Court dismisses Mhlathuze Water chief executive Mthokozisi Duze‘s suspension challenge

Suspended Mhlathuze Water chief executive Mthokozisi Duze has vowed to continue pursuing a legal challenge against his suspension, despite the Labour Court dismissing his court application last Friday.

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Published Jul 4, 2022

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Durban - Suspended Mhlathuze Water chief executive Mthokozisi Duze has vowed to continue pursuing a legal challenge against his suspension, despite the Labour Court dismissing his court application last Friday.

He lodged an urgent court application after the water entity took a decision to suspend him last month.

In dismissing the court application, the Labour Court said the matter was not urgent. The court also ordered that Duze pay the water entity’s legal costs.

Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, the suspended CEO said that while the court’s ruling had come as a setback, he would continue with the Labour Court action.

“We will enrol the case as a normal matter in the same court because it did not dismiss the case on merit, but simply said it was not urgent. So our next move will be to launch a normal court action,” Duze said.

He insisted that his case was strong, and that this would be demonstrated once the court process was under way when they would get a chance to argue its merits.

According to Duze, there had been unfairness in the process that culminated in his suspension.

Duze is among seven officials who are on suspension following a forensic investigation that implicated them in alleged misconduct in some of the entity’s activities.

He and chief financial officer Babongile Mnyandu were suspended in December last year, following a whistle-blower alert on alleged wrongdoing.

It has been suggested that there were irregularities in the awarding of some contracts at the entity during Duze’s period at the helm, and some insiders have alleged that millions of rand were fleeced from the entity over the past years.

The SACP was one of the organisations that welcomed Duze’s suspension last year, saying the move was long overdue.

Mhlathuze Water spokesperson Siyabonga Maphumulo said the entity did not want to comment on the court case.

“As you will appreciate this is a court matter and our stance is that it would be improper for us to comment on it,” said Maphumulo. He also gave an assurance that the entity was operating as normal.

The entity recently hosted a stakeholder engagement that included organised business, traditional leadership and municipalities in a bid to assure them of its commitment to provide an efficient and reliable water service in the North Coast region.

Mhlathuze Water is responsible for the provision of water to many municipalities in northern KZN, and recently outlined plans to extend the service to all municipalities in the region.

THE MERCURY

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