The resurfacing of allegations of corruption against eThekwini Metro municipal manager Musa Mbhele have laid bare the “war” raging between the City’s senior staff that’s pitted Mbhele against some of his deputy City managers (DCM).
An affidavit filed by former head of the City’s Investigations and Integrity Unit (CIIU) Mbuso Ngcobo has surfaced, detailing what it described as a general corrupt relationship between Mbhele, another City employee and a service provider.
The allegations date back to when Mbhele held a different post in the metro.
Sources in the City said high-level City officials were involved in bruising battles, going after each other or supporters of each other with suspensions – and the affidavit is part of that fight.
The revelations about the tensions between management staff come as the business community accuses City officials of failing to do their jobs.
“The Mercury” reported on Tuesday that Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Palesa Phili had warned that the lack of visible change in eThekwini is because officials were failing to perform their duties.
Phili warned that despite interventions, eThekwini was still struggling to overcome its challenges.
At the centre of the allegations contained in Ngcobo’s affidavit is that a City employee alleged that he and Mbhele developed a generally corrupt relationship with a service provider, including an understanding where they would get kickbacks from the service provider who had been awarded work by the City.
It claims that the City officials have given money to Mbhele.
Mbhele, who was renovating his home at the time, claimed that the money was a loan for un-budgeted expenses incurred as part of the renovations.
In his affidavit, Ngcobo, who has since left the City, states that the investigators had failed to do a deep dive into Mbhele’s finances because he had not given them his bank record as requested but only gave them seven pages. He called for a more detailed investigation.
One official, who is siding with Mbhele, said the City manager was under siege from some of his DCM’s who face allegations of wrongdoing. He said that old reports are rehashed to malign him and business people who had unsuccessfully sought to tender for work in the city are working with politicians to undermine him.
“How do you explain the fact that these allegations have resurfaced despite Mbhele having been cleared by two investigations. One even found that the primary source of the allegations, the official who alleged a corrupt relationship between himself, Mbhele and the supplier, was found to be unreliable.
“The DCM’s want him gone because they have been involved in wrongdoing and he is supposed to charge them.
There are politicians who claim he is not releasing funds, and there are aggrieved business people that wanted to get work from the City but failed and want him to be charged and pushed out.
“The situation is bad. Some of his DCMs are implicated in fruitless and wasteful expenditure that has cost the municipality upwards of R15 million.
They want him gone so the cases against them can disappear, that’s what is happening there,” said the official.
Another source, who is opposed to Mbhele, said the City manager was busy clearing the deck.
“There are many people that he has suspended or is planning to toss out of the municipality on spurious charges. Some of those people are pushing back and targeting the people that report to them, that are favoured by him, for retaliation.”
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana dismissed any suggestion of tension between senior managers.
“The municipality will not comment on corridor gossip and hearsay based on insinuations which are not backed by facts. The City manager’s main priority with his senior management collective, which includes deputy City managers, is accelerating service delivery in all corners of the municipality, driving programmes geared towards advancing economic development and attracting investment.”
She dismissed any suggestion raised in the affidavit that Mbhele had not complied with the investigation into the allegations against him, saying the manager had fully complied with the investigation.
She said he had produced his bank statement, a step he took of his own volition to prove his innocence.
“It is unheard of, within the context of the municipality, for a party who is the subject of a forensic investigation to co-operate with the investigation process to the level he did – to the extent of availing his financial information to private investigators.
“He did not just provide a verbal statement regarding how the renovation of his house was undertaken, he produced the hard documentary evidence via his bank statement to prove his source of income.
“The investigating team had no legal entitlement to Mr Mbhele’s bank statement, he offered to volunteer them to substantiate his claims,” she said.
The Mercury