DA lays corruption charges against former eMalahleni mayor

The Democratic Alliance (DA) Premier Candidate, Jane Sithole and DA eMalahleni Caucus Leader, Naritha Naidu laid corruption charges against former eMalahleni mayor, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, for violating the provisions of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.

The charges were laid on Friday, January 11 at Witbank Police Station.

The charges were laid after the DA found evidence of Ntshalintshali increasing the salaries of the then acting municipal manager, Sizwe Mayisela and three section 56 managers without following due process.

A memo, signed by Ntshalintshali states that the increases were subsequent to Council Resolution B.001/18 taken on January 8 but this is not true as the council meeting took place on January 9 and no resolution relating to these increases was taken.

Instead, according to the minutes of the council meeting, Ntshalintshali, in her capacity as mayor of eMalahleni resolved that council merely note the increases, thereby eliminating any opportunity for discussing the issue.

According to the rules and orders of the local municipality, council may delegate certain powers to political office-bearers in terms of sections 59 and 60 of the Municipal Systems Act. These delegated powers include the determination of remuneration of senior managers.

“But there is no evidence of the eMalahleni council ever delegating Ntshalintshali to adjust these salaries; she took the decision by herself, completely disregarding council rules,” said Dumisile Masuku – provincial communications manager in a press release.

Further to this, minutes of the mayoral committee meeting where Ntshalintshali chose to present her decision to increase certain salaries, show that the committee recommended that this item be amended before being tabled in council, yet still, Ntshalintshali decided not to table this, but to rather increase these salaries without a council resolution.

By the time Mayisela was officially appointed as the municipal manager in June 2018, he had been earning the salary of a municipal manager for three months.

“The DA believes that Ntshalintshali’s actions are not only corrupt and fraudulent but also demonstrate her incapability to hold public office as she has failed to uphold the provisions of the Municipal Structures Act and the rules and orders of the municipality. It is clear that during her tenure as mayor, Ntshalintshali was more concerned with lining the pockets of her connected cadres than addressing the corruption that caused the collapse of eMalahleni,” said Masuku.