By OBAKENG MAJE
GATVOL voters and residents’ organisation in North West, call for the removal of all administrators in the province. This comes after the arrest of the North West Department of Education administrator, Nkhono Johannes Mohlala (57) by the Hawks recently.
Mohlala was arrested in Pretoria by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation unit, The Hawks, along with two suspects.
It is alleged that Mohlala illegally invested over R230 millions of the taxpayers’ money into the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank, while he was still the Municipal Manager at Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality.
Now, GATVOL provincial chairperson, James Gadinabokao said: “We welcome the arrest of Mohlala who has been at the helm of the North West Department of Education for the last three years. There is nothing to show for his stay in that department.
“The same department has under-spent R200 millions of infrastructure grants under his watch. This happens despite many schools in the province still dilapidated and lacking in infrastructure.”
Gadinabokao said Mohlala is a ‘perfect’ example of what they have been complaining about. He further said the national government ‘undermines’ the many skilled and qualified men and women in the province and appoints people who have no interest in the province at all.
“Their aim is to loot and fill their pockets. The North West province has been placed under Section 100 of the Constitution for the last three years, but it continues to be in a dire situation.
“There is tender manipulation in the departments that are under administration. It is heart-breaking to see the same administrators milking the budget of the province and channelling tenders to people who reside out of this province,” he said.
He also challenged the government to check all tenders awarded in the last three years. Gadinabokao further said the findings will be shocking.
“The concept of locality is undermined by these administrators. We will continue to call on the state President to remove these administrators as they have embarrassed him and they will continue to loot what remains of the depleted resources of this province.
“The North West Provincial Government is in a worse situation than in 2018. Unemployment and poverty continue to rise even when we have administrators. The municipalities have not improved at all, yet we have administrators in the province,” said Gadinabokao.
He said as GATVOL, they are sick and tired of the deteriorating state of affairs in the province under the ‘watch of administrators’ who were projected as messiahs when they were appointed.
The South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) in the North West shared the same sentiments.
SANCO provincial chairperson, Paul Sebegoe said: “We take strong exception that the national intervention team could have included such a dubious character as this suggests that earlier concerns about the administrator’s alleged preference of service providers from outside the province were not possibly misplaced and without basis.
“The objective to restore good governance and confidence in public institutions was severely compromised in the choice of an individual shrouded in corruption allegations. The turn of events could indicate that the said official may not have been adequately experienced in provincial education administration hence over R200 million in infrastructure grant was underspent under his leadership.”
He said that communities in the province cannot afford another looting spree which denies them quality services.
The National Treasury had earlier in the year reported that R2.3 billion is believed to have been squandered on dodgy tenders while the provincial department was under Section 100 administration.
Mohlala was granted a R50 000 bail and will be back in court on 1 March 2022.
The Guardian 