MAKAHDO (LOUIS TRICHARDT) - Allegations of financial mismanagement at the Makhado Municipality again came to the fore this week, following the alleged irregular payment of a R110 000 performance bonus to the Municipal Manager, Mr Reuben Rambado.

According to initial media reports, Mr Rambado was to have received a R110 000 bonus, as well as a R67 000 "loan". Both amounts are said to have been approved by the Mayor, Cllr Brighton Tlukula, without Council's knowledge. It is not sure who "leaked" the information regarding the payment of these amounts to Mr Rambado.

Following the news of the alleged irregularities, local DA chairperson, Mrs Marie Helm, called for the immediate suspension of both Mr Rambado and the mayor. She argued that if both stay in their positions, allegations are likely to surface that they were able to destroy or modify documents. UDM councillor, Cllr Langanani Mashau, echoed her sentiments. Cllr Mashau stated that he strongly condemned the actions of the Mayor "who is acting like an Executive Mayor and he is not". He added that the Municipal Manager had never been assessed by either the Executive Committee or the Mayor to determine whether or not he should be paid the bonus.

Cllr Tlakula on Monday confirmed that a task team had been appointed to investigate the allegations. The task team consists of himself, the chief-whip of the ANC in the Makhado Municipal Council, Cllr Moses Tseli and Council's Speaker, Cllr Joan Hoorzuk.

Cllr Tlakula was shocked to learn that he too was being implicated in the allegations. Nonetheless, he said that his task team's preliminary report shows that these allegations are nothing more than mere allegations. Although it is a fact that Mr Rambado was indeed awarded a R110 000 performance bonus following his first year of employment, Cllr Tlakula stated that Mr Rambado had provided sufficient proof that such an amount was due to him, in accordance with his employment contract. Mr Rambado's employment contract, which was eventually signed by the mayor after Council seemingly dragged their feet regarding a decision on the matter, clearly stipulates that a performance bonus of 20% of his total salary package should be paid to him if he makes his targets in regard to key performance indicators. These performance indicators were, however, only determined after Mr Rambado's first year of employment. This presented Council with a problem, as they had a contract with Mr Rambado, which had to be honoured. It was then decided to use Council's annual report, with inputs from all municipal departments, as a guideline to determine whether or not a bonus should be paid to Mr Rambado. Mr Rambado's total salary package amounts to R559 743 per annum.

As to the question of whether or not Council was aware of such a payment to Mr Rambado, Cllr Tlakula, as well as Cllr Hoorzuk and Cllr Tseli on Monday confirmed that Council was indeed aware of such a payment. The bonus was paid to him on November 7 last year. With regard to the issue of the opposition parties calling for the suspension of both the mayor and Mr Rambado, Cllr Tseli reacted by saying that both men did nothing wrong and there was thus no need for a suspension. None of the three task team members was also aware of the alleged R67 000 loan apparently paid to Mr Rambado. Cllr Tlakula, however, immediately inquired about the amount. Minutes later Mr Dan Masengani, Director Finance and Economic Development confirmed that the Finance Department has no record of such a loan amount. Cllr Tlakula then concluded by saying that their report will be sent to the office of the MEC for Local Government and Housing to be evaluated. It will then be up to the MEC to determine whether or not further investigation is needed. Meanwhile, rumours are doing the rounds in Council's corridors that whoever had "leaked" the information to the media has a personal agenda regarding Mr Rambado. Someone even described it as an orchestrated witch hunt. Over the last couple of months Mr Rambado, as Chief Accounting Officer of the municipality, had on numerous occasions put an end to certain councillors' and officials' attempts to push through items in Council which are in direct violation of the law. Among those were Council's controversial Motor Vehicle Loan Scheme and the payment of cellphone allowances. Both the scheme and the payment of the cellphone allowances were eventually stopped, much to the dismay of several councillors. It is also apparent that whoever leaked the information to the media, was unable to interpret the information correctly. This, it is said, explains were the allegation of the R67 000 "loan" comes from. In effect the R67 000 is the actual amount paid to Mr Rambado as his performance bonus, after the deduction of 40% tax from the initial amount of R110 000. Legislation requires that the employer deduct the tax, before the employer pays it to the employee. Whoever voiced these allegations, apparently interpreted the two amounts as two separate amounts.

Mr Rambado on Tuesday said: "My books are open and I have nothing to hide. But this whole issue has caused my family a lot of emotional harm."