The Office of the Premier of the North West Province has noted with disappointment and serious concern a vitriolic attack that described Premier Thandi Modise as “a wounded lioness” who is playing a dirty political game at the expense of sports development in Matlosana Local Municipality.
The unwarranted attack attributed to the Sports, Arts and Culture Officer in the municipality, Hunter Morebodi as published on page 23 of The New Age Newspaper of Wednesday, 24 July 2013 not only undermines the Office and person of the Premier but seek to divert public attention from prudent financial management which was the Premier’s concern.
While Premier Modise had called for an urgently investigation as to whether the R2,4 million expenditure that the municipality was alleged to have earmarked towards the Mayoral Soccer Challenge was justifiable, We wish to put it on record that she has not instructed that the tournament be cancelled or postponed as alleged.
The Premier had welcomed not the postponement of the tournament but the assurance that municipal resources were not going to fund the shortfall of the tournament organised by a private entity outside the municipality.
We have noted however that Morebodi’s ill-timed comments suggest that the event was organised by the municipality and that the tournament was continuing even though no sponsors were secured a week before the tournament .
We wish to dismiss as nonsensical the assertion that Premier has enemies within the municipality and reiterate she had acted promptly in the interest of good governance and our communities.
Premier had acted within her rights and constitutional obligation and could not have ignored allegations of financial mismanagement which were brought to her attention by the media. Had the municipality responded to the media enquiry, the Office of the Premier would not have known of the allegations or statement issued in this regard.
Premier Modise is confident that she had acted in the best interest of the ratepayers and residents after the municipality had not responded to media enquiries regarding the matter. The seriousness of the allegations demanded for prompt action and for the Premier not to tarry.
Delayed interventions have caused our communities a lot and in this case, the directive for an investigation has resulted in reactions that raise more questions than provide answers.
