Hawks to probe Bay mayor Bobani
Affidavits claim councillor tried to interfere with court case
Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Mongameli Bobani is being investigated by the Hawks for alleged fraud and contravening the Municipal Systems Act.
The case against him was opened by now suspended city manager Johann Mettler in July.
Details of the two allegations are contained in an affidavit from Hawks investigator Captain Henk Fourie which formed the basis of a warrant Bobani when his raided in October.
The affidavit, seen by the Dispatch, contains claims that Bobani, an ordinary councillor at the time, contacted an official at Absa bank and asked her not to issue a bond of security requested by Mettler in preparation for an application in the Port Elizabeth Labour Court.
It is believed Bobani told Absa that Mettler had no authority to request the bond – a claim seemingly viewed by investigators as a misrepresentation of municipal information and interference with the duties of an search-andseizure served on office was accounting officer.
Fourie wrote that Bobani allegedly made a call from his official municipal cellphone to the coverage support manager.
The Dispatch understands Mettler needed to secure a bond of security from Absa for the municipality’s court review application involving former municipal legal services official Nobuntu Mgogoshe.
Mgogoshe had been fired six months earlier for alleged misconduct in relation to legal advice she gave to then CFO Trevor Harper to pay a company for CCTV cameras.
The metro later said the payments were irregular and unlawful as there was no contract in place.
Mgogoshe won her case against the municipality at the SA Local Government Bargaining Council in June.
It ruled she be reinstated and paid R342,725 in backpay.
At the time Mettler, who believed the arbitrator “committed a gross irregularity in the conduct of the arbitration proceedings”, said he would apply to the Port Elizabeth Labour Court to set aside the award.
To proceed, Mettler had to get a bond of security certificate from the bank to certify that the municipality had the funds to pursue the case in court.
The Hawks affidavit further states that Mettler opened a case of fraud and contravention of the Municipal System Act in July.
Section 119 of the Municipal Systems Act states that a person convicted of such an offence and sentenced to jail for more than 12 months without the option of a fine would be disqualified to be a councillor for five years after convicted.
Absa spokesperson Phumza Macanda said the bank did not comment on clients.
Lawyer Danie Gouws, who is representing Bobani, said his client was not a suspect and remained innocent.
Lawyer Danie Gouws, who represents Bobani, says his client remains innocent