Mkhwebane finds ANC mayor and officials misappropriated R125k – DA

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality (Cradock), Eastern Cape, said on Thursday that the public protector, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, has found that the ANC executive mayor, Ray Shweni, and other ANC councillors and officials in the municipality misappropriated public funds to the tune of R125,000.

The party’s caucus leader, Monde Desha, said in a statement on Thursday that Mkhwebane found that the money was used to transport ANC members to party political events in 2017.

Desha said: “I lodged a complaint with the public protector (PP) on 23 February 2017 and the final report was released on 9 September 2019.”

See the report attached here.

Desha said Mkhwebane found the following actions to have resulted in non-compliance with the municipality’s supply chain management (SCM) policy and the misappropriation of public funds:

• R45,000 towards the transportation of 60 ANC supporters in order for them to attend the issuing of the ANC’s “January 8 Statement” at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg in 2017;
• R8,200 for hiring a luxury vehicle, Toyota Fortuner, to transport the Chief Whip of Inxuba Yethemba Municipal Council, Councillor Thembisile Bobo, and five other ANC members to the same event in Johannesburg; and
• R72,000 to transport 180 ANC supporters to attend the Provincial Roadshow in Mthatha on January 15 2017.

Mkhwebane, in her report, requested the following remedial action to be taken within 30 business days of the date of her report:

• The speaker must take steps to ensure that council establishes a special committee to investigate whether the conduct of the mayor, relating to the procurement of transport, constitutes a breach of the Code of Conduct for Municipal Councillors in terms of the Municipal Structures Act (MSA);
• The municipal manager must take action against officials involved in the procurement of transportation and against the former acting municipal manager, Mr Lulamile Jojiyasi, who approved the procurement of transportation; and
• The municipal manager must, in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), take action to recover irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure referred to in the report.

“The DA will not rest until the municipality takes action against mayor Shweni and everyone implicated in the PP report and all public funds are recovered.”

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu.)

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