Durban - For the past three years, eThekwini ratepayers have paid up R4.3 million in salaries to two senior suspended managers who face serious charges.
A further R1 million has been paid to 10 officials serving suspensions of between two and 10 months.
The information was contained in a response by the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to a parliamentary question from DA MP David Matsepe last month.
He had asked the department how many officials, in each of the country’s eight metros, were on suspension. He also asked for the reasons for their suspensions and how much had been paid to them during this period.
Data provided by the department indicates that eThekwini had the second-highest number of officials on suspension, at 12. Only Tshwane, with 18, has more. A further assessment of the money involved indicates that eThekwini had the highest amount paid, at just over R5.2 million.
A wastewater network senior manager has earned R2.5 million since he was suspended on allegations of fraud and corruption, gross dishonesty and negligence, and a lack of integrity, three years ago. The second official, a social responsibility and technical training manager, has raked in R1.8 million over almost four years. He is charged with dishonesty, financial prejudice, fraudulent misrepresentation and being involved in “gross negligence and identity fraud”.
The Mercury has it on good authority that the two cases are linked.
Opposition parties in the city have expressed anger, questioning why the disciplinary processes have taken so long to resolve.
Municipal spokeswoman Tozi Mthethwa said both matters had been reported to the police, but refused to provide details.
She said one of the suspended managers returned to work in 2015, following a court ruling on the case. But this was contrary to information contained in the parliamentary response from the department (that both managers are suspended).
Mthethwa failed to specify when last year the official returned to work or the status of the second manager’s suspension, saying the city would not try the officials in the “court of public opinion”.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi and Zwakele Mncwango of the DA said disciplinary processes were taking too long.
“It’s impossible a disciplinary process can take over a year or two,” said Nkosi. “Where is human resources in all of this? This is too much money to be paid to someone languishing at home doing nothing. This is not fair on ratepayers.”
Mncwango said: “I don’t think a disciplinary hearing can take more than a year. It shows there’s incompetency with the leadership, which leads to processes being delayed.”
He said there was sometimes a rush to suspend officials when there was not enough evidence against them.
“The question is: what are they doing now? You might find that they are working somewhere else,” he said.
Mthethwa added that “the municipality is concerned about the cost of paying employees on suspension”.
Precautionary suspension hearings were held before any employee was suspended and the number of employees on suspension was monitored regularly, she said.
The Mercury