hired a “communications practitioner”.
The spin doctor, Drewan Baird’s bill was footed by the municipality.
In several invoices seen by Weekend Argus, Baird was paid to draft letters to MEC for Local Government, Anton Bredell and to draft statements in response to media reports that adversely affected Donson’s tenure as mayor.
Baird, who used to be a journalist, quoted per minute.
In one instance, rate payers had to fork out R16 667 for Baird to draft suspension letters, reviewing media statements issued by Bredell, the writing of an objection letter to Die Burger, a response letter to News24, Rapport and the SABC.
In another invoice, R25 625 was paid for Baird to draft several communiques to, among others, personnel; WhatsApp texts; another letter to Bredell; and a media statement.
Three other invoices were submitted with amounts adding up to close to R40 000.
Weekend Argus’s investigation also revealed that the money was paid into the Standard Bank bank account of Baird’s wife.
It also emerged that Baird delivered similar services to the Kannaland Municipality as well as the Oudtshoorn Municipality.
A few years ago, according to invoices, Baird received retainers from both municipalities. On more than one occasion, Baird invoiced for a R100 000.
Weekend Argus gave Baird a right to reply and all he said was: “I was contracted to deliver certain services and that’s what I did.”
Attempts to reach Hoogbaard and the consulting firm for comment were unsuccessful.
Weekend Argus