Press Statement by Sithi Silosini DA Councillor Lekwa Local Municipality
· Lekwa municipality defied a Council resolution and spent thousands on VIP protection services.
· The municipality’s finances keep worsening.
· We demand an investigation into this matter.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Lekwa calls on management to take the necessary steps and recover all municipal funds spent on VIP protection services for the Chief Whip, after the Council adopted a binding resolution on 27 March 2025 terminating these services.
Council took this decision after determining that the expenditure could not be justified at a time when Lekwa Municipality is facing a severe financial crisis and struggling to meet its most basic obligations to residents. Despite this clear instruction from Council, it now appears that protection services have continued after the resolution was adopted. The municipality has spent approximately R833 925 in VIP protection fees for the past 15 months.
This matter is made even more serious by the recent visit of the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, who delivered a stern warning to Council and Administration regarding the municipality’s financial position. The Minister raised serious concerns about Lekwa’s failure to comply with its Financial Recovery Plan (FRP), its inability to improve revenue collection, and the urgent need to eliminate unnecessary expenditure.
In our letter to the municipality, we call for the following action:
- A full investigation into all payments made for VIP protection services after the Council resolution terminating these services.
- The immediate disclosure of the total amount spent from April 2025 to date.
- Accountability for any official who authorised expenditure contrary to a lawful Council resolution.
- The recovery of all monies improperly spent on protection services after Council instructed that they be terminated.
- Appropriate disciplinary and legal action against any person responsible for disregarding Council’s decision.
It is unacceptable that taxpayers’ money continues to be spent on personal protection services that were neither necessary nor supported by any known threat assessment. This is money that could have been used to improve service delivery, repair infrastructure, address water challenges, or strengthen the municipality’s finances.
The applicable policy framework makes it clear that personal protection services for political office bearers must be based on a legitimate threat and risk assessment. To date, no evidence has been presented to Council or the public demonstrating that the Chief Whip faced any threat warranting such extraordinary expenditure.
The DA remains committed to protecting public funds and ensuring that every rand spent by the municipality delivers value to residents. At a time when the National Treasury is warning that Lekwa faces possible intervention and even dissolution, wasteful and unauthorised expenditure must be rooted out and those responsible must be held accountable.