AG office reaches milestone after first certificate of debt issued to NW municipal manager

Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke said her office has reached a major milestone when it issued its first certificate of debt to a North West municipal manager, holding him personally liable to pay for a R4.6 million irregular loss.

This is the first certificate of debt since the Public Audit Act (PAA)’s extended powers came into effect in April 2019, which hold accounting officers liable to pay back monies lost through material irregularities that are left uncorrected.

“In October of 2025, just about a month ago, we did reach a very important milestone. We issued our very first certificate of debt. It is a certificate of debt that I issued against the accounting officer of Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality in the North West.”

She said the certificate of debt will see the municipal manager, Allan Losaba, paying back millions lost through an irregular and inflated tender for water tanker services.

“The contract management processes were so weak that this led to a material financial loss of R4.6 million. The loss relates to daily tankering schedules that overstated the kilometres of the particular service provider had changed and a consequence the municipality was essentially overpaying for the service.”

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