Lebogang Maile, Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements, Urban Planning and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) will take steps against the Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) after damning findings of maladministration, fraud, corruption and malpractice were made.
A media statement issued by Castro Ngobese, spokesperson of the MEC read, “The findings by Adv Mokhare SC are extremely damaging to the credibility of both the municipal council and the entire management of the municipality. The fact that the municipal council and the Executive Mayor failed to deal with irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure including allegations of corruption and maladministration against the municipal manager is an indictment to the entire leadership of the municipality.”
In the same statement, the MEC added, “Payment/ payments of millions of rands to a service provider for doing nothing, appointment of an illegal immigrant and paying him a salary and leave days without rendering services to the municipality amongst other corrupt activities are beyond comprehension. It is inexcusable by any standard that the municipality failed to present the MPAC Report before council for deliberations and decision-making for the past four years. Clearly, the municipality dismally failed to execute its executive and statutory obligations in terms of the constitution and applicable legislation.”
The findings came after an investigation was ordered by the office of the MEC against the municipal manager late last year.
“We received a number of allegations of impropriety levelled against the municipal manager, the executive mayor and RWCLM.”
These allegations were investigated:
1. That the municipal manager is under investigation by the Hawks for corruption and mismanagement and if so, did the MM fraudulently claim that criminal charges against him have been withdrawn
2. That the municipal manager mismanaged an amount of R1,5 billion in the 2018/ 19 financial year
3. That the municipal manager appointed an illegal immigrant without a proper work permit
4. That the municipal manager irregularly appointed a company for an amount of R500 million to lease yellow fleet
5.That the municipal manager irregularly appointed a company for debt collections
6. That the municipal manager is not filling vacant positions in order to appoint ‘his companies’
7. That officials in political offices were appointed as managers without the required minimum relevant qualifications
8.That the Executive Mayor appointed someone as Chief Financial Officer, the number two candidate, overlooking the recommenced candidate
9. That the appointed CFO is a relative of the Executive Mayor
10. That the manager: MPAC is conflicted in his role because he is the husband to the Executive Mayor
“We viewed the allegations in a very serious light with far-reaching ramifications on both the integrity and governance of the municipality. The MEC, as the responsible executive authority for local government in the province, therefore deemed it appropriate to afford the Executive Mayor with an opportunity, in accordance with the audi alteram partem principles (rules of natural justice), to provide him with a comprehensive response to all the allegations,” the statement said.
It went on to say, “The Executive Mayor, in a letter dated 30 October 2020, submitted the said responses. The MEC, after carefully considering the Executive Mayor’s response, held the view that it was necessary to designate an independent person to objectively investigate all the allegations of maladministration, fraud, corruption and serious malpractice levelled against the municipal manager, the Executive Mayor and the municipality.
“To that end, the MEC, in accordance with his powers vested under section 106(1)(b) of the Systems Act, duly instructed the Office of the State Attorney to appoint a Senior Advocate to conduct an investigation into all the allegations levelled against the municipal manager, the Executive Mayor and the municipality. The State Attorney accordingly briefed Adv William Mokhare SC, who was assisted by two Junior Counsels.
Adv Mokhare SC has now completed the investigation and made the following findings which, for the sake of completeness, are set out below in full:
1. The municipal manager committed gross misconduct by fraudulently claiming that the criminal investigation by the DPCI (Hawks) against him on allegations of corruption and mismanagement of municipal finances has been withdrawn when he knew or reasonably ought to have known that it was false;
2. The municipal manager has mismanaged the finances of the municipality to the tune of approximately R1,5 billion during his tenure as municipal manager from July 2017 when he was appointed to date, in that during this subsequent financial years, viz 2017/18; 2018/19 and 2019/20 Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful expenditure ballooned to over R1,5 billion, arising from irregular appointment of service providers, late payment or non-payment of service providers thus attracting interest running into millions of rands, fraudulent appointment of service providers and fraudulent payment of service providers. (It should be noted that the municipal manager did not steal R1,5 billion but his mismanagement of the finances refers to his failure, as the accounting officer, to observe and comply with the applicable financial management legislation such as the MFMA, when dealing with the finances of the municipality);
3.The municipal manager did not appoint a Zimbabwean illegal immigrant in the municipality because the person was already an employee of the municipality when the municipal manager was appointed. However, the municipal manager irregularly authorised the payment of salary to the person in September and October 2020 when the person rendered no services to the municipality due to his detention and deportation by the Department of Home Affairs. The municipal manager has thus committed gross misconduct;
4. The municipal manager did not appoint a company for the supply of yellow fleet because that tender followed the normal procurement processes. However, the municipal manager irregularly appointed the company for the supply of commercial vehicles contract because the company submitted fraudulent documentation in obtaining the tender. However, the contract was cancelled at the behest of council and no expenditure was incurred;
5. The municipal manager irregularly appointed Transaction Capital Recoveries, formally MBD, to provide debt collection services for the municipality;
6. There is no evidence that the municipal manager deliberately is not filling vacant posts in order to benefit companies. However, the slow pace of filling vacancies is a cause for concern;
7. There is no evidence that two big name employees do not have the requisite qualifications for the positions they occupy. They have the necessary qualifications. One person did not have the requisite qualification when he was appointed in 2007. However, he had the necessary experience and performed well in his job and during the interview. The time lapse is inordinate to impugn his appointment and he has since been placed in another position in the municipality;
8. The Executive Mayor did not appoint Ms Nora Lion. She was appointed by the council. However, the recommendation of the Execute Mayor to Council that Ms Lion be appointed despite being the second ranked candidate was justified in the light of the undisputed fact that there was only one female in senior management out of a total of ten senior management positions;
9. No credible evidence was found that Ms Lion and the Executive Mayor are related to each other and nobody came forward to substantiate the allegations. The investigation therefore accepted Ms Lion and the Executive Mayor’s denials that they are not related;
10. There is no conflict of interest in Mr Mahuma occupying the position of Manager MPAC when his wife, Ms Brenda Mahuma is the Executive Mayor;
11 .The Speaker of Council has improperly interfered with the submission of MPAC report to Council for consideration by refusing to allow the Chairperson of MPAC to present the report despite the pressing need for Council to dispose of it due to its critical importance to the UIFW incurred by the Municipality. The Speaker must be held accountable through the invocation of the Councillors Code of Conduct for subverting Council’s work;
12. The Speaker should permit the Chairperson of MPAC to table the report to Council for discussion and adoption as a matter of priority;
13. Council should be held accountable for failing to hold the Municipal Manager to account for the UIFW which has accumulated astronomically over a period of four years under his watch;
14.The Municipal Council has become significantly dysfunctional and unable to perform its executive and statutory obligations;
15.The Municipality has fraudulently awarded a tender for the removal of 241 containers from the Mohlakeng sports ground to a politically connected company, Aredireng and the owner of the company, Mr OJ Tsabone, and paid the company R1,7 million for the work not done
In the same statement, Adv Mokhare SC made the following recommendations:
1. Council should immediately and urgently take steps to commence the process of suspending the Municipal Manager from office, pending an investigation on his gross misconduct or pending the disciplinary inquiry to be instituted against him; 2. Given the fact that Council has shown reluctance to do so in the past as evidenced in this report, should Council not take the necessary steps as aforesaid, the Provincial Executive should intervene in terms of section 139 and appoint an administrator who will ensure that the executive obligations of the Municipality are performed diligently and without delay; 3. Council should institute disciplinary proceedings against the Municipal Manager for gross misconduct set out in the report; 4.The Speaker should be held accountable for failing to perform her duties as Chairperson of Council and for obstructing the work of MPAC by not assisting MPAC in tabling its UIFW report to Council; 5. Council should invoke section 32 of MFMA to recover from the Municipal Manager the salary paid to Mr Katikiti for September and October 2020, as well as the leave days paid when the Municipal Manager knew at the time that the employment contract of Mr Katikiti was unlawful;
6. Council should take steps to recover from the Municipal Manager, jointly and severally with Mr Gregory Seitei, Mr Vusi Radebe and Aredireng / OJ Tsabone the sum of R1,7 million which was fraudulently paid to Aredireng/ OJ Tsabone; 7 Disciplinary steps should be taken against Mr Castro Mosina, Ms Hlengiwe Sithole, Mr Gregory Seitei and Mr Vusi Radebe; 8. Council should invoke the Code of Conduct for Councillors to investigate the role played by Cllr Ally Mosina in the Mohlakeng sports ground tender; 9. The Provincial Executive Committee should consider whether it would not be appropriate in the circumstances spelled out in the report to place the Municipality under administration with specified powers left for Council to perform.
The statement went on to say: “It is therefore our considered view that the findings embedded in the report are indeed damning even more than what was reported in the public domain.
“As a result, the Executive Council at its ordinary meeting held on 31 March 2021 accepted the outcome of the investigation and mandated the MEC to ensure that the recommendations are given effect to. To that end, the MEC dispatched the report to the municipality with a clear directive to implement the recommendations in full.
“The said directive also directs the municipality to, within fourteen (14) days of receipt of the report, provide the MEC with an action plan indicating how the recommendations will be implemented. It should be noted that the Executive Council is still seized with the recommendation pertaining to the invocation of section 139 of the Constitution. Once the Executive Council has made a determination in this regard, a formal pronouncement will be communicated accordingly.
“The MEC has further, within the spirit of the provisions of section 106(4)(b) of the Systems Act, requested the Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to facilitate the tabling of the Investigation Report which details the outcome of the investigation in the Provincial Legislature, and simultaneously send a copy of the report to the Minister of CoGTA, the Minister of Finance, the National Council of Provinces, the Gauteng Portfolio Committee on CoGTA, the President of the South African Local Government Association, and SALGA Gauteng.
“The EXCO have carefully considered the outcome of the investigation and are deeply disturbed by same. We trust that the municipality will now, without fail, ensure that the necessary remedial action as alluded to above is implemented accordingly,” the statement concluded.
