Doubt: The treasury’s Malijeng Ngqaleni has said the appointment of Anele Qaba (above) as the Mandela Bay Develop-ment Agency’s chief executive has ‘raised questions’. (Facebook/Mandela Bay Development Agency)
Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) chief executive, who is in the midst of a tussle between the Nelson Mandela Bay metro (NMBM) and the treasury — which is withholding R1 billion for major construction projects — claims he left the city with a clean slate.
Anele Qaba, who parted ways with a golden handshake from the metro after a disciplinary hearing on allegations of gross financial misconduct related to supply chain management processes while he was executive director of economic development tourism and agriculture, said this week that although the treasury was entitled to ask questions, he had been cleared of all charges.
He was suspended pending the disciplinary hearing in June last year and took up the development agency post in June this year.
The treasury’s deputy director-general for intergovernmental relations, Malijeng Ngqaleni, in a letter addressed to city manager Noxolo Nqwazi, said the treasury had learned that Qaba was the recommended candidate for the position.
“The council meeting dated 21 June 2022, resolved that Mr Anele Qaba be suspended on full pay from the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality pending the finalisation of the investigation into the allegations of financial misconduct against him and any internal disciplinary enquiry,” Nqaleni wrote.
“On 28 February 2023, the city and Mr Xaba [Qaba] signed a settlement agreement which stipulated a mutual termination of Mr Xaba’s [Qaba’s] fixed term employment contract through a golden handshake equivalent to the remuneration of the remaining 16 months to which he was entitled.”
Nqaleni noted these processes “raise questions about the legality” of Qaba’s appointment and called on the city to provide reports on his suspension and the investigation; information about the grounds for the golden handshake; his formal qualifications and a council resolution for his latest appointment. He advised the city to suspend Qaba until all the information is provided.
“The city must consider the advice articulated in this letter to avoid any form of penalty as it relates to the withholding of the conditional grants allocated in terms of Division of Revenue Act,” Nqaleni said.
A memorandum from Nqwazi to mayor Gary van Niekerk highlighted the very real effect of the threatened penalty in that a grant transfer of R591 million from the treasury due on 5 July had not been paid.
“This was due to the lack of substantive actions by the NMBM in relation to the contents of national treasury’s letter pertaining to the appointment of the CEO to the entity,” Nqwazi wrote.
Nqwazi said that in addition to the R591 million, further transfers totalling R325 million were due in July.
“The non-receipt and late receipt of grant funding has a severe impact on service delivery. Projects cannot be implemented as SCM [supply chain management] processes cannot be initiated, not a single tender can go out for advertisement without the budget confirming that the funds are in NMBM’s bank account,” he wrote.
He said the late receipt of funding placed the metro “in a difficult position as it will have less time to spend grants allocated for the 2023-24 financial year which will result in unspent grants having been returned to national treasury”.
Democratic Alliance caucus leader Retief Odendaal said construction in Nelson Mandela Bay was already “grinding to a halt” because most projects dependent on grant funding cannot proceed until the impasse is resolved.
He said the treasury started withholding grant funding after Qaba’s appointment, which had led to “one of the biggest crises” the municipality had faced in recent years.
“Grant funding dependent projects such as informal settlement electrification, RDP-housing top structure construction, tarring of gravel roads, resealing of existing roads, replacing bulk water and sewerage lines, as well as many other projects are all affected,” he said.
“It is also not just the delay in construction of these projects that is a problem.
“Critical time is lost where procurement processes are concerned as these can’t proceed until funding has been confirmed.”
The metro’s spokesperson, Sithembiso Soyaya, said the municipality is in discussions with the treasury regarding the contents of its letter “with an intention to clarify and resolve the issues”.
“Once the matter is concluded we shall be in a better position to inform the public and all related parties or stakeholders. Mr Qaba was appointed by the MBDA board which is the competent, legal body and entity responsible for recruitment and selection of MBDA employees,” Soyaya said.
“The new financial year 2023-24 has just commenced and our intention, commitment and engagements with the relevant stakeholders is that no service delivery imperatives get negatively affected by the current situation, for the benefit of the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay,” he said.
Soyaya directed further questions regarding Qaba’s appointment to the development agency’s board, which said in a statement that it is legally entitled to appoint its chief executive.
“The board is satisfied that Mr Qaba met all the requirements of the job and exceeded them. It must be noted that Mr Qaba during his stint as executive director and acting city manager, was responsible for the affairs of the MBDA.
“The entity reported into the city through Mr Qaba,” the development agency said.
It said Qaba met the recruitment requirements for the job because he had a master’s in business leadership qualification at NQF 9 and a BTech degree, as well as “several international and nationally recognised qualifications and industry certifications”.
“The MBDA appointed as part of the panel, the MBDA audit committee chairperson to make sure that there were no governance gaps in the process,” the development agency said.
Responding to the concerns raised, Qaba said the treasury had the right to ask questions if allegations have been made against an incumbent. But he said his departure from the municipality had been on the basis that all the allegations against him had been cleared.
“The treasury is asking questions so they can decide if it [my appointment] is irregular. We are living in a country governed by laws and processes, so if there are allegations against yourself, you get subject to a disciplinary board and then that board finds you not guilty of any misconduct. How is it that you have ‘left under a dark cloud’?
“In terms of the disciplinary process for senior managers, if there are any allegations, whether right or wrong, they must be taken to the disciplinary board that has legal people in it, and they must do investigations and provide a report, and if the person has been found not guilty the matter is closed,” he said.
He declined to disclose the terms of his settlement with the metro.
“In terms of the settlement agreement I leave the municipality with a clean disciplinary record, there were no charges against me … which makes me eligible to apply for any position anywhere,” he said.