Sunday World reports that the controversy around Sol Plaatje local municipality manager Bartholomew “Thapelo” Matlala has deepened with the council electing on Tuesday to place him on “precautionary suspension”.

It was reported two weeks ago that the mayor had given Matlala seven days to give reasons why he shouldn’t be suspended pending a full investigation into allegations of maladministration and irregular payments to suppliers. It was apparently a tender worth millions to Mabalane A Seven Construction and Projects that got the local community up in arms and out on the streets in protest. They questioned why a company headquartered in Limpopo should get tenders at the local municipality ahead of them for something as mundane as renovating a community hall.

Leading the accusations against Thapelo Matlala is the Kimberley Action Group (KAG), chaired by Boyce Makaodi. He said: “We have made numerous demands for locals to be prioritised for opportunities, but that always falls on deaf ears. On July 14, we handed over a memorandum to the premier, demanding that a policy be formulated to ensure that locals are given priority in tenders as well as job opportunities.” He said the mayor and the premier had promised to establish a steering committee comprising residents and local organisations “only to be blue-ticked by the municipality when this committee had to be launched.” Makaodi said this was why the group had demanded that the municipality suspend Matlala so that all tenders awarded during his tenure could be investigated.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mzwandile kaBizokwakhe at Sunday World

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