Derek Naidoo, the eThekwini municipality’s controversial deputy city manager for procurement and infrastructure, will soon vacate his office at the city hall, escaping misconduct charges and possible suspension pending the outcome of criminal investigations.
Naidoo is the second high-ranking official fingered in the scathing Manase and Associates report to exit the municipality in recent months.
The abridged version of the Manase report recommended that disciplinary action be taken against Naidoo, for failure to comply with supply-chain management policies and failure to exercise due care and diligence in dealing with matters before the bid adjudication committee.
Earlier this year, housing head Cogi Pather, who was also named in the report, tendered his resignation.
The purge of former city manager Michael Sutcliffe’s close allies became evident last week when the executive committee endorsed a decision to terminate Naidoo’s month-to-month contract.
The latest development has fuelled fears that Naidoo and Pather may never answer to allegations levelled against them in the Manase report.
“Cogi and Derek have so much dirt on councillors and the city is just allowing them to leave. They will not face disciplinary action and the charges will be squashed and nothing will ever be exposed,” a source said.
Although the full contents of the controversial report, yet to be made public, had been handed to the government's anti-corruption task team – which includes the Hawks, the Special Investigating Unit and the National Prosecuting Authority – no charges had been formally laid against implicated officials.
Naidoo has served in the municipality for more than a decade and rakes in an annual salary of just over R1.6 million.
He was among those who facilitated the municipality’s biggest black empowerment deal, the privatisation of the city’s public transport operation that led to the awarding of the lucrative bus tender to Remant (Pty) Ltd and Alton Coach Africa Consortium, owned by Jay Singh, for R70m.
The deal was clouded in controversy from its inception.
In 2008 the city spent R405m buying back buses and equipment from Remant Alton to which it originally sold the municipal fleet for R70m in 2003.
At the time, ratepayers were promised the empowerment deal would save them about R40m a year. Instead, the bus service became riddled with problems.
A councillor who asked not to be named said the city had enlisted the services of two labour law experts to advise them on how the allegations against Naidoo should be handled.
“The city has a responsibility to report to the local government MEC (Nomusa Dube) on the action taken against those fingered in the report,” the source said.
“The suggestion was that rather than trying to pursue charges, when we don’t know if they will hold or not in court, we should not renew his contract.”
Another source said the ANC in the province had not reached consensus on how the allegations levelled against its “comrades” should be handled.
“There is no common view from the ANC, but Nomusa says the law must take its course,” the source said.
In the case of allegations involving former mayor Obed Mlaba, another source said the city would have to examine its options if there was substance to such claims.
“Where monies have been lost and if there is any basis to recover money from those who have left council we will institute criminal charges against them,” the source said.
Municipal manager S’bu Sithole would not be drawn on whether or not Naidoo’s contract would be terminated, saying he was speaking to all the affected individuals linked in the Manase report whose contacts were said to have expired.
“I will be reporting to them the outcome of the council meeting and what processes will unfold from there,” Sithole said.
“I have to exhaust all internal processes. The city will communicate on the issues formally and not via sources… When it comes disciplinary matters for senior managers there are processes and regulations that need to be adhered to.”
The Mercury could not reach Naidoo for comment. - The Mercury