Tania Campbell allegedly pushed an R85 million property transaction for human settlements despite warnings the land was a mine dump.
Picture File: Former Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell speaks at the the Mehlareng stadium in Tembisa on 5 August 2022. Picture: Neil McCartney
Former Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell has been accused of attempting to interfere in the appointment of a senior official, pushing an alleged R85 million property deal despite warnings over the suitability of the land and failing to act after being alerted to alleged problems with a R405 million security technology tender.
The allegations were made by former senior city officials and a municipal security service provider and relate to Campbell’s time at the helm of the DA-led multiparty government in Ekurhuleni, between 2021 and 2023.
Campbell allegedly pushed R85m property transaction for human settlements
A former senior official alleged Campbell and another high-ranking DA councillor attempted to have the interview score of a candidate for a head of department position changed after a panel had completed its work.
The official said she refused, advising that the panel had completed its function and that the appointment had to proceed to council.
She alleged the request was to change the marks of a particular candidate to secure them the job.
The official alleged Campbell subsequently told then city manager Imogen Mashazi that she was “not for us”, meaning that the official was not “on-side”, and added Mashazi later told her Campbell was angry with her.
A city official also alleged Campbell personally raised a property transaction for R85 million with her for the development of human settlements.
According to the official, the proposed seller was allegedly a woman identified as Taniel Cloete.
Proposed seller identified as Taniel Cloete
But after the official approached the relevant divisional head to establish whether the city should support buying the land, she discovered it was a mine dump. The property could not be used for its intended purpose.
“It’s a lot of money for the city, and you can’t settle anybody there,” she said.
DA Gauteng local government spokesperson Fred Nel disputed the suggestion Campbell could have directed such a transaction.
He said a mayor does not have the authority to instruct the municipal administration to buy property.
There are also questions about the identity and property interests of the proposed seller.
The Citizen could find only one property purportedly registered to Cloete, a residential property in a Boksburg suburb valued at about R1 million which she purchased more than a decade ago.
Only one property purportedly registered to Cloete
No property matching the land at the centre of the alleged R85 million transaction could be identified as belonging to her.
The Citizen tried to contact Cloete, without success, and attempts to trace her through a former employer were also unsuccessful.
The purchase did not go ahead, but the matter did not end there. The official alleged Cloete subsequently instituted high court proceedings against the city for about the same amount.
“She sued us after we declined the transaction,” she said. “There is a summons for R85 million.”
Nel said the DA trusted the legal proceedings “will expose the facts related to the allegations around the dispute”.
Another allegation touching on Campbell’s oversight role emerged from a completely different city procurement process, this time for a security technology provider to combat infrastructure and cable theft, and the associated tender during her tenure.
Another allegation on Campbell’s oversight
A source alleged the incumbent provider at the time billed more than four times less than the winning bid of R405 million.
They said they personally warned Campbell about problems with the procurement before bids had even been submitted.
“I said to Tania Campbell: ‘Listen, mayor Campbell, there is a problem. You need to exercise oversight,'” he said. He alleged the procurement nevertheless continued and his plea in writing remain unanswered until today.
Nel said politicians were excluded from municipal bid committees and could not award tenders to suppliers. But the allegation against Campbell is not that she personally awarded the contract, said the source. It is that she failed to intervene through her oversight role.
Campbell did not respond to the allegations by the time of publication.
