Enterprise iLembe pursues justice against former CEO and COO

Two criminal cases have been opened against former Enterprise iLembe senior officials and a service provider after irregularities in two projects were discovered, but more than a year later no arrests have been made.

The former CEO, Nathi Nkomzwayo, was asked by the board to step down and chief operating officer Thuthu Ngcobo resigned in the wake of “possible maladministration” in November 2020.

After their exit, the board ordered a full forensic investigation into Enterprise iLembe operations.

In January 2021 a new board was appointed to run Enterprise iLembe, the development arm of the iLembe District Municipality.

At the time newly elected board chairperson, Xolani Gumede, said the initial findings necessitated a continuation of the investigation.

Speaking to the Courier, Enterprise iLembe’s new CEO, Linda Mncube (as of October last year), confirmed that the forensic investigation had been completed last May and had been presented to the board and shareholders before being handed over to the police for their own investigation.

According to a reliable source both cases were opened against both Nkomzwayo and Ngcobo.

The Courier is in possession of the case numbers and requested Saps confirmation of the identities of the accused.

Saps had not responded at the time of publication.

The cases had been opened at different times as the investigation progressed, the first in December 2020 and the second in May 2021.

“We cannot share full details as the investigation is still under way from the Saps side,” said Mncube.

However, Mncube was able to confirm that “suspicions of maladministration” had been found in two of their projects, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA) projects.

The national R7.9-billion UIF project was launched in 2019 by the minister of the presidency responsible for planning, monitoring and evaluation, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and minister of labour Mildred Oliphant at Sugar Rush Park after the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the Compensation Fund (CF) partnered with 32 state-owned training institutions to train about 160 000 students, with the aim of creating jobs and entrepreneurs in KwaZulu-Natal.

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However, the project did not run as smoothly as hoped and protests soon followed in KwaDukuza and Ballito with students claiming they had not been paid their stipend.

Mncube also revealed that as part of Enterprise iLembe’s financial recovery they froze some positions.

Ngcobo’s position was dissolved and duties were split among the executives.

Both Ngcobo and Nkomzwayo said they were not aware of any cases against them.

Ngcobo said she resigned for personal reasons, while Nkomzwayo said the then board terminated his contract prior to the forensic investigation.

“I have no knowledge of a case opened against me. Since I left Enterprise iLembe I have not been contacted by anyone from that organisation to answer to any form of irregularity,” said Nkomzwayo.

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