DURBAN - THE future of uMngeni municipal manager Thembeka Cibane is expected to come under the spotlight when the Parliamentary portfolio committee on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) visits the embattled municipality on Tuesday.
In a copy of the programme, which the Daily News has seen, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report was top on the agenda. The uMngeni Local Municipality is an administrative area in the uMgungundlovu District, including Howick.
The portfolio committee would be led by its chairperson China Dodovu. The SIU report found that Cibane misused nearly R20 million and has recommended disciplinary action and criminal charges be brought against her.
The intervention by the committee was prompted by the failure of the council and provincial Cogta officials to ensure that SIU findings and recommendations were implemented.
The report was tabled last month before the council but ANC councillors were divided on whether Cibane should be suspended or not.
Out of 13 ANC councillors, eight voted for her suspension while five were against it. The municipality Speaker Thulani Mthalane, who was allegedly in Cibane’s faction, was accused of protecting her.
Mthalane denied allegations that he delayed having a special council meeting to discuss the matter. He said council met in July where the report was tabled.
A councillor, who declined to be named, said Cibane was enjoying political protection from senior politicians within the ANC. This made it difficult to suspend her.
The Daily News has also learnt that there is another SIU report detailing how the money was squandered and which companies have benefited in the fraudulent awarding of the tenders by not following Supply Chain Management policy.
In a 98-page report, Cibane was directly held responsible for the irregular expenditure that the municipality incurred. The report found that she had irregularly processed the utilisation of R19 950 000 for Covid-19 alleviation projects.
According to the report, in June 2020 the Cogta had asked all municipalities to draft a plan for the reprioritisation of the portion of their budgets for Covid-19 alleviation projects, and submit it.
The SIU report said that the municipal manager, in terms of the law, was supposed to table her plan before the council for approval before sending it to Cogta. Cibane did not do so.
The report also said she misled Cogta by submitting a council resolution, when no council meeting had taken place.
Cibane had previously said she was unaware of an SIU report that implicated her in any wrongdoing.
Daily News