The council of the Merafong municipality on Friday resolved to implement recommendations in the VBS Mutual Bank report which include disciplinary action and civil and criminal charges.
“At the special in-committee sitting the Merafong council took a unanimous decision to implement the recommendations of the investigation.
“Council resolved that legal counsel be appointed to advise on the process that needs to be followed to implement recommendations in the report which include disciplinary action, civil and criminal charges,” chief communication officer Bridgette Mkhontwana said in a statement on Wednesday.
This comes after the council received the forensic report on an amount of R50m invested by the municipality into VBS Mutual Bank in June 2017.
The key findings of the report were:
- The amount invested was R50m. After VBS was placed under curatorship, the balance was approximately R51m;
- Four senior municipal officials were cited as having contravened the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), municipal investment regulations (MIR) and the Municipal Systems Act; and
- The investment was not done in accordance with section 7(3) of the MFMA and section 6 of the MIR.
“The outcome of the report did not implicate council or any elected councillor,” Mkhontwana clarified.
The report, however, will also be submitted to the MEC of cooperative governance and traditional affairs to implement recommendations with respect to an implicated senior official who was acting in the municipality at the time. The official has since left and permanently joined another municipality.
“Council’s commitment to a clean government and administration is demonstrated by the unanimous decision of council to ensure that the matter will be brought to conclusion, acknowledging the rights of the implicated senior officials,” Mkhontwana concluded.