A Free State community leader must pay a former municipal manager R350 000 in damages for calling the man corrupt during a radio interview. She must also publicly apologise for the utterances. Picture: Supplied
A FREE State community leader must pay a former municipal manager R350 000 in damages for calling the man corrupt during a radio interview, and must also publicly apologise for her utterances.
Selloane Lephoi, a leader of various community organisations in Ficksburg, has been ordered by the Free State High Court to pay Tshepiso Ramakarane, formerly the municipal manager of Setsoto Local Municipality, damages for defamation following a June 2020 Setsoto FM interview in which she accused him of doing bo menemene manyofonyofo during his tenure.
In court, manyofonyofo was translated to mean “corruption”, while bo menemene was said to equate to “dishonesty”.
Lephoi maintained the high court had already ruled that Ramakarane was corrupt.
She cited findings of the Auditor-General relating to irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure; shortcomings in 2018 and 2019; procurement undertaken without following a competitive bidding process; and cashiers being short in their cash collections as evidence that he was corrupt.
Among other allegations, Lephoi said Ramakarane had appointed a director without the required qualifications. She also accused him of appointing a company based in his home town in the Vaal and facilitating the occupation of houses by illegal immigrants from across the Caledon River in Lesotho.
According to the high court judgment handed down on April 21, in her testimony Lephoi stood by her assertion that Ramakarane was doing manyofonyofo with illegal immigrants despite the fact that she had not reported the matter and did not know whether he (Ramakarane) had received any gratification from the Lesotho nationals.
Ramakarane said his troubles started when a R25 million tender to turn nearly 1 000 ventilated improved pit toilets into a water-borne sanitation system was awarded to TML Civils following recommendations by the municipality’s bid evaluation and adjudication committees.
However, after Ramakarane noticed inconsistencies in the documents relating to the tender, Sibamu Building Contractors was appointed in 2018. However, this decision was declared invalid and unlawful by the high court.
TML Civils was later found to have submitted fraudulent completion certificates for the project.
Ramakarane was subsequently placed on special leave and later suspended after the high court found that he had acted unlawfully. A punitive order was made against him in his personal capacity.
In March 2021, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration declared his suspension unlawful and allowed him to serve out his contract until the end of June that year.
In April the same year, the Hawks arrested six Setsoto Local Municipality officials – Flory Monamola, Senzo Kunene, Asanda Nontsimi, Gubevu Albert Maduna, Johny Edward Lynch, and Nkosinathi Victor Ngezi – as well as two TML Civils directors, Lawrence Tshikovha and Lesite Patrick Tsoaela, on fraud charges relating to the R25m toilet tender.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in the Free State Phaladi Shuping said all the accused in the Setsoto R25m toilet infrastructure tender were found not guilty by the Ficksburg Magistrate’s Court in February this year.
Lephoi said Ramakarane only opened the case against TML Civils in 2020, although he had been given the information in 2018, but denied she had a personal vendetta against him.
During court proceedings, and giving evidence on Ramakarane’s behalf, Setsoto Local Municipality speaker Paka Mavaleliso testified that he knew Lephoi, and that she had unsuccessfully applied for the position of municipal manager after Ramakarane had not reapplied for the job and the post had been advertised.
Lephoi did not make the shortlist and instead Nomvula Malatjie was appointed to the position.
Ramakarane said justice had been done, and that he had not won but rather achieved redemption, which is what he wanted.
He later said: “I am really uncomfortable to discuss the matter at this stage because, although there is a judgment in my favour, the defendant (Lephoi) has intimated her intentions to appeal.”
He said his only request was for an apology and retraction of what he considered to be a defamatory statement from her.
Responding to a request for comment from The Sunday Independent, Lephoi demanded to know when the newspaper had started following the TML Civils-Sibamu Building Contractors tender. She also wanted access to past articles relating to the litigation history of the two companies, Setsoto Local Municipality, and Ramakarane.
She asked: “Out of all these, you deem a defamation lawsuit to be what should be of national interest?”