Public Protector called to probe eThekwini Municipality lease deal

Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane has been asked to probe a R54 million lease deal between the eThekwini Municipality and a property company to house hundreds of city employees for three years. Sharon Hoosen, a DA eThekwini councillor on Tuesday said she had asked Mkhwebane to look into the deal by the municipality and Delta Properties to lease space at the Embassy Building which they believe is almost double the advertised rental rate per square metre. Sharon Hoosen, a DA eThekwini councillor on Tuesday said she had asked Mkhwebane to look into the deal by the municipality and Delta Properties to lease space at the Embassy Building which they believe is almost double the advertised rental rate per square metre.

According to the DA, the Embassy Building usually rents for R69/sqm but the eThekwini Municipality has agreed to payR109/sqm over the next three years. The eThekwini Municipality has denied that it was paying R209/sqm saying that it had agreed to pay R95/sqm. The municipality was recently forced to look for office space for hundreds of city workers after the Department of Labour had condemned the city owned 75 Dr Langalibalele Dube Street building for structural defects and other transgressions. The city is refurbishing the Langalibalele Dube Street building at a cost of R40.8m. A report compiled by Krish Kumar, deputy city manager in Treasury, revealed that there was enough council-owned space in the city centre to relocate staff from the Langalibalele Dube without the extra cost.

Hoosen asked the Public Protector to probe whether the city had recklessly spent public money on an "unnecessary three-year lease"; the inflated rental cost per square metre and who stood to benefit; what role the Mayor had in the lease deal and whether or not proper transparent and open procurement processes were followed. Mthunzi Gumede, spokesman for Mayor Zandile Gumede said the allegations by the DA was baseless and amounted to rumour mongering. "Even worse, this discredited party is even lying about the amount of money that the city is going to be paying towards the lease just to stay on the news.  In its statement the party claims that the city will be paying R109/sqm which is a total lie because we are paying R95. Upon our interaction with the service provider, they've denied charging R69/sqm," Gumede said.

"It is unfortunate that councillors of the DA has dragged the name of the mayor just to score high performance bonuses which their party pays for writing and updating social media. The mayor or any other councillor, doesn't sign deals because the legislation doesn't allow such. The statement by the DA is part of its attention seeking games and are trying to detract focus from WEF Africa to their political gimmicks. The DA is jealous that our city, led by the ANC, is hosting WEF Africa and the fact that mayor will be presenting the city as a viable destination for investments, and indicating the sound governance and financial standing of the municipality. The mayor will get an opportunity to address thousands of business executives. Its a great opportunity to sell Durban as an investment destination to an audience of business executives and Heads Of States," he said.