EThekwini MPAC chairperson Thami Xuma inspecting the City's abandoned tar palnt. He now accuses the City Manager Musa Mbhele of undermining his work. Photo supplied
Durban — EThekwini’s Municipal Public Accounts Committee (Mpac) chairperson Thami Xuma has appealed to mayor Mxolisi Kaunda to intervene in an impasse between him and city manager Musa Mbhele, following Mbhele’s withholding of corruption reports.
Xuma has accused Mbhele of sabotaging his work by preventing him from accessing reports which has hindered his office from doing its oversight work on the spending of taxpayers’ money by the city.
The frustrated Xuma told the Daily News on Thursday that he had written three letters to the city manager, who had been ignoring him, adding that he has now written to the mayor for an intervention. Xuma said as a norm any investigation reports which had been undertaken by the Integrity and Investigation Unit were given to him alongside the city manager’s office, but now officials had told him to go and ask for those reports. He said he had been reliably informed that the city manager had instructed officials not to give reports to the Mpac.
“I do not understand what it is that I must not see in those reports,” said Xuma.
He said Mbhele’s office was withholding managers’ performance review report, the Expanded Public Works Programme report which found that there were ghost employees, as well as the report on Durban International Convention Centre on allegations that the city had signed a memorandum of understanding with the ICC management to bear the costs of the KZN ANC Womens’ League conference.
Xuma said as part of his work he must have been given the reports for processing before they were tabled to the council meeting. He said if the mayor did not help, he would have to write to the council and report both the mayor and Mbhele.
The reports have been a bone of contention between the opposition and the mayor. The opposition, especially ActionSA, has been a thorn in the flesh of Kaunda, accusing him of running the city down.
Municipal spokesperson Gugu Sisilana referred the paper to the mayor’s spokesperson, Mluleki Mntungwa, who said he was not aware of such a request.
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