UGU municipal manager Dhanpalan Naidoo had been on suspension for a few months, following an investigation by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs into the affairs of the municipality. Ugu municipal manager Dhanpalan Naidoo. Picture: Ugu Municipality.
DURBAN - UGU District Municipality has parted ways with its municipal manager Dhanpalan Naidoo.
At the weekend, the municipality announced that it had concluded the disciplinary proceedings against Naidoo.
Naidoo had been on suspension for a few months, following an investigation by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs into the affairs of the municipality.
The report had investigated numerous allegations against Naidoo, one of them being was that he had gave municipal contracts to relatives.
Naidoo had disputed all the allegations.
Last year, he told The Mercury that he was accused of fraud and corruption, among other things.
“The first accusation is that I have a son-in-law who owns a tyre company that gets all the municipal business, but I don't have a son-in-law and I have no interest in a tyre business.”
The municipality said that after the municipal leadership deliberated on the matter, including how to avoid becoming engaged in protracted disciplinary processes with exorbitant financial implications, a settlement was reached.
“An amicable settlement equivalent to six months’ salary has been concluded between the municipality and Naidoo to part ways amicably from his employment contract with immediate effect.
“This will go a long way towards instilling stability in the administration, and in ensuring that the municipality directs its efforts and financial resources towards fulfilling its service delivery obligations.
“The municipality will continue to institute consequence management proceedings against members of staff implicated in the section 106 investigation report.
“In the interest of instilling stability in the municipality, the leadership of the municipality will now be seeking to expedite the process of making a suitable appointment to the position of municipal manager,” the municipality said.
THE MERCURY