Durban — Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has given Umziwabantu Local Municipality 14 days to implement the recommendations of a forensic report that implicated the municipal manager and several officials in alleged corruption.
The small municipality, which encompasses rural areas under the town of Harding on the lower South Coast, has angered Dlamini Zuma for apparently trying to keep the damning report under wraps. According to opposition parties that appealed to the minister for help, the municipality received the report last month and it was not clear why it was not presented to the council.
In her letter addressed to mayor Siboniso Zungu, the minister said the report’s findings were of a serious nature and as such, the recommendations in the report must be implemented forthwith to ensure consequences as part of the fight against fraud and corruption at municipalities.
She then ordered Zungu to furnish her with a plan detailing time frames for how the council will ensure the implementation of the recommendations within 14 days “from the date of receipt of this letter”.
The 65-page report, which the Daily News has seen, directly implicated municipal manager West Gumede and other senior officials in the municipality in allegedly inflating prices in four projects, some of which date back to 2017.
The report was scathing of Gumede, who at the time was community services director, for allegedly approving additional costs in tenders for work initially included during the bidding process.
According to the report, Gumede was guilty of approving variations that were supposed to have been done by the engineer. As a result, the report found the municipality was charged for work it had already incurred costs for.
One of the report’s findings was that the municipality received a R931 410.33 quote for furniture from a supplier but awarded the tender to a construction company that charged R2.3 million.
The report found that not only was the price highly inflated but that it was irregular to give a tender to a construction company to procure furniture.
It was found that the municipality ended up paying over R10m for the Endlovini sports field, which the community has not been able to use to date because of shoddy workmanship.
The project initially cost just over R8m but there were variations that were illegally approved, which saw the municipality forking out an extra R2m.
Another finding was the additional cost of R386 000 for the payment of a flagman (stop-and-go worker) for an access road construction tender. According to the report, Gumede failed to explain the reasons for the high payment when questioned by investigators. The flagman’s daily rates usually range between R150 and R200.
The report recommended that the officials involved in irregular and wasteful expenditure face disciplinary action and criminal charges.
The municipality’s spokesperson, Bruce Jalubani confirmed that the mayor did receive the minister’s letter.
He said the municipality was already processing the report and said it would be tabled on Tuesday at a special council meeting.
Daily News