Msimanga tries De Lille tactics in witch-hunt against me – Mosola

Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga had planned to table a “bogus” report on an irregular tender to council, similar to the tactics the DA used to removed Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille, according to Tshwane city manager Moeketsi Mosola.

Mosola briefed the media yesterday after the Labour Court granted him an interim interdict to halt the tabling of a report into alleged corruption surrounding the appointment of a project management company.

He had been under investigation for awarding the alleged R12 billion tender to consultant company GladAfrica, despite legal opinion that the contract was unlawful.

While preliminary investigations into the irregular appointment were finalised and ready to be tabled before the normal council sitting yesterday, Mosola turned to the courts to stop the report.

According to him, the city, Msimanga and the council speaker, Katlego Mathebe, had “unlawfully” probed him, since according to Section 171 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) all finance matters should be probed by the Financial Disciplinary Board.

Instead, council resolved that Tshwane chief operating officer James Murphy control the investigations, while independent law firm Bowman-Gilfillan compiled the report. This was the same law firm that the DA had used to compile a report on De Lille, and the party was gunning for Mosola as he had control of the city’s money, he told the media.

He said since the investigation, he was never approached to give his side.

“They are on a witch-hunt to get rid of me by hook or by crook. He [Msimanga] appoints a subordinate and a law firm, which is found not to be independent in the case of [De Lille], to present a bogus preliminary report. I was in court to protect my rights since the city refused to respond to me and deal with my serious concerns,” said Mosola.

“The Bowman-Gilfillan report is bogus. If you release a report, and the subject of your investigation is not heard, that report cannot be impartial.”

He denied that the court application was an attempt to hide any wrongdoing, as he had been writing to the mayor and the chief whip, raising his concerns around the probe.

According to the ANC, the report pointed toward Mosola’s hands not being clean. While Mosola in August claimed the tender appointment was above board and was also approved by the Development Bank of SA, as allowed and outlined by the MFMA regulation 32 process, that was apparently a lie.

Meanwhile, a motion of no confidence against him was disallowed last night after Mathebe ruled that it would be best to wait for the court to rule on the matter.

– rorisangk@citizen.co.za

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