Suspension was voted for at last Thursday’s virtual council meeting presided over by Speaker Maipato “Chu Chu Shoes” Tsokolibane – who recently in a blaspheming video boasted of her wealth and R30 000 footwear – in what participants said was an “extremely rowdy, unruly and chaotic process”.
The move – the latest in a long list of council manipulations to protect incompetent senior officials implicated in corrupt and irregular practices at ELM – has been dismissed as “factional” but has sparked a vicious social media war and intense political reaction within the governing ANC structures.
At time of publication on Tuesday this week, Municipal Manager Lucky Leseane – who only started in the job late February – had not been formally suspended in terms of due process nor had he received any formal communication relating to suspension, sources said.
Many jumped to Leseane’s defence on social media and severely criticised councillors for stopping his clean-up operations resulting from years of maladministration by his predecessor and CFO – widely known as the “Gang of Two” by insiders.
Leseane, who participated in the Zoom council meeting, declined to comment when approached this week. Mayoral Spokesperson Lebo Mofokeng and Council Spokesperson Stanley Gaba also did not respond to requests for comment.
However, organised business lashed the council vote, saying that despite being illegal, it had brought governance and anti-corruption efforts by Leseane to a grinding halt as he was to have submitted reports to council last Thursday.
Legally, council cannot suspend or discipline any ELM official, but can pass a resolution requesting the Executive Mayor to initiate appropriate processes within the Law.
Political observers told Vaalweekblad the suspension decision by council could only be regarded as illegal and thus null and void as there was no basis to initiate disciplinary steps in the first place.
The Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) dismissed the council vote as “motivated by factions” and the desire to keep details of corruption under wraps to protect patronage networks still in place from the time of former acting Municipal Manager Oupa Nkoane.
“The ELM council is very selective in its suspensions of senior officials. For example, council meetings were delayed until the very last to avoid disciplinary steps against former acting Municipal Manager Oupa Nkoane.
“The council was not interested in the maladministration that destroyed the Smart Meter Programme through the gross negligence of both Nkoane and present CFO Andile Dyakala,” said GTCoC CEO Klippies Kritzinger.
Neither Dyakala nor Nkoane were ever suspended despite the GTCoC demand for suspension and that Nkoane’s contract not be extended by council despite overwhelming evidence of complicity in irregular contracts worth hundreds of millions.
Political observers have also accused Nkoane and present CFO Andile Dyakala of directly meddling in politics by abusing their positions to conduct influence-peddling amongst especially ANC and EFF councillors.
Nkoane, who left earlier this year and Dyakala are known to have been especially active on social media groups and have attacked media and business in the past.
Both were heavily criticised for mismanagement of especially the Eskom and Rand Water bulk accounts, leading to recurring debt crises with Eskom.
Speaker Tsokolibane and the ANC Chief Whip were last year extensively ridiculed for not only delaying council meetings – in one case Tsokolibane cancelled a meeting last year due to the alleged theft of microphones – but also through attempting to remove Nkoane’s name from the highly controversial Comperio report into irregular contracts.
Tsokolibane is known to be very close politically to the EFF and has been severely criticised within the ruling ANC for her red overall sympathies.
Nkoane was deeply implicated in irregular spending but his contract was continually extended by council vote by the ANC and EFF but he left before disciplinary processes could be instituted.
