Durban - The Endumeni Municipality in Dundee has taken a former councillor, who stands accused of threatening to shoot his former colleagues, to court over municipal property which it claims he failed to return after he resigned from office.
The application was made by the municipality against former Endumeni Ward 4 councillor Hassen Ngobese at the Pietermaritzburg High Court last week.
Judge King Ndlovu granted an interim order in terms of which Ngobese must show cause why a final order should not be granted instructing him to return the said property.
Pending the final determination of the case, Ngobese has also been interdicted from disposing of the items in any way.
In court papers, the acting executive manager for corporate services in the municipality, Desiga Padayachee, said that Ngobese had resigned as a councillor in March.
He subsequently stood for election as an independent candidate when a by-election was held in July, but lost to the ANC’s Dudu Ncala.
Padayachee said that when Ngobese was the Ward 4 councillor, certain assets owned by the municipality had been entrusted to him.
Ngobese allegedly refused to return these assets, which includes a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 valued at R5 000, HP laptop, as well as block-making, sewing and embroidery machines.
Padayachee said these items were bought by the municipality for the purposes of equipping two co-operative projects that had been set up in the community to promote job creation and skills development.
“The municipality resolved that the ward councillor was to play an oversight role in the projects. Ngobese was the councillor at that time, and in March 2014, the items were handed to him for distribution to the community.”
Following the by-election in July, Ncala became the elected ward councillor and she then became responsible for overseeing the co-operative projects.
Ncala had found that Ngobese had removed the items from the community hall and had taken them to a house owned by a woman, he said.
When Ncala and other officials went to retrieve the items, the homeowner allegedly refused to allow anyone on to her property, claiming that Ngobese had “given” her the items.
Padayachee claimed in his affidavit that when Ncala and the other officials, which included a Rosemary Griffiths, returned to the municipal offices, they were confronted by Ngobese, who threatened to shoot Griffiths.
Padayachee said he then summoned a security company to escort a municipal truck driver to the house to retrieve the items, but they were allegedly obstructed by Ngobese.
Ngobese has until November 5 to respond to the municipality’s application.
Daily News