Tshwane city manager Moeketsi Mosola has successfully blocked a report which he deemed “unlawful” from being tabled in council yesterday.
Speaking at a briefing on Thursday afternoon, Mosola said the Labour Court in Johannesburg had granted an interdict against the speaker, mayor and the metro.
Dubbing the report as “bogus”, he said the ruling prevents the report in any form, preliminary or otherwise, to be considered as a legitimate piece of document by the council and the mayor.
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Following an attempt to have him suspended, Mosola said the mayor proceeded to go on a witch-hunt under the guise of an independent investigation.
Mosola said he wrote to the mayor, raising his concerns with the procedural flaws and lack of independence of the investigation.
“He initially responded saying he needed more time to respond but never did. I wrote again on 18 October and again, despite promising to respond, he never did.”
The embattled city manager took to court this week to urgently get an interdict against the report and its contents, which he said was unlawful. He added that he had not even seen said report, nor did the firm in question get his side of events.
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Furthermore, he said he was accused of financial misconduct and according to the MFMA, the Financial Disciplinary Board is the only mechanism that can investigate misconduct of an accounting officer and not the Municipal Systems Act.
“Council has an independent audit and performance committee (APC) which can perform such a function independently. However, the mayor chose to conduct a witch-hunt.”
He also slammed the decision to appoint the metro’s COO to take the reigns on the investigation, as he was also involved in the appointment of Glad Africa and responsible for signing the majority of task orders for the implementation of the contract.
“Therefore, he cannot be independent.
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“I was in court to protect my rights, since the city has failed to respond to my genuine and serious concerns.”
He said they (DA) were after him for suspending and subsequently firing Marietha Aucamp, which embarrassed the DA.
In response, Msimanga said when the matter was heard in the Labour Court, they would make arguments as to why the preliminary report into alleged tender irregularities should be considered by council.
“We maintain that the Labour Court indeed has no jurisdiction over this matter, because the investigation currently underway relates to tender irregularities and not the relationship between employer and employee.”
Msimanga added that one had to wonder why there was so much nervousness around a report that had not even been circulated for consideration.
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