Cape Town - The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) may have paid millions to get rid of its CEO, the DA said on Monday.
The party has called on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan to explain the circumstances surrounding the departure of MDB head Gabusile Gumbi-Masilela, who was suspended in February.
According to reports, Gumbi-Masilela has accepted a settlement package and is no longer with the board.
“We want to know how much she received, why she was suspended in the first place, and why this is all being kept secret,” Democratic Alliance MP Kevin Mileham said in a statement.
Reports on Monday suggested she had received an “enormous” amount.
“We estimate that she could take home over R3 million, as she will be paid the rest of this year’s salary - most of which she was suspended for - in addition to her full salary for next year,” he said.
The MDB is a chapter nine institution responsible for, among other things, the determination of municipal boundaries.
Mileham said the DA would submit parliamentary questions to determine the reasons Gumbi-Masilela was suspended and eventually fired, what her full exit package amounted to, and why she was paid “such an obviously excessive amount” of money.
Further, the DA wanted to know why this had been kept secret, why the MDB’s annual report provided no clarification on the matter, and what steps had been taken to permanently appoint a new CEO.
“The Municipal Demarcation Board needs to be in good shape before the 2016 local government elections, when it will be required to finalise all ward boundaries in municipalities and metros.”
The MDB is an independent institution, accountable to Parliament.
“Minister Gordhan must therefore take every action to ensure that Ms Gumbi-Masilela’s departure is explained to (Parliament's co-operative governance) portfolio committee,” he said.
Sapa