Durban - The eThekwini Municipality says it is co-operating with the office of the public protector, which was probing allegations relating to undue delay and maladministration in the allocation of RDP houses and provision of other services.
Deputy Public Protector Kevin Malunga told the Daily News this week it seemed that the municipality had been ignoring requests for information and responses to cases lodged by individuals.
And last week, while addressing a gathering during his office’s stakeholder meeting in Pietermaritzburg, Malunga lambasted government officials who ignored the protector’s request for information.
At another meeting at the public protector’s Durban office last week, investigators reported lack of co-operation by certain municipalities, singling out eThekwini as one of the culprits.
“The violent service protests experienced throughout the country resulted from ignoring allegations of maladministration and corruption by the authorities, and this undermines good government programmes,” Malunga had said.
“If maladministration and corruption in state affairs are not seen as a common enemy by the public and those entrust-ed with public power, we will have a huge price to pay.”
Malunga thanked those municipalities that had been responsive when asked to reply to questions relating to them, and encouraged those that had been slow, to “tag along”, as this would prevent unnecessary service protests.
“When we call you, we are not doing so to embarrass you. We are calling you to a conversation where we guide each other towards solving a problem,” he had said.
However, eThekwini Municipality’s chief spokeswoman, Tozi Mthethwa, said Malunga’s comments were unfortunate.
“The municipality is on record pronouncing that we will co-operate with the public protector in their request for information, and as such a meeting has already taken place with the provincial office led by advocate (Mlandeli) Nkosi,” she said. “We have agreed on a process to be followed in availing information requested.”
Mthethwa said the municipality believed the public protector’s work complemented the steps taken by eThekwini to strengthen accountability, as well as to detect and deal with fraud and corruption.
“We do not have an understanding of the context in which the remarks about service protests were made. However, we believe that attributing service protests to fraud and corruption would be a simplistic understanding of what sparks public protests,” she said.
“In fact, public protests that have taken place in Durban have not centred on fraud and corruption.”
l The municipal manager of the Mtubatuba local munici-pality, Siyabonga Ntuli, has been suspended pending the finalisation of an investigation, the KZN Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs said on Wednesday.
Ntuli was suspended after investigations by the administrator, Bamba Ndwandwe. Ntuli was facing allegations of misconduct relating to the awards of tenders and of failing to perform the duties of the municipal manager in accordance with the Municipal Property Rates Act.
Sapa