Khanyile threatens to sue MEC Xasa
SOCIAL development head of department Stanley Khanyile, who resigned earlier this month, has threatened to sue his former political boss, cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa, accusing him of defamation of character.
Khanyile yesterday said he had already instructed his attorneys to institute legal action against Xasa, who he said had tarnished his image by being “economical with the truth”.
This after Xasa last week alleged that Khanyile was involved in various financial transgressions while heading administration at Cogta, allegations that Khanyile has described as “utter nonsense” meant to “attack my integrity and tarnish my image”.
Xasa and his departmental spokesman, Mamnkeli Ngam, could not be reached at the time of writing yesterday to respond to the legal threat by Khanyile.
Earlier this month, Khanyile resigned as social development head citing strained working relations between him and his boss, social development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi. His last day in office is on Wednesday.
Khanyile also left Cogta in a huff in 2015 after he was “reshuffled” to social development by premier Phumulo Masualle amid labour unrest and differences between him and Xasa, while at that department.
One of the allegations Xasa made last week was that Khanyile had in 2014 transferred R13-million to Matatiele Municipality to assist the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in its operations ahead of the general elections that year, money Xasa said was never accounted for.
He said this was unearthed after a Cogta-sanctioned probe conducted by the National Treasury.
The MEC also accused Khanyile of working in cahoots with a service provider, Umnotho Business Consulting, to siphon money from the province.
Xasa told the Dispatch last week that Umnotho was contracted by various provincial municipalities to conduct forensic investigations at the behest of Khanyile, without proper procurement procedures being followed, and while they had “no requisite competency to do the job”. He described the KwaZulu-Natal-based Umnotho as a “bogus company led by criminals”, allegations that have been denied by company owners.
The Daily Dispatch can also reveal that the amount that was sent to Matatiele in that period by Cogta was R8.6-million and not R13-million as claimed by Xasa.
It was to be used for vehicle hire, employment of admin support, lamps for voting stations, helicopter hire for intervention and delivery of voting material to inaccessible voting stations, tents and toilet hire to accommodate 4 615 presiding officers and accommodation for IEC staff.
Matatiele municipality has since confirmed the amount allocated to the municipality was R8.6-million and that it had been accounted for.
The Daily Dispatch has seen documents showing how much had been transferred.
Matatiele spokeswoman Olwethu Ngwanya on Friday said all the money was used adequately and had been accounted for and that “the auditorgeneral could have picked it up if there were any irregularities”.
Yesterday, she refused to comment further on the matter, except to say: “The mayor [Momelezi Mbedla] had received a report from the MEC, which he is still studying, and will only be able to respond on its contents later in the week.”
IEC provincial electoral officer Thamsanqa Mraji could not be reached yesterday.
However, in a letter to Matatiele, dated 20 May 2014, and seen by the Dispatch, he sends his “appreciation for efficient services” received.
Khanyile, whom Xasa said was being probed by the Hawks and the Assets Forfeiture Unit for alleged transgressions and could face imminent arrest, yesterday said his reputation was being ruined unfairly.
Khanyile confirmed that he had only approved the transfer of R8.6million to Matatiele after the IEC had requested such funds and after recommendations by various senior officials at his former department.
He said he was also concerned that he had never been consulted during the probe and that Xasa had spoken about its contents without giving him a chance to respond to the allegations. —