‘Due process was followed’: Row over City of Ekurhuleni’s R2 million bill

A R2,628,900 invoice from an IT consulting firm to the City of Ekurhuleni for a month’s work has revealed that two, possibly three, of the IT firm’s employees are related to senior managers in the municipality.

On 28 February, the IT company billed Ekurhuleni for hundreds of hours – for 33 junior support analysts, two junior developers and one senior developer.

The more than R2 million bill is only about half of the total outstanding amount of R5,252,280.

The bill of R2,623,380 was due on 2 February this year.

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An unsigned letter by “concerned Democratic Alliance (DA) members about our leadership” in the City of Ekurhuleni alleged that the children of city manager Imogen Mashazi and Ekurhuleni chief information officer (CIO) Moloko Monyepao were working for the IT firm.

This was confirmed by Ekurhuleni spokesperson Phakamile Mbengashe, who stated the relationship did not contravene the Public Finance Management Act (PMFA).

“The above mentioned individuals are among several young people within the City of Ekurhuleni who are all working for service providers that were appointed having followed due process,” Mbengashe said.

Mbengashe said the municipality was paying the company “what is due to them” based on the services that they were contracted for.

“After the support and maintenance contract was awarded, the service provider proposed hiring and transferring skills to Ekurhuleni’s unemployed youth,” Mbengashe said.

This was done for free by the IT company, she said.

“In the spirit of transferring skills, the service provider does not claim or charge the city for training and developing these individuals that assist in supporting, expanding and continuously developing and updating the systems currently implemented in the city.”

The letter alleged Mashazi’s daughter was also employed by Ekurhuleni municipality, which Mbengashe denied.

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The matter raised the October 2017 claims by Thabo Rapodile, managing director of IT company DataOpt, against Mashazi and Monyepao who, he alleged, had tried to extort a R300,000 monthly bribe from him.

Rapodile reported the matter to the Hawks.

At the time, News24 reported that Ekurhuleni spokesperson Themba Gabede said “DataOpt was making baseless and absurd” allegations to strong-arm the city into agreeing to let it continue servicing the “unlawfully awarded software portion of the contract”.

In July 2018, an audit by Makanaka Risk and Advisory Services reportedly alleged the municipality lost R22.2 million to DataOpt in a copier project which was supposed to have saved it money.

“The city has instituted a civil claim against this company to pay the city about R22 million that they had benefited from unduly,” Mbengashe said.

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Independent Citizens Movement leader Joe Mojapelo said the allegations were handed over by Ekurhuleni’s mayor, Tania Campbell – whom the writers accuse of having turned a blind eye – to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), in its investigation under Proclamation R15 of 2021, signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in April.

The proclamation authorised the SIU to “investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of the municipality … and to recover any financial losses”.

Meanwhile, Mbengashe said Ekurhuleni will approach the Information Regulator “to determine the source of the breach of personal information and to determine sanctions”.

Additional reporting by Amanda Watson