Unfortunately this is not an announcement regarding a turn of events regarding the Nkandla saga but rather an example to the president of what the right course of action should be going forward.

Officials at the Ehlanzeni district municipality in Mpumalanga have complied with Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s recommendation that they pay back half the money irregularly shared among officials following an international trip.

In her report, titled “Free money for all,” Madonsela found that district manager Advocate Hugh Mbatha failed to prevent the unlawful transfer of R165 505 deposited into the credit card of a district official who was part of a delegation to Italy in 2008. The delegation spent R45 505 and returned to South Africa with R120 000, which they shared among themselves.

“The executive mayor and the municipal manager and an official have paid the money they owed in full and the total money recovered from that is R60 000. We did not ignore the recommendations by the public protector as the officials have paid their dues to the council,” says district spokesperson Lucky Ngomane.

However, if things seem too good to be true that is probably because they are. The balance amount still outstanding cannot be deducted from the three people who shared the Italy spoils.

“The others are no longer working for the municipality and for that reason we have not been able to enforce deductions from their salaries. As a district municipality we commend the three who have displayed exemplary leadership by complying with the public protector’s recommendations,” says Ngomane.

He has stated the municipal council has yet to deliberate on how to recover the remainder of the money from the others.