The Sunday Tribune reported last month that there was tension among staff at the municipality over the perceived protection of the traffic official. | Matthew Jordaan
Durban — The Endumeni (Dundee) Municipality traffic official who allegedly had his son carry out municipal duties during the lockdown has been suspended, City Manager Sthembiso Ntombela said this week.
“Yes, firstly we served him with a letter notifying him about the municipality’s intention to suspend him owing to the allegations that had been levelled against him and waited for his response. Once we were satisfied that there were no valid reasons to stop the suspension, the municipality proceeded with it,” said Ntombela.
The Sunday Tribune reported last month that there was tension among staff at the municipality over the perceived protection of the traffic official. Municipal insiders indicated that the officer’s son had become part of a team of law enforcers during operations, and despite calls for an investigation, the matter had been ignored.
“Once the investigation has been concluded, we will determine whether there is a need to institute disciplinary hearings, but the focus for now is on the investigation,” Ntombela said.
The municipality, like many others, has been battling to collect revenue, with losses on electricity owing to illegal connections running into millions of rand. With a limited revenue base, the municipality relies mainly on the provincial and national government for conditional grants in order to fund infrastructure projects.
According to municipal insiders, the incident was one of many activities that had taken place and raised questions about governance at the municipality. Ntombela said the steps taken against the traffic official would demonstrate the municipality’s commitment to ensure that staff members acted within the law.
Sunday Tribune