There are some departments within our Municipal Administration blatantly stealing from the Professionals they are tasked to guide and serve.
I get many reports from professionals who present work to Municipal Officials for them to check and sign off on only for the professionals to be told that their work or requests will ONLY be signed off and actioned provided that the professionals use the services of a specific outside contractor who happens to NOT be properly qualified and charges well above a fair rate.
At the same time those very same municipal officials are known to actively tout for business from members of the public – in competition with the very private professionals they are tasked to serve.
As a member of the public what will you do if a Municipal Official says that your request can be attended to cheaper AND SIGNED OFF QUICKLY by a Municipal Official tasked to inspect and sign off on private professionals submissions?
This happens on an extremely regular basis where Municipal Officials compete against the very professionals that they are tasked to serve. One professional recently told me of a Municipal Inspector touting for business from a client that had accompanied the professional to a meeting in the Municipal Offices!
And another told me of a Municipal Official asking to fall under a private professionals Indemnity Insurance so that they could continue doing their ‘private work’ with impunity!
Like putting the fox in the hen house and expecting all to be safe and sound!
EXPLAINER: The fox guarding the hen house describes a set of circumstances in which someone who should not be trusted has been chosen to protect someone or oversee a situation. The choice involves someone directly unsuitable for the task, such as choosing a bank robber to guard a bank.
