THE DA has come out to reveal what it calls a “web of corruption” surrounding Ekurhuleni city manager, Khaya Ngema.
The DA’s caucus leader Fortune Mahano was meant to present a speech at last week Thursday’s Germiston council meeting, but didn’t because the mayor, Mondli Gungubele, did not speak.
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The speech, which was released as a statement, details a number of “scandals” about Ngema, including his illegal reappointment as city manager and allegations of mismanagement of funds.
“The Democratic Alliance is in possession of a bundle of documents on the city manager’s conduct which constitutes a litany of very serious allegations. All I can say is that it is no surprise at all that the president himself described Ekurhuleni as the most corrupt municipality in Gauteng in parliament about two years ago – I have no doubt it still is,” Mahano stated.
According to Mahano, the documents were submitted to speaker of council Patricia Khumalo, as well as to finance minister Nhlanhla Nene on April 28 this year, implicating the Ekurhuleni ANC at the highest level in allegations of of irregular spending amounting to billions of rands, as well as political patronage, subterfuge and gross intimidation.
Mahano then proceeded to summarise what the ANC “stands accused of”, amongst other things, covered in the submitted documents:
1.Obstructing the public protector’s investigation into unlawful expenditures following the failure to honour National Treasury findings in 2012 that led to the investigation, leading to the public protector resolving to subpoena the municipality;
2. Irregular expenditure to the value of an estimated amount of at least R15-billion of public money caused by Ngema’s conduct in managing the financial affairs of the municipality negligently, including the infamous tenders for the institutional review and new water meters, which matters have seemingly stalled in the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC), the local equivalent to SCOPA;
3. The illegal appointment of Ngema as city manager which was made possible by machinations of the head of human resources and the head of legal services who sought a legal opinion from an undisclosed source against a standing legal advice of SALGA.
“Over and above the questions that the DA has and will be asking the national minister for finance, the minister of COGTA and the Auditor General’s office, we will be watching the developments in the investigation invited by the minister of finance, as the legislation demands that he must cause the terms of reference of such investigation to be finalised within seven days and the investigation to be completed within 30 days,” Mahano confirmed.
In the meantime, the DA said it would call upon the minister of finance to “distance” himself from media statements issued by the “municipality’s spin doctor, Mandlakaza Mphalwa-Sigcawu, to a newspaper on May 6, 2014, claiming that the National Treasury had regularised the R819-million irregular expenditure by Ngema. This is simply not true and I can prove it,” Mahano said.
“These allegations are alarming to say the least. I must emphasise that the DA does not make a habit of reacting to rumour-mongering or destructive, bitter ex-employees. That is not the case here. Here we have serious allegations, backed up by evidence. Be informed that the DA will not be leaving this matter alone, but will be seeing to it that it reaches its rightful conclusion.”
