The Mercury
It was alleged in the Manase report that the citys chief whip, Stanley Xulu, executive committee member Nondumiso Cele and eight other councillors had done business with the municipality in contravention of municipal laws.
Durban – While top ANC members and two councillors were given a slap on the wrist for doing business with the city, errant city officials were handed final written warnings or dismissed.
It was alleged in the Manase report that the city’s chief whip, Stanley Xulu, executive committee member Nondumiso Cele and eight other councillors had done business with the municipality in contravention of municipal laws.
The report said that about 38 municipal employees were also identified by the auditor-general for doing business with the city and did not disclose their business interests.
A further eight were identified by the municipal ombudsman.
The errant employees included 10 from the parks department, seven from the housing unit, six Durban Solid Waste workers and nine metro police officers.
Municipal laws are clear that no councillor or official may be a party to or beneficiary under a contract for the provision of goods or services to any municipality.
The councillors were dealt with by the ethics committee and only Xulu, Cele and councillors Senzagakhona Shange and Phumzile Hlengwa were found to have flouted the law. The others were given the contracts before they had become councillors.
The four errant councillors all told Manase investigators that they had believed that if they had declared business interests, they would still have been allowed to trade with the city.
Xulu also admitted that he continued to trade with the municipality despite having been “cautioned” by the former city manager Michael Sutcliffe in 2009. Cele said she resigned from her company in 2010.
Xulu was fined an effective 18 months’ salary and was given a written warning for trading. His companies landed contracts worth about R1.7m.
Cele was given a written warning and fined two weeks’ salary after her company was given two contracts totalling R332 000.
Shange was given a written warning for doing work worth more than R500 000. He was also fined four weeks’ net salary. Hlengwa, who also pleaded guilty to doing business worth about R370 000, was fined the equivalent of six weeks’ salary.
In contrast, by November 2011 all employees had been disciplined, which resulted in the contract of one official being terminated, six were dismissed and 35 officials were given final written warnings.
The disciplinary process involving two other officials was rescheduled, one official resigned and another died.
However, the Manase investigators said they discovered 123 employees who were also trading with the city and recommended that similar action be taken against them.
Last month, the Co-operative Governance Department said the 123 officials had been given final written warnings.
DA councillor Dean Macpherson, who sits on the ethics committee, said double standards were constantly being applied in the municipality when dealing with disciplinary processes.
“If you are an ANC politician, it’s okay to flout rules and ignore processes – but if you are an official, a different set of standards apply.
“In my opinion, whether you are an official or politician, if you are caught in the wrong, you should be removed,” he said.
The Mercury
