City council accused of failing to act on misconduct

Claims of financial mismanagement in eThekwini Municipality

- THAMI MAGUBANE

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 Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, 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.