Mashaba calls for investigation
Johannesburg Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba said yesterday that a senior official from the Department of Economic Development had been suspended pending a disciplinary hearing into allegations of misconduct relating to contracts and payments linked to the broadband network project made by the Metropolitan Trading Company (MTC).
“The official in question has already been implicated in an independent forensic investigation which recommends corrective action be taken,” he said in a statement.
Mashaba said the official, who has not been named, was “seen to be deliberately frustrating” an investigation into the City’s seemingly inexplicable R1.3 billion acquisition of the 900km broadband network in 2015.
This acquisition was done through MTC, a municipal-owned entity which possessed no viable business plan nor a requisite capacity to run a broadband operation of such a size.
Mashaba said the suspended official refused to allow investigators access to a number of devices which are believed to contain crucial information relating to the investigation.
“The City has obtained a court order to create mirror images of the official’s devices so as to preserve all information on the devices to ensure that potential key evidence relating to this investigation is not destroyed,” the mayor said.
He said the mirror imaging of the devices will be conducted by independent technology experts in the presence of the official and an independent supervising practicing attorney appointed by the court.
The aim of the Johannesburg Broadband Network Project was to provide access to broadband services which would improve the City’s service delivery, realise ICT cost related savings for the City and grant communities and businesses across Johannesburg affordable access to internet.
“Despite the astronomical cost, few of these benefits have been realised, necessitating a thorough investigation into this project,” lamented Mashaba.
On July 31, 2014, the City terminated a tender agreement with a consortium so as to operate the network itself through the MTC.
MTC began operations on September 30, 2015.
At the end of the 2015/16 financial year, MTC recorded a net loss of R54 million. – ANA