Ombudsman walks away

Johannesburg’s municipal ombudsman, S’du Gumede, resigned on Monday after a long legal battle with the City of Johannesburg after being suspended in May 2017.

He tendered his resignation a mere two days before the Labour Appeal Court dismissed the city’s petition to appeal against a Labour Court order, which declared Gumede’s suspension unlawful and invalid, with no force or effect, and set it aside.

His resignation is expected to be tabled at the council meeting on Thursday. Gumede’s lawyer, Jayson Kent of Cowan Harper Attorneys, said the city had accepted his resignation.

Gumede was suspended in May 2017 after he was accused of dishonesty. He was alleged to have failed to disclose a conflict of interest in the appointment of Yeo Technologies to provide IT services for the city.

It was also alleged that he did not manage the contract properly, resulting in poor service and a breach of contract.

Gumede was said to have continued to use the contract past its expiry date, incurring R622,440 in irregular spending, which he did not report to the council. However, he denied this as Werksmans Attorneys had advised the city there were no grounds for his suspension.