On Tuesday 6 August and Thursday 8 August 2013, the North West Provincial Legislature’s Standing Committee on Provincial Public Accounts (SCOPA) will be meeting with four companies that are mining in the Bapo ba Mogale land, the Department of Finance; the Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs; and the Auditor General’s Office at the Madibeng Local Municipality Chamber at 10h00.
The meeting forms part of investigations and public hearings that the Committee is embarking on with communities that are reserving royalties from mining companies in the province’s D account. The D Account is an account where all mining companies deposit royalties for traditional authorities. According the Auditor General’s office, the D account has never been audited for the past 19years.
The five mining companies are, Lonmin (Eastplats and Westplats), Skychrome, Kudu Granite, Samacor, Flinstone and IFM. They are expected to brief the committee and the affected communities on the following;
- Contributions made to Bapo ba Mogale account on the D-Account from 1994 to date
- How the actual amounts to be contributed are determined
The Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs; the Department of Finance and the Auditor General’s offices are expected to brief the Committee and members of the public on the processes, auditing and accountability in this account.
The two departments have been requested to do the following;
- A full presentation on the management of the D-Account;
- Breakdown on all accounts of Tribal Authorities;
- All Traditional account numbers;
- Audit plan of the D-Account;
- Indicate whether the account is under investigation;
- Who is appointed to do the investigation, and what are the terms of reference; and
- Progress report on the engagement with the Public Protector.
The Committee is embarking on this initiative in support of the work that the Office of the Public Protector, Ms Thuli Madonsela has already started, investigating this account.
The public meeting will also be attended by all Chairpersons of the Bapo ba Mogale community structures and the royal family.
The briefing by the mining companies will take place as follows:
Date: Tuesday, 6 August 2013
Time: 10h00
Venue: Madibeng Local Municipality Chamber
The briefing by the Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs; the Department of Finance and the Auditor General’s Office will take place as follows:
Date: Thursday, 8 August 2013
Time: 10h00
Venue: Madibeng Local Municipality Chamber
All members of the media are invited to attend these public meetings
They can RSVP to:
Namhla Luhabe
Cell: 079 527 0628
E-mail: namhla@nwpl.org.za
