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R4
Rural areas: FREE • Platteland: GRATIS
4 Oktober 2013
Money
Fear lessl y the tr uth
Mopani District Municipality
for nothing and your fence for a fee ...
The MDM bought an expensive farm. Nothing is being produced. Millions are being spent, however, like a devil’s fork fence of R18 million (built by a contractor that allegedly has a MDM Exco member as a partner). When questions were asked, nobody seemed to know anything about the who and the what.
Bulletin kept on digging, and this is what we found A secretive hush hangs over the Bali Estate near Tzaneen (between Lushof and Mieliekloof), where millions of ratepayers’ money are seemed to be buried without explanation. This includes a contract of an alleged R18 million for the erection of a palisade fence of just over eight kilometers long around the underperforming estate. Bulletin published exclusive photos of the fence two weeks ago. The Bali Mango Estate is the property of the Mopani District Municipality for the past six years and the only person who could give clarity on the situation is the municipal manager of Mopani, Mr Tim Maake, who referred us to the municipality’s non-respondElegansie in beweging… Ezri Hugo van Zani’s Gimnastiekskool Tzaneen (en ‘n gr 8-leerling van ing communications department. Efforts by die Hoërskool Merensky) het in Durban tydens die SA ritmiese gimnastiekkampioenskappe in die the Bulletin to contact the department’s afdelings van vlak vier en hoër uitstekend gedoen. In die vrydans het sy tweede geëindig, vir die touspokesman, Mr Neil Shikwambana, failed werk was sy ook tweede en derde met die hoepel en die afdeling met die bal. Haar goeie prestasies miserably for nearly three weeks now. het haar algeheel tweede in haar ouderdomsgroep laat eindig. Sy doen nog net drie jaar lank gimIt is also alleged that a contract for R200 000 nastiek. Sy is nou in dié dissipline van gimnastiek en in haar ouderdomsgroep SA se naasbeste! was awarded for slashing on hundred hectares of the estate, but less than seven ha was done before the contractor was paid in full. The contract for the palisade fence was awarded to an unknown Johannesburg businessman. A DA-councillor in the MDM, Mr Pierre Cronjé, met with the director of agriculTzaneen se hoërskole wys nou dat hulle ook op Nkowankowa, een van Stanford Lake College, vier tural and economic planning, Mr Madudie krieketveld die res van die provinsie se skole van Ben Vorster en twee van Merensky. In Limpopo metja Tsebe, on Monday, to get clarificaore aansit. se o.17-span is daar een speler van Nkowankowa, tion on the expensive palisade fence and In die Limpopo-skolekrieketspanne wat pas vyf van Ben Vorster en drie van Merensky, vir ‘n the slashing of land on Bali, but was told aangekondig is, is 64% van die spelers van totaal dus van nege uit die dertien. to put it in writing to municipal manager skole in en om Tzaneen — 25 van die 39 spelers In die skole se senior span, die o.19’s, is agt van Tim Maake. wat gedurende die Desember-skoolvakansie die dertien uit ons midde: een van Nkowankowa, His plea that the farm be sold rather than provinsiaal gaan meeding, kom uit ons skole. een van Stanford Lake, een van Ben Vorster en spending more ratepayers’ money fruitVir die o.15’s se dertiental is daar een speler van vyf van Merensky! lessly was also requested to be referred to
Tzaneen skole oorheers in Limpopo-skolekrieket
Maake. Tsebe agreed with Cronjé that selling the farm would be a better option. According to the records at the Deeds Office the farm of 158 ha was bought by the MDM for R2,9 million in 2007. It was once a flouri-shing mango farm, but degenerated into a state of ruin. During harvest time several trucks of unknown origin arrived and removed loads of mango’s for achar processing elsewhere (the Bulletin was told by neighbouring small holding owners). Most of the crop, however, was left on the trees to rot. At one stage there were rumours that a training facility would be run on the premises by a well-known television DIY personality, but this could also not be confirmed by the MDM. Unless the municipal manager comes forward to prove otherwise, the Bali estate looks like yet another dumping ground for millions of hard earned ratepayers’ money. —Louis Roux louis@bulletin.us.com
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