Plunder of eThekwini’s coffers uncovered

From municipal gravediggers to VIP guards to a department head, eThekwini employees – and their relatives – continue to plunder city coffers, raking in millions of rands in contracts awarded. And state employees in other government entities are not missing out on the gravy train either. This is the shocking revelation contained in a report before the city’s municipal public accounts committee (MPAC). The report – which The Mercury is in possession of – is titled “Conflict of interest – awards to municipal staff, employees in the service of the state (and) close family members: 2012/13-2013/14 financial year”. Its purpose was to “update the MPAC of the status of conflict of interest and the internal controls implemented to ensure compliance with Supply Chain Management Regulations 44, 45 and 46 (2) (e)”.

The report paints a grim picture of the city’s continued lax internal controls despite the auditor-general’s previously raising findings about irregular expenditure between the 2009/10 and 2013/14 financial years. According to the report, seven municipal employees, two of whom were repeat offenders, benefited from about R400 000 worth of contracts (combined) awarded by the city during the 2013/14 financial year. About 20 employees benefited from R2.6 million in contracts in the previous financial year (2012/13) – of these, 10 were repeat offenders. The city awarded R3.1m in contracts to relatives and spouses of municipal employees after they “failed to disclose interest” by June 2013. The city lost a further R1.1m by June 2014. A total of 84 employees – seven repeat offenders – in other state entities secured contracts for R33.5m (during 2013/14) out of eThekwini, up from R8.1m from the previous financial year, the report said.

In December last year President Jacob Zuma signed into law the Public Administration Management Act barring public servants from doing business with the state. Failure to comply constituted serious misconduct which could result in termination of employment. Employees implicated in the report vary from junior to senior managers. Junior officials include handyman assistants, general assistants, VIP guards, a driver messenger and a communications officer whose company was awarded a R220 000 contract. Senior officials include a project executive, a station commander and a chief community liaison officer. The wife of a department head bagged a tender for R6 500. The nature of the contracts is not detailed in the report. Opposition parties in the city are seething but doubt any drastic remedial action will come of the findings. The IFP’s Mdu Nkosi levelled the blame at the provincial Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs for not acting on the findings of the infamous Manase and Ngubane investigation reports.

“These reports stated that municipal and provincial and national government employees benefited from eThekwini contracts. We’ve never seen anyone disciplined … Ratepayers’ money was wasted on the commission of the investigations.” He said officials and employees continued to “get away with murder”, caught with their hands in the till, saying the “ANC just deploys them”. Zwakele Mncwango, the DA caucus leader, was livid when approached for comment. “No one is serious about rooting out corruption in this city. You get away with just a slap on the wrist – transgressors learn nothing from a slap on the wrist. We need to mete out severe punishments – only then will people stop being corrupt,” he said. “EThekwini hasn’t set an example with corruption. If you raise these issues as opposition, you are told ‘this is not corruption, it’s just conflict of interest’. Leadership is not serious about stopping this issue.”

Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa director Paul Hoffman said: “People in public administration in South Africa think it is their turn to eat. That is an expression Julius Malema has used … It means the public money is regarded as being the piggy bank of the politically well-connected and cadres.” He added that public administration should be made more aware of the values prescribed in the Constitution. “They need to know they are there to serve the public and not to enrich themselves. It’s about bettering the lives of the public. If you want to be a rich man, you don’t go into the public service – you go into business.” Repeated efforts to get comment from the city, by telephone and e-mail, were unsuccessful at the time of publication.