Durban - A R1 920 bill for a two-hour phone call to a sex line had a veteran DA councillor in the Msunduzi Municipality blushing when he unwittingly signed for the summons demanding payment that was delivered to his office last month.
On Thursday, councillor Bill Lambert told the municipality’s executive committee he was appalled when he read that the summons was for an unpaid bill for a call to a sex line made from the reception desk in the exco office suite a year ago.
Security in the municipal building in Pietermaritzburg had to be beefed up, he said, as there was no way of knowing who had made the call.
He was alone in the office when the summons “for services rendered by Our Way Adult Chatline” was delivered. The envelope was addressed to “the owner of the company” and, without knowing what it was, Lambert took delivery.
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I was horrified, and the other councillors were equally horrified, that someone was in our office making the two-hour call,” he said.
Despite the seriousness of the security breach,
exco members couldn’t help but ponder what the long chat was about, with mayor Chris Ndlela declaring his ignorance on such matters.
Lambert remarked that it could have been an 18-year-old or perhaps even a 60-year-old on the other end of the line. When a councillor interjected that he was getting excited about the topic, the 70-something Lambert shot back that, at his age, “anything like that will get me excited”.
He said he had often complained about security breaches at his office and was now “hot under the collar” that steamy sex chat sessions were taking place in the “hallowed city hall”.
He previously reported to the committee that once, when he arrived unexpectedly at his office on a Saturday, he’d found a strange woman sitting at the executive suite’s reception desk involved in an animated conversation.
Lambert’s travel wallet and the committee secretary’s handbag had also been stolen from the office suite some time ago.
Municipal manager Mxolisi Nkosi said security in the mayor’s lounge, councillors’ offices and the entire hall would have to be improved.
He was looking at closing the back entrance of the city hall - used by people who parked in the municipality’s parking lot - leaving just the front entrance open. Security cameras would also be installed.
The municipality has started an investigation into the sex call, and a report into it will be compiled.
The Mercury