Durban - EMBATTLED eThekwini city manager Sipho Nzuza has been stripped of his powers to sign off on matters of supply chain management and procurement on behalf of the municipality.
The responsibility has now been delegated to deputy city manager for governance Sipho Cele, who acted in the position of city manager when Nzuza was suspended.
Speaking at the city’s executive committee meeting, Nzuza raised his unhappiness about the decision, saying it could undermine his ability to do his job.
Nzuza is out on bail after he was arrested for his alleged role in the R430-million Durban Solid Waste fraud and corruption case involving former mayor Zandile Gumede, other city officials, councillors and businesses.
DA leader in eThekwini, Nicole Graham, raised the matter on Tuesday, demanding to know what role Nzuza was playing in procurement, a move that could be in violation of his bail condition.
Graham said Tuesday’s exco report showed that there were many procurement-related matters that Nzuza seemed to be signing off on.
“We should know who is signing on procurement worth more than R10 million. This makes me uncomfortable.”
When it was revealed that Nzuza had delegated the function to Cele, Graham took issue with that, saying the decision to decide on who would sign off on documents should have been made by exco.
“With respect, how do we know that Cele is not doing what Nzuza is telling him to do?
“The ANC thinks it’s fine to leave this up to Nzuza to decide what he delegates and what he does not delegate. We think this is a recipe for disaster,” she said.
Nzuza expressed frustration on the calls by the opposition to further curtail his powers, saying exco should differentiate between acts that could be construed as violating his bail conditions and could have him prosecuted and those that could prevent him from doing his job.
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said even if exco had delegated some of Nzuza’s functions, it would be impossible to prevent collusion between employees if they wanted it.
He said exco had confidence in Cele’s ability and character, saying he was a man of integrity who would not put himself in a compromising position.
He said Nzuza would also not put himself in a position where he could violate his bail conditions.
“We all know Cele to be an ethical person of integrity who had been charged with carrying out some of the sensitive matters while Nzuza was away,” he said.
Kaunda urged Nzuza not to view the demands by exco as a personal attack on him.
“I do not think that when issues are raised, it’s because they have personal problems against you. They are raised so that we are safe, so it does not come up on the audit that this person should not have signed here.
“This is a new territory for the municipality, whereby the municipal manager has to do some issues and cannot deal with some issues,” said Kaunda.
The Mercury