DURBAN - IN A court bid to have a damning forensic investigation report reviewed and set aside, the Zululand District Municipality has claimed the investigation did not comply with the KwaZulu-Natal Commissions Act 3 of 1999.
But the provincial Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) denied this claim, saying it was peremptory to apply this act.
The municipality’s bid was contained in the founding affidavit filed by municipal speaker Bhekithemba Mncwango on August 28, 2020, at the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
The act requires all evidence and addresses to be heard by a commission in public hearings.
KZN Cogta director-general Thando Tubane, on behalf of MEC Sipho Hlomuka, said in responding court papers the MEC stated on record that the act did not apply to the investigation.
“The MEC states he does not agree that it is peremptory to apply the Commissions Act. The MEC goes on to explain he is not prevented as the MEC from appointing a person to conduct the investigation without involving the provisions of the commission,” Tubane said.
“It is only when the investigator intends to exercise the powers set out therein that the provisions of the said act become peremptory.”
The forensic investigations report recommended in April 2020 that mayor Thulasizwe Buthelezi be removed from his posts as mayor and councillor.
Hlomuka commissioned Mdledle Incorporated Attorneys and Conveyancers, in August 2019, to investigate after receiving information on allegations of maladministration, fraud and corruption within the municipality.
Buthelezi was allegedly part of a bid process, hired additional bodyguards that exceeded the budget, donated money to an oil company, and interfered with the administrative duties of the municipality.
At that time, Buthelezi neither confirmed nor denied the allegations against him.
The municipality also requested that each implicated individual be provided with the specific evidence that implicated them.
This included statements or affidavits, oral evidence, if the same had already been taken by the investigators and all documentary evidence.
However, Tubane said: “The source of the information originated from whistle-blowers who wished to remain anonymous. The information received from them is a protected disclosure to the MEC ... and the MEC cannot reveal their names or provide any statements from them, even if they existed.
“The information came to the MEC through the person named in the memorandum.”
In a recent reply to the Daily News’ initial article on the matter, Buthelezi said the Mdledle Report was an “old and discredited report” which the council decided to challenge in a court of law.
The allegations in the report were without substance, he said. However, in the court papers to which the mayor is the third applicant, Mncwango said: “I submit this is an appropriate case as the investigators have been instructed to make recommendations to the MEC, and given that the MEC has indicated he will implement such recommendations. The investigation and the report is thus a preliminary decision with serious consequences, and lays the necessary decision to implement recommendations (as he did previously in May 2020) which may have grave results.”
Mncwango said there had been an unexplained shift in the scope of the investigation, in that more charges were added on top of the 16 they had been informed about. The applicants were not given enough time to respond to the allegations, he said.
Daily News