A Limpopo local municipality is disputing allegations that it inflated the price and misappropriated public funds for the construction of a sports complex in Sekgosese village.
The greater Letaba local municipality in Modjadjiskloof was responding to a public outcry following accusations contained in Conty Lebepe Foundation’s letter demanding answers to allegations of “inflating prices”.
The official unveiling and cutting of the ribbon of Thakgalane Sports Complex took place on November 21. The stadium, with a capacity of 1 200 people, cost R45-million.
Conty Lebepe, the foundation’s national coordinator, said following an investigation it has found that the initial budget for the project in 2016-2018 financial year “was R13.3-million as per the document in our possession”.
“Our NPO [non-profit organisation] needs to understand the figures and financial breakdown of this R45-million from R13.3-million originally budgeted for,” it said.
Unfounded allegations
Lovers Maenetja, spokesperson for Greater Letaba municipality mayor Dagma Mamanyoha, disputed the allegations of “misappropriation of public funds” as false accusations.
She said: “The municipality is observing false claims which accuse the municipality of mismanagement of funds on the construction of Thakgalane Sports Complex.
“Thakgalane Sports Complex was constructed using the municipal infrastructure grant [MIG] as a multi-year project, meaning the complex was budgeted for in multiple of years from 2018.
“The project, which cost R45-million over a period of five years, was built and budgeted for each year until the 2022/2023 financial year.”
Maenetja explained further: “A breakdown of the budget and expenditure year one [2018/19 an amount of R6.4-million was budgeted for to kickstart the project].
“Year two [2019/20 an amount of R12.2-million was spent on the project], and financial year three [2020/21 an amount of R10.5-million was used on the project].”
She said in the 2021/22 financial year, almost R12-million was spent on the project, adding that for the 2022/23 an amount of R3.5-million was used, noting that this brings the total amount spent on the stadium project to R45-million.
Projects funded through MIG
“This is one of the biggest projects in the municipality funded through the MIG. The municipality is very proud to have brought such a huge infrastructure to the community of Thakgalane and surrounding areas.
“It is worth noting that all projects the municipality embarks upon, are on requests by the residents through public consultation, mayoral imbizo, and available budget.”
She added that the municipality dismisses all the allegations that it spent money not budget for on the construction of the sports complex.
“The documents are readily available to assist residents understand the budget and the processes of expenditure.”
Maenetja urged those who are accusing the municipality to familiarise themselves with such information before making any claims.
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