Trade union Solidarity today denounced the performance bonuses of R7 million recently paid to senior Free State municipal officials. The trade union says in view of the poor service delivery by municipalities in this province, the payment of the said bonuses is a slap in the face of the taxpayer.

According to Dr Eugene Brink, senior researcher at the Solidarity Research Institute, the drinking water in more than half of the Free State residential areas is not suitable for human consumption. In addition, not a single Free State municipality received a clean audit opinion in the Auditor-General’s last municipal audit report. The Manguang (Bloemfontein) local municipality, which has paid out the highest amount in bonuses (R3 446 358), has not received a clean audit for the past five years, to boot.

“It’s a shame that tax money is used to reward officials while most of the municipalities aren’t providing services that meet the public’s basic needs. The taxpayer is therefore paying exorbitant taxes for poor service delivery while those who have to deliver the services are rewarded for their incompetence,” Brink explains.

In a recent report the Auditor General points out, among others, that 73% of those in key positions at Free State municipalities do not have the appropriate skills. The report also refers to the high incidence of unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure which is taking place at Free State municipalities and which may be indicative of possible fraud in the province.

Solidarity will soon publish its liveability monitor for the Free State. This report comprises comprehensive research on the level of service delivery in this province.

Issued by Solidarity