The DA in Steve Tshwete Local Municipality has learned that the speaker, Mpye Thomas Ramaitsane, and his wife are having a field day with the municipality’s vehicle and security personnel.
We have gathered that bodyguards and drivers allocated to the speaker have been in and out of the province accompanying him and his wife to Gauteng for personal reasons.
The speaker and his wife have also been traveling to church in style. Every Sunday, the pair are driven to and from church. In January 2023, the couple was driven to the airport where they took a flight to Durban for a holiday accompanied by the driver who also forms part of the security personnel.
The DA has been informed that the speaker’s wife was at it again on February 28th, when she travelled with the entourage to Pretoria.
She is not employed by the municipality and nowhere in the rules of council has it been stipulated that the speaker’s spouse can be entitled to such privileges. The speaker’s spouse is only allowed to travel in the vehicle with the speaker to official functions.
The DA finds the speaker’s actions unacceptable, this is the person who is tasked with enforcing the code of conduct in council and amongst councillors.
His actions have brought council into disrepute, we will not allow him to flout basic municipal regulatory compliance.
The speaker’s vehicle policy indicates that the vehicle shall only be used for official functions that he is delegated to attend and meetings where he is required to attend in his capacity as the speaker.
As things stand, the municipality’s payroll department is overwhelmed with overtime invoices from drivers and security personnel in the Speaker’s office.
The DA has written to the Public Protector’s office asking that they investigate these incidents which are a clear breach of the speaker’s fiduciary duties.