HEATED debate is expected at Thursday’s meeting of eThekwini council following shocking media reports alleging that mayor Zandile Gumede is at the centre of a Hawks investigation into allegations of money laundering, corruption and fraud.
Reports in the weekend media revealed that Gumede was under investigation by the Hawks for facilitating money laundering, fraud and corruption, allegedly to pay back those who helped her political ambitions.
A damning forensic report by Integrity Forensic Solutions on which the case is based, claims that Gumede summoned a municipal official to her home to demand that a R25 million tender go to selected companies for the hire of chemical toilets over a period of six months. Previously, the city had forked out about R3 million to hire toilets. The report alleges that the companies seemingly hand-picked to fulfill the tender, may have belonged to councillors and political figures who had supported Gumede in her political endeavours and that she owed them a token of gratitude in the form of city contracts.
IOL reported on 27 May that Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, a spokesperson for the Hawks, had confirmed the investigation to the media, but declined to name the two councillors under investigation. However, on Monday, ECR News quoted Mulaudzi denying the mayor was the focus of its investigation. He confirmed however that the Hawks were investigating allegations of corruption at the municipality.
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The mayor, through her spokesman Mthunzi Gumede‚ has vehemently denied the allegations of fraud, corruption and money laundering‚ saying it was mere propaganda by those working with the opposition to collapse the municipality. Gumede said the mayor was taking the allegations very seriously, but was concerned that nobody had presented the report to her and that when investigations were conducted, she had never been approached. He said Gumede would seek legal guidance and had vowed to continue fighting corruption.
Auditor General staff receive death threats
The news of the investigation and the allegations against the mayor come hot on the heels of a decision by the Auditor General, Kimi Makwetu to remove his staff from the municipality last week after they had received death threats while undertaking an audit of the City’s books. According to reports, the Auditor General’s staff had requested the forensic report but municipal officials had refused to hand it over.
Shortly after Makwetu pulled his staff from the municipality‚ Gumede called an urgent news conference at which she stressed that the city’s fraud and anti-corruption policy aimed to build an ethical and corruption-free municipality, and that good governance remained a major priority for the city.
She warned that anyone who transgressed good business principles with the city, be it a member of the executive‚ a councillor‚ any member of staff or private companies trading with the city, would be dealt with by the full force of the law.
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This week, the municipality released another media statement reiterating that it remained committed to working with all relevant authorities to ensure that the process of auditing the City’s books continued without any undue interference.
Meanwhile, City Manager Sipho Nzuza on Monday, met with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Leaders Head of Department, Thando Tubane and his senior management team to discuss the matter.
The officials agreed to work together to put in place safety measures to ensure the safety and security of the Auditor General’s staff who will return to the Municipality to continue with the auditing process. He said the work being conducted by the Auditor General’s office was not an investigation, but a routine auditing process.
“As eThekwini Municipality, we are committed to ensuring clean and good governance. As evident in the Auditor General report released recently for the 2016/17 financial year, there has been a significant decrease in irregular expenditure from R1.3 billion in 2011/2012 to R513 million in 2016/2017. The report also reflected that the number of findings was significantly reduced with no major or material issues. This is due to several measures we have already implemented. We also have a zero-tolerance approach to non-compliance and remain fully committed to running a clean administration,” said Nzuza.
Gumede is due to host the State of the City Address (SOCA) on Thursday, where she will reflect on the City’s achievements of the past financial year, the maintenance of fiscal discipline as local government and the future outlook of the Medium Term Revenue Expenditure Framework 2018-2021.
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