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Cogi Pather
The eThekwini municipality’s controversial head of housing, Cogi Pather, has resigned. The Mercury can confirm that Pather tendered his resignation to municipal authorities earlier this year, but it has not been made public.
Insiders say he can still be seen in the corridors of city hall as he has not yet had the nod from his superiors to clear his desk.
The Mercury understands that Pather wanted to leave the municipality last year, but was apparently told to hold on while the council waited for the release of a damning report into the city’s finances by forensic auditors, Manase and Associates.
Following a lengthy forensic investigation, Manase found large-scale fraud, corruption and maladministration at the eThekwini municipality.
Although a full version of the report has not yet been released, an abridged version linked Pather and other top-ranking city officials for a number of transgressions.
The Mercury has battled to get in touch with Pather. However, word in the municipal corridors is that he has informed the council of his intention to leave and that his resignation letter has been handed to Derek Naidoo, the deputy city manager.
Former municipal manager Michael Sutcliffe, city treasurer Krish Kumar, Jacquie Subban, who heads the geographic information and policy unit, as well as the deputy city manager for infrastructure, Derek Naidoo, were named in the Manase report.
While most sources spoke to The Mercury on condition of anonymity, DA councillor Tex Collins yesterday confirmed that he had been informed by an “impeccable” source about Pather’s resignation. “It is unfortunate that he chose to resign, which does limit his opportunity to exonerate himself. By resigning, the perception would immediately be that he has something to hide and that may not necessarily be true.”
Collins said it was an indictment of the municipality’s present administration that eight weeks had passed since the Manase report first saw the light of day but none of the recommendations had been implemented, none of those named had been given a chance to defend themselves and that the full report was still under wraps.
Two weeks ago, The Mercury asked municipal manager S’bu Sithole if Pather had resigned and he replied: “To the best of my knowledge, he hasn’t.”
Yesterday, municipal spokesman Thabo Mofokeng said: “The last time I checked, the city manager had not received any such letter.”
The Mercury understands that none of the implicated officials, members of the municipality’s executive committee or full council have been privy to the full Manase report.
Sutcliffe has signalled his intention to take legal action and sue the municipality for about R10m for damage to his reputation and denting his prospects of finding employment.
This was after the council said he would be reported to the police, and announced that it would institute proceedings to recover R1.1m it had allegedly lost owing to his alleged failure to timeously report fraud and corruption. Last week, he declined to comment on whether there had been any further developments on the matter, saying there was a legal process under way.
Naidoo, in response to a list of questions on the Manase report, replied by e-mail saying: “I was not favoured with the report and as such I am not in a position to comment on any of the matters you raise.”
None of the others implicated could be reached for comment.
