Endumeni municipality in hot water again after probe reveals dodgy tenders
The investigation centers on over R3.5 million in questionable payments made in 2023 for security services, mainly benefiting former Mayor Siyabonga Ndlovu. Two senior officials face disciplinary recommendations for authorizing payments without valid contracts, while a third implicated official has since resigned.
The report highlights irregularities surrounding a cession agreement between two similarly named security firms and a misused Regulation 32 procurement process involving Newcastle Municipality. Payments were made before contracts were finalized, and internal oversight mechanisms were bypassed. One official, Zakhele Zulu, who laid a corruption charge at Dundee SAPS, was dismissed but when he appealed his firing, a hearing awarded R9 million after an appeal deemed his hearing unfair.
CoGTA has given Endumeni Council 21 days to submit an action plan, but no public response has yet been issued. ANC Councillor Spha Kheswa raised concerns over officials still in office, warning of possible cover-ups. The Endumeni Residents Association, ERA, condemned the delay in releasing the report, calling the actions 'fraudulent and well-planned.'
HAVE YOUR SAY: Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram or email us at dundee.courier@caxton.co.za. Add us on WhatsApp 071 277 1394.
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Citizen
11 hours ago
- The Citizen
Hlabisa is a lesson on getting things done behind chaos
While the GNU continues to be chaotic, Cogta Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has kept calm and done the unthinkable. The GNU presents a laugh a day. In the last month, Andrew Whitfield got axed, setting an awkward precedent for President Cyril Ramaphosa's defence chief. While bus drivers are taking their own lives, having not been paid since January, a dialogue is on the go that increasingly seems to be evolving into a monologue. Gayton McKenzie has been doing his thing, whatever that might be on the day, and team DA is patting themselves on the back for outsourcing state work to the banks. And we all applauded it, such is our disdain of home affairs. Oh, and the ministers appointed to fix load shedding were busted doing what we already knew they were doing; burning diesel as ferociously as Christians burned Beatles albums. Amid all the chaos and lack of time to consider which connected cadre should feast on which deal, some real good has been done; Transnet even seems to be on the rise, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's revelations are promising to unlock some gems and South Africa's economic kingpin, Thabo Mbeki, has finally found some guts to start saying some things. Amid the chaos, some things are improving The weather is perfect for sowing the seeds of ideas that may be great for the country and good for the fiscus, even if they aren't politically popular. In a country where a small minority are being squeezed for funding, it's difficult to make financially prudent decisions. But since that money isn't getting to the people it's supposed to, it makes it somewhat easier. Add to that the warring internal factions and it shouldn't be surprising that as the castle of patronage comes down, a couple of things can be improved with the resources. A minister who seemingly gets this and has largely kept a calm demeanor throughout the GNU is Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Velenkosini Hlabisa. During lockdown, we learned just how much power Cogta has and Hlabisa has been wielding it pretty impressively. ALSO READ: IFP reaffirms GNU role, slams NPA and urges reforms within justice system Halbisa takes on municipal functionality On natural disaster management, he's done the unthinkable in South African terms; enhancing the implementation of a 10-year-old framework. It shouldn't be impressive, but since we tend to have a kink of jumping from one policy to the next, doubling down and anchoring a belief in a policy's execution is quite a brave and functional thing. When last have you heard a minister insistent on implementing the plan of a predecessor and making it work? Hlabisa genuinely seems to want to do what's good for the people and when it comes to preventing them from dying, that's quite nice. I'm not sure if it's because nobody knows how to get in his way or whether it's just not profitable to impose themselves on him, the minister has been given some room to manoeuvre and it appears he knows this. It shouldn't be surprising that he's taken on what is probably going to be the most difficult reform of this administration; municipal functionality. Ten years ago, you wouldn't dream of anybody in Jacob Zuma's cabinet thinking of claiming that the national government is bloated, let alone municipalities. ALSO READ: Cogta warns municipalities against wasting R1.2 billion disaster relief Now, the minister is having a right go at the state of municipal affairs and fairly so. It's not like John Steenhuisen is going to criticise anybody's literacy because it will come off poorly, but the way Hlabisa puts it makes it pragmatic in the eyes of the public. 'You can't monitor billions if you can't read,' he said. Why on earth we're even in a position where he's got to say that is beyond me, but thank goodness somebody has finally said it. What's most exciting about this shake up is that it's clearly a long term investment and he's set milestones allowing him to take his time on the matter. It shows a degree of seriousness rather than politricking and perhaps we don't see the results in his lifetime. It feels so good to hear a minister commit themselves to a long term solution to an issue that nobody has really tried to address in 30 years. There's a saying about great men planting trees and I really hope this one grows. We could do with the shade. READ NEXT: Almost 40 municipalities facing sanctions from Treasury over mismanagement
Mail & Guardian
12 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
Parliament sued for letting corrupt MPs off the hook
Hundreds of #UniteBehind supporters sat in a marquee outside Parliament on Tuesday. Imam Rashied Omar told the protesters that they were gathering as citizens who love their country dearly and will not stand by while 'corruption robs our children of their future'. He said that Parliament's code of conduct is a 'shield for corruption'. Activist group #UniteBehind, which protested outside parliament on Tuesday, has taken parliament's registrar and joint ethics committee to court, challenging the legislature's new code of conduct. In 2022, the group laid complaints in terms of parliament's code of conduct against six ANC MPs who were implicated in state capture, including grand-scale corruption at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa). They were Fikile Mbalula, Mosebenzi Zwane, Joe Maswanganyi, Dikeledi Magazi, Sfiso Buthelezi and Dipuo Peters. In April 2023, #UniteBehind started litigation against the committee for failing to act 'diligently', accusing the committee of 'an unreasonable, and unexplained, delay in handling the complaints'. The organisation amended its notice of motion in February this year after discovering that an amended code of conduct had been adopted. #UniteBehind claims this was done without public participation and without alerting them. The case was heard on Tuesday before a full bench in the Western Cape High Court: Judge Lister Nuku, Judge Hayley Slingers and Acting Judge Jonker. Gregory Solik, the advocate representing #UniteBehind, told the court the new code of conduct was unconstitutional, since it was introduced during the course of the litigation. #UniteBehind argued that it constituted an 'attempt to circumvent judicial scrutiny'. When the group prepared and filed its final affidavit, it was not informed by parliament that the code of conduct had been amended and implemented. Solik also argued that if the challenge to the code of conduct is dismissed, then the court should declare the 'no-jurisdiction clause' invalid. This new clause allows MPs to resign to avoid disciplinary action against them. The amended code states that the Ethics Committee does not have 'jurisdiction' to consider a complaint if the member ceases to be an MP. Also, if the committee is considering a complaint against a former MP, then it may not proceed with the complaint and 'must close the complaint file'. Solik argued that making this clause invalid would ensure that former MPs implicated in corruption can be held accountable by parliament — parliament could still complete investigations and refer matters to the National Prosecuting Authority. 'It may be a small measure of justice, but that justice can still be enforced,' said Solik. #UniteBehind further argued that the 'secrecy provisions' of the new code of conduct should be declared unconstitutional. This includes a clause that 'all documents, evidence and information in the possession of the registrar must … remain confidential', as well as another clause stating that meetings considering 'the recommendation report of the registrar will be closed to the public and non-committee members'. But the respondents argued that #UniteBehind was trying to 'revive a case that was dead', said advocate for parliament Zinzile Matebese. About 100 #UniteBehind supporters marched from the Cape Town Civic Centre to parliament in support of the organisation's court case. Several hundred more people joined the protest at parliament. In an answering affidavit, Anthea Gordon, the registrar of members' interests in parliament, said that #UniteBehind's amendment to its notice of motion, challenging the new code of conduct, was 'disingenuous' and 'an abuse of the court process'. Parliament asked the court to reject #UniteBehind's request. The respondents argued that the process to amend the code started in 2022 and culminated with the adoption of the amended code by the National Assembly in May 2024. They added that it 'was never adopted in haste as suggested by the applicants', nor was it kept secret. Matebese argued that confidentiality of the information clauses was important as it 'might result in unintended consequences for the whole committee' if it were removed. The confidentiality clauses were necessary to protect MPs' information and the information of their spouses' affairs, which is protected under other legislation such as the Protection of Personal Information Act. In his closing statement, Solik noted that the initial complaints were made because of the 'total abdication of responsibility by Parliament' to address the rot at Prasa. He encouraged the court 'not to lose sight of what the complaints were about', which is that people are 'subject to violence on a daily basis when they use public transport'. Judge Nuku reserved judgment.
The Herald
17 hours ago
- The Herald
DA pushes for ad hoc committee on police to get down to business
The DA says it sees parliament's ad hoc committee that will investigate allegations of political meddling and corruption in the police service as a vital and rare opportunity to confront and root out the rot in the top levels of the service. DA spokesperson on police Ian Cameron said on Friday the committee has considered robust terms of reference to ensure full and proper investigation can take place. He said the c ommittee hopes to adopt the terms of reference by Monday. The DA had proposed and secured a number of key terms which had been included in the terms of reference, he said. These included the use of sworn testimony and obtaining documents and evidence from all relevant witnesses, including those implicated in political interference, corruption and organised crime infiltration of the police service. Other terms of reference are i nvestigating political interference in policing, including the disbandment of the political killings task team (PKTT) and the freezing of key crime intelligence vacancies, investigating allegations involving senior politicians, law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges and investigating the 121 missing dockets removed from the PKTT and examining the integrity of SAPS crime intelligence operations. 'Once adopted, the ad hoc committee must get down to business' Cameron said. Cameron said the DA would ensure the committee leaves no stone unturned. 'We will demand testimony from every relevant and involved person and documents that evidence every critical weakness in the SAPS. South Africa cannot tolerate delays when the integrity of its policing and justice systems hangs in the balance.' TimesLIVE
