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Greytown Gazette
Valid from 3rd 6th November 2016
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GAZETTE Umvoti | Kranskop | New Hanover | Msinga Magisterial Districts 10 000 copies weekly| Est. 1903
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WEDNESDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2016
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Ratepayers should be querying municipal finances ALTHOUGH Greytown ratepayers and residents do not take an active interest in the workings of the municipality, they are very quick to comment, so they might find the following features of last week's Exco and Statutory Council meetings interesting. According to the Municipal Finance Management Act the accounting officer "must submit to the mayor, in a prescribed format, not later than 10 working days into the month, the state of their budget reflecting financial particulars for that month". Since July this apparently has not been done. Alderman Maharaj told the Greytown Gazette that after much
pleading a quarterly statement to the end of September was presented to Exco on 25 October and council on 28 October. The three-monthly report has, however, raised more queries than were circulating in the ratepayers' rumour mill. The report did not conform to the prescribed format in terms of the Act. To confuse councillors and others even more, especially those who had realised the non-compliance issues, an addendum was then published for the council meeting. But this did not clarify things as the addendum does not state which item is being replaced.
Have a look at this - there is a difference of R2 343 557 for the investment amount shown in Annexure X to the one shown in the addendum. Even more out of sync, a R3 000 000 difference in the statement of the financial position show investments at R45 857 464, yet the investment portfolio report shows this figure as R48 199 019.25. Even more bewildering and alarming, the comparison of cash on hand and the bank balance shows that according to the statement’s financial position the municipality has no cash, yet in terms of the closing balance for cash and cash equivalent to the ad-
144 years of running power
dendum there is cash of R7 603 941.22 Ratepayers have probably noticed and commented adversely about the number of armed security guards who have now become a fixture of the Umvoti Municipal landscape. When the mayor was appointed on 18 February, 2015 it was stated that "it is the responsibility of the municipality to provide protection services to the mayor and that due to the nature of services required, the Supply Chain Management process could not be followed and we therefore deviated in terms of Section 36". A company was appointed at a
cost of R185 000, but it was not clarified whether this is the monthly or annual cost. Another company was appointed on 28 August for a contract of R287 500, again this was not specified if it was a monthly or annual amount. If this is per month - ratepayers are covering a cost of over R3 000 000. What can ratepayers do - attend council meetings, form a ratepayers' association and ask your councillor to explain to you why he or she voted as they did. Ward Committees are to be appointed by the end of this month make your voice heard - remember it is your community.
MEET Greytown's latest athletic stars - 74-year-old Lucas G. Ngiba and 70-year-old Sisani A. Xulu. These two fit running stars represented KZN in the relay team events at the national Golden Games in Polokwane, Limpopo last week. Athletes from eight provinces competed in a wide range of sporting codes in this annual inter-provincial challenge. As part of the four-man relay team representing KZN, Lucas and Sisani were thrilled that their efforts helped to make KZN the winning team. As can be seen in the photograph they are very proud of the medals presented to the team. The durable pair told the Greytown Ga-
zette they had both trained very hard every day and will continue to do so. On being asked if the next achievement would be for their "Springbok colours" they said that as the provincial winners they automatically had booked a place in the South African squad. If there is an international Golden Games they are quite sure the green and gold colours would be theirs. Congratulations to Lucas and Sisani on proving that age is not a barrier to achievement physical or mental.
Lucas Ngiba (left) and Sisani Xulu, very proud of the medals presented to them.
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Relaunch of community and police crime prevention measures MANY people are quick, when there is a crime committed or even an attempted crime, to blame the SAPS for either not preventing the incident or for not taking any action. But it is also up to people, and all residents of Umvoti, to work with the police to bring the crime rate down through active and positive crime prevention measures. With this in mind, Greytown SAPS are appealing to the public to attend the relaunch of the Greytown Community Policing Forum and the Youth Crime Prevention desk. This important meeting is to take place on Friday 11 November at 2pm at the town hall. Since all the district clusters now fall under one, the Umzinyathi Cluster, all police stations were requested to revive previous crime prevention structures to come in line with the new cluster. Warrant Officer Mnyandu of the Greytown SAPS told the
Greytown Gazette that it is essential for everyone to work together in order to reduce the crime rate. He appealed to members of the recently formed Community Watch and Neighbourhood Watch groups to attend the CPF launch to ensure that everyone works towards the same goal and avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts. Many crimes are said to be fuelled by drugs and alcohol and to counteract the availability and easy access to these, the relaunch of the crime prevention desk for youth is a priority. Warrant Officer Mnyandu said the long school holidays and the festive season usually means an increase in petty crime so it was vital that the community and the police discussed and processed plans of crime prevention in the town and district. For further information, contact Warrant Officer Mnyandu on 072 662 9087.
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