Premier Zamani Saul. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Masi Losi)
Hiring the mayor’s wife and the municipal manager’s son are only some of the issues raised in a wide-ranging investigation into the Umsobomvu local municipality.
It’s been months and neither the Umsobomvu local municipality’s municipal manager, mayor, nor Premier Zamani Saul have acted on the recommendations, even after the co-operative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs MEC Bentley Vass requested an urgent council meeting.
On 30 March, Vass sent a letter to the municipality’s mayor, Mzwandile Toto, who was directed to convene an “urgent special council meeting” to table the investigative report on 1 April.
“It is imperative that all councillors and senior managers avail themselves for the meeting,” reads Vass’s letter, which the Mail & Guardian has seen.
Saul was also copied in on the letter.
Allegations of nepotism
However, Toto has not convened the meeting more than two months’ later, which has led to accusations from the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) that the mayor is covering up alleged corruption.
The allegations are that Toto is not following through with Vass’s directives because he is also implicated in egregious nepotism, through the alleged irregular hiring of his wife.
The report has also illuminated how Toto’s wife was unlawfully employed by the municipality in the same year he was elected mayor, although she possesses no relevant qualifications and deceived the municipality on her CV.
According to the report, the vacancy for a municipal housing clerk required that the applicant have a minimum of grade 12, and three years’ experience in a similar role. Two applications were received: one from the mayor’s wife and another from an applicant who had the experience and a bachelor’s degree.
Despite the mayor’s wife having only a matric qualification, the other applicant was overlooked for the position by both the municipal manager and the director of corporate services, Birtus Kapp — evidently to please the mayor.
Kapp, who said he spoke on behalf of all implicated parties, said the findings were still preliminary, because the implicated parties were not afforded an opportunity to respond to its contents.
“It would be improper to respond to the media on any of the findings, as the findings in the report are still preliminary and the findings can change drastically if all responses have been evaluated. Once the responses have been evaluated by the MEC [Bentley], a final report will be issued after which the final report will be submitted to council,” Kapp said.
“Council already resolved to appoint a multi-party committee, consisting of councillors, to advise council on remedial measures to be implemented when the final report is received.
“Allegations of maladministration are denied and I make this statement on behalf of myself and other employees who have received similar invitations to respond to your questions.
“Please note that no other employee to whom you have sent a request will respond individually,” he added.
Meanwhile, in her application for the housing clerk vacancy, Mrs Toto allegedly lied that she had been acting in that position for some time and used that as motivation for her to be appointed.
The report specifies that Mrs Toto was employed in November 2016 on an annual salary scale of R127 022 to R142 840.
In less than a month, the director of corporate services, Kapp, wrote to the chief clerk of expenditure, instructing that her salary be adjusted to R166 550, an increase of more than R15 000, indicating that it was beneficial for her to be placed on that level.
“The municipality could not produce documentary evidence or a written report of her appointment,” the report stated.
In another account of alleged nepotism, the report found that the municipal manager, Amos Mpela, also secured his son a cushy, artisan mechanic job in 2019; a post that had been vacant since 1994 and had an annual salary of up to R407 244.
Mpela’s son, Andile, was allegedly contacted telephonically for the job interview, after the municipal manager had secured his son’s name on the shortlist.
The report details how Andile’s appointment letter was signed by his father, with earnings in the salary bracket of R313 740 to R407 244 a year.
In its findings, the draft report stated that Andile’s appointment is “unlawful due to conflict of interest and failure to follow the municipality’s recruitment policy”.
Mayor adjusts salaries without council knowledge
In another of its investigations into the municipality, the report found that the mayor colluded with Mpela to adjust the municipal manager’s salary by a whopping R85 342 without council knowledge.
Mpela was found ineligible for the position of municipal manager, because his highest qualification is a diploma in business management obtained from Damelin.
“However, the actual salary paid to Mpela for the period of 2017 to June 2018 exceeds the amount of upper limit published in The Gazette notice,” the report states.
Jobs for pals
In another investigation, the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs found that a post of chief operating officer was created for Mpela and Toto’s friend Dionne Visagie after his contract as chief financial officer expired. Paying a cushy R700 000 a year, the investigators said this position is a duplicate of the chief financial officer’s.
Visagie could not reapply for the position of chief financial officer, because he did not have the requisite qualification. “Hence, this position was created to retain him at the municipality,” the report stated.
It adds that Mpela alone was in charge of the shortlisting of viable candidates, and identified the candidates that should be called for interviews.
The interview panel was constituted by Mpela and Kapp. The investigators found that the chief operating officer position has negative financial implications for the municipality.
Inaction: (clockwise from top left) Allegations claim a post was made for Dionne Visagie, a friend of municipal manager Amos Mpela, who authorised his own son’s employment, and that mayor Mzwandile Toto’s wife was hired.
HR department run by municipal manager
Another shocking finding by investigators detailed how the human resources department in the municipality has relinquished its powers to Mpela.
Senior management does not take ownership of delegated powers, resulting in Mpela taking decisions in recruitment, even of lower level staff, the report stated.
“Officials have a tendency of accepting salary offers as advertised only to challenge [them] once they have been appointed, resulting in upward adjustment [of] salary packages without following proper processes such as job evaluation,” it said.
One telling example was that of a housing officer whose monthly salary suspiciously increased from R10 777 in October 2016 to R25 150 the very next month.
“The office of the mayor is seen as an enabler [of] providing business to companies related to the employees of the municipality, particularly the office of the mayor,” the report found.
Payroll clerk pockets millions unabated
The report also unearthed an apparent free for all, with the municipal payroll being compromised to the value of R2.5-million through the alleged creation of fictitious transactions.
This was allegedly perpetrated by a former payroll clerk, Sivuyile Stali, who allegedly committed gross fraud by manipulating the payment system.
An example, according to the report, was in January 2019, when Stali fraudulently transferred R10 737 for standby allowance and overtime to a colleague. The colleague was not entitled to overtime benefits.
“This was the culture of how things were done,” an accounting officer told investigators who uncovered, among other infringements, that Stali has increased his salary and bonus for five years, as well as adding fraudulent travel allowances to his account.
Investigators found that segregation of duties to control financial misconduct in the municipality was “compromised”.
(John McCann/M&G)Free for all
Even the purchase of two tipper trucks for the service-delivery purposes, the report found, was allegedly corrupt. Mpela allegedly split the procurement of the second-hand trucks, valued at R103 000 and R488 000, in contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
The act states that all procurement of more than R200 000 should go out to tender.
“The municipality did not have a procurement plan for goods and services above the rand value of R200 000. The accounting officer [Mpela] deliberately split procurement of trucks into parts, merely for the sake of procuring the goods other than through competitive bidding,” reads the report.
In a statement welcoming the recommendation for an investigation and disciplinary proceedings be implemented against implicated parties, Samwu regional secretary Peter Damas said the provincial government must immediately place the Umsobomvu local municipality under administration, adding that charges must be laid against Kapp and Mpela. Samwu is also calling for the immediate suspension of the mayor.
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