Deputy city manager for Trading Services in the eThekwini Municipality, Sibusiso Makhanya, has been suspended by the metro following accusations that he had been negligent in his duties.
It is alleged this caused the municipality to suffer R6.6million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Makhanya was suspended on Friday after a meeting of the Executive Committee. He had submitted a 10-page response to the accusations, in which he argued it would be unjust to suspend him.
He is accused of failing to provide guidance and information to defend the City against a court case lodged by a service providers over non-payment of invoices for services rendered.
The service provider had not been paid and was owed R63.5m. The City failed to defend the case, and a default judgment was issued against it. It incurred an additional R6.6m in interest and legal fees – deemed fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
“Makhanya is not the only one who is going to go, other senior managers are set to follow him,” said a source aware of the tensions within the City.
A member of the executive committee, who did not want to be named, said: “We considered his response and the submissions by city manager Musa Mbhele.
We decided to give him (DCM) an opportunity to take time off to clear his name.”
Makhanya told The Mercury: “The process is still ongoing, so I am not in a position to comment on the matter.”
In his submission to council, dated September 6, Makhanya argued Mbhele had been provided with all the information to take a decision on whether to defend the claim.
“I would like to register my displeasure ... the city manager (CM) is central to the co-ordination of this matter, since I believe he is highly conflicted. I reported the non-payment issue to the city manager before May 2023,” Makhanya said.
In his submission he explained that the service provider challenged the non-payment of the outstanding invoices through the legal services department that referred the matter to the electricity unit.
The electricity unit responded that the matter did not fall within the unit since it was not questioning whether the work was done but the correctness of the invoices. He said the finance unit should advise the legal department. Makhanya said he learnt that the service provider had not been paid because the budget had been exhausted.
“The legal department representative concluded that since the work has already been done, he does not see the basis for opposing their application in court ... ”
Makhanya also revealed that he had received a threat to his life in relation to this matter. He said he notified Mbhele and a Security Unit investigator was assigned to attend to it. “To date, nothing has transpired out of the ‘security assessments’. The city manager has not made provision for my security.”
Asked about Makhanya’s reply, municipal spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said:“Any allegations and/or responses shall not be ventilated in the court of public opinion.”
The Mercury