High-flying city manager of Durban’s eThekwini Metro Dr Michael Sutcliffe appears unduly concerned about finding who is blowing the whistle on controversial council contracts.
The M&G has been told that Sutcliffe has instructed the city’s ombudsman to conduct an investigation, including the use of lie-detector tests, to find out who might have been leaking details of an aborted office rental deal he once championed.
The move — dubbed a “witch-hunt” by one critic — has highlighted the controversial powers delegated to Sutcliffe by the ANC-controlled council.
In June last year the Mail & Guardian revealed a plan by council to conclude a lucrative 10-year rental agreement with a mysterious entity, the Yorker Trust, whose hidden beneficiaries were rumoured to be close to Durban ANC interests.
At the time Sutcliffe denied he had pulled back from the deal only once details had begun to leak out and insisted that he had taken this decision simply in the interests of “good governance”.
However, shortly afterwards, the powerful city manager called in the National Intelligence Agency to help plug suspected leaks: “Some members of staff may well be providing information to outsiders and those with vested interests who aim to subvert municipal policies,” Sutcliffe confirmed at the time.
Now new evidence has emerged to suggest he went even further, requesting municipal ombudsman Nerusha Naidoo to investigate urgently possible leaks from the city’s real-estate department, including, if necessary, subjecting each person who dealt with the office rental files to a lie-detector test.
It is understood that Sutcliffe was particularly concerned to discover what contacts they may have had with Democratic Alliance representatives councillor Peter Corbett and Metro executive committee member Lyn Ploos van Amstel.
The role of an ombudsman is not generally seen as compatible with executive functions such as staff discipline. Naidoo is also engaged in another investigation of the aborted rental deal itself, including Sutcliffe’s role in the process, which was initiated in July last year after a complaint by Corbett.
In his complaint Corbett asked the ombudsman to investigate whether “certain ANC officials or functionaries involved themselves incorrectly” in promoting the project.
Since then, suspicions about the possible motivation of the rental deal have not been dispelled by the emergence of the identity of the company that was to have been a 51% beneficiary of the mysterious Yorker Trust.
The M&G has established that this company, Halo Trading, is controlled by two people, Shadrack Dladla and Lawrence Mazibuko, whose other company, KwaZulu Natal Security Services, has previously been linked to the ANC.
According to a 1999 M&G report, KZN Security was one of two companies nominated by senior ANC figures to assist in providing security personnel to Xanana Gusmao during the precarious peace process that led to East Timorese independence. Both Dladla and the ANC later denied the involvement of the party.
Mazibuko is a former member of the police VIP protection unit and is understood to have served at one time as a bodyguard to Jacob Zuma. KZN Security and its associated companies have also secured major contracts with the Metro.
Dladla said this week there was absolutely no link between the proposed property deal and the ANC and he had never discussed the transaction with ANC officials.
Corbett told the M&G he was dissatisfied with the delay in the ombudsman’s investigation and said he intended to petition the provincial minister for local government to appoint a commission of inquiry.
However, the Yorker Trust deal is just one of a number of tendering controversies that have emerged since the appointment of Sutcliffe, described by opposition parties as the de facto executive mayor of the city.
A key concern was the decision by council last year to grant the city manager wide powers to renegotiate tenders after the formal bidding process is complete.
The M&G’s story last year mentioned that this was done contrary to legal advice. Sutcliffe denied then that he had been given such advice, describing the claim as “a complete fabrication”. However, the M&G has seen a copy of a letter, dated March 12 2003, from the council’s acting head of legal services to Themba Shezi, head of procurement.
Responding to a proposal that the city manager be authorised to “evaluate all tenders beyond the points of adjudication”, the letter states: “In our view, such a proposal would be in direct contravention of section 217(1) of the Constitution, in terms of which the Municipality is required to contract for goods or services in accordance with a system that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost effective. In our view the adjudication process would cease to be transparent the minute the city manager enters into private negotiations with selected tenderers.”
Just days later, the ANC pushed through a motion confirming the granting of such powers. The council’s legal opinion was not disclosed.
Detailed written questions on this story were provided to the eThekwini Metro last Wednesday. In the absence of Sutcliffe, who was out of the country, deputy city manager Krish Kumar agreed to field them. However, no response was forthcoming. Another deadline provided to Sutcliffe following his return to work on Monday also passed without response from the Metro.