The council of the eThekwini Municipality has been accused of failing to act on allegations of financial misconduct within the City.

Integrity Forensic Solutions (IFS) CC, Next Technologies (Pty) Ltd, Fairways Golf Lodge (Pty) Ltd, and several former and current city officials have filed court papers with the Durban High Court.

They seek to overturn a decision by the eThekwini council not to investigate allegations of financial misconduct. The papers state that the allegations relate specifically to the conduct of city manager Musa Mbhele as well as other officials.

The court papers list the municipality, the eThekwini council, the executive committee, several city officials, and the MEC of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Thulasizwe Buthelezi, among the respondents.

In an affidavit, a representative of Integrity Forensic Solutions CC sets out the allegations. He alleges that city officials appointed two companies without following tender procedures, made irregular payments, and paid more than the original value of the contracts.

It is alleged that top city officials contravened Supply Chain Management (SCM) policy when they appointed forensic investigation companies and paid them close to R17 million.

The alleged irregularities with these contracts indicate that the city officials deviated from the normal supply chain process. He states that according to a 2023 Bid Adjudication Committee report, top officials deviated from normal SCM processes, citing a section of the regulations that allows for deviation under exceptional circumstances.

“The justification provided by officials, and approved by Mbhele, is that the entire forensic panel appointed in 2018 was compromised and could not be used. However, no investigation was conducted to substantiate the claim that the entire forensic panel was indeed compromised,” stated the court papers.

Furthermore, it is claimed that while the budget was R8 million, it was increased to R17.5 million. Other allegations include irregularities with payments, such as invoices that did not correspond to the contracts for this service provider.

Payments were processed under false tender references, and “Mbhele approved these payments despite the irregularities, including payments for duplicated work, claiming some of the work by these service providers had already been completed by IFS,” the court papers stated.

Another allegation is that Mbhele appointed a senior official in an acting capacity despite a warning from the City’s HR department that the appointment was non-compliant, as no valid recruitment processes had taken place. It is further alleged that the salary of this official was irregularly more than doubled, going from R91,474 to R188,342 per month.

The court papers state that some of the allegations were brought before the executive committee and full council, but both bodies did not launch an investigation into the matter. The relief sought in the application is that, “central to this application is the refusal by the respondent to investigate financial misconduct in eThekwini, which has been brought to their attention by the applicants.”

It was noted that on May 30 and June 6 this year, the executive committee decided not to investigate and prosecute complaints of financial misconduct brought to its attention by IFS and two other parties. The applicants seek, among other things, to set aside and review these decisions.

The decision of Exco was communicated to the applicants by the City’s head of legal, Malusi Mhlongo.

On August 19, the applicants delivered their complaint to the Cogta MEC, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, stating that he had also failed to act in accordance with statutory obligations. The court papers allege that the failure to act has left the municipality open to financial mismanagement and raised reasonable suspicion of embedded corruption.

“It cannot be bona fide disputed by the respondents that the eThekwini Municipality is infected by maladministration and corruption. The losses suffered by the municipality and the people of the city are described as ‘mind-boggling’.”

“At the very least, the applicants have the basic right to have their complaints investigated. We have been effectively deprived of that right by the eThekwini Municipality and by the respondents, particularly the Executive Committee. This application seeks to request those charged with investigating the applicants’ complaints to do so.”

The applicants state there can be no bona fide reasons for objecting to an investigation other than to avoid scrutiny of the impugned conduct or to provide the Cogta MEC with information that would empower him to intervene in the eThekwini Municipality under Section 139 of the Constitution.

DA exco member Thabani Mthethwa declined to comment. “Now that the matter is in court, we will allow that process to unfold and be argued in court,” he said.

ANC Exco member Nkosenhle Madlala also declined to comment, while IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said: “We have seen the court papers, but since the matter is now sub judice, it will be unethical of me to comment on it.”

The eThekwini Municipality said it was aware of the matter. “The documents were only served yesterday; the City still has time to consider its options, take advice, and make appropriate decisions.”

THE MERCURY

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