COUNCIL came down with a heavy hand last week after a number of items on the agenda were referred back owing to incomplete or inaccurate reports.
With seven volumes to deal with on a busy agenda, there was no tolerance for sloppily-prepared reports by officials which were labelled ‘cut and paste jobs’.
‘Information here is outdated and there is reference to meetings that were scheduled to take place some time before this Council meeting, with no outcomes recorded,’ said Speaker (now Mayor) Mdu Mhlongo.
The number of projects not finalised also came in for flak.
Cllr David Xulu also voiced his disgust at so-called Local Economic Development (LED) projects he termed ‘an insult’ to the recipients.
‘How can we give old ladies new spades and garden forks to replace their old ones and term this an LED strategy? It is an insult to their dignity.’
Earlier, Mhlongo expressed shock and sadness over xenophobic attacks in the province, saying ‘nothing can justify these inhumane acts against fellow Africans’.
The matter of long-term leases previously issued to ‘social clubs’ at a negligible cost also came under scrutiny, especially where these were being used as business premises.
In what was described ‘an injustice’, as these clubs occupy prime land, it was decided a full report on each lease should urgently be brought before Council.
Cllr Manie Lourens pointed out that this had been asked for 18 months ago, whereupon Mhlongo demanded it serve at the next meeting.
Cautioned that Council had lost a number of court cases pertaining to leases in recent times, which cast doubt on the City’s legal department, Mhlongo said these were well qualified professionals and those cases had been lost after outside legal consultants had been used.
