Tau denies DA’s ‘unfounded’ claims

DA councillor Andrew Cadman claimed that in his efforts to bury a critical public protector’s report, Tau attempted to mislead the City council during the council meeting. Cadman said on 17 December last year, the public protector issued a report entitled Broken Promises, on its investigation into alleged maladministration by the City relating to the City’s failure to comply with its bylaws and the Constitution regarding hijacked buildings.

He said, “The report arises out of a complaint, by Mr and Mrs Kgaudi, of maladministration and improper conduct by the City in relation to two property-owning companies that they had acquired for commercial purposes, the buildings on which properties have been occupied illegally.”

Cadman said one of the public protector’s findings was that the City had failed without good reason and over a long period of time to terminate electricity services when requested to so by the complainants, contrary to the requirements of the City’s debt control policy and the Municipal Systems Act.

The City allegedly billed the complainants for municipal services, notwithstanding the termination request and in contravention of its own bylaws. Cadman said the City had failed on several occasions to honour its promise to the complainants, the presidency and the public protector to disconnect the electricity supply to the buildings, and to write off the debt for improperly rendered services relating to those buildings. He also claimed the City had failed to enforce its own bylaws and policies in relation to the illegal occupation of the buildings.

Cadman claimed that the City had known about the need for housing for the illegal occupants and did nothing about it. He alleged that as a consequence, the complainants have had to bear the City’s and other responsible organs of State’s responsibilities under Section 26 of the Constitution, thus violating the complainants’ rights under Section 25 of the Constitution.

“The public protector determined that this conduct constituted maladministration and the public protector has directed the mayor to, amongst other things, ensure that an internal investigation is conducted into the cause of the City’s failure to provide the complainants with the service expected under Section 195 of the Constitution,” claimed Cadman.

However, the City’s spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said the allegations are unfounded and will not be entertained by the mayor. However, Modingoane said, “The mayor supports all Chapter 9 institutions, including the Office of the Public Protector, with which he has established a good working relationship – and this is further acknowledged in the Broken Promises report. Upon receiving the public protector’s report, the mayor presented it to the Johannesburg Mayoral Committee which then – subject to all legal prescripts – instructed the administration to comply with all the recommendations of the public protector.”