Durban - The newly appointed acting Msunduzi municipal manager has a chequered past and resigned from a senior position at a Gauteng municipality a few years ago after being suspended in connection with alleged tender irregularities.
The Mercury has established that he also lost out on a senior appointment to the eThekwini Municipality because of the allegations against him. He had since applied to Home Affairs and successfully had his forenames changed last year.
The Msunduzi Municipality announced earlier this week that Sizwe Hadebe had been appointed to the acting position on a three-month contract.
Hadebe’s appointment was welcomed by opposition parties on Tuesday as it came after two officials who had acted in the position, Boniwe Zulu, the manager for community services, and Dr Ray Ngcobo, the deputy municipal manager for economic development, had come under fire for alleged irregularities.
Zulu had been criticised for allegedly overpaying a security company and Ngcobo because of his pending disciplinary hearing on charges of gross misconduct, dishonesty and negligence.
While the municipality could not provide a curriculum vitae for Sizwe Hadebe, Msunduzi officials directed The Mercury to a profile on Hadebe on the Amatola Water website. According to the website, Hadebe, who is the deputy chairman of the Amatola Water board in the Eastern Cape, has more than 15 years’ experience in the water sector, coupled with qualifications in science, engineering, management and leadership fields - including an MBA, a Graduate Diploma in Civil Engineering and a National Diploma in Analytical Chemistry.
After an investigation on Wednesday, The Mercury established that Hadebe was Adolph Slindokuhle Hadebe who had been employed at the Ekurhuleni Municipality as chief director of water and sanitation.
According to a notice published in the government gazette in June last year, Adolph Slindokuhle Hadebe had applied for and been given authorisation by the Home Affairs director-general to change his forenames to Sizwe.
Hadebe was suspended in 2012 from the Ekurhuleni Municipality, with four other officials, because of a Special Investigating Unit probe into tender irregularities.
The investigation related to the alleged suspicious and irregular award of contracts involving R100 million for the supply of electronic water meters.
At the time of his suspension, Hadebe had applied for and been appointed as the deputy city manager for human settlements and infrastructure in the eThekwini Municipality.
However, after eThekwini was made aware of the allegations, it said they had not been disclosed by Hadebe during the interview process and they had decided in 2013 not to appoint him and to readvertise the post instead.
On Wednesday the Ekhurhuleni Municipality confirmed that the disciplinary process came to an end when Hadebe resigned in 2014.
In response to e-mailed questions, the Msunduzi Municipality’s spokeswoman, Nqobile Madonda, said in a Whatsapp message last night that the department of Co-Operative Governance would issue a statement about Hadebe.
Co-operative Governance spokesman Lennox Mabaso said the department had been approached by the Msunduzi Municipality to recommend people who could act as municipal manager. The department checked its national database and found Hadebe.
“At the time of making a recommendation we were not aware of the allegations as the names are taken from the database.â€ù The department “therefore made the recommendation in good faith and in an effort to assist the municipalityâ€ù, Mabaso said. “Should we find the information to be true we will consider withdrawing our recommendation. However, the final say on the matter will be made by the municipality.”
He emphasised that the department made recommendations, but the appointment was done by the municipality.
Hadebe did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The Mercury