ABERDEEN NEWS - Members of the Aberdeen community and the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) were left frustrated after a somewhat chaotic meeting last Monday.

This was one of a series of public hearing meetings held throughout the municipality to allow the community to question and give input on the draft annual report for the 2018/2019 financial year.

The Aberdeen meeting was fairly chaotic, with two of the four ordinary members of MPAC only arriving more than half an hour after the advertised starting time. Chairman Willem Safers struggled to control the meeting, and Speaker Thembisa Nonnies, who was supposedly present only as an observer, interrupted frequently, undermining the chairman. Only three senior officials from the municipality were present to answer questions.

Many members of the community present misunderstood the purpose of the meeting, and only wanted to discuss current service delivery issues

Cllr Eldrige Ruiters, who was present as a member of the Aberdeen community, questioned some of the information given in the report. "It is a pity that most of the issues raised at the meeting were not about information in the report," said Ruiters. "The report is flooded with fallacies and incorrect references," he added.

Officials who were present at the start of the meeting. Back: Clive Kombani (Aberdeen manager), Cllr Edrige Ruiters, Cllr Willem Safers (MPAC Chairman), Cllr Rudy Jacobs and Cllr Louwrens Nortje (MPAC member). Front: COO Hans Hendricks, Cllr Ricardo Smith (MPAC member), Speaker Thembisa Nonnies, Mzuko Tsili (manager community services).

The main function of MPAC is to perform oversight of the executive, including the mayor, the executive committee, the municipal manager and the administration.

All reports must flow via council to MPAC for them to study and identify any irregularities and faults, which must then be reported to council. Therefore, MPAC must sit at least four times a year, which is not happening at present, according to one of the members. Thus, MPAC is unable to fulfil its mandate, which has resulted in a disclaimer from the Auditor General for the fourth consecutive year.

After the public hearings, MPAC will produce a draft oversight report, which after consideration, will be presented to a special council meeting on 26 March.

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