Pretoria - Tshwane city manager Dr Moeketsi Mosola on Thursday survived yet another attempt by Executive Mayor Solly Msimanga to suspend him.
Msimanga failed to persuade the majority of ANC and EFF councillors during the November ordinary council sitting to place Mosola on a precautionary suspension over allegations of misconduct.
The mayor had tabled a report in which he requested councillors to approve the initiation of processes to suspend Mosola over allegations of misconduct. However, his report did not see the light of day after councillors from the EFF and ANC voted that it be deferred to the sitting in January.
Msimanga expressed disappointment that both opposition parties had not supported the report. He labelled them “a coalition united around corruption”.
It was a repeat of the events of September 10 when the two parties voted against Msimanga’s request for Mosola’s suspension over allegations related to serious irregularities in the awarding of the GladAfrica contract. This was awarded to the engineering company to assist in the roll-out of infrastructure projects valued at R12billion.
“Mosola is clearly an obstacle to the City’s ability to deliver basic services The EFF and ANC have now voted to keep this person in the position,” Msimanga said. “The coalition of corruption frustrated proceedings in council and ultimately chose narrow political interests over putting service delivery and the people at the forefront of the administration’s agenda.”
He said the report had been motivated by wide-ranging complaints from councillors and residents about sluggish service delivery. The report was rejected behind closed doors by both the EFF and ANC.
ANC caucus spokesperson Lesego Makhubela said the official opposition rejected the report because it had nothing to do with corruption as exposed by the ANC. Makhubela said Msimanga’s report was riddled with technical errors and badly written.
“The report did not follow process as explained in local government legislation flowing from the Constitution, the Municipal System Act, Municipal Structures Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act,” he said.
The ANC called on the provincial government to place the capital city under administration and promulgate an investigation by the Special Investigation Unit into the municipality.
The confidential report, which the Pretoria News has seen, highlighted Mosola’s misuse of council resources for personal gain as being among transgressions brought up against him. It alleged that he failed to act in the best interests of the municipality by not being impartial when dealing with staff members.
He was also accused of labelling a council-mandated probe into allegations of irregularities and possible misconduct against him “a witch-hunt under the guise of an independent investigation”.
The probe related to the awarding of a project management tender to GladAfrica. The report noted that Mosola’s conduct negatively impacted on the morale of the staff, “which impacts on the discipline of the staff and eventually on the efficient provision of services to the community, ratepayers and residents of the city”.