Durban - ETHEKWINI city manager Sipho Nzuza has given deputy city managers and unit heads one month to start disciplinary processes relating to 100 minor transgressions and three to six months in 240 cases of serious transgressions.
The transgressions were committed by municipal employees during an unidentified period.
According to a circular, an internal audit report for 2018/19 had identified a substantial backlog of City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU) reports that recommended disciplinary action against employees, where action has not been taken by the line management.
“This is clearly not acceptable and a project team comprising representatives from the CIIU, Legal and Compliance Unit and Human Resources Unit has been tasked to formulate an action plan to deal with this backlog and to monitor the implementation of the action plan,” reads the circular.
The plan for the task team, which is to start work on November 1, comprises the implementation of the recommendations contained in CIIU reports, which would be monitored on an ongoing basis in consultation with relevant managers.
A spreadsheet of trained and experienced presiding officers (POs) and employer representatives (ERs) has been compiled using data from training records and human resources departments. The project team would use this database in recommending POs and ERs for each case, ensuring a fair distribution of cases, reads the circular.
“Disciplinary proceedings will need to be instituted by the deputy city managers and unit heads by the formal appointment of the recommended PO and ER for each case. Informal hearings (for minor transgressions) are expected to be concluded in one month, while formal hearings (for serious transgressions) could be concluded in three to six months,” reads the memo.
The Daily News reported late last year that a consolidated audit committee report was concerned about inaction in cases relating to financial transgressions and suspected transgressions which were dealt with by the CIIU.
That report was for the fourth quarter of the financial year ended June30, 2018.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi welcomed and applauded Nzuza for his efforts to deal with the cases.
“It will be good if the manager will report directly to the executive committee when all these are concluded. People in this municipality believe they can do as they wish with impunity. The only way to perform oversight is to report to exco,” he said.
DA caucus leader Nicole Graham also welcomed the move and said: “I’m glad that there’s some kind of attempt to alleviate the hundreds of cases, but I think there’s a structural problem, which is virtually no transparency or opportunity for oversight in this regard. The only real time politicians or the public have access to these reports is through quarterly audit reports, and we just get a total of cases, so it’s very difficult for us to track the time frames which are outlined in the policies and the law.”
She said the other structural problem was the dependence of the investigative unit on unit heads or deputy city managers to implement its findings.
City spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said 100 informal hearings and 240 formal hearings needed to be dealt with. He said the planned commencement date for the hearings was November 1.