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R4
Rural areas: FREE • Platteland: GRATIS
6 Julie 2012
Fear lessl y the tr uth
GTM fiasco
The Tzaneng Mall was crowded with beauties in pink for the Miss Limpopo Beauty Tzaneen 2012 pageant. The senior winners will serve as the pageant’s ambassadors and join in community projects; especially those to promote breast cancer awareness. The event was initiated and staged by Katryn Barwise, Miss Limpopo 2012. Photos: Retha Nel
Ons kan doen met ‘n miljoen! ZZ2, die megaboerdery van Mooketsi, het vir die eerste keer in een seisoen die kerf vir een miljoen kissies avokado’s oortref. Die prestasie is gevier en hierbo is die pakhuisperso-
neel by Wagendrift tydens die geselligheid. Mnr Tommie van Zyl, die HUB van ZZ2, het die een miljoenste kissie van sy seun Burtie, wat ZZ2 se avokadoboerdery bestuur, ontvang.
About three years ago the Greater Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) couldn’t pay Eskom and at times they had to perform a juggling act to pay wages and salaries. The man who then came to the GTM’s rescue as chief financial officer (CFO) and who managed to turn the sinking ship around from a substantial bank overdraft into a handsome positive bank balance, has been told — rather onceremoniously and unprofessionally — to go! Mr André le Grange’s contract was not renewed and he had to leave on 30 June, the very same day that saw the end of the financial year, without any exit arrangements to hand over to a new chief financial officer. Any person with common sense can tell that running an institution with a budget of close to R1 billion needs more than meets the eye. Having showed Le Grange the door in such a way constitutes an act of irresponsibility, if not madness. We spoke to him (we are still trying to get hold of Mr Obby Mkhombo, the ex director of community services, and Ms Conny Mametja, the ex-municipal manager, who both also left the GTM. Le Grange said “I am sad that the GTM has decided not to renew my contract as chief financial officer (CFO). I have been part of this institution for nineteen years and eight months, serving in various positions in finance. “During my two years and seven months as CFO, I had the privilege, with a team of employees in the Finance Department, to change the financial position of an institution which was not a going concern. Conditional grant funding were not cash backed and current liabilities exceeded current assets. At this time even with an overdraft, on various occasions arrangements had to be made with Eskom for late payment of the Eskom bulk account, after threats to cut the supply to Tzaneen. “In the 2010/2011 financial year we managed to change the financial position of the GTM, thanks to good strategic financial planning, cash flow management and strict financial control. For the first time since the inception of conditional grants the institution managed to have the conditional grants cashed back and the current assets exceeded the current liabilities. This was a vast turn around on the current portion of the balance sheet of approximately R41 million. The improvement was maintained during the 2011/2012 year and we did not have to make use of the overdraft facilities again. In fact, on 30 June 2012 we closed the financial year with the biggest positive bank balance ever. This will ensure that all conditional grants will be fully cashed back and there will be an approximate surplus of R15 million after the conditional grants are cashed back,” he told us in our interview. Le Grange and his team could unlock funds for Phase 1 of the electrical capacity project from
ABSA and the Development Bank of SA (DBSA), to alleviate the pressure on the Tzaneen/Letsitele electrical network. This resulted in new developments like the new Tzaneen Lifestyle Centre and other residential and business properties. “This had the planned effect that the revenue increased to a level of 6% above budget in 2011/2012. It thus is very unfortunate that while I was busy negotiating additional funds from DBSA for the 2012/2013 capital budget to finalize Phase 2 of the capacity project, my contract has been terminated. If Phase 2 is not completed the project will not be 100% operational and therefore will not have the planned improvement on capacity and quality of supply in the Tzaneen area. “During this period a Revenue Enhancement Project was implemented to protect billed revenue through data cleansing of consumers and improvement of credit control. Various projects were identified to render accounts for services in areas where no bills for services had ever been sent sent to. These projects are in the first phase and have already caused an increase on the payment rate from 88% to 92,7% over the past two years. “When I was appointed as CFO the implementation of the National Properties Rates Act, of which the evaluation roll forms a major part, had already passed the halfway mark. During the past three years I gained knowledge of the implementation of an evaluation roll and the challenges thereof. I had the best intentions, and started with preparations to ensure a flawless implementation for the next evaluation process, starting this month. Unfortunately I shall not have the opportunity to assist in efforts to have a flawless rol this time around,” he said. Le Grange said he supported the total community at all times. “I tried my best to maintain the most stable financial environment, to ensure that cash funds would be available for the GTM’s Operational and Capital Budget. We did our best to equally spread funds to all areas of the GTM, especially for maintenance. “My motto is that if the financial situation of an institution is like a sinking ship, everybody will have to hang on for survival; but if the finances are like a big ship moving at speed, the bow wave will create benefits and spin-offs to the benefit of the whole community. Sadly, I will not be part of the team when the community benefits from the spin-offs. I will miss the challenging opportunities that the GTM offered,” an emotional Le Grange said.
• Next week we will report on Mametja’s sentiments, and we will keep on trying to contact Mkhombo. — Francois Aucamp
francois@bulletin.us.com