Melmoth - The Mthonjaneni (Melmoth) local municipality has moved to act against a former mayor who allegedly crashed a R1 million Toyota Fortuner while on a private and unauthorised trip.
Sibongiseni “SBK” Biyela allegedly crashed the vehicle on July 17, 2017 and it was written off since it was badly damaged.
According to a report of the municipality which has since been tabled to the council so that Biyela is suspended, the insurance company used by the municipality to cover its vehicles turned down a claim from the municipality.
As a result, the struggling local municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal and under the IFP incurred a loss of R739 235.93.
At the time Biyela was the mayor on the ticket of the IFP. However, he was later stripped of the mayoral chains and fired when his faction was later powered out by another one within the IFP.
During the November 2021 local government elections, Biyela joined the Academics Congress Union (ACU) and bounced back as an ordinary councillor in the same municipality.
Now the municipality wants to act against him for the offence that he allegedly committed in 2017 and no action was taken against him back then.
“In terms of item 12 of the code of conduct for councillors contained in schedule 1 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act a councillor may not use, take, acquire, or benefit from any property or asset owned, controlled or managed by the municipality to which that councillor has no right.
“The conduct of Cllr (councillor) SBK Biyela of using a municipal asset for an unofficial trip may be fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Section 32(1)(d) of the Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act states: ‘Any political officer-bearer of a municipality who deliberately or negligently made or authorised fruitless and wasteful expenditure is liable for that expenditure’,” read part of the report meant for the council on this matter.
The report said the legal costs incurred by the municipality as a result of Biyela’s actions are yet to be determined.
The report recommended that Biyela be placed on precautionary suspension. That decision will be communicated to his political party, the ACU, and the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sipho Hlomuka.
Biyela, despite reading the questions sent to him via WhatsApp, had not responded by the time this report was compiled.
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