The City of Johannesburg is yet to confirm that the former Secretary to Council, Advocate Benjamin Lekalakala, was appointed as acting ombudsman.
Lekalakala, however, is adamant that he was.
The ombudsman’s office has seen a change of leadership this month after Advocate S’du Gumede was suspended after allegations of maladministration.
Another Section 56 manager, the group head of corporate and shared services, Molaodi Khutsoane was also suspended after a closed Council meeting earlier this month. The Office of the Ombudsman later announced that Lekalakala was the acting ombudsman.
Read: City of Joburg ombudsman suspended
But with Dinkie Dube currently firmly in the acting chair at the ombudsman’s office, there is no clarity about Lekalakala’s appointment.
Speaking to the publication, Lekalakala said he does not know what is happening. He explained that his contract with the City ends next February and negotiations regarding his exit have not yet started.
“I was informed by the City manager on 11 May that I was the acting ombudsman. On 16 May, he retracted the appointment telephonically,” he said.
The ANC questioned the removal of Lekalakala from the Council at previous council meetings. The party’s Joburg spokesperson, Jolidee Matongo said Lekalala’s removal was apparently due to ‘a breakdown in relations between him and the legislature’.
Matongo said that Lekalakala was still in negotiations with the City about his exit as secretary. “We don’t approve of Council starting the process of appointing a new secretary if the negotiations are not finalised,” he added.
Lekalakala believes that the current leadership perceives him to be ANC-aligned and that his removal has been planned for a long time.
The City manager Dr Ndhivho Lukhwareni has yet to respond to questions sent to him. The story will be updated once his comment is received.
Also read:Former secretary shuffled to Joburg’s ombud
Meanwhile, Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba granted an interview to 702’s Xolani Gwala, in which he accused Gumede of maladministration.
He accused Gumede of having links to the company which landed the tender to operate a call centre for the Ombudsman’s office. “The call centre [at the ombudsman’s office] is where the problem started. As soon as we started investigations, the [call centre] company disappeared,” added Mashaba.
Gumede reacted to the interview and claimed he had not been involved in the process that granted the tender.
According to The Citizen, Gumede accused Mashaba of orchestrating a campaign to discredit him and ‘destroy the [Ombudsman’s] office’. He said he was filing an urgent application with the Labour Court to set aside his suspension.
When Gwala asked the mayor whether the moves are causing instability, Mashaba said that they are getting rid of everyone who wants to sabotage the new administration and those who are involved in serious cases of corruption.
