Durban -
The ANC in the eThekwini region has backed the municipality's decision not to release the full contents of a forensic report on fraud and corruption.
Releasing the report would be unfair to the parties involved and endanger the interests of the municipality, Durban ANC chairman Sibongiseni Dhlomo said on Wednesday.
“The eThekwini regional executive committee supports the council's decision not to publish the Manase report whilst the process of implementation is still in progress,” he said.
“The ANC will always be biased to the worker rights and therefore don't believe that workers should be subjected to public scrutiny.”
An abridged version of the report was released by KwaZulu-Natal co-operative governance MEC Nomusa Dube in February. The city was supposed to release the full contents in July.
However, on August 1, mayor James Nxumalo said the full report would not be released, as this would prejudice those involved.
Nxumalo said the municipality was hoping to make the full report public by the end of December, when all disciplinary process had been completed.
The probe was instituted after Auditor General Terence Nombembe said in his 2009/10 report that the municipality had irregularly spent R532 million. Accusations against a number of senior officials were made.
According to Nombembe's report 10 councillors had business interests with entities conducting business with the eThekwini municipality.
Dhlomo said former city manager Michael Sutcliffe was welcome to raise any issues in the report he was uncomfortable with - within ANC structures.
The Manase report reportedly found Sutcliffe had contravened the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act by not reporting fraud and corruption.
It concluded Sutcliffe failed to report the crimes, which had been raised in a previous report, to the police. According to the document, he only dealt with the matters two years later, costing the municipality R1.1 million.
Earlier this year Sutcliffe announced he would sue current city manager Sbu Sithole for R8 million in damages. - Sapa