KwaDukuza municipal manager Nhlanhla Mdakane has been accused of losing ‘complete control’ of the municipality since he has reportedly been on sick leave for most of the year.
The high-ranking official who earns a package of R1.6 million a year is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the municipality and signing off on contracts.
Recently, his absence has been raising eyebrows among municipal staff who say they are beginning to lose confidence in Mdakane’s management since he is hardly at work.
Mdakane was employed as municipal manager in 2014 and his contract was renewed in 2017.
Asked for the reason for the municipal manager’s recurring sick leave and exactly how many days leave had been taken this year, KDM media liaison officer Sipho Mkhize said the information was confidential.
However, municipal employees who asked to remain anonymous said Mdakane has been on sick leave for about half the year, booking off for six weeks at a time.
According to staff, the executive directors of each department are left without supervision and practically running the municipality.
“The municipal manager comes back from leave for about a week or two and disappears for weeks on end. The EDs are running the show at KDM and the municipal manager has lost the ability to account for anything. Tender contracts are not being renewed on time, the deadlines for grant funding are being missed and fraudulent agreements worth millions are being signed off and only being picked up months later. Over and above the municipal manager’s salary, the municipality also has to pay an additional amount of money to the person who stands in for him.”
Mkhize, however, denied the allegation.
Also read: KwaDukuza Municipality loses R18 million electricity grant
“The municipal manager is well aware of the occurrences in the institution and when he gives executive directors an opportunity to respond to questions in council, he does so because executive directors are technical experts in the business units they run. It is demeaning that anyone would see this as incapacity.”
According to the sources, KDM has missed deadlines to renew or re-advertise most of their tender contracts for services such as grass cutting and cleaning.
“This leaves the council’s hands tied as we are forced to authorize payment for services on a month-to-month basis. That then means that the proper supply chain processes are not being followed and those costs then show up as irregular expenditure which reflects badly on the municipality’s financial records.”
Last year, two irregular contracts for office equipment worth more than R10 million were approved after apparently being slipped into a pile of papers sent for signing while the municipal manager was on leave.
Six employees, three of whom are seniors, are being investigated by Mdakane for their role in the transaction.
However, the investigation, which has been ongoing for more than a year, appears to have stalled while most KDM offi ces and libraries are left without copier and printer equipment.
Ilembe DA chief whip Malcolm Hubner said that council had not been given the reasons for Mdakane’s sick leave. Attempts to contact the municipal manager directly were unsucessful.
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