Secrecy slammed as Sol hires acting manager with criminal record

THE NORTHERN Cape Civics Organisation has described it as a “disgrace” that the newly appointed acting municipal manager of the Sol Plaatje Municipality, Busisiwe Magagula, has a criminal record.

Members of the public were again instructed to leave the gallery when Magagula’s appointment was discussed during a special council meeting on October 1.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Nelspruit Regional Court granted the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) a confiscation order against Magagula in March this year after she was convicted of fraud.

She entered into a plea agreement and was ordered to repay R780,000 defrauded from the Mpumalanga Department of Finance while she was employed as the senior manager of the provincial fiscal discipline unit between 2011 and 2013.

Magagula had been reimbursed more than R500,000 by the department in 2013 after submitting false subsistence and travel claims, according to the NPA.

Mgagula previously acted as the Phokwane municipal manager between 2021 and 2022, during which time opposition parties called for her removal.

Sol Plaatje Speaker Dipuo Peters indicated that Magagula, who was seconded from the Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta), would serve as acting municipal manager while an investigation is conducted into allegations of misconduct against municipal manager Thapelo Matlala, who was placed on precautionary suspension on September 16.

The state law adviser has been given 30 days to report on the “litany of allegations” relating to tenders and appointments approved by Matlala.

The chairperson of the Northern Cape Civics Organisation, Ross Henderson, said municipal managers replaced following public uproar at Sol Plaatje Municipality had all been of “low calibre”.

"Each one is worse than the one before. Both the municipal manager and acting municipal manager are in the frying pan, where they are pointing fingers at each other,” said Henderson.

He questioned whether any “due diligence” was followed prior to Magagula’s appointment and criticised the secrecy surrounding the process.

“The municipality should be disbanded. Where is the transparency if the gallery is repeatedly cleared whenever important decisions and appointments affecting the public are made? Where are the political watchdogs, who are deathly silent? The public is being subjected to bullying tactics and taken for fools.”

Media enquiries sent to the municipality included whether an official with a criminal record is permitted to serve as accounting officer, whether Magagula’s conviction was reported, and whether she will be entitled to claim subsistence and travel allowances while acting as municipal manager.

The spokesperson in the Office of the Mayor, Keobakile Musunse, said the municipality was not in a position to provide a detailed comment at this time.

“We will respond at an appropriate time,” she added.