The damning Manase report is in the hands of a team of investigators that probes only serious crime involving “serious money” – and sources say there could be arrests within weeks.
The full contents of the controversial report on maladministration, corruption and fraud in the municipality, which are yet to be made public, are being read by officers attached to the government’s anti-corruption task team.
This was confirmed by Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela on Monday.
The multidisciplinary body is tasked with investigating allegations of fraud and corruption against high-ranking officials in the eThekwini municipality, including companies that fraudulently gained higher grades so they could trade with the city.
The team initially comprised the Hawks, the Special Investigating Unit and the National Prosecuting Authority, including its Asset Forfeiture Unit.
It has since been expanded to include the SA Revenue Service, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the National Treasury, ensuring there is no place to hide for those wishing to fleece state coffers.
The report has been handed to the team a month after the eThekwini municipality said it would report matters raised by the auditing firm with law enforcement agencies.
This included reporting former city manager Michael Sutcliffe to the police in an attempt to recover R1.1 million that the city says it lost because he allegedly failed to timeously report fraud and corruption.
The report also implicated top politicians, including former mayor Obed Mlaba, and senior officials including city treasurer Krish Kumar, infrastructure manager Derek Naidoo, and housing head Cogi Pather, who has since resigned.
The report also found that 10 councillors and 123 municipal officials had been trading with the city, and recommended that action be taken against them.
The Manase probe was commissioned a year after Durban accounting and forensic investigations firm Ngubane & Co called for disciplinary action and further investigation into the city’s financial affairs.
The report was compiled by Ngubane & Co after its investigation was dismissed by Sutcliffe and never made public.
The company had found that the awarding of the R6.3m Chatsworth Housing Rehabilitation project to Dr Khumalo Construction was irregular because the bid specification and evaluation committees had not met to approve the bid specifications and to evaluate the tender.
The supply-chain management policy was therefore, contravened.
It was also found that the award was beyond the Construction Industry Development Board grading of the construction company.
The board was established in 2000 to provide leadership to stakeholders, stimulate sustainable growth, and to reform and improve the construction sector for effective delivery and an enhanced role in the economy.
It also grades construction companies according to their capabilities. Any construction-related tenders offered by any government arm, including municipalities, have to be awarded to contractors that are graded and registered by the board.
A source, who cannot be named, said the first target of the investigation could be companies that had done business with the municipality, but that appeared to have obtained their grading from the board fraudulently.
The latest developments come amid mounting pressure from opposition parties for the municipality to make the full report public.
DA caucus leader Tex Collins said his party would lodge a Promotion of Access to Information Act application with the Durban High Court this week to gain access to the full report.
In February, the council released an abridged version of the report to the media and councillors. It is believed that only some officials in the office of Co-operative Governance MEC Nomusa Dube, mayor James Nxumalo and city manager S’bu Sithole have been privy to the full report.
Municipal spokesman Thabo Mofokeng said on Monday: “In compliance with council resolutions, some matters had to be reported to the police.”
He would not be drawn on the matter involving Sutcliffe, saying only that “all” relevant matters had been reported to the police.
He said the city would await the DA’s court application before commenting on that matter.
The Mercury was unable to reach Sithole for comment on Monday.