'Corrupt' municipal manager awaits sentencing
Martin Noel Pietersen Martin Noel Pietersen
Cape Town - He was appointed to take the Oudtshoorn Municipality to a higher level of successes, but instead he was convicted of “corruption”.
Municipal manager Martin Noël Pietersen was found guilty of abusing R2 million of taxpayers' money. He was convicted on five charges relating to the contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act - a first of its kind in South Africa, according to the National Prosecuting Authority.
He was accused of abusing his position to improperly benefit a contractor employed through the municipality. Pietersen had not followed the supply chain of management which allowed for unauthorised and wasteful expenditure for “political agendas”, according to court documents.
Ian Kenned, a former Stellenbosch municipal manager and the owner of IBR consultants, was hired by Pietersen to perform “unspecified, open-ended” work.
The consultancy was required to undertake legal work and provide legal advice while it was not a firm of attorneys, court papers outlined. According to the NPA, the aim of Kenned’s employment was to nullify previous reports exposing irregularities by himself and other counsellors. As a result, policies were disregarded and inflated invoices were paid out.
The municipality's records revealed that from October 8, 2010 to June 30, 2011, 23 payments to the value of R2m were made to IBR.
Over a 10-month period, IBR invoiced the municipality R95 000 for services rendered which were allegedly marked-up by R60 000 - an increase of 271 percent.
IBR also invoiced R85 000 for an investigation and report which was similar to a probe - within the same scope - done five months prior to its appointment.
Pietersen was accused of authorising the payments to IBR out of four different vote numbers attached to the legal cost budget and professional fees. IBR was also found to have overcharged for travelling fees. In October 2010, the consultancy indicated that 1 800km was travelled and an amount of R13 500 was claimed - at R7.50 per kilometre. The rate should have been R2.50.
The charge sheet showed that the appointment of IBR was “irregular” as the skills and resources to perform a project had been available, the services required was not budgeted for - to the extent that there was no control over the hours of which the consultancy could submit invoices - and the procurement processes was not fair and competitive.
Court papers outlined that the instruction to IBR, and the payments, were manipulated to prevent them from being detected and create the impression that the procurement obtained fell within the R200 000 limit.
Pietersen was also found to have failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent “irregular expenditure” when appointing IBR - an act which contravened a section of the Municipal Finance Management Act. He will be sentenced on March 31.