DURBAN - Durban Solid Waste deputy head, Robert Abbu, has threatened to take legal action against those perpetuating a rumour that he was arrested by the Hawks last week.
Abbu said the rumours have put stress on himself and his family.
His lawyer, Rob Durdock, said his client had not been arrested.
“The problem of unsubstantiated claims regarding my client has arisen before during 2018 and, at the time, caused a great deal of embarrassment and anxiety for my client and his family.
“He is seriously upset by the insinuation and has instructed me that, should the same type of unsubstantiated rumour-mongering start again, he will have no alternative other than to take legal action to put a stop to this harassment,” Durdock said.
Durdock was responding to a statement by the DA’s eThekwini caucus leader, Nicole Graham, calling on the city to “come clean” on Abbu’s apparent arrest.
Graham said the DA had received information about Abbu’s arrest last week. She said the party had written to city manager, Sipho Nzuza, for clarity on whether or not Abbu was arrested and suspended from the municipality.
Abbu is believed to be one of a handful of officials implicated in a bungled tender awarded to Persian Star Investments.
Last year, The Mercury lifted the lid on the tender irregularities.
The Mercury reported that, despite the cancellation of its R90million contract in 2017 following its failure to supply orange recycling bags, plastics manufacturer Persian Star Investments 11CC had been paid a total of R7.7m in back-payments related to that tender. Abbu had been named as the official who approved the payment.
eThekwini municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the DA needed to give Nzuza time to respond to their request.
He said the city was not aware of Abbu’s arrest.