Kabuso report dusted off
Municipality to consider possible action against those implicated
THE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is heading back to the drawing board to check whether it can pursue action against some of those implicated in the Kabuso forensic report. Mayor Athol Trollip and municipal public accounts committee (MPAC) chairman Lance Grootboom (ACDP) said yesterday they believed there was enough evidence in the report to warrant a further look into six of the matters highlighted in the report.
The report, which is at least seven years old, details irregular expenditure on projects and how millions of rands are owed to the city in outstanding rates and service charges.
It also exposed alleged corruption and maladministration pertaining to property leases and tenders.
It was commissioned in 2009 by then Eastern Cape local government MEC Sicelo Gqobana and handed over to the municipality in 2011.
There has, ever since, been slow progress in pursuing legal action against those implicated.
Trollip’s announcement comes about a year after the metro’s audit committee concluded that the facts and findings in the Kabuso report were so poor that there were no prospects of recovering any money that was lost.
City manager Johann Mettler said at the time that the probe into malpractice and alleged irregularities was inconclusive to provide sufficient evidence for successful prosecution.
In 2012, the Hawks wrapped up its investigation into those incriminated in the report as investigators believed no one else was criminally liable.
Only one of those incriminated in the report, business owner Yvonne Zuma, was prosecuted and convicted of fraud for falsifying names in her tender to the municipality to manage the curio shop at the Red Location Museum.
Zuma, who owns Bamanye Developers Corporation, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, suspended for five years, in February 2013.
But yesterday, Trollip said they were not going to simply accept the “bona fides of the previous administration”.
“This is a new administration in Nelson Mandela Bay,” he said.
“We are not asking for all [in] the Kabuso Report to be investigated.
“You will note that of the six items, many of them – or four of the six – are still operational.
“It’s about outstanding rates, levies. It’s about not complying with the lease agreements, it’s about things that were meant to happen but didn’t happen.”
The six cases Trollip and Grootboom believe are worth pursuing further are:
Unique Mbane: That unauthorised and fruitless expenditure for 2 000 automatic meter readers, some of which were never delivered, be recovered from former acting municipal manager Elias Ntoba;
Isimilo Investments/Beachview resort: That outstanding rates, rental and service tariffs owed to the metro be recovered. Also, the city must confirm if Isimilo is in possession of a new compliance notice;
Africorp International: That the municipality continues with negotiations to off-set rates owed to the city versus the money it owes to Africorp for rent;
Swartkops Power Station: That the metro institute legal action against Ruco Properties to retrieve value for the goods removed from the decommissioned station offset against the original purchase price, and confirm whether the property has been transferred back to the municipality;
Van Stadens Resort: That Buhlebendalo, the company which manages Van Stadens resort, be evicted and that legal proceedings be instituted to retrieve the value of movable goods; and
Willows Resort: That Madiba Bay Resorts, which manages the Willows, be evicted and that legal action be instituted to retrieve outstanding rates, services and rental.
Trollip said: “We are not going to simply fold our arms and say you were bad tenants, we are going to terminate your lease.
“If you have to pay rates, you must pay rates. If you have to comply with your lease agreement, you must comply.
“There must be accountability. We believe these six items are worthy of further consideration.”
Grootboom said they were hoping for successful criminal prosecutions, adding that Mettler would submit a report to the MPAC on action to be taken, if any.