THE Executive Committee (Exco) has ordered a full scale probe into the management of the city’s fleet of vehicles, plant and equipment.
This comes after initial investigations revealed potential acts of maladministration as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
In addition to the initial investigations conducted by an internal audit at the municipality’s six depots (out of a total of 28 depots), Exco mandated city manager Sibusiso Sithole to engage external auditors and investigators to do further probes at all 28 depots.
Exco held its meeting at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Tuesday 21 October. Briefing the committee, Sithole said the investigation into fleet management in the City was prompted by concerns raised by the Audit Committee in its second Quarter Report to Exco.
Subsequently Exco ordered the city manager to take the necessary action to deal with the matter. Mayor James Nxumalo and members of Exco then conducted unannounced visits to two depots which confirmed the concerns.
“We have already reported the issue of fleet management and other related matters to the police in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act for an enquiry.
“Furthermore, a hearing to consider the possibility of suspending certain officials within the City Fleet Department took place on Monday and the final decision in this regard will be communicated to affected employees by end of business today,” he said.
The city manager was given the discretion to suspend any officials, including senior managers interfering with the process of finalisation of the detailed forensic investigation.
Sithole said as part of control measures a circular has been issued suspending the purchase of any new vehicles until the investigations are concluded and a full needs analysis is completed. A similar moratorium has also been placed on the auctioning of council assets.
Mayor Nxumalo welcomed the investigation adding that they were shocked by the number of irregularities they discovered during their inspection in loco.
“We were shocked when we discovered that there were many vehicles and equipment gathering dust after being parked in our yards for a very long time. We are dealing with this matter and support the efforts taken by the City Manager. We are a big city with a large fleet. We need to have proper management of our fleet,” he said.
