SEDIBENG District Municipality mayor Lerato Maloka has been accused of embezzling and abusing taxpayers’ money following her recent trip to Germany.
Sources in the municipality claimed that Maloka lied to the council that the trip cost R566 979.53.
This after she failed to provide clear details and cost of the trip.
The sources said Maloka was invoiced R412 538 for the trip. The municipality also lied that the trip cost R549 740.
Maloka attended the 25th International Aids Conference scheduled between July 22 and 26 in Munich, Germany.
She was also accused of travelling on a business-class flight.
This was a five-day trip and Maloka spent 8 nights, costing taxpayers further.
The money also accommodated acting Aids secretary Caroline Bukwana.
Civil society chairperson Zwe Mqwati was also added.
However, both Bukwana and Mqwati failed to attend the conference.
Municipal manager Motsumi Mathe said the R412 538 was the initial invoice by the service provider for 2 people and increased after the third person was added.
“This amount is the grand total cost of the trip. The Executive Mayor attended the trip, as chairperson of the Sedibeng AIDS Council, responding to an invite from Provincial Aids Council. The cost of this trip was covered under Aids Grant,” Mathe said, adding that the service provider refunded R201 000.
Mathe said the service provider secured business class, as they were making group bookings for all attendees.
Sedibeng is one of the districts of the Gauteng province, and the administrative seat of the district is Vereeniging.
The district is comprised of three local municipalities – Midvaal, Lesedi, and Emfuleni – that failed to pay workers’ salaries on time for September after Eskom attached its four accounts in a bid to recover R8 billion owed by the cash-strapped municipality.
In the memorandum issued on July 10, Bukwana requested Mathe to approve and process the payment from the HIV & TB and STI Programs budget for the registration to attend the conference. Bukwana said this was for herself and Maloka.
The travelling agency, XL Aero City Travel, charged the municipality R412 538 for all expenses, including hotels, meals, visas, conference fees, travel insurance, and service fees.
The amount accommodated two delegates.
Bukwana on July 17 wrote to Mathe and informed him that Maloka requested approval to process for her and Mqwati.
Giving feedback to the council last month, the office of the municipal manager said the total financial implications were R566 979.53.
The office said Bukwana and Mqwati could not travel due to delays in visa approvals.
“The office of the mayor and municipal manager awaits the closeout report from the service provider, thus finalising the comprehensive report to the council.
“Further engagement will pivot around the possible refund on two members who did not make the trip,” read the report.
DA councillor, Lehlohonolo Motloung, said the party would write to the municipal manager to deduct the money she used for three more days in Germany from her salary.
He said when he asked why there were three different amounts on the trip Maloka responded that the service provider would return about R200 000 back. Motloung said Maloka responded verbally without annexure as proof.
Maloka has also been accused of using the municipality’s money to attend the funeral of an ANC member in the Eastern Cape.
Records showed that Maloka took a flight and hired a vehicle to the province on May 12, 2024.
“When she was asked in the council, she said she was supporting one of the employees who was burying his father,” said Motloung.
Mathe said the funeral was of the mother of an employee in Maloka’s office. He said this was the reason she attended to support the family or a subordinate.
“This pointer is confused on the matter of separating private and official use of council resources or transport for the political management team. That their upper limits give usage latitude to that extend.”
Mathe added that the council is normally informed in a report post such occasions or events.
“As it happened in this case in the form of a monthly deviations report,” he said.
Earlier this year, the DA wrote to the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Mzi Khumalo and requested him to launch an urgent investigation into the missing of the mayoral chain belonging to Maloka.
The party said according to an affidavit, the chain valued at R465 000, mysteriously disappeared after the State of the District Address in June 2023, but a case of theft was not opened until 12 November 2023.
The DA added that this raised suspicions as to why the matter was not immediately reported to the police given the apparent gravity of the situation, and it also raised questions about the Sedibeng Council’s ability to safeguard its assets.
The party said it was strange that Maloka was at the centre of the missing mayoral chain case and since she was also embroiled in another shocking case of a foreign substance found in the engine of the vehicle assigned to her by the district municipality.