Johannesburg - The controversy-ridden Joburg Market early this year paid out a staggering R25 million in settlement fees for three senior officials on suspension for alleged corruption.
Shockingly, R18.1m was for legal fees associated with the case. The discovery is contained in Joburg’s unaudited annual financial statements for the 2016/17 financial year, seen by The Star. The amount is highlighted in the document as part of R70m “wasteful and irregular” expenditure incurred by the metro during the year under review.
The three officials are understood to be Sanjay Dubru, Ncaphayi Diko and Thivhulai Mbedzi. They all faced charges relating to alleged breach of procurement processes.
It is understood that the three were reinstated in February, after being on suspension for over a year. Two of the officials had been on suspension for a year-and-a-half, while the third employee stayed at home for 12 months.
The three together pocketed R3.1m in settlements. They were reinstated after they successfully challenged their suspensions at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, and reached a settlement with the City of Joburg.
This was later conceded by the city in a response to The Star.
“The City of Joburg’s core administration was concerned by the high escalation of legal costs incurred in respect of the dismissal processes, and initiated the engagement with the employees, which culminated in the settlement agreement between the parties,” said city spokesperson Sekgabo Kedijang.
He added that the legal costs had amounted to R18.1m. This was “inclusive of all disciplinary hearings related to all staff identified to be disciplined by the board”.
The figure also included costs of the review application of the award of the tender. The Star was unable to establish which contract was affected by the process.
Alleged corruption at the Joburg Market appears to be rampant, with various investigations under way.
The city entity is also characterised by an unstable leadership. It has had four chief executives - three acting - since 2014.
Former boss Simangele Sekgobela was dismissed in December 2015 following a disciplinary inquiry into irregular procurement processes.
A month after the officials were reinstated, three other officials from the market were arrested after the city’s investigations department uncovered “massive” corruption, theft and fraud involving more that R7.5m stolen from the market.
In a statement at the time,
mayor Herman Mashaba
said a report presented to
him had detailed allegations
of how three officials at the
market, and a similar number
of suppliers, defrauded the
city by misrepresenting the
amount of various goods
received via the market’s bid
processes.
The entity, in its 2015/16
annual statement, said its
board had been made aware
of procurement irregularities.
These “necessitated
investigations, which resulted
in the appointment of forensic
investigators and legal
counsel”.
It is unclear if these
related to suspension of the
three officials.
There were various internal
and external investigations
relating to procurement
irregularities, fraud and
maladministration highlighted
by the auditor-general last
year in the market’s annual
report.
Efforts to get comment
from the three officials were
unsuccessful by the time of
publication.