R35 000 per month for mayor’s guards

LEPHALALE - “Play the ball and not the man,” was Lephalale Mayor Jack Maeko’s advice to the DA at a council meeting held on Tuesday. His comment was made in response to the DA’s questions concerning a payment order of R35 000 to Sheppard Security to protect Maeko.
The order was approved on 14 September by the municipal manager when Maeko was said to have received anonymous threats. Northern News also reported previously that Maeko was booked into the Palm Park Hotel on 28 September 2011 for security reasons.
At the council meeting on Tuesday, the DA’s Stephen Manamela asked the municipal manager, Bob Naidoo, if correct protocol was followed in appointing Sheppard Security to protect the Mayor. According to legislation a risk analysis needs to be done by the police to determine if a public servant’s life is in danger. Naidoo did not respond to this question and only said that he would investigate to determine if the Mayor is still in need of protection. Naidoo could not be reached for comment at the time of going to print.
In trying to establish if a risk analysis was done at any stage, Northern News learnt that Maeko contacted the Lephalale police on Wednesday morning, a day after the council meeting with a complaint that his life is being threatened. He met with police officials at his office that same day.
Other concerns raised by the DA were the extra expenditure related to the Mayor’s inauguration. The event was postponed at a late stage resulting in wasted spending. The DA also said that bad planning forced the municipal manager to approve expenditure without the required three quotes from service providers.
The DA assured the Mayor that they were not “playing the man”, but were rather focusing on issues which could prevent the Lephalale Municipality form achieving a clean audit in 2014.