Mayor of Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, Sonwabile Mngenela. (matatiele.gov.za)
The mayor of Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, Sonwabile Mngenela used municipality resources to attend the province’s ANC conference in East London in May, documents show.
The Mail & Guardian obtained documents showing that the Matatiele municipality spent R13 914 to cover accommodation and travel costs for Mngenela, his driver and councillor Nomaroma Ludidi-Ndabane.
These costs were authorised for a bilateral meeting Mngenela was meant to attend with the National Association of People Living with HIV & Aids (NAPWA) — also in East London — from May 5 to May 8. But he did not show up, officials from the association said.
NAPWA provincial manager Nonstikelelo Gcwabe said, “We called Mr Mngenela to tell him we had concluded the meeting and if ever he is free he can come to and he responded on Whatsapp saying he was still held up at another meeting, which wasn’t the one he was meant to attend.
“He asked for us to wait for him then when he was done he would tell us. We sat and sat until I got tired at around six o’clock and left. There was no meeting. We even set up a virtual meeting that was going to be on Monday and he asked us to make the meeting after hours because he’s busy in the afternoon. We made the link but we failed to get a hold of him.”
She said she had received word from someone at the Eastern Cape ANC conference that the mayor was there.
Asked whether the mayor had attended the conference, which took place from 5 to 9 May, the municipality’s spokesperson, Luncedo Walaza, responded in a WhatsApp, “On the dates in question, the mayor was attending a bilateral meeting between the National Association of People Living with HIV & Aids (NAPWA) to discuss the Matatiele local municipality HIV/Aids catch up- plan.”
When asked who the mayor had met at NAPWA, Walaza responded, “As per the signed official trip authority that we have as the municipality and authorised by responsible official, as per the delegation framework the mayor was approved to attend the aforementioned meeting as per the invitation.”
Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor in the Matatiele municipality Wonga Potwana said he was aware of the incident.
“As the DA we have managed to get a paper trail that shows the theft of R13 000 by means of false booking. I will table this information in council as an urgent matter then once everything is in order we will open a case of theft in Matatiele police station,” he said.
“It is a disgrace for a person who earns more than R70 000 a month but fails to budget and book himself. We will make sure that the law takes its course and we will put a vote of no confidence to this delinquent mayor.”
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