The Naledi Local Municipality in North West is caught in the middle of a legal battle which has seen it having to employ and pay the salaries of two accounting officers.
This came after the dismissed municipal manager, Modisenyane Segapo, returned to work in August, defying a North West High Court order that his appointment was unlawful.
The order was issued on September 19, 2023, but it could not be executed since the legal battle only ended in May, when the sheriff of the court served Segapo with an injunction declaring his appointment unlawful.
The order also instructed the municipality to re-advertise the position and to commence the recruitment process.
The municipality appointed the acting municipal manager, Excinia Makgahlela, in June for three months. But Segapo returned to work.
“He says he returned because the former mayor said he must come back, now we have [two mucipal managers] and we do not know where must we report to,” said a staff member who asked to remain anonymous.
Segapo’s appointment was successfully challenged in March 2023 by aggrieved employees at the municipality.
The employees are corporate services director at the municipality, Thabo Appolus, and municipal councillors, Lerato Setlhake, Lebogang Jacobs and Vuyiswa Morakile.
Ten days later, on September 29, 2023, the municipality requested leave to appeal against the judgment, which then suspended the execution of the order.
Appolus, who was a candidate for the municipal manager position, approached the court again on an urgent basis, asking for the order to be enforced pending the appeal process.
Appolus stated that Segapo has the opportunity to commit acts of grave financial misconduct, to approve budgets irregularly, and to enter into unlawful or unethical contracts in his position as municipal manager.
The MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs Gaoage Molapisi said his department has noted with dismay the level of non-compliance by
Naledi Local Municipality to the court orders.
“The MEC resolved to abide by the court decision indicating that Mr Segapo’s appointment was full of irregularities; it be declared unlawful and set aside. It is in this context that the department will consider further action against the municipality to enforce the ruling,” he said in a statement.
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